Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957), Monday 14 February 1881, page 4


MONDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1881.

One of the acts for which the country may well be grateful to the Service Ministry is the practical step it took to insure a water supply for the northern portion of Victoria. The Berry Ministry considerately-of course in the interests of the selectors-swept out of existence what may be called the water survey department. They dismissed the officer who had been specially imported for con-struction purposes, on the sapient plea that there were no surveys to be made and no plans to be prepared. Happily for Victoria, the break of Government occurred, and the branch was reorganised, and the hydraulic engineers aro at work again. The last report of the Water Conservancy Board is of itself sufficient to justify its existence. Having dealt with certain

locai works urgently required, the board is now proceeding, " in accordance with, " the instructions of the Hon. R. CLARK, "late Minlbt'er of Water Supply, to " give attention Jto the maturing of a " general scheme for the supply of water " to the northern shires," and a com prehensive and common-sense mode of procedure is laid down. The board considers tho fact eslablüJ'od that the immediate wants of the ¡vr'ddis tnct8 of the north, of the Wimmera, And the Murray Plains, can be cheaply pro.

vided for by the storage of the local" rainfall, that is to say, by utilising our rivers and constructing dams, weirs, and cuttings, local reservoirs or " tanks," as Mr GORDON with his Indian ox penence calls these works, wo eau insure a sufficiency of w »ter for tbo uso of stock and for domestic purposes Man will be able to dnuk, and his cattle also, and a balance will be loft for irrigation purposes Lach river syßtem is to be dealt with separately Messrs GORDON and BLACK propose to make a study of the various watersheds, and then to deal with eich as a whole, pointing out how the available supply

can be best tuined to account

How much is to be accomplished m this direction is shown by the Goulburn scheme, which is the first the Board submit I he bold proposal is mado to dam the Goulburn above Murchison

bj means of a weir 10ft in height, and to lead the w aters collected at this spot seventy two milos across country to tlie Campaspe, half way between llochcstor and Echuca Tho country in question is a plain devoid of water courses, but a large agricultural settlement is taking place upon it The settlers have not yet experienced the eliects of one of our real periodic droughts, ind it is terrible to think of what the consc quences may be if such a visitation occurs without preparation being made for it But the whole of the district to the north of the channel will bo com

manded by the woik, that is to say, the slope of the country will permit of water bemg taken from the channel to any part, and tho board estimate that all the necessary local reservoirs can be easily filled from it The coat of the main channel would be no more than £28,000, and that of the minor channels and of the public reservoirs would increase the total to ¿£14,000, irrespective, however, of the lands which would require to be pur chased, and for the resumption of which it is suggested that special powers should be taken Local and private îeservoirs would also have to be constructed as the persons interested thought necessary I he outlay, so far as the state is concerned, would not be more than £50,000, and for this sum an and district may be turned into a comparatively well watered one, and the country leheved from the groat dread of seeing whole districts dopopu lated, through the ruin of the farmers consequent upon a water famine

It is pointed out that if the scheme is a success it admits of large expansion " Iho main channel as designed will " reach the V» aranga swamp at such a

" l°\el as will admit of that natural basin

" being coincrted into a laiL,c otora¿e " lesen on, for which it is admirably

" suited In the event of an extensive

" sjstem of un0ation being undertaken, " the reservoir could be supplied from " the Goulburn by enlarging the pro " posed channel, and could be mado " capable of supplying water for tho com

' plete irrigation of about 3r),000 acres

lins part of the scheme is to be specially commended It show-» that while tho engineers are sufficiently bold, they are not too bold In the first place, tho correctness of then levels and of then calculations as to the supply of water will be tested, and if these aro right, then irrigation can be resorted to, and we can ascertain on a small, but conclusive scale, in the Waranga neigh bourhood, whether water farming will pay or othervi ise And in this w ay we may go on taking one stop aftor another, and avoiding altogether the risk of some great disaster which

would discredit the causo in tho future as much as the Coliban fiasco did in the past There is a general and well grounded belief that given water, then

our soil and our sun will enable Victoria

to produce enormously, and that the for mation of the country renders storage comparatn ely easy It is natural to bo hopeful in connexion with this subject

As w e have urged before, the lagoons which he dry nine months out of the twelve, the back channels, and the deep cut creeks, are reservoirs fashioned by nature, the levels of which are accurate beyond dispute, and in the storm waters which regularly rush down the channels we ha%e the steady means of replenishing the store And the locking of one river will no doubt be foi

lowed by similar works on all, and with the waters of the Murray and of the Darling stored, a new futuro will open to Australia Having such pro spects, it is all important that we should not damage them by the adoption of crack brained projects, such as we have from time to timo opposed and ridi culed Tor our part, we read the reports of the Water Conservancy Board with peculiar pleasure, because tho

lines which we did not hesitate to

insist upon are being followed Each river is being considered as a whole, and the storage of water throughout the dis tnct is to precede irrigation in a particular pait But caution in adopt ing a plan requires for its complement vigour of action afterwards, and with an inexpensive and common sense scheme before them, the Government have no excuse for delay The northern agri cultural settlements are not Bafe in thoir present position Their moro urgent

want's should not be allowed to go

another year without attention, and we can only trust that Mr ROBERT CLARK and his friends, having happily sue ceeded in forcing a plan upon the notico of Parliament and of the country, will go on, and insist upon its immediate translation from paper to fact Three years were spent by the radical Ministry in tinkering with the constitution, m stead ot succouring the settlers, and there is the danger that once more the farmers who want water will be asked to bo

content with a barren fight about a *y

reform bill

The reaction in some quarters agaioit the doctrine of MALTHUS, that popu lation tends to increase in a geome tncal ratio and the products ot agriculture only in an arithmetical ratio, though warranted by soma is

not ..justified by a consideration of tha'iwkole of the facts as at present ascertained. > The doctrino, ia the main, appears to hold good, but its effect is rotfutjed in practico by many influences, most of which it is duo to SIAL'TIIUS to say-that he did not fail to take into account. We havo seen population in Great Britain increase so rapidly as to threaten very serious danger but for the opening up of new fields of food supplies in distant lands, rendered easily and cheaply available by the won-derful progress of mechanical skill, by which distances havo been practically abolished, and the whola world made sensitive at once to the urgent wants of any portion of it. Local famine1), except in rare circumstances, are becoming almost unknown, for " seas but join the " regions they divido," as POPE pre-dicted, and the plenty of one goes to niako up for the scarcity of the othor. But the manner in which the growing wants of the world in respect to food havo been supplied, after all is but a clumsy and perfunctory one. The ?«beat fields of Great Britain have been extended oven to the anti-podes, and settlement is going on rapidly still in tho remoto west of the American continent ; and yet, with all this, in its way a triumph of human skill and co-operation, tbero aro grave doubts whether some of tho best things do not still lie close about tho feet of those who havo done so much to lighten the burdens and improve the position of the British working-classes. Agri-culture has not advanced with the same strides as manufactures. There aro grave and ever-increasing doubts whether

tho best has been made of the resources of even Great Britain itself, and there are many experienced persons who hold that there remains so much to bo done in the way of improving agriculture as to foreshadow a revolution at no very distant dato in tho methods pursued and the results obtained. Tho late Lord DERBY said many times that the land only produced one-half what it ought to produce, and modern researches go to show that his estimate is far below what may become possible when science and true co-operation shall havo been applied to agriculture, as they havo already been so strikingly brought to bear upon manufacturing in-dustries. The subjects of rent, the tenure of land, the laws relating to its sale, and even tho sentimental desire to he a landed proprietor, aro all mixed up in this question, but there is an evident tendency towards some serious change, the one result of which will bo, howevor it may bo brought about, to maka tho land of thickly-peopled countries vastly more productive than it now is.

The motto of our own Agricultural department, which may be doing good by stealth, but which has not yet had to blush at finding it fame, is labor omnia vincit, and it is a motto which well expresses tho fato of all, or nearly all, who endeavour to wrest a living from the soil by the growth of

food. The moat ancient and most honourablo of all industries - still honoured even in an age in which colossal fortunes aro made by trade-is one mainly of hard work, as if man's rude forces were only to be applied to overcome the rude forces of nature. The things which man wears aro pro-duced by the most elaborately and nicely adjusted machinery, which is improved upon almost every year, but the food which he eats ¡3 only produced by the aid of machinery applied gene-rally in a very costly and clumsy fashion, and always without that co-operation which is essential to cheap production by poisons of small means. The enormous farms in some parts of the United States, of which wo occasionally read very glowing accounts, aro few in number, and are not destined to be permanent, because they are worked on a system which rapidly exbau.sts the soil, and are only possible whero land is very deep and fresh fields can be readily obtained. They cannot bo a permanent solution of tho great agricultural question, and may be looked upon as akin to whale fishing with modern appliances, by which the supply is rapidly exhausted, though the imme-diate product is very large. So far, co-operation, tho great industrial de-velopment of recent years, has not been applied to agriculture with any degree of success, for working farmers univer-sally refuse to associate for a general purpose, and the experiment made under the guidance of a philanthropic landlord in England, once thought to be almost a new revelation, is heard of no more. In New Zealand, just now, an attempt at co-operative farming is being made, but we can say nothing as to its probable success, though if we are to judge by the past, the state of affairs has not yet been reached in which such a union of resources is pos-sible as will bring about at once an enormous saving in the cost of the production of human food, and aa amelioration of the lives of those who

have to depend upon the produce of small areas of land for a living.

The most remarkable contribution to

the discussion of the subject of increased yields from the land ia by Major HALLETT in a recent number of the Nineteenth Century, which maybe taken to indicate what might be done by a thoroughly scientific application of tho knowledge and powers at the command of man. Ho contends that the British people can havo new wheat-fields at home. The discovery which he claims

to have made is that no matter

what may be the quantity of seed planted to the acre, the number of ears of wheat is practically the same. He says that if seed is planted nine inches apart every way, there will not only be an enormous saving of seed, but that each head will be found to contain an average of fifty grains, instead of twenty, as at present. The number of heads will be tho same, because of the process called " tillering "-that is, the tendency of each root to put out fresh and independent stalks, which is known to be one of the characteristics of the wheat plant. Major HALLETT contends that

1 the saving of corn will more than " compensate for any additional labour " required, and, therefore, no further

expense being incurred for labour, rent, rates or taxes, there is, in fact, a "second crop for nothing." The ob-jection is, of course, that wheat could not be thus planted at » profit, but this Major HALLETT de-clares to be absurd, and regards the objection as but another manifestation

of the conservativo tendency of the British fanner Whether Major HAL-LETT bo absolutely correct or not, there can bo no doubt that there ia a very im, poitant truth at the basis of his re marks, which is that careful and eco nomical cultivation can produce wonder ful results, as we seo by the moro than doubled yields of wheat obtained m Great Bricam within the last hundred years There is probably less danger of finality in agriculture than m manu factures, certainly not moro, only the one will have to be treated with the same skill, union of powers, and scion tiiic research as tho other, and co open tion, which has made nianuf ictures payable for the workmen, will have to make agriculture a province for him alpo The small farmer is, proverbially, a great slave, but ho is mainly a slave because ho tries to do by his own un aided powers what in other industries is ueconplished only by the co operation ot many persons, who practically, in some form or other, agree to work to tether for their mutual benefit

Mi RICHARDSON S pokey at tho Lands Oihce is, it would scorn, to curtail tho Btatc forests m tho country, and to clear ofl by auction tho public reserves in town Two sections of tho Bullarook

forest havo been ga/otted, and now tho Powlett Btreot reserve in East Holbourne is being aun oyed for salo, and a slico of the Yirra park is to follow The danger with regard to the reBervo is imminent, and wo aro glad to BOO that the residents i io already organising for resistance ihey havo a strong caso, and thoy ought to meet with such a goneral and hearty support aa willsufhcc to complotoly defeat tho unscrupulous Minister The whole caso as regards this reservo was argued lo years ago when a salo wa8 proposed, and the result was that tho Bite was re horved, and tho residents subscribed money and fenced the land in and planted it Sinco then tho reseivo has boon used, not only for recreation purposes, but also by the volunteers for battahon drill, and it is important to remember that it is remarkably convenient for this pur pose It is true that the G ov eminent and tlie City Council, who jointly manage tho city resen es, hav e neglectedthis particular domain, but thoro it stands, waiting to be improv ed, and, w ith population daily becoming moro and more dense about it, improvement is not likely to bo long dehyed Tho necessities of the district will Boon require that it shall bo taken m hand in its turn as Argylo squaro and Lincoln square havo on the other side of the city Thoro is no reason why Last Melbourne should be put m a worse position than Carlton But apart from and above local issues, there is tho greit jrinciplo, which wo hopo to seo empha tically asserted, that whether they are im j rov ed or unimproved, not anothor inch is to bo taken from the public reserves of Melbourne, of Goolong, of Ballarat, of Sandhurst, of Castlemaine, or of any other centro of population Commencing as w o did a new hie in a now country, w o had opportunities of avoiding the errors of the old world, and of securing park lands for our cities Tho early Victoi ians did their duty in hying out such reserves as English cities aro now bujing acio by acre at an enormous cost, and it is for us to preservo thom Wo hold theso areas in trust for postonty It would bo an inciediblo meanness for tho present Oeneratioii, w Inch has drawn and aquan dered over a imlliou pel annum from the 1 ubhc territory, not to bo satisfied with tins amount, but to go on and rob the people who are to come after of their rublic recreation ¿rounds lhere is no Dencral desire to bo Kudty of tho offonco, but the demagogue in ofhco ia more on cioaching than over lords of tho manor havo been in Great Britain Iho resi dents of East Melbourne require to bo up and doing It is for them and their members to state their caso oni phatically, by pubhc meeting and by poti lion, and when they have dono this wo may reasonably expect a response in tho country and in tho House Tho futuio of ov cry city in the colony is endangered by the Ministerial action

From our cable news we learn that the Coercion Bill for Ireland has been made retrospective BO that the principal offenders who have hitherto escaped punishment may be brought under ita proviaioua and sum manly dealt with The Btatement made by Mr Childers, the Minister of War in tho House of Commons that it was intended to send out freah troops to the Transvaa scarcely coincides with a former telegram of Reuter a aa to the instructions Bent to Sir G Pomeroy Colley to place him self in communication with Dr Brand, the president of the Orange Free State with the view of terminating the hostihtiea between the British and the Boers The propoaed mediation probably had reference to the Basutos who are now auing for an armistice with the object of arranging terms A startling item of intelligence ia that a plot has been discovered to blow up Windsor Castle with dynamite The discovery has led Her Majestj to postpone her intended return to A\ mdsor from Osborne The much talked of marriage between the Baroness Burdett-Coutta and Mr Aahraead Bartlett baa at length been celebrated

Mention has been made in recent cable messages of the Russian intrigues in Afghanistan which were brought to light by the diacovery of secret correspondence between the Ameer Shere Ali and the Russian Government We now learn that notwith standing this discovery the Gladstone Go vemment w ill not alter their policy in regard to Afghanistan Referring to that policy, the Pall Mall Budget of December 24 writes - 'There seems to be a delusion cur rent in certain quarters that the re tention of Candahar is still under con siderotion This will be discovered before long not to be the case The decision has been taken definitely to retire from a position which we should never have taken up The die is cast In India the advocates of aggrea sion oro reconciling themselves to the mevit able with all convenient speed The Bombay Gazelle, which states that orders have been received to evacuate Candahar, adds that if the troops are not withdrawn immediately the ' delay will be occasioned solely by tho difficulty of moving so large a body of troops during inclement weather Ita permanent occupation would have involved the main tenanco of a garrison of 15,000 troops for five years, and the completion of the railway to Candahor The financial sacn fice was too great, and in future Quetta will be the British headquarters beyond the old frontier But, according to the Quetta corre Bpondent of the Standard, Abdur Rahman is meeting with no success whatever in his efforts to collect revenues at any distance from his capital, the Ghilzais and other tribes acting as if entirely independent of his rule The correspondent adds -' The presence of the British at Candahar is indeed the only security existing against universal anarchy in Afghanistan ' '

The race for the sculling championship, £B00 a side, and the Sportsman a Cap, which was postponed from 17th January last on account of the severity of the weather will be rowed to day over the uaual course on the Thames, between Elms Laycock, of New South Wales, and Edward Hanlan, of Toronto, Canada. Both men are reported to be fit and well, and confidence is felt by each OB to the result Hanlan is the favourite at 8 to 1 on him Should the match take place at a sufficiently early hour in the day, the result may be expected to roach tho colo

mes in lime for publication in Tuesday's

papers.

Both Houses of Parliament resumo their Bittinca to morrow The Council has no im portant business before it In the Assembly Mr Berry will move the second reading of the Kefoim Bill, and ho will give notice of the days when he proposes to take the chari-table institutions vote and the municipal vote Ministers do not proposo to speak at any length on the Reform Bill, and they are in hopea that the second reading may be taken upon the earliest day available for a call of the House The expec tation amongst members ia that the bill will go up to the Council in some ahupe, and that tho battle will bo fought upon the amendments which will bo made by that body 'ibo Government has only three other measures fairly before the Lower House, namely, ti o Land lax Bill, the Judicature Bill, and the Mininer Boards Aboil

tion Bill, and the latter is not likely to be proceeded with Tho following bills aro also on the notice paper, but they have not been advanced beyond their lormal BtageB of initiation - Salaries Reduction Bill, Plural Voting Abolition Bill, Man ngement of Iowna Act Amendment Bill, telephonic Communication Bill, Miners lights Title Bill, Bankers Booka Evidence Law Amendment Bill, Game AU Amend mfent Bill, Married \V omen s Property Act Amendment Bill, Plural Voting at Elections of the Council Abolition Bill, Judges Salaries Reduction Bill Ihe Lstimates are not exactly disposed of, as the Customs depart-ment was left unprovided for, and the Mining department has not been touched, and several votes of special interest were post poned The bulk of the measures enume rated above will be abandoned, but still it is easy to Bee that if the Assembly is in a humour for debate there is abundance of materials for a long sitting

Regarding themov ements of Sir Arthur Gor-don, Governor of New Zealand, our Wellington correspondent writes -"His Excellency is muking a tour of the colony, and has com menced with the North. Island, visiting Auckland, and travelling thence overland to Napier by way of the celebrated Hot Lakes, Rotorua, and Rotomahana While in the Auckland district, he paid a visit to Sir George Grey at Kavvau and all sorts of con jectures were formed by sanguine Opposi

tiomsts as to possible political results I have the best reason to believe, however, that New fealand politics were not alluded to even in the moBt remote manner either by the Governor or his hoBt-the ex Governor and ex Premier of the colony It waa Bimply a friendly and private visit paid by one old friend to another, and had not the smallest political or public signi

ficance of any kind whatever Sir Arthur Gordon has already Bbown himself a shrewd and able man, not at all likely to place him self in a false position, or to court even the ' appearance of eui ' So far he has won golden opinions from his Ministers at any rate 1 robably ho will never be a "popular

Governor in the ordinary sense, but at least he is likely to be respected and trusted as thoroughly just impartial, and courageous New Zealand is generally fortunato in her Governors especially as regards the threo who have last represented Her Majesty m

this colony

The Chief Secretary visited Geelong on Saturday, and waa shown tho various local works of which the conatituency stands in need Themost important is an extension of the railway wharf, and Mr Berry promised to bring the matter under the notice of his colleague, the Minister of Railways Mr Berry returned to town by the evening

train.

Meetings of the Executive Council and of the Cabinet Council are to be held this after

noon

The farewell dinner to Mr Service, given by hiB Maldon constituents, is appointed to take place on W ednesdaj week, the 23rd mat

The 'lanengoua ltme3 says - A letter has been received from the Hon J Service to the eflect that ho is pleased with the arrangements, and is glad that it has been determined to give him the banquet as repro Bentattveof the district, and not as head of the Opposition Nothing would bo said at the banquet of a party character With re tard to the Maldon election, it ia announced that Mr W 1 M alkcr addresses the electors to morrow evening

The sufferers bj the Beaufort railway acci

dent have now been Bettled with by the department Mr E O Mosa, the officer who attends to this business, proceeded to Ballarat on Saturday and paid the compensation money according to the arrangements come to between the Bufferera and the board which w as appointed to deal with their cases Mrs Spencer has received £315, and her daughter £30, Mrs Maz7ini and her three children, £550 , Mr Rathyebeer, £50, Mr r Tinch, £o0, Miss AVallace, £30, Miss Hoefer, £15, and tho Chinese missionary, whoBe clothes were destroyed, ÍJ b3 £31 WOB diatnbuted amongst the employes of the Ballarat Hospital for the care they took of the injured personB, and tina bringa the total amount paid by the department up to £1 700 5s Only one other person remains to be settled with

The Orient steamship Cuzco arrived from London yesterday with passengers and cargo The former numbered 37 m the saloon, 27 in the second saloon, and 200 in the third cabin and steerage Amongst the passengers are Lieutenants King and Maxwell and 83 Royal Navy seamen, who have come out to relieve others on the Australian station whose time has expired The Cuzco has been delayed on the v oyage out by head winds and heavy weather There were 40 bags of maila for the

different colonies

A sermon in memory of the late Dr CairnB was preached at the Emerald hill Presby-terian Church last evening by the Rev Dr Macdonald There waa a crowded congre gation After describing the circumatances of the colony when Dr. Cairns arrived, and the interest he took in the formation of sub-urban congregations-particularly that of Emerald hill-the preacher observed that m his later years Dr Cairns s religious tone deepened, and that his sermons became less rhetorical and more distinctly doctrinal than in his earlier discourses This, the preacher observed, was surely becoming in a man who was conscious that ho waa approaching the connues of eternity. He (the preacher) liked to think of the great gathering that assembled at his funeral The religious world of a great city turnedouttosee him taken to his last resting place Therein a quiet spot long ago chosen by himself, and surrounded by kindred dust, he rested from bis labours, and his works did follow him To unbelief the blank in the ministry of the church seemed irreparable, yet the head of the church was not taken away, for God would find labourers for his vineyard. In tbo meantime it might be said of him,

" Servant ol Christ well dono, rest

troin thy loved omploy ,

Join this host of Baintä nbovo,

Enter thy Master's joy '

An ordinary meeting of the City Council will take placo this aftornoon. The only business of importance to be considered is the report of the Public Works Committee with reference to the construction of tho new Prince s bridge, which was postponed from the previous meeting.

A telegrum has been received in Melbourne, announcing the death of Mr Charles Whybrow Ligar, who for some years was surveyor general of Victoria Mr. Ligar was born in Ceylon in the year 1809, and was educated at the Royal Military College, Sandhurst He was for some time an officer in the Royal Engineers, but was afterwards engaged in the ordnance survey of Ireland In 1840 he was appointed surveyor general of New Zealand, which appointment he resigned in 1856 In 1858 the then Victorian Govern ment appointed him surveyor general of this colony, an office which he retained till 1869, when he left the colony, and aince that time he has been in receipt of a pension of £500 a year from the Victorian Government For a

few years after leaving Victoria he resided in the south of France, but he latterly lived in Texas, U S , where he was engaged in farm

ing pursuits

1 be steamer Albatross returned from the wreck of the Hereford on Saturday nifcht to procure a Bupply of coal At the wreck some 400 tons of cargo bad been thrown out to lighten the ship, and it waa thought that she bad moved 1 bo steamers had been towing at her for two tidea, and she was said to be afloat aft, but bung by the middle and for ward The Albatross, after coaling toned the ship Respigadera to the Ileada, and was to go lo the wreck afterwards Last evening ehe was telegraphed, however, a3 having re turned to Queenscliff

On the voyage of the ship Duntrune from London to this port, one of the apprentices, Thomas Adams, fell from the maintop on to the fife rail, and was killed instantaneously. The sad occurrence took place about 6 p m on January 17 in lat. 46deg S and lon 30deg E. The poor young fellow was a native of Dundee and about 17 years of age, and was much liked on board.

The following caaes of accident wero ad mitted to the casualty ward of the Melbourne Hospital during Saturday and yeBterday, vi/

-Margaret Baakerside, aged 38 j ears residing in Drummond atrcet Buffering from a frac tured knee cap, caused by her Blippmg off a kerb Btone , latnck lierney, aged 15 yeara, a labourer, residing at the Plenty, suffering from injury to the foot, caused by his being run over by a milk waggon at the Shamrock , and Mary Mac Vie, aged 40 years a resident of Bourke street, suffering from injuries to the Bhoulder, caused by her falling down in the

street

The Geelong Times writes - Mr Patter son told the people of Yea on Thursday ni(,ht that the Conatitutionalparty1 hadstrenuously opposed the proposal to widen the basis of the Legislative Council Now, wo might fairly ask whether any public man could possibly make this statement without being conscious of an untruth It must be within the knowledge of everyone rthat last year the Legislative Council itself endeavoured to effect this object, and there is now l>in¡, in the Assembly a bill sent down by the same body this year for the same purpose It has been apart of the consti

tutional programme for years to extend the basis of representation m the Legislative Council and shorten the tenure of the seats It must be equally well known that Mr Berri baa strenuously opposed the project on the ground that the Council was too strong already Another thing cannot be denied It was only a few months since-in July last - that the party of revolution finding the attempts to annihilate the Council had utterly failed, met hurriedly in caucus and adopted the principle which they now claim aa their own They successively abandoned their several revolutionary schemes, then atole their opponenta proposal and enlarged upon it, and now one of them stands upon a Yea platform and saya that Ina opponents have always oppoaed the widening of the Council a basis from a dread of the Council Do the radicals think men are patent fools, that they thus impudently llout them with falsehood ' AU the palpable facts go to show that the real Liberal party basalwajB deBireda broadened basis to the Council. AU the plainest utterances of the radicals show that until recently they violently opposed the proposal The Bheer audacity of untruth cannot obliterate this knowledge from the minds of tho people

A return has (states the Sjdney Morning Uti aid) been furnished by the auditor general, in answer to a question put in the Legislative Assembly, on January l8 with reference to the cost of the Sydney Inter national exhibition building The particulars given show that the total expense of the Hx hibition, as far aa known to tho auditor general, waa £311,130198 Id Of thisamount the building coat £240 08b 14s 5d , and the total expenditure for Balarles, Kc, waa £71 0J2 4a 8d The total receipta from the Lxhibition amounted to £43 89G 13a The amount received Bhows a return of 14 1 per cent on total cost

W e learn from the Lau iceilon Lxammei that at a meeting of persons interested in mining held in the local Mechanics Insti tute on the 11th inst, the following résolu tiona were passed -" That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable that a Brokera Association should be formed in Launcea ton and ' That a committee be appointed to obtain copies of rules of similar aasocia tiona in the other colonies to prepare a scheme of organisation and draft rules and regulations for the government of the pro poBed association The desirableness of establishing a mining exchange was also urged

Mr J C Williamson baa made elaborate arrangements for the approaching production of ' The Pirates of Penzance at Sydney On Saturday Signor Verdi and Mr Beaumont, w ho take leading parts and over 40 members of the chorua engaged for the piece left Mel bourne for Sjdney

The Town hall waa largely attended on Saturday night and the organ recitals b, the city organist appeared, from the lavish ap plause bestowed upon them, to givegreat satis faction The following is the programme namely, 1, overture, " La Tille du Regiment, Donizetti , 2, gavotte, ' Loma Fifteenth,

3, selections from " n M S Pinafore ' (by permission of Mr J C William son), 4, ' Tuneral March of a Marionette,

Gounod, by desire, S, grand fantasia " Dogs of the Nations, arranged by David Lee and finale, The National Anthem The pretty gavotte, "Louis Fit teentb, was encored and in reply Mr Lee plas ed " ^ ithin a mile of Edinboro Town ,

and the Bame compliment having been beatowed upon the performance of Gounod a " Funeral March of a Marionette, that ox quiBite piece of musical comicality waa re placed by ' Home Sweet Home, executed in the player s best style

The Opera house was densely crowded on Saturdaj nicht as it has been all the week The performance of "LaTille du Tambour Major was as smooth and as effective aa ever The only change that wo can note ainco the first product on of this very successful work IB that the chorus has been lately strength ened by the presence of some experienced and well known singers The same work is announced for constant repetition

At the Theatre Royal on Saturday evening " Sinbad waa again produced, and as usual there was a good house The performance waa a highly auccessful one, and appeared to afford general eatiafaction

The circus waa again well attended both at the afternoon and evening performances on Saturday During the thunderstorm the wet penetrated the canvas in some places, but beyond Blight personal inconvenience to some of the spectatora no damage waa done This evening there will be a change of programme, when several novelties wiU be introduced YeBterday morning a baby camel was bom, and it wiU bo on exhibition to day Mr Cole announces by advertisement his inten tion to admit the inmates of orphan asylums and other charitable matitutiona free of charge, upon proper application, to any after noon performance

The Miases Alice and Constance Deorwyn take a benefit at the Bijou Theatre on Thura day night A very attractive programme is advertised, and it is to bo hoped that these pleasing actreBBes will receive that amount of public support to which they are fairly en

titled

The Tomperance hall, Russell street, was crowded in every part at the Peoples Concert on Saturday evening, tho extra attraction being the reappearance of the Georgia Minstrels in a programme which appeared to give the large audience the utmost eatiafaction Among the beat items on the programme were the songa and dances by McaBrB Keenan and Gilmore, tho bone solos by Mr J Morton, and the tenor ballads bj Mr O T Jackson, all of which were loudly applauded and encored

The People s Theatre, which has been re christened with its original name, the Prin

cesB'a, has been re decorated and embellished by a new management. Messrs Willis and Seymour are the lessees, Mr I F Keogh the general marager, and Mr Stuart O Brien the stage manager The company engaged in-cludes MIBS Marian Willis as the leading actress The piece presented on Saturday night was "Susan Hopley, or the Vicissitudes of a Servant Girl " MÍBS Willis impersonated the heroine, and the audience, which was numerous, seemed well pleased with the per formances Onzalo, " the demon of tbe air,' afterwards appeared on tho trapeze, and his feats were greeted with loud applause A new programme is announced for to night

A musical entertainment in connexion with the recent band contests, was advertised to come off on Saturday night last at St George a hall, but there were only a few persons present at the advertised hour, and the doors were therefore closed without any entertain ment being tiv cn

On behalf of the Prott Fund we have re ccived thefollowirg additional subscriptions 1 atnck O Brien, £1, H II W , £1

'lho Victorian Postal and 7 elegí aph Ouidc for 1 ebruary has reached us

'IheRev H A Langley will conduct a har vest thanksgiving service at St Ihomaas Church, Essendon, to morrow evening

AY e are dcBired to call attention to an ad vertisement m another column as to lectures

to bo given by Mr H Hussey, editor of the I Amlraluin Quarterly Journal of Prophe y

'Hie Royal Oak Lodge, U A O D , intend celebrating their anniversary at the Golden Gate Hotel Emerald hill, tina evening A larte gathering of the principal membera of the ancient order is expected

Subjoined ia the report of the Ilorareo pathic Hospital for the week ending I eb ruary 12-In patients-Number remaining last week, 10 , admitted during week, 1 dia charged during week, 2 , died 1, number re mailling, 11 Out patients-Number remain ing last week, 501, new cases, 1J, nuinbor remaining 480

On the occasion of her leaving the colony, on Saturday, Mrs Uowitz |vvas presented with a beautiful told cross aet with pearls and diamonds, and suitably engraved, as a parting |,ift and a testimonial to her musical talent, lroin a fen of her friends and ad mirera Mr J S Gotch presented the me mento, which waa acknowledged with much feeling by Mrs Uowitz

'Hie following oiheers of the George Mackie Lod(,e, I O G 1 , have been installed for the ensuing quarter -P W C 1 , Brother C Chandler , W C 1 , Brother Rev Mr Dawe (re elected) W V 1 , Sister Lottie Hubbard W C , Brother H 1 ord , W S , Brother J Brown , HAS, SiBter L Baker , W £ , SiBter 1 Clayfield , W 1 S , Brother A Swin bom , W M , Brother P M Mahon , W D M , Sister A Denham , WIG, Brother H Martin, WOG, brother J Doherty

\\ R S , Slater U Connell, W L & , Sister

T Love

'Hie usual monthly meeting of the com-mittee of management of the Immigrants Aid Society waa held on 1 rjday at the Militar} barracks, St Kilda road The state of the house was reported as follows -Re maining last week, 579, admitted since, 31, discharged, 2J Remaining ¿27 men, 154 women, and 100 children, m all 581 At the same time last year there were 330 men, 10b women, and 124 children , lhere are 90 men, 15 women, and 3 children sick, 2 men atone breaking, 228 oakum picking, kc, and 7 working outside, 12 women in the laundry, 10 sewing, 111 hair teaBing, i.c 'Ihe nightly average of casuals during the week was 27 males and 4 females Out door relief waB given to 8 families, or 27 individuals, on presenting the relief cards of the society

'Hie usual monthly meeting of the Com mitteo of Management of the Melbourne Sailors Home was held at the institution on Thursday, the 10th inBt, at 3 p in Present -Messrs HughR Reid, Benjamin Benjamin, and William Strachan The superintendent reported that 147 seamen (including 23 from the wrecked Bhip Hereford) had entered the institution during the month, and 114 had been re shipped, those from the Hereford having all been provided with bertliB in other Bhips I he deposits received from seamen had been about bulanced by the repajmeuts on that account Meosrs Edward Langton and Vi alter Thompson were elected auditors to the institution for the current year subject to the approval of the Governor in Council, as provided hy the rules of the Sailors Home

Vi e have receiv ed from Mr M L Uutchin Bon several specimens of Blackie and bona new comprehenaivo aenea of Behool books Ihey are compiled with all the care which haB so long characterised the production of the educational publications of this firm Ï he aenea includea aeveral historical works of interest, amongst others a concisely written but interesting history of Scotland up to the time of tbo Union, a his tory of London, in which the main features of the world a metropolis are admirab]} sketched, and a history of Eng land up to the death of Richard III Hie series also includes lessons on mental arith metic, mensuration, elementary lessons on English grammar, based on the araljsis of sentences, &c Some of the series bave already bpen introduced into Victorian state schools, not, however, with any intention of superseding the works airead} in use, but sup plementalto them Ihe department may pos Bibly find it adv antageous to give them a wider trial A\ e have alsoreceived from Mr |S Mullen specimens of the Ro}al series of educational publications íaaued by T Nelson and Sons 'Ihey comprise a graduated series of test exercises in arithmetic, suitable for be

gimiera , a useful set of drawing books, con turning a simple course of outline drawing, intended to lead a pupil step by step from straight lines to ornamental designs , and a Bet of the Royal reading wall sheets