Camperdown Chronicle (Vic. : 1875 - 1954), Tuesday 25 December 1877, page 2


TUESDAY, DECEMBER 25, 1877. CHaRISTMAS, with its old recollections, and new associations, is upon us again: The former, perhaps, will be dearer to some: the latter to others-the young in particular. It is hard, indeed, for those who remember how Christmas was kept in the land of their birth to associate it with the way in which it is kept in this the land of their adoption. We speak not now of its observance as a great Christmas festival, but as a holiday time in which there was a reunion of families all over the country, and in-door and out-door sports suitable to the season. None of these are to be found here-none, at all events, that were characteristic of former timesthe misletoe, the yule log, the blazing hearth, the smoking viands, and even the holly and the ivy are wanting in the decoration of our churches at this festive season. Yet those who have only a dim recollection of how Christmas was kept in the Northern hemisphere, either as a Christmas festival, or as a holiday time, are not without the pleasing associations in connection with its return here from year to year." They look forward to its return with longing pleasurable associations, and part with it, when at an end, with lingering fondness, as over a something which they would -have detained a little longer, if they could. With very few, however, is it now regarded as the anniversary of a birth, which transcends all others in importance, and which was big with blessings on our race-blessing of the higheat order. For these, none can be too thankful, and all should bear in mind that they reach us through a design, and by means of a plan of divine ordering, which, since the birth of " the hahe of Bethlehem, have both undergone a rapid process of developement. But these are hints only-hints, however, as CHARLES LAMB translated CoLUnalic's motto,sermonipropriora, "properer for a sermon." Nevertheless, they are not without their significance, and may ;be useful, i well pon:dered. They are not, at any rat;, unsuitable to the season, and we wind up by wishing all our subscribers and friends, A MnERY CHLsISTMAB, AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR. THE rejection of the Appropriation Bill by the Council on Thursday evening was no more than might have been expected. Yet Mr. BERRY tells hr, he "refused to believe almost to the last moment that a course of that kind would be take., in this country." i lt not affecting surprise in this, helnaist have a worse constituted: mind thanw we supposed him to posses. His uiPtraordinary '.confidence i his oir lower unfit him to; be at the head of the GoverniFneit of the county, aad mzust lad .tolais apued ywi~ falL

Council woldi act otherwise tha e have de i past all underitan and.,wht will be the resultI what b- revolution nothingIt the sort - but another "stumping" of the country, another series' of blunders, and then his light will be extinguished. He does not, of courue, think this; oi the antrairy, he is full of himself and his doings; with such a majority at his back, what he cannot do in one way, he has iosolved to do in another, or die in the attempt. His first and chief object is to get a continumance" -' 300-~jearlfor"his supporters, who, without: that, would be supporters no longer, and this is the language in which he clothes ,his design :--" We must submit 'a' p?ropsiwhich will settle for all time-settle effectually, once and' for ever-this question between the two Houses." What questionl Not whether pay. ment of members shall be an institu tion of the land, but whether his sup porters shall not each have £300 a year for himself. ° The Council say not -have said it, in fact, in two distinct forms-on two separate occasions-and of the way in which "the question between the two Houses" is to be. settled,f this is what Mr. Berry says:"One must rule over the other. There can be no co-ordinate branches of the Legislature. We must have the power to coerce. The Council said they would not be coerced, but they must be, coerced." Yes, but how I Not b7d " blocking Bourke street with carts an paving stones," as Mr. BERRY Suggested at the Beechworth. banquet' Many of the people of Victoria are averse to that sort of thing, and others have not the courage to attempt iteven at Mr. BERRY's bidding. Nor are Mr. BERRY and his supporters going to coerce the Councilby " stumping" the country, and by insisting thlt every man shall " record his vote either for the Assembly or the Council-either for free institutions or for an oligarchy as bad as ever existed in 'the ancient days of Rome and Greece." There are two constituencies to be appealed to, and so long as the Council have the support of those by whom they are elected, why should they pay the least attention to a vote obtained by a set of illiterate and impecunious men, whose sole object is to get a continuance of £300 a year each by "stumping" the country I Or why should the Council allow themselves to be "coerced"-even supposing the majority in the Assembly to be greater than it is I They neither can be "coerced," nor should any attempt be made to "coerce" them, I so long as we have a Constitution which they are sworn to uphold. And if any tell us that the voice of the people should be supreme in a matter of this kind, our answer is, that it can only be supreme' within the- limits of the Constitution--not any further, without a revolution, for which we are not ripe. Whether the Council should submit to the Assembly or not on any one point-on this payment of members question, for instance--should be left to their owndiscretion,uninfluenced by any " stump" meetings that may be got up, or even by a plebiscituia as is sometimes proposed. Therefore, we object, as. we ever have objected, to much of what is said about its being thc'diity bf the Council to yield in all cases to the expressed will of the pepie. This is one of those fallacies which will not bear examination, and the Council should not allow themselves to be influenced by it., It is their duty to pay respectful attention to. whatever the Assembly send up to them, and thento dispose of it according to thebest of their judngment-not to be draged at the Assembly's heels. Let us, however, turn from this abstract point to the position in which Mr. Bsnlr now finds himself. 'Like STERN?E'S ~Ciged starling, "he is in, and cannot: get out." He has gone beyond his depth, and does nothing but curse those who extend a friendly hand, and would help him to the shore. He has no more idea of "coercing" the Council into0the adoption of the payment of members by "stumping" the country during'the recess, than he has of escaping a dissolutionby that means. He would'have surrendered, no doubt, at the 'last moment, if he either could, or "dared."' But he is as much' in dread of his friends, as of his foes, if notmore. so. 'If he ceased to seek' the £.300 a year for his friends, they would no more be his friends. There would be no common bond of union, nothing to bind them together. The termination of his political career, therefore, will not resemble that of Actcen, devoured of his dogs, but it will be more like. that of Pro-. metheus bound, with the vulture of envy gnawing at his heart. * He will die, as he so often talks of dying, plitica!ly, cursing the Council,'buit cursig in vain.~ He supposes himselftobe in possession of the ring of Gyges, whereby he can walk' unseen. But his attempts at concealmesit are as ludicrous as they are contemptible. He will not say what he-is next going to do, for the simple reason that he does not knoe. 'Let him do wh~at he ;will, however, payment of . members is doomed. When this seasion closes, with or without a dissolution, his followers will get £300 a year no more. That will be the crowning work of the Ssession, and it is one of those things of which we may well be proud. It will do more than all else 'towards clearing the political atmosphere.. How do things stand nowl What is the exact position of affairs between the two Houses, between the Governor and his responsible advisers? Between the two Houses, the position is one of antagonism, provoked by the internmperance of Mr. BERRY and his supporters, and the relations in which the Governor ~t'ands to "his responsible

advisers cannot, be otrthe best ,Our I Melbourne correspondent familiarly -tells us, ! that life, even ut the big ianlision on the top of the hill, is not all 'beer and skittles; that His Excellency Sir GoasGE BowiN is feeling the political troubles acutely enough; that he muist act the part of buffer' be. tween the two Houses, whether he likes it or not; that. he will so act, by politely requesting Mr. BERBT to accept the alternative of either getting hi an4 SAppropriio Bill, or resignin his office; and that a new Ministry codi befoine in a day, which ould b4th pass the Appropriation Bill, without payiieit of nembe in i, and carry on Sthe bustine. of the tounry, until ther was a diisolution, and another geneul election." Now. whatever amopnt of troth there may b in this- d we

tin of the trobhle whir jk is DOWuid to feel m acrtely. For what else but trouble could he have espected, when he made himself a partiuma to the mg" of tliehul ai Bil; wheshe treted the smepage ' the Council a the payment of members so cavalierly; 'when he- ed in 'the face of the advice which Sir Hnaomnm Boasuso and Mr. Wauz gave him on that question; and werbnon more ocasions--than- ne-he spokeat public banquets-half jokingly, half in earnest, butalways with aleaa-2 ing to the, Ministerial side-of what has now happened, a not athing to be dreadedi Yet name can be more deo lighted thaaa ourselve to hear that His Excellency is rising to a sense of his responsibility; that he is beginning to see that more is required of the Governor of a colony than agreeable trdinner speeches ; andthat there are at length some signs of hi not allowing the country to be driven to ruin, without some attempts to stop it. His Excellency affected to know nothing at a late meeting of what was going on in parliament, and yet ventured to press a suggestion which he had seen in one of the papers on the notice of members. This we thought ill-advised at the time, and, as no attention was paid to his.uggestiom, he, will iprobahblj abstain in future from such a course of proceeding. He must not, at any rate, profess ignorance of what Mr. BuaMr said and did in the Assembly on Thursday evening last, nor must he view with indit. fterence any attempts of his to get up a revolution in the country,however much he maydisregard his threats. On Friday night the Council refused to adjourn beyond the 8th of January, although the Assembly had adjourned to the 5th of February, ostensibly, because they did not know what might happen in the meantime, and it is clearly as much the duty of the Governor, as it is that of the Council; to gnard against the consequences of men going'up and down the country preaching treason against the Constitution, whilst acting as his responsible advisers. If Mr. BunRY, therefore, puts into execution what he threatens during the recess, the duty of His Excellency is plain; he has but one course to pursue: he should remonstrate with him on the impropriety of this: he should call his attention to what is required of. him, and insist on his not going beyond it. His Excellency must not allow himself to be made a party to a revolution, or he will have to put up with the consequences. His Ministers must not be allowed to do outside the House, with his connivance, what they 'could n ot do inside, or he will be held responsible for it. They struck the last blow at a revolution in the House, when they sought ineffectually to coerce the Council into the adoption of the Appropriation Bill. It is His Excellency's turn now to'nay whether any other attempt at a revolution shall be made, inside or outside the House, and a fearful responsibility rests upon him in this matter. Mir. BERRY and his Supporters may have nothing to lose by it, but he has everything.. He must insist, therefore, en their getting him an Appropriation Bill, and there is only one way of their doingthat-namely,byatrikingpayment ofmembers out of it. if they do not consent to that, their resignation or di,. placement is inevitable. The Chtroniele will not appesr on Friday next, owing to our compositors having got a holiday. It will not appear again until Tuesday next. . The juvenile cricketers of Camperdown are reminded of .the match arranged for them by the local cricket club, which is to take place this'(Christmias) day. Sides will be chosen shortly after one o'clock, weather permitting. SThe team of cricketers organised in Melboume, who are to travel round the Wesern District, under the on de gserre of ." The Rovers," are not,' it seems, to play at Cola. on Boxing Day, their challenge not having been.accepted by the club of that town on the grounds-it is stated-of the many othe;r amusements to take place about that time in Cola.. - -The Colas Cricket Club backed out of the arrangement for'a match with the local club, on Siturday, and consequently the team selected to represent the- latter did not proceed to Colac. Of course great disappointment :was experienced by the conduct of the Colar: club, who, we think, after accepting a challenge, should have carried it out, even supposing some of their best men were away, and the more so as the match was to be played on their own ground. Mr. Scott, President of the Hampdon Shire Council, desires as to acknowledge receipt .1 the following phbcriptioas in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund, viz:-Collected by Dr. Pettigrew,Camperdown--Mr. Uglow, 10se; IMrs. Bain, 5.; Mr. A. Clark, £1; Mr. Branketone, 5s; Mr. Morehouse, Os; Mr. Schrack, 5s; Mrs.. Clark, 3.; "A.B.C." 2s. Collected by Mr. Conacher, Teraug (list No. 2)-Mr. J. M'Donald, £1 ; S. Creed, £1; F. Ma~clie, 5s. Mr. Scott requests as to intimate that the subscriptions listis now closed Total amount collectep, £481 lis lid. The returns for the Boroondara electio. last night were :--R Murray Smith, 8538; J. Kaipe, 585; majority for Smith, 253. The public holidays, as proclaimed in the Gearermest Gau?e, are:-Tuesday, the 25th inst., this day; Wednesuday, the 26th inst., to-morrow; Christm Day, and BoxingDay,·resectivey. ·Alass Monday next, Daember the 3ist, 1877 ; and Tmesday next, January the Ilst, 187. New Year's Day. Yesterday was a proclaimed Government holiday, but there was some difference of opinion among the banks, and they did not close on that day. The wretched state of the fence -one side of which has completely dwindled awayaround the Police Station, Camperdown. haslong beenl a dsgraece to the township and the subject of great annoyance to the occupants. It is with great pleasure we see that the Government have awakened to the fact that the improvements are urgently required, afIte a .lsIs of 5 years Teder me invited in thus day's ie. Another batch of elaseScations of lan 1 under the Land Tua A.ct appeared in Friday's Gaatee, aad will be found is another column. The estates comprised in the present batoh of classijations lie to the eat of Camnerdown. as anare .itnated o1hi,.Rt

the' Colec district. They amount in the aggregate to ll3002 acres, which gives an average for the biteem separate iestates of rather more than 6,400 acres for each. We take this opportaity of correcting an error ia the addition of the arewage in the former batch of estates classiled, arising ouu of ome slip being overlooked. The toial acrees should havh4 been 147,171, which, 'divided by twenty-aide would have gives slighsly over 5000 acreato eah estate on as average. What each estateha to pay to the Shire Council, ma4 what it will have to pay umde the l.d Tea Act we shall take aiothenr m i oating `` detail. Thi PI idet do the Shir, of Ha -pdn forwardel third d t ?sSittaace to the Mgr of l Iib e -r u Theda in aidf at the mumlr f.-ms e .d fuu.. It Sai ,s, L'' le . I. ' i iiM :' of et Cthe iq' e i swa chi ii wvaed the oGerfeithas t he 1i ~ advi2i6e d h i Wit eb qeta idp

Fw di miroind is Sir Charles Dm liua h s. BirW. .litc.hell must have i the dmsial he gave utteramse toQ baitd_ _ mental reervatiom, i we hIve bes informed on 'the best authority that he did tell his Excellency, in effect, that it Ie followed the advice of his Ministers is aadin down a message recommendiBg that a sm should be put on the estimates ~wr the payment, of members, it 6 would end in his rin, and a very significant 1 referece was made to the fate of Sir I Charles Darling." Who is the Age's "best t authority, g?ay -" It would be interesting 1 to the lkblic to know. And until they do, c so hed will be paid to any denial coming from such a source. "Yesterday? s Argtu says :--"A circularj hi bass issued by the Chief Secretary to the various departments notifying Ministers an heade o offices of the rejection of the Appropria.ti Bill, and requesting them to be caetiou ia incurring liabilities. Whenever a postpoement of expenditure is possible, this course is to be adopted. By this amus it is expected that the money in hand will last until the end of March, so that afresh supply will not be absolutely necessary until April next, although, of course, many of the postponements will eause great pablic inconvenience. One of the postponed payments is the instalment Sofsalary duo to the president of the Legis. tive Council." What are we to call this! Let Mr. Berry himself say. There has been much talk about ohanges in the Melbourne press of late. Our MelSbourne correspondent has got hold of one ) rumor, namely, that a project is on foot to start another daily paper in the interests of the Ministry, and that this is basked up r by a deposit of £30,000 in the bank. If this rumor had been set afloat when the 1Age vaialy attempted to depose Mr. Berry from his position as leader of the "stonewall" party, twelve or eighteon months ago, some persons might have believed it, but what do the Ministry want with another paper, now that the Ale is so subservient to their wishes? Agaiu, there is another rumor, which does not appear to have reached our correspondent, and that e is, that there are serious intentions of endeavoring to make the Telegraph more efective than it is, as the leader of the conservative party, and this rumor we know to be not altogether without foundation. h Whether it will issue in anything or not, we cannot at present say, but what happened in connexion with the Land Tax Bill, and more recently in connexion with the E Payment of Members Bill, has raised the Telegraph in public estimation, and has given rise to much talk of this kind. Of other rumors which have reached us, we say nothing at present. The following appeared among the Argus's news of the day on Friday last:-" At the conclusion of his speech yesterday evening, the Poetmaster-General informed the Councilthat the way for a compromise was still open. After the Appropriation Bill was laid aside, the Council could revive the Payment of Members Bill, and if it was passed then, a new Appropriation Bill could be sent from the Assembly. This course has been under private discussion for a few days, ad is understood to be not without friends in the Upper House." A very simiSlJar paragraph appeared in the same journal a few days before the Council were so strongly urged by it to pass the Payment of Members Bill. surely this is not intended, after so complete a disappointment, as another diversion in the same direction. SYet the Geelong Advertiser, which followed in the Argua's wake on the former occasion, follows it also on this. Being without a 1 leader on Saturday, it gives us the paragraph above quoted in substanco as a subB stitute for one. Hang compromises, we are sick of them, especially of compro mises with those who only despise the Soffer. If the legislature is to be purged, it must be by setting the foot firmly down B against payment of members, which is one of the greatest sources of its corruption.