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THE DEAD-HOUSE DE?R?A1lATION.
EVEN Sir E?n?nY PARiES will scarcely
have the audacity or be guilty of such
insensate folly as to take one step
towards building the State Dead
house in view of the division on Mr.
DInns' Abolition Bill on VWednesday,
when forty members only of the
Assembly were present to back him
up in his doddering grip of: fast
departing .power, while thirty were
found to stand up and protest
against such a bare-faced rob
bery of the colony's. much-needed
money. The division, w-ithpairs, was
49 to 39-88 in all; therefore 36
members expressed no opinion on the
qu'estion. The Premier's action in
suddenly making it a parnty question,
and threatening to resign unless-the
bill was negatived (and he had his
mad way), and thus leave the axe:
grinders -in the lurch,' and put some
scores of members to-the test of a
general election, should cover him
with -eternal disgrace as -a :poli-.
tician--for statesman he has proved
himself none. In order to gratify
his?inordinate vanity, and show that
he is yoet powerful, he. has flung 'the
best interests of the colony to the
winds, bartored them fodr a -jumping
jack to satisfy the- whimsical whim of
a petulant victim to second childhood.
It is well-known that there is not
another man in the colony who honestly
desires the erection of this charnel.
house and raree-show. It is-an open
secret "that his- colleagues have one
and all, except, perhaps,- the other
dotard, Mr. GAnnRRETT, endeaouredOG
to dissuade him from- this exercise
of fatudus eccentricit"y. - There is not
one. of his most ardent and honest
followers who would not shout for
joy if, the old man :ivouhb ab andon the
idea. There is not' a newspaper,
colonial, intercolonial, or fdreign, but
what has denounced and. ridiculed it,
whilethe'paramount people look upon
the whole thing with abhorrence or
contempt. Why then, it may be
asked, is' the insane notion to be
carried out, at an incalculable cost ? Is
HENIcY PaXES :not only ktho ruler
of New South Wales but its scourge,
in spite of his failing in this matter to
have gained. the support of friend or
foe, and can heo of his own strong per
sonality defy the country ? Thisis thd
answer : The wily old trickster knows
his temporary possession of the trump
card. To his colleagues he says, "You
must be blindly with me in !this
matter, or away go your portfoliosi
which no other leatder will eveir entrhist
you wvith again.": To his supprt~era
he says, "' If I don't have my .way
in this mtter,. I :wvillresign-break up
the:Ministry·- and, instead of being in
a ;riennial Parliameit, you may have
to go to' oilr constituents while 'y?u
aie Just' gtting~ into the way of under
standing how\ comfortable the position
:of a blind supporter of 0a Government
cani be mrade." He tells the Rasg and
Oailico part) that"if this State-house is
noidt': built: as: h'e wishies, :Protc6ioni
will . sei?oe: the colony. by.. the
vitals,, Thus, by making the queos
tion. one of, party, and deolaring
that he would accept ':the carrying:of
Ms. Dins' bill as a vote of consure,
he has in· the most dislhonest :and- co?
rupt and tricky way choked discus
sion, and, if he likes to:use his ipaltry
victory, defied the ,Parliament and
people of the colony., He knows, that
a few short years, perhapsi months,
will see his reign over and ·his' name
held in execiation, as it has. been
before; but when in the mire, and'
under the wheel of the cas of 'The'
Juggernaut of public contumely, he
can cry exultingly," "HomwlI at mn as
you may, throw mud at me', but I got
my State-house in spite of you all."
The only excuse for or plalliation of
this wilful waste of money on. a orank
is that the cost will be defrayed by
the improvement of land in conse
quence of the ecection of the building.
T'he additional value in consequence is
estimated at nearly a quarter of a
million-bait by whom ? The Premier
had :the unblushing impudence to
ignort the great, well-tried, and
largely exoperienced estate and land
agents of Sydney, and call in the
s??viues of three outsiders, First is
Mr. JosN BsEN'ETT, who for the b11t
part of twenty years has been a
theatricnl agen6t and manager, and
latterly fnacing promoter and land
-speculaetr, we belieove is the word.
Mr. BENNE3lV is also th'e father of the
present or dying out land craeo.
lo was one of the syndicate
which bought ri'ushgrovo fJarm near
Parramatta, cut it up into villa sites,
and sold it at a fabulous proft. The
land was acquired from a person who
hold a power of attorney from tli late
WcILLTA FORSTEn, one of the ablest
men who ever lifted up his voice'in
the Assembly to denounce cantl
and hypocrisy, .corruption, and -
PAnRKES; and when he returned and
found what had been done, it broke his
heart. Mr. FnI~Awos TIa T we do not
know, but it may be the warehouse
man, or the brilliant son of honest old
yellow-and-black Jonrw TAIT, Of racing
fame. Mr. HunERTr NEWMAN~1 has
doubtless a prodigiousreputation as a
land and Dead-house valuator, but we
never heard of him as such. If, how
ever, the estimate arrived 'at by
these friends - of Sir ?H??aWr's
is correct - anid it is derided
by competent authorities'- there is
no earthly reason why the Govern
ment should go land-jobbing. And,
again, professional valuators say that
the park (MIr. Drans' park) \vill cause
the inicrease vithout a Dead-house; in
which case the quarter of a million
should be thrown into, the State's
depleted coffers. The bill may yet be
defeated. Our telegraphic messages,
last night, told of aniother motion by
Mr. DIans in opposition to it, and,
even if it should finally pass the
Assembly, the Legislative Council
deserves to be swept away if it does
not step in ere it is too late and stay
the hand of this doting autocrat.
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