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SYDNEY, THURSDAY, NOV. 13, 1863.
OÜB enterprising. friends in South Australia
appear to be puzzled what to' do with their eon',
quests. That they have the right to a first
voice in the matter no ons can dispute, for they
have done more to make known the interior
geography of this continent than ' any other
people in the Australian group. A return re-
cently laid before the local Parliament shows
that nearly £25,000 had . been expended from
the Government Treasury for, .exploration pur-
poses.: A portion, but , a .very small portion, of
this was r. funded by. tue . sale - of equipments:
Toi this must be added the personal services of
S oath Australian colonists, the amount* raised
by ¡private subscription, and the sums voted by
the Imperial Government and by scientific
sdcief es in the United Kingdom ; for these con-
tributions to the; <sostf of explora;.ion.,,-would
never have been made if the: example- bad not
been set by the spirit and entei prise
of the South ' Australian colonists.' But,
although lhere seems to be a little querulous-
ness about expense,'and some cariosity as to
the probability ' of any immediate return, the
South Australians maintain their character as
pioneers. . " The large sums of money disbursed
from the public treasury for the - purposes of
exploration," says a, la'o Adelaide paper,
"naturally induce some reluctance on the part
of the Legislature to add,to them ; but although
much money has been .spent,, a considerable
amount of valuable; knowledge and practical
information has ..been ; obtained." The South
Australians.are proud of their conquests, but
still dou'itful bow to dispose of them. Mr.
STRANG WAYS, j it seems, had Btr'ong ..doubts
whether the block of country .between South
abd Western, Australia, : formerly known
as " No Man's Land," and not -long since
annexed tb the.. South Australian colony by the
Imperial Government, under the provisions of
an Act of'- Parliament, *; was or was not
liable to a : portion of ; tba public debt
.owing -. by ! New South Wales, . of which
colony itr had .formed, a part.., There
can be no question whatever that Mr. STKANG
WAT8Î is right in principle, in supposing that
every, acre of land that was included in tho ter-
ritory of New Sooth Wales at the time of issuing
any given batch) of, debentures, was virtually.
nortgoged as security. ; But the praotical fact is
hat the holders of our bonds want no security of
the. kind, and treat it as a mere matter of form.:
They are quite contented with the solvency of
the colony, in spite of all attempts to disparage
it. Four years ago the colony of.New South
Wales was supposed .to exjepd north wards,as far .
ad GapeYorke, and ; westerly far beyond the
splendid ; country since traversed by BURKE,
MO KINLAY, LANDSBOROUGH, .and ó'.hers. Yet,
although Queensland has taken -all beyond the
Cweed River on,the north and all .inside a line
drawn south from the Gulf ef Carpentaria on the
Vest ; and although South Australia bas taken
"No Macs-Land," the public, eeour it iee of.this
colony have steadily advanced in value. There
need be no fear that pur creditors will ever have
to levy on the. South Australian acquisitions,
although tbe cerner allotment between that
colony and Western Australia presenta an invi-
ting appearance. : . Messrs.. i- TOW,' we learn, bad
just returned from, an expedition thitherward,
and bad disoovered a. good and well watered
ooutitry as neat the. coast aa .twenty-four
rniletf north-west of Fowler's Bay. ; Not-
withstanding these temptations, we shall
not' be likely'to ïreuble the holders of our
debentures with any "references to No Man's
Land. The answer of the TBBA.8DBEB of South
Auatralia to the question put to him on this point
is rather amusing. We quote from an Adelaide
paper :-" Mr. BTRANGWAYS asked the Treasurer
whether the Government have taken, or pro-
pose to take, any and what steps to ascer'a'n
whether the Government of New Sou'.h Wales
have sold or alienated, or contracted or agreed
to sell or a' e late, in fee or for a term ; f years,
.or otherwise, any land ia that portion of Austra-
lia recently annexed to this provinoe by letters
patent. .. The TREASURER replied :-The
Government have not yet taken steps, but they
will take all necessary precautions to secure to
the persons: who may purchase nay land a valid
title to the. same.**. The TREASURER
ought tohave known that the letters
patent r.. were.... issued . under . , the
law, and that we of this colony had no right to
raise any objection, even if there had been any
inclination. As to our creditors, it is to ba
assumed that :they. are quite satisfied with the
security they hold. '
The bill to regulate the occupation of the
northern territory laid open by STUART was
meeting with similar .nbjestions as to the safety
i of taking hold of the country. There bad
been mach encouragement offered by tbe
reports of Messrs. STUART and WATERHOUSE.
not to speak of tbe utterances of Sir KODE RICK
MURCHISON, Sir . CHARLES NICHOLSON, Mr.
MABBH, and ¡other gentlemen of eminence who
had never seen the: country. In committee on
the billion, the iclaute proposing that one,
hundred: and twenty-five thousand acres of lsnd
should be Bold, partly in the ; colony and partly j
in London,.,Mr. .-BLYTH, had some doubts
"After a çareful coDsideration of the documents
relating to the annexation of tho new territory,
he had come .to the o nclusion that the home
authorities .did not intend them; to dispose of the
land, ¡ The information; they possessed as to
whot.was her Majesty's intention . in ^annexing
the land to the, colony was very vague, and
meagre.. The documents. seemed to suppose
that the land, would be . occupied by people
engaged in pastoral pursuits. After quoting
from the correspondence, be said there was, only
one paragraph whioh mentioned anything about
the growth pf tropical produce, such as, colton,
sugar, rice, Aa. He believed tbey were under
the impression in England that instead of raising
nearly a quarter of a million hy the sale of the
land, they were only voting a tmall Bum to make
the settlement, being repaid, out of the receipts
from pastoral lands. He dil- not .think they
would be sctin^ in accordance with the under-
standing of the Homo Government if they
pa»sed the bill to dispese of the land, as he
believed it was only, temporarily attached to
them, for them to look after its protection. He
admitted that they were allowed to sell certain
town acres, but sot tho opantry sections, Mr,
; T BANG WATS did Dot tb ÍD lt it ATM t)W6t ¡Oteodod i
that they' should bave the power of selling
the |apd ; ,in fact be did ¿ot ! think they bjad ever
asked ' for- this pomer¿',n'r,li'"Aa- «vident., that,'
.he elephant ia becoming. troublesome. . The
bpld South Au tralians, however, having done
so much, should not be disheartened now. The
ie wt rd will come in due time in increased traffic
and, consequently, increased prosperity.
In the meantime, as if to relieve the country
of t 'O much blood, there is a secessionist move-
ment in 8oub Australia. ."Tho Port Elliot
people,-' through the mouth or pen of one Mr..
CHAHLÏSLOWE-who may perhaps be r« membered
in Öydoey-want to 'set' up .for tbèmselves or
to be annexed to that .dreamland, of pastoral
enthusiasts-Riverina. " What is the grievance
of Whioh the residents of Port Elliot complain,"
tays an Adelaide jourml. "All that can be
gathered from the speeches delivered; at the
meeting is that the Government have refused to
extend the Victor Harbour jetty to Granite
Island." The journals take this separation
movement calmly and rationally, and they are
right* If the colonists have too much country
on one side they can afford to get-rid of some on
the other. We hope, however, thát they will be
able td conquer both ' difficulties'-one' by kind-
ness, and the othtr by their indomitable spirit of
enterprise.
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