termination of the late dangerous and disastrous parliamentary
"deadlock," and the political and social animosities caused by it are
already fast subsiding. The country is tranquil and generally
prosperous. Before the commencement of the political crisis there had
been a partial depression in trade and depreciation in the value of
certain kinds of property, in consequence of a long drought succeeded by
very heavy floods, and from other temporary causes. These evils had been
aggravated by the sense of uncertainty rather than of insecurity
produced by the fierce and protracted political and social agitation and
antagonism of the last four months. But a young and strong community
like that of Victoria, full of life and energy, and of that general good
humour which flows from the habitual prosperity of all classes, rapidly
recovers from depression and discontent, however caused.

It has been very satisfactory to me to receive the assurances that
throughout the late financial deadlock, no public money has been
expended except in due form of law, and in strict accordance with
parliamentary usage. Those public works which had been legally provided
for by Railway and Loan Acts, or otherwise, have been carried on
without interruption; while by dint of strict economy and of the large
retrenchments in the civil service effected by the Ministry, the
administration of justice and of the several departments of the
Government has proceeded regularly and without intermission.

In a speech delivered in last October before the actual beginning of the
recent crisis, but in anticipation of its near approach, I recommended
the members of both Houses of Parliament and of both political parties
to lay to heart the subjoined passage in one of Mr. J.S. Mill's works:

"One of the most indispensable requisites in the practical conduct of
politics, especially in the management of free institutions, is
conciliation, a readiness to compromise, a willingness to concede
something to opponents, and to shape good measures so as to be as little
offensive as possible to persons of opposite views, and of this salutary
habit the mutual 'give and take' (as it has been called) between two
Houses is a perpetual school; useful as such even now, and its utility
would probably be more felt in a more democratic constitution of the
Legislature." Nor have I ever ceased to urge the adoption of such
principles as those laid down by Mr. Merivale when he wrote "Moderat