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was intelligently ventilated, and resolutions were passed appointing a deputation to interview the banks, to urge a reduction of discounts to 8 per cent.; and deposits, of whatever duration, to 4 per cent. A resolution declaratory of the firmest confidence in the vast resources and ultimate success of the colony was also agreed to. T h e Insolvent Act was very defective ; it was a premium upon roguery instead of security for the honest. Judge Willis one day in the investigation of a suit, exclaimed from the Supreme Court Bench, "There are so m a n y insolvents that I do not know their names. I never saw any place in such a state before." A n d again in the same case, " T h e whole Insolvent Act appears such a chaos that it blinds m e entirely, and the only dividend it has ever produced is is. 7d. in the pound." T h e Bank of Australasia and the Union Bank soon after offered to advance upon the season's clip of wool, the bills of lading being deposited as security—a proposition hailed with m u c h pleasure by the settlers, though distasteful to the Commercial houses. Hitherto, when a settler obtained an advance upon a wool shipment, he had to take it in bills from the merchant. It is an old saying that "it never rains but it pours," and in more than one sense this was amply verified, for since the advent of winter there had been an unusally heavy rainfall, and the floods produced m u c h loss of property and distress throughout the country. Sheep-shearing was greatly retarded, and considerable damage sustained by the clip. In one respect Melbourne had m a d e a step forward (though a small one), for the town had tasted of self-government—First, by the creation of a Market Commission, and, secondly, by its Act of Incorporation. T h e year closed with a population of 23,799, in which the males counted 15,691, and the females 8 1 0 8 — a small increase; but there were 1025 births, whilst the deaths reckoned 413, and marriages 514. T h e proceeds of land sales amounted to only ,£21,085, and imports exceeded exports by ,£78,644. T h e N e w Year (1843) w a s r^e harbinger of great expectations as making and mending the public highways, and hope was quickened by the enactment of an A m e n d e d Constitution Statute, conferring upon the District the privilege of returning six members to the Legislative Council of N e w South Wales. T h e banks reduced the rate of interest upon deposits from seven tofiveper cent. ; but this did not produce any appreciable effect, for reckless credit, reckless trading, trafficking in accommodation bills, and excessive expenditure (where it could at all run it) continued. Things were drifting into such a terrible state (in February) that the most influential newspaper advocated the closing of the Supreme Court for twelve months as a desperate remedy for a desperate disease. Commercial property became unsaleable, unless at ruinously low prices; sheep and cattle did not bring a third of what ought to have been their ordinary value, and bills were scarcely negotiable. House and land property had fallenfiftyand seventy-five per cent. ; and as a few out of many instances it m a y be mentioned that the freehold of a cottage and garden in Lonsdale Street, previously let at ,£360 per a n n u m was sold for .£450; and another cottage occupied by a solvent tenant at a yearly rental of ,£150, brought only ,£157 10s. A n allotment offifty-fourfeet frontage to Bourke Street, was disposed of for 15s. per foot, and a station near Cape Schanck with 323 head of cattle, 51 calves, 2 horses, 2 imported Durham bulls, another high-bred bull, and station appurtenances, implements, etc., all changed hands for ,£800 cash ! Mr. Williams, a well-known auctioneer, in preparing his schedule, prior to a declaration of insolvency, could not get a valuator to assign any value to a tastily built cottage and grounds at South Yarra, which only two years before cost ,£1800. Fat cattle were selling for £1 a head, sheep 2s. each, and a good leg of mutton could be had for sixpence; but the " tanner" then was a coin of the realm more potent than aflorinnow. Servants had m u c h difficulty in obtaining payment. of their wages, and one day at the Police Court thirty-three claims were adjudicated, running from ,£2 to ,£30, the total amount sued for being ,£441 10s. 5d. O n e thousand small debt plaints used to befiledfor a monthly sitting of the Court of Requests, but the retailers, driven by self-preservation, pronounced against giving more trust, and though not successful in the general introduction of cash payments, the effort very perceptibly diminished the Court of Requests Cause Lists. In April the banks reduced interest to three per cent, on current account deposits, and five per cent, at three months; the discount upon bills having not more than 100 days to run, was lowered to eight per cent. T o intensify the daily accumulating troubles, two special, though unintentional contributories added their dividend to the vortex of general discontent—the Corporation and the Resident Judge. T h e T o w n Council was severed into contemptible cabals; and its meetings were ebullitions of personal spite and rancour. W h e n not quarrelling with the Superintendent and the Executive, its members were rowing with