The following account of the distutbance in - Victoria harem a private
letter, by a person in a position to -collect the best information, of a character to be :careful in selecting it, And of a judgment to appreciate the facts. The account -makes the whole affair more intelligible, and shows that the diggers were not wantonly acting altogether without provocation. " You will-see by the newspapers that very sad riots have taken place at the Victoria Diggings, .in which many lives have -been sacrificed. Quiet is restored ; and the dreadful evils of an outbreak -having been felt, it will pro- bably be preserved. The diggers have had much to complain of, and they have endured a-great-deal. The-WM=0va and-sudden increase in the popu- lation was greater than a Colonial government _could provide for—greater perhaps than any government Could provide for. In consequence of this, life and properly were not protected. The diggers asked for a .better police, and the Government said that a better could not be provided. Then the diggers objected tothe licence-fee if they were not to be protected, they said, why should they pay for the support of the /Government ? The officers who collected thelees kept their offices open only afew hours in-the day ; and the diggers, who had 'walked eight or ten miles through the heat, were not pleased to find that they mustgo back and return the next day, or lie out All night without.a hlanketro cover them, and exposed to he robbed of the thirty shilliegs.that -their monthly licence would cost. So the licence-fee became .very unpopular. The sale of spirits at the Diggings wesprohihited; and unprincipled officers winked at `sly grog-shops,' while they punished the -vendors elsewhere. seedless or unprincipled Magistrates made unjust decisions ; and one cannot be surprised that law and its officers should be regarded with-anger and-contempt. The immediate cause of the riot was a matter of just displeasure. A publican -on the Diggings had turned two men out of his house one evening; next morning one of them - was found dead--he-had _been shot. The publican was apprehended, .examined in a most careless way, and dismissed. The diggers believed that he had _caused the man's death, and that the Magistrates had accepted 'bribes from him. So they took the execution of the law:into their own hands. They went to the public-house to seize its master ; and he having escaped, they luirnedhis house and elestroyed'his furniture. Then the police seized the leaders, and put them into confinement. Their companions demanded their release ; and others who were-waiting for An opportunity joined them in this demand, and -claimed also the abolition of the licence-fee. Soldiers were called out, And fighting ensued. More soldiers were fetched from Melbourne ; and the dis- trict was placed under martial law, excepting—a great exception—that no execution-waste-take-place. In a few days order was restored ; but many lives had been lost. The Governor seems to have act, d well. The publican
again apprehended, and after a second examination committed for trial ; and every oftioer engaged in the first examination was dismissed—and it is -not expected-that the matter will terminate with-dismissal only. A number of diggers, who in their anger had joined the tumultuous party and burned their licences, have, I am glad to.say, bought new licences, and set to work Again."
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