THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN VICTORIA.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.")
SIB,—In confirmation of a passage in my letter published in the Spectator of the 28th ult., in which I wrote, "It does not follow from the fact of a large majority of Protectionist candidates having been returned, that the proportion of Protectionists to Free-traders in the constituencies is the same as it is in the Assembly," I send you the following extract from the Report of
the Free-trade League of Victoria The actual results of the elections show that the real balance of opinion in favour of Pro- tection is by no means so great as the return to Parliament appears to indicate. In the twenty-four single electorates in which there was a contest, and of which alone it is possible to speak with any approach to accuracy, there were nominated thirty-four candidates whose views on Free-trade were more or less pronounced, and thirty-two Protectionist candidates. The former polled 13,665 votes, and the latter 15,490 votes. If, therefore, the respective positions of Protection and Free-trade are to be tested by numbers, it will be seen that whilst the pro- portion of members returned was 15 to 9, the proportion of voters was 15 to 18. This discrepancy appears in an aggravated form in those districts which returned two or more members." This extract appears in the Argus of 11th June last, which did not reach this country until after the publication of my former letter.
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