LETTER ON THE EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS TO NEW SOUTH WALES
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LETTER
ON THE
EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS
TO
NEW SOUTH WALES.
TO THE
RIGHT HON. R. WILMOT HORTON, M. P.
SIR,
I shall offer no apology for addressing to you the following observations connected with a subject which is so deeply indebted to your labours.
Having had the good fortune to obtain (during my voyage from New South Wales to England) a perusal of your "Inquiry into the Causes and Remedies of Pauperism," I observed, in a note to your explanation of the Bill which you had obtained leave to bring into Parliament, that although the main branch of your scheme of emigration was the settlement of emigrants in Canada and the other North American Provinces; yet that, looking to the Australasian Colonies as "much prejudiced by the want of labourers," and as "affording a highly valuable means of improving the condition of pauper labourers in England," you proposed also to bring a Bill into Parliament for the purpose of facilitating the object of supplying these Colonies with labour.
Whoever has given an hour's reflection to this subject, or has had an opportunity of witnessing the condition of the Colonies of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, must feel an entire conviction that no other single measure, perhaps no combination of measures, is capable of benefiting these Colonies so extensively as this, if conducted on sound principles and with a due attention to the wants of the Colonies, and to the physical and moral qualities of the persons whose emigration it is proposed to encourage.
I observe that you consider this as "a totally distinct
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question" from that of sending pauper emigrants to Canada, the one being (as I infer) the adoption of the cheapest plan for relieving the pauperism of the United Kingdom, the other a measure by which the mother country and the colony will be reciprocally benefited, and to the expence of which, the latter might therefore be reasonably expected, at least, to contribute.
From other passages of your work, I think that this is a correct inference; but even should it prove otherwise, the observations which I propose to offer upon that view of the case will not be much out of place, in considering the general question of Emigration to New South Wales; and they will serve to shew to what extent that measure might be made to pay its own expense, should you, unhappily, have failed in carrying through your grand measure with respect to Canada, in which you have abandoned the principle of repayment. 1
As far as regards the colony of New South Wales, to which alone my own knowledge extends, the same "intense demand for labour," which was proved to exist before the emigration committee of 1827, not only continues to exist, but has much encreased; and the opinion they expressed, "that no cause so much retards the progress and improvement of that colony, as the want of labour to bring its resources into full developement," still continues to be perfectly correct. But to what extent the colony could repay, or could afford to the emigrant the means of repaying the expense incurred in his transport, is a question altogether distinct from the question to what extent the importation of labourers might be advantageously carried, both with regard to the colony and the labourer.
It is evident that, in the latter view of the case, the advantage of the measure would only be limited by the extent to which an abundant supply of all the necessaries of life could be afforded to the labourer, but that in the former case, the principal element in the calculation would be the extent to which colonial produce, having an exchangeable value, could be raised and disposed of.
The labour of the colony, as is well known, is at present almost altogether performed by convicts, who are distributed, with very few exceptions, to persons resident in the country.
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Few of the common labourers, as may well be supposed, are of a very effective description; and with regard to mechanics, it seldom happens that they arrive in more than sufficient number to carry on the works required by government. There are many indeed who profess to be mechanics, who are either found totally useless in that capacity, or who make themselves appear so, from a view of turning their qualifications to their own account.
The colonists, generally, are not therefore much benefited by the labour of convict mechanics, even when they are fortunate enough to procure their assignment: and they are therefore chiefly dependent upon those who have become free by servitude, or have obtained tickets of leave to work for their own advantage. The convicts holding tickets of leave are, in most cases, restricted to a residence in a particular district in the country. The free men generally take up their residence in the towns, particularly in Sydney, to which they are attracted, not only by the demand for their labour, but by the opportunities of indulgence it affords. Originally free mechanics are comparatively so very few in number as scarcely to merits particular notice.
For several years past, tradesmen and mechanics of the more useful classes, such as carpenters, stonemasons, blacksmiths, wheelwrights, &c. have been able to earn from 5s. to 10s. per day in Sydney. I believe there has scarcely been an instance of a good workman of either of these descriptions, and of some others of the kinds which are most in request in a new country, receiving less than 5s.; and men of great skill and industry have often been able to obtain more than the larger sum by their daily labour. Even common labourers procure from 3s. to 3s. 6d. per day in Sydney.
It must not however be supposed that all the mechanics and tradesmen in the colony, whose labour is at their own disposal, are fully employed at these prices. The very reverse is the case. The peculiar circumstances of the colony are such as, in this respect, altogether to alter the relation usually subsisting between supply and demand in the commodity of labour. These circumstances are, first, the indolent and depraved habits of the workmen; and, secondly, the cheapness of provisions. A very small proportion of the working classes have industry and stea-
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diness enough to continue their labour from day to day, with the view of accumulating their earnings, in order to better their condition in life; and the greater part of their time is accordingly spent in sloth and dissipation; --or if a greater portion of their time be given to labour, it is only that they may plunge the deeper in debauchery during the remainder.
The extreme cheapness of the necessaries of life, which makes it possible for a man to maintain himself during a week on the wages of one day, enables them to keep up this system, and to make their own terms with the master: and thus those to whom labour is indispensable are forced to pay a most exorbitant price; and the majority of persons, especially of those resident in the country, are obliged to content themselves with such mechanical labour as is requisite to carry on the most necessary operations on their farms, and to postpone all improvements to an indefinite period; while, at the same time, half the mechanical skill in the colony is running to waste.
It is evident, therefore, that the very high price which is paid for labour, is not altogether the effect of the scarcity of labourers, but results also from their disregard for any thing beyond the means of present gratification, --from the cheapness of provisions, which enables them to keep up the price of labour by refusing to work, unless on their own terms; and, perhaps, from their depravity of character, which would lead many of them to prefer the alternative of turning robbers and bushrangers, rather than submit to labour, unless for such a remuneration as will enable them to indulge their habits of indolence and intemperance.
About twelve months ago, the shop-keepers and dealers in Sydney came to the resolution of abolishing the currency prices, and substituting sterling prices in their stead. In other words, instead of taking the Spanish dollar at the nominal rate of 5s., and charging for their goods accordingly, they professed to reduce the nominal price of their goods, and to take the dollar at its real value of 4s. 2d. In consequence of this change, which was almost universally adopted, mechanics and work people insisted on being paid in sterling the same nominal sum which they were formerly paid in currency, alleging that the shop-keepers would only receive their dollars at 4s. 2d., instead of 5s. as formerly. They combined to enforce this demand, by
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refusing to work unless their wages were raised in the same proportion, and in the majority of instances they were successful.
The foregoing observations apply chiefly to Sydney, where the regulations of the government disallow, in a great measure, the assignment of convict labourers; and where masters are under the necessity of employing free men; --as far, however, as regards mechanics, the same observations will apply equally to the country; but, with this difference, that though the nominal amount of wages will probably be the same as in Sydney, instead of being paid entirely in money, it is always a part of the agreement, that the greater proportion of the amount shall be taken up in property--this property consists not only of the food of the mechanic, which is produced on the farm, and of articles of clothing and luxury, on which a very large profit is charged by the master, but generally also of a portion of live stock, for which he could with difficulty, if at all, procure another vent. By this means, the settler contrives in some measure, to reconcile the disproportion between the wages of labour, and the profit of stock; while any disadvantage the mechanic might thereby suffer, is probably more than compensated to him by his living rent free. With regard to the common labourer, as convicts are assigned chiefly to the country, the free labourer is, of course, unable to procure such large wages there as in Sydney; but still, even the most useless of the class, who have almost, without exception, been convicts, and who, indeed, are chiefly ticket-of-leave men, restricted to a residence in a particular district, can procure good wages. The present rate for shepherds, who are perhaps the worst paid of any class, varies from £10. to £15., or even £20. per annum, --the amount varying in a great measure, according to the proportion which may be stipulated for in money. This rate of wages, --which is of course in addition to a large ration of animal food and flour, --is perhaps as high as the profits of the sheep farmer will allow him to afford to mere shepherds, and it is therefore probable, that it would not be much exceeded under any circumstances. At the time of my leaving the colony, so great was the demand for convict labourers, that (judging from the applications before the Land
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Board) I have no doubt, if 5000 had arrived within a week, they would have all been taken off with avidity.
Such being the state of things in the colony, it is evident that a considerable importation of mechanics and labourers might take place without materially affecting the price of labour; and though a very large addition to the number of mechanics and labourers now in the colony, could not fail to have the effect of reducing the rate at which their labour is now remunerated; still this reduction would not take place to such an extent as might be at first sight supposed; for a fall in the wages of labour, would immediately bring into the market many persons, who are at present excluded from it by its exorbitant price. -- The houses, the out buildings, and other accommodations of the colonists, to provide which, mechanical skill is required, are at present far behind what might be expected from their circumstances in every other respect; and no sooner would it be possible to procure a good and steady mechanic at 3s. or 4s. per day, --even which sum is a very high rate of wages when compared with the price of provisions, --than many persons who are at present residing in a slab house of the rudest construction, with corresponding offices, would immediately set about erecting a more comfortable residence; and not only would better accommodations be provided for the colonists, but a spur would be given to their enterprize, in raising many articles of produce, which they are at present withheld from attempting, by the high price of labour. Nor is there the slightest reason to fear that successive importations, provided they should be adjusted with any degree of attention to the means possessed by the colony of supporting them, would at length sink the remuneration of labour to an undue rate, in relation to the profits of capital. Besides being the necessary result of circumstances, the fact is too well established by the history of every new country to leave any room for doubt, that as long as the colony continues so much underpeopled as it is likely to be for a century to come, labour is the last commodity which will undergo a depreciation in the market.
The labourer, under any circumstances, will always continue to command a large proportion of the produce of the colony, as
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the remuneration of his labour; but, on the other hand, this produce, however intrinsically valuable, may not be of such a nature as would bear exportation to another market, and thus, though enjoying the necessaries of life in the greatest profusion, the wages of the labourer when paid in kind, might produce a very small sum in money; or, in other words, though in reality high in relation to the price of provisions, and the means of living, as well as to the profits of capital, might sink to a very low money rate.
It is this consideration which it appears to me most necessary to keep in view, in forming an estimate to what extent the expense of the transport of emigrants might be repaid from the wages of their labour in the colony; and, as formerly stated, it is a question totally distinct from the extent to which the colony could afford an abundant support to emigrant labourers, in return for their labour. The extent to which the colony could repay the expense of transporting emigrants, would be regulated chiefly by two circumstances. --First, by the amount of capital in the colony, and the extent to which this capital could be profitably invested in the employment of labour. -- And secondly, by the annual aggregrate money income of the colonists, and the proportion of this income which they might invest in domestic improvements and accommodations, compared with what they should expend in the purchase of foreign luxuries.
The value of produce exported in 1829, (including sperm oil, and New Zealand flax, as well as wool, hides, and timber,) is stated to have amounted to £161,716. The expenditure of the British Government in the maintenance of the Convicts, and of the military, (exclusive of a revenue of £105,000, raised within the colony) amounted in the same year to £206,505.
The total money income of the colonists may therefore be estimated in round numbers at. £370,000, which is about £10. per head, including young and old, bond and free, --an immense income, when it is considered, that it is over and above the most lavish consumption of almost all the necessaries of life, which never take the form of a money valuation.
This annual income may be considered as disposable for the purchase of foreign luxuries, and for the repayment of any
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expense, which might be incurred in sending out mechanics and labourers in husbandry.
Now, although on the one hand there may be a probability of the supplies to be purchased by the Government for the maintenance of the convicts and the troops, being in some degree lowered in price, and perhaps lessened in quantity-- though the contrary is more to be expected; on the other hand, every year continues to add very largely to the amount and variety of the exports. 2 And the greater the increase in the population, the less in proportion will be the importation of foreign luxuries, --partly because the fall in the price of labour will check their at present extravagant consumption, and partly because it will become profitable to raise many of them, or substitutes for them, in the colony*
Within the last two years a most extensive change has already taken place in these respects. The low prices obtained by the stockholders for their homed cattle and sheep, which were formerly the chief sources of their income, have almost banished tea, sugar, and foreign tobacco, from the rations issued to convict labourers in the country. The place of tea and sugar, which was formerly consumed to a large amount by these people, is now supplied by milk and butter; and the cultivation of colonial tobacco has become so much an object of attention, that in the course of a year or two, every farm and district will probably produce a sufficiency for its own consumption, and many of them a surplus for exportation.
The consumption of slop clothing of English manufacture is now almost altogether replaced by that of a coarse woollen cloth, made from their inferior wools, by the more considerable settlers, on their own farms. Colonial leather has also come into universal use. --The same is the case with soap and candles, and to a great extent with beer, for all of which articles, large sums were formerly sent from the colony.
Many of the settlers have also commenced the plantation of vineyards, and with such prospects of success, that there is little doubt most of the wine and spirits consumed in the
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colony, will, before long, be - of its own production. 3 -- In one case, very good brandy has been made (as is
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generally the case in France) from a wine, which itself proved of a very indifferent quality.
In short, the colony is daily making such strides towards supplying many of the most bulky, as well as of the most expensive articles of its own consumption, that the colonists will be able to apply a much larger proportion of their income than formerly, in providing those comforts and conveniences, which are afforded by the mechanical arts, and in which they have hitherto been so very deficient; as well as in the production of fresh commodities, that the high price of labour has, as yet, forbidden them to attempt.
It may reasonably be expected too, that those large importations of grain, which have in some seasons (and especially in those of 1828 and 1829) drained the colony of so large a share of its resources, are at an end. The scarcity of those seasons,
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which was chiefly owing to a drought of unprecedented extent and continuance, was also aggravated by a practice which prevailed among the stockholders, of purchasing from their poorer neighbours the supplies for their distant establishments, instead of cultivating for themselves.--This is an expense which the reduced value of their stock will no longer sustain; and not only a more extensive, but a wider spread cultivation of grain has accordingly taken place.
In the districts of Bathurst and Argyle, the harvests of 1830-31, had yielded so very abundantly, that it was estimated these districts contained a sufficiency for their own consumption for three years. The settlers, nevertheless, shewed no disposition to circumscribe their cultivation; experience had proved to them the necessity for providing against the uncertainty of their own climate; and, however fortunate they might continue to prove in their own crops, a demand might arise in other, parts of the colony where the weevil and the fly, (from the ravages of which Bathurst and Argyle are free,) prevent the profitable hoarding of a surplus.
The more general use of maize 4 as an article of diet, as well as the attention that has been lately paid to millet, a grain that has never yet suffered from drought or blight, will further tend to prevent the future scarcity of bread corn; and, whatever partial failures of the crops may occur, when the extent of the colony, and the difference of climate in its districts, are considered, I think there will appear little ground to fear that the scarcity of one district may not always be compensated by the surplus of another.
Although, therefore, the colony has recently suffered from a scarcity of bread corn, these considerations lead me to the opinion that it is not likely again to suffer from the same cause; while with regard to animal food, not only is the vast range of its natural pasturage stocked with sheep, cattle, and horses, sufficient to supply the wants of double its present population, but the rate at which these are increasing, when compared with the rate of the present increase of the population, is equal to that of a geometrical compared with an arithmetical progression.
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Thus, abounding in all the necessaries of life, and many of the luxuries which are most prized in civilized society; and with a vast extent of the richest soil still untouched by the hand of man; enjoying, moreover, a climate most congenial to the health of the human frame, --and admitting of the labours of the field in all seasons of the year; New South Wales may well be considered as offering a most desirable asylum for the starving pauper of Great Britain; and, from what I have stated, I think it may also be reasonably inferred, that, besides furnishing the emigrant mechanic with all the necessaries of life, it will always continue to have such a surplus of exchangeable produce, as will allow of his being paid so handsomely besides, that he will have no difficulty in reimbursing the expenses of his emigration. Without going into the matter at any length, I will merely advert to the increase of capital, which the colony may expect to obtain with emigrants of a higher class, as well as by the gradual accumulations of a more frugal population, and to the diminution of those losses, which at present arise from the extreme scarcity of mechanics in the less populous districts. This scarcity is at present so great, as often to render an injury to a plough, of so trifling a nature that an hour's labour would repair it, were the mechanic at hand, the means of losing a season for a crop.
My observations have hitherto had reference chiefly to mechanics, because there is not only a smaller proportion of the useful classes of these, than of labourers, in proportion to the demand, but because the higher rate at which their labour is always remunerated, leaves no doubt of their ability to repay the expense which might be incurred in sending them to New South Wales, whatever doubts might arise with regard to the ability of common labourers.
Next to that for the more ordinary classes of mechanics, the demand in New South Wales is greatest for shepherds, and labourers in husbandry. I have already stated that free shepherds at present receive, in addition to a ration of flour and beef, from £10 to £15 a year, a portion of which is, however, paid in property. It may therefore be doubted, whether a person employed as a shepherd, after maintaining a family, could make
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any contribution towards repaying the expense of his passage, although, it is true that the mere food of his wife and children would seldom be much considered, even if they should themselves contribute nothing towards procuring it. But although it would not, perhaps, be advantageous for the sheepholder to pay a larger wage than I have stated to a mere shepherd, of such a character as they are at present forced to employ, there can be no doubt that a certain number of men, bred to country labour and of good character, would meet much higher encouragement. Such men would be employed in situations that require a degree of trust which cannot be committed to a convict, or freed convict, without, in most cases, the certainty of a loss, which a man, having his employer's interest at heart, would prevent. The stockholder is at present liable to very heavy losses from the fraud and carelessness of his servants. The employment of honester men would not only obviate these losses, as far as the individual's own conduct was concerned, but would also afford to his master a check upon the conduct of others.
The wives and families of such persons would always also prove a valuable acquisition to the establishments of the settler, and so far, in most cases, from being a burthen to the labourer, would prove the means of adding to his income.
From these facts, as well as from the opinions of several of the most competent persons whom I consulted upon the subject, previous to my leaving the colony, I think I am justified in stating, that mechanics could with ease spare one shilling and shepherds sixpence per day from their wages. It will be afterwards shewn, that the smaller of these sums, would in seven years (at 4 per cent.) more than repay the expense of carrying out a married emigrant and his wife to New South Wales; there remains, therefore, to be considered, first, to what extent the measure might be carried, without reducing the price of labour so low as to defeat this object; and, secondly, the practicability of enforcing the repayment, supposing the ability of the parties to be ascertained.
With regard to the first question, after the most careful consideration I have been able to give the subject, I consider that from 1,500 to 2,000 married mechanics, with their wives, and
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as many married shepherds and labourers in husbandry, with their wives, might with perfect safety be annually sent to the colony during the next three years. At the end of this time a more correct judgment could be formed whether these numbers could be increased, without overstocking the labour market; that is, with regard to repayment; for were the measure contemplated merely as an emigration, without involving the principle of repayment, the numbers might, without doubt, be increased in the same ratio as you have fixed for the emigrations to Canada. 5
The remaining question, that of the practicability of enforcing the repayment of the expense incurred in transporting emigrants, is in every respect one of great difficulty.
In the few cases in which individuals have endeavoured to secure the services of persons brought at their own charge to the colony, at such a reduced rate as would compensate them for this expense, the attempt has almost universally failed. Means have generally been found by the servant to evade his engagement; and, in spite of a late enactment of the colonial legislature, which gives a summary jurisdiction to magistrates in such cases, and thereby extends the power of the master over his servant, every person who has had experience in such cases, or has witnessed their results, will be convinced, that if the servant become so much dissatisfied with his situation as to make a recourse to coercive proceedings necessary, it is better for the master at once to cancel his bond, as the servant will have no difficulty in making his services unprofitable, however cheaply procured.
It was from this cause that, however much the colonists required the assistance of mechanics and labourers, none of them were found to embrace an offer which was made by his Majesty's Government in 1827, to afford facilities for the convey-
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ance of such persons, at the expense of the colonists, could any practicable plan have been proposed for carrying the measure into effect.
As far, therefore, as regards the efforts of individuals, I have always been accustomed to consider it as a forlorn hope that the colony would be adequately supplied with labour; nor, with all the assistance which Government could afford, would it ever become advantageous for an individual to incur so serious an expense, for the uncertain advantage which any exclusive claim to the services of the person, on whose account it was incurred, would yield him.
In a late number (I think that published in May, 1830) of the Quarterly Review, I have observed, among other suggestions upon this subject, one which I think merits the highest attention.
It is there proposed, that emigrants should be carried out at the expense of the Government, or of their parishes, and left at their landing perfectly at liberty to dispose of their labour to the highest bidder; and that the Local Government should lend its aid to raise from these persons, or from the masters who should employ them, such an annual sum as might repay, at the end of a defined period, the expense of their transportation. In the same article, some estimates are given of the amount of annuities which would be required for this purpose, of which I do not recollect the particulars. I observe, however, by the parliamentary papers, that the average expense of transporting convicts during the year 1827, was 24l. 1s. 6d. per head. The rate of freights and the value of the articles consumed by the convicts have fallen so much since that period, that I have no doubt whatever the average expense of transporting each convict in the year 1830 will be found not to have exceeded 20l. But an annuity of about 7l. 15s. or about 5 1/4d. per day, would, in seven years, at 4 per cent., repay the sum of 40l., which, even supposing the expense of free emigrants to be the same as that of convicts, would, at this estimate, be required to carry out a labourer and his wife. Thus far, therefore, the measure appears perfectly practicable.
The next question is, whether the Local Government would
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possess such means of enforcing the payment of those annuities as would justify its becoming responsible for them. Although this would doubtless be a matter of some difficulty, I am nevertheless persuaded that, with the aid of the Local Legislature, it would be fully practicable.
It would, indeed, be necessary to adopt very summary measures. But as these would, of course, be made known to the parties in England before their agreeing to the terms proposed to them, there would be no room for complaint.
The measures which appear to me likely to be effectual are of the following nature: viz. that the parties should all be registered in an office to be established at Sydney; and that whenever they should change their residence, they should communicate this change to the same office, and be furnished with a certificate of having done so.
The payments to be made half-yearly, and at the place where the nearest court of magistrates to the residence of the party might be held.
One or more magistrates to be empowered to issue a warrant of distress or imprisonment upon the affidavit of the agent appointed to collect the annuities.
In the towns, the mechanics would in most cases be hired for short periods; but in the country, both the mechanics and country labourers would generally be engaged for periods of six or twelve months.
In the former cases there would, I am persuaded, be no difficulty in enforcing payment; but in the latter it might occasionally be difficult for the agent to raise the money, even by distress and sale.
It would, therefore, be necessary, in the country, to impose a fine, recoverable before a magistrate, upon any person who should employ a registered emigrant without his first having produced the certificate before alluded to, that he had reported the alteration of his residence; and persons employing them for periods of six months or longer might be held responsible for the amount payable to Government.
I think there would be every disposition in the Colonial Legislature to pass an act with such provisions; and the colonists,
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in general, are so strongly sensible of the advantages of the measure, that I think they would be equally ready to facilitate its being carried into effect, more especially as the colonial revenue being made responsible for the amount, the colony in general would be liable for the deficiency.
When the importance of this measure, both to the colony and the mother country, is duly considered, I think that even though the foregoing observations should be thought to fall short of a demonstration of the practicability of obtaining a full repayment of the expenses which might be incurred in carrying it into effect, they will be considered sufficiently strong to warrant the attempt to the extent I have proposed, even with the prospect of a considerable defalcation.
But should you have succeeded, as I sincerely trust you will have done, in carrying through your grand measure, as detailed in your publication, with respect to the North American Provinces, I think a little further inquiry into the subject will convince you that the conveyance of labourers to New South Wales would not exceed in cost that of settling emigrants in these colonies; and if this should prove to be the case, I am inclined to hope that no disposition would be found to require a repayment in the one case, which was abandoned in the other. From what I know of the condition of New South Wales, compared with that of Canada, so far as my information respecting the latter colony enables me to judge, I have no hesitation in admitting, that the conveyance of labourers to New South Wales would be a greater advantage to that colony than the settlement of emigrants in Canada would be to it. And, what bears more directly on the present question, I think a mechanic, and perhaps even a labourer, who should be removed to New South Wales on the condition of repaying the expense of his passage, would be eventually better off than if settled on a grant of land in Canada (free of expense) in the manner proposed. But of this it would probably be impossible to convince the emigrants themselves; and I believe it would be impracticable to obtain, in the colony, the repayment of the expense by any other mode than by that proposed, of a poll-tax, as it may be considered, on the individuals.
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I am, therefore, of opinion, that the measure of supplying the demands of the colony for labourers, on the principle of repayment, could not be carried into effect simultaneously with an emigration to Canada, free of expense to the emigrant. But I am satisfied his Majesty's Government would take a more liberal view of the question, than to establish such a distinction between the colonies, even were it practicable. And should it not appear, on investigation, that the one colony could be supplied with labourers as cheaply as the other could be settled with emigrants, I am convinced that it would only be necessary to shew by what means the difference could be made good, to incline his Majesty's Government to further both measures alike.
In a paper on the discipline and management of convicts, which I have submitted to the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies, I have suggested what appears to me a most unexceptionable mode by which a large sum might be raised, and which might be most appropriately applied to this purpose. 6
The master of the ship in which I am now writing, and which is returning from a voyage to New South Wales with female convicts, informs me that he could, with perfect safety and comfort to the passengers, carry out 350 persons, although his ship is registered to carry only 379 tons. In 1827, he actually carried out 352 to Quebec, of whom only seven were not adults.
Taking, however, a ship of a larger class, say 500 tons, I think there can be no doubt that 350 persons, or 70 families in the proportions which you have estimated, of a man his wife and three children to a family, could be well accommodated. I have not the means of ascertaining how the law at present stands on this subject; but should emigration be gone into as a national measure, the passenger act will doubtless undergo the revision of which, if I recollect right, it was considered to stand in need by all those persons who were examined before the Emigration Committee.
In a ship of 500 tons, the Government would send only about 200 convicts and 30 soldiers; but they are limited to a
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smaller number than the ship can accommodate, by the necessity of locking them all below at night and in bad weather. Unless a rise has recently taken place in the rate of freights, ship of 500 tons could be taken up for the voyage for 5l. 10s. per ton, or 2,750l.; which, divided by 70, gives 39l. 6s. as the cost of freight for each family of five persons.
There is, then, the clothing, bedding, and food to be provided, of which I can only form a very rough estimate. The average voyage to New South Wales by convict ships does not generally exceed from 110 to 115 days; but allowing for the time the passengers must necessarily be on board before the ship could get clear of the land, the number of days for which rations would be issued would probably be 130. There would, therefore, be required, of
Salt beef.... 9,100 lbs. at 4d.........£151 13 4
Salt pork.... 8,341 2/3-- at 4 ........ 139 0 6
Bread.......25,783 1/3-- at 2 1/2........ 268 11 6
Flour........13,650 -- at 2 1/2........ 142 3 9
Peas........ 995 1/4 galls, at 9d...... 37 6 3
Oatmeal..... 189 1/4 bush, at 4s. 6d. ... 42 11 6
Sugar....... 2,831 1/4 lbs. at 3d. ...... 35 7 4
Tea......... 142 1/4 -- at 1s. ........ 7 2 3
Vinegar..... 272 1/4 galls, at 1s....... 13 12 3
Wine........ 700 -- at 1s....... 35 0 0
[Total] ....... 872 8 8
Add one-eighth for the master's allowance for waste......109 1 1
Total expense of victualling...... 981 9 9
For clothing and bedding, 5l. to each family.........350 0 0
Surgeon superintendant, and expense of hospital and medicines.........500 0 0
Allowance of 1/2d. per day to the master of the ship for each person on board for necessary money......94 15 10
Freight............2,750 0 0
[Total] ...... £4,676 5 7
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By this estimate the expense of taking out a family of five persons amounts to 66l. 16s. 1d. In making it up, I have adhered to the printed instructions issued by the Navy Board to the Masters of Transports. The allowances are all upon the most liberal scale. I have also taken it for granted, that it would be thought requisite to place each ship under the superintendance of a surgeon of the navy, who is allowed in the convict service about 100l. for the voyage, and as much to procure his passage home, in addition to his pay. But if, as is most likely, the services of a properly qualified medical man should be thought sufficient, such a person could be procured at so low a rate that the estimate might be reduced to the amount of from 300l. to 350l.; and thus the expense requisite to transport a family to New South Wales would not exceed by more than 1l. or 2l. that of the lowest estimate of the cost of settling them in North America. I do not consider that it would be necessary to incur any expense whatever after their arrival. Persons in want of their services might be invited to write to the officer in Sydney appointed to register their names, stating the description of servants whom they would be inclined to employ; and this information being communicated to the emigrants on their arrival, would facilitate their procuring engagements. In the course of two or three days (during which they might remain on board ship,) they would be able to procure employment, and to shift for themselves.
In conclusion, I would beg to observe most strongly, that much of the advantage to be derived by the colony of New South Wales, from the settlement of English labourers, will depend upon the moral character of the individuals selected. Independently of all considerations of interest, the colony has a right to look to the mother country for every assistance she can possibly afford towards a renovation of its moral character, by infusing a more healthy population into the corrupted mass of its present inhabitants.
It has often been remarked, and with great justice, that the character of free persons of the lower classes, is much more liable to sink to the level of that of the convict population, than to be instrumental, by its example, in the reformation of the latter. This is, indeed, a natural consequence of their situation.
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Unless they can make up their minds to live as isolated beings, without the pale of society, they are constrained, by a moral compulsion, to assimilate their conduct and habits to those of their neighbours. Undoubtedly, the settlement of such persons on a large scale, would afford a better chance for their retaining the character they might bring with them to the colony. But so great is the alteration of their circumstances, and so entirely are they released from all former restraints of an outward character, --so powerful is the contagion of bad example, where little else is witnessed, and where good moral conduct is not necessary to wordly prosperity, or public estimation, --that unless persons are chosen of fixed moral and religious principles, it is much to be feared, that the majority would yield to the current of dishonesty and dissipation, rather than endeavour to stem it against so many discouragements.
It is not less, therefore, a duty to the colony than to the individuals with whom you propose "to plant," that Lord Bacon's aphorism should be most strictly adhered to, in its moral as well as in its physical application; --nor would it be justice to the parties selected not to make them fully aware of the moral contamination to which they and their children are exposed, in return for the fulness of temporal blessings they may expect to enjoy.
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient humble Servant,
JAMES BUSBY.
June, 1831.
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