1832 - Busby, J. Authentic Information relative to New South Wales and New Zealand - APPENDIX A. EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS, p i-xv

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APPENDIX A.

EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS.

Mr. Wilmot Horton (now Sir R. Wilmot Horton Bart., and Governor of Ceylon) proposed to bring into Parliament a Bill, "to enable parishes to mortgage their poor-rates, for the purpose of providing for their able-bodied paupers, by colonization in the British colonies. The right to charge the rates in this manner it was proposed to commit to a certain majority of the owners of land, combined with a certain majority of rate-payers. It was proposed to accept as emigrants only such families as consisted of persons within certain ages, and in a state of health such as to secure the full advantages of their situation, not only to themselves but to the colony to which they were going."

It was proposed that Government should undertake to advance the money necessary for the colonization of each family--the parishes paying an annuity interest for the money so advanced. It being estimated that for every 4l per annum actually mortgaged, the parishes would be saved from an existing virtual mortgage of 20l. per annum. The former being the annuity requisite, at the price of the funds, to pay off, in forty years, the sum of 80l., which the settlement of each family of a man, his wife, and three children under fifteen years of age, would cost in the North American colonies; and the latter the annual expense of continuing to maintain the same family from the parish rates.

It was considered to be demonstrated by the evidence taken before the Emigration Committees, that the emigrants, within a moderate time after being settled in the North American colonies, would be able to repay in produce the expense of their emigration. This produce to be applied in the maintenance of the emigrants successively arriving, the number of whom it was proposed to increase every succeeding year, in the proportion of one-half the number of the year preceding. Thus, 20,000 being sent the first year, it was considered that 30,000 might be sent in the second, 45,000 in the third, 67,500 in the fourth, and so on-- "food being thus made to precede population," "and each succeeding emigration to be fed by the surplus food produced from the earth by preceding emigrants."

The principle of repayment was, however, abandoned by Sir R. W. Horton, probably from a fear that the emigrants might be induced to leave their locations in Canada for the United States, in order to evade the repayment of the expense of their emigration and settlement. But he still maintained, that without looking for any repayment by the emigrants, it would be a great pecuniary saving to parishes to be at the expense of colonizing their pauper population, and that "in a short series of years all necessary proportion of the extra labour of the United Kingdom might be transferred to our North American provinces, with

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an absolute certainty of individually benefiting the parties removed, the colonies, and the mother country, in an inconceivable degree. 1

With reference to the Australasian Colonies, Sir R. W. Horton observes, in a note to the Explanation of his Bill, 2 "It will at once be perceived that this is a Bill for colonization and settlement of families, and not for merely supplying the colonies with labour. The Australasian colonies, and the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, are extremely prejudiced by the want of labourers, as the evidence taken before the Emigration Committee clearly proved. But those colonies, from their distance, do not afford facilities for location and settlement upon the principles of the emigrations of 1823 and 1825. If this Bill meets with the approbation of Parliament, I shall move for leave to bring in a Bill, and shall print it, for the purpose of facilitating the object of supplying those colonies with labour. That object, as already observed, is of a perfectly distinct nature, and was treated by the Emigration Committee, in their Third Report, as a distinct, though highly valuable mode of improving the condition of pauper labourers in this country. Such a Bill might afford facilities for the removal of women to New South Wales; the expediency and necessity of which is too palpable to require argument, to those persons who are really informed of the situation of that colony."

A Bill, similar in its details, and for the furtherance of the same objects, was introduced into Parliament by Lord Howick, in Feb. 1831. It was read a second time and committed, but had not passed the third reading on the dissolution of Parliament. It was not again brought forward. In the meantime his Majesty was pleased to appoint a Board of Commissioners for Emigration, for the purpose of assisting with information and advice persons of the working classes who might feel disposed to emigrate to certain of the British colonies. The following official documents will tend to shew the gratifying success which has already attended the appointment of this Commission, and the still more important results which may be expected from its labours.

DESPATCH from Viscount GODERICH to Major-General BOURKE, &c. &c. &c.

Downing-street, 28th September, 1831.
SIR,

IN consequence of the representations which I have received from various quarters, of the evils resulting from the great disproportion of

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the female to the male population in the colony under your Government, I have been led seriously to consider what means might be adopted for supplying the deficiency of females, which is so much complained of.

The enquiries which I have instituted, have convinced me that there are in England, and especially in the agricultural counties, many young women, who, having been brought up in such a manner as to qualify them to discharge the duties of servants in the family of a farmer, are unable in this country to procure such situations or to gain an honest livelihood, and who would therefore gladly avail themselves of an opportunity of emigrating to a colony in which they could rely upon finding the means of doing so. In New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, all accounts concur in stating that such persons would without difficulty find eligible situations, and that their arrival would be very acceptable to the settlers, who seem to be almost entirely unprovided with female servants. The friends of many young women of the above description would (unless I am greatly deceived) willingly afford them some assistance, in order to place them in a situation of permanent comfort in the colonies. They have not hitherto attempted to do so, chiefly because they have been deterred by the heavy expense of so long a voyage, and because there has been no party to whom they could apply to undertake all the necessary arrangements, and to whose care they could safely confide unprotected females.

The appointment of the Commissioners for facilitating emigration, of which you have already been informed, will, I trust, abate the latter difficulty; and in order to remove the former one, I directed a communication to be addressed to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, requesting their Lordships' sanction for applying to the assistance of female emigrants so much of the territorial revenue of the Australian colonies as arises from the sale of land. I inclose copies of the correspondence which has taken place on the subject between my Under Secretary and Mr. Stewart, and you will perceive that the Lords of the Treasury concur in the proposed plan. I shall therefore lose no time in causing it to be carried into execution, and you will on your part immediately take such measures as you may judge to be calculated to promote its success.

It is not, however, at present in my power to communicate to you the details of the arrangements which will be adopted. Of these you shall, as soon as they are completed, be apprised; and in the meanwhile it is sufficient to direct you to be prepared upon the arrival of the vessel in which these emigrants will be conveyed, both to receive them and direct them to such of the settlers as may be willing to engage them as servants, and also to defray that part of the expense of their passage, which it is proposed, in the correspondence I have already referred to, should be paid in the colony. If you should not have in your hands the necessary funds from the sale of land, you will apply, from any other sources which may be available, the sum necessary to supply the deficiency; it being, however, clearly understood, that it is to be considered merely as an advance, and to be repaid out of the first money which may be received from the sale of land.

I shall take an early opportunity of again addressing you upon the subject of emigration generally. In the meantime I must express my hope that the suggestions contained in my Despatch to General Darling, of the 23rd January last, will have led to such measures for raising a revenue from the assignment of convict servants to the settlers, as may facilitate any arrangements that may be concerted at home for directing the course of emigration towards the Australian colonies. ---

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No season could be so favourable to that object as the present, and I am very desirous to learn with precision what means the two colonies can yield towards rendering them more accessible to emigrants from this country.

I am, Sir,
Your obedient humble Servant,
(signed) GODERICH.

Colonial Office, 10th October, 1831.

HIS MAJESTY'S Government having resolved that the sums produced by the sale of land in New South Wales and Van Piemen's Land, should be appropriated to the encouragement of the emigration of females to those colonies, the Commissioners for Emigration have been directed to publish the following account of the regulations under which this money will be applied:

1st. --The Commissioners will contribute £8. (which it is supposed will be about one-half of the total expense) towards the passage of unmarried female Emigrants.

2dly. --When Emigrants of the above description, and between the ages of fifteen and thirty, are members of families which are about to proceed to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, they will, on applying to the Commissioners for Emigration, be furnished with orders, payable in the Colony, for the above-mentioned sum of 8l. This money will be paid at the option of the Emigrants, either to the heads of their families, or to the captains of the ships in which they are conveyed; but it will be necessary that they should make their option before departing from this country, as the orders will be framed accordingly.

3dly. ---Females desirous to emigrate to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, and not forming part of any family proceeding to those Colonies, are required to send in an account of the particulars enumerated in the annexed paper. If they be between the ages of eighteen and thirty, and possess the funds which would be necessary, in addition to the sum allowed them by the Commissioners, to complete the price of their passage, they will be admitted as candidates for the bounty of Government. As soon as a sufficient number of such persons shall have signified their wish to emigrate, they will be called upon to pay into the hands of an officer appointed for that purpose, their share of the charge of the passage, and the Commissioners will then take up a vessel (into which no other passengers will be admitted) for the conveyance of these emigrants to their destination.

4thly. --Should the number of applications to the Commissioners be greater than the funds at their disposal will enable them to comply with, the preference will be given, first, to females emigrating (as described in paragraph 2) in company with their families; and next, to those who are qualified to make themselves useful as servants in a farmer's family. Females who may offer to pay a larger proportion than others of the cost of their passage, will also be considered entitled to a preference. In the absence of all other distinctions, priority of application will form the rule of selection.

By order of the Commissioners,

T. FREDERICK ELLIOTT,
Secretary to the Commission.

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FORM for Females desirous of being assisted by the Commissioners for Emigration to emigrate to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land; to be filled up and returned to the Secretary to the Commissioners, under a cover addressed to the Secretary of State, Colonial Department) London.

REPORT from the COMMISIONERS FOR EMIGRATION to Viscount Goderich, &c. &c. &c.

Colonial Office, 24th September, 1831.
MY LORD,

IN reference to our Report of the 20th July last, pointing out the reasons on account of which no Emigration can be effected at the present season to other places than New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, we have the honour to inform your Lordship that we have since received many applications from persons desirous of emigrating to those Colonies, but that few have applied to us with the funds necessary for defraying their passage. The greater number state their inability to defray the charge of their own conveyance, and propose that they should be furnished with the means of doing so, upon condition of repaying the advance out of the wages of their labour in the Colony.

From these applications, and from the tenor of all the communications we have received on the subject, we draw the conclusion that there is no want of a disposition to emigrate to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, but that it is impossible for people belonging to

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the working classes to pay their passage to those Colonies without some aid in addition to their own resources. We think it our duty, therefore, to enquire whether Government could afford such aid with a reasonable prospect of repayment. And we feel this inquiry to be the more important, because, owing to the circumstances which limit the period suitable to Emigration to the North American Colonies, the question is, not merely whether there shall be an Emigration to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, but whether there shall be any Emigration whatever from this country at other seasons than the spring and summer. In short, unless the difficulty of reaching the Australian Colonies can be diminished, no place will be open to Emigrants at the termination of the harvest, a period when the earnings of one large class of people may be supposed to render them best able to remove themselves, and when the approach of winter at home renders it most desirable for their interests that they should effect that removal.

We do not feel any doubt of the ability of the Emigrant to repay out of his wages any moderate advance which might be made to him for the purpose of providing his passage to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land. All the accounts from those colonies agree in stating that working people generally, and more especially mechanics, earn considerably more than is sufficient for their subsistence.

Nor do we see any reason to suppose, that under a proper arrangement there would be either any general disposition amongst Emigrants of this description to evade the payment of a just debt, or any difficulty in controlling such a disposition in those cases in which it might exist. A contrary opinion might indeed be created by the ill success of some Colonial proprietors who have provided Emigrants with their conveyance on condition of enjoying their services for a stated period at reduced wages; but we believe that the failure of these enterprises may be traced to causes which would not be felt under different arrangements. The Emigrant, in the cases to which we allude, has bound himself previously to his departure from this country, to serve his employer for a time at wages which, though higher than those he could have obtained at home, were much below the ordinary rate in the colony. No attempt has been made to render the advantage obtained by the employer in this manner an equivalent for the expense he has incurred in carrying out the Emigrants; and it can scarce be doubted that in many instances the bargain, if strictly adhered to, would have been more than reasonably profitable to the employer. Indeed it has been the principal fault of these arrangements that the engagement of the Emigrant has not been on either side regarded as a mere undertaking to repay the expense incurred in his conveyance; and hence he has often been led to look upon the transaction as a disadvantageous hiring of himself, into which he had been misled by his ignorance of the circumstances of the place to which he was going. This has been the frequent cause of discontent on the part of indentured servants; and their masters, unable to derive any advantage from unwilling labourers, have found it more for their interest to discharge these servants than to insist on the right conveyed by their bond. It is obvious that no increased severity in the legal enactments for the protection of contracts could prevent those which we have described from being thus dissolved, for they have been so, not from any insufficiency in the obligations by which the Emigrants have been bound, but from the impossibility of rendering such obligations worth preserving, where one of the parties strongly desires them to be cancelled.

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All the circumstances, however, which we have recapitulated, only afford additional proof that Emigrants would be able to repay out of their earnings, the expense of their conveyance to the Australian Colonies. For unless the usual wages in the colony had considerably exceeded what was requisite for the maintenance of labourers, indentured servants would have had no motive for so eagerly striving to break their engagements. The objects therefore to be accomplished, are, to diminish the disposition of the Emigrant to evade the performance of the obligation he may incur by being conveyed to the colony, and also to diminish his means of succeeding in that evasion. We believe that both these objects would be most easily attained, by merely requiring the Emigrant to repay, as an ordinary debt, the expense incurred on his account.

To recover these debts, it would be requisite, first, that the person making the loan, should acquire a claim over the Emigrant's wages, and secondly, that local agents should be found who would duly apply that claim to the recovery of the debt. With respect to a local agency, we have merely to remark that no difficulty can arise, since the peculiar condition of the Australian Colonies ensures the existence of as many public officers in the different districts as could be required for this purpose.

With respect to the claim which it would be necessary to acquire over the wages of the Emigrants, we understand that the forms of legal procedure in the colonies afford the solution of a considerable difficulty which might at first sight be apprehended on this subject. By the general laws of England, a creditor can seize in execution only the goods and the person of his debtor; but in the British Colonies, and especially in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, the creditor can further attach in the hands of third persons, or even take in execution, any money owing to the debtor by them. This is done by a process called "Foreign Attachment," which is borrowed, with some amplification, from a process existing in the City of London and some other corporate towns in this country. By means of this process, the wages of the Emigrant, whenever any were due, would be a subject of attachment, and they might be taken in execution either to the whole extent of what should be due, or to any less extent, as in the particular case might be thought proper. The Courts of Requests which exist in the Australian Colonies, afford a tribunal by which cases arising out of the exercise of this right might be decided promptly, and without any disproportionate expense. It is possible indeed, although we are not aware of the fact, that the use of the process of "Foreign Attachment" may have hitherto been confined to the Supreme Court; but even supposing this to be the case, the process of the Courts of Requests is regulated by the Governor and Judges, and there is no reason to doubt that, for an important public object, these officers would direct those petty Courts to follow the practice of the Supreme Court as regards the use of "Foreign Attachment."

Whether the emigrant should betake himself to labour for wages or to any petty traffic, this remedy could be enforced. Should he hire and cultivate land, he would have visible effects capable of seizure, and an ordinary execution would be available. There is no way in which he could acquire either the possession of property, or the right to property, but that he might be compelled to apply it to the satisfaction of his debt.

The principles on which the agents of Government should proceed in exerting the power that we have indicated for the recovery of these debts, would be a matter of subsequent and detailed regulation. At

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present it may suffice to suggest, that all emigrants to whom loans might be made should be registered in the colony; and that they should be required to give notice to public officers named for that purpose, of every change in their employment, and, so long as they worked at wages for particular masters, of the terms of their engagement. As soon as their probable earnings could be ascertained, the most convenient mode of proceeding in the colony would probably be to fix a certain weekly payment for each emigrant according to his abilities, allowing him of course the option of making a larger payment, whenever it might be convenient to him to do so. At the time of receiving the loan, the emigrant should be made to understand that the law of the colony would enable the crown, by its agents, to intercept his earnings, but that so long as he was considered honestly to make his repayments according to his means, that power would not be exercised; and further, that the power would never be exercised to such an extent as to deprive him of his necessary means of support.

These are the means which have occurred to us for obliging the emigrant to make a repayment which we have also stated our opinion that he could be able to make. But we are sensible of the uncertainty which must attend all plans for the recovery of very extensive advances, and we would not venture to recommend the trial of any such plan to His Majesty's Government, unless there were some fund on which the loss, if the experiment should not succeed, might properly fall. We believe that in the present instance we can point out such a fund.

It appears that your Lordship has lately instructed the Governors of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land to recommend to their respective councils the imposition of a tax upon the labour of convicts, with the express view of raising a revenue for the encouragement of emigration; and we are informed that no difficulty is apprehended, either in concerting the details of such a measure, or in obtaining for it the concurrence of the Colonial Councils. There are not sufficient grounds for making a precise statement of the annual amount likely to be raised in this manner; but owing to the eager competition for convict labour, we suppose that the proceeds of the tax may be assumed to amount to an average of 1l. a head on all the male convicts in these colonies, without distinction of age or class. As the number of male convicts in New South Wales is stated to be between 14,000 and 15,000, and of those in Van Diemen's Land to be between 7,000 and 8,000, the convict tax would, on these calculations, yield a revenue exceeding 20,000l.

Upon the security of the fund to be derived from this source, we think that his Majesty's Government might furnish 1,000 families with an advance of £20 per family, towards the expense of their conveyance to the Australian Colonies. In the first instance, however, and until the plan has been subjected to the test of experience, we would recommend that the advances should be confined to persons skilled in some of the ordinary mechanical arts. We propose that the emigrants should pay in this country their proportion of the expense, and that Government should undertake to pay the remaining £20 in the colony, on the arrival there of the ships containing the emigrants. We have ascertained that this mode of payment would not be objected to by shipowners engaged in trade with New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, but that, on the contrary, it would be more convenient to them than that which they are accustomed to accept for the conveyance of convicts.

If, upon the trial of this experiment, the advances made to emigrants should not be repaid, no expense will have been charged on the people

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of this country, and the tax raised in the colony will have been applied in a manner greatly to the benefit of the colonists, and in exact conformity with the purpose for which it was originally created. If, on the contrary, the advances be duly repaid, the fund arising from the tax upon convicts will be restored, together with an increase in its amount, by the produce of the next year's revenue; and thus will arise a continually increasing fund, in proportion to which the advances recommended to be made to emigrants can be increased and extended.

In conclusion we would observe that, should private individuals be disposed to make pecuniary advances to persons in this country, in order to enable them to emigrate, we should see no objection to extending to those cases the benefit of the arrangements which may be adopted for the recovery of advances made by Government. For this purpose, however, it would be necessary that the sums advanced should be received and applied by us, and that we should afterwards remit to the several parties, from time to time, the amount of the repayments made by the individuals they had assisted to emigrate. We should of course only undertake to return the actual amounts which might be recovered by means of the arrangements we have described, without in any degree rendering ourselves answerable for the whole advance.

We have now laid before your Lordship the considerations which our experience up to this time has suggested, respecting the prospect of effectually promoting emigration to the Australian Colonies. We regret that the length of the passage seems to render it impossible that, without some assistance from independent sources, these colonies should be reached by the largest class of persons whose circumstances render it desirable for them to emigrate from this country. Should your lordship, however, be disposed to sanction a trial of the plan which we have proposed for the allowance of such aid by government, we hope that it may be found the means of conferring immediately a considerable benefit on the Australian Colonies, and perhaps, ultimately of operating to so great an extent as to be felt beneficially in this country.

We have the honour, &c. &c.
(Signed RICHMOND. F. BARING. HOWICK. H. ELLIS. R. W. HAY.

The recommendations contained in the above Report having recevied the sanction of Viscount Goderich and the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury, the Commissioners for Emigration published the following Circular:--

Colonial Office, 8th November, 1831.

The Commmissioners for Emigration have received numerous applications from persons desirous of emigrating to New South Wales, or Van Diemen's Land; but the greater proportion of these applicants state their inability to defray the whole charge of their conveyance, and request to be allowed some aid for that purpose, on condition of repaying the same out of their earnings in the colony in which they propose to settle. The Commissioners for Emigration therefore, have satisfaction in being able to announce that his Majesty's Goverment has sanctioned the appropriation of a limited sum out of the colonial revenues of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, to aid the

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private funds of such emigrants as shall appear likely to earn the means of repaying that aid and to become useful settlers. The following are the regulations under which this indulgence will be dispensed:--

No one family will be allowed an advance exceeding 20l.; and therefore it will be useless for parties, who may not possess the remainder of the sum requisite for engaging their passage, to apply to the Commissioners.

No advance will be made except to persons who are competent workmen in some of the ordinary mechanical arts; as for instance, to blacksmiths, carpenters, &c. and the advance will be further confined to men who are married and intend to take their wives with them.

Every person desirous of receiving the proposed advance must fill up, and send back to the Secretary to the Commissioners, the return hereto annexed. If the information contained in this return shall be considered satisfactory, the applicant will receive notice to that effect. He may then proceed to make his agreement with the owners or masters of ships proceeding to New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, and as soon as any ship-owner or master shall notify to the Commissioners for Emigration (in a form which will be provided for the purpose) that the emigrant has taken the other necessary steps for engaging his passage, an order will be granted for the payment, in the colony, of 20l. to the agent or the master of the vessel in which this emigrant may arrive. The emigrant will of course be able to obtain a corresponding deduction from the amount to be paid by himself in this country.

The order for payment will be entrusted to the master of the vessel in which the emigrant is to proceed, and will consist of a sealed dispatch to the Governor, containing the name and description of the party oh whose account the money is to be paid: but arrangements will be made by which the delivery of this order to the master will not take place until the emigrant shall have signed the acknowledgment which will be required from him, of the debt he will contract with Government. For it is the intention of his Majesty's Government, and it cannot be too clearly understood by all persons who may accept this loan, that repayment of the debt (in such proportions, and at such intervals, as may not be unsuitable to the circumstances of each emigrant) shall be strictly enforced, by means of ample powers which the laws of the colony render available for that purpose.

Should the number of applications to the Commissioners be greater than the funds at their disposal will enable them to comply with, priority of date will form the rule of selection among applications in which there shall appear no other ground of distinction.

By Order of the Commissioners,
T. FREDERICK ELLIOT,
Secretary to the Commissioners.

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No. ---- Place of Residence. ---- Date

FORM FOR MECHANICS OR ARTISANS desirous of receiving an Advance from Government in aid of their means of Emigrating to New South Wales or Van Diemens Land: to be filled up and returned to the Secretary to the Commissioners, under a Cover addressed to the Secretary of State, Colonial Department, London.

Certificate to be signed by two respectable Householders.

We Certify, that we are acquainted with the person above named, and that we believe him to be a competent workman, and likely to maintain himself in the colony to which he wishes to go; and, further, that we know that the particulars stated in the above Return are correct.

Signature ----- Place of Residence ----- Signature ----- Place of Residence -----

I certify to the best of my belief that the above Certificates are authentic, and that the persons whose signatures are affixed to them are worthy of credit.

To be signed by a Magistrate, or by the Minister of the Parish in which the Applicant resides. -----

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APPENDIX.

EXTRACT of a REPORT of the Commissioners for Emigration, to Viscount GODERICH, dated 15th March, 1832. 3

"At the time when the Commission was appointed in June, the best season for emigration to North America had elapsed, and we resolved that our immediate attention should be turned to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, --the colonies to which emigrants can most advantageously proceed during the autumn and winter. The Australian colonies, chiefly, no doubt, from their distance, had not been resorted to, to the extent that might have been anticipated from their fine climate and their many natural resources. Previously to our appointment, ship owners had not even thought it worth while to provide accommodation for a poorer class of emigrants; and the lowest price of passage, being that for what are termed steerage passengers, ranged from 30l. to 40l. Under these circumstances, our first intention was to undertake the application of any funds which might be placed at our disposal, in order that, by hiring vessels for the conveyance of passengers upon a more economical scale than heretofore, we might render the Australian colonies less inaccessible to persons of the working classes. But the notice given by us, in pursuance of this view, had the effect of directing the attention of ship-owners to the subject; and the result has been, that without any further intervention on our part, a systematic and entirely new method has been introduced of conveying emigrants to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land. Vessels are dispatched from Liverpool every month, and others are sent from Dublin and from London, which are fitted up with a view to the accommodation of emigrants belonging to the working classes. Certain days are stated, after which, whether the vessel sails or not, the passengers are received on board and victualled. The charge for the passage is from 18l. to 20l. for adults, and half-price for children. Such is the regular and well-defined practice which has been commenced, and which cannot fail materially to increase the amount of emigration to the Australian colonies. Considering therefore the reduction which has taken place in the price of passage, and adverting also to the disputes and discontent which might attend the conveyance of large numbers of persons who would provide for their own expenses, and would only be indebted to Government for a gratuitous agency in the engagement of their passages, we doubt the expediency of offering to relieve individuals from the necessity of acting for themselves in this matter.

Besides the reduction which has been effected in the price of passage, your Lordship is aware of the measure which occurred to us for diminishing, by means of loans to industrious mechanics, the difficulty involved in the expensive voyage to Australia. It is sufficiently explained in our Report of the 24th of September last, that we look upon this measure as an experiment susceptible of very wide extension, and that both with regard to the amount of the loan, and to the class of persons to whom it is rendered applicable, we conceive that the limits by which it is now bounded, may at some future time be

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removed. For should the advances made in this first trial of the plan be duly repaid, it will become a matter well deserving of consideration whether loans might not be allowed to agricultural labourers as well as to mechanics, and be at the same time raised to such an amount as would render it more easy for both classes to procure the supplementary funds necessary to complete the price of their passage. It is also by no means improbable, that if this attempt should succeed, private individuals and charitable associations would grant funds upon similar conditions. Persons desirous to emigrate, might likewise materially aid each other in the same manner; for several individuals, by uniting their resources, could enable one of their number to proceed to the Colony, and when that person should have repaid the amount lent to him, another could follow, and thus by succession the whole body would effect their Emigration. With respect to the present operation of the measure, we must observe, that there has scarcely yet been time for the intentions of Government to become very generally known. The following is an account of the number of families assisted, and of the amount of aid allowed, during each month from the promulgation of the plan:

No. of Families....... Amount.

1st Month............... 12 ............... £195
2nd Ditto............... 13............... 246
3rd Ditto............... 34 .............. 649
4th Ditto............... 44 ................ 871
[Totals.................] 103 .............. £1961

All these parties have actually sailed. A fifth month has not yet elapsed; but the number of applicants daily becomes greater, and so soon as the plan shall acquire additional publicity, the opportunities of dispensing the loan with advantage, will doubtless rapidly increase both in frequency and importance.

In recapitulating the circumstances which have this year given a new spring to emigration to Australia, we must not omit to observe, that from the course of our correspondence, we have reason to hope that the indifference and want of information, which have hitherto existed regarding these colonies, are beginning to disappear. When therefore, besides the regularity with which the conveyance of passengers to New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land seems likely to be effected, we consider the eagerness with which knowledge respecting these colonies is now sought for by people of the working classes, we are persuaded that a great step in the promotion of emigration has been gained; and whatever may be the amount of immediate relief to this country, we cannot but feel gratified at having directed additional attention to colonies possessing within themselves such capabilities of improvement, and which may at some future time become a large field for emigration from Great Britain.

Our efforts, however, have not been confined to plans for augmenting the general amount of emigration to New South Wales, and Van Diemen's Land. In obedience to the instructions we received from your Lordship on this subject, we have endeavoured to direct thither such a number of female settlers as may tend to correct the existing disproportion between the sexes in Australia. Hitherto indeed, the difficulty of selecting proper objects to be sent out separately and independently, has compelled us to limit the dispensation of the bounty, placed at our disposal, to females emigrating in company with their parents or immediate relatives; but by this means many females have embarked for the Australian Colonies, who, without the aid allowed on their account to their relatives, would have been detained at home in

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common with the rest of their families, for want of the additional funds supplied by the colony. And in the course of next month we shall be able to dispatch one vessel to each of the two colonies, freighted exclusively with female passengers, deserving of the bounty of Government.

Before we close this account of our proceedings regarding New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, we must observe that the value of that which has been accomplished cannot be justly estimated by a mere reference to the numbers already gone out. The general scope and tendency of our measures must be taken into account, as well as the importance, in an endeavour to direct emigration to a quarter comparatively new, of having succeeded in making a commencement; for after the impulse has once been given towards countries really adapted to emigration, the letters of the settlers themselves, more perhaps than the most elaborate statements from authority, serve to maintain and propagate the disposition to resort to the same quarter. Although therefore the measures that have been adopted this year may be limited in their immediate influence, and it may be also impossible to predict with certainty their ulterior results, yet at least they are of such a nature that, if successful, they may serve as the foundation of a system sufficient for many years to prevent the progress of the Australian Colonies from being retarded by the want of an industrious population adequate to the development of their resources."
End of the Extract.

The suggestion alluded to in the letter to Sir R. W. Horton, page 18, was contained in the following extract of a paper "on the DISCIPLINE and MANAGEMENT of CONVICTS in New South Wales," which was laid before the RIGHT HON. THE SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE COLONIES, by the writer, in July, 1831, and subsequently printed by order of the COMMITTEE of the HOUSE OF COMMONS ON SECONDARY PUNISHMENTS.

"During the administration of Sir Thomas Bribane, it was customary for the Government to let out the services of the more useful mechanics and tradesmen, for hire, instead of bestowing them gratuitously, as at present. I was informed by the person who was intrusted with the collection of the funds, arising from this source, that he had actually received about 4,000l. on account of the Government, for the hire of convict mechanics; and I think he also stated, that this was for a period of not more than one year.

"As the measure I have proposed, would involve the breaking up of every establishment, where convict mechanics are employed, with the exception of Penal Settlements, a large number of the most valuable mechanics would always be assignable by the Government, and should there prove no well-founded objection to the principle of the measure, which was abandoned in the former instance, in consequence of some scruples relative to the validity of the bonds entered into by the assignees of the convicts, I have no doubt a considerable revenue might be obtained from this source.

"One of the most difficult and embarrassing duties the Government have at present to perform, is the distribution of convicts among the various applicants, among whom there is a perfect race of competition for their services. Notwithstanding that the Land Board, upon whom this duty was devolved, acted with the most strict and determined impartiality, the Government was overwhelmed with complaints upon the subject; and the most hostile spirit often evinced itself in individuals, who conceived that their claims had not met with due attention. Indeed so irreconcileable are the principles upon which different

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individuals founded their claims, --and so difficult is it to establish a standard by which they could be ascertained, that the performance of this duty must ever prove a fertile source of complaint among individuals, and of annoyance to the Government.

"It would, to a great extent, remove these evils, if the measure of letting the services of the more valuable convicts for hire, were resorted to. Formerly, a stipulated sum (10l. per head, per annum) was exacted for each, without reference to their qualifications; and, even then, the Government was embarrassed by the competition. A more advisable plan would be, for the Land Board, or a Board of Commissioners intrusted with this duty, on receiving the list of convicts who should have become assignable to private service, to advertize, for a month, the names and designations of the whole number to be assigned, and offer to receive tenders for their services, respectively, for a period of not less than one year. And there is no reason why this system should be confined to mechanics.

"It would be necessary for the Board to exercise their discretion, respecting the character of the tenderer. For many persons would undoubtedly apply, to whom it would be extremely inexpedient to assign convict servants, under any circumstances. And it would be a protection to the Board, and a guarantee to the public, if the members were severally to make oath, that they would exercise the very necessary discretion entrusted to them, without favour or affection, and with a single eye to the public service. Only those individuals, for whose services no eligible tenders had been made, would remain to be distributed gratuitously.

Such a measure as this, would go far to silence the clamours of those who are continually impeaching, however groundlessly, the impartiality of Government. As a member of the Land Board, I never ceased to feel (and the feeling was partaken by my colleagues,) that a due regard to the public interest, would have required from us a much wider exercise of discretion, than we ever ventured to adopt. It is true, that this was, in a great degree, owing to the constitution of the Board, which forced it to adopt the most compendious mode of transacting the very extensive business devolved upon it. But we felt, also, while conscious that a more careful investigation would have enabled us to act more justly by the parties in particular cases, that our impartiality would, on the whole, appear more evident, by a strict adherence to rule.

"It would be a necessary introduction to this measure, which I think, on the whole, would be acceptable to more, than it would be otherwise, that the convict mechanics, now in the service of individuals, should be withdrawn. Of these, there are at present, many where no claim can be urged; and many persons in the greatest distress for mechanical labour, cannot procure it on any terms. With regard to the convict mechanics themselves, it would have the effect of rendering their situation more nearly on a level with that of the common labourer, by depriving them of all hope of obtaining masters, with whom they could make terms; and as the master, having paid the full value of their labour to the Government, would find it necessary to enforce its performance.

"Should his Majesty's Ministers, considering the large revenue which is already raised from the colonists of New South Wales, conceive that such a measure would add too heavily to its burdens; its produce might be applied in a manner which would prove of the highest advantage to the colony, as well as to the mother country, namely, in facilitating the emigration of free mechanics from the latter, where they are in the greatest distress, to the colony where they would be of the highest value; and where their labour would be most amply remunerated."