Authentic Information relative to New South Wales and New Zealand

James Busby

First published by Joseph Cross in 1832

Digitised and made available online by Auckland Libraries and the University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services.

Epub © 2014 Early New Zealand Books Collection

ISBN 978-1-927289-70-9

[TITLE PAGES]

[COVER]

Presented to The Leys Institute, Auckland, by T. W. Leys, 1915

THE WORLD [Map]

AUTHENTIC INFORMATION
RELATIVE TO
NEW SOUTH WALES
AND
NEW ZEALAND

BY
JAMES BUSBY , ESQ.
FORMERLY COLLECTOR OF THE INTERNAL REVENUE AND MEMBER OF THE LAND BOARD OF NEW SOUTH WALES;
NOW BRITISH RESIDENT AT NEW ZEALAND.

LONDON:
JOSEPH CROSS, 18, LOWER HOLBORN;
SIMPKIN AND MARSHALL, STATIONERS' COURT.
1832.

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[DEDICATION]

TO
FREDERICK GOULBURN, ESQ.
FORMERLY COLONIAL SECRETARY OF NEW SOUTH WALES,
THE FOLLOWING PAGES
Are Dedicated
IN TESTIMONY OF THE ESTEEM AND GRATITUDE

OF

THE AUTHOR.

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[PREFACE]

PREFACE.

SINCE his arrival in England, the Writer of the following papers has been repeatedly urged, by persons who conceived that the experience he had acquired in his official capacity, as well as in that of a Proprietor of Land and Live Stock in New South Wales, qualified him for the undertaking, to publish such information respecting that Colony, as would tend to place upon their real footing, the inducements it holds out to Emigration from this country.

He has not, however, been able to command sufficient leisure to compile a Work which he could offer to the public, as a complete view of the whole question, so far as his abilities permitted, and he has not therefore attempted the task; but, he has thought that it would not be without its use to lay before the public, a selection from his papers, which seemed calculated, in some degree, to attain the object in view. These papers, with the exception of the one intituled "Advice to Emigrants newly arrived in New South Wales," which is reprinted from the Appendix to the Sydney Almanack for 1831, were not originally intended for publication; but having made known his object to the Right Hon. Viscount Goderich, his Majesty's

Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, the Writer has received his Lordship's permission to offer them to the public. Some of the observations they contain are not applicable, under the present regulations; but having been unable to re-cast the whole, he has thought it best to publish them in their original form, and to give in an Appendix such explanations as appeared necessary, as well as such additional information as he was able, in the hurry of other avocations, to throw together.

The present state of New Zealand cannot be without interest to those who are contemplating a residence in New South Wales, and he has therefore included a paper relative to those interesting Islands.

[CONTENTS]

CONTENTS.

LETTER to the Right Honourable R. Wilmot Horton on the Emigration of Mechanics and Labourers to New South Wales ........ 1

Advice to Emigrants newly arrived in New South Wales (reprinted from the Sydney Almanack for 1831) ............. 23

Observations on the Alienation of Crown Lands in the Colony of New South Wales................. 43

A Brief Memoir, relative to the Islands of New Zealand.......... 55

Appendix A. Additional Information and Official Documents relative to the Emigration of Mechanics and Labourers.............. i

Appendix B. Additional Information, relative to the Emigration of Capitalists, with the Regulations now in force for disposing of Crown Lands ................xvi

LETTER ON THE EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS TO NEW SOUTH WALES

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

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.

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-

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

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

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

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

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

colony, will, before long, be - of its own production. 3 – In one case, very good brandy has been made (as is

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,

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.

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

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

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-

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

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,

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.

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

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

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.

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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1 See Appendix A.

2 The total amount of exports for the year ending 5th July, 1831, is stated at £313,019.

3 The writer, from his first determination to settle in New South Wales, was strongly impressed with the importance of introducing the general cultivation of vineyards in that Colony. With a view to acquaint himself with the subject, he paid a visit to the south of France, and spent several months in the Bourdeaux district in 1822. On his arrival in the Colony in 1824, the writer is not aware that more than two vineyards – those of Messrs. G. Blaxland and W. Macarthur, were in existence. In 1825 he published at Sydney, a TREATISE on the CULTURE OF THE VINE, and the ART OF MAKING WINE, compiled from Chaptal and other French writers, and from his own notes and observations. But he is not aware that this led to the plantation of a single vineyard. – The same year he planted on the Orphan School Estate, near the town of Liverpool, of which he was then in charge, about two acres of vines. The wine made from this vineyard, in January, 1829, had a resemblance to Burgundy, and proved to be of a very fair quality; and a small quantity of the vintage of 1830, which the writer brought to England nearly twelve months ago, without any of the precautions usually adopted to prevent the degeneration of light wines, is now (May 1832) perfectly sound, and has been considered a very promising wine by several wine merchants and many gentlemen who have tasted it. In 1830, the writer conceived that a favourable crisis had occurred for again calling the attention of the colonists to the subject, and he published a short Manual of PLAIN DIRECTIONS for PLANTING AND CULTIVATING VINEYARDS, &c. He also applied, at the pruning season, to every person whom he knew to possess vines of the varieties which had proved best suited to the climate, requesting that all the spare cuttings might be preserved. These cuttings, to the number of upwards of 20,000, were brought to the Government garden at Sydney, and persons who were desirous of commencing the plantation of a vineyard, were invited to send a written application for plants before a certain day. The cuttings were distributed among upwards of fifty applicants, scarcely one of whom was satisfied with the number he obtained, and had the quantity been double, there is no doubt they would have been all planted.

The writer therefore considered, on his departure from the colony, in February 1831, that the general plantation of vineyards had fairly commenced, as the colonists were fully alive to its advantages, without looking farther, in the first instance, than the supply of their own households.

Shortly after his return to Europe, the writer proceeded to Xeres de la Frontera and Malaga, in the south of Spain, where he acquired all the information that could be desired, relative to the making of Sherry and other wines, and the curing of raisins, – a new branch of industry which he hopes to be the means of introducing into the colony; and which, should it succeed to the extent he hopes, will prove, for reasons which he proposes to explain to the colonists, one of the most important objects to which their industry could be directed, – perhaps only second to the production of fine wool. From Malaga the writer proceeded to the south of France, and having entered that kingdom by the Oriental Pyrenees, he commenced at Collioure and Port Vendre, an investigation into the modes pursued in the culture of the vine, and the making of the different varieties of wine, which he followed up in almost every wine district of any note that lay in his way, first round to Marseilles, – thence up the Rhine to Lyons, – and thence through Burgundy and Champagne. In the course of this tour, he never failed to possess himself of every variety of vine which he found cultivated; and he succeeded in bringing in safety to London, from 12 to 20 cuttings of each of the varieties, to the number of 67, which he found actually cultivated in the French vineyards, besides 2 cuttings each of from 550 to 560 varieties from the Collections in the Botanic Garden at Montpelier, and the Royal Nursery of the Luxembourg at Paris. He has also received by sea, from Cadiz and Malaga, four cases, containing the varieties cultivated for wine and raisins, in the south of Spain.

The writer has presented all the plants which he obtained from the collections at Montpelier and the Luxembourg, and one-third of the remainder, to the Government, for the purpose of forming an experimental garden at Sydney, in order to ascertain the varieties best suited to the climate, and propagate them for general distribution. The greatest portion of these plants are now on their way to the colony, and, from the precautions adopted, there is little room to doubt their safe arrival.

The writer's experience, since he first turned his attention to the subject, may, perhaps, be considered as qualifying him to offer an opinion as to the probable success of vineyards in New South Wales. He does not scruple to state his belief, from his knowledge of the soils and climate of that colony, that many situations may be chosen capable of yielding wines fitted for the British market. But, should this result never be attained, he will consider the trouble and expense (now nearly £400) he has incurred, as well bestowed in contributing to substitute a healthy and exhilirating beverage, such as almost every farm will produce, and to which habit is sure to give a relish, for a part of the ardent spirits which are at present consumed to such an amazing extent, in proportion to the population. The inhabitants of New South Wales have not yet learned to conform to the habits suitable to their climate: and the most mischievous of the habits they have brought with them is, the general consumption of ardent spirits. By those who have been accustomed to the use of spirits in a colder climate, some stimulant is undoubtedly required; but the great majority of the colonists have yet to learn that the free use of a light unadulterated wine, will not only strengthen their bodies and clear their minds, but weaken or destroy the relish for those stronger stimulants which are now poisoning the morals of the population, and preying upon the vitals of every unhappy individual, whom the cravings occasioned by the exhaustion of the climate has driven to their use.

4 During the late scarcity, Government authorized the issue of maize instead of flour, to convict servants, and many families found this as well as the millet, dressed in different forms, a very palatable substitute.

5 It was proposed to increase the number of emigrants sent to Canada 50 per cent, annually, thus 20,000 being sent the first year, it was supposed that provision would be made for sending 30,000 the second year, 45,000 the third, and so on. The expense of carrying out the female emigrants recently sent by the assistance of Government from London to Dublin, in ships taken up for the purpose, was only £16 per head. And it has since been ascertained that the emigration of females maybe effected at £15 each.

6 See Appendix A. page xiv.

ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS NEWLY ARRIVED IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

ADVICE

TO

EMIGRANTS NEWLY ARRIVED

IN

NEW SOUTH WALES.

[Reprinted from the Sydney Almanack for 1831.]

[Page 24 is blank]

ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS NEWLY ARRIVED IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

THE situation of an emigrant, just landed in this Colony from England, is, in every respect, so peculiar, that it is not at all surprising many individuals find themselves involved in difficulties and embarrassments which they could not be expected to foresee, and which they are ill prepared to meet. It has often been a matter of regret, to the writer of the following pages, that so many persons should be left, in a great measure, to work their way through these difficulties by dint of their own exertions, without any guide to assist them in obtaining such a knowledge of official forms, as would tend to facilitate the transaction of their business with the different public offices, and accelerate their arrangements for settling upon their grants.

The following pages are put together with a view to assist persons in these circumstances. They do not profess to do more than to afford such information as appeared to the writer most important to assist the new settler in forming a judgment of the prospects he may reasonably entertain on settling upon his land; and to offer a few suggestions, which are not likely to occur to a person little acquainted with official business; but which, nevertheless, relate to matters of some importance to him, now that he has business of that nature, probably for the first time in his life, to transact. It is presumed they will appear sufficiently reasonable to entitle them to credit and attention.

It is not possible that any person should seriously even contemplate removing himself, or his family, from his native country, to settle, after a voyage over half the globe, in a new, and to him untried situation, without having his expectations highly raised, and his feelings strongly excited, by the very magnitude of the undertaking; much less is it to be expected that an individual should have actually landed in the country of his adoption, without being keenly alive to every thing which, can, in any degree, affect the success of his enterpriser

With his feelings thus excited, and his expectations raised, in consequence, to a higher pitch than a sober consideration of the circumstances in which he is placed would warrant, – could the state of his mind admit of sober consideration, – the emigrant is too ready to attach an undue importance to the little difficulties and embarrassments he meets with. Without considering that such difficulties are, in fact, inseparable from his situation, he is disposed to regard his reasonable prospects as blasted, on finding that anticipations which were the offspring of a heated imagination, and of long indulged hopes, rather than of deliberate judgment, are not to be realized.

It too often happens that persons under the influence of such feelings, – and most persons on their first arrival are under the influence of them, – -become acquainted with individuals whose own views, whether unreasonable or otherwise, have been disappointed; and who, as is sufficiently natural, without the imputation of bad faith, are willing to attribute their failure to any thing rather than their own misconduct or imprudence.

The statements of such individuals respecting the resources of the country, and the prospects of the settlers, ought not to be received without the greatest caution. Whatever information they communicate will be tinged with their own soured and disappointed feelings, and will not only mislead the new comer respecting the difficulties he must encounter before he is settled upon his grant, but paralyze his exertions, by representing that, after all these difficulties have been surmounted, the object which has been obtained is not worth the pains.

His judgment will, in all probability, be also misled, and his spirits depressed, by the accounts of another class of individuals, who have been for some years settled in the country; and who, although they can be charged neither with indolence nor imprudence, find, that at the end of several years of laborious exertion, their efforts to improve their circumstances have proved abortive, and that they have, under the present circumstances of the colony, no prospect but that of insolvency before their eyes.

But the fate of this class of individuals, which is indeed a large class, comprising a large majority of those; who arrived

within the last seven years, however much it may deserve the commiseration, ought not to excite the fear of the new-comer, for the circumstances which brought ruin upon the former, are such as can never again occur; nor is there any train of similar circumstances at all likely to interfere with the comfortable settlement and eventual independence of a settler arriving in the present situation of the colony, if, in addition to INDUSTRY and FRUGALITY, which ought ever to be considered as the CARDINAL VIRTUES of the settler, his proceedings are guided by an ordinary share of prudence and circumspection.

In order to make this sufficiently plain, it is only necessary to advert, very shortly, to the circumstances alluded to above as having brought such great and general distress upon the settlers.

It would appear that up to the year 1825 or 1826, a greater quantify of butcher's meat had not been brought into the market than was required to supply the consumption of private families, and a small part of the public establishments. Large quantities of salted provisions had always continued to be imported, by the Government, for a great portion of the convicts retained in the service of the Crown, or under colonial sentence at penal settlements; and salted provisions, imported upon private speculation, had, up to that period, continued to find a ready market, and to pay the importer a handsome profit upon his speculation. As, however, it had long been generally admitted that the profitable occupation of the lands of this colony, to any extent, at least with its present limited population, must be necessarily and essentially pastoral; and as the Colonial Government, acting upon this persuasion, had opened, to the selection of settlers, large tracts of country in the interior, and made grants of lands to individuals of such extent as were calculated to afford ample scope to pastoral pursuits; and as every facility was also afforded to the older inhabitants of the colony to avail themselves of the temporary occupation of unlocated lands; the live stock of the colony continued to increase, at a ratio calculated to excite astonishment in the mind of any individual, who has not had an opportunity of witnessing the effects of unlimited pasturage in a most genial climate, under the care

and attention induced by its still continuing a most lucrative investment of capital.

About the period above alluded to, the Colonial Government had recommended that no further supplies of salted provisions should be sent to the colony for the use of the public establishments, as it was considered capable of supplying all its inhabitants, of every class, with meat of colonial production. This measure contributed to extend the demand for butcher's meat in the colony; and, joined to the independent circumstances of the stockholders, who were neither forced to limit their flocks and herds for want of pasturage, nor to raise money by parting with a share of what they possessed, kept the prices so high as to yield immense returns to the holders. It was therefore not at all surprising that such individuals should rather have preferred extending their establishments in the interior, and increasing the numbers of their flocks and herds, to parting with any share of such a profitable possession, unless tempted by very high prices.

Under these circumstances, it required little competition among the buyers to keep the exchangeable value of live stock at the highest rate which afforded a prospect of a fair return for the capital invested in it. But, unhappily for those individuals who had their farms to stock at that period, and whose situation is now under review, this competition was not wanting to add to the effect already produced. A greater number of persons, possessing considerable capital, and of individuals in a situation of life which procured them credit, arrived in the colony at this time, than at any former period; and the establishment of the Australian Agricultural Company, flattered the stockholders with the prospect of disposing of all their surplus stock at a high price. Add to this, that Australian wool had become an article of demand in the London market, and began to be sought for with avidity, on account of qualities which were not found united in the finest wools of other countries.

When all these circumstances are considered, it is not so much a matter of surprise, that the new settlers should have stocked their farms with cattle and sheep at prices which

seemed to be founded on an expectation of a continuance of their value, to whatever extent they might increase, rather than to the extreme depression in price which must always be the necessary consequence of excessive supply without a corresponding demand.

It is probable that the quantity of butcher meat which the colony was capable of yielding, had for some time been fully equal to supply the consumption of its inhabitants, before any considerable depression took place in the price; and the balance would, perhaps, have been for some time longer swayed in favour of the stockholders, had every member of their body continued in circumstances as independent as formerly.

It pleased Providence, however, during the years 1826, 1827, 1828, and part of 1829, to visit us with a drought, the consequences of which were so distressing to the colonists, as to reverse the most reasonable prospects of success, and to plunge many individuals into irremediable difficulties, who had every fair chance of competence and independence.

The operation of this distress among the settlers was twofold. It obliged them to make purchases, at an excessive price, of imported bread corn 7 for the support of their households and establishments; and in order to raise the funds for these purchases, it compelled them to make forced sales of their live stock, at a most unfavourable crisis. For, as the distress was confined to no one district, the competition of sellers became as great as the competition of buyers had formerly been; and the consequence of this re-action was, to sink the prices of stock as much below their natural level as ever they had been raised above it. This depression was also materially assisted by a cause less to be expected than either the fall in the price of that portion of our flocks and herds, which finds its vent within the colony, or the severe droughts which accelerated that fall; namely, by the alteration in the value of wool in the London market. This almost exclusive article of export on which the settler had as yet calculated, and which he fondly hoped would always maintain a permanent or increas-

ing value, had fallen from 50 to 75 per cent, and it only wanted this to make the depreciation of property complete.

The mere statement of these facts would appear to be sufficient at once to account for the distress which pervaded, and still continues to pervade the colony; and which is the general theme of conversation among all persons connected with the agricultural interests. It is to be hoped too, that it will convince the settler, arriving under the present circumstances of the colony, that this distress cannot affect his interests, unless in a beneficial way; and it is solely with this view, that the preceding rapid statement of them has been introduced.

The period of greatest depression has now gone past. The genial rains which have from time to time refreshed vegetation, since the breaking up of the drought in September, 1829, have renewed the confidence of the colonists in the general goodness of the climate; and the superabundance of all sorts of food upon which we may calculate, should we be blest with a continuance of favourable seasons, will make this, if not one of the richest regions of the world, certainly one of the most abundant in all the necessaries of life; and if not in the most desirable of its luxuries also, the blame will rest with those who do not second the capabilities of nature to produce them.

The command of money can, in the present state of the colony, secure immense advantages to the new settler. He will be able to invest his capital in live stock, at such prices as must continue, under any circumstances, to yield most profitable returns. Fine wooled sheep may now be purchased at a rate at which the wool alone will repay the capital invested, without taking the carcase into account; and horned cattle may be purchased at an equally low rate, and with an equal certainty of profit.

The establishment of salting-houses, for the curing of beef, will fix a limit for the value of that article, below which it cannot permanently sink. This limit will of course, be the price at which, after repaying the expenses and profits of the salter, it will enter into competition with the beef of other

countries, in the general market of the world; and surely the excellence and cheapness of our native pastures ought to enable us to realize a profit, even when the price ceases to remunerate the stockholders of other countries, of which it would be difficult to name one possessing the same advantage in an equal degree.

It has been said above, that such circumstances as have involved many of his predecessors in distress, are not at all likely to interfere with the comfortable settlement and eventual independence of the settler arriving in the present situation of the colony. Those who conceive that there is no independence except in the accumulation of money, will mistake the meaning of the word as it is here used. New South Wales is not the country to realise a fortune, either by farming or grazing – at least those who do make fortunes by such pursuits, must possess advantages not attainable by every one, and be gifted with acuteness and a spirit of enterprize, which are more often found among merchants than farmers. The settler will in most cases have little money, and it will be, or ought to be, his happiness that he will have little occasion for it; he will be nearly in the desirable situation contemplated by the poet –

"Happy the man whose wish and care
A few paternal acres bound,
Content to breathe his native air,
On his own ground.

Whose fields with bread, whose herds with milk,
Whose flocks supply him with attire;
Whose trees in summer yield him shade,
In winter, fire."

The settler's independence will arise from his being able to obtain, without money, the greater part of those necessaries which money is elsewhere required to purchase; and if his money income be small, when he compares it with his expenditure, he may, nevertheless, find himself a richer man than when he was in the receipt of a large revenue in England, all of which he was obliged to spend without securing any provision for his family, and even perhaps without being able to procure as much for his present wants as he now raises "on his own ground." Whoever has got through the late difficulties, and

finds himself settled upon his farm, free from debt, and with a fair proportion of live stock, ought to consider himself a wealthy man, and the fault is his own if he be not a happy one.

Independently of all the luxuries which the climate of this country will enable its inhabitants to procure, the climate itself is a luxury which immeasurably outweighs most of the drawbacks to comfort, which are inseparable from the present state of society. To these drawbacks upon his comfort the settler must reconcile himself, and he must give up the hope of enjoying many of those elegancies and refinements which are the accompaniments of an advanced state of society. If there be a person on the point of becoming a settler in New South Wales, to whom these are indispensable, and whose circumstances enable him to command them, he had better return to England at once – he is not a fit denizen of an infant community, and will do no good in it, to himself or to others.

The new-comer will do well to compare these facts and observations with the complaints of distress and ruin among the settlers, which will, in all likelihood, be the subject with which he will be most generally entertained, unless he should fortunately fall into the society of persons of better judgment and steadier habits than most of the loungers about Sydney.

Before proceeding to point out the methods by which the settler can, with the greatest facility, transact his business with the Government, relative to his settlement on his land, it seems desirable to offer a few observations upon the nature and extent of his claims upon the Government, and the attention they owe to him. This is the more necessary, as it is a subject on which very erroneous ideas are generally prevalent, even among well-informed people. – It is the privilege of John Bull to grumble, and so long as he only finds fault with public measures affecting the community generally, he may be safely left to digest his discontent as he best can; but the case becomes a very different one when these measures become a personal question between himself and the Government, involving matters of dispute relative to his. own individual interests. In such a case, it is of great importance to his own happiness that each

individual should be correctly informed of what he has a right to expect, for there is not a more galling feeling than to labour under a sense of oppression from power; and persons transacting business with the Government, of the nature of that which a settler claiming a grant of land has to transact, is too much disposed to consider the rules, which have been established for the conduct of public business, as pressing with severity on his own particular case.

It is not the purpose of these pages to vindicate the members of the local Government. The Authorities to whom they are immediately responsible, have abundant means of appreciating their conduct, and the records of their proceedings will prove not only the general uprightness of their decisions, but the labour which has been bestowed in coming to a correct determination in each particular case; and however much the disappointed feelings of individuals may at present be inclined to impute blame, when these feelings have subsided, public opinion will eventually do them justice.

For any person possessing the prerogative of giving or withholding what nearly concerns the interests of a large class of individuals, to expect that he can conscientiously discharge his duty, and give universal satisfaction, would be too visionary an expectation, even for a mere novice in the business of the world, to entertain for a moment. It would, in fact, be to suppose that each individual was not only sufficiently enlightened to know exactly what he is entitled to expect, – but that he is sufficiently disinterested to be a judge in his own case, and sufficiently candid to acknowledge the justice of a decision which disappointed him.

It is not therefore with the vain and unnecessary intention of vindicating the members of the Government from the aspersions which have been cast upon them in the exercise of this prerogative, that the writer of these pages has undertaken to offer information and advice to the new-comer. But he has had many opportunities of observing that the discontent manifested by individuals, is attributable to a want of such information as would enable them to form a correct judgment of what they have a right to expect; and being of opinion that there are few

things more painful to the feelings, or more ready to paralyze the exertions of a new settler, than a persuasion that he is suffering injustice from those to whom he was entitled to look for protection and encouragement, he is satisfied that, by informing the judgments of such persons upon matters so nearly concerning them, he is doing them a real and important service.

Among the other functions of Government, the Governor of New South Wales is vested, by his commission, with the power, subject to certain restrictions, of disposing of the unlocated lands, in such a manner as may seem to him most conducive to the beneficial settlement of the colony. As an inducement to the emigration of persons of respectability and capital, a scale has been established, proportioning the extent of land to which the possession of capital, imported by emigrants, gives a claim; and the difference of capital possessed by them is the only recognized ground of distinction in the extent of land granted. The reason for this distinction is sufficiently obvious. It will, generally speaking, require a greater inducement to make a man of capital leave the enjoyment of the advantages which capital would procure him at home, than a man of less property; and the power of the former, to improve the land granted to him, is also greater, in the former case, than the latter.

On application at the Colonial Office, in Downing-street, persons intending to proceed to this colony, as settlers, are furnished with a statement of the conditions under which lands are located. 8 Emigrants are entitled to one square mile, or 640 acres of land, for every £500 of capital immediately available for its cultivation, to the extent of four square miles, or 2,560 acres, which is the limit within which the Governor is authorised to make grants to one individual. Persons possessed of a less capital than £250, clear of all expenses of removing to the colony, have not hitherto been considered as eligible to be grantees of land. By a very late regulation, however, emigrants, as well as natives of the colony, if of good character, are allowed to select a small grant, of from 50 to 100 acres, in

any of the districts which have been set apart for the location of small settlers, on the condition of actual residence upon it, although not possessing capital.

These preliminaries being stated, and mutually understood, the negotiation between the Colonial Government and the emigrant would seem to resolve itself into a plain matter of business, in which reciprocal obligations and duties belong to each party. The settler is bound, on the one hand, to establish his right to the land claimed, by proving that he possesses the corresponding capital, and means to employ it in the improvement of the land to be granted to him. On proof of this, the Government are pledged to make him a grant, and to afford him every facility, in its early selection, which is consistent with the due despatch of other public business of equal urgency.

The Government of New South Wales has always recognized the claims of a new settler to immediate attention, as superior to the ordinary routine of official business; and every exertion is used to hasten his business through the different offices. It still however happens, that its final settlement is often procrastinated, by unavoidable delays, and still oftener by a want of due information in the individual.

The most important business a new settler has to transact, is the selection of his land, and the early settlement of himself and his family upon it. The most important lesson he can be taught, in the transaction of this business, is, that more depends upon his own energy than upon any assistance that can be given, or facility that can be afforded to him.

In order to simplify the business, as much as possible, the Government have prepared printed forms of application, which the settler is required to fill up. On his first landing, he should immediately enquire for the office of the Colonial Secretary, – state the object for which he came to the colony, – and request that a printed form of application for a grant of land, may be given to him. He will find no difficulty in filling up this form, which contains merely – his address, in order that an answer may be duly forwarded to him, – the nature and amount of the capital, under two or three general heads, upon which he claims a grant, – and his willingness to enter into a bond, under

a penalty of £500, that he will not leave the colony within the period of three years. The object of the bond is merely to afford some guarantee to the Government that the person claiming land really intends to fulfil the conditions on which lands are granted; and does not mean to follow the practice, at one time sufficiently common, of obtaining a grant, raising money upon it, and then bidding the colony adieu. To a person whom the Government undertakes to encourage, and who really intends to fulfil the conditions under which he claims a grant, this bond is of course a dead letter. It is not possible to contrive another form of obligation, which will afford security to the Government, with so little restraint to the real settler.

On the settler's filling up his application, and transmitting it to the Colonial Secretary, a letter will be addressed to him by that functionary, informing him that his application has been referred to the Land Board, and requesting him to hold himself in readiness to appear before them, with proofs of his possessing the capital stated. At the same time that this answer is returned to him, his application is forwarded to the Land Board, from whom he will probably hear in another day. The letter from the Land Board requests him to give them one day's notice of his intention to appear before them, stating the hour, in order that the Board, or a majority of them, may be assembled. – Should it, however, be of importance to the applicant, and should other business not render it necessary, they do not always insist upon a previous notice. The letter also states that it is expected the applicant will bring with him the necessary documents and means of proving the particulars of his capital; and be prepared to procure the attendance of one or two persons, of undoubted respectability, who can vouch for the truth of his statement.

The Land Board require from the applicant a detailed account of his capital, and each particular is entered separately in a schedule. The object of this is twofold. First, to ascertain that the capital, upon which the land is claimed, is such as can be admitted to be immediately available for investment in stocking and improving a farm; – and, secondly, that the Board may have an opportunity of putting such questions to the persons who are to attend to vouch for the truth of the appli-

cant's statement, as, from the circumstances of the case, they may consider necessary.

The Board are only authorized to recognize capital immediately applicable to agricultural purposes as giving a claim to land – but in this they allow a considerable latitude. It is not required that the capital proved should consist of cash only. Bills, or letters of credit, if upon persons of undoubted responsibility, – and if there be evidence that it is a real transaction. All sorts of merchandize, imported by emigrants as a means of transferring their capital to the colony, are considered available capital, provided it be not the intention of the party to enter into mercantile business beyond the immediate disposal of his investment. Live stock, if imported by the applicant, and agricultural implements and stores, are also considered as capital – but not household furniture, plate, or family clothing and stores generally. It has, however, been lately determined that all kinds of stores and outfit, purchased for the voyage and the subsequent settlement, shall be considered as capital, provided the invoices or accounts can be produced – but not otherwise.

When an emigrant imports his capital in cash, the Land Board require that it shall be deposited in one of the Banks, or in the hands of some merchant of known respectability, and that a certificate of its being so deposited should be produced. In the case of merchandize, the original invoices are required to be produced; and collateral testimony is of course required, that the property, in whatever shape, has been actually imported by the applicant, and is his own bona fide capital.

The regulations require that the property should be actually in the colony. No claim can be admitted on capital in England or elsewhere, as, should it be vested capital, it is of course unavailable to the improvement of land here; and should it be in any shape which would allow of its transfer, the regulations assume that it would have been the interest of the individual to have brought it with him. Persons in the receipt of half-pay or pension from Government, or of an annuity, are, however, entitled to have their half-pay, pension, or annuity, valued at seven years' purchase. Persons in the receipt of rents of property, or of dividends from money in the funds, are allowed for one years' rent or dividend. Persons bringing out free. servants

are also entitled to credit for the cost of their passage to the colony. When the applicant has given a schedule of his capital, and has signed a statement of such explanations as may have been required, the persons named as referees, for the purpose of vouching its truth, are expected to attend the Board. Should the Board feel satisfied, from the documentary and oral testimony adduced, of the truth of the applicant's statement relative to the amount of his capital, they immediately make their report, for the decision of the Governor, which is communicated to the party by the Colonial Secretary, with as little delay as possible; but should any discrepancy appear between the statement of the applicant and that of his referees, or should the referees be unable to bear out the statement of the applicant, the latter is again written to, in order that he may have an opportunity of explaining what seems inconsistent, or bringing forward additional proof where wanting, previous to the Board reporting their opinion upon his case.

When the applicant receives his answer from the Colonial Secretary, specifying the extent of land which the Governor may have decided upon granting to him, he will also be informed that on applying at the office of the Surveyor General, and paying a fee of 2s. 6d., he will be furnished with an authority to select. He will now also be permitted to examine the charts in that office, in order to ascertain what lands are vacant and are most eligible.

By following these directions, and by incurring no delay which can be avoided, most persons will find that they may be ready to proceed in search of their land almost as soon as they can get their luggage landed, and get their families, should they have families, clear of the ship. The authority to select is only valid for four months, which period is considered sufficient to allow enough to be seen of the colony to select a grant. At the end of this period the order is cancelled, unless, on a representation of peculiar circumstances which may have interfered with the selection, an extension of time should have been granted before the expiry of the specified term.

Persons proceeding in search of land ought to provide themselves, before leaving Sydney, with as much information as possible, relative to the most eligible situations for a location,

as they cannot always depend upon finding a surveyor in the district; and. when they do find him, he is not always prepared to state what locations still remain open. It must be confessed that the difficulties attending the selection of a grant, in the present circumstances of the colony, are sufficiently discouraging; as, from the backwardness of the surveys, it is often a matter of no easy attainment to discriminate, by natural marks, a piece of land which may remain ungranted, from other portions in its neighbourhood, which may have been selected and may still remain unimproved; of from those portions of land which the surveyors may have marked off as eligible for future villages, or for church reserves; and which, in conformity with the King's instructions, are accordingly reserved for these purposes. As it is impossible also to prevent unlocated lands from being depastured by the sheep and cattle of persons in the neighbourhood, it thus also becomes the interest of those, from whom he would most naturally have expected advice and information, to mislead him. When, in addition to all these circumstances, it is considered that the proportion of good land to the inferior is very limited, and that a still more limited proportion is well watered, it is not at all surprising that the selection of a desirable grant of land becomes a most difficult and perplexing undertaking.

There is but one way in which the government could interfere to remove the difficulty, which is by restricting this selection of lands to one particular district, till all the other districts are surveyed and described. The facility with which a grant of land can be selected in the Canadas, or in the United States of North America, is frequently made a subject of comparison with the difficulty attending the same undertaking in this country, and inferences are in consequence drawn to the disadvantage of the government of New South Wales. It would be well for those who are inclined to reason in this manner, to consider what the effects would be if a similar system were adopted in New South Wales.

In the Canadas, in the United States, and the writer believes, even in South Africa, no tract of country is laid open for disposal, till a complete survey of it has first been effected, – the boundaries of each section or allotment accurately fixed, – -the

nature of the soil, situation with regard to water, &c. described, – and, in fact, nothing left for the person making a selection to do, but to take down the numbers of those allotments on which his choice may have fallen.

In those long settled countries no inconvenience results from this system; and were it to be adopted here, the settler would, without doubt, be less bewildered in his choice, by being confined to a more limited range of country. It is, however, an alternative which those would most loudly deprecate who are the most ready to complain of the present state of matters.

But the Government have considered that the wealth of this country does not consist in immeasurable tracts of rich arable land, as in the countries above named, where a dense population can be advantageously settled from the first (and where indeed it is necessary to their success that they should be densely settled), but in the excellence of its natural pasturage, which requires a wide spread population to reap its advantages.

To allow settlers to avail themselves of this to the utmost extent, an immense extent of territory is thrown open, in any part of which they may locate themselves; and one consequence of this is, that they are perplexed with the vast variety of situations where they may choose. They find it difficult to decide among the relative advantages and disadvantages peculiar to each district, and many of them are sufficiently unreasonable to make the very extent of the accommodation which Government is desirous to afford them, a ground of complaint.

The limits to which these observations must necessarily be confined, debar the writer from offering to the new-comer any advice upon the best mode of selecting and effecting a settlement upon his land, or of making the requisite purchases of live stock; and it is the less necessary he should do so, as these matters have been already treated of in other publications. The same cause prevents his going into further details, relative to the regulations of the government respecting lands and convict servants; summaries of which regulations are published for general information in another part of the Almanack, and are also given in a detached form, to newly arrived emigrants, at the offices of the Colonial Secretary and principal Superintendent of Convicts.

It might be reasonably enough supposed, that there are few persons not interested in the question, who could find any thing objectionable or unreasonable in the mode in which this branch of the administration of public business has been regulated. Whence comes it, then, that one so often hears complaints against the Government in transacting it? Undoubtedly the most general answer is, that many persons attempt to overreach the Government, by advancing claims which they cannot substantiate. But it would neither be consistent with fairness, nor with the truth of the case, to suppose that every complaint originated in this. The truth is, that the self-interest and self-love, of many even well-informed persons, lead them to consider, or imagine, that there are peculiar circumstances in their own case which give them a claim to exemption from the strict operation of the regulations.

It is undoudedly true that such circumstances may exist as it would be desirable to consider in this light; but the difficulty is to say where the admission of such claims is to stop. Were it possible to foresee and to define all the cases which might be brought forward and urged upon the government as grounds of claim, there would be less difficulty in the case. The regulations might be framed before hand to include them; but no regulations could be framed of such latitude as to comprehend every case which might be advanced on good or plausible grounds, as entitled to attention. The question would therefore come to this – Whether the Government should administer this branch of the public business by general rules, sufficiently plain for every one to understand, and sufficiently determinate to enable every one, who brings himself under their operation, to know before hand what he is entitled to expect: or whether an entire discretion should be exercised in each individual case.

Supposing that it could be contended, for one moment, that the latter course, so inconsistent with the spirit of British institutions, would be preferable to the former, it is such a course as no Governor would be safe in adopting. The disposal of crown lands is an invidious and delicate duty, which no man could discharge to his own satisfaction, or with a due regard to his responsibility, without adhering to rule.

The necessity of establishing general rules, in the adminis-

tration of all public business, is founded upon the principle that it is the general benefit of the whole community that those entrusted with power must consult. And what is best for the whole, can generally be determined before hand. A relaxation of these rules, in a particular case, might be desirable, but it ought to be such a case as would stand out very strikingly distinguished from all others; because, were it once known that the regulations were departed from on slight grounds, they would lose their force as regulations, – each individual would see something in his own case, which, in his own opinion, ought to be considered as a cause for exemption, – the Government would be inundated with applications and complaints, and every disappointed individual would consider himself an injured one.

The application of this reasoning to all public functionaries ought to convince every person who has business to transact with them, that it is not possible to afford the same facilities in public business as in the affairs of individuals among themselves. In the latter case, there is no rule for a man's guidance but his own discretion, and he is responsible to no one for its exercise; – in the former case, every individual transaction becomes a precedent for ulterior proceedings; and the implied understanding, that every person in the same situation and circumstances, is entitled to the same privileges, makes it imperative upon public functionaries to afford no facilities to one, which they cannot extend to all.

An attention to these circumstances, which are seldom duly considered, ought to satisfy individuals who are disposed to think their concerns do not receive that attention from the Colonial Government which is due to persons arriving in such a Colony as this, that however desirous the members of the Government may be to forward their wishes, it is public expediency, and not private feeling, that must be consulted in the business; and it may also serve to explain on what grounds the refusal of a public officer to attend to the wishes of an individual, even in a case which, viewed on its own isolated merits, could be attended with no injury to the public service, is not only not a proof of apathy or indifference towards the concerns of individuals, but may be consistent with a warm interest in their welfare.

7 The entered value of grain, flour, and potatoes, imported into the colony in the year 1828 alone, was £54,823.

8 The system of granting Lands to Emigrants has been altogether done away with; no person can obtain Land under the present regulations without purchase. See Appendix B.

OBSERVATIONS ON THE Alienation of Lands from the Crown IN THE COLONY OF NEW SOUTH WALES.

OBSERVATIONS

ON THE

Alienation of Lands from the Crown,

IN THE

COLONY

OF

NEW SOUTH WALES.

[Submitted to his Excellency Governor Darling, October, 1829.]

[Page 44 is blank]

OBSERVATIONS ON THE ALIENATION OF CROWN LANDS.

I GLADLY avail myself of the intimation, that it is in contemplation to revise the regulations for the granting and alienating of Crown Lands, to offer my sentiments upon the subject.

The present regulations, framed from time to time with a view to meet the claims and wants of individuals in every shape, have now become so complex, that this is a desirable measure as a mere simplification of details; but I confess I approach the subject with a strong persuasion that the system hitherto pursued is defective in principle, and that some fundamental change is necessary in the basis on which any code of regulations may be established, before they will be found to work well with the Government, or give satisfaction to the public. At the same time it is a question in which the individual interest of most free members of the community is so much concerned, that it becomes an object of vital importance not only that the claims of individuals should be equitably adjusted, but that each individual should be able to refer his own case to a fixed and invariable standard, so simple and obvious as to leave no room for doubt or hesitation as to the nature or extent of his claims.

It has for a long time been my settled opinion, that it is impossible to attain this object without cutting off with an unsparing hand all claims for grants of land which are not grounded upon certain fixed principles, capable of being so exactly defined and ascertained as to leave nothing discretionary in their application.

The discretionary power vested in the Governor of alienating lands, within certain limits, in whatever way might appear to him most likely to promote the settlement and general improvement of the colony, could, in its earlier stages, be productive of little embarrassment to him: he knew the circumstances of each individual, and could adjust all claims from his own knowledge of the peculiar merits of each particular case. The colo-

nists also knew the circumstances of each other, and had sufficient grounds upon which to form a judgment of the impartiality of their treatment. It was, in fact, the father of a family dispensing to the wants of his children, rather than the ruler of a country administering the affairs of his people.

It appears to me to be the inherent vice of the system of administration in this colony, that the Governor is still called upon to perform duties of this nature, in circumstances under which no human capacity is competent to discharge them. Constituted the dispenser of benefits to individuals, in proportion to the judgment he may form of their tendency to promote the general welfare of the community, he is brought into a competition of interest with almost every individual under his government.

Could we suppose a Governor gifted with an intuitive knowledge of the circumstances and merits of each case which might come under his review, it appears to me that this would still be a most invidious duty to call upon him to perform; for, independently of the general injustice of mankind, and the proverbial inability even of a conscientious man to come to a just conclusion in his own case, the point at issue is, after all, a question of opinion. And what might be considered by one individual as tending to the prosperity of the colony, might to another, equally qualified to judge, appear to have an opposite tendency. There cannot be a better illustration of this position than the question, whether the dense settlement, or wide extension of the colony, is more advantageous.

But when, in addition to the discharge of this invidious, and, for the Governor of a free country, most anomalous duty, it is considered that the Governor of New South Wales is charged with the administration of the civil government and military command of a colony, whose most important institutions are still in their infancy, or are yet to be formed, and whose peculiar situation and circumstances are such as to render the experience acquired in the government of other colonies, in a great degree, inapplicable here; it seems to me equally unjust to the Governor and the public, that his mind should be distracted from more important duties by details of such a nature.

I think it is, therefore, essential to exclude all claims, which cannot be reduced to one simple and invariable standard, established on such principles as every one can understand and appreciate. I cannot contemplate any cases as reducible to such a standard, excepting those of new emigrants arriving in the colony, or the young people of it entering into matrimony. The principle I would adopt, as I stated in a former paper, would be strictly one of a transfer of public property for a settled and ascertained equivalent.

It will not be questioned by any one that it is advantageous to the colony that emigrants should be induced to settle in it. I would, therefore, make each emigrant, on his arrival, entitled to a regulated portion of land, without reference to the capital he might possess. In like manner he should be entitled, if a married man, to a portion for his wife, as well as for each child and free servant he might bring with him. If possessed of capital, he should also be entitled to land according to a defined scale, in proportion to its extent.

It is equally obvious that it is desirable to increase the population, and to promote its morality, by the encouragement of matrimony among the young people of the colony. I would, accordingly, on the marriage of the native youth, or young men who might have arrived free in the colony at too early an age to have themselves received a grant, and whose fathers should not have received land on their account, under the regulations now proposed, make to each a grant of a defined extent, which should be the same to each individual, without reference to station or circumstances, on the simple conditions of the parties being children of lawful wedlock, never having been convicted of any crime, and possessing the recommendations of a magistrate and clergyman for this privilege. The principle I have stated is sufficiently simple, and yet I think it will be found comprehensive enough to embrace every case deserving the attention of the Government, and to leave nothing discretionary in the application of a code of regulations founded on its basis. It will, in short, establish the law of each case, and leave nothing but the facts to be ascertained. Instead of having to pronounce on the merits of each individual application, as at

present, when the Governor has sanctioned the code of regulations, he has decided all cases in one: and he has relieved himself from a most onerous and harassing, and yet unsatisfactory, duty.

All discretionary power being thus removed, the administration of this part of the public business would become altogether a duty of trust, which I think might be safely deputed to sworn commissioners, who, as is the present practice of the Land Board, might ascertain, by documentary and oral testimony, the claims of individuals, and certify to the Governor the extent of grant to which each person should have established his claim; the whole of the original proceedings being filed and registered in their office, in order to be produced periodically to the Governor in Council, as vouchers of the faithful discharge of their trust. It would, however, be a necessary addition to the present method of proceeding, that in cases of a doubtful character, where the testimony produced might not verify, to the satisfaction of the commissioners, the schedule of capital given by the party, that they should, after intimating to him the extent of claim which they consider, to be established, be authorised to leave him the option of making affidavit to the truth of such part of his schedule of capital as might be unsupported by satisfactory evidence.

In this way, and in this way only, with an exception in favour of claims for public services, and compensations for losses sustained from public causes, would I alienate by grant the crown lands of the colony.

Should it be said that cutting off the facilities of individuals to obtain pasturage for their flocks, by additional grants, reserves for purchase, and other methods, which have been adopted with a view to promote their success, must necessarily repress the enterprise, and cramp the pursuits of the colonists, I answer, that the extension of the colony has made it necessary to administer this branch of the public business as a law, not as a prerogative; and that it is impossible to legislate for individuals, "de minimis non curat lex."

I will not, therefore, enter into the question, whether a more liberal dispensation of grants would not tend more to promote

the wealth and advancement of the colony; but I will here remark, that I think it important to the happiness of individuals, that they should not be led to undervalue their own exertions, by being encouraged to indulge illusory hopes of obtaining advantages from the Government, which, after all, are more apparent than real; deriving, in many cases, their only value from its being an object of competition to obtain them; or exposed to have their feelings soured by the disappointment of unreasonable expectations, founded on vague and unfounded opinions of what is due to them as individuals by the Government.

Were I, however, prepared to admit, to the greatest extent which could be argued, the desirableness of recognising the claims of individuals within more extended limits, the difficulty, – I would even say the impossibility, – of fixing a standard, by which the extent of these claims could be ascertained, which would include every case in which good or plausible grounds could be urged, makes it still, in my opinion, an act of justice to itself, that the Government should exclude all claims which are not founded upon a principle universally understood and exactly defined.

But, with the exception of not allowing every one to prefer a claim to land, in proportion to his own ideas of what would at once be beneficial to him and to the community, I am disposed to think that such a system is perfectly consistent with allowing every latitude to the enterprise of the colonists; for I think a modification of the present excellent system of renting lands at 2s. 6d. per 100 acres, subject to be resumed at a month's notice, would provide for the wants of all individuals, as far as it is possible for the Government, without partiality, to do so.

I would accordingly allow, without limit, every settler to rent the unoccupied lands in the neighbourhood of his estate; but I would not allow his claim of prior possession to deprive his neighbour of a due share of this land whenever his wants should require it. I would, therefore, on the application of an individual for a share of the lands rented by his neighbour, refer the party to the commissioners, who, being furnished with charts of the districts, should make a periodical investigation of

such applications, and apportion the land among the applicants, in the strict ratio of their respective grants, subdividing again on the location of every new settler who might make application.

With regard to the question of purchase, as experience has fully demonstrated, that the avidity of individuals to obtain possession of land, will induce them to come under engagements which they have not the power to fulfil, or which it would be against their interest to fulfil, if they had the power; I would admit of no sale of land, unless the purchase-money should be paid in full before the purchaser entered on the occupation of the land. I think, also, that it would be necessary to fix a stated price for all lands, calculated upon a valuation of the most valuable land in the colony. And so far from making it an object for the settler to become a purchaser, I would rather be inclined to fix a price which would discourage him from such an unprofitable investment of his capital.

While equal justice would thus be done to all parties, I do not see that it follows that pastoral pursuits would in any degree be checked. It is, indeed, true, that it would force upon individuals the alternative of limiting the number of their flocks and herds, or of sending them to the unoccupied regions of the interior, where I would permit them the most ample range. The only restrictions within which it seems to me desirable that this liberty of occupation should be authorised, are, first, that the stations of settlers should not be pushed too close upon the position of penal settlements; and, secondly, that no assignee of convicts should have authority to send them beyond the line recognised as the boundary of the settled districts, unless with their own free will and consent.

It appears to me, that it would be a very advantageous consequence of this system, that it would afford a true criterion for individuals to judge of the value of their estates. Entertaining no illusory ideas of adding to them, either by future grant from the Government, or by purchase, except on fixed and known terms, it is probable that many would decide between restricting their live stock to such a number as their grants could support, in order to apply themselves in good earnest to

the production of those agricultural commodities which, however congenial to the climate, are still lamentably neglected, or occupying them as mere stations or half-way houses, to which to bring their live stock on the way to market from the interior pastures. A more decided separation of pursuits would thus be produced; – the relative value of each more clearly ascertained; – and that would eventually come to be most followed which it is most for the general interest to pursue. In support of the same principle, I think it would be desirable to remove all restrictions upon the free transfer of lands among private individuals.

It is another strong feature of such a system, that individuals proposing to settle in the colony would not be discouraged by the consideration, that all the choice portions of the land had already been selected as additional grants or purchases by individuals, whose local knowledge of the country gives them an advantage over a stranger; and would be satisfied that wherever they might fix themselves, they would be entitled to their fair share of the waste lands around them, and not confined within the limits of their own grants by the monopoly of an earlier settler.

With the foregoing observations on the principles of the measure of alienating crown lands, I beg leave to offer a few remarks upon the details of their application.

The present scale of grants in proportion to capital, was fixed at a time when live stock of every description bore a much higher value than at present; and a settler who, a few years ago, would have found it difficult to stock a grant of four square miles, could probably stock a grant of double that extent at present with ease. The limit of 2,000 acres, which has since been extended to 2,560, was also fixed on the supposition that no larger capital than corresponded to that quantity in the scale would be invested in the colony; a supposition which experience has of late demonstrated to be no longer correct.

On these grounds, therefore, I think that the ratio of the scale should be increased in the proportion of land to capital,

and that its limits should also be extended to encourage and provide for the investment of a larger capital.

An additional reason for the alteration of the scale is the fact, which the late seasons of drought have established, that the land is not in all seasons capable of supporting the number of live stock which it was considered to be when the scale was fixed. And for the extension of its limits, that (on the supposition of no additional grants being made, or facilities afforded for purchase from the Government in future) the settler will not have it in his power to extend his landed property by these means. I think it is therefore desirable, that a scale should be adopted, in the proportion of double the extent of land to capital that is fixed in the present scale; viz. of one square mile for each 250l., and to grant land in proportion to capital to any extent not exceeding 20,000 acres.

Without reference to capital, I think each emigrant should be entitled to a grant of 100 acres in the neighbourhood of townships, and other portions of the colony set apart for small agricultural settlers; or the option of a grant of 320 for himself, to be increased by half that quantity, or 160 acres, if married, for his wife, the same for each child above ten years of age, and for each servant, and the fourth of that quantity, or 80 acres, for each child under that age.

To native youths, or young men on their marriage, I think it would be desirable in like manner to allow the option of a grant of 100 acres, in the portions of the colony set apart for small settlers, or of 320 acres elsewhere. But I think no grant, not partly or wholly obtained upon capital, should be allowed to be selected in the interior or pastoral districts.

I think a division of the colony might be made into pastoral and agricultural districts, by a line extending ten miles from the sea coast, or from water carriage; and I think the lands in the agricultural districts might be made fairly chargeable with double the quit-rent of those situated in the interior. Instead of the present rates of quit-rent, founded upon a valuation of the land, which experience has proved to be erroneous, I think that 10s. per hundred acres in the agricultural districts,

and half that rate in the pastoral districts, would be as much as it would either be expedient with regard to revenue, or equitable with respect to the grantees, to levy upon them.

In the case of half-pay or retired officers, who are entitled to a temporary or entire exemption from quit-rent, under the regulations of the Horse Guards, I think it would be desirable to give them land to the extent that 1,000l. would entitle them to, without subjecting them to the proof of capital, unless it should exceed that amount. It would, however, be requisite to provide, that such individuals should be possessed of such means as would enable them to settle upon their lands, without proving a burthen to the local Government; and, perhaps, the simplest and best way would be, to require from them, before they should obtain authority to proceed to the colony, an affidavit that, independently of the expense of their passage, they were possessed of capital to the amount of 500l.

JAMES BUSBY.
25th October, 1829.

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A BRIEF MEMOIR RELATIVE TO THE ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

A BRIEF MEMOIR

RELATIVE TO THE

ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

[Submitted to the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies, July, 1832]

[Page 56 is blank]

A BRIEF MEMOIR

RELATIVE TO THE

ISLANDS OF NEW ZEALAND.

THERE are few subjects connected with New South Wales, more deserving the attention of His Majesty's Ministers, than the trade now carried on between Sydney, the capital of that colony, and the islands of New Zealand.

Previous to the visit of Mr. Bigge, the Commissioner of Inquiry to New South Wales, quantities of the phormium tenax, or New Zealand flax, had been brought to Sydney, and manufactured into every species of cordage except cables; and Mr. Bigge observes, that "its superiority of strength to the hemp of the Baltic has been attested, both by experiments made at Sydney, and by one that was made under his own observation in the King's yard at Deptford."

Mr. Bigge has also stated, that with the means a rope-maker in Sydney "had discovered, of breaking the New Zealand flax in its green state, it may be reckoned as one of the most valuable productions that the soil of New South Wales is capable of producing:" and he recommends, "that a certain number of convicts should be employed in planting the New Zealand flax, either at Emu Plains, or at any other of the Government farms in New South Wales." 9

This recommendation appears, from reasons which I have not ascertained, but probably from the slow growth of the plant in soils not naturally adapted to it, never to have been acted upon by the Colonial Government. Major Goulburn, the late Colonial Secretary, had also anticipated the greater advantages which would result to the colony, by encouraging the industry

of the natives of New Zealand, in the preparation of this indigenous production of their soil, which is now ascertained to grow spontaneously, in fields of inexhaustible extent, along the more southerly shores of the islands.

The plant is a species of flag, and is perennial, the flaxy fibre forming the under surface of the long leaf; it is separated by the females, who, holding the top of the leaf between their toes, cut through the succulent matter near the top with a shell, and inserting the shell between that substance and the fibre, effect its separation by drawing the shell through the whole length of the leaf. The separation is more easily effected by a mechanical process, when the vegetable is fresh cut, as it contains a gum, which causes it to adhere more strongly when dry; and I believe it was ascertained by experiments made under the direction of Major Goulburn, at Sydney, that the large proportion of the succulent matter made it impossible to effect its separation by decomposition in water, without injuring the strength of the fibre.

Under these circumstances, although essential assistance, by means of better instruments, may be afforded to the natives in the preparation of the flax, there is little prospect either of its plantation or preparation, becoming a profitable object of pursuit in the colony.

From the ferocious character of the natives, the Colonial Government, before permitting private individuals to embark in the trade, judged it advisable to dispatch several of their own vessels in the years 1824 and 1825, for the purpose of opening a communication with the tribes along the sea coast, and of sounding their dispositions.

The success of these vessels having demonstrated the practicability of maintaining the trade, it was accordingly thrown open, without restraint, to the enterprize of private individuals, and it appears, in its increase, to have exceeded the most sanguine expectations which could have been entertained respecting it.

According to the statistical returns of New South Wales, for the year 1828, New Zealand flax to the extent of 60 tons, and valued at £2600, was exported from Sydney to England during

that year. To what extent the trade to New Zealand has increased in the short intervening period, some idea may be formed from the following facts.

During the year 1830, according to returns taken from the custom-house books, 28 distinct vessels, averaging 110 25/28 tons burthen each, made, in the aggregate, 56 voyages to New Zealand; the total tonnage of vessels cleared out for New Zealand, being that year 5888 tons. In the same year, 26 distinct vessels of the average burthen of 114 15/26 tons, arrived from these islands, having made, in the aggregate, 46 voyages inwards; their total tonnage amounting to 4959 tons. It also appears that, of 78 vessels which cleared out from Sydney, for "Foreign States, South Sea Islands, and Fisheries," 56 were for New Zealand; and of 64 reported as arrived, under the same heads, 46 were from the same place.

These voyages were undertaken chiefly for the purpose of procuring New Zealand flax, but it has also been customary for vessels to leave parties on different parts of the coast, to prosecute the whale and seal fisheries, in the bays which are frequented at certain seasons of the year, by the black whale, and the seal.

Establishments have also been formed for the purpose of procuring spars for shipping, and timber for house building; the timber of New Zealand being softer and more easily worked than that of New Holland. Two very handsome vessels, one of the burthen of 370 tons, and the other of the burthen of 140 tons, have also been built in one of the rivers by English mechanics; but in all their pursuits, the English are largely assisted by the natives.

The trade in flax is considered to have been extremely profitable to those who have embarked in it, and although several vessels had returned unsuccessful towards the close of last year; this was attributed to its having been the season when the natives are engaged in preparing their potatoe grounds, an employment from which they will permit nothing to divert their attention. One of the oldest and most eminent merchants in Sydney, who had not hitherto been concerned in the trade, was

accordingly preparing to embark in it, and those who are best acquainted with the subject, affirm that a very great increase may be expected. I am informed that the merchants of Hobart Town and Launceston, in Van Diemen's Land, who have not hitherto prosecuted the New Zealand trade to any extent, have also had their attention roused to its advantages, and are beginning to engage in it with ardour.

The chief features in the character of the natives of the islands of New Zealand are now, I believe, generally understood. As individuals, they are remarkable for a vigour of mind, and a forecast, which distinguishes them, perhaps, from all other savages, who have made so little advance in the arts of civilized life, and their discernment in appreciating the advantages of civilization is not greater than the energy and self-denial they will manifest in the pursuit of a distant advantage. As members of a community they are chiefly remarkable for the ferocity with which they engage in the perpetual wars that the different tribes wage with each other; – for that contempt of human life, which is the natural result of a warfare that aims at the extermination or captivity of the hostile tribe; – and, for the revolting practice of eating the flesh of the enemies they have slain, and even of their own slaves, when pressed by hunger.

It has been stated, in palliation of the character of the New Zealander, that this is a superstitious observance; but those who are best acquainted with them affirm, that it is also the result of a preference for that sort of food.

Their chiefs are hereditary, and of different ranks, forming, with their connections, a kind of aristocracy, the principal members of which enjoy different degrees of authority; but the power of the King, or principal Chief of the tribe, is absolute; and the great body of the people are in a state of slavery, and at the entire disposal of their masters, who put them to death on the slightest occasion, or from mere caprice.

The food of these islanders consists of the root of the fern, (pteris esculenta), which grows to a large size, and in the greatest abundance, in every part of the islands, and of potatoes which are cultivated by the slaves. Many of the chiefs also

possess herds of swine, but seldom or never use the flesh of the latter as an article of food, when they can dispose of it in trading with Europeans.

The trade carried on with this singular race, is of a nature strongly indicative of their character. When it was first opened axes, knives, and other edge tools, together with beads and similar ornaments, were received with avidity; but now they will scarcely receive any thing in exchange, but arms and ammunition. Honghi or Shungi, the late chief of the bay of Islands Tribe, could bring into the field 500 warriors, all of the aristocratic or free class, armed with muskets; and so well are they now acquainted with the qualities of the latter, that a vessel which lately took down 200, could not dispose of them on any terms, because the locks were only single-bridled. The same vessel disposed of a ton-and-a-half of gunpowder, in exchange for flax, in a few days, and would have had as little difficulty in disposing of the muskets, had they been of a better description. Although most of the Chiefs can now muster a large force armed with muskets, their avidity to add to their armoury has undergone no diminution; and with the exception of blankets, red woollen shirts, and other warm clothing, and tobacco, scarcely any other article of English manufacture or merchandize has, as yet, any attraction for them.

The intercourse thus carried on between the colony of New South Wales and the islands of New Zealand, is worthy of the attention of the Government, first, as it interferes with the efficiency of the former, as a Penal Settlement. From the reports of those who have visited the coasts of New Zealand, it is ascertained that numerous runaway convicts are living in that country, and assisting in carrying on the traffic; and as the trade increases, this evil will, undoubtedly, increase also, in spite of the strictest search it is possible to make of vessels leaving the harbour of Port Jackson, and the heavy penalties attached to the offence of assisting in the escape of convicts. This intercourse also claims the attention of His Majesty's Ministers, from the advantages which could not fail to result from fostering and protecting a trade, that is calculated to open a very considerable demand for, British manufactures, and to

yield in return an article of raw produce, not only valuable to England as a manufacturing country, but indispensable to her greatness as a maritime power; and which, the superiority of that power will always enable her to command, independently of foreign countries. And, lastly, – apart from all motives of interest, – it is deserving of attention from the opportunities it affords of civilizing, and converting to Christianity, one of the most interesting races of people which British enterprize has yet discovered in any quarter of the globe.

Though stained with the habitual practice of cannibalism, a crime more calculated than all others to excite the horror and detestation of the civilized world, the New Zealander will not, on that account, be debarred from the efforts of the philanthropist; and he is possessed of many noble qualities, which cannot fail to excite the sympathy, and to encourage the endeavours of those who may interest themselves in his improvement. The New Zealander's point of honour is revenge, and this he will pursue in spite of danger and difficulty. For this he will encounter every fatigue, and submit to every privation. No stance of time or space will conquer his resolution. His whole soul is engaged in the pursuit, and he would be dishonoured among his tribe, were he to sit down in quiet, while the manes of his friend or relation were unappeased with the blood of the enemy by whose hand he fell. With this spirit of revenge is also united in the New Zealand Chief, a nice feeling of honour on other points that concern his dignity, which leads him immediately to perceive and resent any slight or insult offered to his person. But he is not more distinguished for ferocity and cruelty to the enemy of his tribe, than for a strength of attachment to his kindred, which will dissolve the savage warrior in tears on the neck of his friend, whom he meets after a long separation; nor is he less susceptible of gratitude for kindness, than of indignation at injurious treatment.

But although his glory consists in warfare, the New Zealander has not, like the native American, learned to despise the habits of civilized life, nor, like the savage of New Holland, is he incapable of appreciating the value of the mechanical arts, or insensible to the advantages of commerce: neither, like his

brethren of the inter-tropical islands of the Pacific, is he enervated by a voluptuous climate, and furnished, by the spontaneous bounty of the soil, with a profusion of the necessaries and luxuries of life. His climate is not less favourable to exertion, than exertion is necessary to his comfort, and if his wants are at present few, it is only because there is no security for his property, beyond his war-canoe and his arms.

Those of his countrymen who have visited Sydney, have often evinced a curiosity and penetration which would have been considered as the characteristics of an educated foreigner, rather than of an unenlightened savage. Some of these visitors, who were treated with a degree of respect which enabled them to satisfy their curiosity without danger of insult, were observed to exhibit, by the objects which arrested their attention, a very high degree of mental activity and acuteness. They would examine most minutely into the construction of a piece of mechanism; and they were not satisfied to admire the shewy colours of an English carpet, without also comparing its texture with that of the mats manufactured by their own women. On the whole, their admiration of every thing they witnessed, and of those who possessed such things, was unbounded. 10

The vigour of mind and intelligence displayed by this people, joined to the many respectable, though misdirected moral qualities they possess, are indicative of a state, the most favourable for grafting upon them the improvements of civilization, and the blessings of Christianity; and will, undoubtedly, of their own accord, lead ultimately to these results, without the intervention of the British Government. It would, however, be a cold and calculating policy, which should not gladly embrace an opportunity for effecting these objects, when arising out of

circumstances, upon which it has become necessary to act, from considerations of a more interested character.

It has been already stated, that the asylum offered by the coasts of New Zealand holds out to the convict such a temptation to escape from New South Wales, as greatly to lessen the efficacy of transportation to that colony as a punishment. On this ground alone, it has become necessary that some connection should be formed with the chiefs of the former country, in order that runaways may be delivered up by them, instead of being protected or tolerated by their people as at present. And with regard to the trade for New Zealand flax, it has been shewn to have now attained such a degree of importance, as will, undoubtedly, secure for it, from his Majesty's Government, any protection, comparatively to its importance, which it may be proved to require. But from recent circumstances, it has become extremely doubtful whether that trade can any longer be safely pursued, without some treaty with the native chiefs, for the purpose of securing the persons and the property of the English and the New Zealanders, respectively, from the violence of each other. A case had occurred at the commencement of the present year, which will prove this position.

An English brig, the – – -, of London, – – - master,

had been chartered by a mercantile house in Sydney, to proceed to New Zealand, for the purpose of procuring a cargo of New Zealand flax. Finding that the commodities he had carried with him were not suitable for the trade, and that he would have to return to Sydney without a cargo, if he could contrive no other means of procuring one, the master of the brig entered into a contract with the young chief of the Kapity tribe, on the Northern island, at Cook's Straits, to assist him in revenging the death of his father, who had been recently killed by the chief of the Marinouis, another tribe residing on the middle island, about 300 miles distant, on condition of his receiving a full cargo of flax.

He accordingly received this chief, with two hundred of his followers, all armed with muskets, on board his vessel, and sailed for the enemy's harbour, where he came to an anchor, having

the chief and all his party concealed from sight in the hold. The chief of the Marinouis, accompanied by his wife and two girls, his daughter about eight, and his niece about thirteen, years of age, came alongside the vessel, and being invited on board, were immediately made prisoners, and secured in the fore-cabin. It is generally asserted, and is sufficiently probable, that a number of his followers were butchered on the ship's decks by their enemies, who came from the hold to attack them unawares. But the second mate of the brig, from whom the particulars of this narrative were obtained, denies that there was any bloodshed whatever on board the vessel. He also states, that the ship's company were desirous of sailing with the chief and his family, without allowing the New Zealanders to land, as they proposed to do, in order to attack the village by night; but the master stated his apprehensions, that if his crew should oppose the designs of their passengers, the latter would turn their arms upon themselves. The New Zealanders accordingly landed in the ship's boats during the night, killed about 200 of the villagers, carried off about fifty captives, and reduced the village to ashes.

On finding his situation, the captive chief succeeded in suffocating his child in the night, and it was believed that he also intended to deprive the other females and himself of life; but the noise occasioned by the attempt brought the ship's company into the place where they were confined, and he was deprived of a small cord, with which it appeared the child had been destroyed.

On the return of the vessel to Kapity, the females were preserved for slaves; but the chief having been fixed to a cross, his throat was cut by the widow of the late chief of Kapity, whom he had slain; and while she drank up a portion of the blood as it flowed, her son, the young chief, tore out the eyes of his victim, and swallowed them, in order to prevent their becoming stars, as, according to the superstition of the islanders, would otherwise have been the case.

The monster who was accessary to this tragedy was, however, disappointed of his reward. The young chief of Kapity having attained his object, refused to fulfil the conditions; and

his vessel returned to Sydney without the cargo, which was to have been the reward of such atrocity. On reaching Sydney, his proceedings were reported by some of his crew to the magistrates, who, after an examination, required him to find bail to the amount of 3,000l.; but it was generally believed that there was no existing law which would reach his case.

As a comment upon this narrative, it is only necessary to advert to the revengeful character of the New Zealanders, and to observe, that with regard to Europeans, their revenge has hitherto been indiscriminate.

Considerable alarm had naturally enough been excited at Sydney among those who were interested in the trade; and I believe a representation had been made to the Colonial Government upon the subject. I have understood it was recommended by the merchants that the country should be taken possession of by the British Government, as well in order to secure the trade to British subjects, as that an establishment might be formed for the mutual protection of the British and the New Zealanders in their intercourse with each other.

It is well known in the colony, that in their late voyages of discovery to the South Seas, the French directed much of their attention to the Islands of New Zealand (D'Urville having, in 1827, been occupied for two months in the survey of the Middle Island alone), and apprehensions are very generally entertained that they will be ultimately taken possession of by that power. It has also been suggested, that a settlement in New Zealand would prove of great value to the Russians, as a place of refreshment for their ships, on their voyage by that route to the Russian settlements at Kamschatka, and on the north-west coast of America.

Without, on the one hand, participating much in these apprehensions, or pretending, on the other hand, to be a competent judge of the policy which might actuate France or Russia in such matters, the few observations I propose to add are intended to shew that, in my opinion, without taking a formal possession of these Islands, or forming expensive establishments upon them, it would be possible for the British Government, at little or no expense, to secure the two objects, which more imme-

diately concern Great Britain, namely, the delivering up of runaway convicts, who might seek shelter on the coasts of New Zealand, and the protection and encouragement of the valuable trade which is already established.

It is, I believe, generally known, that the Church Missionary Society, and the Wesleyan Missionary Society, have, for a considerable number of years, had settlements on the Northern Island of New Zealand. A very considerable intercourse has accordingly taken place between the Missionaries, some of whom are very enlightened men, and the natives. The Church Missionary stations are at the Bay of Islands, and at Kidee Kidee, about sixteen miles distant from that place; at which stations about a dozen Missionaries, with their families, reside; and where they have established schools for the instruction of the natives. The zeal of the latter in imitating the manners and customs of Europeans, has induced many, even old men, to submit to the drudgery of learning to read and write, and, in the year 1828, about 100 persons, children and adults, attended the school at the Bay of Islands alone.

The influence which the immediate benefits conferred by the Missionaries upon the natives, and their disinterested conduct have procured, has been continually on the increase. But the Missionaries complain, that their labours are, in a great degree, counteracted by the licentious conduct of the crews of vessels which visit the Bay of Islands. And as power and authority, in every shape, command the highest respect of these people, and the Missionaries, besides making no pretensions to authority, are often lessened in the eyes of the natives, by the contempt with which they are spoken of by the seamen, their influence has little power over the conduct of the majority of New Zealanders, unless when strengthened by more interested motives. The conduct of the Missionaries, however, in such parts of the Islands as they have visited, joined to the opinions which have been spread of the power and wealth of the English, by those chiefs who have visited Sydney, from almost every part of the coast, have produced a respect for the character of the English, and a dread of their power, that are not less univer-

sal, than their desire to cultivate the trade, from which they can derive such advantages.

At the end of this paper there is a minute of the Committee of Missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, which was sent to the Rev. Mr. Marsden, of New South Wales, in 1827, and which I have been allowed to transcribe. This document, while it throws light on the general character of the New Zealander, proves that all the chiefs were not so devoted to warfare, as to prefer it to all other pursuits: and that some of them were even willing to purchase a peaceful life, by quitting their native country.

It has been the opinion of Mr. Marsden, who having the direction of the Missions, has made frequent visits to New Zealand, and who is held in the highest respect by the Islanders, that the great body of the chiefs would often decline to join the expeditions of their leader, if they could refuse with safety: and that nothing is more generally desired among them than the establishment of an authority, that would secure a peaceful life to those who were desirous of it. A number of the chiefs of the Northern Island, to whom Mr. Marsden recommended that they should make an end of their wars by electing among themselves a king, to whom the whole should yield obedience, unanimously answered, that no chief of an independent tribe would ever be brought to acknowledge the authority of another chief, unless he and his tribe were first reduced to slavery. But they as unanimously agreed, that "if King George would send them a king," they would joyfully submit to his authority.

Under these circumstances, it appears to me, that if an authorized agent or resident were established by the British Government at the Bay of Islands, or at any other place which might appear more eligible, and invested with the authority of a magistrate over his own countrymen, he would be able to enter into a separate treaty with each chief, or a general treaty with the whole, having for its basis the reciprocal security of British subjects and the natives of New Zealand in their commercial intercourse. And the delivering up, by the latter, of

all runaway convicts and persons not having authority from the British Government, to trade in the Islands.

From the character and intelligence of the chiefs, their cannot be the least doubt of their capacity to understand the obligations of such a treaty, or of their power to cause them to be fulfilled: and also, that the whole number of chiefs could be made to guarantee their performance, by each separate individual. But, indeed, nothing more would be requisite to bring the most refractory of them to reason, than to prohibit the trade to his district till he should see fit to fulfil his obligations. It would be necessary to enter into a separate treaty with the chief of the Bay of Islands tribe, for the cession of a tract of country at that harbour, and for the property of the harbour itself, reserving to the natives its free navigation. A similar right might also be acquired at the River Thames, on the eastern coast, and at some other harbour to the southward; and from the numerous British and American whaling vessels, which call at these harbours to refit, it is probable that a small duty levied upon each, for permission to wood and water, would cover all the expenses of such an establishment, or if not, a small fee made payable at the Custom House of Sydney, on the clearing out of vessels for the New Zealand trade, would make up the difference

Without assuming any authority over the natives, beyond what might be voluntarily conceded to his character, or attempting any interference in their internal government, except by persuasion and advice, it is beyond a doubt that the influence of the resident would be sufficient to induce the New Zealanders to abandon the worst practices to which they are at present addicted, and which, even now, a respect for the opinions of Europeans, leads them to conceal and deny: and that, joined to the exertions of the Missionaries in their education, and the humanizing influence of commerce, and the domestic industry it would produce, their respect for the British character would lead them at length to abandon the ferocious character of the savage and the cannibal, for the principles of a milder religion, and the habits of a more civilized people.

JAMES BUSBY.
June, 1831.

Copy of a Minute of the Committee of the Missionaries attached to the Church Missionary settlement at New Zealand.

MR. WILLIAMS calls the attention of the Committee, to a subject left by Mr. Marsden for their consideration, namely, the formation of a Settlement in New South Wales, for New Zealanders, in consequence of the application made by various Chiefs, who are anxious to avoid many of those evils which they cannot avoid in their own Country.

The following questions were proposed: –

I. Does the present state of the New Zealanders render it desirable that any such Settlement should be formed?
It is thought desirable, unanimously.

1. Because those natives who wish to abstain from war, are unable, in consequence of the threats with which their friends intimidated them, in case of their refusal.

2. Because those who wish to adopt habits of civilization cannot, inasmuch as property is never safe.

3. Because there are many peaceable Chiefs, with their tribes, who are now in continual fear from their more powerful neighbours the Napuhis; to which may be added, that there are some tribes in the Bay which have been broken up by them, and are now living in the same uncertain state.

4. As a refuge for Slaves, who now are unable to possess property, or to marry, and are not certain of their lives for a day: whereas there are several living at this time with the Missionaries, who are anxious to change their condition.

5. In order that natives from other parts of the Islands, who now, owing to the perpetual warfare which exists among the tribes, are and must be excluded from religious instruction, may thus be brought together for their own benefit, and be prepared for future usefulness among their people, in which case also a union might be formed among the tribes, which now is impracticable.

6. As a refuge for the body of Missionaries in New Zealand, where they might still continue their labours, in case any violence should take place on the part of the natives, such as they are frequently threatened with, and of which there has been already an awful example.

7. Because frequent applications are made by various Chiefs, requesting to have a Settlement formed for them in a distant land, where the advantages mentioned can be secured to them.

II. Mr. Marsden having suggested that a Settlement for this purpose may be formed in the neighbourhood of Parramatta, the opinion of the Committee is asked relative to this situation.
It is unamiously disapproved.

1. Because the New Zealanders, like the Aborigines of New Holland, being so near the Europeans, could be kept under no restraint by the Missionaries, but would be continually liable to stray.

2. Because the New Zealander, being unacquainted with English laws and customs, would be in continual broils with the Europeans, and the punishments they might receive in consequence, would very much endanger the safety of the Missionaries in New Zealand.

3. Because the New Zealanders would be established in all kinds of wickedness by their intercourse with prisoners, which would very much preclude the hope of rendering them a benefit, either temporal or spiritual.

4. Because a sufficient portion of land cannot be procured to supply the purposes of the Settlement near to Parramatta, for the number of natives who wish to go.

5. Because the expenses of the Settlement would be very much greater in the immediate neighbourhood of civilized society; because the natives would be dissatisfied unless they were clothed and fed as Europeans.

III. At what distance from Port Jackson is it thought that such a settlement may be formed?

At not less than 100 miles from Port Jackson.

IV. What expense is it thought would be incurred in forming such a Settlement?

For the Europeans, who may accompany the Settlement, it is considered that the expense will be no greater than if they were in New Zealand.

For the natives, it is calculated that £5 a head would supply them with food and blanket for the first year, after which, they would render themselves independent.

The children in the school and the natives in employ, would be at the same expense as in New Zealand.

V. What number of Europeans will be required to attend to a Settlement formed for the above purpose?

Not less than three.

VI. Whether is it desirable that all or part of this number shall have lived in New Zealand, in order to become acquainted with New Zealand manners and customs?

It is unanimously considered that not less than two, who have resided in New Zealand.

9 "Report of the Commissioner of Inquiry on the State of Agriculture and Trade in the Colony of New South Wales," p.p. 52, 53. – – -, 1823.

10 In this endeavour to give a short sketch of the character of the New Zealanders, the writer could only have recourse to his recollection of what had occurred under his own observation, when he had no object in view in giving his attention to the subject, and of what had been told him by others, whose opportunities for observation had been greater. He had it not in his power to refer to any publication on New Zealand, and was unaware of the existence of the extremely interesting, and, as he believes, very correct account of the New Zealanders, published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, and forming the fifth volume of the LIBRARY OF ENTERTAINING KNOWLEDGE.

APPENDIX A. EMIGRATION OF MECHANICS AND LABOURERS.

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

an absolute certainty of individually benefiting the parties removed, the colonies, and the mother country, in an inconceivable degree. 11

With reference to the Australasian Colonies, Sir R. W. Horton observes, in a note to the Explanation of his Bill, 12 "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

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. – -

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.

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.

Name and Address of the Applicant.

Age of the Applicant.

Amount which the Applicant is prepared to contribute towards the Expense of Conveyance.

Period at which the Applicant will be ready to embark.

Name & Address of the Minister of the Parish in which the Applicant resides.

Name and Address of any respectable Householder or Householders to whom the Applicant is known.

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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.

Name of the Applicant.

His Age.

His Trade or Calling.

Whether Married or a Widower.

If Married, the Age of his Wife.

Names and Dates of Birth of his Children.

If he intends to leave behind any of his Family, what means they have of Subsistence.

Place to which he wishes to go.

Amount (not exceeding 20l.), which he is desirous to obtain as an advance.

Name and Address of the Minister of the Parish in which he resides.

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. – – -

APPENDIX.

EXTRACT of a REPORT of the Commissioners for Emigration, to Viscount GODERICH, dated 15th March, 1832. 13

"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

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

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

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."

11 The information diffused on the subject of emigration, in various ways, and more particularly by the Commissioners for Emigration, since their appointment, has led to a spontaneous emigration from all parts of the united kingdom, much more extensive than was contemplated by Sir R. Wilmot Horton and the emigration committees, without any legal measures, or any of the machinery which they proposed to employ; and without any expense to the public. No fewer than 50,254 individuals found their way to the North American colonies in the year 1831, and it appears by the Reports of the Governors at the end of the year, that no inconvenience had resulted from this large addition to the population. These individuals received no pecuniary assistance, or assistance in any shape from Government, further than information and advice in this country, previous to their departure, and after their arrival in the colonics, where agents are maintained by the Government for the purpose of assisting emigrants gratuitously, with all useful advice upon the objects which they have in view in emigrating. – Provision is however made for affording employment on some of the public works in progress in the colonies, to those who may not immediately succeed in obtaining a private engagement.

12 Causes and Remedies of Pauperism, 4th series, page 90.

13 The previous documents have been printed in a return to an address to His Majesty, dated 14th of September. 1831, for copies of the royal instructions to the Governor of New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, and Australia, as to the mode to be adopted in disposing of crown lands; together with such parts of any despatches addressed to them as relate to the same subject, and to the means by which emigration may be facilitated. For this extract and other valuable information, the writer is indebted to the kindness of J. F. Elliot, Esq. Secretary to the Commissioners for Emigration.

APPENDIX B. ALIENATION OF CROWN LANDS.

APPENDIX B.

ALIENATION OF CROWN LANDS.

It will be seen by the documents hereafter quoted, that the principle contended for by the writer, in his paper on the alienation of Crown Lands, has been carried to a much greater extent in the new system of regulations adopted by his Majesty's Government. The Governors of the Australasian Colonies having been altogether divested of the prerogative of alienating Crown Lands by free grant.

Those who are aware how much of the ill-feeling manifested towards the late Governor, had its origin in the disappointment of the unreasonable demands of individuals for grants of land and other favours, which it was a part of the Governor's duty to dispense, will feel it to be a subject of congratulation that the present Governor is relieved from the false position, with regard to the colonists, in which previous Governors were placed by the "irksome and ungracious task," as it is most justly designated by Lord Goderich, of endeavouring to give satisfaction to all the applicants for land, and to reconcile their contending interests. It is to be feared, however, the withdrawing of the inducement of a grant of land will tend to prevent the emigration of settlers of capital to a much greater extent than would be the case, were persons in this country better informed as to the real value of such an inducement. It has long been the opinion of the writer, that the extreme facility of procuring grants of land, has been not only injurious to the colony in general, but to many of the individuals whom it was intended to favour. The following extracts from a paper submitted to Governor Darling, in August, 1829, relative to the measure then under consideration, for granting lands as an encouragement to matrimony among the young people of the colony, will illustrate the view he then took, and still continues to take of this question.

"I have often considered it a misfortune to the young men of the colony that grants of land have been so easily obtained, as their views have thereby, I think, been directed to a wrong object. They have looked too much to the prospect of obtaining land, and too little to their own exertions. It is, I understand, a general remark in the Hawksbury districts, that small settlers who were in penury, when in possession of the fee simple of their farms, became wealthy when they were reduced to the state of tenants.

"This undoubtedly arose from the very natural illusion of expecting too much from their property in the soil; and forgetting that in a new country, where land is abundant, its productive power enters in a very minute degree into a calculation of the profit which is derived from its cultivation. Of so great importance, in my opinion, is the value of the labour of the agriculturist, when compared with that of the land in this colony, that I think the worst lesson a settler, unless very wealthy, can teach his children, is to look forward to the prospect of commencing life as landed proprietors. Without the industry and frugality of the proprietor, the most productive farm will soon slip from his hands. And he who commenced life with the industrious

and frugal habits of a farmer, who feels that he must depend upon his own exertions to raise a rent for his landlord, as well as to provide for his family, will soon be able to become the proprietor instead of the tenant of his farm."

"It is because it tends to perpetuate the illusion of attaching too high a value to the possession of lands, that I think the measure chiefly exceptionable; but there is another objection which is not without its force. Most, if not all of the first-rate soils of the colony which are within reach of a market for agricultural produce, are now granted away, and it will consequently be necessary for the new grants to be selected, either of inferior soil, or at such a distance in the interior, as to make it impossible that their agricultural produce should be taken to market with advantage. Now, as this measure is chiefly intended to apply to persons of limited means, – and it can never be the interest of such persons to retire to the interior, where the land is only valuable to the possessors of large flocks and herds, – the alternative of selecting lands of inferior quality in the settled districts would, in all probability, be most generally resorted to. There is however no principle in political economy more universally true, than that it cannot be for the interest of the community that inferior soils should be brought into cultivation, while any of a first-rate quality, in the same neighbourhood, remain untouched. And it will consequently follow that, in so far as the measure leads to the cultivation of inferior soils, it will divert labour from a more profitable employment, and be the cause of a proportionate diminution of the public wealth.

"In the above observations I have viewed the subject with almost exclusive reference to agriculture, because I can only contemplate the measure as beneficial so far as it applies to the class of agriculturists who are not sufficiently wealthy to depend upon the produce of their flocks and herds. The exorbitant profits which the graziers, till of late, realized, have hitherto diverted the attention of the agricultural population too much from cultivation. But I think the period is at hand when the necessity of increasing the quantity and variety of agricultural products will be apparent; and when the pursuits of the grazier will be considered as secondary to cultivation in the settled districts, and be followed on a large scale, and as a separate occupation, by a distinct class in the interior. In such a state of things, it will soon be ascertained that a small grant of land will be of little value in the interior; and that it will be more for the interest of all parties that the choice lands of the old districts which are still, to a very great extent, occupied as pasture lands, should be rented for cultivation to persons of small capital, whose chief dependence ought to be their own exertions, than that such persons should be induced, by becoming themselves small proprietors, to waste their industry on an ungrateful soil."

"If there is any truth in these observations, I think it will follow that, if there are any real impediments in the way of matrimonial connexions among the youth of the colony, they are not such as the measure under consideration would remove; and I think it is open to the double objection, of tending to encourage among them a delusive expectation that comfort and independence are to be acquired by other means than by their own industry and frugality; and of leading those who may see the advantages of industry, to an unprofitable expenditure of those exertions on an inferior soil, which, if more judiciously

bestowed on fertile ground, would enable them not only to pay a rent to the proprietor, but to raise themselves to competency and independence.

Under the influence of these views, I am led to the belief that the general cultivation and substantial improvement of the colony would proceed more rapidly, and that the exertions of individuals would sooner be more uniformly directed to their most profitable employment, were the Government to abstain as much as possible from disposing of lands, except by sale at the highest prices that can be procured, unless to those who can prefer a claim for services rendered, or to those who have emigrated to the colony on the faith of receiving grants. But I think it unquestionable, that the adoption by the Government of such a measure as the one proposed, could not fail to be influential on the minds of many of the young people of the colony, who are restrained by few moral or religious impressions; as its details would afford the means of impressing most strongly upon them the disapprobation with which all illicit connexions are viewed by their superiors; and the favour with which they are disposed to regard such as shew a disposition, by entering into the married state, to become the settled and industrious heads of a respectable family."

It will be seen that these passages were intended chiefly to refer to persons with small means; but they also apply, though not to the same extent, to capitalists. The capitalist, by the inducement of a free grant, might be tempted to settle himself upon a piece of land, either at too great a distance from market, to allow of his disposing, for many years to come, of any surplus agricultural produce, or of so poor a quality, that it would not, under any circumstances, repay him the expense of its cultivation; and in either case it might prove a much less profitable investment of capital, than if he were to purchase an Estate from a private individual nearer the older settled districts.

In point of fact, few of the settlers of capital who had arrived for some time before the writer left the colony, in February, 1831, had found it for their interest to take possession of their grant of land, by residing, or even by sending an overseer to reside upon it; and many settlers who had done so at an earlier period, were looking out for a homestead to rent or purchase, in order that their families might not be altogether buried in the wilderness. There never has been a period when it was not possible to purchase much more valuable land than any the Government had to grant, (excluding the church reserves) at a much less rate than the minimum of 5s. per acre, now demanded by the Government; and it is not probable that sales will be made at that price for many years to come. The greatest portion of the land unlocated to individuals, is only valuable for pasturage, and its value must consequently be regulated by the profits of pasturage, until all the first rate lands in the same neighbourhood have been brought into cultivation, and it has become necessary, in order to supply the wants of an increasing population, to have recourse to the cultivation of inferior soils. But when the extent of surface, over which the colony is scattered, (nearly 300 miles in length by 200 in breadth) is considered, it is evident that this state of things cannot take place probably for a century to come; and, indeed, when the dryness and uncertainty of the climate are taken into account, it is doubtful whether, under any closeness of population, the greater portion of the pasture lands will ever repay the labour of their cultivation. On the other hand, the value of these lands, for the purposes of pasture, in the settled districts must

always be regulated by the expense of keeping flocks and herds in the unlocated lands of the interior, where the Goverment will lease their lands for whatever rent it may be the interest of the stockholder to pay.

When, therefore, it is considered that it would be better for a settler of capital to purchase an estate from a private individual, than to receive a grant of any of the land still unlocated in the settled districts; and that to procure a grant which would contain a fair proportion of good arable land, he would have to select it, at such a distance in the interior, as to be of no value save for pasturage, beyond the consumption of his own establishment, it will appear that the emigrant who now settles in the colony, is not deprived of so great a boon as would at first sight appear to be the case, by his not receiving a grant of land. For it ought to be kept in mind that the old grants, after the first seven years, are subject to a quit rent of two-pence an acre; and assuming, for the reasons above stated, that it would not be the interest of the new settler to occupy his grant save for pasturage, it is doubtful whether a mere pastoral farm in the settled districts, or a farm fit for cultivation, but situated beyond the reach of markets for agricultural produce, would be on these terms, and under all circumstances, a very desirable property, – at least, for many years to come.

If, then, the writer were called upon to give a general opinion as to the advantages which New South Wales holds out to capitalists, he would say that they are actually much greater now than they were seven years ago, when so many were induced, by high coloured statements, to emigrate, with the hope of making a fortune in a few years, and living in the mean time, in possession of most of the luxuries and conveniences of an old country. Deeply impressed with the criminality of exciting hopes which might never be realized, the writer is anxious to express himself with extreme caution in giving an opinion, which might influence a single individual to undertake so serious a step as to emigrate from his native country. He is aware how ready persons who are contemplating such a step, are to seize upon every favourable expression, and to build upon it, more than it was ever intended to convey; and he has in more cases than one, witnessed the most painful revulsion of feeling, on the part of persons who had been misled by the exaggerated statements of interested persons, or the high-coloured descriptions of writers, whose only object was to sell their books, and who thought it no crime to romance upon a subject, upon which even a few inconsiderate expressions might influence the future happiness of hundreds.

He can, however, say with perfect confidence, that he never met with an individual, (and his official situation gave him ample opportunities for making the enquiry,) who had been bred to agricultural pursuits in this country, that was not perfectly satisfied with the change he had made, after he had been long enough in the colony to form a correct estimate of his prospects; and – though it may seem singular to those unacquainted with the charms of an Italian sky, – by far the greater portion of those who have been led incidentally to visit the colony, have eventually returned to settle in it. Indeed the writer has met with few individuals who had once lived there, that did not express a desire to return. The horror of a convict population, which many persons, ignorant of the colony, are apt to indulge, in contemplating a residence among them, is in general soon dissipated, when the actual state of things is known. Many of the convicts are, without doubt, irreclaimable, but the strict control under which they are held, and the summary measures pursued towards them, prevent, in a great degree, the mischief their conduct would otherwise occasion: and by far the greater proportion really conduct themselves much better than might be expected, provided

they are treated by their masters considerately and kindly, or even with common justice; for those who are most ready to trespass upon the rights of others, are least able to bear the slightest encroachment upon their own.

The writer has no hesitation in stating his belief, that those of the agricultural portion of the community who have made up their minds to emigration, or those who find their situation in Great Britain or Ireland gradually growing worse, but have still some capital left, will most materially alter their circumstances for the better by removing to New South Wales. Indeed, from all he has been able to learn of other colonies, he is satisfied that there is no part of the world (except perhaps the sister colony of Van Diemen's Land,) where steadiness of conduct, joined to industrious and frugal habits, will procure so large a portion of the good things of life; and where a large family could, with such facility, place themselves in circumstances of independence, and even of wealth, always excluding the idea of returning to England with a fortune. This has been done in a good many instances, but the time is past for doing so again, at least, by agriculture and grazing.

From the prices at which land and live stock could be purchased when the writer left the colony, (in February, 1831,) he is of opinion that a person disembarking at Sydney, with 1000l. or 1500l. clear of the expenses of his voyage, could have established himself, (purchase of land included) better than if he had arrived in the colony five years sooner, with half as much more capital, and the privilege of a grant of land. It is probable that the alteration of the land regulations may have, in some degree, raised the prices of land, but not in such a degree, as materially to prevent the success of persons who have been accustomed to manage their own affairs with the industry and application which are absolutely necessary in England to secure to an agriculturist, a bare subsistence for his family; and which indeed, it is to be feared, will not always secure even a frugal subsistence.

To persons of larger capital the colony offers means of investment, which, without either trouble or risk, will always yield from twice to three times the interest it would yield in England. To smaller capitalists down to the individual who can only command from 100l. to 200l. the advantages are equally great in proportion; but of course, the smaller the capital, the more will the personal exertions of the capitalist be required. Those whose capital is not sufficient to enable them to purchase land in the outset, will have no difficulty in renting; but unless, upon the specific recommendation of some one resident in the colony, who knows their particular circumstances and views, and to whose judgment they could trust, the writer would recommend emigration to New South Wales to none, who do not either possess sufficient capital to live upon the interest it would yield; or such a knowledge of agriculture, as to employ a smaller capital beneficially on land; or who have not been accustomed to earn their bread by the labour of their hands, and the sweat of their brow, either in the pursuits of agriculture, or in some of the more useful handicraft trades.

Extracts from Papers printed by order of the House of Commons, relative to Crown Lands, and Emigration to New South Wales.

DESPATCH from Viscount GODERICH to Lieut-General DARLING, &c. &c. &c.

Downing Street, 9th January, 1831.
Sir,

My attention has lately been drawn to the present system of granting land in the colony over which you preside, in consequence of

finding, on my assuming the seals of this department, that answers had not been returned to your last despatches upon this point; and the conclusion to which I have come, after a careful investigation of the subject, and after considering the various documents relating to it in this office is, first, that the regulations now in force have not had the intended effect of preventing large tracts of land from being appropriated by persons unable to improve and cultivate them; and, secondly, that they are founded upon an erroneous view of the true interest both of the colony and of the mother country.

The comparative return of the quantities of land granted, cleared, and cultivated, affords the most decisive proof how little the regulation, requiring cultivation, has been attended to. This result does not surprise me, nor do I think it implies any want of activity on the part of those whose duty it is to enforce compliance with the condition referred to. The term cultivation is so vague, the amount of capital required to be expended is so small, and the difficulty is so great of resuming a grant after seven years, (until the expiration of which, no right of interference exists), that I am inclined to believe that any serious attempt generally to act up to the regulations, would be odious and invidious in the extreme, and at last fail to surmount the obstacles with which it must necessarily be met. But though the existing regulations have not prevented grants of land from being obtained for other purposes than the legitimate one of occupation and cultivation, there is no doubt that they must have been the cause of no trifling inconvenience (from the restrictions imposed on the transfer of land, and from the necessity of proving the possession of a certain capital) to those who bona fide entertained such intentions. The Government they have placed in the disagreeable situation of either suffering regulations they have sanctioned to become a dead letter, or of even interfering in a manner which must necessarily have the appearance of being arbitrary and capricious, from the impossibility of laying down any positive rule, or defining exactly the required degree of cultivation.

The scheme of deriving a revenue from quit-rents, seems to me also to be condemned both by reason and experience. The difficulty and expenses of collecting them cannot be expected to diminish while the great bulk of the land on which they are due continues unimproved; and when it shall be cultivated, the increase of population and wealth, which such a state of things supposes, will render the revenue to be derived from so small a tax as two-pence an acre, of trifling importance and easily to be supplied from other sources.

There is also another and very strong objection to the existing system, viz. the suspicion to which it unavoidably exposes the Colonial authorities of improper partiality to individuals. I am sure you must have found the impossibility of giving satisfaction to all the applicants for land, and reconciling contending interests, and that you will gladly be relieved from the irksome and ungracious task of endeavouring to do so.

In calling your attention to the second question which I proposed; namely, whether or not (supposing them to have been as effectual as could be desired) the existing regulations were founded on correct views of the true interest of the mother country and of the colonies; I must in the first place observe, that I conceive these views to have been directed chiefly to promote the greatest possible extension of cultivation, and the emigration of persons possessed of more or less capital. Considering emigration as a means of relieving the Mother Country, it is quite clear that no such relief can possibly be afforded by the mere removal of capitalists, that it is the emigration of the

unemployed British labourers which would be of real and essential service, while I think it also appears that this would be the most useful class of emigrants, even as regards the colony, from the extreme difficulty which is now complained of in obtaining labourers, and the competition for the service of convicts, together with the glut which so frequently takes place of agricultural produce at the price at which, under the present system, it can be afforded. The latter circumstance seems likewise to prove that a mere extension of cultivation is much less desirable than is generally supposed. Wheat, it appears, is sometimes at so high a price as 14s. 9d. a bushel in Sydney, a price which even in this country would be deemed extravagant. Indeed I believe the average price of wheat in Sydney market would be found equal to that which it bears in Great Britain, and yet the want of demand for their produce is, to the colonists, a subject of loud and frequent complaint. These two apparently inconsistent evils, of a high price and a want of demand, lead me to believe that cultivation has been too widely extended, and that it would have been more for the interests of the colony if the settlers, instead of spreading themselves over so great an extent of territory, had rather applied themselves to the more effectual improvement and cultivation of a narrower surface. With concert and mutual assistance, the result of the same labour would probably have been a greater amount of produce, and the cost of transporting it to market would have been a less heavy item in the total cost of production. A different course, however, has been pursued, chiefly, as it appears, owing to the extreme facility of acquiring land, by which every man has been encouraged to become a proprietor, producing what he can by his own unassisted efforts. If these views be correct, what is now required is to check this extreme facility, and to encourage the formation of a class of labourers for hire, as the only means of creating a market for the agricultural produce of the colony, of effecting various improvements, and of prosecuting the many branches of industry which are now neglected, while, at the same time, by enabling the agriculturist to apply the great principle of the division of labour, his produce will be increased and afforded at a more reasonable rate.

To carry these views into full effect would, perhaps, require greater alterations than can at present conveniently be adopted. Something has, however, been already done by the alteration of the law which renders indentures entered into by labourers, more binding than they have heretofore been, thereby holding out some additional inducement to those possessed of the means, to assist in defraying the expense of their emigration.

Another and important advance towards a better system may, I think, be made by a measure, simple and easy in itself, and which will at the same time have much more effect in preventing the occupation of land by persons unable or unwilling to improve it, than the present complicated and, in practice, nugatory regulations. The measure to which I allude, is that of declaring that in future no land whatever shall be disposed of otherwise than by sale, a minimum price (say five shillings an acre) being fixed, but this price not to be accepted until upon proper notice it shall appear that no one is prepared to offer more, the highest bidder being in all cases entitled to the preference; ten per cent, on the whole of the purchase money, to be paid down at the time of sale, and the remainder at an early period after the sale, and previous to possession being granted. This last regulation I conceive to be of great importance, and it ought uniformly to be adhered

to. When land was formly disposed of by sale, the plan seems to have failed in consequence of the long credit which was given.

Such is the general object of the Regulations which I hope shortly to be enabled to send out to you in more detail, and authorized by His Majesty's signature. In the meantime I should wish you to suspend all further grants of land, excepting to persons to whom you may already have made positive promises, and to those who may have received from this office the printed Regulations hitherto in force, and have proceeded to the colony on the faith of obtaining land accordingly. To immediate sales of land upon the principle I have laid down I do not object, if they can conveniently be effected before you receive more particular instructions.

I am, &c.
(signed) GODERICH.

DESPATCH from Viscount GODERICH to Lieutenant-General DARLING, &c. &c. &c.

Downing-street, 14th February1831.
SIR,

I have the honour of transmitting to you his Majesty's instructions on the subject of my despatch of the 9th ultimo, together with copies of the printed terms which have in consequence been issued for the information of persons intending to become settlers, and of the General Order which has been promulgated to the army in reference to military officers. I take the opportunity of adding what further observations seem to be requisite, in order to enable you fully to understand the views which have led to the change of policy which will be thus carried into effect.

The first point to which I shall call your attention, is the omission of that part of your former instructions, by which you were required to reserve one-seventh of the Crown lands in each hundred and county, for the purpose of maintaining the church and school establishment.

This change has been made in compliance with the recommendation contained in the Report of the Commissioners of Inquiry already transmitted to you. The reasons they have assigned for this recommendation sufficiently prove the propriety of adopting it; I may add that as these lands, in their present state, are of little or no value, and any they may in future possess must be derived from the industry of the owners of the adjoining lands, any income to be derived from them for public purposes must in fact, like every other branch of the revenue, be a tax on the industry and capital of the colonist. It comes therefore simply to be a question, whether it is the best means of raising the sum which is required, a question on which there cannot be a doubt, when it is remembered that, while they cause a very serious inconvenience to the settlers, these reserves at the present moment do not even pay the expense of management; that the whole cost of the Church Establishment is defrayed out of the ordinary revenue; and that therefore the effect of the system is to lay a heavy tax on the Colony at the present moment, with a view to a future exemption from taxation. The policy of the proposed change is to afford an immediate relief, and to trust for the means of meeting the future expense of the Church Establishment to the same sources from which it is at present defrayed, and which will of course become more productive as the Colony advances in wealth and population: if that advance is promoted, as there is every reason to believe, by the sale of the lands

hitherto reserved, they will by that means at least as effectually contribute to the relief of the revenue hereafter, as if they were retained in the hands of those by whom they are now managed.

The next subject to which I have to refer, is the manner in which Naval and Military Officers are to receive the advantages which it has been deemed right to afford them, in order to encourage their emigration.

It is obvious that grants cannot be made to any without entirely destroying the principle which I have been most anxious to establish, of all lands being indiscriminately offered for public competition; therefore propose that, whenever it is wished to favour either officers or individuals who have claims from their public services, it should be done not by making them grants of land, but by remitting a certain sum from the price of that which they may purchase. The general order which accompanies this Despatch has been framed accordingly.

It has been deemed right to discontinue the discretionary power which has hitherto been possessed, of refusing to individuals, under peculiar circumstances, the power of acquiring land. There might be very good reasons for withholding grants from persons of objectionable character, but these do not, it appears to me, apply when the question is whether they should be permitted to purchase; indeed I know not how such persons can give better security that they will not make an improper use of the wealth they may acquire than by converting it into land. I mention this in order to prevent the possibility of your misunderstanding that part of the printed terms delivered from this office, in which persons wishing to purchase are directed to apply for such portions of land as they may select. This is retained not to deprive those of the power of purchasing who may neglect to make such applications, but because it is supposed you may possibly avoid the inconvenience of exposing to sale land for which there is no demand, by knowing beforehand what is required. All regulations of detail as to the time and mode of sale, are for the consideration of yourself and the Council.

It is perhaps too much to expect that some difficulty should not at first be experienced in carrying into effect the proposed change of policy; such is almost always the case when a long established system, however faulty it may have been, is abandoned; I am therefore quite prepared to hear from you that it may for a time be impossible to effect sales of land, and of loud complaints from those who are desirous of obtaining grants. Representations will doubtless be made that the value fixed upon land is too high; that large tracts are necessary for grazing; that a great hardship is inflicted upon those whose applications have been too late; and that some warning ought to have been given of the proposed change. This last objection is perhaps plausible, but upon consideration is clearly without any real force, as it is obvious that any long warning of the change of system would in fact be to postpone its operation, for an indefinite period, from the number of grants which would be previously obtained.

With respect to the price which has been fixed upon land, it will, I doubt not, be thought extravagant by those who have been accustomed to obtain it, practically speaking, for nothing. Were the price not higher than that which it has hitherto been attempted to realize, it would not effect one of the chief objects in view, a great restriction of the extreme facility of acquiring land which now exists. This is absolutely essential for the purpose of checking the dispersion of settlers, to which is mainly to be attributed the heavy expense, in proportion to the population, of every branch of the colonial establishment. Every

facility which can be afforded to those who are engaged in rearing cattle, consistently with the attainment of this object, will be given, by continuing the practice of letting to the best bidder the lands which cannot be sold; it being however clearly understood that such lands are only to be let from year to year, and that if applied for they are to be exposed to sale according to the rules already laid down.

I have, in a former despatch, fully explained to you the reasons which have induced his Majesty's Government rather to trust to the interest of purchasers to secure their cultivating the land they may acquire, than to any regulations requiring them to do so, and preventing its alienation; it becomes, however, a question of some difficulty, what course is to be followed with regard to those to whom land has been already granted under such conditions. It is obvious, that if they are now allowed to dispose of it, they will obtain an advantage never contemplated at the time their grants were made; on the other hand, if prevented from doing so they may be unable to improve it, while until the expiration of seven years from the date of their grants their neglect would give to the Government no right to interfere, and it would therefore remain unproductive to the colony. Under these circumstances, a middle course perhaps will be the best, and I should wish you to consult your Council on the expediency of giving up the enforcement of the conditions referred to, and substituting for them a small tax on all uncultivated land; permitting, at the same time, the holders to dispose of it (notwithstanding the engagement they are under to the contrary) on the payment of a fine.

With respect to the arrears of quit-rents, I think it is a necessary consequence of the New Regulations that all claims to indulgence with regard to them should cease, and that those who have acquired their land on terms so much more favourable than will in future be granted, should at least be required to abide by the bargain they have made.

The same principle will apply to the instalments due on the lands purchased during the administration of Sir Thomas Brisbane, for the postponement of which a memorial from the parties interested was transmitted in your Despatch of the 28th of May, 1828, and which request appears to have been already refused by his Majesty's late Government.

I am, &c.
(signed) GODERICH,

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

Downing-street, 10th July, 1831.
SIR,

In addition to the instructions which have been conveyed to General Darling, relative to the disposal of Crown lands in New South Wales, and with reference to those parts of the Royal instructions which have been addressed to you relating to the same subject, I deem it necessary to explain to you in a separate Despatch, that although it is the wish of his Majesty's Government that all the public lands in the colony should, as a general principle, be put up to public auction, and although a minimum price of 5s. an acre has been named, yet that in mentioning that sum, it is not intended to deprive you of the discretionary power of fixing a higher price on land to which its situation gives a peculiar value, and of keeping it out of the market until that price can be determined. Five shillings was intended to be the minimum price for land possessing no peculiar advantages; but as the reserves which have

hitherto been retained in the settled districts, and which are now to be offered for sale, must be of much higher value, care must be taken that they are not, by a forced sale, disposed of for less than they are really worth. The principle of competition will, in general, prevent this from taking place; but when a considerable quantity of land is thrown suddenly upon the market, (particularly as ready money payments are required,) it may very possibly happen, that by the absence of any one with the means of bidding against them, individuals may be enabled to obtain land much below its real value. To prevent this from happening, you will not permit any land, either in the settled districts, or in situations otherwise particularly valuable, to be put up for sale, except at a price calculated, not upon that which it may be likely immediately to command in the market, but upon that which it ought to bear upon a fair comparison of its value, in reference to what has been fixed upon ordinary waste lands. In order that no disappointment to individuals may occur, from their entertaining an expectation of being able to purchase such lands at a cheaper rate than these instructions will allow, it will be advisable that maps should as soon as possible, be publicly exhibited in the Surveyor-General's office, in which the prices of the several lots, calculated on the principle I have laid down, should be distinctly marked.

I am, &c.
(signed) GODERICH.

TERMS upon which the Crown Lands will be disposed of in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land.

It has been determined by his Majesty's Government, that no land shall in future be disposed of in New South Wales or Van Diemen's Land, otherwise than by public sale, and it has therefore been deemed expedient to prepare, for the information of settlers, the following Summary of the Rules which it has been thought fit to lay down for regulating the sales of land in those colonies.

1. – A division of the whole territory into counties, hundreds and parishes, is in progress. When that division shall be completed, each parish will comprise an area of about twenty-five square miles.

2. -All the lands in the colony, not hitherto granted, and not appropriated for public purposes, will be put up to sale. The price will of course depend upon the quality of the land, and its local situation; but no land will be sold below the rate of five shillings per acre.

3. – All persons proposing to purchase lands not advertised for sale, must transmit a written application to the Governor, in a certain prescribed form, which will be delivered at the Surveyor-General's office, to all persons applying, on payment of the requisite fee of two shillings and sixpence.

4. – Those persons who are desirous of purchasing, will be allowed to select, within certain defined limits, such portions of land as they may wish to acquire in that manner, These portions of land will be avertised for sale for three calendar months, and will then be sold to the highest bidder, provided that such bidding shall at least amount to the price fixed by Article 2.

5. – A deposit of 10 per cent, upon the whole value of the purchase must he paid down at the time of sale, and the remainder must be paid within one calendar month from the day of sale, previous to which the purchaser will not be put in possession of the land; and in case of payment not being made within the prescribed period, the sale will be considered void, and the deposit forfeited.

6. – On payment of the money, a grant will be made in fee-simple to the purchaser at the nominal quit-rent of a pepper-corn. Previous to the delivery of such grant, a fee of forty-shillings will be payable to the Colonial Secretary for preparing the grant, and another fee of five shillings to the Registrar of the Supreme Court for enrolling it.

7. – The land will generally be put up to sale in lots of one square mile, or 640 acres; but smaller lots than 640 acres may, under particular circumstances, be purchased, on making application to the Governor in writing, with full explanations of the reasons for which the parties wish to purchase a smaller quantity.

8. – The Crown reserves to itself the right of making and constructing such roads and bridges as may be necessary for public purposes in all lands purchased as above, and also to such indigenous timber, stone and other materials, the produce of the land, as may be required for making and keeping the said roads and bridges in repair, and for any other public works. The Crown further reserves to itself all mines of precious metals.

Colonial Office, 20th January, 1831.

GENERAL ORDER.

Horse Guards, 24th February, 1831.

HIS MAJESTY'S Government having deemed it expedient to substitute new regulations for those hitherto in force concerning the system of granting land in the Australian Colonies, and under which no land will in future be disposed of otherwise than by public sale, it has become necessary to make a corresponding change in the arrangements which have been in force with respect to the Military Settlers, and which have been published to the Army in the General Orders, dated 8th June 1826, 16th May 1827, and 24th August 1827.

His Majesty has accordingly been graciously pleased to declare, that all the advantages held out to the officers of the Army under those Orders, as far as relates to the sale of commissions, shall continue and remain in force; and with a view that each individual officer may derive the same benefit from an allotment of land as has been held out in the said Orders respectively, His Majesty has been pleased to command that the following regulations shall be promulgated, for the information and guidance of officers who may be disposed to become settlers in New South Wales and Van-Diemen's Land, in substitution for those contained in the General Orders adove referred to.

The officers of the Army wishing to become settlers, shall, like all other individuals, procure land by purchase only at the public sales; but they will be entitled to a remission of the purchase money to the following amount, provided they shall produce testimonials of unexceptionable character from the General Commanding in Chief.

Officers who have served twenty years and upwards shall have a remission of £300.

Officers who have served fifteen years and upwards, £250.

Officers who have served ten years and upwards, £200.

Officers who have served seven years and less than ten, £150.

Each individual officer who may obtain this remission will be required to give security that he and his family shall reside at least seven years in the settlement; and he will also be required to provide for his own passage to the Colony, as well as for that of his family.

By Command of the Right Honourable the General Commanding in Chief,

John Macdonald, Adjutant General.

J. Cross, Printer, 18, Holborn, opposite Furnival's Inn.

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