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Having thus touched upon the progress of the Colony and its present
state, I shall now beg to add such Hints respecting its future
improvement, as have suggested themselves to my mind during a
residence of ten years in the settlement, in which period I have
been enabled, from the nature of the various situations I have held
there, to render myself intimately acquainted with all those
particulars which are essential to the formation of a correct
opinion on this interesting subject. And to the execution of this
task I feel the more particularly urged, since I have beheld, with
pain, that those who seem to be most deeply impressed with the
necessity which exists, for the adoption of some measures to further
the interests of the colony, have entirely mistaken the line which
ought to be followed, and have marked out to themselves a course of
procedure, which is founded on a total misconception of the nature
of the colony, and a very superficial knowledge of its present
state. That a period of twenty-two years has not been sufficient to
render New South Wales independent of the mother country, is a
reflection which must produce strong and ungenial suspicions of the
prudence of those methods which have been pursued to accelerate such
a desirable end; and the continuance of the late system, the
inefficiency of which has been amply illustrated by recent events,
and facts which are incontrovertible, is, of all evils, the most
sincerely to be deprecated and guarded against. Of the capability of
the settlement to produce adequate means for the subsistence of its
members, there can be but a single opinion amongst persons who are
enabled, from experience, to judge of the nature and fertility of
the soil; and it must, consequently, form an evident conclusion,
that some unnatural check must have sprung up to impede the ordinary
course of proceedings. My object, however, is not to deprecate the
opinions of others, but to give to the public those ideas of
improvement which have arisen in my own mind, and which have been
confirmed by the approbation of others, who are equally as well or
better qualified to decide upon this important subject.
Complaints having been made by the government of the expenses of the
colony, which have accumulated, rather than diminished, with the
increasing growth of the settlement, I shall first enter into a
statement of the causes of this augmented expense, part of which, as
I shall hope to demonstrate with clearness, has arisen out of the
nature of things, and the other part may be attributed to various
causes.
1st, As to the retarded progress of public buildings, and the
diminution in the labor of the convicts.--This decrease in the
quantity of labor performed, is to be attributed to the natural
falling-off in the strength of the convicts employed in government
labor, from deaths, desertions, and their becoming free. Those who
were first sent to the colony, and had been originally transported
for seven and fourteen years had served their times, the former in
1793, and the latter in 1800; numbers had been released from their
servitude on account of their exemplary behavior, or of services
done to the colony; and all who became settlers being allowed one,
two, or more convicts to assist in the cultivation of the tracts
assigned to them, the reduction in those who labored for the crown
must necessarily have been very considerable, and must still
continue in an increasing degree, owing to the great numbers of free
settlers who have been allowed to go out from England, many of whom
have only been a great expense to government, and an hindrance to
the settlement. From a correct estimation taken in the year 1800, it
was ascertained that three-fourths of the convicts employed in the
service of government at the close of 1792, had been subsequently
discharged. From that period to the year 1800, 1259 new male
convicts arrived, effective and non-effective, a number which was
insufficient to fill up the deficiencies occasioned by those who had
obtained their liberations in consequence of having completed their
terms of servitude, and the emancipations which had taken place, the
number of which together amounted to 1264, without including the
deaths, casualties, and escapes, which may be taken at an equal
number; nor were there more employed by the crown than 710 when
Governor King was succeeded in the command of the colony (although a
great many had arrived between those periods), including the vast
number allowed to officers, settlers, and others, and but few of the
remainder were either mechanics or persons adapted to the
improvement of the colony; therefore from these causes it must be
evident to every rational mind, that the progress of the colony
towards perfection and prosperity has, in fact, been as rapid as
could be expected, considering the circumstances of the settlement;
and an opinion of a contrary nature must have been grounded upon an
exaggerated estimate of the means which existed, and an entire
ignorance of the due proportion which they have borne to the labor
required at their hands.
2dly, As to the expenditure of the stores which were forwarded to
the colony, in the interval which elapsed from the departure of
Governor Phillip, in December, 1792, to the arrival of Governor
Hunter, in September, 1795.--It has been subsequently ascertained,
that in this lapse of two years and three-quarters, a sufficiency of
stores had been received to supply the real wants of the settlement
for a period nearly thrice as long; whereas the whole was expended,
and the store-houses were found empty at the arrival of the latter
governor from England. In consequence of the profusion which had
thus been practiced, although it might at that time be deemed
needful, his excellency Governor Hunter was reduced to the necessity
of purchasing new stores at an expensive market, where every
advantage was taken of the necessity which had induced the demand,
and the most exorbitant prices were charged for each article. I have
understood from very good authority, that two pounds were paid for a
pair of men's shoes, and thirty shillings for women's; tobacco was
forty shillings per lb.; soap twelve shillings, and sugar eight
shillings; a beaver hat and a coarse jacket, fetched five pounds
each, and every other article in an equal proportion. A great deal
of time was also lost in endeavoring to make implements of
husbandry, mechanical tools, and other requisites of a similar
description. The reduced state of the colony at this period was also
rendered still more deplorable, by the neglect of the government in
England to comply with the urgent requisitions of Governor Hunter
for such supplies as were necessary. The exhaustion of the stores of
clothing and beds and blankets, assisted to fill the hospital with
patients, and rendered the purchase of these articles absolutely
indispensable at any price, and on any terms on which they might be
procured. I feel myself inclined to suppose, that the backwardness
which displayed itself at this time in the government to dispatch
the stores which were demanded, arose from a conviction that the
supplies which had been previously sent in such abundance were
sufficiently ample for all the immediate wants of the colony, and,
consequently, that the pressure of necessity could not be so great
as was represented; for it was not to be expected that those
officers who administered the government of the colony, on the
arrival of their successors, would depict the situation of the
settlement, and the state of the stores, in any other than a
favorable light, particularly to his Majesty's ministers at home; a
line of conduct which tended considerably to enhance the mischiefs
which had been already showered upon the inhabitants, by the perhaps
too liberal distribution which had been displayed in the issuing of
the various necessaries during their administration.
3dly, As to the custom of allowing to settlers a certain number of
convicts, for years, to assist in the tillage, and continuing to
victual those servants out of the public stores.--I am clearly of
opinion, that much evil has arisen from the unrestrained issue of
this indulgence. The original object of this grant was, to enable
the young farmer to clear the tract which was assigned to him, and
to bring it into a condition which would enable it to produce a
maintenance for its possessor; then he was required to take the
convicts which he thought it necessary to retain, entirely off the
public stores, and to victual and clothe them at his own cost. The
abuse of this indulgence, however, has arisen from the extension of
its advantages to an unlimited term; so that the farmer is
interested in retarding the efforts which he might otherwise be
induced to make for the improvement of his land, in order to save
himself from the burden of supporting his servants; and thus a
spirit of indolence is promoted, and the original intention of the
measure is totally perverted. The continuance of this pernicious
system, previous to the administration of Governor Hunter, had
induced the settlers to look upon it as a right, rather than an
indulgence. Numbers of useful mechanics, whose services might have
been turned to advantage, in the exercise of their different
professions for the public benefit, were thus given to those who
cultivated lands, until their term was expired; and no sooner did
they recover their freedom, than they quitted the service of
government for more lucrative employments; the consequence was,
artificers at a high price were to be hired by the governor, to
build those store-houses which might have been erected before, and
to repair the towns of Parramatta and Toongabbee, which were falling
into ruins, on account of the necessary repairs having been
neglected at a proper season: This was a new expense entailed upon
government, and many thousands were expended, which foresight and
prudent policy might have saved.
A 4th cause of superfluous expense to the crown, was to be found in
the employment of the convicts to perform the public service by
task-work, which was completed by nine or ten o'clock in the
morning, and thus left the hands free to assist in the cultivation
of those tracts of land which had been granted to different
descriptions of persons. Thus was the government labor protracted in
a most shameful degree; the labor of little more than a week
requiring the lapse of a month to complete it; and thus, also,
several were induced, by their attention to their individual
interests, to neglect the service of the colony. The consequence of
this innovation was, the rapid clearing and cultivation of such
persons' estates, and the erection of comfortable residences and the
acquisition of further accommodations, which they must otherwise
have waited some time to obtain; while the buildings which were
required to be raised for the security of the stores, and for other
purposes of equal necessity, were greatly retarded. I am confident
also that this conduct tended to relax the discipline which ought to
have been rigidly preserved amongst the convicts, and produced a
general carelessness of the general interest; and it was not without
some difficulty that Governor Hunter succeeded in the adoption of a
contrary line of behavior. Habits of dissipation and indolence
resulted from this pernicious mode of bartering the public for
individual interest, which had taken such deep root, as to render
their complete eradication matter of the most extreme difficulty:
The encroachments on the hours of labor for the crown has, however,
been done away by Governor Hunter, and a more regular system has
been adopted in the allowance of convicts and other indulgences to
settlers, &c. by order of the Secretary of State, since his
Excellency's departure.
The custom of imprisoning for debt those persons who are employed in
the public service, constitutes the 5th article of notice; and this
practice had been carried to such a pitch, that dealers would
readily give credit to convicts, or any servants of the crown, under
the idea that they might sue the debtors for the amount, and
imprison them, or obtain the benefit of their labor until the debt
was liquidated. The necessities of the convicts frequently compelled
them to seek for credit, and thus to throw themselves into the power
of those iniquitous designers. In consequence of the prevalence of
this practice many of the convicts were immured continually, and
thus the public was deprived of their services; since they preferred
remaining indolently in confinement to making those complaints to
the governor, which would have led to their release, and reinstation
in their former situations of labor. Governor Hunter no sooner made
himself acquainted with the mischievous extent to which this conduct
was carried, than he published an order, in which he prohibited
every person in trade from " crediting the servants of the crown,
under the plea of their being at liberty to imprison their persons;
if such credit was given, it was to be understood as being done at
the risk of the creditor, on the good faith he entertained of the
integrity of the persons he so entrusted, but that the public should
not be deprived of the labor of its servants for the partial
accommodation of individuals." This order was dated the 4th of
October, 1798, three years after the return of Governor Hunter to
the administration of his high and responsible office; and the
regulation was justified by the situation of the colony, and the
abuses which had sprung out of the custom. After the publication of
this order, however, I saw many persons committed to prison for
debt, whose situation, as convicts, exempted them from
incarceration; but this apparent breach of the regulation was
entirely attributable to the ignorance of the court which had thus
decided, that the person against whom their warrant was directed,
was at the time a bond-servant, and, consequently, within the reach
of this clause. Whenever a commitment of this description came to
the governor's knowledge (which was always the case in a few days,
when the report of the prisoners for debt was delivered to him), the
delinquent was immediately enlarged, since his confinement was
illegal, as contrary to the order which had been published on the
subject.
Another cause of expense, comprising the 6th in this enumeration,
arose out of the number of orphan children in the settlement, who
were allowed full ration and clothing at the charge of government.
This evil has, however, experienced a very natural reduction, from
the judicious measures adopted by Governor Hunter, who laid the
foundation of a fund for the benefit of these orphans; the
consequence of which has been, the completion of a school for the
education and maintenance of female children of that description,
and which is now supported by various imposts upon merchandize, and
other taxations or fines for certain offences against the general
orders. The children embraced by this charity are not simply the
offspring of deceased parents, but such other children, also, as
have been left unprovided for, by the desertion of those whose duty
it was to foster them, or from the circumstance of their being found
to be worthless and profligate characters, or by their having
betrayed a carelessness and indifference as to the moral improvement
of their children; where such a disposition displayed itself, the
offspring were taken from them, and their subsequent progress was
made the care of this institution, which provided for their support
and improvement; and I am happy to say, that there is every
appearance of a great good arising from this foundation, by rescuing
from infamy and shame, and bringing up to a life of virtue and
industry, a number of fine young girls, whom it is earnestly hoped
will strive to repay the paternal care that has been taken of them
in their juvenile days, by a strict adherence to every pure
inclination as they rise in age, and a grateful remembrance of those
from whom their happiness has sprung.
7thly, The establishment of a most injurious monopoly amongst the
inhabitants of the settlement, which has tended to the ruin of fair
trade.--The commencement of this baleful system is traced back to
the administration of Governor Phillip, at which time I was not in
the settlement. In a very scarce period, when all classes were
laboring under every kind of privation, the officers prayed leave of
the governor to charter the ship Britannia for the Cape of Good
Hope, to bring back cattle and other articles on their account, for
which speculation a considerable sum was subscribed, in equal
shares. The governor assented to the proposition, in consequence of
the peculiar state of the colony at that time; but scarcely had the
Britannia sailed upon her voyage, when the governor, having received
leave of absence, left the settlement, and the government
immediately changed its form, from a naval to a military system. In
consequence of this variation, permission was readily obtained for
the disposal of the cargo thus imported on its arrival, and after
its passing through the hands of the importers, the chief part of
the merchandize produced from 1000l. to 2000l. per cent. to the
private retailer. These extraordinary advantages could but be
attended with evil and destructive consequences to the settlement at
large; nor does the system of monopoly, which was so early
introduced in the colony, cease to spread its baleful influence; by
which means the settlers, who were deserving of the most marked
encouragement and indulgence, still remain in far less affluent
circumstances than they otherwise might have been. This topic
deserves serious attention, and the mild hand of legislative
authority, to check its further pernicious effects.
Having spoken thus on the subject of monopoly, which I shall at a
future period fully establish, and which has occasioned the
sacrifice of the public, to individual interest, I shall proceed to
advert, 8thly, to the loss which the government has sustained in the
dereliction of some of its most valuable servants, who have been
allured, by the rapid fortunes made by several individuals, to quit
the service of the public, and to embark in traffic. The inferior
officers of the settlement, and the non-commissioned officers and
privates of the regiment, have been infected with the itch for
dealing; and many of the settlers themselves have either disposed of
their farms or deserted them, to obtain the means or the leisure to
devote themselves to a species of dealing which never failed to turn
to good account. Many who had also served their terms of
transportation, instead of remaining to aid the public service,
withdrew themselves from the stores, and turned their thoughts to
trade. The consequence of this universal inclination to one object,
and that of such an evil nature, being chiefly confined to the sale
of spirits, soon became obvious in the desertion of those farms
which had been previously tilled with so much advantage, and in the
neglect of all duties, whether of a public or private nature. The
immense profits made by this pursuit served as a new stimulus to its
continuance: One dealer was known to have cleared twelve hundred
pounds sterling in four weeks, and chiefly by the sale of spirits;
and an inhabitant of the lowest order, who commenced dealing with
five pounds, has been known to realize five hundred pounds in the
course of six months. It must naturally be inferred, that the most
base imposition must have been practiced to render this business so
extremely lucrative, and the article itself must have been diluted
away to excessive weakness; but while the temptation remained so
strong, it is not to be wondered at that such numbers of persons, in
a colony of this or any other description, should be found to quit
every other object for a free and full pursuit of one so full of
attraction. Many of the convicts soon acquired property in this way,
and some of those who had been in that unfortunate situation, by
their good conduct are now considered as respectable characters, and
are in possession of horses, carriages, and servants, with a
sufficiency to secure their independence during the remainder of
their lives. The military have also made considerable wealth by the
same course, and the consequence was the instilment into every bosom
of a consciousness of independence, which was fatal to that strict
subordination which ought to be maintained and enforced.
Non-commissioned officers were the principal actors in this
department, and being connected by the ties of common interest, they
formed a combination which interfered with the middle class of
inhabitants, since they could get on board any vessels on account of
their rank, which gave them the privilege of doing so, without being
under the necessity of obtaining a written pass for that purpose.
The principle of allowing a servant to enter into traffic, is
fraught with the most serious mischief; since he is not only led to
neglect the duties he has undertaken to perform, but gradually
becomes independent in his feelings and opinions, and substitutes
insolence of conduct for the respect which ought to mark his
behavior. The value of an article also becomes greatly enhanced to
the consumer, when it is permitted to pass through so many hands,
each individual of whom must place upon it a profit which he deems
adequate to his labor or his ingenuity. Allowing liberty to a
prisoner to pursue this kind of avocation is productive of another
evil; it leads him, by gradual steps, from becoming careless of his
proper duty, to the assumption of a degree of importance and
independence which induces him to place himself above his master,
and thus controverts the natural and necessary distinctions of
society. This traffic has also originated numerous frauds of a
pecuniary description, amongst which may be mentioned, as the most
notorious, the custom of indorsing notes of hand over to persons,
without receiving any consideration for the same, and thus making
them the plaintiffs in the suits which they were permitted to
institute. From all these practices it has resulted, that numerous
settlers have been induced to neglect or quit their farms, which,
with industrious management, were competent to the supply of all
their necessary wants, and thus to diminish the means of procuring
subsistence for the colony; and they have become dissatisfied with a
country, which is capable of being made the most lovely and prolific
in the world. Amongst the inhabitants, also, was introduced the vice
of gaming--a natural consequence of the astonishing increase of
wealth in men of little principle and no economy; drunkenness was
the ready way to this crime, and so addicted were many of every
class of society to it, that they scrupled not, after losing the
property which they possessed, to stake that which they did not
possess. Some persons, however, either favored by fortune, or
possessing more prudence than their unfortunate companions,
contrived to retain the property they had gained, and by applying it
to traffic are now in a state of affluence of which few persons can
form an accurate conception.
The 9th item of expense is to be found in the provisions and spirits
issued to parties on command; a custom which has been esteemed
proper and necessary in cases where such parties have been employed
in particular services for the public benefit, and in no other cases
have they been issued during the administrations of governors
Phillip and Hunter. These services were of various descriptions,
parties being frequently detached in pursuit of those who had
absconded, either into the woods, or had carried off boats, and
endeavored to escape over the ocean; others were oftentimes employed
in excursions into the interior, to obtain a more perfect and
comprehensive acquaintance with the nature and productions of the
country; others again were sent, at times, to reconnoitre the herds
of wild cattle, to remark their progress, and see that no attempts
were made to destroy such an useful resource; the inspection of the
various settlements also occupied some detachments; small divisions
were dispatched to cruise and survey the coast; and the crews of
colonial vessels, which were engaged in going to and from the
Hawkesbury, as well as to the more distant settlements, were in the
habit of receiving these extra supplies, as they had no other means
of increasing their common allowance, when such augmentation was
necessary: Certain customary rations were also given to the settlers
while they were employed in making and repairing the different roads
which led to the settlements, and at which periods they received
allowances in proportion to the number of days during which their
services were required. It had also been usual to give one pint of
spirits weekly to each of the clerks employed in the offices of the
governor, secretary, commissary, and judge advocate; a similar
portion was also issued to the constables of the crown and the
overseers; and also to such constables of districts as were chosen
out of the inhabitants who were not prisoners, and who, with their
families, were victualled from the public stores; but some of these
have been subsequently done away with, being considered by Governor
King as a superfluous addition to the already excessive expenses of
the colony. There are also many other occasional duties, the persons
employed in which would be entitled to the extra allowances, from a
sense of their indispensable necessity, since it is sufficiently
evident that men who are called upon and expected to perform
services of more than common exertion, must receive additional means
of increasing their physical strength, and of enabling them to
execute the task assigned to them.
A 10th cause of loss to the crown, and of the expenses of the
colony, resulted from the abuses formerly practiced in the medical
department of the colony; amongst which it was customary to screen
the convalescent laborers in the Hospital, and to employ them for
individual benefit, so that the patients were thus kept under the
hands of medical men longer than was requisite for the establishment
of their health: An imposition of this nature called for immediate
steps on the part of the governor, but unfortunately his excellency
Governor Hunter did not receive information of this iniquitous
practice until he had delivered up his executive power and was
embarked, or otherwise he expressed his determination to have put a
stop to the disgraceful proceeding; it has, however, subsequently
been done away with. At one time, it was ascertained, there were
forty or fifty convicts who were thus kept in the Hospital, and were
employed by a medical man in the furtherance of his private
interests, and such other occupations as he marked out for them, to
the loss of eleven pounds five shillings a day to the crown. Such a
circumstance as this, from a quarter so totally unexpected, afforded
an additional proof of the general disposition which prevailed
amongst almost every class of society to push their individual
interests, to the detriment of the public service; and, instead of
giving their full assistance to promote the prosperity of the
colony, to retard its progress, and make its necessities the source
of their profit.
The 11th cause of loss to the crown, and of the expenses of the
colony, arises from the dependent settlements within the limits of
that territory; and although the governments at the River Derwent
and Port Dalrymple are allowed to draw separate Treasury bills for
their internal expenses, yet, the great quantity of wheat, maize,
salt provisions, slop clothing, and other stores, it is absolutely
necessary to send from the principal seat of government to those
places, added to the conveyance and other unavoidable charges,
enhances the expenses at Sydney to an amount that no person would
believe but such as have had an opportunity of being an eye-witness
to the mode in which such immense sums are disposed of, or upon
strictly investigating the voluminous official documents which are
transmitted from that colony. As the accounts of the expense of the
settlement at Newcastle are wholly included in those at Port
Jackson, I shall forbear to make any regular estimate thereupon; but
it must be evident, that where the subsistence of such distant
places chiefly depend upon a settlement but a short time colonized,
the expenses must be very considerable, and the supplies must be
given out and used with the greatest caution, to prevent the
necessity of applying to a market where their charges are generally
exorbitant, and in most cases optional.
The last source of expense to the government which I shall mention,
and which, although now also done away, has been the means of an
astonishing increase in the expenditure of the colony. From the
fertility of its soil, Norfolk Island was for some time considered a
great acquisition to the principal settlement; but subsequent
experience has proved the futility of this idea, since the price of
grain, instead of lowering in proportion to the additional trouble
bestowed on the cultivation of the soil, remained the same just
before its evacuation as it had been eight years before. As a place
for raising swine this island, indeed, might have proved of much
utility, if the establishment there had been almost entirely
reduced, and the attention of the colony had been confined to this
subject, and to the curing of pork for the consumption of all the
other settlements; but as this method was not adopted, it proved,
from the time of its establishment, a continual check upon the
prosperity of the principal colony, draining those resources which
ought to have been applied to different purposes, where the hope and
probability of some recompense, adequate to the expense, might have
been more sanguine, and less unlikely. Norfolk Island, so far from
returning any proportionate recompense for those supplies, had not,
in the course of thirteen years, sent to New South Wales property of
any description exceeding in value 2000l.; during which period all
the expenses of that island were included in the general account of
the whole country with the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's
Treasury. So far from being in itself a flourishing colony. Governor
Hunter, who called there in his way to England in 1800, found that
the whole of the public, and numbers of private erections, were in a
most miserable condition; and his excellency declared that he had
scarcely seen a negro town in the West Indies with half such a
wretched appearance. The grain here and there displayed a promising
appearance, and swine were in some considerable numbers; but the
coast was dangerous, Governor Hunter being himself once wrecked upon
it in the Sirius, and nearly lost with all his ship's crew; and this
circumstance is calculated to deter vessels from touching at the
island in quest of wood and water, which are both plentiful, but
which may be procured in equal abundance in any of the other islands
of the Pacific ocean where there are fewer rocks and breakers to
contend with, and where the acquiescence of the natives might easily
be purchased. In addition to the above obstacles and inauspicious
appearances, vessels at this place have no anchorage, but are
obliged always to keep under sail; and I have known them to be blown
off the island for several weeks together, with very little
provision on board, whilst a part of the crew have been on shore;
and by those means not only a considerable loss has accrued to the
merchants or owners, but the lives of a number of fellow-creatures
have been exposed to the most imminent danger.
The Present Picture Of New South Wales, 1811 |
