YALE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Bought with the income of the ALFRED E. PERKINS FUND HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES; WITH AH" ACCOTJMT OP va:n diemen's land [Tasmania], new zealand, port phillip [victoria], moreton bay, AND OTHER AUSTEALASIAN SETTLEMENTS. OOMPEISINa A COMPLETE VIEW OS THE |progr£SS aittr '^xospch af ^olb Hlmmg in Australia. THE WHOLE COMPILED FEOM OFFIOIAIi AND OTHEE AUTHENTIC AND OEIQINAL SOTTECES. BY RODERICK JLANAGAN, MBMBEB OF THE AUSTRALIAN" LITEBAEY INSTITUTB, AND OF THE PHILOSOPHICAL SOClJiTl' OF NEW SOUTH WALB8. " Civil history is of prime importance among human wi'itinga, as the examples of antiquity, the revolutions of things, the foundations of civil prudence, with the names and reputations of men, are committed to its trust." — Bacoit. VOL. II. LONDON: SAMPSON LOW, SON, & CO., 47, LUDGATE HILL. 1862. ITAe HigU of Translation is Re.^erved.'] LONDON : T. HARE. ID, PC^fe^B, SHOE lANE, TLEET 3TBEET. YALE CONTENTS OF YOL. IL CHAPTEE I. Administration of G-ipps — Bushranging more than ever prevalent — Colonists purchase land from New Zealanders — The Governor and Wentworth come into collision — Proposed separation of Port Phillip — Commercial embarrassment — The Colonists again petition for Eepresentative Government — Sydney incorporated. 1 — 58 1839—1842. I. A committee of Parliament recommends the discontinuance of transportation — The question discussed in the colony — The maintenance of the police and gaols — Provisions for education — A drought followed by a scarcity. II. John Kennedy Hume assassinated — Tass infested by bushrangers — Causes of bush- rauging — Colonists claim land at New Zealand — Gipps resists the claims — The claimants at the bar of the Council. III. The speech of the governor — Eemarks — Masters' and Servants' Act. IV. Insolvency law — Proposed incorporation of Sydney — The emancipists — Mudie against Einchela — Eevenue and expendi ture. V. Proposed separation of Port Phillip — New Zealand a separate government — A store of grain laid in — Causes of the commercial embarrassment — Extensive immigration — Proposal to create a debt — Eesisted by the colonists. VI. Irish immigrants defended by theLondon Commissioner — The colonial immigration agent dismissed — The question taken up in the colony — Scarcity of labour — A riot at Sydney — A census — Protective duty on corn proposed. VII. Defalcation of Eegistrar Manning — The governor censured for reckless expenditure — Improper traffic in immigration orders — Agitation for representative government — Dissension among the colonists. VIII. A statue to Bourke — Speech of Gipps at the inauguration — The land revenue a mere trifle — Incorporation of Sydney — Power of the Council to pass the incorporation bill questioned — Division of opinion — Wentworth insists on an endowment — The first city council. IX. Commencement of the squatter quarrel — An atrocious murder — Norfolk Island felons — The humane system at Norfolk Island — Immigration statistics — Steam communication — Tweed manufactures — The colony traduced at home — New Land Act — Affairs at Melbourne. IV CONTENTS. CHAPTEE II. Eepresentative institutions conceded — Meeting of the first Elective Council — Distress amongst the working classes — Commence ment of the contest between the G-overnor and the Squatters — Wentworth opens the subject of Colonial grievances — The Edu cation Question comes to a crisis — Leichhardt journeys from. Moreton Bay to Port Essington .... 59 — 112 1843—1845. I. Eepresentation conceded — Eemarks on the struggle for consti tutional freedom- — The civil list — Last session of the Council — The monetary depression comes to a crisis — The elections — The firs-t Eepresentative Legislature- — The Usury Bill. II. The Lien on Wool Act — The squatters boil down their flocks — Distress in the city — JMrs. Chisholm — Eumoured revival of transportation — Measures to relieve the distress. III. The com mission of the peace defective — Pastoral regiJations altered — This the immediate cause of the governor's troubles — The change deemed inopportune — The squatters meet at Sydney — Their arguments and resolutions — The Pastoral Association. IV. The Council meets — Colonial " grievances" — Eesponsible go vernment spoken of — Wentworth proposes to stop the supplies — The education question. V. A Parliamentary agent ap pointed — A privilege case ; Mr. Lowe and Mr. Macdermott— Crime in Sydney. VI. Affairs of Tahiti — Statistics — A Jewish synagogue — Afi'airs at Port Phillip. VII. Leichhardt travels to Port Essington — Difficulties of the journey — Two of the party turn back — One of the guides refractory — A con temptuous tribe. VIII. A picturesque spot — The Lynd — Attack by the blacks — Gilbert killed — WeU-disposed aborigi nals, IX. An attack frustrated — A melodious dialect — The party return to Sydney — Their reward. CHAPTEE III. Warfare at New Zealand— Eesponsible Government spoken of in the colony — Sir Thomas Mitchell sets out for the Gulf of Car pentaria — Eailways proposed — Gipps retires— His successor, Sir Charles Fitz-Eoy, arrives — The Transportation question assumes grave importance — The Council declares against trans portation — New squatting regulations (1847) ; settled, inter mediate, and unsettled districts — Death of Lady Mary Fitz- Eoy — Leichhardt sets out to cross the Great Desert 113 — 174 1845—1847. I. Aifairs of New Zealand — John Heki — The magistracy. — A con spiracy detected. II. The colony prosperous — Land policy — Australian coin in England- — Immigration. III. Sir Thomas Mitchell sets out for Carpentaria — The aboriginal warfare — The guide sent back — The Balonne. IV. The leader goes for- CONTENTS. ward with a division of the party — An aboriginal family — The division of the waters — A tribe expostulates — A depot camp formed — The Salvator. V. The leader turns back — Eesult of the journey — Eemarkable meteor — The Belyando — A splendid region — The Victoria — The entire party proceed homewards. VI. Eailways — Steam communication — The public resources — A new Speaker — Contest between the Council and the Execu tive — Gipps returns home. VII. Sir Charles Pitz-Eoy go vernor — ^The Governor meets the Council — The transportation question — Mr. Gladstone's despatch — The Council favours trans portation. VIII. Agitation out of doors — Monopoly of coal — A census — Scarcity of labour — The Council deprecates trans portation. IX. New squatting regulations ; settled, interme diate, and unsettled districts — Proposed separation of Port Phil lip — Proposed changes in the constitution — Death of Lady Mary Pitz-Eoy — Leichhardt sets out for Swan Eiver — Statistics. CHAPTEE IV. Changes proposed in the Constitution in contemplation of Port Phillip becoming a separate colony — Edward Kennedy sets out to explore the Tork Peninsula — The Transportation question violently agitated — Arrival of a convict ship — Great demonstra tion at the Circular Quay — The Governor becomes unpopular — Proposal to found a IJniversity — The Eailway commenced — The Australasian League — ^The New Constitution (1850) — Port Phillip separated , 175 — 246 1848—1850. I. Secondary election — The raUway movement — A new scheme of transportation. II. A congress of the colonies — Despatch relative to the proposed constitutional changes— Price of land — Quit-rents. III. Edward Kennedy explores the Victoria — Sets out for Cape Tork — Calamitous result of the expedition. IV. Statistics — Aboriginal reserves — Affairs at Port Phillip — The Port PhUlipians decline to return members — The trans portation question agitated with vigour. V. A remarkable despatch — Indignation of the colonists — Important demonstra tion. VI. The governor at Melbourne — The new Council — Eailways — Steam communication. VII. Arrivalof the "Hark- away" with prisoners — Demonstration at the Circular Quay — A protest adopted — The governor incurs censure — A second meet ing. VIII. Privilege of the House— The Corporation of Syd ney — Its failure — The University — Wentworth its founder. IX. The aboriginal protectorate — The elective franchise — Emi gration to California — Bank of Australia lottery — The Super intendent of Port Phillip. X. The new Constitution — Increased production of wool — Colonial patronage — The Corporation of Sydney re-constructed. XI. The railway commenced — The governor on the transportation question — An indignation meet ing — A petition for tbe removal of Fitz-Eoy — Counter move- VU CONTENTS. ments. XII. Great anti-transportation meeting in the Barrack Square — The agitation in Van Diemen's Land — An address to all the colonies — Employers of labour petition against trans portation — Port PhiUip separated — The alpacas — The blacks hostile. CHAPTEE V. Anti-transportation Delegates assemble at Melbourne — Addresses to the Colonists and to the People of the United Kingdom — Ee- monstrance against the Constitution of 1850 — Discovery cf gold in the Western District — Eesults of that event — The Anti- transportation League petition for the dismissal of Earl Grey — Fitz- Roy Governor-general of all the Australian Colonies — Transportation finally discontinued to New South Wales — The Constitution of 1853 — Gundagai destroyed by a flood — The question of the proposed Constitution agitated in the colony — The New Constitution passed, 1853^Authority to establish a Mint at Sydney . 247—344 1851—1853. Anti transportation delegates issue an address — Western Aus tralia favours transportation — The Australasian League — An address to the inhabitants of the United Kingdom. II. The delegates visit Sydney — Eemonstrance against the new Consti tution — Discovery of gold — Influences of that event. III. Earl Grey on Transportation — Ajiother meeting — A petition to the Queen — The new CouncU — Measures of the government relative to the gold fields. IV. The transportation question and the gold fields — Eesolutions of the Council — The Order in Council re voked — A Mint proposed — The grievances — Defences of Sydney — The gold revenue. V. Cowper visits Van Diemen's Land — An abundant harvest — Steam communication established — Earl Grey's reply to the remonstrance — Plenary powers of Legisla tion. VI. The answer of the Council — The Customs revenue — - Colonial appointments— The Constitution of 1853 — Eeport of the Committee on the Constitution. VII. Stopping the supplies — Postal improvement — An expedition in search of Leichhardt. VIII. Gundagai destroyed by a flood — The authorities blamed — The Newtown trial — The University established — Export of gold — The first mail steamer — New gold fields regulations — Their unpopularity. IX. Local land offices — Despatch from Sir John Pakington — The veto of the Crown — Despatch from the Duke of Newcastle — Satisfaction of the colonists — A com mittee appointed finaUy to prepare a Constitution — They bring up their report. X. Their recommendation create dissatisfaction out of doors — Nomineeism denounced — A public meeting — The bill read a second time — Aggregate meeting at the Circular Quay — The Constitution Committee — Their form of Constitu tion. XI. Wentworth abandons the scheme of nomination for life — The bill read a third time — Declaratory resolution — Pro posed separation of IMoreton Bay. CONTENTS. Till CHAPTEE VI. The Constitution BUI sent home — Apprehension excited in the Colony by the Eussian war — The last of Irresponsible Govern ment—The Imperial Parliament petitioned against the Constitu tion BiU — Fitz-Eoy retires, and is succeeded by Sir William Denison — Defences of Sydney Harbour — The Constitution BUI finaUy passed — Inauguration of Eesponsible Government — (1856) — A ministry formed by Donaldson — The Cowper admi nistration succeeds — The Parker government — Cowper a second time Premier, forms the first strong ministry — Parliameut dissolved 335 — 419 1854—1857. I. The city councU superseded — The colonists in the Eussian war — Wentworth and Thomson go home in charge of the Constitution BiU — A Volunteer force. II. A letter firom Wentworth — A motion of want of confidence — The last Irresponsible Adminis tration. III. Continued opposition to the Constitution — A petition to the Queen and Parliament — A filiated CoUeges — Im migration. IV. Squatting leases issued — Fitz-Eoy goes home — Is succeeded by Sir WiUiam Denison — Character of the late ad ministration. V. The new governor — ^A petition to dissolve the CouncU — The Patriotic Fund — Education — Defences of the harbour. VI. The Xew Constitution confirmed — Lord John EusseU's despatch — The two-thirds clauses — Friends in the sewerage works — The city commissioners censured. VII. The new prospects of the colony — The Constitution inaugurated — -State aid to religion — A new exploring expedition — The first railway. VIII. Donaldson sent for — The elections — The Par liament of New South Wales — The debate on the Address — The Finance minister. IX. The Donaldson ministry resign — Ministerial explanations — A warm discussion. X. Cov\per forms a ministry — The Attorney -generalship — The late ministry charged with abandoning their posts — The Con-per ministry re sign. XI. The Parker administration — A fusion attempted — ¦ The judges in the Upper House — The Transportation question again broached — Australian coin. XII. Second session of Par liament — Extensive ministerial programme — Official appoint ments blamed— A vote of censure — Proposed division of the duties of Treasurer — Ministerial defeats. XIII. The ministry pertinacious — The Electoral Bill — Eepresentation of interests — The bUl lost — Cowper a second time premier. XIV. A Land BUI — The ministry defeated on an Assessment BUI — ParUament dissolved — Australian Federation — The Pitcairn Islanders — Shipwrecks — Death of George Eobert Nichols. CHAPTEE VII. The Elections — Dismissal of Sir. Plunkett from the Chairmanship of the Board of National Education — Observations on that pro ceeding — The new Parliament — A new Electoral Act — Gold at Port Curtis — The Alpaca introduced — Parliament again dis- IX CONTENTS. solved- — Separation of Moreton Bay — Ministerial appointments — The Education BUI — The Foster ministry — Eobertson forms a Cabinet — Destructive floods — Gold at the Rocky Eiver. 420—475 1858—1860. I. The Sydney election — The "Bunch" party defeated — Dismissal of Mr. Plunkett — The Board of National Education — Non-vested Schools — Correspondence between the Board and the Chief Secretary — Mr. Plunkett resigns all his government offices. II. Plunkett' s standing and influence — Comments — Public meetings — The new Parliament meets^Ministerial changes. III. Col lision between the Governor-general and the Assembly — The ArtUlery corps — A vote of confidence — The new Electoral BUI — The bUl opposed as being democratic — Chinese Immigration. IV. Martin resigns the Attorney-generalship — Gold discovered at Port Curtis — Exodus thither — The gold field a failure — The alpaca introduced by Mr. Ledger — State support to religion par- tiaUy abolished — Frauds in the Customs. V. Parliament dis solved — The elections — The Catholic party make a vigorous effort — The new Electoral Act works weU — Tea and sugar duties — The Assembly recommends their immediate repeal — The Ministry resign in consequence, but return to office — A new Ministerial department. VI. Separation of Moreton Bay — The security for the public debt— Ministerial and legal appoint ments assailed-^The Privy CouncU system of Education — The Ministry defeated on the Education question — Foster forms a Cabinet — Cowper retires from public life. VII. Singular minis terial negociations — An Upper House Eeform Bill — Black's Land BUl — The Upper House BUl rejected — The Ministry cling to office — A vote ot want of confidence. VII. The Eobertson ministry — Cowper again Chief Secretary — Condition of the working classes — Eiot at the Parliament Houses —The Indemnity BUl — CoUision between the Assembly and CouncU. IX. Navi gation of the Darling — Telegraphic communication with England — Floods throughout the colony — Great loss of life and property — Measures of relief — Gold discovered at the Snowy Eiver. X. Eemarks on the working of responsible government — New South Wales as a field for Immigration — The demand for labour — The Land question. XL Australia as an agricultural country — Its geographical position — Quantity and distribution of the rainfall in Australia — The soil of New South Wales — Agri culture extensively practised — Agriculture as a science hereto fore neglected — The conclusion. CONTENTS. APPENDICES. A. PAGB. Paper on the Rivers of Australia 477 Documents relative to the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the Board of National Education .... 486 C. Correspondence relative to the Alpacas .... 502 D. Tabular Statement of the Eevenue of New South Wales . 509 E. Eates of wages, prices current, and receipt of Gold at Sydney 513 F. Report from the Deputy Master of the Mint and Professor Smith relative to the Southem gold fields . . . 517 G. Statistics of Agriculture, Vineyards, and Live Stock in the colony ; the Land Act . . . . . . 535 HISTOEY or mW SOUTH WALES. CHAPTER I. Administration of Gipps — Bushranging more than ever prevalent — Colonists purchase land from New Zealanders — The Governor and Wentworth come into collision — Proposed separation of Port Phillip — Commercial embarrassment — The Colonists again petition for RepresentatiTe Government — Sydney incorporated. (1839—1842.) I. This year opened with the pubhcation ia the co lony, through the ordinary channels of information, of the Report of the Parliamentary Committee on Trans portation (1839). The report recommended that the sending of conyicts to New South Wales and to the settled districts of Yan Diemen's Land should cease as soon as possible ; that at the present time, for trans portation, should be substituted, both at home and in the colonies, imprisonment with hard labour, and that, m future, conyicts should be sent only to settlements where there were no free people, and from which free people might be excluded; that conyicts who were punished abroad should be compelled to leaye the set tlement, whither they had been transported, within a reasonable time after the expiration of their sentence, means to that end being furnished them by the goyern- ment. Such was the theory of a new scheme of prison discipHne. In February a pubUc meeting was held in Sydney, with the yiew to counteracting some of the recommen dations of this report. A petition to Parliament was adopted, which prayed that transportation might not yoL. n. B 2 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. I be discontinued. The petitioners contended that this mode of punishment, followed by the usual course of colonial discipline, particularly as connected with pri- yate assignment, was, if well regulated, the best penal discipline which could be deyised, since it finally re moved the conyict from scenes and associations to which otherwise he might be tempted to return. In favour of assignment, they pointed out, that in congre gating the convicts together in large numbers, as must be done if assignment were done away with, a spirit of fellowship was engendered which led to the conyicts ever after regarding themselves as a distinct class. Assignment, by showing the convict the contrast be tween his own position and that of the free servant, was productiye of reformatory results, besides those which attended his removal from evil associations, while the total seclusion of the conyicts rendered them, year by year, less fit to return to society. They admit ted that the penal system did not work so well as was desirable ; but they thought that this was owing to a defective discipline, and not to any fault in the plan of management ; the chief errors being that, on the one hand, there was occasionally an excess of punishment, and, on the other, frequently too much laxity of dis cipline. To show the salutary effects of transportation as a general system of penal discipline, they referred to the preponderance of crime in France over that which prevailed in England. As a proof that no con taminating effects followed from transportation, it was shown that, during the last seven or eight years, the colony had undergone a great improvement in its morals — an argument, by the way, which could be em ployed with much greater force against transportation, looking at the fact that large numbers of free people had been introduced during these years. They finally pointed out that convict labour enabled the colonists to pay for immigration, and so prevented the introduc tion of coolies, whose presence would be productiye of more social evil than could ever arise from convictism. As to the theory on which the system was founded, namely a "combination of inducements to reform, with 1839.] PLAN OF PUBLIC IXSTEUCTION. 3 adequate and effectual punishment," the petitioners could not be more deeply impressed with the wisdom and benevolence of its objects, than they were convinced, from extensive observation, of its specific practicabihty in its apphcation to the cases of convicted felons ; under these circumstances they prayed Parhament to postpone its final decision on the subject for twelve months. At the same time that a section of the colonists were ia favour of the continuance of transportation, the colonists, generaUy, were still adverse to being saddled with the whole cost of their maintenance and coercion. In November, a meetiag was held at Syd ney, at which a petition to the governor and Council against the appropriation of the funds of the colony for the entire maintenance of the pohce and gaols was adopted. The pubhc were the more emboldened to take this step, iaasmuch as the Council had recently recorded its opinion, that " ia equity and justice one- half the expenses of these estabhshments ought to be borne by the British treasury." The petitioners prayed that the governor might recommend that one-half the expenses of pohce and gaols Should be borne by the mother country, and the remaiader by a tax of £5 for all assigned convict mechanics and others employed in the towns, and £2 for aU shepherds and others em ployed in rural and pastoral pursuits. At the same time, John Blaxland finally protested, in his place in the Council, agaiast the proposed disbursement of the sum of £104,353 for defraying the expenses of the pohce and gaol establishments, on the grounds that the amount was excessive, having regard to the reve nue of the colony, and that, as assignment had ceased, the colonists now derived stUl less advantage from the conyicts than formerly. Sir John Jamieson entered a similar protest. A sum of £3000 having been inserted in the esti mates for the purposes of education, Gipps presented to the Council, in a separate minute, a plan of pubhc iastruction, which he proposed to carry iato effect. A pubhc school was to be buUt ia Sydney, and two others in two of the principal towns of the interior. From 4 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. i. the parents of children attending these schools a nomi nal weekly sum was to be demanded. The contribu tions of the government were still to be continued to those denominational schools, which received a sum equivalent to that furnished by the pubhc. The sum now placed on the estimates for the first time, was intended for the support of schools conducted on the principle of the British and Foreign School Society, to schools of which character, the governor said, it could not be expected that Roman Catholics would send their children, although all sections of Protestants might do so without violence to their conscientious scruples. " To give the schools of the Catholics, then, no more assistance than was afforded to the separate schools of any other denomination, would be to violate the principle of equity, which, since the passing of the Church Act, had been so happily established in the land. Without, therefore, expressly saying to what extent in future years this further support ought to be carried, he was anxious to record, subject to the approval of her Majesty's government, his pubhc recognition of their claim to it ; and in the estimates for the ensuing year he had caused to be inserted £1000 for that purpose. He also proposed to establish a Board of Education to have entire control over the government schools, with out being allowed to vary the nature of the rehgious in struction therein afforded; the control over aU other schools to be simply a financial one. If the Board visited those schools they would do so only for the purpose of ascertaining the competency of the masters, the suflaciency of the building, and the extent of the attendance of the children ; efficiency in aU these par ticulars being the conditions upon which the denomi national schools received assistance from the govern ment. The governor, at the same time, expressed himself favourable to the system of education after wards estabhshed in the colony, and known as the " Irish National System." He thus boldly avowed his preference for that line of pohcy the advocacy of which had caused his predecessor so much trouble. An announcement was received in the colony in the >839-] SEVEEE DEOUGHT. 5 course of the year, to the effect that a Treasury minute had been made sanctioning an advance from the re venue of New South Wales for the expense of the government of New Zealand. It was proposed by the Imperial government to make New Zealand a depen dency of New South Wales, with a heutenant-governor ; and that the funds to be appropriated for the purposes of the new government should be repaid to New South Wales out of the revenue raised from the territories ceded from time to time by the aboriginal proprietors, in accordance with the ordinances of the governor and Council of the older colony for that purpose enacted. A severe drought prevailed in the colony during this year, and, as a result, the necessaries of hfe became exceedingly dear. In August a public meeting was held for the purpose of devising measures to relieve the want prevailing among the poor in consequence of the scarcity. The result was a public subscription, whereby funds were raised wdth which flour and other necessaries were purchased and distributed gratuitously among the poorest of the distressed class. Bushranging was prevalent throughout the year, the bandits extending their depredations even to the very neighbourhood of Sydney. In the vicinity of Liverpool, two were captured by as many aboriginals, and conveyed into Sydney by their captors. Cenerally the statistics of the court showed that during this year offences had increased to the extent of fifty per cent. on those of the preceding years — a result which was doubtless owing in a large degree to the scarcity. A petition was presented to the Legislative Council, praying for protection, in the shape of an import duty, for the growth and manufacture of colonial tobacco. The intemperance which so largely prevailed in the colony excited considerable attention, and a petition was presented to the Council, praying that colonial dis tillation might be prohibited by law. An investiga tion took place before the Executive Council touching some accusations preferred against Colonel Wilson, the chief police magistrate. The charges were chiefly to the effect that he had employed constables and unas- 6 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. signed convicts in his private service, and also that he had, in his magisterial capacity, inflicted excessive punishment. Declining to make a defence, he was forced to retire, and Captain Innes entered on the va cated office. James Macarthur, on his return to the colony from Europe, brought out from Germany six families of vine dressers, who were set to work in improving the vine yard at Camden. It was stated in one of the Sydney papers that a young man from the country had boasted that he had placed cakes mixed wdth arsenic in the way of the blacks, to poison them ; and that there was reason to suppose that a wholesale system of murder by this process was going on, assertions to which the thinking were cautious in attaching much weight. Steps were taken to establish a Sailors' Home at Sydney. The proposal to legalize mortgages on live stock was now first broached. The bounty system of immigration was found to work badly as contrasted with the government system. It was said that the provisions were so spare and so deficient in quality in the ships chartered under the former system, that women were frequently led to bar- tor th(>ir virtue for the necessaries of the table. The year closed with a flood at Port Phillip, by which the young settlement suffered considerably. 1840.] II. The opening of this year was character ised by one of the most atrocious outrages which ever marked the progress of bushranging. This was the murder, at Gunning, near Yass, of Mr. John Kennedy Hume, a gentleman resident in that district. It was generally known for some time previously that there were bushrangers in the locality, and on the evening of the fatal occurrence, Mr. Hume, hearing shots, has tened with seven servants to the town of Gunning, httle doubting but that the shots were fired by robbers. Arriving at the township, the party proceeded to a store to buy some bullets, and were now informed that the robbers really were in the immediate vicinity. The storekeeper further urged Hume to go away, saying that he would be shot were the robbers to faU in with him— an assertion for which there appears to have been 18W.] AUDACIOUS BUSHEANGING. 7 no other grounds than that Hume was a gentleman, and an employer of prison labour, and as such not unhkely to be obnoxious to the bandits. Whether act ing on the suggestion of the storekeeper or not, he was in the act of leaving when he met the robbers. It was now dark, and one of the latter seeing, by a light from a window, an armed man, told him to lay down his arms, and Hume giving an answer which intimated that he would not do so, he received the contents of a musket, and feU dead. While on the ground, the robbers dis played their brutahty by firing at him a second and thfrd shot, they being at the time ignorant of the name and station of thefr victim. Thus perished a man uni versally respected in the district in which he resided, and deeply and sincerely regretted, his loss not being more sincerely felt by the wife and eight children whom he left behind, than by all those of his fellow-colonists who came within the sphere of his influence. Another feat of the party of outlaws, who were five in number, was to attack a store, from which they drove the male members of the family, retaining the women and children as hostages. The neighbours as sembling, and attacking them in their stronghold, the robbers for some time successfuUy defended themselves by holding the children in the windows whenever thefr assailants were about to fire. After a contest of some hours' duration, they capitulated and retfred. They then proceeded to a station with the avowed intention of killing the overseer. Thefr intended victim having received intimation of their coming, shut himself up in his hut with one other man, and barricading the doors, defended his hfe by firing at his assailants through the openings between the slabs. After a two hours' con test the robbers retired, leaving behind traces of blood, which proved that one had been wounded, if not kiUed. After the death of Hume, a number of the settlers, headed by Mr. Henry O'Brien, a magistrate of the dis trict, proceeded to scour the country wdth the view to clearing it of the pests, whose aggressions were now so formidable and so daring as to threaten the hves and 8 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. I. possessions of even those who were possessed of the most effective means of defending themselves. They came up with a number of the robbers, including the murderers, whom they chiefly sought, and a skirmish taking place, the chief of the banditti was killed, and another, having been wounded, blew out his own brains. Two were taken prisoners, and of these one hanged himself in his cell in Sydney goal previous to his trial. The principal of the gang who were instrumental in Hume's death having been tried and found guilty at Sydney was executed at Goulbum, the chief town in the district where the deed was perpetrated. As bushranging was more prevalent at this period than at any other, the question naturally arises. What was the cause ? The answer will probably be found in the fact that the progress of the colony having almost unavoidably neutralized that system of penal discipline which formerly prevaUed, if indeed the penal character of the colony had not disappeared, the convicts con ceived that the time had come when they might revenge themselves and their class on those whom they were accustomed to call tyrants. Assignment had ceased, transportation was to cease immediately. A revolution had been commenced and was in progress — a revolution which was to destroy the power of a class who, to a large extent, rested their influence and importance on their command of convict labour, and their superiority as re garded the emancipists; and the armed violence and robbery of the period were the excesses of the revolu tion. It is true that the emancipated class did not re quire in this instance to slay men in order to secure their liberty; but vengeance has always been an ingredient in revolutions. The British government had obviated the necessity for daring, by peacefully releasing the colony from its penal position. It remained with the convicts alone to dissipate the spirit of revenge, and this they failed to do. Hence the violence and blood shed of this period. Several important questions were brought under the consideration of the Council during its session in this year. One of these had reference to the legality of the 1840.] CLAIMS TO LAND AT NEW ZEALAND. 9 purchase of land at New Zealand by certain Europeans from the aborigines of that country. The question arose in consequence of a proposal to appoint commissioners to revise the claims put forward by some individuals to large tracts of land in New Zealand. A bUl was introduced into the CouncU by the gover nor for this purpose. The clause limited the discretion of the commission, by declaring that no claim should be aUowed for land which comprehended the sea-coast, the banks of navigable rivers, or any promontory or headland. W. C. Wentworth, and a few others who were connected with him, claimed ten mUlions of acres in the southern island, and two hundred thousand acres in the northern island. For those immense tracts they had paid £200 each, and stipulated to aUow the chiefs of the ceded territory £100 per annum during their hfe- time. The appointment of the commission was opposed by certain of the purchasers, and then the entire ques tion was opened. Among those who resisted the pro posed inquiry was Busby, the late resident or consul. He and the other claimants were heard personaUy or by counsel at the bar of the Legislative CouncU in defence of thefr claims, and in opposition to the bill. He had in the first instance purchased land, he said, whereon to buUd a dwelling ; and afterwards, as he saw others purchasing in aU directions, he bargained with the abo riginal owners for thirteen thousand acres. He main tained that the purchase was legal, inasmuch as the chiefs were independent, his duty as resident amounting to nothing more than advising them. In this, indeed, he appeared to be correct, for when it was rumoured that Baron de Thierry was about to effect a settlement in the island, the native chiefs, acting on the sugges tion of the British resident, formally proclaimed their independence, with the view to placing themselves under the protection of the British Crown. A New Zealand flag was devised and adopted, and this was recognized by Governor Bourke as that of an indepen dent people. Under these circumstances, the late con sul thought the New Zealanders quite competent as regarded the granting of title to land. He contended 10 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. that the Council would be asserting a very arbitrary power, and one which was contrary to the principles of the British constitution if, under those circumstances, they proceeded with " the threatened confiscation of property," whether it were justly acquired or not. For the lands which he himself held he said he had paid considerable sums, both to natives and to Enghshmen ; and if the act were passed and its provisions strictly enforced, those who had purchased from him as weU as himself would be sufferers to a considerable extent; and those who held their titles from him numbered forty-five native families, who had resorted to this means of freeing themselves from the authority and the ag gressions of other natives. He further averred that were the principle of investigating the justice of the titles strictly enforced, it would be found that a very small pro portion of land had really changed owners. For one tract of land purchased by him he had paid a consideration equal to £1000, for other purchases he had given to the extent of £146. In conclusion, he said that the gover nors of New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land had occasionally purchased land, and as the represen tative of the sovereign at New Zealand, he saw no great harm in doing likewise. Wentworth, when admitted to the bar of the House, contended that " the proclamations of the governor, and of Captain Hobson, the lieutenant-governor of New Zealand, conditionally disallowing the claims of Euro pean purchasers, were of no avail, inasmuch as it was laid down by Blackstone, and other constitutional authorities, that proclamations, to be legally effective, must be based on existing laws and principles, and he would ask on what existing laws or principles was based this proclamation which affected to bind her Majesty's subjects, and to control the inhabitants of a foreign state ? If, as the preamble of the biU set forth, the natives of New Zealand were incapable of ahenat- ing their lands to individuals, they were also incapable of ahenating them to foreign states, so that the effect of the proposed measure would be to exclude the British nation, and render the cession of land to the 18«.] AEGUMENTS OF THE CLAIMANTS. 11 Crown of England which had taken place, not binding on other foreign states. It was true, that in America a law was passed prohibiting British subjects from purchasing from the natives, but that law only referred to the future, whUe this included the transactions of the past. But even in America the right of the In dians to dispose of their lands, and of Europeans to purchase, was acknowledged, as in the case of Penn and others. It would thus appear that the savages of America were adjudged capable of managing their own landed property ; and, he would ask, by what right were privileges granted to them to be denied to the New Zea landers ? Certainly it could not be that the latter were inferior in point of civihzation to the former ; for the reverse was the fact. As to the declaration of indepen dence, he cared not whether it was deemed valid or not, or whether it was considered to extend over the whole or only a part of New Zealand ; for even had no such proceeding ever taken place, he contended that New Zealand was still an independent foreign state, and had at least as good a claim to have its liberties respected as the various savage tribes of America. The govern ment was purchasing land at New Zealand for its own use, as it was requfred, in smaU quantities, doubtless ; but if once it were admitted that the right to purchase reaUy existed, it would, as a matter of course, stiU continue to exist, without respect to the quantity ; for if the New Zealanders possessed the right to sell land, and British subjects the right to buy, the right existed with regard to fifty mUhon of acres the same as with regard to one. The Council had no right to take upon itself the power of investigating titles to land — a power which really belonged to the courts of judicature, from which the natives might readily ob tain redress in aU cases in which fraud or imposition had been practised. It was the office of the Protector and the attorney-general of the colony to defend them against aU such impositions as might be effected by the superior cunning of the Europeans." He concluded this part of his speech by contending, that he had proved — (1.) That the proclamation relating to the 12 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. purchase of land at New Zealand was invalid ; (2.) that savages had, in numerous instances, exercised the right of selling or disposing of their lands, not only to governments, but to companies and to indi viduals ; (3.) that this right was not dependent on any particular law, but was recognized by the general law of nations ; (4.) that settlements were made in New England in America, and held for upwards of two centuries without any confirmation from the Crown. He then proceeded to show that the acquisition of landed property in a foreign state did not affect the allegiance of the subject, and also, that Great Britain had no claim to New Zealand by right of discovery, inasmuch as she had not, for a period of fifty years, made any attempt to cultivate or people its territory. According to Lord Normanby's instructions, he pro ceeded, the commission were to confirm all such claims as were not, in extent or otherwise, found prejudicial to the public interest ; but, according to the bill before the CouncU, no claim was to be allowed for land that was within a certain distance of harbours and navi gable rivers, so that every claim to the only land that was valuable was at once cut off. To show at once that the bill was repugnant to the principles of the British constitution, it was only necessary to point out that a commission was to be appointed by the Crown, for the purpose of settling disputes wherein the Crown was an interested party. For himself, if he were asked whether he considered it equitable to hold such large possessions as those which he claimed, he would at once say, that to make any part of the land valuable, it was necessary to improve and culti vate it ; and if the government promised to apply the proceeds of the sales of land to the promotion of immi gration, he would at once give up such lands as he did not want. A'Beckett, who was retained as counsel by some of the claimants, followed. He contended that the proclamations could only be regarded as a warning, and therefore had no retrospective effect. The govern ment, by its mode of taking possession of New Zealand, 18«).] INDEPENDENCE OF NEW ZEALAND CHIEFS. 13 precluded the idea of their claiming it by right of dis covery or conquest. The recognition of the indepen dence of the chiefs, and of their right to dispose of their lands, which were involved in the mode of pro ceeding adopted by the government, in taking posses sion of the islands, placed the purchasing of lands from the New Zealanders in a different light from that in which similar transactions in America would be viewed. New Zealand had always, heretofore, been treated as a foreign country, and, in point of fact, such it was. The only way in which the Council could treat New Zealand now was as part of New South Wales. If the titles were valid, and it were desired to abrogate them, the correct mode of proceeding was to pass a biU declaring them invalid. On the contrary, if they were invahd, the proper course would be to leave them to their fate. He was of opinion, however, that the subjection of aU landed property in New Zealand to an annual tax was the more" proper and constitutional method of proceeding, and was one which, probably, would have ultimately answered the ends of the framers of the biU. Darvall, who was also counsel for the claimants, spoke next. He conceived that the New Zealand land holders were borne out in the assertion of their claims even by the conduct of the government itself; for in the treaty between Captain Hobson and the assemblage of native chiefs, it was agreed that the latter should cede the sovereignty of their islands to the British government, and that the former should take the latter under their entire protection. Now, independent of the fact that the sovereignty of the country was yielded up without reference to the titles to landed property, the very fact of entering into a treaty with the New Zea landers for the purpose of acquiring the sovereignty of the islands, was, in effect, a tacit admission of the previous independence of the chiefs, in consequence of which it became a matter of law and right that all existing laws and usages, such as they were, should be confirmed and respected up to the time when such cession was made, and consequently that aU titles to 14 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. land acquired under the sanction of such laws and usages should be held sacred. III. The governor, in his speech in support of the biU, said. That the principles on w^hich he framed and advocated the measure were these : — (1.) That savages possessed no other right in the country which they inhabited than that of mere occupation, until they became so far civilized as to put the soil to its proper use, namely, that of cultivation; and that, consequently, they were incompetent to give a legal title to such land to any other persons ; (2.) that if a country, inhabited by men of fhis description, were afterwards taken possession of by any civilized colo nizing power, the right of preemption existed only in that power; (3.) that British subjects, either indi- viduaUy, or as bodies, possessed no right to form colonies without the consent of the Crown ; and in the event of their doing so, they became liable to be ousted by the Crown from their possessions. He con tended that the American laws, prohibiting aU dealings in land with the natives, were derived from English laws, and that the principle existed in the Enghsh laws to the present day. If Penn and others pur chased from the Indians, they did so in accordance with the principles of their rehgion, which forbade them taking land, or any other property, even from savages, without compensation ; but at the same time that they made an amicable arrangement with the Indians, they relied for their title on the 'grant from the Crown. He cited various authorities to show that the sovereign claimed all lands discovered in his name, and that to suppose that subjects could purchase such lands from the aborigines was absurd. In draw ing up the bill, he said, he felt it to be extremely ne cessary that British subjects, especially in that part of world to which it referred, should receive some de cisive official instructions, that they would not be allowed to purchase lands from savage natives, for if such a species of enterprise were allowed to be carried on, it would ultimately extend over all the innumerable islands of the Pacific Ocean, and be the means of 1840.] GIPPS'S AEGUMENTS AGAINST THE CLAIMS. 15 producing the most mischievous results. The bUl, he maintained, could not properly be termed a measure of spohation, since it would not have the effect of de priving any person of lands to which his title was just and equitable. So far, indeed, from its being a mea sure of injustice, it was nothing more than a proper and praiseworthy exercise of the prerogative on the part of her Majesty for the protection of an innocent people from fraud ; and not, as some had insinuated, a mea sure adopted merely through a thirst of power, or a desire to acqufre patronage. It was an established principle of the law of England, too weU known to need illustration, that grants and conveyances of land were annuUed whenever it was proved that they had been obtained by fraud, or whenever the grantor or grantee were deemed incompetent to use the power they had exercised; but when those who opposed the biU came to allege that they did so on the prin ciple that it was unjust, he was perfectly astonished. where, he would ask, could there be a greater piece of injustice than to aUow the legahty of claims which were based on such fraudulent principles as were shown to prevaU in this transaction ? Let them take as an instance, that wherein twenty-three mUhons of acres were claimed for a consideration amounting to one farthing per hundred acres, and suppose such a claim to be aUowed by the government, would it not be a greater instance of injustice and corruption than any that occurred for centuries ? The motives which induced the government to colonize New Zealand were fully and fairly detailed in Lord Normanby's despatch, which stated that New Zealand was colonized princi paUy for the purpose of rescuing an interesting race of man from the consequences of thefr present rela tions with thefr white brethren; and for himself, he would affirm that his fixed determination was to per form what he conceived to be his duty in this matter, whatever the pubhc, or rather the few individuals whose interests were concerned, might think or say of hiTn for so doing. Such were the main arguments used on either side 16 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. I. in this celebrated case. The Crown certainly could not claim a title to the lands of New Zealand by right of discovery, inasmuch as the Dutch were the first discoverers, independent of the fact that three- quarters of a century had elapsed from the time that Cook visited the islands till Hobson came out as heu tenant-governor, during which the British made no attempt to colonize. Nor does it appear that up to January 1840, when Captain Hobson arrived at New Zealand, did the British government claim any sove reignty over the country. Great Britain had, however, a peculiar interest in New Zealand. Although not discovered by one of her navigators, it was visited, and to a considerable extent brought within the range of geographical science, by one of the number. Then the country occupied a position which brought it into immediate and extensive communication with the most important of her colonies ; a considerable number of British subjects had also settled here of their own accord, and finaUy, as the chief, if not the only, colonizing power of these times, England had an in terest in all islands and countries peopled by savages. Unless it could be proved that the New Zealanders were prepared to carry out aU the conditions of national sovereignty, the aUeged declaration of independence did not amount to much, even supposing it to have been a strictly solemn and formal proceeding. This, however, was more than doubtful, for Busby admitted that not only was the declaration drawn up by himself, but that the chiefs who adopted it did so at his request and that of the missionaries ; that the chiefs in ques tion were selected by himself, and were men who would do whatever he desired them. Supposing, however, that all the chiefs of the island had of themselves agreed to a declaration of independence, stiU it is -plain that a people who were so barbarous as to in dulge in cannibalism, and so uncivilized as to live almost in a state of nature, could retain their inde pendence only untU it was challenged by some civUized nation having the power to deprive them of hberty. The. claims of humanity, not less than the laws of "«•] FUETHEE EEASOXING. 17 nations, would have justified any civUized power in taking possession of such a country, and the only law which coiUd exist in such a case would be a prior pro tectorate, such as was contemplated by the British government in sending a resident to the islands, and by Bourke when he recognized the New Zealand flag. Doubtless if it be assumed that a protectorate existed, it foUows that a species of pohty had been estabhshed, and that it became competent to those hving under it, to transact aU the business usuaUy transacted in civilized communities, including the transfer of landed possessions. This consideration it was that was kept in view, when the governor, in pre paring the bUl, provided that the claims under certain hmitation should be aUowed, whenever it was shown that a reasonable consideration had been given for the land. If, on the other hand, no protectorate were assumed to have existed, then the government in taking possession of the country did so because it was one which the aboriginal inhabitants were not capable of turning to account, and in such a case the soU becomes, unreservedly, the property of the new possessors, subject to no other conditions than those imposed by humanity in regard to the former possessors. Under such cfrcumstances, to recognize a previous sale of the land by the natives would be out of the ques tion. The civihzed nation had seized the soU because the natives knew not its value ; at the same time, to aUow that the natives had previously disposed of the land for a valuable consideration would be a contra diction. Then, supposing the occupation of New Zealand by the British government were viewed in the only other hght in which it could be regarded, namely, as a conquest, the position of the claimants would not be a whit better, for whether they were of the conquered or of the conquerors, their titles were strictly at the mercy of the government which gained the ascendency. However, as a matter of fact, and independent of the circumstance that the laws do not recognize the formation of colonies by subjects, the claimants had done nothing to entitle them to retain the large pos- 18 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. sessions they had selected. They could not claim through length of time, for the arrival of even those amongst them who came earliest was comparatively recent. They had not, to any extent, if at aU, intro duced the arts or usages of civUized life among the aborigines ; they had not fenced in their possessions, built houses and offices, or cultivated or improved the lands. Under such circumstances, the Crown, in ignor ing all claims but such as the strictest justice allowed, did nothing more than prevent the estabhshment of a troublesome and dangerous precedent, and, in fact, decide that the welfare of the mass of mankind, whether white or coloured, for whose use islands and lands are created, was a matter of more moment than the enriching and aggrandizement of a few individuals. After the Act became law a protest against its en forcement was adopted by a number of the claimants, comprising subjects and citizens of Great Britain, France, and the United States. The persons protest ing set forth that they resided in New Zealand, and held land there, either directly by gift or purchase from the aboriginal inhabitants, or from European or Ame rican residents. They protested and appealed to their respective governments against the pretended right and authority of the Governor and Council of New South Wales to enact and enforce such an arbitrary and unjust measure, which, they said, equaUy involved their rights as individuals and as subjects and citizens of civilized and enlightened governments. They also sent home a memorial to the Queen, wherein they set forth the grounds of their opposition to the proceed ings to be initiated under the Act. The commission, however, was appointed, and, assuming the title of a Court of Claims, proceeded with its work. This re sulted, in most instances, in making the lands to which the claimants were entitled a mere fraction of the quantity said to have been purchased, while, in some instances, the claims were altogether disallowed. A biU having been brought before the CouncU to regulate the relations of masters and servants, a pub hc meeting of mechanics and other operatives was held '*»-J IXSOL^-ENCY LAW. 19 in Sydney to petition against certain of its provisions, on the ground that they savoured of the tyranny of the penal days. The petition submitted to the meeting, and adopted, set forth that the bUl was altogether too harsh and stringent for the present circumstances of the colony, whUe its provisions were partial in the extreme, and highly imjust to the class to which the petitioners belonged. It further averred that the biU not merely gave the employer power of protecting himself, but also of oppressing and defrauding the em ployed by undefinable charges of " Ul behaviour," or misdemeanour, whUe it gave the workman no power of protection against unjustifiable arrogance and provoca tion on the part of the master; that it was utterly repugnant to every principle of justice to mulct a ser vant in pecuniary fines and punish him by imprison ment too, as was proposed by the biU ; that the oath of one interested individual was not sufficient evidence to convict a free British subject ; that the effect of the operation of this bUl, if it became law, would be to deter thefr countrymen from embarking for a colony which they would justly consider to be in a state of actual slavery, and to induce many of the most useful of the operative classes to emigrate to other colonies in which thefr rights as British subjects would be re spected. The petitioners concluded by praying that the old Act might be repealed, that the one now pro posed should be withdrawn, and that such other pro visions should be made for the regulation of contracts between masters and servants as would give equal se curity to both. The bUl was passed, but its provisions were considerably modified in accordance with the prayer of this petition. lY. An Insolvency law was brought under con sideration. It was essentiaUy the same as that at present in force in the colony. It differed from the old law, inasmuch as whUe under the latter the creditors could, at any time, pounce upon property acquired by the debtor after his insolvency ; under the new law, if a majority of the creditors concurred in giving the in solvent a certificate of discharge, the property which 20 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. he might afterwards acquire was secured to him. Under the former law imprisonment for debt prevailed ; under the new law debt was not deemed a sufficient cause for interfering wdth personal liberty. The biU was ob jected to on the ground that it would lead to reckless and unnecessary insolvency, and also because it was feared that the order of things which it was proposed to establish would lead to a contraction of credit, which would result in a commercial crisis. These objections had sufficient force with the Council to lead to the mea sure being rejected ; but the governor promised that he would introduce it again with some shght modifications during the next session, and he fulfilled his promise. The bill to incorpc)rate the city of Sydney was also first introduced into the Council dming the session of this year. The proposed measure excited very consider able agitation, in consequence of the draft bUl having been so framed as to declare no one eligible as burgess who should not have been free for three years preceding the making out of the list, or who should not, during the same period, have been possessed of a conditional pardon, while emancipists were precluded altogether from being aldermen or counciUors. However much these proposals might have evinced a high tone of morahty on the part of those from whom they emanated, and, to some extent, on the part of the community at large, the class against whom they were directed was too numerous, influential, and, it may be, respectable, to admit of their going unchaUenged. No time was lost in getting up a movement in opposition to the proposed exclusions, and a petition, signed by four hundred emancipists, was presented to the CouncU against the clauses of the bill designed to operate to the disadvan tage of that class. The petitioners having obtained permission to be heard by counsel against the objec tionable clauses, three of the principal advocates of the day, namely, A'Beckett, Broadhurst, and DarvaU, pleaded their cause before the bar of the House. The provisions of the biU, regarding the freed classes, were not without their supporters out of doors, and a counter-petition supporting the challenged i«*^-] CASE OF MUDIE AND KINCHELA. 21 clauses, foUowed that of the emancipists. In the House the leader of those who supported the bUl in its integrity was James Macarthur; the chief opponents of the disqualifying clauses were Sfr John Jamieson, the old ftiend of the emancipists, the attorney-general, and the chief justice. The governor favoured those who were opposed to the exclusion. The disqualifying clause was finally expunged, but those who resisted this measure succeeded in having the quahfi cation for bur gesses fixed at £80, instead of £10, as originaUy pro posed, while the requfred period of residence was, by the exertion of the same party, fixed at three years instead of one. The agitation produced by the discus sion of these several questions was brought to a close by the biU being withdrawn for the present. A bill was introduced, during this session, to vest the Crown lands of Sydney and its vicinity in a govern ment board. This measure was vigorously opposed as unnecessary, and as one which, if made law, would prove dangerous to the interests of the country, inas much as there was a tendency in the powers with which it was proposed to invest the board, to give rise to jobbery, corruption, and plunder. The bUl was finaUy abandoned. A trial in the Supreme Court, in which Major Mudie, whose name has been mentioned in these pages as the hbeller of the colony, prosecuted for assault Kinchela, a son of the colonial judge of that name, occupied public attention towards the close of the year. The father of the defendant was one of those who were most severely criticised in the book written by the plaintiff, and published in England under the title of " The Felonry of New South Wales," and the assault complained of, which consisted of a severe horsewhip ping, was inflicted in retaliation for the wordy insults to which the elder Kinchela had been subjected. A'Beckett was the counsel employed for the prosecu tion ; the defence was conducted by Therry. In the course of the trial it was stated that although Mudie assumed the title of major, he had never risen above the rank of sub-lieutenant of marines. In extenuation 22 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. of the assault passages were quoted from the book which strongly impugned the competency of the elder Kinchela as a professional man, and his morality in private life. Besides the libels directed against nu merous individuals, the colony was libelled collectively in a passage wherein all the women were described as httle better than the class of loose character, and all the men as vagabonds. The jury, taking into account the provocation which the matter of the book afforded, whUe they gave a ver dict for the plaintiff, awarded so small an amount of damages as to make it plain that their sympathies were with the defendant. They fixed the damages at £50, being £1 for each blow which the plaintiff was said to have received. This case which, owing to the peculiar circumstances out of which it arose, as well as to the prominence of the parties more or less interested, was in itself sufficiently remarkable, was rendered stiU more so by the forensic ability with which it was conducted. In the course of the year the colony was divided into three districts, namely, the northern, comprising all the country in the vicinity of Moreton Bay; the middle, comprisingNew South Wales proper ; and the southern, consisting of the newly-settled district of Port PhUlip. In the last-mentioned district the price of land was fixed at £1, the sales to be effected without competition. In the other two a minimum price of twelve shillings an acre was established, but the auction system was retained. The population of the colony at this time was ascer tained to be 125,000 souls, of whom 25,000 were under twelve years of age. The price of provisions during this year was so high, and the consequent distress so great, that the government issued flour at first cost to all those who received a certificate of their poverty from the committee of the Benevolent Asylum. The " Clon- mel,"asteamerof 598tons burden, arrivedfromEngland, and was at once employed in the trade between Sydney and Melbourne. The expediency of connecting the North Shore and Sydney by means of a floating bridge was broached in the course of the year, and a meeting 18*0-1 EEVENUE AND EXPENDITUEE. 23 was held at which it was resolved to form a company for that purpose. The governor made a tour of the colony in the course of the year. At Port PhiUip the blacks were very troublesome. They had got into their possession a large quantity of fire-arms, and as they were skilled in their use, they were now formidable antagonists. The entire revenue of the colony for this year amounted to £682,473. Of this amount, £310,468 was derived from the ordinary sources of revenue ; the re mainder, £372,005, was the product of theCrown lands. The total amount derivable from Port Phillip was £31,799. Besides the revenue of the year there was an unexpended balance from 1839 of £144,759, making the total amount at the disposal of the government £827,233. The total disbursements during the year were £561,023. These were distributed as follows : — CivU department, £55,406 ; department of the surveyor- general, £17,207 ; department of public works and buildings, £20,912; judicial department, £22,049; pohce and gaols, £87,697, Clergy : — Church of England, £10,732 ; Roman Catholic, £3,625 ; Presbyterian, £2,105 ; Wesleyan, £750. Schools :— Church of Eng land, £8,233 ; Roman Cathohc, £854 ; British and Fo reign School Society, £300. The building of churches and parsonages : — Church of England, £4,325; Roman Catholic, £629; Presbyterian, £885 ; Wesleyan, £1,182; Independent, £433. The buUding of schools, £5,617. The support of pubhc institutions for free paupers, £3,892. The Roman Cathohc Orphan School, £1,000 ; School of Arts, £200 ; Sydney Dispensary, £350 ; Aus- trahan School Society, £183 ; Strangers' Friend So ciety, £93 ; public works, £55,701 ; arrears of 1839 and previous years, £2,863 ; establishments at Port Phillip, £35,928 ; expenses of colonial agent-general, £1,550 ; sums chargeable on the Crown lands revenue,£156,760 ; special payments, £43,529; miscellaneous, £16,021. The balance in the coffers of the colonial treasury on the 31st December was £266,210. The imports for this year amounted in value to £3,014,189, distributed as follows : — From British co- 24 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. lonies, £376,954; South Sea Islands, £1,348; New Zealand, £54,192; the fisheries, £104,895; United States, £24,164 ; foreign states, £252,331. Total value after deducting those from New Zealand and the fisheries, £2,855,102. The exports were valued at £1,399,692, distributed as follows :— To Great Britain, £792,494; to the British colonies, £304,724; to the South Sealslands, £6,621 ; to New Zealand, £215,486; to the fisheries, £27,864 ; to the United States, £27,885 ; to foreign states, £24,618. During the year there were built and registered in the colony 17 ves sels, comprising a carrying capacity of 1,196 tons. There were registered but not built in the colony dur ing the year 94 vessels, the collective burden of which amounted to 12,153 tons. 1841.] Y. A meeting was held at Sydney at the commencement of the year with the double object of opposing the proposed separation of Port Philhp, and taking measures to introduce uniformity into the system under which the public lands of the colony were ap propriated. A bill introduced into the Imperial Parlia ment for the erection of Port Phillip into a separate colony had been withdrawn, but the meeting took ac tion in reference to the matter in anticipation of the measure being again introduced. A petition to the Queen was adopted, in which the measure of separa tion was deprecated on the ground that it would inter fere with vested interests, inasmuch as many persons having their homesteads in the middle district had purchased land in Port PhUlip, and had sent stock thither ; that it would occasion a vast and unnecessary additional expense in the maintaining of two govern ments instead of one, and that it would deprive the colonists of those advantages which resulted from so cial and political unity. The system of selling land at Port PhiUip at the uniform price of £1 per acre was characterized as ruinous in its consequences to the land owners of New South Wales, inasmuch as if adhered to, it would greatly deteriorate their properties. The petitioners concluded by setting forth that "the injuries inflicted or proposed to be inflicted on the parent colony iMi.] PEOPOSED SEPAEATION OP POET PHILLIP. 25 were the more glaring, inasmuch as the colonies through which they were inflicted were discovered, explored, and settled by her enterprise and at her expense, and inasmuch as it was her capital and industry that had stamped upon them their value." A counter movement in favour of separation was speedily commenced at Port Phillip, and petitions to the Queen and Parliament were adopted in support of that measure. The petitioners contended that the co lony of New South Wales could lay no claim to the territory of Port Philhp, inasmuch as the country was discovered by a British naval officer, inasmuch as it had been twice abandoned after having been colonized in connexion with New South Wales; and because, when HoveU and Hume travelled overland from Sydney, their coining and the discoveries which they made were foUowed by no practical results. It was reserved, they said, to the inhabitants of Yan Diemen's Land to form a permanent settlement in the country ; and thence came not only the first real colonists, but also the flocks and herds which rendered the country valuable. Of the later settlers, many came dfrect from England. Under these circumstances, they denied the parentage of New South Wales. Many of the settlers of the middle district, too, had come to reside at Port PhiUip; and those who had sent their flocks to Port PhUhp, whUe they themselves remained in the middle district, were not the opponents of separation. To prove that separation was contemplated from the beginning, they showed that a new system of survey and sale of the public lands was adopted for Port PhiUip, that the accounts of the provincial revenue and expenditure were kept distinct from the accounts of the colonial revenue at the treasury, and that the burden of sup porting the settlement during the first three years of its existence was placed not on the colonial funds, but on the proceeds of the sale of lands in the new district. Did the petitioners against separation, did the public, believe that aU this speciahty of regulation was adopted without aim or object ? In June the CouncU assembled for the despatch of 26 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. business. The governor, in his opening speech, for mally announced that, thenceforward. New Zealand formed a separate government. He also informed the House that a court of superior jurisdiction had been established at Port PhUlip ; that circuit courts had been called into existence in the chief towns through out the colony ; that a census had been taken, 'and that a store of grain had been provided as a provision in the event of the scarcity which had so often affiicted the colony in former years again occurring. The Council were warned that the pecuniary difficulties under which so many of the interests of the colony were suffering would probably affect the revenue of the present year, but the falling off, as yet, had been felt only in the revenue from the land. " The pecuni ary difficulties to which he referred might be safely said to have arisen from excessive speculation, and from the undue extension of credit. They were of the same nature as those which frequently, and almost peri odically, occurred in all places where commercial adven ture largely existed ; and the remedy was, he thought, to be looked for in the natural course of events, rather than to be sought for in legislative enactments." He then pointed out a few of the cfrcumstances which he deemed to have assisted in bringing about the embar rassments under which the colony suffered, giving his opinions, however, with some diffidence. The scarcity of 1838 and 1839, he said, caused a great drain of capital from the colony for the first necessaries of life, and produced excessive fluctuation in the price of every description of grain, which fluctuation occasioned a considerable disarrangement in commercial transac tions. At the same time, the decline in the price of wool lessened the value of the colony's exports in the home market. Excessive consignments of goods to the colony, mostly on speculation, by mercantile houses in England, produced a depreciation in the value of nearly every species of merchandize, such as was cal culated to affect, more or less, in a detrimental man ner, the transactions of the whole commercial body. The necessity of disposing of those goods contributed l«l-] IMMIGEATIOX SCHEMES. 27 to produce an undue extension of credit, while the rapid influx of capital which again took place into the colony might have had a tendency to encourage haz ardous speculations and the employment of money in investments not yielding an immediate return. To re-establish the prosperity of the colony, and to place it beyond the reach of ordinary depressing influences, a more abundant supply of labour was, in his opinion, the one thing needed ; for without labour no wealth could be produced, no capital profitably employed. After a brief session the CouncU was adjourned tUl November. When they again assembled, a minute was submitted by the governor relative to debentures proposed to be issued for the support of immigration. The House was informed that in the course of the year, 16,612 bounty immigrants had been introduced, at a cost of £276,000, so that they would not be sur prised that the funds at the disposal of the colony were no longer adequate to meet the demand for labour. The plan he proposed to meet the requirements of the occasion was to issue debentures secured on and to be paid out of the ordinary revenue ; but if not satisfied within three years, to be paid out of the land fund ; the debentures, as also the iaterest, not exceeding the rate of six per cent, per annum, to be payable in Lon don ; none to be issued for any other purpose than for immigration, nor untU the funds in the local treasury became less than £50,000 ; none to be issued after the 31st December, 1842, and the total sum for which they were to be issued not to exceed £200,000. He further proposed, that the debentures should at any time be taken in payment for pubhc lands. This proposal was met, on the part of the public, with considerable disfavour ; some raising an outcry to the effect that the scheme, if carried out, would amount to the creation of a national debt. In the CouncU the proposal was referred to the Immigration Committee, which, after due dehberation, reported thereon. They recommended that the governor should draw on the Lords of the Treasury for the sum of £40,000 advanced some time previously from the land 28 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP I. fund, at the request of that body, for the purpose of establishing British authority in New Zealand, and that £160,000 more should be made up by debentures issued for one or two years, at eight per cent, interest, circu lated in the colony, and secured on the land revenue only, the holder to be at liberty to use them in payment for land. They also recommended that, in the mean time, the land on the Clarence River and at Moreton Bay, as weU as portions of the reserved land at Port Phillip, should be sold ; and they again urged their recommendation of former years, that a loan of one or two millions should be raised in England, for the pur pose of carrying on an extensive immigration at the rate of twelve thousand five hundred souls annually. These recommendations were adopted by the Council, and the governor's debenture scheme was accordingly abandoned. The Council the more readUy feU into the new plan as stress was laid on the fact that, as English shipowners and merchants would be chiefly benefited by the proposed expenditure, there would be little or no difficulty in raising the required loan. Out of doors the new scheme was received with greater aversion than even the old. A meeting was convened in Sydney, as soon as the decision of the Council was made known, to protest against the pro posal to establish what was now, with strict propriety, called a national debt. Resolutions were adopted, de claring the opinion of the meeting, that a national debt was a national curse, accompanied, as it always was and must be, by heavy taxes on the people ; hail ing with satisfaction the withdrawal of the debenture bill ; deprecating the further proposal of the com mittee to borrow one million sterhng, thus proposing to create a permanent debt ; and pledging the meeting to oppose, in every way, any attempt, no matter from what quarter it came, to fix on the colony a national debt. A petition to the Secretary of State, embodying the substance of these resohitions, was adopted. The memoriahsts added the opinion, "that the demand for the Crown lands was the true standard by which the supply of immigrants ought to be regulated ; and 1841.] PEEJDDICE eepeo"\t;d. 29 that, in thefr judgment, to anticipate the demand, by mortgaging the Crown lands for immigration purposes, was giving an undue advantage to the present employer of labour over the future purchaser, who in some mea sure woiUd thus be deprived, beforehand, of the right to a supply of labour in proportion to his purchase." YI. A report of the Land and Emigration Commis sioners was pubhshed at this time, which was both impor tant and interesting, in so far as it dealt with a question which has since, from time to time, formed the subject of considerable controversy in the colony. Referring to a prejudice against Irish immigrants stated, by certain colonial authorities, the immigration agent included, to exist amongst the colonists, the Commissioners made the foUowing remarks : — " We cannot quit the subject of the aUeged prejudice, to which we have had occasion incidentaUy to advert, without expressing our regret at its existence, and we hope that no pubhc officer wiU permit himself, or be suffered by the autho rities over him, to give it any countenance. We can only say, that so far as regards their conduct on board ship, judging by the records of the agent-general's office, no people seem to be more susceptible of the influence of kind and judicious management than the Irish, or more capable of being carried out in good health, and cer tainly none evinced better feelings at the conclusion of the voyage towards those imder whose care they have been safely guided to thefr destination." The com missioners, however, did not permit their vigUance to rest satisfied with mere words. In a matter of such great importance as was immigration at this period, they felt that not only ought there to be no abuses, but that there should be, as far as lay in thefr power, no probabihty of abuse. Acting up to this principle, they caused Mr. Pinnock to be removed from his office of immigration agent. The order of the Secretary of State to this effect arrived in August. The burden of the agent's offence was, that he had given a high colouring to the case of certain immigrants from Ire land. He had said that these people were concerned, in thefr native land, in the murder of a magistrate. 30 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. i. and that, notwithstanding this circumstance, they had been sent out as immigrants by the Irish govern ment. On inquiry it was ascertained that such were not the real facts. The persons in question were in reality merely ordinary witnesses in the case of murder, being neither approvers nor delators. The statement of this matter was contained in a report on immigration which Pinnock had prepared at the in stance of the home government, and he was charged with highly colouring the report in this and other instances, or, at the least, with lending himself to credulity in regard to statements therein contained.* One of the causes of the disfavour which Mr. Pinnock brought upon himself was a partiality which he enter tained for the bounty system .of immigration as opposed to the government system. Although deemed dis qualified to preside over the immigration department, he was not banished the government service, for the order for his removal was accompanied with instruc tions that he should receive some other employment. The exertions to remove those impediments to a full and continuous stream of immigration, which were presented in the prejudice entertained by some persons against Irish immigrants, were not confined to the Emigration Commissioners. The public in the colony also took the matter up. In September a meeting was held in Sydney to take into consideration a report recently presented to the Legislative CouncU by the Committee on Immigration. The meeting, turning the occasion to the best account, also took into con sideration a petition to the Queen, praying the exten sion to the colony of the representative form of go vernment. Dr. Bland occupied the chair, and the number of persons present was about five hundred. A petition was submitted to the meeting, which, re ferring to the subject of immigration, set forth that " during three years a succession of attempts had been made by members of the Legislative Council to divert into the stream of party purposes the fund arising from the sale of Crown lands, and which were held in * Gipps' Speech in Council, August 10. 1841-1 CLASS IMMIGEATION. 31 trust by her Majesty for the benefit of aU her subjects. For this purpose the report of the Immigration Com mittee of the Legislative CoimcU for 1841 proposed to exclude Catholics from the advantages derivable from the general and impartial distribution of the colonial fund for immigration purposes — a measure of great injustice to that portion of her Majesty's subjects and to the colony at large." The petition then went on to say, that the spirit of sectarianism referred to had been created and encouraged by Bishop Broughton, who was Chafrman of the Immigration Committee, and prayed the removal of that personage from the Legislative CouncU. Referring to the more general question of a representative government, the petitioners set forth, " that the Legislature of the colony, as at present con stituted, had not, in any instance, shown itself capable, or, indeed, desirous, of supplying the wants or repre senting the feelings of the colonists ; nor could her Majesty's subjects revert to its pubhc acts without having forced upon them the painful conviction that its members, as a body, were adverse to the constitu tional rights of their feUow subjects. They, therefore, prayed her Majesty to confer on the colony the ad vantages of a government based on popular repre sentation." At the suggestion of the chairman, the passage having reference to Bishop Broughton was expimged, and thus amended the petition was adopted. That part of the petition which referred to the subject of immigration was caUed forth by a passage in the report of the Immigration Committee, wherein the fact was commented upon, that of the immigrants who arrived in the colony one-thfrd were Roman Ca- thohcs. The committee thought that " there was ob viously a departure from the principles of justice in an arrangement which led to such a result, the propor tion referred to being widely at variance with the respective members of the rehgious persuasions in the colony, alid with the relative contributions of Protest ants and Roman Cathohcs towards the land fund, from which the means of supporting immigration was derived." Such was the complaint of the committee, 32 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAp. i. and the grounds upon which it was urged. The ob jection, however, would not have much effect, inas much as the exigencies of colonization overrule mere sectarian considerations. Meetings similar to that just described were held in some of the towns of the interior, at which petitions similar to the foregoing were adopted. As if practically to demonstrate the absurdity of decrying the immigration of any class of British people on account of their religious belief, in July a petition was presented to the Legislative CouncU, praying that the question of the expediency of introducing coolie labourers from India might be referred to a committee of the House. Even the petitioners admitted that it was undesirable to introduce this class of people ; but, they aUeged, that the want of labour was so urgent as to render the consideration of the question advisable. The petition was signed by two hundred and two of the most respectable and influential persons in the colony, and was presented by James Macarthur, but so general was the antipathy manifested by the Council to resort to this species of immigration, that the motion for referring the question to a committee was withdrawn. In the course of the session of this year a proposal for the reduction of the expenditure on account of the pohce and gaols, and other penal buildings, to the extent of one-half, was brought forward by James Macarthur. The grounds of the motion are afready famihar to the reader of these pages. They were to the effect that the British government ought to pay half those expenses which were rendered necessary by the transportation to the colony of British felons. The motion, as might be expected, was not passed, but, in so far as it was introduced by a member who had heretofore been regarded as extremely conservative, it was, in this instance, marked by a peculiar sig nificance. The commercial and monetary crisis, from the de pressing effects of which the colony suffered, continued to form the subject of discussion, as weU as lamenta- 1841.] Or^^ILIZATION OF THE ABOEIGIKES. 33 tion throughout the year. Some considered it the result of recklessness and extravagance on the part of the graziers, and other persons of extensive means ; and, in support of this view, pointed to the fact, that large numbers of persons, whose business lay in the interior, for ever hved in Sydney, leaving their estates and stations to be managed by careless overseers. Others said, that to avoid a recurrence of the evil, what was necessary was to make the colony produce a large proportion of those articles which at present were extensively imported. The Secretary for the Colonies, Lord John RusseU, in a despatch to the governor, recommended that fif teen per cent, of the land fund should be apphed exclusively to the civihzation and protection of the aborigines, leaving to the colonial authorities the de- taUs of the expenditure, but requfring that a yearly report should be laid before the governor of the colony, showing, by statistical and other data, the progress made in improving the condition of the black popula tion. In another despatch, the Secretary expressed his regret for the defeat, during the previous year, of the Sydney Municipal BUl. Referring to one of the grounds on which the biU was opposed, he gave it as his opinion that the existing Council was competent to pass it, and recommended that it shoiUd be re-intro duced. He added, that he "trusted the wish to create invidious distinctions between one class of colonial society and another would yield to argument, or, at aU events, to time. The danger which, a few years ago, might have been apprehended from the preponderance of the emancipist interest, if it might be so termed, even were it real then, would soon become entirely vision ary. Nothing could now give a separate importance to that class but the attempt to proscribe them." At the same time he gave a degree of countenance to the biU in the debatable form in which it was originaUy in troduced, for he sums up with this somewhat remark able observation : — "When you again introduce these bUls (meaning, besides that under notice, a bUl to au thorize the election of Commissioners of Highways), 34 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I, I wish you to aUow them to be formally rejected, rather that mutilate or withdraw them." In September (5th) a serious riot occurred at Syd ney. About fifty seamen belonging to a man-of-war, named the " Favourite," lying in the harbour, having received forty-eight hours' leave of absence from their vessel, came ashore, and diverted themselves in the manner usual with sailors on such occasions. A con siderable number went to the theatre, and here, as the evening advanced, and as the drink, which was freely partaken of, began -to operate, a disturbance took place, in which the seamen were chiefly concerned. After a severe struggle with the police a number of persons were taken to the lock-up, among whom were ten of the man-of-war's men. Next morning, when the prisoners were brought before the bench, they were all dismissed with the exception of two seamen, who having been more conspicuous than the rest in breaking the peace, were remanded on board the ship, there to be dealt wdth. Now took place that proceed ing which caused the affair to assume a serious aspect. Whether through a want of reflection, or some more reprehensible cause, the police officers, instead of tak- frig the sailors on board the ship at once, placed them in cimfinement in the Cumberland Street watch-house, that being the place where seamen were usually confined, as being nearest the Cove. The apology for this pro ceeding was, that the hour at which the court rose was too late to admit of the men being conveniently taken on board. However, as soon as the other sea men ascertained that their messmates were still in the custody of the police, whom they had now learned to hate, they assembled in fuU force, and proceeded, ac companied by about three hundred of the town mob, towards the watch-house. Arrived here, they put to flight the officers in charge, broke open the doors, and liberated, besides their companions, a few other prison ers who happened to be confined there, including one who was charged Avith a serious felony, and having wrecked the buUding, and broken the arms lodged there, proceeded to the St. James's watch-house, situ- l**ll A EIOT AT SYDNEY. 35 ate in another quarter of the town, about a mUe dis tant. The men in charge of this lock-up, having had warning of the approach of the now infuriated mob, fled, carrying away thefr arms ; but one man happen ing to lag behind, escaped with his life only through the presence of mind and consideration of a bystander, who, seeing his imminent danger, presented him with an overcoat, which enabled him to pass through the crowd without being recognized. Having destroyed whatever articles remained, the seamen, stUl foUowed and aided and abetted by the mob, now greatly in creased, proceeded to the chief lock-up at the pohce- court, in George and Druitt Streets. This prison, presenting fewer weak points than the others, the mob assaUed it chiefly by throwing stones into the yard and at the door ; but the mihtary having been sent for soon after the commencement of the riot, now arrived, and the riot act having been read, took up a position in the yard, and commenced firing blank-car tridge. The mob, however, showing no disposition to disperse, and an inclination to violence being stiU mani fested, the mihtary fired some rounds of baU, and the multitude, now warned of the danger, by the whizzing of the buUets, soon dispersed to their homes. The riot did not terminate, however, untU one man had received his death-wound. A baU striking one of the high fron raUs of the yard, glanced downwards, and struck a spectator on the opposite side of the street. The man walked home, concealing his wound lest he might be taken for one of the rioters, and died next day. Thus terminated a riot which proved how great are the evUs that may result from even a trifling irregu larity. That the pohce were guilty of a derehction of duty in placing the men in the watch-house after they had been remanded to thefr vessel, and when the ship lay within a few minutes' rowing of the place of con finement, there could not be a doubt. * A general census of the colony was completed in the course of this' year. From this it appeared that the total population of New South Wales, including the province of Port Phillip, was 130,856. Of these 36 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. 87,298 were males, 43,558 females, There were 4477 landed proprietors, merchants, bankers, and profes sional men; 1774 shopkeepers and retail dealers; 10,715 mechanics and artificers; 12,948 shepherds; 9825 domestic servants; and 72,317 persons not classified. The members of the Church of England numbered 73,725; of the Cathohc Church, 35,690; Presbyterians, 13,153; Methodists, 3237; other dis senters, 1857 ; Jews, 856 ; Mahomedans and Pa gans, 207. Of the male population, 18,802 were married, 66,366 single ; of the female, 17,551 were married, 26,007 single. Of the free males, 14,819 were born in the colony, 30,745 had arrived free, and 15,760 were free by servitude. Of the free females, 14,630 were born in the colony, 22,158 had arrived free, and 3637 were free by servitude. Of the male prisoners, 5843 held tickets-of-leave, 6658 were in government employment, and 11,343 in private assign ment. Of the female prisoners, 316 held tickets-of- leave, 979 were in government employment, and 1838 in private assignment. Of the entire male population, 3707 were under two years ; 6633 were two and under seven ; 6306, seven and under fourteen ; 6045, four teen and under twenty-one ; 53,381, twenty-one and under forty -five ; 7212, forty-five and under sixty ; 1884, sixty and upwards. Of the female population, 3967 were under two years ; 6581, two and under seven ; 5864, seven and under fourteen ; 4882, four teen and under twenty-one; 19,613, twenty-one and under forty-five; 2175, forty-five and under sixty; 576, sixty and upwards. The number of houses in the colony was 16,776 ; of these 6375 were of stone or brick, and 10,401 of wood. The total population of the Port PhUlip district was 11,728. Of these 4479 resided in Melbourne, 3241 in the county of Bourke, 1891 in the district of Western Port, 454 in the Glenelg district, and 1260 in the county of Normanby. The steamer " Clonmel" was unfortunately wreckec^ in the early part of the year, in one of her voyages between Sydney and Melbourne (2nd January). She struck on a sandbank at Corner Inlet, and there re- 1842.] DEFALCATION OF EEGISTEAE MANNING. 37 mained immoveable ; but aU the passengers and crew were landed in safety. The wreck of this vessel led to the discovery of a splendid grazing country adja cent to the scene of the disaster, which was speedUy occupied. In May, Roger Therry assumed, tempo rarily, the office of attorney-general, on the occasion of Plunket paying a visit to the mother country. A service of plate, valued at £500, was presented to Therry by the pubhc, in acknowledgment of the justice and efficiency with which he had administered the office of Commissioner of the Court of Requests. The Secretary of State for the Colonies, in a letter to the governor, suggested the expediency of introducing camels into the colony for the purpose of effecting discovery, and also keeping up communication. The imports of the colony during this year amounted to £2,600,650; the exports to £1,764,752. A petition was presented to the CouncU by the farmers of WU- ham's River, praying that an import duty might be levied on foreign corn, with the view to aUeviating the distress which prevaUed to some extent among the agricultural population. The governor visited Port PhiUip in the course of the year. The proposal to renew transportation was revived about this time. 1842.] YII. This year opened with the startling announcement that Manning, the Registrar of the Supreme Court, was a defaulter in a considerable amount. The moneys which were deficient consisted chiefly of the proceeds of intestate estates. As regis trar these moneys passed through his hands ; his duty was to pay aU debts due by the estate, and then lodge the balance in the savings' bank for the benefit of the next of kin, and by a rule of court the judges were to examine the accounts quarterly, with the view to seeing that the law was fulfiUed in this respect. The rule became a dead letter, and instead of acting up to the regulations, the registrar joined his pubhc and private accounts at the banks, and used the moneys with which he was entrusted as a pubhc officer in his private specu lations. His investments not turning out so weU as he had anticipated, he became unable to meet his public, 38 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. no less than his private engagements. For some time many and various rumours were afloat as to the extent of the defalcation, some fixing the amount at £50,000, some at more, others at less. In the course of time, however, the true state of the case became known. It appeared that when the registrar* first pre sented his accounts for audit, the amount of which he was deficient was £9,400, and for this he offered to give security in the shape of landed property. The judges, however, conceived that they could not, under any circumstances, assent to this proposal ; but subse quently, and before the defalcation became generally known, arrangements were made, under powers of at torney, with the agents of Enghsh next of kin to the extent of £2,480. Subsequently further arrangements were entered into for securing the remaining sum of £6,920, not, however, before the defaulter deemed it prudent to quit the colony, the question of the extent to which he was criminally responsible in the trans action being mainly debated in the public journals. Some years later that proportion of the sums deficient which the estate of the defaulter faUed to supply, were, in accordance with the arrangement just mentioned, paid by his sons. Early in the year a despatch was received from Lord John RusseU which, to some extent, conveyed a cen sure on the governor. Gipps had addressed to the Secretary of State a despatch marked confidential, wherein he announced the commercial embarrassments which had overtaken the colony, and stated what he believed to be the causes. In reply to this despatch the Secretary of State, after remarking that the cause of the crisis was one which caUed not for legislative interference, but must be left to time for a cure, wrote to this effect : — " He could not, however, receive the report of occurrences so disastrous as these now an nounced without adverting to the question, whether the government of his Excellency might not be in some sense responsible for those evils, however far beyond its power the correction of them might be. * " Sydney IVIoming Herald." 1812.] DESPATCH ON THE COMMEECIAL EMBAEEASSMENT. 39 With regret he expressed an opinion that there was too much cause for such a misgiving. The same mail which brought to England this report of the commer cial embarrassment of New South Wales, and the over-trading and iU-advised system of credit to which it was ascribed, had also brought the governor's de spatch of the 31st January, 1841, on the subject of bounties on immigration. From this despatch he learned that the governor had given orders for bounty, payable in two years, for no less a sum than £979,562. This was a fact which had arrested his most serious attention, and which he could not regard without deep anxiety. For the present he coiUd only express his earnest hope that the commercial embarrassment which had been depicted would have suggested to the go vernor the absolute necessity of abstaining from the multiplication of such orders. On the part of her Majesty's government he felt bound to disclaim any responsibUity for this proceeding, and any obhgation to rectify the engagements of the colonial government to the extent to which they had been entered into. If the governor referred to the former despatches on the subject of the land fund, he would see that not only had the Secretary of State never imparted to him any autho rity for such an outlay as this, but that, to the extent to which he was now engaged in it, he had acted in entire disregard of those instructions. He was aware that the governor expected a very large proportion of those orders to be ineffectual, because it would be impossible to execute them within the prescribed period of two years ; so far, however, was he from regarding this fact as a defence of so extraordinary an over-issue of these orders, that he considered it as greatly augment ing the improvidence of that measure." After advert ing to the evils which the transaction might occasion in England, as the result of the orders being declared invalid by the lapse of time, the Secretary proceeds : — " On the other hand, as to the colony, it appeared that at the moment of the commercial embarrassment to which he had referred, there were afloat in the market bounty orders amounting to nearly a mUlion 40 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. sterling, the whole of which it was but too probable the colonial treasury might be called upon to redeem. It was difficult to measure the effect which such an operation must have had in stimulating that reckless spirit of commercial enterprise to which the governor partially ascribed the disasters of the colony ; but it was clear the effect must have been very considerable. He should deem it his duty to take measures for pre venting, as far as possible, the execution of these bounty orders beyond the extent to which the net re venue of the year, after meeting aU preferable charges, would presumedly be adequate for the purpose. He would now lay upon the governor the most distinct and peremptory instructions that he would abstain, for the future, from issuing any bounty orders Exceed ing the net amount of the land revenue clearly ap plicable for that purpose during the next succeeding year." The Secretary thus modified, towards the end of his despatch, the severity of the lecture which he had been giving : — " He had not written this despatch with out very sincere regret. He was deeply sensible of the claims of his Excellency to the respect and confidence of her Majesty's government, and of the difficulties in which he was placed by the pressure of local interests ; but it was his duty to record his disapprobation of an unauthorized proceeding, which might affect the revenue of the parent country, and which, by unduly stimulating speculation, might be highly injurious, even to those local interests which it was designed to promote." The orders to which reference is here made, were engagements, on the part of the New South Wales go vernment, to pay out of the colonial land fund, on the arrival in Sydney of approved immigrants, certain sums of money per head to those by whose instru mentality they had been brought out. Subsequently to the date of the despatch the question of these orders formed the subject of a discussion in the House of Commons, in the course of which the conduct of Gipps, in issuing them to such an extent, was censured by several members. In defence of the governor it was 1812.] A PUBLIC MEETING. 41 contended by his friends, at home and in the colony, that he had only pledged the revenue arising from the lands to the extent of one year in advance, had the amount of the receipts not diminished, and that he did this in comphance with the most urgent demands of the colonists for a larger supply of labour. Those who were aU along unfavourable to bounty immigration, as distinguished from that carried out immediately by the government, were rejoiced that the system had received the check involved in the crisis which had now arrived, and, as it appeared, not without very good cause. The orders, which severaUy repre sented the cost of importing one immigrant, that is, twenty pounds or thereabouts, were made an article of traffic in England, being sold and resold for premiums varying from ten shillings to one pound, to the great injustice to the immigrant, whose necessaries and com forts during the voyage were, of course, curtaUed to the extent of the profit which the unscrupulous specu lators made out of the orders. It became notorious that the London constituents of one Sydney firm paid one thousand pounds for one thousand orders, and at the same time guaranteed to pay to the seUers two and a half per cent, on aU moneys actually received from the government. In February a meeting was held in Sydney, to pe tition for representative government. The meeting was held in the theatre, and was one of the largest which had hitherto assembled in Sydney. The sheriff" occupied the chafr. A petition to the Queen and Im perial Parhament was submitted to the meeting by James Macarthur, which set forth that the petitioners were free British subjects, resident chiefly in seventeen townships, and forming at the last census a population of upwards of ten thousand souls ; that thefr moveable and immoveable property was estimated at thfrty mU hons, and the property annuaUy created by them at two and a-half miUions ; that the maritime commerce of the country during the ten years preceding amounted in declared value to twenty-two and a-half mUhons ; that the community raised for the purposes of go- 42 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. vernment an annual revenue of £350,000 ; and that, besides the consumption of British manufactures, and the employment of British shipping, the colony relieved Great Britain during the five years preceding of her surplus population to the extent of nearly fifty- seven thousand souls, at a cost to the colonists of one and a quarter million sterhng. The petition proceeded to state that, notwithstanding their numbers, their wealth, and the importance of their commerce, the high ratio of their taxation, and the magnitude of thefr revenue, the community had no control over thefr taxation, no voice in the management of their affairs, no represen tation in the local legislature under which they had been governed for eighteen years, and that thus they were destitute of the most valuable of those free insti tutions which every Briton was taught to prize as the safeguard of his hberties, as the glory of his country, and as the invaluable birthright of his race. This de privation, it was alleged, was the more grievous as the grounds on which representative government had here tofore been refused or postponed no longer existed, and from the consideration that those great constitu tional rights for which they asked had been conceded to other colonies, whose maturity from their exercise, and loyalty to the throne, was at least equaUed by the colony of New South Wales. The petition therefore prayed that the Parliament might adopt such mea sures as to them might seem proper for extending to the colony that form of representative legislature to which it was constitutionaUy entitled, and for the en joyment and exercise of which, as they had herein before shown, they were fully quahfied. Macdermott, a merchant and popular leader, submitted for adop tion a draft of a petition differing somewhat from the preceding. The chief objection advanced against that first proposed was, that it set out by describing the petitioners as members of the legislature, magistrates, landholders, clergymen, " and others." To this the supporters of the second petition objected on the ground that it was disrespectful and derogatory to those who formed the vast bulk of the petitioners to 18.12.] PETITION FOE EEPEE SENTATIVE GOVEENMENT. 43 set them down at the fag-end of an enumeration, and under the dubious designation of " the others." This objection had considerable weight with a number of those who formed the meeting, and two petitions hav ing been successively put, doubts were expressed as to which was carried, and the result was that, after some hours' uproar, the assembly was summarUy dissolved by the sheriff leaving the chafr. A resolution had pre viously been adopted unanimously, to the effect " that in the opinion of the meeting it was highly expedient that petitions should be forthwith presented to her Majesty and both Houses of Parhament, praying the extension to New South Wales of the privUege of a representative legislature." Ten days later a second meeting, having the same object in view, was held at the Sydney CoUege, this building being selected because it was more out of the way of the multitude, whose presence on the occasion it was intended to avoid. The device was successful, for with few exceptions those present were persons who were not hkely to oppose any proposition coming from the originators of the meeting. Whether according to a predetermined arrangement, or, as was more pro bable, because the actual state of the meeting made success aU but certain, the proposers of the meeting adopted a somewhat disingenuous proceeding, with the view to carrying on the movement according to their own pecuhar views. In the interim since the last meeting the draft of a petition to be submitted on the occasion was pubhshed in the journals, and in this the obnoxious recapitulation of various clauses was omitted, the petitioners being simply spoken of as " colonists." The change was commented upon, and satisfaction expressed on account of the conciliatory spfrit which was supposed to have suggested it. At the meeting, however, the old form of expression was reproduced ; and although some disapprobation was expressed, rather than allow the spirit of discord to thwart a second time the object all had in view, the popular leaders aUowed the petition to be adopted without dissent. YIII. In AprU (11th) the statue of Governor Bourke 44 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. was inaugurated at Sydney, the event being marked by a general holiday and a public demonstration. A pro cession took place, which was led by the regiment forming the garrison, accompanied by the Commander of the Forces and his staff. Several of the masonic lodges and public societies, oddfellows, teetotaUers, and others foUowed. Besides a considerable number of the Church of England and other Protestant clergymen, the Roman Cathohc clergymen were present in a body, and the children of all the schools of that denomina tion formed part of the procession. The assemblage was the largest ever previously congregated in Sydney, the number being estimated at seven to ten thousand. A long line of carriages, about one hundred and twenty in all, filled with ladies, also occupied the line of march. When the multitude, after marching with ban ners flying and music playing through the principal streets of the city, arrived at the site of the statue, at the western entrance to the domain, they formed into a semicircle, the carriages outside. The statue, which had hitherto been concealed beneath the folds of a British ensign, was now uncovered ; and when the sculp tured form of the popular governor presented itself, an involuntary cheer burst from the hps of the assem bled thousands, and was again and again repeated tiU the sounds passed away on the distant waters, or were lost amid the groves which stretched far and near. The governor, who with his famUy was among the first who arrived on the ground, now proceeded to ad dress the assemblage. He said that " He was happy to be enabled to take that public opportunity of mani festing the respect which he entertained for the distin guished statesman and ruler to whose honour they had erected that statue. Notwithstanding, however, the readiness with which he obeyed the invitation to be present on that occasion, he could not but apprehend that it would have been better had he yielded the ho nour to another. It was impossible for him to divest himself of the knowledge that he had for the last four years and more occupied the place which was pre viously filled by the original of that statue ; and he 1842.] INAUGUEATION OF BOUEKe's STATUE. 45 must know, he could not fail to know, how difficult it was for them to suppress altogether the feelings of comparison or contrast to which such a position as that in which he was now placed must naturaUy give birth. He felt his own feebleness as he looked on the por traiture of his predecessor — that it was which embar rassed him, the consciousness of that fact went far to paralyze him. He felt that it should be his business to gaze, to muse, to admfre, to commune with his own heart, and to strive to emulate the greatness of him whose image was before him, and not to descant on his virtues. He felt, in fact, that he should be here to learn, not to teach. Not having had the privilege of ever meeting the original, of conversing with him, or of hearing him speak, he could in that statue see scarce more than the duU form of great and noble qualities. With them it was different. The statue called up to them the remembrance of a form they reverenced and loved. The erection of statues was one of the earliest means devised by the freest and most accomplished people of antiquity to mark their admiration of the great and good. He rejoiced that a correct taste led them, in seeking to pay a tribute to the exceUence of Sir Richard Bourke, to adopt this species of monument rather than any other, and he trusted that this circum stance might be taken as a promise of the way in w^hich the fine arts woiUd henceforward be cultivated in this young and rising land. It might be expected that he should call to thefr recoUection some of those actions of Sir Richard Bourke which endeared him to them, some of the benefits conferred on this land which moved them to the erection of that statue. A memorial of these actions was recorded in the inscription which the statue bore. The administration of Bourke, moreover, was so recent, that the events of his administration were stUl fresh in their memory — were better known, indeed, for the most part, to themselves than to him — since they were not only spectators of, but partici pators in, the benefits flowing from them. His own opinion of the administration by Bourke of the pubhc affairs of the colony would be best gathered from the 46 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. fact, which was known to most of them, that he had endeavoured to follow out his policy ; and though his stay amongst them might be very uncertain, yet he hoped it might be permitted to him to complete in some degree the work which he had begun. He trusted the time was at hand when the institutions of civil, not less than religious liberty, would be established in this country on a solid foundation ; so that thenceforward it might be said of the colonists of New South Wales, not only that they lived in a land in which, thanks to Bourke, it was permitted to every man to worship God without giving offence to his neighbour, but that the country was not only one in which the minds of men were free, but one in which their actions also were controlled only by equal laws, made for the benefit of aU by representatives of their own choice." Thus was inaugurated the first and only statue which has been erected in New South Wales to any of the public men of the colony. In May the Legislative Council assembled. The governor announced that bills would be submitted for incorporating the towns of Sydney and Melbourne. He informed the House that the ordinary revenue of 1841 was the largest that had ever been coUected, at the same time that the land fund had dwindled down in an extraordinary degree. In 1840 the revenue from this source was £316,000, in 1841 it was only £90,000, and during the first quarter of the current year it was only £4000 — a sum barely sufficient for the expenses chargeable on it for the survey department and the aborigines, leaving nothing for the principal purpose of immigration. To supply the deficiency he had asked the Lords of the Treasury to repay the sum of £40,000 advanced from the colonial revenue for the support of the infant government of New Zealand, and he had issued debentures to the extent of £65,000. He admitted that, but for the intervention of the Se cretary of State in checking immigration, they would have had difficulty in meeting their engagements wdth- out an English loan. Adverting to that over speculation which he 1812-] A BILL TO INCOEPOEATE SYDNEY. 47 thought had occasioned the monetary difficulties under which the colony was labouring, he accounted for it by pointing out that for years capital had flowed into the colony faster than labour to employ it. This state of things led to undue speculation, which was at its height in 1839 and 1840. The unsound state of affairs was first checked by the evU being exposed during the discussions which took place in the CouncU, in 1840, on the proposed Insolvent Law; and the revulsion which had since so grievously shaken the colony com menced about the end of October in that year, before a single immigrant ship had arrived under the new bounty regulations of the 3rd of March of the same year. The idea, therefore, which seemed partly to pre vaU in England, that an over-issue of bounty orders led to the commercial depression of the colony, was clearly, he thought, an unfounded one. No sooner was the bUl to incorporate Sydney brought under the consideration of the CouncU, than a meeting was held at Sydney to petition against it. The grounds of opposition taken up by the petitioners involved some important constitutional consideration. They contended that the Legislative CouncU, composed as it was of nominees of the Crown, had no legal right to estabhsh corporate bodies with powers of taxation ; such power of taxation belonging, under the British constitution, only to the representatives of the people, duly elected by the people ; that although a qualified power of taxation purported to be erected by the Act of Parhament constituting the ] .legislative CouncU, such power, even it were valid as regarded the Council itself, was incapable of delegation, the maxim of law being, that one delegated was not able to delegate — delegatus non delegare potest ; and, further, that from such a qualified power in the principal, an unqualified power, such as that contained in the proposed bUl, could not be imparted to the derivative. With regard to the case of other colonies which had been referred to by the supporters of the bUl, they pointed out that, with two exceptions, aU those colonies where municipal bodies with taxing powers had been estabhshed, had 48 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. representative institutions ; and the exceptions they refused to take as precedents, the more so as the powers of their legislatures had not been questioned, and the disputed point settled before a competent tribunal. They also contended that, as the introduc tion of municipal institutions had been deferred till a period when they were about to have representative institutions, to estabhsh them now, by a doubtful authority, was in the highest degree undesirable, especially as the proposed municipal body would not come into operation till the representative assembly had been established. Besides these fundamental grounds of opposition, the petitioners objected because the biU in its present shape would degrade the corporation by withholding from it magisterial jurisdiction and the management of the police. They also contended that, in the present defective state of the town of Sydney in regard to sewers, streets, and other such matters, owing to the apathy of former governors, who, with ample means at their disposal, neglected these works, or faUed to make them keep pace with the growing wants of the town and population, it would be unjust that the townspeople of the present day should be taxed, not only for a neglect of their former rulers, but also to construct works of enduring utihty, such as pubhc sewers, from which posterity would draw equal benefit, without having assigned to them, as weU as all town taxes and assessments, also an endowment, under pro per restrictions, of all public lands within the pre cincts of the town, not vested in the ordinance depart ment. Under these circumstances, they prayed the Council to reject the bill, or, if they passed it, to make it accord with the views which they had set forth. The adoption of the petition was moved by Wentworth, and it was carried, notwithstanding an amendment for adjournment moved by Mr. Duncan, a popular leader, who pointed out the inconsistency contained in the petition, where the power of the Council to pass the bill was first denied, and then they were asked to pass the bill with certain modifications. 1812.] OPEEATTVES IN FAVOUR OF INOOEPOEATION. 49 A few days subsequently a meeting was held, at which a petition, praying for the incorporation of the city, was adopted, the petitioners in this instance being that section of the popular party who, seeing in muni cipal institutions the safeguards of civil hberty, not less than the promoters of sanitary measures, were pre pared to risk some inconvenience in order to secure a large advantage. This petition, hke the former, prayed that the corporation might be endowed with certain unlocated lands in the town, including the Sydney Common and Hyde Park, and also wdth cer tain fees, toUs, and other such sources of revenue. A few weeks later, when the bUl had gone through nearly aU its stages in the House, a third meeting was held, under the presidency of the sheriff, at which a petition against its adoption was proposed by Went worth. The petition was brief, as the urgency of the case required. It simply set forth that it was no longer doubtful that the CouncU seemed about to pass the law without conferring on the proposed corpora tion aU the town taxes, assessments, and other endow ments prayed for in the two several petitions already presented ; that the petitioners, being satisfied that wdthout the aid of such endowments it would be im possible for them, more particularly in thefr present embarrassed cfrcumstances, to bear the additional load of direct taxation requfred for drainage, sewerage, and levelling the streets, prayed the withdrawal of the biU. Macdermott moved a counter-petition, to the effect that the town ought to be incorporated with certain endowments ; but, after a stormy discussion, the ori ginal petition was adopted. A meeting of the opera tive classes of Sydney foUowed, at which an imphed approval of the bUl was pronounced, inasmuch as a petition was adopted which, without referring to the merits of the measure of incorporation, simply prayed that the municipal franchise might be extended to aU who were assessed. As might have been expected, seeing that those classes who were more immediately interested in mu nicipal affafrs, namely, the middle and working classes, E 60 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. gave it their support, the bill passed. The qualifica tion of voters was finally made to consist in the occu pancy of a house or warehouse of the annual value of £25, for twelve months preceding the enrolment ; no person to be entitled to a vote, however, who was not a resident householder in the city or within seven miles of its boundaries. The qualification of an alderman, councillor, auditor, or assessor, was real estate of the value of £1000, or property rated in the annual value of £50. The city was divided into six wards, each of which was to elect four councilmen, and these again were respectively to choose either one of themselves or one of the citizens at large, to be aldermen for their several wards. The mayor was to be elected by the aldermen and councilmen from their own body. The option left to the councilmen to elect the aldermen from the citizens was intended to meet the apprehen sions of those who expressed doubts as to whether the municipal body might not be comprised, in the first instance, of persons not qualified by education, cha racter, and social standing for the position in which they were placed. It was conceived that if the new body were induced to choose others than some of them selves as aldermen, their choice would, in all proba bility, fall on men of worth and deserved influence. In November the municipal elections took place. The event was anticipated and watched with consider able interest, in consequence of its presenting the first recognition and exercise of the representative principle in the colony. There were forty-nine candidates, in cluding a considerable number of merchants and a few professional men. The citizens having elected twenty- four councilmen, these chose six of their own body to be aldermen, repudiating the option of finding the supe rior functionaries elsewhere. The first aldermen cho sen for the city were, Robert Owen, John Hosking, George AUen, Thomas Broughton, Francis Mitchell, and J. R. Wilshire. Hosking, a merchant and go vernment contractor, was elected mayor. IX. The disputes between the squatters and the government, which thenceforward formed one of the l»*2-l GRIEVANCES OF GEAZIEES. 51 chief features in colonial affafrs, were foreshadowed in the course of this year. A meeting of graziers and others was held at Bathurst, in August, to take steps for procuring the amendment of the existing law with regard to depasturing hcenses, which, it was aUeged, in thefr present state, tended to depreciate stock by rendering the right of pasturage precarious. A grazier in the district, Mr. WUham Lee, was deprived of his hcense on the ground that he had ceased to occupy. This he regarded as a hardship, inasmuch as he him self being absent at the time, the abandonment took place only because his men were forced to leave the station in consequence of the extreme drought, this course being rendered stUl more unavoidable by an attack of the blacks, in which some of the men in charge of the stock were murdered. Under these cfr cumstances he prayed for an inquiry, with the view to preserving the occupancy of his station, by showing that the removal of his stock, whUe it was never in tended to be anything more than a temporary measure, was involuntary and compulsory; but, although his memorial was supported by eight magistrates of the territory, its prayer was rejected, and the penalty and forfeit exacted. These aUegations, which, judging by the character and standing of the men who took a pro minent part in the movement, were no less true than the proceedings of the authorities appeared strange and unjustifiable, were set forth in a petition adopted at the meeting, which petition concluded by praying that the Crown Lands Occupation Act might be so amended as to place the occupation of the pubhc lands by hcense on a more secure and permanent footing. In the course of the year there was convicted of murder and executed, at Berrima, a feUow named Lynch, otherwise Dunleavy, who appears to have been a complete prodigy of bloodthfrstiness. Although only twenty-six years of age, he confessed, previous to his execution, to having committed nine murders, acknow ledging that he was the destroyer of several persons whose disappearance was matter of pubhc notoriety. He was transported to the colony for manslaughter. 52 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. and was tried five years previously for the murder of his fellow- servant, but was acquitted of a crime to which he now confessed, though insufficiency of proof made it impossible to obtain a legal conviction. All the other homicides were committed within a brief period preceding his final trial. Avarice was his chief motive. When he had served the period of his con viction, he straightway proceeded to Berrima, where a person resided who had been accustomed to receive stolen property from him while he was a convict, and demanded a portion of the ill-gotten goods which had there been accumulated. He met with a refusal, and at once entered on that career of robbery and murder which finally led him to the gaUows. His last victims were the person just referred to as one of his associates in felony, his wdfe, and son and daughter, the last- mentioned of whom he ravished before he kiUed. So cunningly and audaciously did he carry on his vUlanies, that he had been for a considerable time in pubhc pos session of the farm of those people, and in the enjoy ment of the fruits of his other deeds of blood, before he was brought to justice. The man who in the course of his hfe had thus outraged humanity, affected honesty towards the close of his career. When sentenced to death he requested that some people whom he had employed on the farm might be paid their wages out of the proceeds of the property which he claimed as his. Considerable stress was laid on the case of this man by those who opposed the revival of transportation when that question came to be discussed some time subsequently. Another remarkable occurrence marks the crimi nal records of this year. The " Governor PhiUip," a vessel belonging to the government, and employed in carrying supphes to and from Norfolk Island, was piratically attacked by a number of convicts at the island, and narrowly escaped being seized. The even ing before the vessel was to saU for Sydney, the con vict boat's crew, numbering twelve persons, who were employed between the island and the vessel, were 18«-] PIEACY AT NOEFOLK ISLAND. 63 taken on board the ship for the night, owing to their boat having suddenly become too leaky to carry them back to the island through the surf. They were placed in the ship's prison during the night, and when, next morning, they were hberated for the purpose of going ashore, they simultaneously, and by a preconcerted plan, disarmed the sentry and threw him into the sea, and, after a shght resistance, compeUed such of the crew as were on deck to jump overboard, or fly to the boats. WhUe some of the pfrates were thus engaged, others secured the doors of the cabin and the hatches of the quarters occupied by the military guard. The master (Boyle) and the mate, as soon as they found themselves locked up, and perceived what was going on, placed themselves in communication with the sol diers by breaking through a partition, and the entfre force between decks now commenced an attack on the convicts, by firing through such openings as presented themselves. Some of the shots having taken effect, as soon as the soldiers found the force of their anta gonists sufficiently weakened, and saw a favourable opportunity for thefr purpose, they rushed on deck, and, after a brief hand-to-hand struggle with the pirates, who were armed with the musket of the sen try, with boat-hooks, and such other weapons as lay within thefr reach, recaptured the vessel. In the con flict the mihtary lost one of thefr number, the sentry, who was drowned at the commencement of the affray, and five others were wounded; two seamen were severely beaten and wounded; and of the convicts, five were killed and two wounded. This event sufficiently demonstrates the desperate character of the convicts confined at Norfolk Island. Connected with it is an occurrence which forcibly exemplifies their characteristics in another respect. WhUe the clergyman was on board the vessel, attend ing the men who were dangerously wounded, some of the convicts, seizing the opportunity presented, at once by the confusion into which the island had been thrown, and by the absence of the minister, sacrilegiously entered the church and stole the communion plate. 54 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. These and similar events and incidents occasioned considerable discussion as to the effect of the system of discipline which had been adopted and carried out by Captain Maconochie, the officer who was at this time commandant of the island. This system was based on mild treatment, persuasion rather than force, and slight punishments. It was called, by its friends and advocates, the "humane system;" those who had more faith in force and severity in dealing with the more depraved class of convicts, apphed to it various appellations intended to turn it into ridicule. The mode of managing hardened criminals wdll, doubtless, always be a matter for discussion ; but it seems clear that, with such men, there is no medium between great mildness and the utmost severity. Considerable discussion took place in the course of the year on the question, previously debated from time to time, of the preponderance of Irish immigra tion. It appeared, from the report of the colonial immigration agent, Mereweather, that of 19,623 im migrants who arrived in 1841, 4563 were Enghsh, 1616 Scotch, and 13,344, or nearly two-thirds, Irish. In his place in the Council, the governor defended Irish immigration against the objections urged by some of the members. He said that the agents went to Ireland simply because that country presented the cheapest, the most abundant, and the most ehgible market for agricultural labourers. In England, immi grants were to be had in crowds in the manufactur ing districts, but these were not eligible. In the rural districts, on the other hand, very few immigrants were to be obtained, because their employment was ¦ never scarce. In the annual report on this subject the immigrants who arrived during 1841 were thus classffied as to age, sex, and religion :— Of adults, there were 9244 males, 8641 females; of chUdren, there were 2873 males, 2442 females. The Protestants of aU denominations numbered 10,009; the Roman Cathohcs, 9476. The remainder were Jews and freethinkers. The total number of deaths which took place on the voyage and 1842.] THE GOVEENOE VISITS MOEETON BAY. 55 in quarantine, was 630, being at the rate of 1 to 35|^, or 2| per cent. The births numbered 320. The total number of immigrants who arrived during the four years ending 31st December, 1841, was 49,684. The Richmond River was discovered at this time. The governor visited Moreton Bay for the purpose of making arrangements for the sale of lands in that dis trict, and marking out the chief reserves. A petition was got up, praying for the revival of transportation. The proposal excited considerable discussion, and those who were averse to a return to convictism, opprobri- ously caUed their opponents the " banditti party." The captain and surgeon of an immigrant ship were prosecuted at Sydney for assaulting a female passenger by throwing water over her during the passage, and having been found guilty, were each sentenced to be imprisoned for six months and to pay a fine of £50. An unusual amount of womanly loquacity was the fault on the part of the female, which led to the un seemly act of the officers — an act which was the more improper, inasmuch as the woman was labouring under chronic debUity. A seizure of contraband spirits was made at Broken Bay, by Captain Browne, the superintendent of water- police, on the information of a ticket-of-leave holder residing on the banks of the Hawkesbury. The seizure consisted of four thousand gallons of brandy and rum. The owners were the mercantile firm of Dunlop and Ross, who, besides forfeiting the spirits, which was valued at £8000, were fined in penalties amoimting jomtly to £11,000, together with £1000 costs. The nefarious transaction thus cost its projectors £15,000. A paragraph announcing the contemplated establish ment, by the Imperial Government, of steam com munication between England and Austraha by way of Panama, went the rounds of the English journals at this period, and was copied into the colonial papers. The tweed manufactures of the colony began to attract attention at this time, as weU they might, seeing that, in 1840, the importations of wooUen cloth were valued at £300,000. In the course of the year, the term 66 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. I. " squatter" was first used in its present signification, having previously been employed to describe that class of persons who, without capital or stock, assumed the permit of grazing. Thenceforward it was applied to those owners of extensive flocks and herds who rented lands from the Crown for grazing purposes. Tobacco was first manufactured in the colony in the course of this year, the manufacturer being an American. The importance of this new branch of industry was de monstrated by the fact that, in 1841, the duty paid on imported tobacco amounted to £36,188. An asso ciation was formed in Sydney " to obtain permission to introduce into the colony coohes and other labourers from India." The permission of the home government was necessary for the emigration of coohes, and Gipps was averse to the introduction into the colony of this class of persons, whose presence, at an early stage in the colony's career, would, he foresaw, tend to dete riorate the population of the rising country. Bush ranging gave considerable trouble, although not to such an extent as formerly. The depredations of the blacks, however, continued with unabated vigour. At Liverpool Plains alone, five white men were kUled by the savages in the course of the year. On the other hand, it was asserted that the hatred of some of the settlers towards the aborigines was developing itself in an insidious war of extermination. Schmidt, the chief of the German mission at Moreton Bay, alleged, that it had come to his knowledge that fifty or sixty blacks had been poisoned at one station. Besides the actual difficulties which the colony had to contend with, the efforts of mendacious traducers were employed to damage its name. In England, the monetary embar rassments of the colonists were grossly exaggerated, chiefly by the correspondence of persons recently ar rived in the colony, and having no interest either in its welfare or its reputation. In October (28th) the shock of an earthquake was experienced in various parts of the colony. Persons residing at Windsor, Newcastle, Port Stephens, the Macleay River, and Patrick's Plains, reported that they had felt the move- 1W3-] DISPOSAL OF WASTE LANDS. 67 ment of the earth. In the month of AprU the Hawkes bury overflowed its banks, destroying a considerable amount of property. Floods were at this time general aU over the colony. Towards the end of the year the new Imperial Act regulating the disposal of the waste lands, was received at Sydney. By this measure the auction system was universaUy brought into operation; the lands were divided into town, suburban, and country lots, and £1 per acre was fixed as the minimum price for country lots in aU parts of the colony. The increase of the upset price from twelve to twenty shUhngs was strongly objected to. The German mission at More- ton Bay, languishing at this time, an appeal was made to the pubhc on its behalf. This mission was projected in 1837 by Dr. Lang, who, faUing to find missionaries in his own country, went to Berhn, and there enhsted the services of a number of persons belonging to a body speciaUy trained as missionaries to the heathens. The object sought was twofold, — first, to Christianize the blacks ; and, secondly, to afford some security to seamen who might happen to be wrecked on the coasts adjacent to Moreton Bay, one ship's company having been mercUessly murdered there. In 1838, two cler gymen and eighteen lay missionaries arrived in Syd ney, and at once set off for the scene of thefr labours. They succeeded in forming a smaU community of abo rigines, teaching the first principles of rehgion to aU, instructing the younger in the rudiments of letters, and employing the men in producing the maize which principaUy formed their food. The mission was sup ported partly by funds granted by the Imperial Go vernment, and partly by private donations coUected in the colony and in Europe. It was admitted that the amount of success which had attended the efforts of the mission to evangelize and civilize the aborigines was inconsiderable. The revenue for this year was £529,964 ; the disbursements, £503,913. The income, however, included a sum of £48,760 received for im migration debentures, and a sum of £46,639 in Trea sury biUs, received on account of the loan advanced to 58 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. i. New Zealand, so that the expenditure was in excess of the actual revenue. At Melbourne, Judge WiUis was removed from the bench, the superintendent having officially reported that he did not possess the confidence of the public. The specific grounds of the complaints urged against him were, want of dignity and a petulance unbecoming a judge. For a considerable period the records of the proceedings in the court at Melbourne contained ac counts of the most unseemly, and sometimes ludicrous disputes between the judge and members of the legal profession practising in the court. The town of Mel bourne having been incorporated, the municipal elec tions followed shortly after those of Sydney. A Mr. CondeU was the first mayor. EEPEE SENTATIVE GOVEENMENT. 69 CHAPTER II. Representative Institutions conceded — Meeting of the first Elective Council — Distress amongst the working classes — Commence ment of the contest hetween the Governor and the Squatters — Wentworth opens the subject of Colonial Grievances — The Education Question comes to a crisis — Leichhardt journeys from Moreton Bay to Port Essington. (1843—1845.) I. We now commence a new era in the history of New South Wales 1843). Those struggles which the co lonists have carried on for a series of years have been crowned with success, and the victors are about to enjoy the fruits of thefr triumph. The colonists, for the first time during a period of upwards of half a century, are about to possess themselves of a measure of that constitutional freedom which is the bfrthright of every Briton ; for on the first day of January, the new Act to provide for the Government of New South Wales, whereby the right of representation was con ceded to the colonists, was received at Sydney, having finaUy passed the Imperial Parhament on the 29th July, and received the Royal assent on the day foUowing, The prospect which now hes before the people of New South Wales is one to them in the highest degree gratifying, whether they regard it as colonists, as British subjects, or as men. As colonists they have cause for the greatest self-gratulation in reflecting that at length they have overcome those very grave ob stacles which thefr pecuhar condition presented to the achieving of those rights and privUeges, without which they must have felt, coUectively and individuaUy, that their position was a humiliating one. As British sub jects they must be impressed with a degree of pride. 60 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CIIAP. II. that at length, and through their own exertions, they stand almost on an equality with those of their fellow- subjects, whose liberties are guaranteed by a series of charters extending over six centuries ; at the same time that the glow of admfration must kindle in their hearts when they reflect on the admirable character of that constitution under which they are thus enabled, though standing in an isolated position, at the extreme end of the earth, to achieve, slowly indeed, but certainly, those great privileges which miUions of men, highly civilized, highly enlightened, and weU organized, have elsewhere struggled in vain to procure. As men, they have to be thankful that, separated as they are to so large an extent from the rest of mankind, and other wise placed in a position calculated to give rise on the one hand to abject submission, and on the other to an unrelenting tyranny, they yet, as a community, retained intact the genius of a sound and vigorous freedom, which in due season budded forth and expanded into a tree of liberty, which, smaU and tender at first, gives promise that in due time it will become a giant of its species. The new act, which it may be mentioned was intro duced into the Imperial Parliament by Lord Stanley, provided for the estabhshment of a Council, to consist of fifty-four members, of whom thfrty-six were to be elected by the people, not less than four to be returned by Port Phillip ; the remaining eighteen were to be nominated by the Crown. Of the nominated members six were to have seats by virtue of their office, and were to occupy the position of a Ministry in the House. These were the Colonial Secretary, who conducted the business of the government in the Council, the Colonial Treasurer, the Auditor- General, the Attorney -General, the Commander of the Forces, and the Collector of Customs. The Council had the power of increasing the number of its members, provided the proportion of elected and nominated members were maintained as originally established. Twelve months were specified as the maximum period that was to elapse before the act was brought into operation after its arrival in the 1843.] OUTCEY AGAINST THE CIVIL LIST. 61 colony. The duty of dividing the colony into electoral districts was imposed on the existing Council. The qualification of an elector under the new law was, freehold property of the value of £200, or the occupation of a dwelling valued at £20 per annum ; that of a member of the CouncU was, freehold pro perty of the value of £2000, or an income from real estate of the amount of £100 per annum. The dura tion of the CouncU was Umited to five years. Money biUs could originate only with the governor. A civil hst, amounting to £81,000, was reserved from the con trol of the CouncU for the payment of the salaries of the governor and the superintendent of Port Phillip, the salaries of the judges, the expenses of the adminis tration of justice, and of the civU and religious esta blishments. It was provided by the Act, that in the formation of colonies to the northward, no territory lying the south of the 26th degree of latitude was to be detached from New South Wales. No sooner was the contents of the statute made known, than an outcry was raised against the civil hst, which did not altogether cease until the constitution then established was superseded by one stUl more hberal. A contrast, which it must be admitted was sufficiently striking, was drawn between the money reservations provided for in the constitution of Canada and in that of New South Wales. WhUe the popula tion of the united Canadas amounted to one miUion, the civil hst reserved for the CrowTi amounted to only £75,000 ; whUe the population of New South Wales was only seventy-seven thousand, or considerably less than one-tenth that of the other colony, the civil hst amounted to £81,000, being considerably more than that drawn from the colony whose population was so incomparably greater. The objections to the Act in this and other par ticulars were met by a despatch from Lord Stanley, received along with the Act itself. The Secretary of State announced that the measure had been framed with the concurrence of those gentlemen resident in Eng land who were supposed to represent the interests of 62 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.n. New South Wales, and also that Gipps himself had materially influenced the measure ; for Stanley, ad dressing Gipps, said — " The leading principles of the bill were consonant Avith the governor's views expressed in a despatch dated 13th January, 1841." Such were the justifications of those objectionable features which the new constitution presented. On the 24th January the old Council commenced their last brief session. The governor in his minute simply said that he had caUed them together thus early in order that they might give effect to the new consti tution, by passing the necessary preliminary laws, and then read the despatch of Lord Stanley accompanying the bill. A few days closed at once the session and the career of the Council, and then commenced active pre parations for the elections, which were to establish another and a superior legislature. The monetary depression which had for some time borne down the energies of the colony, was aggravated in the course of the year by the failure of the Bank of Australia, one of the principal establishments of that kind in the colony. A minor bank subsequently gave way, and then, as if to accumulate evils of this kind, there was a run on the savings' bank, which lasted two days. This last-mentioned occurrence resulted from a senseless rumour which went abroad, that the governor going suddenly to the bank, and demanding a sight of aU bills under discount, and all mortgages, and finding amongst the former four over-due biUs of the colonial secretary to the amount of several thousand pounds, and having examined all the bills and mortgages, his excellency declared that he would not give three straws for aU the securities of the bank put together. The evU consequences which might have resulted from the panic which followed were avoided by the other bank ing estabhshments assisting the directors of the savings' bank in the emergency which had been forced upon them. The loss of confidence which was thus occa sioned, however, did not faU to add to the general de pression, and it was now universally admitted that the affairs of the colony were in a most gloomy position. 1843.] MONETAEY DEPEESSION. 63 Matters being in this state, a meeting was held in Sydney (May 8), the mayor presiding, to "take into consideration the alarming and depressed state of the monetary affafrs of the colony, and to devise measures of immediate rehef." Wentworth took a prominent part in the dehberations. He was of opinion that amongst the most obvious causes of distress were the expenditure of immense sums for the importation of immigrants, without making provision for the repay ment of any portion thereof ; the sudden cessation of transportation ; and the mania which prevaUed for speculating in land. The remedy, he thought, should be left exclusively to the new CoimcU, which the elec tions then in progress were to caU into existence. A resolution was adopted to the effect, that in conse quence of the alarming depression prevailing in the affafrs of the colony, the governor should be requested to caU together the new CouncU as early as possible. Several suggestions, some of them of a novel and singular nature, were advanced with the view of aUe viating the evils under which the colony laboured. One individual proposed that the courts of law should be shut up for a limited period, the government taking an inventory of the property of aU persons threatened with legal proceedings. Another proposal was, that the banking authorities, having inquired into the pro perties of persons in difficulties, shoiUd assist such per sons to the extent of the avaUable value of their pos sessions, and that they should also make it a rule to assist persons who happened to be creditors only to the extent to which they were merciful to thefr debtors, and that they should advance money on plate and jeweUery to the extent of three-quarters its value. Among other recommendations, it was suggested that aU imported goods should be taxed to the extent of five per cent, of thefr value, for the purpose of intro ducing immigrants, the persons so introduced to repay thefr passage-money ; and that aU extensive works and buUdings, pubhc and private, should be suspended for twelve months. In July the elections were completed. Wentworth 64 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. and Wilham Bland were returned for Sydney, defeating three other candidates who contested the metropolitan constituency. Of the twenty-four members chosen by the suffrages of the people, eleven were tried men, whose competency and abihty were well-known ; the others were more or less untried in pubhc hfe. The first Representative Legislature of New South Wales assembled on the 1st August. The colonial secretary (Thomson) conducted the ceremonial of inau guration. The members, having been sworn, proceeded to the election of a Speaker. Those whom pubhc report had for some time spoken of as candidates for this office, were Alexander Macleay, the former colo nial secretary, and Wentworth. The former was in deed a candidate ; but, as might have been expected, seeing that however dignified and honourable the posi tion may be, the speakership is not the proper sphere for extensive political talents and energetic statesman ship, Wentworth did not suffer himself to be put in nomination. The election, however, was not uncon tested. Edward Hamilton, a nominee member, re ported to be distinguished by high scholastic and general attainments, was named as a fit person to pre side over the debates and dehberations of the Council. A debate ensued, in the course of which the claims of Macleay were resisted on the ground that he was too intimately identified with the state of affairs against which the colonists had so long contended, and that he was already burdened with more than a reasonable share of honours and emoluments, without adding those of the speakership. He was elected, however, by a ma jority of seventeen to thirteen, and thus assumed the weight of a new and onerous office in his seventy- seventh year. On the 3rd, the governor formaUy opened the Coun cil. His speech was for the most part made up of the usual congratulations and suggestions ; but he availed himself of the opportunity to give expression, as it were officially, to those free-trade principles which he was remarkable for enforcing and vindicating. He said, " He should most readily concur in any measures 1843.] INTEEEST ON LOANS. 65 which were calculated to develop the resources of the colony by caUing into action the energies of the peo ple, taking care, however, that they proceeded on sure principles, and not overlooking the great truth that the enterprise of individuals is ever most active when left, as far as possible, unshackled by legislative enact ments, and that industry and economy are the only sure foundations of wealth." The other leading pas sages of the speech had reference to the pecuhar con stitution of the House, and to the monetary embarrass ments of the colony. The CouncU, in their address in reply, expressed a hope that the form of constitution under which they had been caUed into existence, although novel and un tried, would prove sufficient for carrying out the inten tions of the Imperial Government. At an early stage of the session Terence Aubrey Murray obtained the appointment of a committee to inqufre into the provisions of Lord Stanley's Land Act, so far as they apphed to New South Wales ; and to prepare a petition, praying that free grants might be given to newly-arrived immigrants, in proportion to the cost of thefr passage out, or the number of labourers whom they introduced into the colony, and to suggest such other alterations as circumstances might seem to requfre. Among the measures which were passed during the session was one to protect the interests of debtors, who, being in solvent cfrcumstances, were yet, owing to the depression of the times, unable to meet their claims. The act was designed to prevent a creditor forcing a debtor into the insolvent court, in cases where a majority of the creditors were willing to act more leniently. A biU to regulate the interest on loans, famUiarly caUed the Usury BUl, occupied a great deal of the at tention of the CouncU, as weU as of the pubhc. The measure was introduced by Wentworth, and proposed to make unlawful the taking of interest above a certain amount, and to prevent banking companies paying ia terest on deposits ; this system, as was aUeged, leading 66 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. directly to usury. The government were to release all existing mortgages, giving debentures for the prin cipal and interest to such mortgagees as chose to ap ply for that purpose, secured on the general revenue. The difference between the modified interest payable on the debentures, according to the provisions of the act, and that payable to the mortgagee under the ori ginal arrangement, was to be applied, after the deduc tion of costs, to the benefit of the mortgagee, these arrangements being carried out under the direction of a board specially appointed for that purpose. The measure met with considerable opposition, both in the House and out of doors. Unquestionable evi dence was afforded, however, that the time had arrived when it was necessary for the pubhc good that those whose necessities or convenience made them have re course to the lenders of money, should be protected from the consequences of usury. A public meeting was held in Sydney, at which a petition to the CouncU, praying that the bill might be made law, was unani mously adopted; some doubts which arose as to whe ther the measure ought to have a retrospective effect. having been set aside by the adoption of the affirmative proposition. A still more significant proof of the necessity for such a measure was afforded in the fact that, a day or two before the second reading came on, one of the more influential journals recommended the banks to obviate the " threatened violence" by at once issuing a notice of their intention to reduce their rate of interest to six per cent. One or two of the banks acted on this advice ; but whether in defiance of this admis sion of the equitable character of the bill, or influenced by the wiUingness thus evinced to meet the require ments of the community and the pressure of the times, the Council rejected the biU by a majority of twenty- one to twelve. Out of the consideration of this bUl arose a ques tion of privilege which was important, in so far as it tended to demonstrate how necessary it is to guard against private interests coming into contact with the pubhc welfare in the proceedings of legislative bodies. 1««-] THE BOILING-DOWN PEOCESS. 67 Jones, a member of the CouncU, voting for the bUl, and happening to be a partner in a money-lending joint- stock company, and one of its dfrectors, he was subse quently informed, in the presence of his feUow-dfrectors, by the chafrman of the board, Elwin, who happened to be also a member of the Council, that his conduct in voting for the bUl was such as to render him unfit to retain his seat in the dfrection of the company, and that a recommendation would be made to the superior board in London for his dismissal. The reprimanded dfrector brought the matter before the legislature as a breach of privUege ; but Elwin having denied aU inten tion to influence the vote of the member complaining, and this being the more probable, as the cause of com plaint did not arise tUl the bUl had been disposed of, the subject was aUowed to drop without any formal re sult. The general opinion of the CouncU was that the act of Elwin amounted to a breach of privilege, but that it was not sufficiently serious to caU for official punishment. II. Among the measures which the CouncU adopted with the view of improving the cfrcumstances of the colonists, was " An act to give a preferable lien on wool from season to season, and to make mortgages of sheep, cattle, and horses vahd without dehvery to the mortgagee." A petition was presented to the CouncU from cer tain residents at Jerry's Plains, praying for the revival of transportation. The member who presented the pe tition admitted that the proposal for its adoption had, by a smaU majority, been rejected at the public meet ing wherein it was brought forward, and, as might have been expected under those cfrcumstances, it received httle attention at the hands of the CouncU. WhUe such measures as these, some genuine, others spurious, were proposed in the CouncU, or suggested at pubhc meetings and in the columns of the journals, with the view to reheving the exigencies from which nearly aU suffered, a practical remedy was discovered and apphed which produced immediate results and afforded effective rehef. This consisted in the disco- 68 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. very made by Henry O'Brien, a grazier in the southern districts, that by boiling down the carcasses of sheep a proportionate amount of tallow was obtained, which, considering the price which this commodity realized in the home market, would greatly enhance the value of the flocks of the colony. The process having been put into operation produced the desired effect, and sheep, which were formerly unsaleable, now realized from five to eight shillings per head. The estimated value of the product of a full-grown sheep in taUow, hide, mutton hams, and other details, after undergoing the process of boiling down, was fourteen shiUings. The discovery was caUed a splendid event, and aroused the spirits of the colonists. It was likened to the publica tion on the Stock Exchange, London, of some greatly- encouraging and unexpected occurrence which would cause an instant rise in the funds to the extent of fifty per cent. Such was the effect produced by the new operation, that it was regarded as a fortunate circum stance that the taUow alone of a single sheep formed no more than about half the value resulting from the process ; or otherwise, owing to the demand for this commodity, too large a proportion of the sheep of the colony might have been destroyed for the sake of im mediate gain. While the event just recorded had the effect of af fording considerable relief to the graziers and the country population generaUy, the distress which pre vailed among the working-classes of Sydney, owing to the scarcity of employment, continued unabated. A report of a select committee of the Council, submitted to the House in the latter part of the year, showed that in the city there were thirteen hundred mechanics and labourers out of employment, these men having three thousand women and children dependent upon them. The committee recommended that a sum of £1,000 should be voted, for the purpose of sending a portion of the unemployed into the interior. A good deal of the distress which prevailed in the city was said to be attributable to the fact that many mechanics had come to the colony professedly as la- 1843.] LABOUES OF MES. CHISHOLM. 69 bourers and farmers, at a time when craftsmen were not ehgible for free passages. The agricultural statis tics of the colony for the last few years proved that the inference was very likely to be correct. It was shown, by data laid before the Council, that for the ten years ending wdth 1842, the deficiency of grain produced in the colony as regarded the consumption was one mUhon six hundred and ninety-seven thousand three htmdred and sixty-nine bushels. The quantity imported during that period was one miUion four hun dred and eighty thousand two hundred and twenty- nine bushels. The difference between the quantity im ported and the deficiency was made up by the impor tation of flour and biscuit. Only during three years out of the ten was the grain produced in the colony equal to the requfrements of the community. These were 1833, 1834, and 1836 ; so that for each of the six years preceding the present period there was an annual deficiency. At this critical juncture in the affafrs of the poorer classes, Mrs. Caroline Chisholm commenced those phi lanthropic labours which have so deservedly estabhshed her name as one who has done valuable service for the colony. Her first work of benevolence was to make arrangements for locating thirty famihes at lUawaiTa, on land granted to them on clearing leases, the pro prietor of the land supplying the tenants with provi sions for the first five months of thefr occupancy. These famihes were conveyed to the scene of thefr future labours under her own personal supervision. The working classes at the same time renewed their warfare against the employment of convict labour in any position wherein it was hkely to come into com petition with the services of free workmen. A peti tion, adopted at a public meeting and numerously signed, was presented to the governor, praying for the removal out of Sydney of aU convict labour. The exe cutive refused to comply with this demand, but the petitioners were informed that convicts were not em ployed in Sydney except on works which would not have been undertaken in the absence of convict labour ; 70 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. ll. that tickets-of-leave were granted sparingly, either for Sydney or its neighbourhood, and that assignment was no longer practised. In the course of this year the editor of an obscene pubhcation called the " Satirist," which had been cir culated for some time in the city, was prosecuted in the name of the Crowm by the attorney-general ; and having been found guilty under the statute intended for the suppression of pubhcations dangerous to the public morals, was sentenced to two years' imprison ment. The printer and the pubhsher were severaUy punished with twelve months' loss of liberty. The publication was universally admitted to be a disgrace to the city, and how it came to receive patronage suffi cient to prolong its career, even for the brief period during which it was permitted to exist, could hardly be accounted for, except on the ground that a reprehen sible curiosity led to its being purchased by people who abhorred its contents. The editor was a surgeon, who, being too much a man of fashion for his legitimate calhng, sought to obtain at once a livelihood and a degree of celebrity by bringing to the surface that vUe- ness which ought to be permitted to remain shrouded in its appropriate veil of obscurity. In the course of the year, the governor, in accord ance with the instructions of the Secretary of State, visited Norfolk Island on a tour of inspection. An unlicensed still was discovered in operation in the centre of the city, on the premises of a rectifier. The owner was fined £600. Towards the close of the year the truth of the rumour that the home government intended to revive transportation to the colony was aU but confirmed. Hosking, the mayor, was necessitated to resign the mayoralty, in consequence of the embar rassment of his private affairs. The German mission to the aborigines was finally abandoned, in consequence of the government withdrawing the assistance which it had hitherto afforded. A committee of the CouncU, of which Nicholson was chairman, recommended the des patch of an overland expedition to Port Essington. At Port Phillip the only occurrence of note was the 1844.] DISTEESSED CONDITION OF THE UNEMPLOYED. 71 trial of three persons, holding a respectable rank in society, on the charge of being concerned in the mur der of some aborigines. The accused were acquitted after an investigation which fuUy vindicated the hu manity and justice of the authorities. 1844.] This year opened with a pubhc meeting, held in Sydney, for the purpose of taking into con sideration the distressed condition of the large number of unemployed in the city. The mayor presided, and a petition to Parliament was agreed upon, praying for the adoption of such measures as would afford imme diate rehef, and prevent a recurrence of a simUar state of things. The petition set forth, that great distress prevaUed in the colony owing to two thousand persons, having famihes dependent upon them, being out of employment in the city ; that this evil was, in a con siderable degree, attributable to the injudicious system of immigration hitherto pursued, which encouraged ruinous speculations in land, and introduced labour, at the same time that the capital necessary for its sup port was withdrawn. It was, therefore, proceeded the petitioners, with the most serious apprehensions they perceived that her Majesty's government had autho rized the renewal of immigration, the undesfrableness of which was manifested, if in no other way, by the re- emigration to Yalparaiso and elsewhere, which was then going on, not less than seven hundred havmg left the colony during the last year, while a number were preparing to leave, and others remained only because they did not possess the means of removing. They admitted that there was a demand for shepherds in the remote districts, but not to the extent which was aUeged by interested persons. With the view of aUeviating the prevaUing distress, it was suggested that the government should revert to the former system of smaU grants of land, as being the best means of at once employing the surplus labour of the colony and de veloping its agricultural resources, which latter result was the more desfrable, as the general adoption of pas toral pursuits, which were unfavourable to the domes tication of families and the formation of communiti'es. 72 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. ll. threatened permanently to barbarize the interior. The petitioners further seconded the recommendations of a committee of the CouncU in favour of a remission to purchasers of land in proportion to the cost of the passage of the buyer and his family, and a reduction of the minimum price to five shUlings. They also sug gested that, as in Canada, small lots should be sold at a low fixed price, and not by auction — a system which was injurious to the small capitalist, inasmuch as it created and encouraged schemes of land-jobbing. They summed up by declaring, that the renewal of immigra tion at the present period would only aggravate the existing distress, wdthout benefiting the immigrants. III. In March an extraordinary session of the Council was opened. The object of calling the legis lature together was to lay before them a project of law for the protection of certain magistrates from pro secutions to which they had become hable by a recent judgment of the Supreme Court. At the commence ment of the year some persons were prosecuted at Parramatta on a charge of having in their possession an unlicensed stiU. The case was removed to Sydney, and coming before the proper tribunal, it was alleged, on behalf of the defendants, that a commission of the peace for the town of Sydney and the county of Cum berland ha,ving been issued on the 2nd January, 1843, when magistrates were appointed under the new muni cipal act, whose jurisdiction, more properly belonging to the city, was, for the sake of convenience, extended to the entire county, the authority of the magistrates who had adjudicated on the case at Parramatta, they being territorial magistrates, and their names not being in cluded in the commission referred to, was superseded. The court admitted the force of the objection, deciding that the one commission superseded the other, and accordingly gave a verdict in favour of the defendants. The result was, that all magistrates within the county of Cumberland, who were not included in the commission of 1843, were liable to action for their magisterial pro ceedings since the appearance of that commission. To pass an act giving indemnity to the territorial magis- 1844.] COMMENCEMENT OF THE SQUATTING CONTEST. 73 trates, and vahdity to their past proceedings, as weU as to estabhsh the authority which they were always sup posed to enjoy, was the object in now caUing together the Council. An act, carrying out these several purposes, was passed, and after the transaction of some minor business, the Council was prorogued, having sat for nine days. In the month of AprU a proclamation was issued, altering the terms on which hcenses to occupy Crown lands were granted. The contest between the holders of pastoral hcenses and the Executive government, which resulted from this proclamation, was the most remarkable feature in the administration of Gipps, and, indeed, marks this period as one of the most striking in the history of the colony. If we simply regard the purport of the new regulations, it is difficult to beheve that a cause, apparently so trifling, should have pro duced so great a commotion. The original regulation presented some anomalous features, and, in so far, the contention which foUowed the proclamation of the new, affords another iUustration of the truth, that one irre gularity tends to produce others. It was originaUy provided, that persons desirous of depasturing in more districts than one should take out a separate hcense for each, but where the several districts for which hcenses were held adjoined each other, a fee was chargeable on one hcense only for each two contiguous districts. Such was the confused and unsystematic arrangement which the recent proclamation was in tended to correct. If the governor intended nothing more than to reduce the arrangement to a system, he would stUl have been placed in a dUemma. In that case, the most obvious course would have been to de clare that a fee should be paid on each hcense. If it were ordered, that where two licenses were for conti guous districts, the amount should be the same, but that it should be divided so as to form two fees, an irregularity would have been created, inasmuch as this would be estabhshing a second and smaUer class of fees. What he did, and what chiefly gave rise to the clamour against his proclamation, was to declare 74 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. that parties occupying stations in separate districts, notwithstanding that the same might be contiguous, should not only be required, in future, to take out separate licenses for each such district, but also "to pay the established fee of £10 for the same." This was doubtless charging two fees in cases where only one had previously been demanded ; but that this rule was originally contemplated is abundantly proved by the mere fact, that for separate districts separate hcenses were necessary. The most tangible ground of objection to the change was, that the period, owing to the monetary depression which had so long prevailed, was inopportune for a regulation which, as was aUeged, had the effect of in creasing the taxation of the graziers to the extent of one hundred per cent. It would be difficult, however, to devise any more legitimate mode of relieving the embarrassments of the country than by turning the pub lic domain to the best account, as was intended by the new regulations. This, of course, was not to be done at the expense of any particular class ; and then the question arises whether the new regulations were un just or oppressive to the graziers. That there was no injustice in the proceeding is pretty clear, from the fact that it was never objected that the runs in the adjacent districts were not, severally, such as, under ordinary circumstances, would be liable, both in regard to extent and quality, for the full fee of £10 ; nor could it be said, notwithstanding the distresses which the squatters, in common with the other classes of colonists, experienced, that the new arrangement was oppressive. One of the regulations declared that new stations should consist of an area of not greater than twenty square miles ; and at a time when stock had, in a great degree, recovered its true value, and was rapidly advancing in price, it must be admitted that if such an area of land of that description usually se lected as squattages were not worth £10 a-year, it was worth nothing. Thus, when the journal in the interest of the graziers said of the regulations, that " their folly raised contempt, while their cruelty excited detesta- 1844.] MEETING OF SQUATTEES. 75 tion," it would be difficult for the disinterested to perceive either folly or cruelty in the arrangement, looking at the principal detaUs of the regulations just described. One of the other regulations might indeed be so construed as to appear somewhat rigid. It was de clared, that " every station at a greater distance than seven mUes from any other occupied by the same party, should be deemed a separate station, even though the area might not altogether exceed twenty square miles." It was scarcely possible, however, that this rule could be productive of severity, inasmuch as the instances would be very rare indeed wherein a run, owing to the vicinity of the hcensed lands, would be restricted to less than the standard area, looking at the almost unlimited extent of territory which, in those days, lay at the disposal of the grazier. The remaining regu lations were to the effect, that " no person should in future be allowed to take up a new station, either in the same district in which his stock was depastured, or elsewhere, without having first obtained a separate hcense for the same, under the recommendation of a Commissioner of Crown Lands;" and that "no one hcense should cover a station capable of depasturing more than four thousand sheep or five hundred head of cattle, or a mixed herd of sheep and cattle equal to five hundred head of cattle, or four thousand sheep." Scarcely had the proclamation appeared, when a meeting of squatters was held at the Royal Hotel, for the purpose of protesting against the proposed regu lations. About three hundred and fifty persons in terested in pastoral pursuits attended. The proceed ings were opened by Wentworth, who moved a reso lution to the effect, " That the right claimed by the governor of imposing arbitrary and unlimited imposts for the occupation of the Crown lands, affected the vital interests of the whole colonial community, and rendered the right of imposing taxes by the represen tatives of the people almost nugatory ; that these regulations, if persevered in, must not only be ruinous 7Q HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.n. in their immediate operation, but were calculated to strike a blow at the future prosperity of the colony, rendering the tenure of all squatting licenses precari ous, inasmuch as they would be subject to the uncon trolled decision of the governor, and preventing any accession to the population or wealth of the colony by the influx of capital or labour." The second reso lution was moved by Benjamin Boyd, and was to the effect, " That the system of granting licenses for so limited a period as twelve months was highly objec tionable ; that in addition to the evil arising from the shortness of the time, the injurious consequences were aggravated by the right of occupancy being uncertain, and rendered liable to change at the wiU or caprice of the governor, either by an alteration in the regulations, or by an increase in the charge for occupation ; that, consequently, this uncertainty in the right of occupancy of the Crown lands had a most ruinous tendency in re gard to the most valuable property in the colony, had a very demorahzing effect on the entire country, and must continue so until fixity of tenure was granted to the occupier." Mr. Kemble moved the third resolution. It declared, " That the commercial and trading classes of the community were most intimately connected with, and dependent upon, the prosperity of the great pas toral interests of the colony, and that the members of those classes most cordiaUy supported the objects of the meeting." Thomas Walker, merchant, seconded this resolution, which pledged his class to stand by the pastoral interest. These several resolutions were all but unanimously adopted. An amendment was pro posed by Alderman Macdermott, to the effect, " That ten pounds were a fair and equitable license-fee, inas much as a grant of land consisting of twenty square miles, subject to a quit-rent of twopence per acre per annum, would produce a yearly revenue of one hundred and six pounds thirteen shillings and four- pence." This proposition feU to the ground for want of a seconder. In support of the resolutions it was urged by the several speakers, that the proposed regulations were i*" -1 THEIE AEGUMENTS. 77 unnecessary, because the hcensed graziers already paid, in fees and assessment, a clear surplus of £26,000 over and above aU the expenses which the imposts were intended to cover; that they were imjust be cause, in addition to this large surplus, the graziers were aU contributors to the general revenue, in com mon with others, and, moreover, were the chief pur chasers of the pubhc lands ; that they were unreason able, because, supposing them to be in other respects unobjectionable, the colony was in so tender and deh- cate a state, owdng to those embarrassments from which it was only just commencing to recover, that any ad ditional imposts, however trivial they might be in ordinary times, were now calculated to discourage and alarm ; that they were oppressive, because the profits of the pastoral interest were afready so low as to ren der any further pressure quite insupportable ; that they were injurious, because, whUe as a source of revenue they were likely to prove a total faUure, they would check that spfrit of enterprise in the growth of wool, and the propagation of stock, on which the general prosperity of the colony depended. It was further contended that the principle on which the Crown lands were managed was unconstitutional; and it was asked. Where was the value of representa tive government, when an independent taxing power hke this existed ? Where was the utUity of electing re presentatives of the people if the governor, hke an auto crat, could, on his own authority, lay on an imposition of this kind ? " The Crown lands," said the speaker, " were not hke the royal domain of Windsor Castle. AH the value they possessed was given them by the industry and enterprise of the people of the colony, and aU the advantages attached to them ought, there fore, to belong to the colonists." " The territorial estate," proceeded another, " was the property of the colony, and was held by the Crown, not as a legal droit, nor as a personal domain, but simply in trust for the benefit of the colonial community." It seemed to be altogether forgotten or overlooked that Gipps, in adopting the new regulations, was probably only 78 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. doing that which, in his opinion, was necessary to improve the value of the public domain to the people of the colony, whose property it was said to be. To secure the due protection of the pastoral inte rests, a society was formed at this meeting under the designation of the " Pastoral Association of New South Wales." The first work of this association was to pre pare a petition to the Queen and both Houses of Par hament, and to the governor and Council, in accordance with the resolution just adopted. The petition went into the details of the relations subsisting between the Crown and the occupiers of pastoral licenses. It set forth that the waste lands were occupied with the un derstanding that the license-fee and assessment should be applied to the purposes of the protection and se curity of those living beyond the hmits allotted for location, and of those only ; that after these purposes were effected, the revenue from the sources in question showed a surplus of £72,285 ; that exacting this sur plus, and applying it to other purposes, was a grievance and a breach of faith ; that the petitioners could not believe that, after appropriating the revenue arising from the sale of waste lands to the purposes of immi gration and local improvement, and after placing the ordinary revenue at the disposal of the Legislative Council, it was the intention of Parliament to aUow a third kind of revenue to arise, namely, that now sought to be derived from the licenses to occupy Crown lands, which should be exempt from the appropriating ope ration of the acts disposing of the first-mentioned re venues, and placed at the absolute disposal of the Executive government. The petitioners then enlarged on the fact that the squatters were the pioneers of civi lization ; contended that in the present distressed state of the colony the new imposts were ungracious and impolitic ; that no person would invest capital in build ings and improvements if the tenure of runs were so uncertain, as was to be inferred from the recent regula tions ; that the consequent feeling of insecurity would cripple the energies of the colony, and would tend to retard the spread of civilized habits and religious edu- i=«-l THE COUNCIL MEETS. 79 cation among the colonists, as weU as the aborigines. Without disputing the Queen's title to the Crown lands, they submitted that they were held in trust by her Majesty for her subjects, the inhabitants of this colony ; and that, consequently, in the hands of the Legislative CouncU, and in thefr hands only, the management of the waste lands and the revenue arising therefrom could properly be placed. They, therefore, prayed that the management of those lands should be transferred from the Executive to the governor and CouncU ; that a fixed term of occupation, to be conceded to aU at present occupying, and not to be less than twenty- one years, should be substituted for the present tenure, coupled with such a right of pre-emption to the occu pier or lessee during his tenancy, at a fixed price, as to the governor and CouncU might seem fit. lY. Towards the end of May the CouncU com menced its annual meeting. The governor, on opening the session, congratulated the House on the arrival during the year of two thousand five hundred immi grants, who, he said, had readUy obtained employ ment, although it was a matter of regret that many persons who had been longer resident in the colony were stiU unemployed in Sydney. For the relief ot these,, he would concur in any measures which might be deemed desirable or necessary to that end. He was happy to inform the CouncU that, notwithstanding the distress w^hich had so long prevaUed, there was no thing in the state of the pubhc finances to create alarm. The decrease in the revenue during the second half of the preceding year had been very considerable, but the ordinary expenditure for the whole year did not exceed the ordinary revenue, so that it was the territorial revenue of the Crown alone that was en cumbered with debt. He was disposed to hope that the ordinary revenue had passed the lowest point of depression, though it would be premature to express a decided opinion on that point. Having notified his intention to bring forward certain measures, he con cluded by saying that he would continue, with their assistance, to give his most anxious consideration to 80 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. the means by which a permanent remedy might be ap plied to those reverses, which so grievously, during a period of three years, had injured the fortunes of indi viduals, and the credit of the colony. At the same time he was satisfied that there was sufficient vigour in their resources to enable them to overcome those difficulties which were stiU affecting aU classes of the community, and to lay the foundation of a secure and lasting prosperity. One of the first duties which devolved on the Council was to receive a petition, signed by three thousand stockholders and others, against the new pas toral regulations. This session was distinguished by the opening of what afterwards became celebrated as the " grievances" question. Wentworth moved for and obtained a select committee of ten to inquire into and to report upon all grievances not connected with the lands of the co lony — a committee on the lands having been afready appointed — with instructions to distinguish between those grievances which could be redressed in the co lony, and those which could not. The first grievance which the mover enumerated in the course of the speech which he made on this occasion was the civU list, over which the representatives of the colonists had no control, and against which the colonists had not ceased to protest since the new constitution came into force. Considerable stress was also laid on the oft- discussed question of the pohce and gaols, with the entire charge for the maintenance of which the colo nists had long been oppressively burdened. The co lony was now finding this state of things to be an evil in a twofold sense, inasmuch as the conimunity, be sides being under the necessity of paying for the main tenance of the convict estabhshments, were exposed to all the evUs resulting from the presence of those hotbeds of depravity and violence. This was enume rated as the second grievance. Then came the utter absence of responsible government, and the forming in the colony of the municipal institutions recently introduced. 1844.] LEGISLATH'E COMMITTEE ON THE SCHEDULES. 81 This latter grievance referred to the district coun- cUs, which had been resisted from the beginning, chiefly on the ground that such bodies, possessing as they did a taxing power, could properly be caUed into ex istence only by the representatives of the colonists. They had proved a complete failure, so that they formed a strong point in the grievances. The next cause of complaint was the tenure of office of the judges of the colony, who held thefr position " during the pleasure of the Crown." Then came the fact that in the exist ing state of the law persons having claims against the government had no means whatever of enforcing thefr demands in a court of law. Such were the grounds of complaint, six in number, on which the patriotic party now proposed to take their stand in the endeavours which they had never ceased to make with the view to placing the rights of the colonists on the basis of Bri tish freedom. In the discussions which foUowed, both in and out of the House, some were found to defend the district councUs as elementary pohtical schools; whUe the last-mentioned of the grievances, that which referred to the difficulty experienced in enforcing claims against the government, was said to be an Im perial grievance, inasmuch as it was a fixed maxim of British jurisprudence that the Crown could not be sued by a subject without the consent of the sovereign previously asked and obtained. After a sitting of some weeks, the committee brought up thefr report. In reference to the schedules they said: — "These schedules, involving as they do a fundamental violation of the ancient and undoubted right of appro priation which is inseparable from and incident to the right of taxation, are so obvious and palpable an in vasion of the common birthright of Enghshmen, that your committee have, not deemed it necessary to fortify their conclusions on this subject by any oral or other testimony. Whatever may have been the original and inherent powers of the Crown in matters of general legislation, whether in the mother country or in the colonies, the practice of the constitution has long set tled, beyond aU question, that no tax or aid can either 82 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. n. originate from, or lawfully be appropriated by, any other than the representatives of the people." The committee, alluding to a matter which was not strictly referred to them, recommended that the squatting re gulations of April 2nd should be recaUed, on the ground that, in the opinion of every witness, they were impracticable in principle, and oppressive and ruinous in detail ; that the hcense-fee be abolished or reduced to a nominal sum, on the ground that the assessment exceeded the expense of protection ; that the power of assessment should be transferred from the commis sioners to tribunals in the nature of juries, over which the commissioners should preside ; that the assessment should be made part of the ordinary revenue, out of which the expense of the mounted police should be de frayed, the surplus being appropriated to the purposes of religion and instruction in the interior. They fur ther recommended that the management of the Crown lands and the revenue arising therefrom should be vested in the governor and Council by an Imperial act, on the ground that the existing laws regarding the waste lands were so defective that it was impossible to remodel them. A little later in the session, Wentworth proposed a still bolder step. He moVed a resolution to the effect, " That the Council do not proceed to the consideration of the estimates for 1846 till so much of the casual and territorial revenue of the Crown as is not appro priated by the Acts 6 and 6 Yict., cap. 36, be placed at the disposal of the Council, in pursuance of a compact made in 1836 between Governor Bourke and the late Legislative Council, under the direction of the Lords of the Treasury." In his speech introducing this proposi tion, the mover chiefly directed his remarks to proving the existence of a compact by which, in consideration of the colony maintaining the police and gaols, the surplus of the territorial revenue over and above the sum applied to immigration, together with the other casual revenues of the Crown, should be placed at the disposal of the CouncU. The colonial secretary, on behalf of the local government, denied the existence of 18«-] EDUCATION. 83 such a compact, contending that a wrong construction had been put on a passage in the letter, wherein the governor was said to have been directed by the Lords of the Treasury to enter into the arrangement. The proposition was finally abandoned in favour of an amendment proposed by Murray, to the effect, " That an address be presented to the governor, praying that so much of the territorial and casual revenues of the Crown as are not appropriated by the 5th and 6th Yict., cap. 36, be placed at the disposal of the Council." A committee of the House was appointed to pre pare a petition to the Queen and ParUament, praying that Austrahan corn and flour might be admitted into British ports on the same terms as those on which Canadian corn and flour were received. Another com mittee was appointed to take into consideration the best means of providing for the safety of life and pro perty, having reference to the alarming increase of outrages of the most dreadful character which was recently observable in Sydney, The question of education occupied a large share of attention both in the CouncU and out of doors during this year. A committee of the House reported on the subject. From the information which they obtained, it appeared that, in the colony, there were 26,676 chUdren between the ages of four and four teen. Of these 7642 received instruction in the pubhc schools, and 4866 in private estabhshments, leaving about 13,000 chUdren who, so far as was known, re ceived no instruction at aU. The committee attributed the defective state of education, in a great degree, to the denominational character of the schools, and re commended that the national or general system should be introduced. They gave the preference to this sys tem rather than to that of the British and Foreign Society, which was also proposed, on the ground that the former, to a large degree, met the objections of aU classes of Christians, whUe the latter was objectionable to Roman Catholics, inasmuch as it required the use in the schools of the whole of the Scriptures without note or comment. 84 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. Now foUowed a series of public meetings ; the members of the Church of England commenced the movement. At a meeting, at which the bishop pre sided, they adopted a petition to the Council, praying that the system of education recommended by the com mittee might not be adopted, the grounds of their objection being its alleged irreligious character. In the event of its being adopted, they prayed for a sepa rate vote for the education of their children. At a meeting of the Roman Catholic body, the proposed system did not meet with much more favour. The Irish system in its integrity was condemned, and a modified plan, admitting of denominational training, was suggested. The Wesleyans recommended the denominational system, objecting to Lord Stanley's plan, on the ground that the Scriptures in thefr in tegrity were not admitted into the schools established under it. A public meeting of the citizens was convened by the mayor, in pursuance of a requisition, wdth the view to recommending the adoption of the national system ; but so great was the opposition offered by those who were opposed to the unsectarian plan of instruction, that the meeting, after a stormy discussion, separated without arriving at any satisfactory result. Two reso lutions, affirming that it was the duty of the state to educate the people, and that the national system was best adapted to the circumstances of the colony, were submitted ; but although they were declared to have been carried, it was evident, owing to the amount of opposition displayed, that the demonstration was far from being decisively in favour of any one of the pro positions before the public. At a subsequent meeting, however, which was. attended by ministers of various denominations, and by representatives of nearly all classes of rehgionists, a demonstration of public opinion in favour of the national system was effected ; resolutions were adopted to the effect that it was the duty of the state in every Christian country to provide the means of a good com mon education for the youth of the community, to be IS**-] DEBATE THEEEON. S-i ?0 constructed agreeably to the principles of the Christian rehgion; that in countries, the inhabitants whereof were divided into various communities of professed Christians, it was not the duty of the state to provide the means of rehgious instruction in the public schools, beyond the leading facts and fundamental principles of divine revelation, which were recognized and received by aU Christian denominations as the common basis of morals and rehgion. Thus did each party rush into extremes, the one upholding a system which experience had already proved to be inimical to the advancement of secular education ; the other, holding out principles which have proved distasteful to all who value the religious element in education, including, in this instance, many who were originaUy the most zealous supporters of the national system. The question having at length come before the CouncU, was disposed of after a debate extending over several days. Robertson, one of the members, intro duced a series of resolutions proposing the unquahfied introduction of Lord Stanley's system. Wentworth moved, in the shape of an amendment, a series of pro positions which provided for the introduction of the same system with certain modifications. These were adopted by a majority of thirteen to twelve. Thefr principal features were, that instead of the clergy and patrons of the several denominations imparting reh gious instruction in the schools, the children should be absent from school one day in each week, exclusive of Sunday, for the purpose of receiving such instruction elsewhere ; that aU denominational schools then in ex istence, having school-rooms afready buUt, which had been, or should be within twelve months, conveyed in trust for the purposes of the school, and that they had, or should have wdthin twelve months, an average at tendance of fifty scholars, should be entitled to aid from the fund voted for educational purposes ; that an educational board, comprising members of the various rehgious denominations, should be appointed ; that the leading principles for the guidance of the board should 86 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. be to afford the same facilities for the education of all classes of professing Christians, without attempting to interfere with the peculiar religious opinions of any, or countenancing proselytism. Cowper proposed a plan which has since been recommended by those who wish to effect a junction between the two co-existing sys tems ; and its main feature was, that the board should in no way interfere with the religious instruction given in the schools, but that applicants for aid should be required to propose a plan of secular instruction for the approval of the board, whose duty it would be to see that this plan was faithfuUy carried into effect. Y. Among the measures adopted by the Council in its session of this year, was the passing of a resolution to the effect, that it was expedient to have the colony represented in the House of Commons by a person holding the office of parliamentary agent. The ap pointment was conferred on the Hon. Francis Scott, M.P. for Roxburghshire, and the salary was fixed at £600 a-year. In the letter which the Speaker transmitted to Scott, by order of the House, it was clearly implied, if not expressly stated, that he was expected to lend his influence and exertions to support the squatters in the contest which they were carrying on wdth Sir George Gipps. Referring to the new pastoral regulations, the letter said, that " these regu lations, if acted upon, would, it was behoved, be de structive of property throughout the colony, would compel the settler to destroy his cattle and sheep in order to avoid the intolerable impost which it was proposed to exact, and would inflict a blow on the prosperity of the whole colony of the deepest and most permanent character." The agent was further cautioned that the technical right assumed by the governor to await the assent of the Secretary of State before placing his salary in the estimates, was not to be regarded by him as constituting any claim on the part of the Crown in its representative, either to in fluence or direct his proceedings, or to invest him with any responsibihty beyond what he might consider due to the legislative body of the colony. 1***-] PEIVILEGES OF THE LEGISLATUEE. 87 The question of the privUeges of the members of the Legislature was, in the course of this year, raised in such a manner as tended to excite a large amount of interest. Mr. Robert Lowe, in a speech in the CouncU, having had occasion to refer to Mr. Henry Macdermott, a merchant of Sydney, who, besides being well known as a popular leader, was also an alderman and magistrate of the city, said, that he had been blackbaUed out of the Australian Subscription Library, accompanying the remark by language which conveyed insult in manner, if not in words. The result was, that Macdermott chaUenged Lowe to a duel. Mr. Lowe declined the combat on the grounds, first, that as a member of the Supreme Legislature he was not accountable for words used in debate ; secondly, because he did not consider his chaUenger to be his equal, Mr. Macdermott having originaUy been, as he said, a mere sergeant in a marching regiment ; and, thirdly, because he was already under a bond to keep the peace. Not content with declining to fight, he had his foe arrested, and, together with his se conders. Captain Moore and Dr. Macfarlane, bound over to keep the peace. The affafr did not terminate here. It was brought under the cognizance of the CouncU, who, foreseeing that the privileges of their members might again be brought into question under similar cfrcumstances, appointed a committee to report on the matter. A report having been brought up, and the House having taken it into consideration, decided that while they possessed inherent privUeges which were sufficient to protect individual members against being called to account out of the House for words used in debate, it was necessary to pass a biU declaratory thereof. At the same time, the Speaker was ordered to request the law officers of the Crown to file a criminal information against Macdermott and his seconds. The pubhc now interposed. In August a meeting was caUed by the mayor, at the instance of three hundred requisitionists, for the purpose of ehciting and expressing pubhc opi nion on this question. On motion of Robert Nichols, 88 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. a resolution was adopted to the effect, "That the meet ing deemed the proceedings of the Legislative Council in initiating, on behalf of Mr. Lowe, at the pubhc cost, a criminal prosecution against Alderman Macdermott, Dr. Macfarlane, and Captain Moore, unconstitutional, oppressive, and unjust." A second resolution declared, that the Council, for the maintenance of its legitimate privileges, required no protection in addition to that afforded by the ordinary tribunals of the country. These resolutions were embodied in a petition, which prayed his excellency not to place on the estimates, nor sanction the disbursement from the public funds, of any sum to defray the expenses of the proposed prosecution. Thus early did the colonists adopt measures to prevent their political institutions assum ing an ohgarchical or star-chamber complexion. The matter having on various occasions been brought be fore the Supreme Court, the intended prosecution finally broke down through informality. These proceedings were far from increasing the popularity of Mr. Lowe. His allusion to the former social standing of his challenger was regarded not only as an evasion, b ut as an adding of insult to insult. Indeed, his reasons for declining the duel were not, in this particular, clearly appreciable; for Mr. Mac dermott' s former position did not so far detract from that which he now occupied, as to render him in any considerable degree unworthy to stand face to face with those who at aU time held the rank of gentle men. Among the measures introduced during this session, was a bill brought in by Wentworth, " to enable the Bank of Australia to dispose of certain real and per sonal property by lot." By some this measure was denounced as an attempt to revive the system of lot teries, which had been suppressed by law in England. It was finally passed, however, but was reserved for the assent of the Queen, which, as we shall see, it eventually received. In August a meeting was held at Sydney, in refer ence to the condition of the large number of persons "«-l THE UNEMPLOYED. 89 who were stiU unemployed. Among the resolutions adopted was one to the effect, " That as the disposal of the funds arising from the sale of waste lands to purposes of immigration had, by the withdrawal of capital from the colony, served effectually to prevent the agricultural occupation and cultivation of these lands, to contract the facilities of employment, and create a monetary embarrassment ; be it resolved, that in order to further the population of the colony by means of immigration, as weU as the estabhshment of those pohtical, educational, and rehgious institutions, which were the piUars of a free and happy state, any future system of immigration which might be adopted should involve the occupation, as weU as the sale, of the waste lands." Another resolution recommended, as a measure of rehef, the granting of smaU lots of land to the unemployed operatives, and suggested that the principle of giving hmited portions of land to those who would actuaUy settle and cultivate, shoiUd thenceforward be acted upon. A petition in accord ance with these views was adopted for presentation to the governor. WhUe these measures were taken in Sydney, Mrs. Chisholm was foUowing out her own more practical plan of ameliorating the condition of the distressed poor. Towards the latter end of the year, she had completed an expedition to Goulburn, wherein she was accompanied by a number of famihes, for whom she obtained employment in the districts which she traversed. During the expedition, this phUanthropic and energetic woman proved her sincerity and zeal by lodging nightly under a dray, contenting herself with that accommodation to which none but the rudest and most enduring are accustomed to submit. In the course of the year street robberies and burglaries, often accompanied by personal violence, were very frequent. That this was not the result of the scarcity of employment, one occurrence, at aU events, tended forcibly to establish. A Mr. Noble was murdered in his own house by three ruffians, who went there for the purpose of robbery. The robbers chose 90 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. Sunday evening for the effecting of their purpose, going to the house about seven o'clock, just after darkness had set in, as it was the month of May. The servant having opened the door in reply to their knocking, the ruffians entered, one of them pretending that he had a letter for the master. They soon made known the real object of their visit, and Noble, who had only just paused from the pious duty of reading the Bible to his family, resisting the attempt to rob his house, was stabbed with a knife. Although he had received his death wound, he held the viUain who in flicted it until assistance arrived, but the others fled. As soon as the police were informed of the occurrence, a muster of the prisoners took place in Hyde Park barracks, when it was ascertained that twenty-five were absent, including the man who had inflicted the fatal stab. This man's accomplices were soon traced out, and aU three terminated a long career of crime by an ignominious death. This occurrence was foUowed by a public move ment, the object of which was to have the city police increased, and the convicts in the Hyde Park estab lishment removed out of the city. YI. Foreign affairs occupied a share of pubhc at tention during this year. In June a meeting was con vened at Sydney, by the mayor, in compliance with a requisition presented to him by a number of the ci tizens, for the purpose of " considering the expediency of presenting a petition to her gracious Majesty, expressive of the sentiments of the community, touching certain late proceedings of the French at the Society Islands, with whose inhabitants the colony had for many years maintained an advantageous com mercial intercourse." A petition to the Queen was adopted, which set forth that the island of Tahiti was discovered in 1767 by a British seaman, and taken pos session of in the name of " King George III.'s Island;" that in 1796 a body of missionaries, with their families, in all numbering thfrty-six individuals, were sent out from Great Britain to Tahiti, for the purpose of in structing the natives in Christianity, and after many 1841.] AFFAIES OF TAHITI. 91 years' toil succeeded in rescuing the people from idolatry, and raising them to a comparatively high degree of civilization ; that in the commission of Go vernor PhiUip and his successors, the jurisdiction of the governors of New South Wales was described as ex tending from Cape York, in latitude 10° 37' S., to South Cape, in latitude 43° 9', and comprehending aU the adjacent islands in the Pacific Ocean, within the latitudes of those capes, thereby including Tahiti, and that several of the governors accordingly ap pointed magistrates to act in that island; that in 1813 Governor Macquarie issued a proclamation, de claring that the natives of New Zealand, Tahiti, and the other islands of the South Pacific, were under the protection of his Majesty the King of Great Britain and Ireland; that the Tahitian government, the British missionaries, and the numerous British traders visiting Tahiti, uniformly acted on the persuasion that the in habitants of that island were under the protection of the British Crown ; that this presumption was greatly strengthened by an official document addressed to Po- mare, the father of the present Queen of Tahiti, by the late Mr. Canning, of date 3rd March, 1827, intimating that his Majesty of England would be happy to afford Pomare and his dominions all such protection as his Majesty could grant to a friendly power at so great a distance. Having thus, at great length, explained the relations subsisting between the British Crown and the native government of Tahiti, the petitioners proceeded to give an account of the cfrcumstances immediately connected with the seizureof the sovereignty of the island by the French. They stated that Queen Pomare having, in exercise of her undoubted sovereignty as an inde pendent power, prohibited, in 1836, the residence of certain French missionaries within her territories, but without violence to thefr persons or properties, offence was taken, on the part of his government, by the French admiral in the Pacific; that exorbitant demands of pecuniary compensation were made and enforced on the Tahitians authorities, and that these demands were subsequently followed by a series of acts of aggression 92 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. and violence on the part of the French government, issuing in the dethronement of Queen Pomare, in the entire subversion of the native government, and the establishment of a sovereign authority in the island in the hands of the French ; that such acts of violence and usurpation, in a time of peace, and committed upon a free and independent, though feeble and de fenceless state, relying on British protection, was utterly irreconcilable with the character of an honour able and chivalrous people like the French, as well as with the just claims which the Queen of Tahiti had in the friendship and assistance of the British nation. The petitioners, therefore, sincerely disclaiming any desire for the acquisition of territory or sovereignty for Great Britain, in Tahiti, but feeling that the honour of the British name, and the great interests of justice and humanity, as weU as of commerce and civihzation, re quired that the sovereignty and independence of the Tahitian state should be maintained, prayed that the influence and authority of her Majesty might be inter posed for the reinstatement of Queen Pomare in her rightful sovereignty. A copy of the resolution was transmitted to Queen Pomare, wdth an expression of the condolence of the meeting on the humbled position in which she was placed. Some public men of note, as Charles Cowper, Robert Campbell, Dr. Ross, and others, took part in the proceedings at the meeting ; but, considering the position which the British govern ment occupied as the rulers of the ocean, not only possessing the means of ascertaining the events whiclb transpired in every sea, but also of governing those events, there was a strong disposition on the part of many to regard the proceedings adopted in Sydney as gratuitous, if not somewhat ridiculous. Certain statistics laid before the Council showed that, on the 30th of September, 1843, the horned cattle of the colonists numbered 897,219, of which 324,306 were within the boundaries, and 672,914 without. The sheep numbered 4,804,846, of which 1,781,739 were within the boundaries, and 3,023,107 without. The horses numberedl6,052. The rates of assessment on stock were i"**-! DEMONSTEATION AT MELBOUENB. 93 as follows : — Sheep, Id. per head, producing an annual revenue of £12,696 6s. 7 J. ; cattle Bd., producing £7161 8s. 6cl. ; horses 6d., producing £376 6s. Total revenue, £20,134 Os. Id. The entire revenue collected in 1843, from stations beyond the boundaries of loca tion was £35,322 19s. bd., of which £17,799 Os. Id. was raised by assessment, £16,255 by licenses to de pasture, and £1268 18s. 4d. by fees and fines. There remained, in the shape of arrears, £2335, making the entfre revenue derivable from pastoral sources beyond the colony £37,657 19s. 5d. On the 2nd of April, the Jewish synagogue at Syd ney, which was the first edifice of the kind erected in the colony, was opened and consecrated. The dimen sions of this buUding, which is an elegant piece of archi tecture in. the Egyptian style, are seventy-two feet long by thirty-eight wide. Returns laid before the Legisla tive Council showed that, since the foundation of the settlement at Port Philhp, forty whites had been kUled by the blacks in that district, while the Europeans had despatched one hundred and thirteen of their sable foes. The expediency of importing alpacas into the colony was first suggested in the course of this year. Sir James Dowhng, the chief justice, died, having been in the colony seventeen years, for eight of which he was at the head of the Bench. He was succeeded in the chief-justiceship by Stephen. Judge Dickenson succeeded Judge Burton, who was removed to a higher appointment in India. Heavy and continuous rains were experienced during the year, causing very con siderable damage. On the 1st of October the govern ment of Norfolk Island passed from New South Wales to Yan Diemen's Land — a happy riddance, truly ! An increase in the price of wool which took place in Eng land, the announcement of which arrived in the colony towards the end of the year, tended considerably to restore the confidence of the colonists. At Melbourne the most important event during the year was a squatting demonstration. The lessees of Crown lands came into the town on horseback, and marched to the place of meeting with flags flying, and 94 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. preceded by a Highlandpiper playing martial afrs. A series of resolutions were adopted, which affirmed the necessity of fixity of tenure or settled regulations, long leases, preferable right of purchase, compensation for improvements on those lands of which the occu pant did not become the purchaser, the elective fran chise for the occupants of pastoral Crown lands, and a defined number of live stock forming a qualification for members of the Legislature. The question of separa tion, however, was not forgotten, and a resolution was added which set forth, " That no plan for settling the terms on which the pastoral Crown lands were to be held or alienated could be satisfactory to the inhabi tants of that district which was not based on a total separation from the middle district, in order that aU funds raised in Port Phillip might be applied for the sole benefit of that district, under the control of a re sident governor and legislature acquainted with the position and representing the interests of its inhabi tants." Petitions based on these resolutions were transmitted to the several branches of the home and colonial legislatures. An association designated the " Pastoral Society of Australia Felix," was formed at the same meeting. Several immigrant ships arrived at Port PhiUip in the course of this year, affording a valuable increase to the population, and a timely supply to the labour- market. There was, however, another addition to the population, which was far from being received with the same pleasure. In the course of this year commenced the introduction of that class of convicts known as "exiles." These were persons who, having been con victed of minor offences at home, and having served a certain probation in the penitentiaries, were sent to this province, subjected to no other restraint than the necessity of remaining there during the period for which they were originally sentenced. YII. In September of this year Dr. Ludwig Leich hardt undertook an expedition from Moreton Bay to Port Essington, for the purpose of exploring the in tervening country. The leader was known in Syd- 1844.] LEICHHAEDT STAETS FOE POET ESSINGTON. 95 ney principaUy as a lecturer on botany. He had, pre viously to his present enterprise, explored the coun tiy between Sydney and Wide Bay, his main object being botanical and geological research. In this excur sion he associated wdth the blacks as he proceeded, his medical skUl, of which he possessed a considerable stock, and which he exercised for the benefit of his aboriginal entertainers, gaining him favour and atten tion. This enterprising man was bom in Germany, and educated in Paris ; but he had long resided amongst Britons. The cost of the outfit of this expedition was defrayed by the contributions of private individuals. The exploring party, independent of the leader, num bered nine individuals. These were, James Calvert, John Roper, John Murphy, Pemberton Hodgson, — GUbert, and WiUiam PhUhps, with an American ne gro and two aboriginals.* AU were free men, and of course volunteers. Hodgson was interested in bo tanical pursuits, and Gilbert was a zoologist, and both accompanied the expedition in the hope of making dis coveries new to science, equipping themselves at thefr own expense. The party had sixteen head of oxen, and seventeen horses, carrying provisions and ammuni tion sufficient to last for seven months. Passing the plains of the Condamine on the 1st of October, the party set out from Jimba, the last habi tation of Europeans they were to encounter, singing in fuU chorus the British National Anthem. Crossing the Condamine a few days later, on the 11th they en tered a scrub, which proved so impervious that after a journey of five mUes they were forced to retrace thefr steps, having lost a considerable quantity of flour and sustained other damage in thefr efforts to force a passage. During a halt occasioned by heavy rains, two of the men, going out to look for game, lost them selves in the woods, and were not recovered tUl the end of the thfrd day. When found by one of the guides, at the distance of seventy miles from the camp, they were all but dead from starvation. As November set in it became apparent that the party was too large * Leichhardt's Journal. 96 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.n. for the quantity of provisions, making aUowance for losses by accident, and it was determined that the two who joined last should retrace their steps. Mr. Hodg son and the negro accordingly returned. One of the steers was now killed, and the meat, having been cut into thin slices, was dried in the sun. On the result of this experiment for preserving the animal food in a great measure now depended the success of the ex pedition ; and it was with great satisfaction the process was found to answer the intended purpose. The first interview with the blacks now occurred. The abori ginals behaved in a friendly manner, pointed out where honey was to be found in the trees, and assisted the explorers in cutting out the sweet food. They parti cularly admired the red blankets, but were terror- stricken at the sight of a sword, which they trem blingly begged might be returned into its sheath. On the 11th the river, which the leader named the Daw son, was crossed. The party now began to eke out their supply of provisions by using as vegetables the antiplex — a plant known to the colonists as " fat-hen " — and the young shoots of the sonchus or sow-thistle. The tips of the corypha-palm, either baked in hot ashes or raw, were found to be good food when taken in small quantities. To the stew-pot were consigned iguanas, opossums, and birds of aU kinds, fastidious aversions disappearing before necessity, and the mere comforts and luxuries of life becoming of little regard in the estimation of men who had entered on an ar duous enterprise with the determination of succeed ing. A conspicuous hiU seen at this time was named Aldis Peak, in acknowledgment of the assistance which the expedition had received from Mr. Aldis, of Sydney. As December set in the explorers passed through a country which abounded in the game usually found in the Australian plains and forests ; but, unluckUy, they were unable to procure as many of the animals as the state of their stores rendered desfrable. Of five dogs which they brought with them one only remained, the others having been killed by a description of kangaroo, 18*5.] THE MACKENZIE EIVEE. 97 whose fierceness and sagacity almost invariably proved fatal to one or more of thefr canine assaUants. 1845.] On the 5th of January, the daUy aUowance of flour for the entire party was reduced to three pounds. As the provisions sensibly diminished the clothes of the men and the gear of the cattle were also rapidly wearing out. Fortunately, as the means of supplying wants decreased, the necessities of the party grew less. The coarsest description of food was rehshed as if it were the best, and the men regarded not thefr apparel, except in so far as it served to keep out the cold. The hide of the slaughtered oxen suppUed the place of the worn-out shoes, and the skins of the smaUer animals replaced the decayed articles of dress. On the lOth the party were dehghted by suddenly coming on the banks of a large river flowing from the west, the stream forming a chain of extensive reaches from three to eight mUes in length, and from fifty to one hundred yards in width. This river was named the Mackenzie. Towards the middle of the month, while the men were engaged in drying the flesh of a buUock, the leader, accompanied by one of the blacks, proceeded to examine the surrounding country. This excursion threatened to prove fatal to the entfre expe dition, for in returning Leichhardt lost his way, and, unable to regain the camp, spent two days and two nights in the bush. A few pigeons and a lizard were the only food of himself and his companion, so that a httle more delay would have disabled him, through the weakness of hunger, from seeking his companions. On the 26th an entirely open country, covered with grass, and apparently unbounded to the westward, broke on the sight of the traveUers, whUe on one side rose a succession of conical and dome-topped moun tains. The course of the party had recently lain through monotonous forest land, and the contrast which the scene now before them presented was pleas ing in the highest degree. At the end of the month the longitude was 148° 19', the latitude 22° 67'. Early in February the broad and deep, but now dry, channel of a river was encountered. Abundant H 98 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, [chap. ii. reeds, growing on the banks, gave some indication that at times the flood was considerable. At a place pointed out by an aboriginal woman the blacks, for the first time within the experience of the settlers, had called in the assistance of art for the preservation of water. Around the edges of the ponds branches were thickly and regularly planted, to prevent the sand and clay from entering, and inside this fence were dug several smaU wells, evidently intended for the recep tion of the purer and cooler water to be obtained by filtration. On the 19th a serious rupture occurred with one of the native guides. The man, going away from the camp while the other men were actively em ployed in some necessary operation, did not return for some hours, having frequently of late been guUty of a similar dereliction of duty. When he returned the leader, determined to aUow no more such misbehaviour to pass over wdthout reprimand, if not punishment, threatened him with a stoppage of his food should he again be guilty of such misconduct. The man burst into the most insolent and abusive language, and in his rage threatened the leader. The latter now find ing it necessary to exercise his authority, went towards the black, for the purpose of showing him out of the camp, when he received from the refractory savage a severe blow in the face. The men now interfered to support their leader, and the guide was compeUed to quit the camp. When he was going away, the other aboriginal told him, in a consoling tone, that he would come and sleep with him. The leader being deter mined that no one within the camp should have com munication wdth the refractory guide, told the black that he must either remain with the expedition al together or go for good with his banished compatriot. The man answered that he could not abandon his friend; that he would join him at night, but return every morning — a mode of evincing friendship which will be the more intelligible when it is mentioned that the blacks, with a child-like timidity, dread being alone after nightfall. The leader expressing his disapproval of this arrangement, the man at once left the camp. 18«.] THE CAPE En-EE DISCO\^EED. 99 Next day, after the .party had proceeded some distance, a cooey was heard, and one of the men falling back, was joined by the less refractory of the guides, who expressed a wish to return to his duties. He was par doned on acceding to the condition that he was to have no further communication with his countryman. The other man also foUowed the party, and bivouacked about a hundred yards from the main camp. In a short time he pleaded for pardon, putting on a mise rable appearance to excite compassion, and the leader, taking pity on his loneliness, allowed him to rejoin the camp, on condition that he should give up his toma hawk, a proposal to which he readily assented. About this time a tribe of blacks approached the camp. Thefr demeanour was quiet and civil, they pre sented the Europeans wdth feathers, boomerangs, and other articles, receiving in return a medal, with which they were much pleased. They were struck wdth the white skins of the explorers, and repeatedly patted the men in admiration. At the commencement of March the journey lay through a weU grassed country, in which native weUs were numerous. Some natives were met with who differed from aU those previously seen in the great shyness which they manifested. They conversed freely with the guides, but when a white man approached they averted thefr faces, turned their backs, or ran away, studiously avoiding aU communication wdth men whom they regarded either with great awe or great aversion. On the 18th a sheet of water, three mUes long, and so wide that bfrds floating in the middle were beyond the reach of gun-shot, was seen. Some na tives were encountered not far from this place, who seemed to regard the explorers with feelings of con tempt and disgust. As soon as the Europeans came in sight the gins fled into the scrub, and the men ad dressed themselves to the strangers, interrupting their uninteUigible speeches by occasionally spitting and uttering an exclamation hke "pooh, pooh." A river was met with in latitude 20° 49', which the leader named the Cape, in honour of a ftiend. A second river 100 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. received the name of the Burdskin. Flood-marks, visible from fifteen to eighteen feet above the banks, showed that an immense body of water occasionally swept down the wide channel of this river. Fig-trees were here met with bearing a fruit about the size of a small apple, and, when ripe, of an agreeable flavour. On the 22nd a river was encountered, which, flowing from the westward, joined the Burdekin. This river, which was of considerable magnitude, received the name of the Clarke. In its waters were found four va rieties of fish. It was now the month of May, and this was the daily routine of the party : — The leader rose in the morning when the note of the bfrd, famUiarly known as the laughing jackass, heralded the approach of the sun. Aloud cooey roused the others, when aU partook of a breakfast, consisting of meat stewed over night, and pots of tea. Calvert then served out the daily ra tion, and during the performance of this duty one of the guides collected the horses. Murphy and the other black collecting the buUocks. At a quarter to eight the party moved forward and traveUed for four hours, when, if a suitable spot appeared, a camping place was selected. The camp having been pitched each attended to an allotted duty, the leader himself making the fire. The second meal of the day, taken immediately after camping, consisted of a cake formed of flour and fat, with tea ; dried meat formed the third meal. During the afternoon each man employed himself according to his choice or the necessities of himself and his com panions, repafring harness, patching clothes, washing, or shooting game. The leader busied himself in writ ing his journal, laying down his route, making bo tanical and geological excursions, or reconnoitering the surrounding country. The good spirits of the men had not flagged ; on the contrary, the tempers of some seemed to have grown more buoyant and lively. The health of the party seemed to have improved in an equal degree. The continual riding had weakened the legs of some, but in other respects aU had grown stronger. Thus beautiful is the conformation of man. 1815.] HOESEFLESH USED AS FOOD. 101 He can enjoy to the fuUest aU the pleasures and refine ments which art and science have accumulated during ages, and, under different cfrcumstances, he wiU be happy where privation leaves him less to enjoy than is within the reach of the most barbarous of mankind. The leader and the guides slept in the open air, the others sought nightly the shelter of their tents. In the early part of the journey one man kept watch each night, as weU to guard against attack as to look after the cattle. Latterly this prudential measure had faUen into disuse, for as the cattle became accustomed to the journey they did not stray far ; and hitherto the aborigines, so far from evincing any hostUity, avoided the party as much as possible, and displayed more timidity than courage. YIII. On the 4th, the most picturesque landscape hitherto met with broke on the visions of the explorers. A large vaUey, with numerous lagoons and reed-encir cled lakes, extended its verdant undulations to a chain of blue mountains which bounded the distant horizon, A reedy brook meandered along one side of the valley, connecting in its progress several of the lagoons. Large numbers of aborigines now approached the tents. They displayed httle timidity and acted in a friendly manner, showing the explorers how they could avoid the water in passing along. They asked many ques tions, and displayed great curiosity with regard to the contents of the camp. A horse having accidentally broken his thigh it was agreed, on the proposal of the leader, to use the flesh as food ; and the carcase was prepared in the manner of beef, cut into shces and dried. Although considerable prejudice was at first naturaUy entertained towards this new food, it was soon rehshed very weU. About this time Leichhardt under took an excursion, accompanied by one of the guides, for the purpose of examining the surrounding country ; he was absent from the camp for four days, during a considerable proportion of which time he was alone, the guide, through the lameness of his horse, being unable to keep pace with his master. For fifty hours he was without water, and his only food during a great por- 102 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. 11. tion of the time was a httle raw beef An aboriginal at this time indicated the position of the source of a brook by pointing to his head, and then to the place whence the stream flowed. On the 23rd, a river flowing to the north-west received the name of the Lynd. This was subsequently ascertained to be a constantly-flow ing river, and was the fourth stream of this character which had been passed. The others were the Conda mine, the Dawson, and the Burdekin. The birthday of the Queen was celebrated by a feast, consisting of a double allowance of cake and some sugar, of which there now remained only a small quantity reserved for sickness and for festival days. These occasional hoh- days, which the party never failed to observe, were enjoyed with a zest unknown to those who are sur rounded by the pleasures abounding in aU places where men have formed settled and extensive communities. A few weeks later they commemorated the battle of Waterloo by indulging in the luxury of sweetened tea, all their flour having been exhausted some time before. The constellations of the northern hemisphere were now becoming visible, and the appearance of crocodUes stUl further reminded the explorers that they were en tering into a new region. The weather was very fine, the mornings and evenings especiaUy being exceedingly delightful; and that the chmate was salubrious was proved by the excellent health which each of the party enjoyed. On the 26th June, the leader having resolved to approach the sea-coast, changed his route, traveUing due west towards the eastern shore of the Gulf of Car pentaria. Some fine lagoons lined with reeds, and co vered with the nymphgea, were passed ; and game, in cluding bustards, was abundant in the surrounding plains. The men were greatly annoyed by numbers of kites, whose audacity was such that at meal-times they darted from the trees, and, hke harpies, snatched the meat from the plates. Some blacks were met with who evinced a hostile disposition, making a bold though stealthy attempt to drive away and appropriate the whole of the cattle. 1843.] TEEACHEEY OP THE NATIVES. 103 Soon foUowed a far more serious proof of the fierce and inhospitable disposition of the aborigines of those parts. The explorers, whose hves had hitherto been shielded by the hand of a merciful and watchful Providence, were now destined to learn how fragile, humanly speaking, was the basis on which thefr hopes and thefr safety depended. On the 28th they en camped near a small pool, surrounded by a narrow belt of tea- trees, Roper and Calvert pitching their tent within the belt, GUbert and Murphy constructing theirs among the trees, whUe PhUhps erected his canvas covering at a distance from the others on the opposite side of the pool. Having dined together each retired about seven o'clock in the evening, Leichhardt, accord ing to his custom, stretching himself on the ground near the fire, where he soon slept. A loud noise and a caU for help in a short time broke his slumbers. The treacherous natives had attacked the camp, and were busy at thefr sanguinary work. They had watched the movements of the party during the afternoon, and as soon as it was dark hurled a shower of spears at the several tents. The guides were the first to spring forward in defence of the party ; but as caps for the guns were not at once available, the shots did not per form thefr errand with sufficient speed. One volley having been fired, however, the blacks did not wait for a second, flying at the first report of the muskets, but not before they had effected thefr purpose only too weU. Roper and Calvert were pierced by several spear wounds, and beaten by many blows. Gilbert was not to be seen, and it was soon found that he had lain down in that bivouac whence there is no rising, his spirit wending its way to the majestic land which aU men are destined to explore. It appeared that at the first alarm he rushed out of his tent with his gun in his hand, and was preparing to fire when he dropped down dead, pierced by one of the numerous spears which flew into the camp. The shafts which the other men had received were with difficulty extracted, for they were barbed. One which Roper had in the arm it was necessary to force through, in order to break off 104 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. II. the barb ; and another, the leader cut out of the groin of Calvert. It was not ascertained how much the blacks had suffered. Murphy, who was the first to fire, had wounded at least one of the number. As soon as the party recovered from the confusion into which they were thrown by an onslaught as unexpected as it was sanguinary, they adopted measures to guard against the consequences of a second attack, should the blacks find sufficient courage to come to the charge again. They extinguished their fires, that their persons might be less exposed to the view of their enemies, and they watched during the remainder of the night, which, to add to their misery, was distressingly cold. A more careful examination showed that one of the wounded men had received six spear wounds, and a blow from a waddy ; the other was pierced by two spear wounds, and bruised by three blows. The shaft which terminated the life of the unfortunate Gilbert had entered the chest between the clavicle and the neck, and had evidently performed its fatal work as the deceased was in the act of stooping to pass through the low door of his tent. When morning dawned, the wounds of the injured men were dressed by the leader, such a partial dressing as the darkness per mitted having been effected overnight. The cooeys of the natives were heard, and distant wailing indi cated that the death of the European was not un avenged. No time was lost in reconnoitering the sur rounding country, to ascertain whether the blacks might be making hostile preparations; but as none were seen it was evident that they had retired shortly after dawn. Having attended to the requirements of the wounded, and to the immediate safety of the expe dition, the next care of the explorers was to inter their murdered companion. The funeral service of the English Church was read by the leader, and the mourn ful task of fiUing in the grave having been completed, a large fire was kindled on the spot, to prevent the aborigines discovering and disinterring the remains. The explorers tarried at the fatal camp for three days, during which time the injuries of the wounded men 181=.] AD^-ENTUEE WITH AN ABOEIGINAL. 106 recovered much more rapidly than could have been ex pected, their freedom from aU enervating influences for a long period having doubtless rendered thefr systems pecuharly susceptible of recovery. Breaking up the encampment on the 1st July, the party traveUed during that day fourteen miles in a south-west direction. On the 6th they were on the banks of a salt-water river, and the men, by a general huzza, gave expression to the pleasure which they felt at thefr being in the vicinity of the ocean. On the 7th a remarkable adventure occurred with an aboriginal. After the party had made thefr arrangements for the night, a black walked leisurely into the camp, and went towards one of the fires, which he had evidently mistaken for those of his own tribe. The man who first saw the stranger having caUed out "a black feUow ! a black feUow !" in an instant every gun was ready; but as it was at once apparent that the stranger was unconscious of his position no shot was fired. As soon as the black saw his mistake, he clambered with great agUity to the summit of a neighbouring tree. There he remained sUent and motionless, notwith standing the caUs and signs of the explorers, nor had the report of a gun the desired effect of inducing him to speak or stir. He broke sUence, however, when one of the guides ascended a neighbouring tiee, to show that the party could reach him where he stood. He "pooh'd," "hiss'd," spat, and cooeyed, making the sUent forest re-echo, and startling the horses, which fled the unaccustomed sounds. One of the guides ad vised the leader to shoot the uproarious black, " or," said he, " you will be aU kiUed ; I do not care for my self, but I care for your being kUled and buried." This advice the leader would not think of foUowing, although the man redoubled his gesticulations ; but ordering the Europeans to retire several paces, in or der to give him an opportunity of running away, the expedient was successful, for in a moment the cries ceased, and a rusthng in the scrub told that the man had escaped from what he, doubtless, considered a most distressing position. Next day a numerous and 106 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. weU-armed tribe watched the party from a distance, but without evincing any desire to offer molestation. TraveUing south by west, on the 9th the party were in latitude 17° 0' 13", and here they encountered the Yan Diemen, a river about seventy or eighty yards wide, with steep banks and a fine sandy bed, contain ing at this time detached pools of water. The huts of the natives were here of a superior construction, and heaps of chaff lying around showed that the abori gines used certain grass seeds as a substitute for corn. The natives had recently asked whether the horses were not dogs, and whether they would not bite ; and being answered in the affirmative, conceived a very salutary fear of those brutes. The explorers, availing themselves of the defence with which the aborigines themselves had thus furnished them, always tethered three horses near the tents when they retired to rest, while a fourth, with a bell attached to. the neck, remained bridled in the camp. On the 24th the ocean was again in sight. Some creeks were met wdth containing the finest and whitest salt, in lumps, and so abundant that ship loads might have been procured with ease. At the commencement of August tribes of aborigines sur rounded the party on all sides, and were far from evincing a peaceable disposition. On one occasion, while the men were engaged in preparing some beef, the blacks hovered round in considerable numbers, climbing the neighbouring trees to observe what was going on in the camp. As the afternoon progressed large numbers approached, and vociferating loudly and fiercely, shook their clubs and poised their spears. Some of the men advancing on horseback, and one or two shots having been fired into the air, the blacks became terrified, and retreated to their fires'. On the 18th, a river thirty or forty yards broad, and apparently very deep, was encountered — the water, although affected by the tide, being quite fresh. The most interesting fact which the explorers had noted since they approached the latitude of the head of the gulf, was the moderate temperature of the chmate. They were now far wdthin the tropics, yet at 1845.] MACAETHUE SALT-WATEE EIVEE ENCOUNTEEED. 107 a season when the sun was returning to the regions of the south, the weather was at aU times bracing, and occasionally cold. On the east coast of the gulf, the prevailing wdnds were southerly and south-south westerly ; at the apex, southerly and south-easterly ; and on the western coast stiU more easterly. The bracing nature of the weather had a beneficial influ ence on the bodies of the explorers, and aU were en joying exceUent health, except one of the wounded men, who was stUl suffering from an injury in the loins. On the 29th the latitude of the camp was 16° 58' 27" ; longitude, 138° 25'. In September numerous weUs, dug by the abo rigines, some twelve feet deep by eight or ten in diameter, showed that in this part of Austraha the inhabitants were necessitated to caU in the aid of art to preserve a supply of fresh water. At those weUs, which were frequently found separated from the salt water of the rivers only by a narrow waU of clay, the explorers sometimes pitched their camp. On the 16th a large salt-water river, flowing from the westward, was encountered, and five days later a stUl larger river of the same character was passed. This latter received the name of the Macarthur. At this time the party had an interview with the most civU natives hitherto met. They ran after the expedition for a considerable distance, caUing loudly, and when the leader halted and came to a parley, he was met by an old man, foUowed by three or four less advanced in years. As soon as the chief saw that Leichhardt in tended to make him a present, he prepared to give one in return, and offered some of the ornaments which he wore on his person in exchange for the rings and buckles which he received. These blacks were weU- made, good-looking men, and one was even handsome. All appeared to have been cfrcumcised. The explorers now used the last of their tea, the juice of which was found to be the most valuable beverage which men in thefr cfrcumstances could possess. They .were thence forward reduced to the necessity of contenting them selves with beef and water, and the few edible herbs 108 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.n: and fruits which they might collect in their progress. A substitute for coffee was discovered in a species of bean, of which sufficient were gathered to afford the men a pot of the hquid each day for three weeks. The drink had at first a relaxing effect, but this soon wore away, and the beverage was enjoyed even to the very grounds. On the 27th the latitude was 16° 47' 23", and the weather at this time became very warm. At the commencement of October the sea was again in view. At this time the party were enabled to make a valuable addition to their stock of provisions in the shape of geese, which were numerous in various lagoons, and easily obtained by shooting. Towards the middle of the month a large river, fuUy seven hundred yards from bank to bank, was encountered, and received the name of the Wickham. On the 18th the camping-place was near a lagoon several miles in length, and from fifty to three hundred yards in width, covered with nymphseas, fringed with a dense vegeta tion, and surrounded with fine pasture. Never before had the party seen so many fowls as swam on the waters. When the men discharged their guns, the numbers that rose darkened the sky, and by their motion through the air, occasioned a deafening noise. TravelUng along the margin of the lagoon, the party came to a fresh- water river, from five hundred to eight hundred yards wide, which received the name of the Roper. Although fresh at this time, the water was influenced by the tide, which rose about three feet. The abundance of food which the party enjoyed while sojourning in the vicinity of the lagoon was more than counterbalanced by a misfortune which befel them here. On the 21st one of the guides, going out to look for the horses, returned with the dismal tidings that three of the animals were drowned. The leader was thunderstruck, and for a moment his head reeled be neath the weight of the blow which the occurrence dealt to the entire expedition. Recovering from his dismay, he proceeded to make the best of the remain ing animals. Unable to increase the load of the bul- 18«-] LOSS OF FIVE HOESES. 109 locks, he was obliged to leave behind that part of the botanical coUection which had hitherto been borne by one of the drowned horses. "The fruit of many a day's work," says Leichhardt, " was consigned to the fire, and tears were in my eyes when I saw one of the most interesting results of my expedition vanish in smoke." The misfortune which the party had thus sustained was aggravated, within a brief period, by the loss of two other horses. IX. Another fidendly tribe was now encountered. Three of the number coming boldly forward, presents were exchanged, and they invited the explorers, in the most pressing manner, to accompany them to thefr camp. When they visited the party a second time, they announced thefr approach by whistling, and would not enter the camp till invited by the leader. They accompanied the party for a considerable distance, and when hunger at length compeUed them to return, they again invited the white men to accompany them, indi cating at the same time, that at thefr camp they had plenty of food. These men also were cfrcumcised. A few days later a tribe of a different character were en- coimtered. Hovering around the camp for some time, after nightfaU they stole towards the tents, and were preparing to discharge thefr weapons, when they were luckUy observed, and forced to retreat. On the 1st November the latitude was 14° 16' 17". The natives continued to be by no means weU-disposed, and the hostUity of those dwelhng here was not to be despised ; for, as the month advanced, the explor ers met with some weU-constructed huts sufficiently capacious to shelter the entfre party. On the 17th a magnificent vaUey lay extended before the explorers. Where they first saw it, they stood with thefr whole train on the brink of a precipice about eighteen hun dred feet in descent. A large river, joined by many tributaries, meandered through the plain, which was bounded by high ranges to the west and south-west, whUe others rose far to the north. Three days elapsed before the explorers succeeded, after a toUsome search, in finding a place where a descent into the valley could 110 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. n. be effected. Passing into the low ground, their toUs were repaid by the excellence of the pasture and the abundance of the water, of which their weary and foot sore cattle stood so much in need. Here one- of tlie two bullocks which remained refused to proceed farther, the toil-worn brute seeming to feel that this delightful valley ought to be the goal of his long journey and good services. His dried flesh, however, soon fiUed the meat-bags. The longitude at this place was 132° 60'. The natives of the vaUey were peaceable and well-disposed. In figure they were taU and slim, and, as became the inhabitants of so beautiful a locality, their countenances were of a mild and pleasing expres sion. As the party advanced, a tribe were met with who possessed a shawl and some other articles of English manufacture, which they said they procured at a place north-west by north. A few days later they were surrounded by a numerous tribe who understood the use of fire-arms, a circumstance which, combined with the presence of articles of European manufacture, boded that the end of their journey was not far dis tant. Soon a still more hopeful indication was afforded. On the 2nd December, a fine-looking native stepped out of the forest, and approached the camp with a smihng countenance, and with the confidence of a man to whom the white face was perfectly famihar. He was received with a cordiality proportioned to his tnanly confidence, and a second black coming up, the first uttered several English words, as " commandant," " very good," " what's your name ?" The joy of the party at seeing men who greeted them in thefr own tongue, knew no bounds. They could almost have em braced the strangers, who, observing the gladness which their appearance had diffused, joined with a merry laugh in the expression of the happy feelings which influenced the traveUers. These blacks had acquired the knowledge of the Europeans among the white people at Port Essington, whom they called Balanda, which means HoUandas, a name which they had received from the Malays. They guided the party for a considerable distance, leading them through 1845.] AEEIVAL AT POET ESSINGTON. Ill shady paths, and pointing out camping-places at weUs which they themselves had formed. AU the explorers were at this time greatly dis tressed with boUs and with a prickly heat. To add to this evU, since meeting with the blacks who had visited Port Essington, an frresistible desire to reach the end of their journey took possession of the men. *So strong was this feeling, that had it originated at an earher period, the safety of the expedition would have been endangered by the circimistance. The tracks of buffaloes had been observed at intervals since the commencement of the month, and the party were now so fortunate as to shoot one of these animals. The buffaloes were the offspring of a stock that had been left behind by the colonists of Raffles Bay, when the settlement at that place was broken up. On the 16th the explorers were visited by a tribe, many of whom spoke good Enghsh. A hunchback, who was the chief, volunteered to act as guide. This tribe knew every one in the settlement, and gave the explorers inteUigence of aU the cfrcumstances '•which had recently transpfred there. Perceiving the state of exhaustion and depression in which the party were, they tried to cheer them with songs, which they ac companied with the " chore," a long tube of bamboo. On the 17th, just as the entfre party had thefr impa tience worked up to the highest degree, the welcome sight of a garden and a row of thatched cottages burst suddenly on thefr dehghted vision. Entering the town ship, and proceeding to government-house, they were received with kindness by the commandant. Captain Macarthur, at whose instance all their necessities were at once supphed. Thus terminated an expedition which, calculating from the time the explorers left Sydney, occupied sixteen months, and from the day they set out from the outskirts of colonization at Moreton Bay, fourteen months and sixteen days. After a month's stay at Port Essington, a schooner arriving from BaUy, on her way to Port Jackson, the party embarked in this vessel, and arrived at Sydney on the 29th March. Here a reception fuU of warmth 112 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ll. and kindness awaited them. AU classes pressed for ward to testify their joy at the reappearance of men whose safety had long been doubted. To reward the explorers, a public subscription was set on foot which, in a few weeks, amounted to more than fifteen hun dred pounds ; and in the Legislative Council a motion was brought forward which, by the unanimous vote of the House, and the immediate concurrence of the* governor, devoted one thousand pounds to the same purpose, the government, the legislature, and the people, thus concurring to acknowledge the services of men who, in discovering an almost boundless ex tent of valuable country, and in adding largely to the stores of science in various departments, were justly considered benefactors of the colony. Dr. Leichhardt was subsequently further honoured, in testimony of his services to science, by receiving the gold medals of the Royal Geographical Societies of London and Paris. 1845.] AFFAIES OF NEW ZEALAND. 113 CHAPTER III. "Warfare at Kew Zealand — Eesponsible governnaent first spoken of iu the colony — Sir Thomas Mitchell sets out for the Gulf of Carpentaria — Eailways proposed — Gipps retires — His successor, Sir Charles Fitz-Eoy, arri-ves — The Transportation question as sumes grave importance — The Council declares against trans portation — Ne-w squatting regulations (18^:7) ; settled, inter mediate, and unsettled districts — Death of Lady Mary Fitz-Eoy — ^Leichhardt sets out to cross the Great Desert. (1846—1847.) I. DuEiNG this year (1845) the affafrs of New Zealand occupied a very considerable share of the attention of the colonists. It is expedient, before detailing the proceedings adopted in reference to these affafrs, to preface the narrative wdth a recital of the events out of which the action of the colonists arose. One of the principal settlements at New Zealand was a place called by the natives Korororika, but known to the colonists as the Bay of Islands. Here was a very fine harbour, which had been the resort of shipping of various nations for several years. It was the oldest British settlement in the island, a mission having been estabUshed here thirty years previously. As the na tives of New Zealand in those days made no vfrtue of chastity in thefr unmarried women, a connexion sprung up between the Europeans and the aboriginal popula tion which placed the parties on very friendly terms ; but owing to the estabhshment of other settlements having a better soil, although inferior in marine ac commodation, the place did not progress as might have been expected. Its importance, however, was stiU very considerable, owing principaUy to the fact that here were three missions, belonging severaUy to I 114 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. three leading Christian sects, whose operations had been successful in converting large numbers of the aboriginal race. In the early part of February of this year a chief named Kowitti, an unprincipled man, who at one time professed friendship for the British, commenced with his followers a system of plunder within a mile or two of the settlement. At first there was not a sufficient force at hand to repress or punish these outrages, but intelligence of the breaking out of hostilities having been conveyed to the seat of government, the war-ship " Hazard" arrived towards the end of the month with materials for a block-house, the building of which was to be a preliminary measure in giving security to the colonists. The wooden fortress having been erected twenty soldiers were placed therein, and ere many days elapsed a conflict ensued between some mih tary sent out to defend the property of the settlers and the aggressive natives, in which a soldier was wounded. This was the commencement of more ge neral hostilities. Now comes another phase of the war. No sooner had the block-house been completed than a new flag staff was erected on an elevated spot adjacent, and the British ensign displayed from its head. Now a Christian chief of the neighbourhood, named Heki — Kowdtti being a heathen — had long regarded the display of the British flag with jealousy. The superior knowledge of state affairs which this man had acquired in receiving instruc tion from the missionaries, as well as his experience dur ing a sojourn which he made in New South Wales, ena bled him to form a proper estimate of that amount of independence which the government recognized in the, native chiefs, whose territories were their own until pur chased. He had heard of, and indeed seen, the fate which had befaUen the aborigines of New South Wales ; and he dreaded, as he said, lest a similar doom should overtake his own people. He had read the Scriptures, and he was not slow in instituting comparisons, wherein the New Zealanders were likened to the Israelites, the British to the GentUes; whUe he himself was the 1815-] HOSTILITIES COMMENCED IN XEW ZEALAND. 115 Joshua, who was to re-estabhsh his countrymen in the fuU enjoyment of thefr inheritance. Influenced l^y these ideas he denied the sovereignty of the Enghsh over the island, and secretly resolved that should ever a favom-- able opportunity present itself, he would endeavour to shake off the foreign authority. That his views might produce thefr due effect among his tribe and feUow- countrymen generaUy, from the first he protested against the erection of a flag-staff. TNTien two hundred troops arrived at the Bay of Islands, some time pre viously to the period now in question, he for a time denied or concealed his hostUity to the ensign of so vereignty ; but when these went away his aversion again displayed itself, and when he now saw the flag staff supported by a fortress, he resolved to destroy it or perish in the attempt. With this determination he leagued himself with Kowitti ; a chief actuated by pa triotic motives becoming the associate of a rapacious plunderer. With these joined himself Pumuku, a chief having less defined views than either of the former, his motives appearing to be partly patriotism, partly a love of war, and a greed for plimder. The combined forces of these three was about six hundred men, armed with muskets, double-barrelled guns, and tomahawks. The whole British force avaU able for operations on shore amounted to two hundred and twen^ men, soldiers, marines, saUors, and armed colonists. They were under the dfrection and com mand of Captain Robertson and Lieutenant CampbeU of the military service. Lieutenant PhUpots of the "Hazard," and Captain Beckham, the pohce magistrate. HostUities commenced on the 7th of March. An at tempt made by Kowitti' s party to drive away some cattle, led to a skfrmish which was continued through three successive days. On the 9th the Protestant arch deacon entered the camp of the natives, and performed divine service for Heki's foUowers. The Roman Ca thohc missionary did the same for Kowitti' s people, who, notwithstanding the determined Paganism of thefr chief, were aU Christians. On the 10th Pumuku, with his reinforcements, joined the other chiefs ; and on the 116 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. evening of this day a deserter informed the British authorities that the natives had resolved on making a combined attack at daybreak next morning, the man further stating that the three chiefs were to approach ¦ the settlement by different routes, which he indicated. The British authorities took their measures accord ingly. At peep of day Captain Robertson advanced on the road by which Kowitti was expected to approach, leaving the other leaders with the main body of the troops to guard the town. He met the wily old chief at an outpost of the settlement, where a picket was stationed. Here commenced a severe fire, the muskets of the combatants being almost muzzle to muzzle. After half an hour's fighting the commander of the British fell, pierced by four baUs, and the sergeant of marines was also struck down. These losses induced the British force, which consisted of only forty-five men, to fall back, fighting as they retreated. The enemy, however, had also had sufficient of the contest ; for they did not follow far, but left the troops to gain the stockade at their leisure. WhUe these events were transpiring Heki ap proached the settlement unobserved. His presence was not discovered until he had reached the strong buildings where the British flag, so obnoxious to him, was displayed. Finding only four soldiers here, he called on them to surrender. The caU was answered by a discharge of musketry, and the natives returning the fire, the soldiers were all kiUed. Heki now having the flag-staff in his possession sat down, to use the term applied by the natives, to seek a cessation of hos tilities, and continued to watch the contest going on between Pumuku and the British in another part of the town ; his conduct in this respect, as weU as that of Kowitti, who pursued a simUar course, affording a curious illustration of the miUtary ideas, or, at aU events, of the intentions of the native chiefs. The flring between Pumuku and the British, both forces being nearly equal in numbers and in arms, except that the British had two small pieces of cannon, con tinued until half-past ten o'clock. At that hour, their i8«.j THE SETTLEES ABANDON THE TOWN OF KOEOEOEIKA. 117 leader having been kUled, the natives hoisted a flag of truce, and ceased firing. A consultation was now held among the officers and the principal of the townspeople, and a want of concert, or rather a want of plan, displaying itself, it was even tuaUy resolved to abandon the town. The women and chUdren were accordingly removed, as speedUy as pos sible, on board the " Hazard " and a government brig, and the great body of the men soon foUowed. The necessity or expediency of deserting the settlement was always questioned, and considering that the great body of the natives were sincere Christians, that their principal leader was, in some degree, an enUghtened fol lower of the Cross, and that the New Zealanders are not naturaUy a cruel race ; considering, moreover, that the force of the British was not insignificant, it must be admitted that the principal inducement to the adoption of such an extreme course, namely the fear of a general massacre, was wanting. Be that as it may, it is certain that the officers in command now adopted or permitted a measure which was in the highest degree calculated to aggravate, for the British residents of New Zealand, as weU as for the govern ment, those evUs which the abandonment of the settle ment in itself entaUed. No sooner were the colonists and troops onboard, than some shots were fired from the ship on the New Zealanders, who had themselves acted with so much forbearance. This wanton act was fol lowed by the exasperated natives killing indiscrimi nately all the European stragglers whom they found in the vicinity of the settlement, and these were not few in number ; nine American settlers, who resided a few miles from the town, being butchered in a batch. Next day, as if to keep up the stimulus to massacre, other shots were fired. The beach was now seen lined with canoes and boats taken from the Europeans, aU fiUed with the plunder of the luckless colonists, who, from the deck of the vessels, beheld in the wreck of thefr cherished homes and the bhghting of the pro spects of their posterity, one of the most sorrowful sights which human eyes can witness. 118 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ni. Such were the events which led to the people of New South Wales interesting themselves in New Zea land affairs. Some of the sufferers by the abandon ment of Korororika found their way to Sydney, and afforded a sad illustration of the evils of the war. The New Zealand settlers were the feUow- subjects of the people of New South Wales, their neighbours, their fellow-colonists in days not long gone by, and they dare not, wdthout incurring odium, witness their distresses unmoved. A meeting was held in Sydney (April) for the purpose of adopting such measures as might be deemed expedient or necessary for affording protection and relief to the British population of New Zealand, under the trying circumstances in which they were placed. Among its chief promoters were Charles Abercrombie and Francis Fisher, gentlemen connected with New Zealand. One of the sufferers by the eva cuation of Korororika addressed the meeting, and gave a variety of particulars relative to the enthusiasm of Heki, his energy of mind and body, and his great influ ence over his countrymen, as well as the large amount of military resources at the disposal of the natives — a recital which might well prepare the public mind for that long and harrassing war which the Imperial Go vernment was afterward necessitated to carry on for the subjection of that chief and his surviving confederate. A resolution was adopted to the effect that large num bers of troops ought immediately to be despatched to the scene of the warfare, together with two steamers, the one to be stationed at Cook's Straits, the other at the Thames. A deputation waited on the governor for the purpose of reporting this result to his excel lency ; but the views of the meeting in aU necessary matters had been anticipated by the executive^ and the governor refused to receive the deputation otherwise than as individuals capable of giving information rela tive to New Zealand. He also declined to receive the resolution, which he characterized as dictatorial in its nature, and to listen to which would, he said, be to fore go that authority and responsibility with which the exe cutive alone was invested. 1846.] HAWDEN- CON^'ICTED OF ASSAUI.TIXG SHEEIDAN. 119 A case occupied the courts of the colony, in the early part of this year, which was important in so far as it had a forcible bearing on the administration of justice, and inasmuch as it proved how necessary it may sometimes be, even in countries where constitu tional principles are recognized and estabhshed, that a watchftU guardianship should be exercised in order to prevent local tyrannies springing into existence. A magistrate named Hawden was convicted of assaulting, under aggravated cfrcumstances, a gentleman named Sheridan, the former being aided and abetted by another magistrate, a clerk of the bench, and a fourth individual, a relative of the chief aggressor. The oc currence took place at Bronlee, a fertUe agricultural district on the sea-coast, a short distance south of Sydney. Sheridan had been in the employ of a pro prietor in the neighbourhood, as superintendent, and having had some shght misunderstanding with his em ployer, he left his situation. The others having as sembled on the same day at the house of the employer, dined there, and having freely partaken of wine, saUied forth in quest of the superintendent, to avenge an insult said to have been offered by him to their host. They found him at a hotel kept by a Wilham Macaulay, and having acted so outrageouly as to cause the landlord to hide himself, they assaUed Sheridan, and, after vih- fying his nationahty and his name, pursued him with threats and blows, until, to escape their rage, he leaped down a precipice, avoiding instant death only by laying hold of a small tree as he feU.* The assaUants having now sufficiently vented thefr rage, returned to the inn, and the fugitive, having partially recovered from the effects of the iU-usage to which he had been sub jected, went to the same place, where, by the kindly offices of the landlord and servants, he succeeded in concealing himself in the garret. In his hiding-place, he could hear his assailants congratulating each other on the chastisement they had inflicted, and making merry at his mishaps, gleefuUy relating, among other things, how they " had hunted the hke a kan- * Sydney "Morning Herald." 120 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.m. garoo." When the shades of night screened him from further pursuit, he came from his lurking-place, and proceeded, for more effective security, to Shannon Yiew, the residence of Francis Flanagan, a landed pro prietor and magistrate of the district. The case was brought before the Criminal Court at Sydney, and, after a minute investigation, in which it appeared that the assault was altogether unprovoked, and that the reputation of the prosecutor was irre proachable, Hawden was fined one hundred pounds, and bound over to keep the peace towards all her Majesty's subjects. The aggressive party having been thus punished, were yet not deterred from the course of offensive hostility which they had marked out for themselves. They simply changed the object and mode of thefr ag gression. Sheridan had fled, as has been mentioned, to the house of Mr. Flanagan, and here he found refuge and protection, and probably assistance also, in seek ing for that redress which he ultimately obtained. Flanagan now became the object of the hostUity of the faction, whose first essay at violence and oppression had terminated so unsuccessfuUy for them. In the first instance they thwarted him in his magisterial office, refusing or avoiding to make up a bench whenever he sat. As he received considerable support from those who had occasion to appeal to the local court, this mode of proceeding affected his position only a httle ; but soon a new means of annoyance presented itself Mr. Flanagan, in his capacity as magistrate, received instructions from the commissioner of intestate estates to seize, on behalf of the Crown, the property of a certain intestate. He did so, and a person named Charman, who had been somehow associated with the deceased, urged on by the aggressive faction, sued for trespass the magistrate who had issued the warrant for seizing the goods. Flanagan now found himself involved in an intricate and costly htigation, and after a succession of law-suits, extending over two years, judgment was given against him. The grounds on which he lost were purely technical, but he was. 1845.] BXPOETS EXCEED THE IMPOETS. 121 nevertheless, a loser in damages and costs to a con siderable amount. That the chque, who were known to be Flanagan's enemies, were the promoters of the action, was at aU times behoved. Some years elapsed, however, before thefr comphcity was proved. A son of Mr. Flanagan's having been placed in the commission of the peace, the means whereby the action was carried against the father came to his knowledge ; they consisted in a con- spfracy supported by perjury.* In 1856 the matter was brought before the Legislative CouncU. A select committee was appointed to investigate the case, and thefr report fuUy substantiating the aUegations of the apphcant, the House, after a hard contest, ordered that Mr. Flanagan should be compensated for the loss and injustice to which he had been subjected. n. The Council met in July. The governor, in his opening speech, congratulated the colonists on the pro gressive improvement which their affafrs stUl mani fested. Since the close of last session it had been as certained that in 1844, for the first time in the history of the colony, the exports exceeded the imports, a fact which afforded the best promise that the colonists would speedUy be enabled to recover from those diffi culties in which large numbers of them had become dnvolved during recent years. The state of the pubhc finances, it was annoimced, was also satisfactory. He had reason to hope that the pubhc income had passed the point of lowest depression, and he looked with confidence for an increase in its productiveness. At the present time not only was the ordinary revenue en- tfrely free from debt, owing to the system of currency which had been practised, but the pubhc moneys then in the treasury, coUectively, exceeded the amount which stood to the credit of the government at any time since the end of 1841. The only debt which had been in curred was that for the purpose of immigration, and that had been secured on the revenue of the Crown. Among the measures announced as about to be intro- * Report of Committee in Official Eecord of Proceedings of Legislative Council, 122 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. hi. duced by the government, were bills for taking a census of the colony, for checking the evUs of ilhcit distilla tion, and for enabling the trustees of the savings' bank to lend a portion of the funds deposited in that insti tution to the Sydney corporation. At the very commencement of the session, the colonial secretary made a statement of the policy which the government had determined upon with regard to the management of the Crown lands, an announce ment being made, however, that the promulgation of the permanent regulations would be deferred tUl the reply of her Majesty's ministers to the address of the Council on this subject had been received. The policy on which the local government had so far formed a resolution, embraced the following points : — (1.) The purchase of a homestead to secure to the purchaser an assured occupancy for eight years, of a sufficient ex tent of land for pasturing four thousand sheep, a lease for the period being given ; (2.) the present occupant to be allowed four years, from the 1st July, 1844, to purchase a homestead, an occupancy for twelve months being thus secured to him ; (3.) the yearly charge for the occupancy of a run to be £10 ; (4.) the apphca tion of the funds derived from the sale of homesteads, and from the annual rental, to be chiefly applied to the creation of a fund for the promotion of immigration. It was announced at the same time that his exceUency had withdrawn his opposition to the granting of a pre-emptive right, in deference to the general opinion regarding that point, as expressed both in the colony and in England. On the motion of Mr. Robinson, a sum of £1000 was placed in the estimates for the purpose of fitting out an expedition to Port Essington. A select com mittee was appointed in the course of the session to consider the condition of the aborigines, and to report on the best means of promoting their welfare. A petition to the Imperial Parliament was adopted by the Council, praying that Australian wheat might be admitted into the English ports on the same terms as Canadian wheat. A proposal to that effect had been 1845.] DUTIES ON SPIRITS EEDUCED OXE-HALF. 123 made in the House of Commons by Mr. Hutt, and rejected, the chief ground of opposition being that the measure was unnecessary, as Australia had always im ported, whUe Canada had exported. The question was taken up by the free-trade party at home, and turned to advantage for the promotion of their principles. A report of a select committee of the CouncU de clared that the immigration of twelve thousand five hundred persons annuaUy was indispensable to meet the wants of the colony, and recommended that a loan should be raised, on the security of the Crown lands' revenue, for that purpose. Resolutions, based on this report, were adopted by the CouncU. Patrick Grant having been elected to represent the Northumberland boroughs, a question of privUege was raised by Cowper in reference to his position in the House, an objection being urged to Grant's retaining his seat on the ground that he was not possessed of the necessary property qualification. His ostensible qualifications were certain aUotments of land in Syd ney; but it was aUeged that inquiry had shown that no transfer of those lands to the new member had ever taken place. A committee was appointed to inquire into the matter, and the result of thefr investigation was, that the seat was declared vacant. Grant's friends in the House, as weU as out, vainly urged that, according to parhamentary practice, and constitutional principle, the only mode in which the election of a representative of the people could be impugned, was by petition from an opposing candidate, or a number of the electors. It was also urged, in his favour, that the House of Commons admitted, without inqufry, men of public reputation whose property qualifications were suspicious. The course adopted by the CouncU was very unpopular, and Grant was re-elected by his con stituency, many of those who opposed him in the first election being among his warmest supporters in the second. The Council dealt wdth the question of Ulicit dis- tiUation by reducing the duties on spirits one-half. In the course of the session an address to the Queen 124 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ill. was adopted, praying for the extension to the colony of steam postal communication. On the 13th November the House was prorogued. The public, foUowing the example of the CouncU, took up the subject of the admission of Australian corn into English ports on the same terms on which the introduction of Canadian grain was allowed. A petition to the Imperial ParUament on this subject was adopted at a meeting held in Sydney in October, the mayor presiding. The petitioners set forth, " That they had learnt, with feelings of bitter disap pointment, that the House had refused to extend to the colony the privilege accorded to Canada of import ing into England corn and flour at a nominal duty. Understanding that the only objection urged to the concession being made to New South Wales was, that the colony did not stand in the same position towards the mother country as Canada, they submitted that the only difference which existed between the two colonies was in favour of the claim which they pre ferred. They reminded the House that wool, thefr staple export, was exposed to the rivalry of the whole world, although by its competition it had been the means of keeping dowoi the price of a raw material most important to English manufacture, whereas a heavy duty had been imposed on Baltic timber for the protection of Canada, which was felt as a grievous tax on British householders and shipowners. They pointed out that the colonists of New South Wales had contri buted nearly a million of money for the coercion of prisoners of the Crown, an object of a purely British character, and had provided upwards of another mUlion to introduce the poor of the British islands into New South Wales, an operation which was as advantageous to the mother country as it was to the colony, whUe the recent rebellion in Canada had cost vast sums to the British treasury, and had been foUowed by a loan of £1,600,000 for the use of that colony, under Parlia mentary guarantees ; that the Crown revenue had been surrendered to Canada for the consideration of a civil hst of £76,000 derived from a population of a mUhon 18«.] EUTMOUES OF DEATH OF LEICHH^\EDT AND PAETY. 126 and a half, whereas in New South Wales a civU Ust of £81,600 had been imposed on a population of one hundred and seventy thousand, whUe the Crown reve nues were not only retained at the sole disposal of the executive, but the royal prerogative had been strained to estabhsh principles by which that amount might be indefinitely increased. The petitioners further ex plained, that the quantity of com which they were likely to export, although of immense consequence to them, was truly insignificant in so large a market as that of the United Kingdom ; that if the agriculturists of England were sensitive as to the admission of foreign com, they also had thefr sensibUities ; and great as was the loss they incurred by exclusion from the home markets, they felt yet more keenly the ignominious badge of inferiority which the decision of the House of Commons had fixed upon them. They, therefore, prayed that wheat, maize, and flour, the produce of Austraha, might be admitted into the United King dom on the same terms on which similar products of Canada were received." Similar petitions were adopted at meetings held in various parts of the interior, aU tending to indicate stUl more the growth in the colony of a vigorous and comprehensive pubhc opinion. But the desfrabUity of introducing responsible government into the colony was, for the first time, discussed in the course of this year, so that there now existed the best proof that New South Wales was fast approaching to pohtical maturity. Rumours of the death of Leichhardt and his party at the hands of the blacks reached the colony, and were aU but confirmed. Mr. Hodgson led a party in the wake of the explorers, with the view to determin ing the truth of these rumours, and returned after he had ascertained, by the reports of various tribes, and by other indications, that the expedition was safe. A despatch was received from Lord Stanley confirming the squatting regulations of AprU, 1844. In another despatch, the Secretary of State declined to accede to the proposal to reduce the minimum price of land be low £1 per acre. He said, that if land were at aU 1^6 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. worth improving it was worth that price, and ex pressed his belief, that unless there was a larger influx of population than was likely to take place, a reduction of the price would not greatly accelerate sales, the im mense rapidity with which purchases were made a few years previously being the result of speculation, the inducements to which had now passed away. A pro posal for the establishment of an electric telegraph between Sydney and Melbourne was started about this time. Some bushrangers were at large in the course of the year. At Yass, a gang of eight attacked a house and inflicted a mortal wound on its master. At Port Phillip meetings were held in the early part of the year to protest against the introduction of Pentonville prisoners. This was a class of prisoners who, having been sentenced to transportation for the less grave offences, were kept for eighteen months in the PentonviUe prison, in England, in which period of probation they were instructed in moral and rehgious truth, and were also taught the practice of such skUled labour as was most required in Australia. When they were landed in the colony, they were free to turn their industry to their own account, and were subjected to few restrictions beyond the necessity of remaining in the colony during the period of their sentence. To prevent their falUng into thefr former habits of dis honesty, they were supported at the public expense tiU they obtained employment. Resolutions for and against the continuance of the system w^ere adopted at the various meetings held in reference to the subject. Roger Therry was appointed resident judge at Port Philhp. An immigrant ship, named the " Cataraqui," from Liverpool to Port Phillip, was wrecked on King's Island, Bass' Straits, in August. Of four hundred and twenty-three persons on board, only nine escaped. III. In the latter end of this year another campaign was undertaken for the purpose of further effecting the conquest of the wilderness of AustraUa. Sfr Thomas Mitchell was now, for the fourth time, chosen to lead the army of exploration. One of the main objects of this expedition was to discover a passage towards the 1845.] siE THOMAS Mitchell's foueth expedition. 127 nearest part of the Indian Ocean westward of Torres Straits. A trade in horses, requfred to mount the Indian cavalry, had commenced between India and the colony, and the dangerous navigation of the Straits proving disadvantageous to this new branch of com merce, it was seen that an overland route from Sydney to the head of the Gulf of Carpentaria would be ex tremely beneficial. Moreover, the Indian Ocean was afready connected with England by steam communica tion, and to render it accessible to the colonists by land was, on this account, an object deserving the highest attention. In 1848 the Legislative CouncU voted £1000 towards the expense of such an expedi tion, and prayed the governor that it might be sanc tioned. Gipps referred the matter to the Secretary of State, whose reply, received in the course of the year, being favourable, the Legislature unanimously increased thefr vote to £2000, with the understanding that the plan which had been submitted by the surveyor-general for carrying out the enterprise should be adopted. This condition appeared desirable, inasmuch as the governor had evinced an inclination to postpone the expedition, or, at aU events, to take out of the hands of the surveyor-general the planning of the enterprise. Gipps was himself an engineer, and as he was a man whose .activity never slumbered, it is more than pro bable that he was desfrous of appropriating to himself the merit of at least arranging the general plan of one of those enterprises which were among the chief events of the period over which his administration extended. The expedition having been finaUy determined upon, as a first step eight drays were manufactured out of weU-seasoned wood, and two iron boats, con structed on a plan furnished by the leader.* The main body of the party left Parramatta on the 1 7th Novem ber for Buree, where they were joined by the leader a month later. They consisted altogether of twenty- eight persons. With the exception of five, these were aU prisoners of the Crown, in different stages of pro- * Sir T. Mitchell's Narrative- 1^8 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap.iii. bation. The free men were Edward Kennedy, assis tant-surveyor, and second in command ; W. Stephenson, surgeon, and coUector of objects of natural history ; Peter M'Avoy, mounted vidette ; Anthony Brown, tent-keeper ; and WiUiam Baldock, keeper of the horses. The others were thus classed — two mounted videttes, a storekeeper, eight buUock-drivers, two car penters, a blacksmith, a shoemaker, a barometer car rier, a sailor, two chain-men, two keepers of the horses, a carter and pioneer, a shepherd and butcher, a saU- maker and sailor. These men were selected amongst a large number of volunteers, including several free men. Two black guides — Piper, the former companion of Sir Thomas, and a man named Yuranigh — perma nently attached themselves to the expedition at Buree. The appurtenances of the expedition consisted of eight drays drawm by eighty buUocks, two boats, seventeen horses, and three Ught carts. The provisions were computed to last for a year, and included a flock of two hundred and fifty sheep. The route of the party at first lay in the direction pursued by the expedition of 1835. Towards the end of the month, a number of the Began blacks were en countered, who at once recognized the leader, and who, as was afterwards ascertained, had been sent for ward by their tribe for the purpose of observing the movements of the explorers. One of these blacks had guided the party of 1835 at this very place. He now presented himself, carrying an offering of wild honey, and evinced the same desire to be of service that he had displayed on the former occasion. This man was remarkable for having a countenance with a Socratic expression. 1846.] On the 4th of January, the expedition crossed the neutral ground between the squatters and the aborigines. Abundant proofs that the white man had given way were visible in the remains of dairies burnt down, stockyards in ruins, and highways grown with grass. At this time the party suffered greatly from want of water. Some ponds were discovered, but far in advance of the drays. Two smaU barrels of 18W.] CEITICAL POSITION OF THE EXPEDITION. 129 water were sent back on a horse to the advancing column. When this supply arrived, the men were almost frantic from thirst ; the cattle were unyoked and driven to the ponds. The position of the expe dition at this time was most critical, and had the na tives been hostUe, thefr safety would have been in the greatest danger. After this it was determined that henceforward the expedition should not move forward at any time until .they were certain of finding water at the close of the day's journey. Towards the end of the month it became necessary to explore the Began, to ascertain whether sufficient water was to be found in its bed to justify the party in proceeding further along its banks, and the leader, accompanied by three men, set out on a reconnoitering excursion. The re sult was that the route was changed. At this time several of the party, including the leader, suffered con siderably from ophthalmia. At a place caUed by the natives Cannonha, a creek abundantly supphed with water was met wdth, and here it was determined to halt for a fortnight. Rest was indispensable for both men and cattle, and, moreover, the eyes of the leader had sustained such injury that it was necessary to de termine whether his further prosecuting the journey might not have cost him his sight. But if neither the exhaustion of the men and cattle, nor the suffering of the leader, had rendered a halt necessary, the damage sustained by the vehicles from the heat and the tra veUing, would have prevented the party progressing much further without a delay of some days. The tents were pitched among shady bushes ; the blacksmith's forge was set up, and soon aU the men were at work in their various avocations, whUe the cattle were en gaged in that which was now their most useful employ ment, cropping the luxuriant pasture, and drinking at the abundantly-supphed creek. Several kettles, a spade, a Roman balance, and other articles, found at the bottom of a pond, proved that this spot had not been overlooked by the white man in his search for cattle-runs, and that here the prowess of the blacks had been effective in checking for a time the progress K 130 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ill. of colonization. Ah old woman told the interpreter that three white men were kiUed when the station which once stood here was abandoned. Piper, one of the guides, already mentioned, now evinced a disposi tion to desert, and, at the same time, to take with him two younger and more useful natives wha were in the train of the expedition. This intention was first manifested by his making several unreasonable de mands. An investigation having been instituted, Yura nigh proved that the other had proposed to him to go in search of gins, and Piper was sent back to Bathurst in charge of a trooper. This latter step was deemed necessary, to prevent the malcontent inciting the tribes to molest the explorers. Men and cattle having been greatly recruited, on the 12th of February the encampment was broken up, and the journey resumed. In the evening of the fol lowing day, the party witnessed a scene as pleasing as novel, in the descent of a flood along the channel of the Macquarie. A murmuring sound, like that of a distant waterfaU, mingled with occasional cracks, as of breaking timber, first drew attention, and caused the men to hasten to the river-bank. By slow degrees the sound grew louder, and the tumult of rushing waters, and the loud cracking of timber, becoming each moment more distinct, soon the flood rushed into the presence of the explorers, a moving cataract, toss ing before it large trees, and snapping thefr trunks against the banks. Whether on account of the novelty and grandeur of the scene, or the prospect which was thus afforded of an abundance of water, at a time when this element was so much in request, the rush of waters heard and witnessed on that occasion was never to be forgotten by the beholders. So slow was the progress of the torrent that nearly an hour elapsed before the sound of its leading billows had died away in the dis tance. On the 28th the party were on the banks of the Barwan, as the Darhng was then generally caUed. Civilization, society, and wealth were now abundantly presented in a territory which, fifteen years previously, 1846] OEGA^^ZATION OF A SMALLEE PAETY. 131 was the resort only of the naked and ferocious savage. When an exploring party formerly visited this place it was necessary to erect a block-house for defence ; now even the ordinary precautions against surprise by the aborigines appeared unnecessary. Fording the river at a station occupied by Mr. ParneU, the party en camped in latitude 30° 5' 41". Resuming their journey, on the 7th of March the party reached a river named the Narran, having, since leaving the Barwan, tra versed a country never before trodden by white men. The elevation of the camping-place at this time was four hundred and forty-two feet above the level of the sea. The exhausted condition of the bullocks, and the frequent want of water, now began to render the diffi culties of the journey exceedingly serious. Several of the animals had recently died, and the straying of others at night, in search of food and water, greatly retarded the journey. In this position of affairs the leader contemplated the organization of a smaUer party, composed of a division of the men, with a part of the animals, stores, and equipments, the remainder, wdth the weaker quadrupeds and the heavier stores, to be left at a depot in a suitable locaUty. At the commence ment of AprU, the party encamped on the banks of the Balonne, " as fine-looking a river as had yet been seen in the colony, the Murray excepted." A passage was effected by fiUing a shaUow part of the stream with logs and earth ; and next day the explorers encamped on the banks of the Calgoa, seven mUes distant from the Balonne, the former river, although a tributary of the latter, running paraUel with the main stream for a considerable distance. About this time it occurred to the leader that, by marking a tree at each camping-place, the survey made as the party proceeded might be rendered the more useful to the colonists, as mdicating and connecting particular locahties ; and accordingly, at the end of each day's journey, a tree was henceforward marked by a numeral. As the month advanced a rich and beautiful country was entered upon, the Balonne, at this place, increasing in magnitude. At one point the 132 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ni. river was fully one hundred and twenty yards wide, and presented a sheet of permanent water which, for extent, was not to be surpassed by any other river in the colony. A little later, a large sheet of water, in closing several islands, was in view. The lake was named the Parachute. lY. Leaving the main body of the men at a sta tionary camp, the leader now carried into effect the in tention which he had previously conceived of hasten ing forward with a lighter party. Setting out on the 23rd, he took with him eight men and two native boys, with twelve horses and three light carts, having pro visions for ten weeks. His more immediate object was to gain some knowledge as to the place at which the waters began to descend towards the Gulf of Carpen taria — a point of great importance for the purposes of discovery and survey. Kennedy, who remained behind, was instructed to follow the track of the leader, at the expiration of three weeks. During several days the route of the travellers lay through a country studded with lakes and lagoons. The voices of the na tives were heard, and one morning three men ap proached the camp. For some time they stood among the carts and tents quite absorbed in observation. The appearance and disposition of these men afforded another proof that, in proportion as a country is beau tiful and rich in the necessaries of hfe, so the manners of the inhabitants are likely to be frank and inoffensive. These aborigines were altogether destitute of weapons, offensive or defensive ; they possessed a " manly open ness of countenance, and a look of good sense," and they asked for nothing, nor did they display any covet- ousness. Their language was soft. A lake they called Turanimga ; a river, the lagoon, and a neighbouring hill Toohimba. The weather at this time was ex tremely cold, the thermometer at sunrise standing at 19°, yet the water was not frozen, and the native guides, although sleeping in the open air, felt no in convenience from the cold. This territory received the name of the Fitz-Roy Downs. A very remarkable tree was here met with, growing chiefly in a crater- 18«] EEMAEKABLE TREE MET WITH. 133 Uke hoUow on one of the mountains. The trunk bulged out at the middle, hke a barrel, being nearly twice as thick half-way between the ground and the branches as at any other part. The wood of this sin gular tree is so soft, and contains so much gum of an edible description, that a man supphed wdth a knife or axe, might sustain himself on the trunk, with the as sistance of seeds, contained in pods growdng on the branches. It seemed as though nature had benefi- ciently provided this tree for the use of those who, by accident or necessity, might find themselves isolated in the regions where it grew. Before leaving the Downs, the party were joined by eight aborigines. Yery httle of thefr language was known to the guides, but the sonorous aboriginal names of the hills and creeks were ascertained from the strangers. These men were aU coloured with fron ochre, and wore in thefr hafr and beards some feathers of the white cockatoo. They were of a merry dis position; by frequent laughing and animated con versation they continuaUy exposed rows of teeth of surpassing whiteness. All were members of the same famUy — a father and seven sons. On the 12th May a river was met with, and the party now crossed the dividing ground of the northern and southern waters. At the place where the division occurred, the elevation above the sea was one thousand five hundred and sixty-three feet. The position and prospects of the explorers were now much improved. AU apprehension as to a supply of water was at an end, for, instead of traversing the banks of rivers which grew less as they proceeded, the explorers could now foUow the courses of streams which, flowing from thefr present camping-places, would generaUy present an augmented current at the end of each day's jour ney. Another advantage was, that they would not now, as heretofore, be hable to take a tributary for the main river. In ascending towards the dividing ground, tributaries, were met with which, presenting at the place of junction as large a current as the main stream, were hable to deceive in this manner ; and unless 134 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. HI. friendly natives were at hand to give the required in formation, time and labour were nearly always lost in determining, in such cases, which course to pursue. In descending towards the sea, on the other hand, each tributary served as a guide towards the main stream. Previously, as if to conceal their sources, the rivers were liable to mislead ; now, as if the presence of man was unwelcome where the floods had their birth, they seemed to serve as wdUing and unerring guides in leading the explorers towards the sea. The newly- found river was by the aborigines called the Amby. On the 17th the party came to the Maranoa, the bed of which contained abundance of water. A few days later a camp was formed, at which it was resolved to wait the arrival of Kennedy's party. While the ex plorers stayed here, one day, when the leader was absent on a surveying excursion, two natives, painted white, came boldly to the camp, each carrying several spears and boomerangs, and foUowed by two females, also bearing loads of spears. The men, somewhat alarmed by this display of weapons, as well as by the effrontery of the bearers, formed a Une before the tents, while one of the troopers beckoned to the blacks to halt. The latter pointed to the place whither the leader had proceeded, and motioned the party to be off in the same direction. The explorers standing firm, and also beckoning to the blacks to be gone, these at length became angry, and, approaching, poised their spears at a distance of ten or twelve paces. No shrinking or faUing back — evincing terror — on the part of the Europeans, one of the blacks now had recourse to contempt, frequently the resource of the discomfited ; turning round, he hurled defiance at the white men by scornfully slapping his posteriors. This, even from a savage, was more than a man who had been a British soldier could endure, and the corporal discharged his musket over the head of the insulting black, who, terror-stricken, sprang several feet into the air, and then made off, followed by his companions. Finding that their arms were of no avail, the blacks now had recourse to negotiation. The same man a second time 1846.] H.\E^iNGUES BY THE XATD^ES. 136 approached the camp ; and the Europeans again stood before thefr tents, their arms in their hands. The chief speaker of the tribe advancing, commenced to recite, wdth great volubUity, a description of the sur rounding territory, with the claims of his people to its exclusive occupation and use, continuaUy pointing towards various landmarks and locaUties which he indicated as boundaries. A female standing behind prompted the orator, the woman also, occasionaUy, speaking with fluency, and moving her arms in the various directions where lay the hmits of the territory which she sought to preserve intact for the benefit of her sable progeny. They seemed to say — " These are our lands, bounded here by the mountains, there by the horizon ; they are ours by right of possession and occupation, acqufred by our ancestors ages ago ; they are ours by every title nature confers, for without the animals and bfrds to which they give sustenance, and the fish which hves in thefr lakes and rivers, we could not subsist. Other tribes occupy aU the lands lying beyond the limits of our possessions. If we pass those bounds, we are met with war. The pangs of hunger wiU not save us from the rage of those on whose do main we intrude, nor their piteous condition preserve our women from bondage, and our children from slaughter. Thus necessity, not unkindness, compels us to require that you pass on, and cease to consume our rightful prey, and, stUl worse, destroy or scare away that which you may not consume. You have provisions; you have animals which bear your bur dens ; you have health and strength ; you wiU else where find territories to possess which wdU inflict no injury. By going you suffer no hardship ; by staying you become the cause of our ruin." These harangues making no impression on the Europeans, the black chief proceeded to strike a spear into the ground, and having thus formed a landmark, he proposed, by word and gesture, that on the one side the ground should be occupied by the whites, and on the other by the blacks. The arrangement was assented to, and the aborigines, seemingly satisfied, went thefr way. When 136 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. the leader returned he confirmed the treaty by ordering that the larger of two reaches near the camp should be left exclusively to the aborigines ; that no white man should visit its banks, and that the cattle should not be allowed to feed in its vicinity. Such an arrange ment was due not only to ordinary justice, but was merited by the moderation of the demands made by the tribe, and by their bold and manly demeanour in urging their rights. On the 1st June the sound of a shot in the distance announced the approach of Kennedy and his men, and soon after the entire expedition occupied the same camp. Next day the leader commenced his prepara tions for advancing wdth a light party, leaving his lieutenant behind with the main body of the men. Those who remained were to be employed during the four months, over which it was estimated the absence of their companions would extend, in cultivating a garden, and fencing a stockyard. No intercourse was to be permitted wdth the blacks. The surgeon with two others formed the only addition to the leader's former division. The stores and equipments, includ ing a boat, were conveyed in a dray and in the light carts drawn by horses. The leader set out on the 41 h. A smaU tribe menaced the party during thefr ffi'st day's journey ; but a few shots having been fired into the air, and the bugle sounded, the explorers were allowed to form their camp in security. Towards the end of the month, the party being in great distress for want of water, were rescued in an extraordinary man ner. One of the men, Felix Maguire, dreamed that he found a pond, and rising, went directly to the spot indicated by the vision, and there found the much- needed fluid. Twice did the prevision of this man succour the party in a similar manner, and his tact in finding water was at all times greater than that of any of his companions. On the 2nd July the explorers came to a running stream, the water of which was clear and sparkling, but tasting strongly of sulphur. The black guide at once pronounced this to be the head of a stream which 1846.] THE CAMP VISITED BY ABOEIGIXES. 137 never dried up. This river received the name of the Salvator. It flowed into a lake, at the southem side of which was an outlet, but the channel was at this time dry. Water growing scarce, and the difiS,culties of traveUing otherwise great, the explorers retraced their steps, and pursued another course with very dif ferent fortunes, for on the 11th, amid a scene of sur passing beauty, the waving hues of wood, peculiar to the banks of rivers, marked where a large and perma nent stream, flowing from the west, held its majestic career. The Claude was the name appropriated to this river. The rich land in its vicinity was everywhere covered with fragments of fossil wood, sUex, agate, and chalcedony. In some respects, this beautiful coun try appeared to be a land of extremes. One day the explorers met streams of limpid water, or large and beautiful lakes ; next day they are lost amid a laby rinth of dry water-courses and impassable gullies. In the morning they are encompassed by the remains of petrified trees ; in the afternoon the air around them is perfumed by the fragrance of a sweet-scented shrub. Towards the end of the month the explorers cross ing the tropical line, entered the regions of the sun. The stream of the Claude stiU pursued its majestic course ; lagoons, covered with wUd-fowl, were met from time to time, and kangaroos in large numbers skipped over the grassy plains. Such were the appear ances presented to the explorers as they passed into the land where the sun, at the termination of his annual visit to the south, sheds vertical rays. Towards the middle of August the party were at a point where the river, now forming a series of deep broad reaches, brimful of pure water, was joined by a tributary from the south-west. The natives hereabouts regarded the visit of the whites with anything but friendly feelings. On one occasion, the camp was visited by seventeen aborigines, aU very strong men, some being upwards of six feet high. The leaders were an old man and a gigantic feUow of fewer years, who rudely laid hands on everything in the camp. 138 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. ill. Each of the seventeen carried three or four clubs, and they gave the explorers to understand, by signs, that the whole of the surrounding country belonged to their patriarchal chief. It was observed that the blacks scarcely ever came near the camp except when some of the party were absent. This time the leader and the surgeon were at a distance examining the river, and the blacks motioned the entire party to follow. Think ing these men might be able to give some useful in formation about the river, which they called the Bely ando, the men in charge of the camp treated them civilly, and, in order to detain them tiU the leader returned, induced them to sit down. Soon, however, a noisy altercation taking place between the aged chief and his colleague, the younger man rose, approached the tents, and beckoned to the others, some of whom advanced. The men in charge of the tents seized their muskets and fell into line ; and the appearance of this small force in compact order, and stiU more the aspect of their incomprehensible weapons, suddenly damped the courage of the black warriors. They stood still, and looked bewildered. At this moment the dogs of the Europeans ran at the strangers, barking furiously, and completed their discomfiture. They turned and fled, loudly laughed at by their companions, who stood at a distance, as well as by the Europeans. Y. The leader now resolved to return, having arrived at the conclusion that the river which he had foUowed so long did not lead to the Gulf of Carpentaria. The slight elevation of the country, moreover, left no doubt but that the division between the eastern and western waters, the discovery of which was now an object with the explorers, was to be sought farther westward. It was, accordingly, determined to retrace the wheel- tracks to the head of the Salvator, and to explore thence the country to the north-west. The journey so far was not without its important results. A hne of communication had been established between the colony and an important river leading to the eastern coast ; and thus was thrown open a country equal in point of pastoral resources to any hitherto discovered 184S.] EEMAEKABLE PHENOMENON. 13^ in Austraha, and greater in extent than aU the lands heretofore occupied by the colonists. On the 12th the party turned thefr faces in a homeward direction. Foot-prints on the line of march showed that they had been followed for a considerable distance by numbers of the aborigines. The shepherd, with his smaU flock, strayed away about this time, and was lost during a day and night. When found by one of the guides the man was in fuU march to the eastward, pursuing a course directly opposite to that in which his com panions were going. On the night of the 24th a re markable phenomenon was observed. A rushing wind from the west shook the tents ; then a whirUng mass of red hght passed to the southward, accompanied by a low booming sound. When the meteor reached the horizon, a loud report, Uke that of a cannon, shook the afr; so great was the concussion, that the boat vibrated in its carriage for minutes. On the 24th the party recrossed the line of Capricorn, and camped at one of their old resting places, having been exactly one month within the regions of tropical Aus traha. It was with feelings of regret they left behind the land of glowing sunbeams, for to them it had proved a region of pleasant hours and light promise. On the 1st September the camp was fixed on the open downs, about ten mUes from the Claude, and next day that river was recrossed. A few days later a posi tion was taken up in a mountain gorge, as a camp of occupation during the absence of the leader, on an in tended excursion to the north-east. Having completed his maps and written a despatch, on the 9th Sfr Tho mas set out, accompanied by three men, with the view to making a final effort to discover a river flowing into Carpentaria. Provisions for a month were borne on two pack-horses. Passing a smaU river, which re ceived the name of the Nine, the party arrived a few days later on the banks of a stream equal in every re spect to any they had hitherto encountered. The trees which lined the banks were traceable to the verge of the horizon. Flocks of cockatoos fiUed the air with their deafening chorus ; water-fowl in large numbers 140 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. HI. floated on the stream, or flew up and down over the reaches ; and columns of smoke ascending in various directions told that this rich and beautiful spot of crea tion was not wdthout its resident lord. The river flowed to the north-west. Pursuing the course of the stream towards the gulf, the explorers, up to the 23rd, passed two considerable tributaries, while the main stream was in various places equal to the Murray in width and depth. The country on either side was one of the finest regions hitherto seen in Austraha, Swarms of bees, remarkable for their smallness, sipped the sweets of innumerable flowers, and, notwithstand ing that the gatherer was not larger than a gnat, the black guide cut out abundance of honey from the trunks of decayed trees, nature providing for the sojourners in her wild domains a luxury which art could not improve.* Some blacks were met with ; but, according to a pre-determined arrangement, the party avoided making thefr acquaintance, and luckily the others did not force their companionship on the stran gers. On the 26th the latitude of the camp was 24° 12' 37", and here it was resolved to return, after devot ing the next day, which was Sunday, to necessary and appropriate rest. Selecting a name commensurate wdth the importance of a discovery which, in his opinion, opened up the future highway to the Indian Ocean, the leader caUed the new river Yictoria, in honour of the reigning sovereign. On the 6th October the excursionists rejoined thefr companions at the camp near the sources of the Nine. After a rest of four days, the leader and his party re sumed their homeward march, and on the 18th were at Kennedy's camp, after an absence of four months and fifteen days. The party under the Ueutenant were all well ; the cattle and sheep were safe, and in good con dition ; a stockyard had been formed, and a storehouse built ; a garden had been fenced in and cultivated, and now contained melons, cucumbers, and other simUar products. Only once did the people at the encamp ment have an interview wdth the natives. A woman * " Et durse quercus sudabant roscida mella." — Viegil, Eel. iv. 1846.] THE EXPEDITIOX EETUEXS TO THE METEOPOLIS. Ill very much advanced in years, and her daughter, were met by the commandant and one of the native guides. The young woman, at the approach of the strangers, sang a pleasing afr ; but the mother, who at ffrst con cealed herself among some reeds, rendered her naturaUy hideous person still more hideous by the rage with which she denounced the white men, as though she had a foresight of the decay of her race, which must fol low in the advent of the strangers. Breaking up the encampment, which had been so long estabhshed that it began to present some of the appearances of a regular settlement, the entfre party commenced, on the 22nd, their journey towards the colony, deviating sUghtly from their former track. As they advanced the hoof-marks of horses, pursuing the outward course of the expedition, proved that already the enterprising squatters had avaUed themselves of the new path in seeking territories, where flocks and herds, increasing in rapid ratio, would soon buUd up the fortunes of the lucky possessors. On the 21st November heavy rains set in, and the Balonne rising to a considerable height, and inundating the adjacent country, the explorers were detained by the waters for upwards of a fortnight. Resuming their journey on the 11th December, they crossed the Gwyder. This river, as forming the boundary of a country that had been for a considerable period the seat of colonization, was considered the goal of the exploring journey, which had now occupied twelve months all but one day. Two days later the leader set out for Sydney, and in a month the entire expedition had arrived in the metropohs. Such was the last of the great exploring enterprises conducted by Sfr Thomas MitcheU. In a new country, especiaUy in such a country as Australia, where but comparatively few large rivers present efficient means of communication between the coast and the distant interior ; where the privations to which traveUers in deserts and forests are always necessarily exposed, are aggravated by the absence of that abundance of water which permanent rivers alone afford ; and where the pecuhar geographical formation of the country, its vast 142 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. HI. extent, and its almost spherical form, make it necessary that journeys of exploration, to be effective, must be long and tedious ; — in such a country expeditions like that just described must be ranked with those enter prises and achievements which fill the histories of the older nations of the world, and excite the wonder and admiration of mankind. If the utUity and value of the object in view, and the number and greatness of the dangers encountered in pursuing that object, be taken into account, the achievements of the great ex plorers of Australia will rank with those which have immortalized many military heroes. For while it must be admitted that the upholding the honour and dignity of one's country in the field of battle and in arduous campaigns, is a work worthy the highest admiration, it must also be admitted that, amid difficulties and pri vations as great as ever beset an army engaged in warfare, to prepare the way for the establishment of numerous and important states, is an achievement which falls not below the standard of heroism. Several of the exploring expeditions of Mitchell and Leichhardt occupied periods of twelve months, during which time more than three thousand miles of country were in each instance traversed. In their progress pas sages of rivers were effected, mountains crossed, forests and tangled woods penetrated, and, lastly, hostile and sometimes formidable tribes encountered and repelled. Modern times present no achievements of a similar character which can bear comparison with these. It was impossible that America could present instances equally remarkable or praiseworthy, A country geographically so formed as at no point to he a great distance from the sea, having a vast line of sea- coast, abundantly provided wdth navigable rivers, and inhabited for the most part by a civilized, or par tially civilized, race of aborigines, — there exploration was a work more adventurous than necessary, more brilliant than useful. In ancient times we have, in the Expedition of the Ten Thousand, an achievement which suggests itself as one to which the Austrahan expedi tions bear some affinity. The Greek army, in fifteen 1343.] EAILWAY COXSTEUCTIOX COXSIDEEED. 143 months, accompUshed a journey of three thousand three hundred miles ; three of the five ex]Deditions hitherto recorded in this work show somewhat simUar results as to time and distance. If we compare the strength and resources avaUable in either case, the obstacles and difficulties to be overcome, and the end to be attained, we wiU find that greater honour belongs to the Austrahan explorers than to the Greek warriors. YI. The question of raUway construction largely occupied the attention of the colonists during this year. In January a meeting of persons favourable to that ob ject was held at Sydney, James Macarthur presiding. The meeting was numerous and influential, and many of the leading colonists took part in the proceedings. A committee was appointed to coUect information on the subject of raUways, and to report as to the feasi- bUity of the projected introduction of these works. This committee having some time subsequently brought forward a report, in May a company was formed for constructing raUways from Sydney to Goulbum, to the Hawkesbury, and to the Nepean. The title assumed by this very important association was the Great Southem and Western RaUway Company, its capital was to be one million, in fifty thousand shares, three- fourths of which were reserved for sale to British capitalists. The meeting at which the company was formed was a pubhc one, the mayor occupying the chair. At the commencement of the year inteUigence had been received in the colony that the formation of a company to construct a raUway from Sydney to the Hawkesbury had been proposed in England. The pro jectors were not connected with the colony, and doubtless the dread of being anticipated by EngUsh capitahsts had stirred up the colonists to that vigorous effort which they now made for advancing the ma terial prosperity of their country by the introduction of the most perfect means of internal communication hitherto devised. The projectors of the Enghsh com pany first broached that proposal which afterwards be came so popular, for covering the county Cumberland with a network of railways. 1^-* HISTOlii: OF NEW SOUTH WALES. ivai^r.iii. The proposal to connect the colony with the mother country by means of steam communication was re vived, and also occupied a large share of public atten tion. Steam communication with India, by way of the Red Sea, had been established since 1826. It was now proposed that a line of communication should be established by way of the Cape, and that a branch line should be carried to the Australian colonies. At a public meeting held in Sydney in March resolutions were adopted expressive of the interest felt by the co lonists in this scheme, and of a desire that means might be adopted for giving effect to the proposal. A com mittee was appointed to coUect information on the whole subject. In the succeeding month the com mittee brought forward their report, which was sub mitted to a public meeting and adopted. A series of resolutions, expressive of the desirabUity of the imme diate establishment of steam communication, and the readiness of the colonists to co-operate in any measure designed to effect that end, was at the same time agreed to. At this time the latest inteUigence from England was five months old, so that the colonists had the most direct and forcible evidence of the desirabi lity of a more effective means of communication. In August another meeting was held, and all the more influential merchants of the city taking part in the proceedings, memorials to the governor and Legislative Council were adopted, praying for aid towards the establishment of a steam postal service between the colony and Great Britain. The route by way of Sin gapore was that which this meeting recommended, and the recommendation was subsequently adopted by a committee of the Legislature. In May, the Council assembled for the despatch of business. The governor, in his opening speech, an nounced that the approaching expiration of some im portant laws led to the calling together of the House at an earlier period than he otherwise would have chosen. He was happy to renew his assurances of confidence in the public resources, and he repeated his declaration made at the close of last session, that in 1840.] THE goveenoe's SELF-CONGEATULATIONS. 146 his opinion, at no time from the period during which he had held the chief administration of the govern ment had the general affairs of the colony been in a more healthy state than at present. The public ex penditure continued to be within the public income, and, notwithstanding the reduction in the duties on spirituous liquors, the revenue derived from the duties of customs for the first quarter of this year exceeded that of the (jorre spending quarter of last year. Then the excess of the exports over the imports, which for the first time in the history of the colony was observ able in 1844, was stUl more marked in 1846. His excellency proceeded to remark that he could not refrain from expressing the gratification which he felt in re flecting that his administration of the public affairs of New South Wales had been sufficiently prolonged to enable him, before his departure, to see the colony restored to a state of prosperity. Nor could he address the House for the last time, as in all probability he then did, without feeling awakened within him a grate ful recollection of the important changes which, under his government, had taken place in the social and moral, as well as political condition of New South Wales — changes which, he trusted, would be dwelt upon with pride and satisfaction by them and their descen dants long after the memory of less important events connected wdth the history of their times should have passed away. The address in reply was studiously cold, and con fined even more than such addresses usually are to mere recapitulation. That the Council had cause of complaint against the governor they hinted by remark ing that, " the anxiety which they expressed in their address of last session to be informed of the answers of her Majesty's government to addresses transmitted by them on various important questions remained un abated ; nor could the deep interest which they felt on those questions cease until they were settled in a satis factory manner." They responded to his excellency's self-congratulations by remarking that, "they could not close their address without adverting to the nume- l^O HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. iciiar. ui. reus and important changes which had occurred during the period of his exceUency' s administration in the social, moral, and political condition of New South Wales — changes, from some of which, in common with his excellency, they anticipated the most favourable results." The first duty of the House was the election of a new speaker, Macleay having resigned that office as the result of old age and length of service. Dr. Nichol son was chosen to fill the vacant office. Scarcely had the House entered on the business of the session, ere the old contest between the Executive and the Legislature was revived. The Crown Lands Occupation Act expired in June, and the Council having been asked to renew it, rejected the bUl introduced for that purpose after a debate of two days. The main ground of rejection was that while under the existing law the Crown claimed the exclusive control of the waste lands, the Council maintained that this control was vested jointly in the Crown and the Legislature. In reply to an argumeijt advanced during the debate, that the refusal to renew the bill would deprive the squatters of police protection, it was pointed out that the government had in hand a balance of seventeen thousand pounds, derived from squatting taxes, which, as originally intended, might be applied exclusively to the purposes of protection. The grounds on which the House refused to renew the biU were embodied in an address to the governor, which was adopted as an amendment on the original proposition. The address set forth the anxiety of the legislature " to extend to the squatting districts the means of preserving peace and order, and to confer on them some portion of those civil institutions from which his exceUency saw fit so long to debar them. They were ready to co-operate in organising and supporting for those districts an effi cient police, and establishing courts of petty sessions, with the understanding that the police so constituted should not be employed directly or indirectly in col lecting the revenue which the executive claimed to de rive from the waste lands, or in enforcing in any other 1846.] EEJECTION OF CEOWN LANDS' BILL. 147 manner the alleged rights of the Crown." The se veral reasons advanced by the House were thus summed up : — First, Because the CoimcU was not disposed to continue those summary powers which were used to support the claim to tax by prerogative alone, the va- Udity of w^hich, as representatives of the people, they could never recognize. Secondly, Because his excel lency had repeatedly stated that her Majesty was ab solute owner of the waste lands of the territory ; and that her prerogative was sufficient for their manage ment, propositions which, if true, rendered the inter ference of the Council unnecessary. Thirdly, Because they did not feel justified in imposing any particular tax on the squatters so long as the executive claimed, in the name of her Majesty, the right to tax them to any extent they thought proper. Fourthly, Because the powers conferred by the commissioners of Crown lands by those acts which it was sought to renew, were most arbitrary and unconstitutional. Fifthly, Because those acts were passed with the understanding that the license-fee should not be increased, an understand ing which was disregarded by his excellency in the regulations of April 2, 1844, as well as in subsequent despatches and regulations. And, Sixthly, because his exceUency' s new regulations were made without con sulting the Council, and were carried out in spite of their most earnest remonstrances." The address was carried by a majority of nineteen to ten, the majority being aU representatives, whUe the minority consisted exclusively of nominees. The governor's answer was brief, yet not so brief but that it afforded the House matter for discussion. His excellency remarked that " he was happy to say that this address was one which required no reply, and he did not intend to give any. He had thought it right to give the CouncU an opportunity of passing the bill in question, if they thought fit. Perhaps he thought they would not pass it ; they had not ; but he did not see why, on that account, the responsibility should be cast on him." These remarks, which -were as little respectful as the address which called them forth was 148 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. HI. blunt, brought the contest to a crisis. The Council re solved that they would not transact any more business, passing not even the estimates, tUl the new governor, who was daily expected, should have arrived ; and a re solution was passed, on motion of Wentworth, adjourn ing the sittings till the 21st of July. Gipps was deter mined that at the very close of his administration he would not suffer a defeat at the hands of those for whom he had heretofore proved himself a match ; and in this instance he completely outwitted his opponents. The Council, in adjourning for a month, were prepared to carry on a great part of their business through the committees which had been appointed. The governor issued a proclamation proroguing the House tUl the 25th of August, by which means he at once prevented the sitting of the committees, and punished the mem bers by inconveniently prolonging their labours. On the 10th of July Gipps finally retired at once from the contest and from the colony. On that day he embarked preparatory to returning to England. Pre vious to his embarkation, an address from the inhabitants of Sydney was presented to him, Dawell the barrister acting for the citizens on the occasion. The address expressed the deep regret which the colonists felt at his retirement from the high office which he had occupied amongst them. In doing this the addressers said they felt they would perform an act of imperfect justice if they did not at the same time bear testimony to thefr esti mation of that indefatigable industry on the part of his exceUency which, unrelaxed by a consciousness of su perior talents, had spared no study to understand, and no zeal to promote the true interests of the colony. They would also on this occasion testify their high es timation of that strict impartiality which had pre eminently distinguished the administration which had just closed, and which had determined his excellency through his career of office to govern, not for the benefit of a section, but as well prospectively as imme diately for the advantage of the whole community. His excellency's labours had not been without their reward, for they felt assured that it must be a source of proud 184'5.] EETIEEMEXT OF GOVEENOE GIPPS. 149 satisfaction to him that his retirement from the govern ment took place at a moment when the fairest hopes might be safely entertained of increased and augmented prosperity. This address had five thousand seven hun dred and fifty-five signatures. Gipps in his reply said it was indeed a proud satisfaction to him to be enabled to bear with him into the retirement of private life so unequivocal a proof as was presented by this address, of his having won the esteem of the great body of the people whom, as representative of her Majesty, he had been caUed to govern. Prompted by the inward con sciousness of his heart, he would boldly say that they had only done justice to him in testifying that he had laboured to the best of his abUity to advance the true interests of this land — ^interests which he conscien tiously beheved must for ages to come be inseparably connected with the parent state. Thus retired a governor, of whom it may be said that he was a worthy successor of him who preceded. As it was in the power of a narrow-minded or mis chievous man to have marred to some extent that superstructure of civil and religious liberty which had been raised up by Bourke, so Gipps, in so far as he had strengthened and enlarged the edifice, is entitled to no small portion of the high merit which belongs thereto. Nor could it be said that he was an imitator of Bourke. The originality and talent which he displayed through out his^'Bntire career precludes the idea. On several occasions he proved that he was one of those who formed his own conclusions, even in momentous mat ters, and that, haAdng made up his mind on any subject, he lacked not zeal and abihty to carry his views into effect. His opposition to the scheme of land mono poly at New Zealand, and the decided course which he adopted in reference to the squatting regulations, are lasting memorials that he was endo'n-ed with those qualities which distinguish the statesman from the man of mere routine. As an orator, he occupies a degree of pre-eminence amongst the government of New South Wales. On several occasions, especiaUy in his speech on the New Zealand land question, his language rose to the level of true eloquence, and, were he not governor, there is reason to think that he would have been one of the most effective debaters in the Legislature. The measure by which his name has chiefly been ren dered conspicuous, and by which more especially he is to be judged, is that which excited against his adminis tration and his person the opposition and enmity of the numerous and influential class of persons engaged or interested in pastoral pursuits. In this matter strict impartiality must decide in his favour. The case was one of those wherein a want of system prevailed in a matter too important to be influenced by any other than the most certain or well-defined rules. Sooner or later this state of things must have been corrected, or else the state and the community, including even the squatters themselves, must have suffered. The new burdens which were imposed by the amended regula tions were comparatively trifling, and if the period selected for the change were slightly inopportune, which is very doubtful, it is probable that no period could be chosen when some equally plausible argument would not have been found by those who were inter ested in maintaining the existing stafe of things. Under all circumstances, we cannot but respect that sense of duty which prompted Gipps, at the risk of the greatest personal interest, to reduce to a system a branch of the administration which certainly presented some anoma lies, and we cannot but admire that disinterestedness which led him at an advanced date in the period for which he held office to undertake a reform which, pre senting the greatest danger to whomsoever might approach it, he might without censure have left to the management of his successors. In the eyes of the mul titude who silently watched his boat slowly gliding from the beach, his enfeebled frame and careworn features were the best proofs that he had laboured well in the cause of their country, and that his exertions were ever under the influence of a deep sense of his responsibilities, YII, On the 2nd August the new governor. Sir Charles Fitz-Roy, arrived at Sydney, and on the 3rd 184«.] SIE CHAELES PITZ-EOY's AEEIVAL. 151 was instaUed at Government House. Sfr Charles was the third son of General Lord Charles Fitz-Roy, who was brother of the first Duke of Grafton. He was born in 1796, and married, in 1820, Mary, the fourth daughter of the fourth Duke of Richmond. He was formerly governor of Prince Edward's Island, and in 1841 was appointed Governor and Commander-in- Chief of Antigua and the adjacent islands of the West Indies. He was received in New South Wales with good auguries, the general opinion pronouncing him to be one whose affabUity and courtesy indicated at once that he was a high-born British gentleman. One of the first official duties which the new governor was caUed on to perform, was the receiving a deputation on the subject of raUways. The pro visional committee, appointed by the public meeting, had just brought forward thefr report, which was favourable to the undertaking of a class of works which it was asserted would be comparatively cheap as weU as remunerative, and the deputation waited on the governor for the purpose of bringing those recom mendations under the attention of the executive. Sir Charles received them favourably, expressing himself friendly to the object which they had in view, and promising every assistance which, after due considera tion, he might find to be reasonable and proper. About this time was broached that proposal to revive transportation to the colony, which, hencefor ward, will be found to absorb pubhc attention for some considerable period, almost to the exclusion of every other topic, exciting in the people of the whole group of colonies an aU but revolutionary feehng, and im pressing upon them stUl more forcibly the necessity of having complete control over thefr own affairs, by shaking their confidence in the justice andwisdom of her Majesty's advisers. Attention was first drawn to the subject by hints thrown out in despatches from Down ing Street, that if New South Wales would accept a limited number of convicts for the purpose of carrying on such public works as roads and bridges, she could have them and welcome, an intimation being at the ±Uij HlSTUKi Ul*' JNJEW KOUTH WALES. LUB.ji.r. ±i.,. same time made, that there was no intention to force convicts on the colony. The proposal was received, so far as public opinion could be judged by the ordinary indication, with universal disdain. In September the CouncU reassembled. The cere mony of initiating the sittings was unusually naked. The governor, in his speech, said, that " in addressing the Council for the first 'time, it afforded him much satisfaction to believe that he was justified in con gratulating them on the general prosperity of the country — a prosperity which was the more remarkable, inasmuch as the colony was only just emerging from those difficulties which were experienced under that monetary depression which affected all classes of the community. The extraordinary advancement which the colony had already attained in the spheres of na tional industry and commerce, and in the establishment of public and private institutions for poUtical and social purposes, was, he said, as striking to a stranger as it was beneficial and creditable to the inhabitants, and it would ever be his pleasing duty to encourage its pro gress. It was his most earnest desire, in administering the government, to act on impartial, just, and consti tutional principles, and to promote such measures as were conducive to the well-being, happiness, and com fort of the community, and he took that opportunity of declaring with perfect sincerity, that he assumed the responsible trust which his sovereign had confided to his care, unfettered by pre-conceived opinion on any subject affecting the interests of any class of her Ma jesty's subjects. In order to familiarize himself with the country and its people, he proposed to visit, during the recess, several of the country districts, and also Port PhiUip. Should he be permitted to fuffil these intentions, he hoped that he might, when they met again, be prepared to submit such measures for their consideration as would tend to the maintenance of harmony, the advancement of the pubhc interest, and the establishment of confidence, on the part of the com munity at large, in his administration of affairs." To this speech, which was frank and confiding in a more 1816] THE TE_\XSP0ETATI0X QUESTION. 153 than usual degree, a reply was given which was more than usuaUy a mere echo. The Executive at once adopted a proceeding which proved the sincerity of the promises of the new governor. They surrendered to the CouncU the control over cer tain revenues which the governor formerly assumed the right to appropriate, by virtue of acts of Par hament — an assurcption which had been the fruitful source of coUision between the Executive and the Legislature. In October the question of transportation was brought formaUy before the CouncU. The governor had received a despatch from the new Secretary of State, Gladstone, on this subject, the contents of which, although marked "Private and confidential," he laid before the House. The despatch approached the subject by a passage, to the effect, that " while her Majesty's government were desfrous to lessen the number of convicts annuaUy sent to Yan Diemen's Land, they were also disposed to doubt whether, even independent of any regard to the state of things in that colony, it was to be desfred that the absolute exclusion of transported convicts from New South Wales should continue." In another part of the despatch, the Secre tary of State, whUe admitting that convicts would not be sent to New South Wales wdthout the consent of the colonists, spoke of a promise aUeged to have been made in 184'), that no more convicts would be sent to New South Wales, as a " report." The colonists who were opposed to a return to the degrading imputation, adduced a report of a committee of the House of Com mons, of date 1837, which wound up by recommending " that transportation to New South Wales should be discontinued as soon as practicable." In order stUl farther to show that transportation had been formally discontinued, they adduced a notice which appeared in a "Gazette" of November, 1837, to the effect that a notification had been received from the Secretary of State that it was the intention of her Majesty's go vernment to discontinue, at the earhest possible period, the assignment of convicts to private service. Then lO-a- HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. Lchap hi. came the proclamation announcing the discontinuance of assignment. Another notice, dated 8th October, 1839, announced, " that the governor directed a fur ther notification to be made to the colonists, informing them that, by a despatch from the Marquis of Nor manby, dated 11th May, 1839, his exceUency was instructed that all convicts arriving in future from the United Kingdom, should be transferred to Norfolk Island as soon as preparations for their reception were made in that settlement." But the crowning act, in which the anti-transportationists relied — namely, the promise — was the Order in CouncU made " at the Court at Buckingham Palace, on the 22nd May, 1840, present, the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty in Council," by which all former Orders in Council, dfrecting felons to be transported, amongst other places, to New South Wales, were revoked ; and by which it was ordered, " that from and after the 1st August, 1840, the islands of Yan Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island, and the islands adjacent thereto, and comprised within the government of Yan Diemen's Land, should be the places to which felons and other offenders in the United Kingdom, then being, or thereafter to be under sentence of transportation, should be conveyed." At the same time it was ordered, that the governors of colonies should appoint places whither felons under sentence should be transported, " provided that neither Bermuda, nor any of her Majesty's colonies in New Holland or in the Southern Ocean, be so appointed for that purpose." Such were the several acts which the colonists very properly regarded, taken altogether, as an agreement on the part of the home government that New South Wales should no longer be a penal colony ; and such were the evidences which the Secretary of State spoke of as existing only by report. " You are aware," said Gladstone, " that the practice has been, for some years- past, to exclude New South Wales from the sentence of transportation passed in this country, and that this practice is commonly reported to rest on nothing less than a promise from her Majesty's government, made 18M.] FIEST ANTI-TEANSPOETATION MEETING. 165 in or about the year 1839, that transportation to New South Wales should cease." Wentworth obtained (October) a select committee of the Legislative Council " to inquire into and report on the despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colo nies to Governor Sfr Charles Augustus Fitz-Roy, of date 30th of AprU, respecting the renewal of trans portation." He spoke favourably of the system which it was proposed to revive, and his views were adopted and advocated by Dangar, Macarthur, and others. They said that the colony was afready suffering the worst evils of transportation, in the influx of expfrees from Yan Diemen's Land, without experiencing any of its advantages ; and to show that the moral and social evils of direct transportation were imaginary rather than real, they pointed to the many famUies who, whUe they had sprung from this system, did credit, they said, to the colony. Out of the House the opponents of the proposed measure were not idle. The first anti-transportation meeting was held pn the 22nd of October. Charles Cow^r presided. A resolution was moved by Charles CampbeU, to the effect " That this meeting had heard with the deepest feeling of alarm and regret that it was proposed to renew the system of transportation to this colony, and they could not conceive any cfr cumstances under which such a measure would be desfrable or justifiable." The resolution was seconded by the Rev. John McEncroe, and having been unani mously adopted, a petition to the same purport was prepared for presentation to the Legislative CouncU, and so strong and general was the feehng of aversion to a return to conviction, that in four days seven thou sand signatures were attached. From the country also numerously signed petitions were received, embodying the same prayer. The petition of the inhabitants of Sydney was pre sented to thfe CouncU towards the close of the session, and on the last day of the assembhng of the House, preparatory to prorogation, a motion for the printing of the petition was negatived, so much at variance was 156 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP ill. opinion within the House and out of doors on the sub ject of transportation. On the very same day the select committee brought up their report. At the first meeting of the committee, six members being present, it was resolved, " That in the opinion of the committee it was not expedient to take any evidence at that late period of the session as to the question whether a mo dified and carefully-regulated introduction of convict labourers, or the renewal of transportation, would be in accordance with the general sense of the colonists or not, and that it was the less necessary on their part to enter on that branch of the inquiry, as they felt that they possessed sufficient knowledge to answer the question without going into any evidence." The report, which, under these circumstances, was simply an expression of the opinion of the members of the committee, commenced by remarking that, "It seemed clear that the despatch, taken altogether, amounted to an unequivocal declaration, not only that convicts would be sent to any part of the colony disposed to receive them, but that they would be. sent, whether the colony or any portion of it inclined to their recep tion or not, if the concurrence of the Legislative CouncU could be obtained. Such being the evident meaning of the despatch, the committee came to the conclusion that it would be a mere waste of time to enter on an inquiry whether the revival of transportation was or was not in accordance with the general sense of the colonists, since whatever might be the determination of the committee on that question, it was obvious that the general sense of the colonists would not prevail either against the general sense of any particular sec tion of the colony, or against the general sense of the House, which might be arrived at by a mere motion, without any inquiry at aU." These views of the committee were based on a de spatch to the effect, that " it would be acceptable to her Majesty's government, if the members of the Legislative Council of the colony showed a disposition to concur in the opinion, that a modified and carefully- regulated introduction of convict labourers into New :-^''. PEOPOSED EEXEWAL OF" TRAXSPOETATIOX. 157 South Wales, or into some part of it, might, under present circumstances, be advisable." This passage, however, obviously did not bear out the conclusion arrived at by the committee, especially when taken in connection with a preceding passage, to the effect that, " it was the intention of her Majesty's government to respect the general sense of the coloxists, in their de liberations on this important subject." The committee also took it for granted, that if New South Wales were against transportation, stUl the Secretary of State would renew the system by sending criminals to Port Philhp. The words of the despatch on which they based thefr assumption were to the effect, that " it was the intention of her Majesty's government not to alter the present practice as to the transportation of crimi nals, so far as New South Wales was concerned, without the general approval of the colony, or of the portion of it to be affected by such alteration." The com mittee went on to say, that " if the Secretary of State were prepared to discontinue the transportation of the convicts of the British empfre to each of the Austra lian colonies, and thus practicaUy, as weU as nominally, free the continent from thefr presence, they begged, un- equivocaUy, to state that such a course was that which they conceived would be most generaUy conducive to the interests, and agreeable to the inclination, of those whom it must directly and ultimately concern." See ing, however, that transportation to Yan Diemen's Land was to be continued, and that a convict colony 'ivas to be formed to the north, so that New South Wales would be in a position to be indirectly inundated with convictism, it was a question worthy of conside ration " whether it was expedient that transportation should be renewed in a dfrect form, on equitable con ditions, or whether it was desirable that it should vir tually exist in the indirect and poUuted shape, which, as far as this colony was concerned, it had afready as sumed; whether, in short, they were to have this double tide of much contamination flowing in without check or restraint, and without any counteracting advantages, or whether, along with whatever compensations with 168 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. which transportation could be surrounded, they would have the additional advantage of modifying the now inevitable introduction of convictism, by the knowledge which fifty years' experience of its working had given them, and which would, at all events, enable them to combine, with the greatest possible good derivable from it, the least possible admixture of evil." " This being, in the views of the committee, the true state of the question raised for the decision of the colonists and the House, by the despatch under consideration, the committee had arrived at the conclusion that the only safe alternative left to the colony was to accede to the proposition, that a modified and carefully-regulated introduction of convict labourers into New South Wales, or into some part- of it, might, under existing circumstances, be advisable." In thus proposing to submit to an open renewal of transportation, the com mittee had prepared certain conditions which they proposed should be a part of the arrangements by which their recommendations were to be carried out. These were : — (1.) That no alteration should be made in the constitution. Act 5 and 6 Yictoria, except with the view to the extension of the elective principle; (2.) that the transportation of male convicts shotdd be accompanied, as a simultaneous measure, with the importation of an equal number of females — these to consist of female convicts, so far as such existed, and the balance to be made up of female immigrants ; (3.) that, as a further simultaneous measure, such trans portation should be accompanied with an equal impor tation of free immigrants, as nearly as possible in equal proportion as to sexes ; (4.) that the wives and famUies of all convicts receiving permanent or tempo rary indulgences should be brought to the colony, and be reckoned as a part of the free immigration ; (5.) that no less than five thousand male convicts should be annually deported to the colony ; (6.) that convict establishments, properly so caUed, such as Norfolk Island, Cockatoo Island, gangs of criminals under colonial sentence, and so on, should be maintained, as heretofore, at the cost of the British treasury ; (7.) 1S46.] OUTCEY AGAINST COAL MONOPOLY. 159 that two-thirds the expenses of the police, gaols, and the criminal administration of justice, should be paid by the home government ; but that on the relinquishment of the land fund and aU other revenues or droits of the Crown to the appropriation of the governor and Legis lative CouncU, the whole of this branch of the conrict expenditure should be assumed by the colony, with the view to aid the British government in defraying the cost of the free immigration stipulated for in the second and third conditions. The committee also re commended that no system of management should be introduced thereafter by which the convicts would be aggregated in masses, and also, as a consequence of the preceding recommendations, that the assignment system should be returned to with renewed careful ness. YIII. The anti-transportationists were nothing daunted by the rebuffs and the discom'agement which they met with at the hands of the Legislative CouncU. The House having refused to print the petition, and the report being about to be forwarded to England by the ffrst vessel, a meeting of the anti-transportation committee was at once held, at which a memorial to the governor was adopted, setting forth aU the facts which had transpfred in reference to the matter, and praying his exceUency to transmit official copies of the petition to England, and to use his influence to prevent the colony being again made a penal settle ment. The governor's reply was very favourable. He stated, " That he would forward the memorial, as weU as the petition, to her Majesty's ministers at the earhest opportunity. He could use no influence, how ever, for he had none in this matter. His duty was simply to report, as impartiaUy as he could, all that he could ascertain respecting the opinions of the colo nists. They might rest assured, however, that the government did not wish to force transportation on the colony against the wishes of the colonists, and that Mr. Gladstone's despatch was written in perfect good faith." The prevaUing sentiment throughout the country 160' HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap.iii. with regard to the report was one of detestation, the press universally denouncing it in unmeasured terms, while its appearance was followed by the almost si multaneous holding of anti-transportation meetings aU over the country. In the course of this year an outcry was raised in the colony against the monopoly of coal by the Australian Agricultural Company. Up to 1828 the mines at New castle were managed by the government, but the work progressing unsatisfactorily it was deemed expedient to transfer the mines to the company, who had made a proposal to the government for working them. Ac cordingly, in pursuance of this arrangement, a tract of five hundred acres on the banks of the Coal river at Newcastle, including the works up to that period car ried on by the government, was granted. This was done said Gipps, in the document notifying the transfer, not as a matter of favour, but on public grounds, for he was averse on principle to the carrying on of works of this description as government concerns. The condi tions on which the transfer was made were to the effect that the ground might be resumed by the Crown if in any year the company raised a less quantity of coal than two-thirds the weight of that which, in the average of three years ending December, 1828, was raised from the mines when worked by the government. Also, that the government should be entitled in per petuity to all coal wanted for their own consumption, not exceeding in any case one-fourth the average an nual produce, to be delivered at the pit's mouth ali prime cost. What the public chiefly complained of, however, was, that for thirty-one years no land con taining coal could be granted without a specific excep tion of the mineral fuel from the grant in conveyance, nor could any assistance in the shape of convict labour for working any coal mine be afforded to any other company without the previous sanction of the govern ment at home — " a sanction," said the notification, " which would probably be granted if the company availed themselves of their monopoly to impose an exor bitant price on coal, the produce of those mines." "!«•] TESTIMONIAL TO MES. CHISHOLM. 161 The immediate cause of public attention being di rected to this subject was the constantly increasing- demand for coal for the purposes of steam navigation, for manufactories worked by steam, and for domestic consumption. The general opinion was that the ar rangement by which the mines were placed under the exclusive control of the company, however weU meant, was unjust and injurious ; audit was suggested that the company should receive a money compensation for the unexpired term of their lease. In the course of this year a testimonial, valued at two hundred guineas, was presented to Mrs. Carohne Chisholm, who was about to proceed to England for the purpose of promoting a systematic colonization to New South Wales. A case of seduction, which oc curred in Sydney in the early part of the year, aroused a good deal of interest. The victim was the daughter of a respectable tradesman of the city, the seducer was Captain Cockbum, of the 11th Regiment. The girl was in the barracks for several days, and when her fiiends, having found her whereabouts, applied to the colonel for authority to rescue her, they were told that the captain's quarters were hke those of a private gentleman, and could not be interfered with by the mihtary authorities. EventuaUy, the Commander of the Forces ordered the gfrl to be given up. Robert CampbeU, the oldest estabhshed merchant of the colony, died in AprU. He had purchased the property which afterwards became so celebrated as "The Wharf," for £1,090, and had received a grant of two thousand five hundred and sixty acres in the interior. In August a meeting was held, at which measures were taken for coUecting subscriptions to relieve the famine prevailing in Ireland and Scotland, in consequence of the failure of the crops in those countries. The mayor presided, and several of the most influential persons in the com munity took part in the proceedings. SimUar meetings were subsequently held in various parts of the interior, and large sums were subscribed for the benevolent pur pose in question. Some murders were committed by the blacks in the course of this year. In October the M 162 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CIIAP. m. governor started on his promised tour through the colony, visiting Bathurst in the first instance. His excellency subsequently visited the squatting districts, being the first governor who entered these remote regions. At the close of the year intelligence was received in the colony that an act had passed the Im perial Parliament giving the squatters fourteen years' leases, the details of the new arrangement being left to the Queen in Council. The change in their position, from tenants at will to established holders, gave general satisfaction to the pastoral community. A scene some what derogatory to the legal profession, occurred in the Supreme Court. At the close of the year Windeyer and DaweU, two barristers, employed on opposite sides in a cause brought before the court, having had an altercation of more than usual warmth, the former called the latter a har, when Dawell struck the insulter with the brief which he held in his hand. The other put himself in a fighting attitude, and nothing but the interference of an officer of the court prevented the scene becoming still more incompatible wdth the place where it was witnessed. The chief justice, who pre sided, punished the contempt by sending Windeyer to gaol for twenty days, and DaweU for fourteen. A census, completed in this year, showed the population of the colony on the 2nd of March to be 189,609. Of these 114,769 were males, 74,840 females. The only event of importance which occurred at Port Phillip was the holding of a public meeting, at which resolutions favourable to the introduction of railways were adopted. 1847.] For the first two months of the year the question of transportation and the necessity there was of providing a supply of that labour of which the colony stood so much in need, divided the pubhc attention. The fact speaks eloquently in favour of the colonists, that, at the very time when they were strenuously op posing the renewal of the importation of convict labour, they also had unusual inducements to accept of it; The scarcity of labour which prevailed at this time enabled them to prove, as they did, that they regarded transpor- 1817.] ANTI-TRANSPOETATION MEETING AT POET PHILLIP. 163 tation, not merely as an evil, but as one of such great magnitude that large sacrifices ought to be made to send it away. In two instances in which meeting.s were called for the purpose of making a demonstration in favour of transportation, amendments were carried which went to condemn the proposed measure. At Port PhUUp an anti-transportation meeting was held, which formed the most important demonstration ever made in that district, and a memorial to the Legislative CouncU agamst the proposal of the Secretary of State was unanimously adopted. The Port PhiUip petition ers admitted the scarcity of labour in which the pro- transportationists based thefr views ; but this evil, they contended, was the least of the two ; for the convict system was an evU of colossal magnitude, and so fraught with perU to the moral and social well-being of society that nothing but an inordinate love of money could in duce any one to look upon it without horror and dis gust. They protested against the introduction of cri minals in any form or on any terms into thefr district, asserting that, as the great majority of Port PhiUipians had immigrated under an assurance of the home go vernment that the district was never to be regarded as a penal colony, and, moreover, that from the year 1 839 transportation to the Sydney district should cease, it would be manifestly unjust to introduce convicts into the Port Philhp district wdthout the consent of every inhabitant. The favourite theme of separation was not left untouched, the petitioners hinting that if the land fund of Port PhiUip were appUed exclusively for the advantage of the district, there would be no lack of free immigration, and consequently of labour. The neces sity of forming a peasantry was spoken of, and an opinion expressed that the wasteful extravagance, the vices, and the instabihty of the great bulk of convicts, unfitted them to assume the respectable position of peasants. In May the Council assembled. The governor, in his opening speech, congratulated the colony on the general condition of its affairs, especially on the great abundance, the remarkable cheapness, and the excellent 164 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. hi. quality of all the necessaries of life, which were not to be surpassed by any country. The revenue was an nounced to be in a flourishing condition, although there was a slight falling off in the receipts, owing to the discontinuance of assessment in stock beyond the settled districts, and the reduction of the duties on spirits. The amount afready at the credit of the Crown revenue would enable the government to pay off in the course of the present year the whole of the outstanding debentures, amounting to nearly £100,000, issued to meet the expense of immigration in former years. As this would leave the territorial revenue whoUy unen cumbered, he had, on the urgent sohcitation of the colonists, recommended to her Majesty's government the immediate resumption of immigration to the amount of five thousand statute adults, and hoped that the first ship-load of these would arrive towards the close of the year. He urged upon the Council the expe diency of devising efficient measures for putting into a proper state of repair the great lines of thoroughfare, and he would be happy to concur in the expenditure for this object of any sums which could be justly spared from other purposes. He had much pleasure in an nouncing to the Council the determination at which her Majesty's government had arrived, to surrender to the colonial legislature the right of appropriating the casual revenue of the Crown coUected in the colony. The Secretary of State, in a despatch referring to this sub ject, had intimated that " the sum set apart for the civil list was as large a part of the revenue of the colony, other than the land revenue, as Parliament had designed to withdraw, or as it was desirable to with draw from the control of the local legislature. On the part of her Majesty's government he disclaimed any wish to augment that deduction." Under this decision, proceeded his exceUency, it would be his duty in future to place at the disposal of the CouncU the appropriation of the casual revenue or droits of the Crown ; the terri torial or land revenue being, as heretofore, subject to be appropriated under the direction of her Majesty's government. i'^'"-l TEAXSPOETATIOX SYSTEM OPPOSED.' 165 The address of the CouncU in reply was somewhat more lengthy than usual, and was a cordial response to the speech. One of the first acts of the CouncU was the appoint ment of a committee to consider and report upon the existing demand for labour, and the best means of ob taining an adequate supply thereof On this occasion the House in some degree compensated for its back- sUding in the matter of convictism by negativing a pro posal that the committee be instructed to consider the practicabUity of having immigrants from China, India, and Polynesia. A series of resolutions relative to the management of the waste lands, one of the principal of which was to the effect that the upset price of £1 per acre was too much, were negatived by the previous question. In asking a resolution of the CouncU in favour of the re duction of the price of land, Lowe, the mover, sought to re-affirm a resolution adopted by the CouncU in Sep tember 1846, to the effect "that, whUe the minimum upset price of £1 per acre was maintained, the squat ting question would never be settled on a just and satisfactory basis." The transportation question had now slumbered for some months when, in' the month of August, Cowper in his place in the CouncU moved a resolution to the effect that the House " disapproved of the principles and re commendation of the report of the committee appointed on the 13th of October of the preceding year, respect ing the renewal of transportation to the colony, and desfred to record the expression of its opinion that a return to the system of transportation and assignment was opposed to the wishes of the community, and would also be most injuiious to the moral, social, and political advancement of the colony." This resolution was adopted by a majority of eleven to seven, the Coun cU thus admitting the potency of that pubhc opinion which had been so largely expressed on this subject since the preceding session. Transportation having been so far dealt wdth, the colonists now adopted a petition to the Legislative 166 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.III. Council, praying that immigration should be carried on to a still larger extent than was spoken of in the gover nor's speech. It was suggested that funds should be raised for this purpose by the issue of debentures secured on the territorial revenue, and, in the event of that source being found insufficient to supply the sum annually required, that the liquidation of the principal and interest should be provided for by an annual rate, to be levied on all employers of labour in proportion to the number of persons in their employment. Nor was the Council itself less impressed than the public at large with the necessity of procuring an immediate and abundant supply of labour. A report of a com mittee of the Council, dated 11th of September, for cibly urged on the House the importance of reviving immigration on a large scale. The question was one, they said, which "involved the consideration of all but the immediate ruin of every employer of labour, and the ultimate annihilation of those sources of pro fitable industry and enterprise, in the exercise and development of which the prosperity of the colony depended. The Council adopted a series of resolutions founded on this report. They declared that there existed an urgent demand for labour, that this demand was daily increasing, and was more pressing than any that had been experienced at any former period ; that the colony presented the means for the immediate employment and advantageous settlement of twenty thousand per sons in the next twelve months ; and that the territorial i-evenue afforded ample security for even a larger sum than it was necessary to expend in introducing that number ; that it was desirable that a loan of one million, secured on the territorial revenue of the colony, and guaranteed by the Imperial Parliament in accordance with the precedent established in the case of Canada, should be raised in England for immigration purposes ; and that, failing to secure such guarantee, the Council approved of the plan which had been proposed for the issue of debentures secured on the territorial revenues, in payment for immigration. 15!7.] PASTOEAL LEASES. 167 Among the measures passed this session, was one for assessing stock beyond the bounds of location. In October the Council was prorogued, and thus terminated its fifth, and, consequently, its last session. IX. The new squatting regulations were received in the colony in July. By these the pubhc lands were divided into three classes, the settled, the intermedi ate, and the unsettled. The settled lands comprised the nineteen original counties, together with the coun ties of East and West Macquarie, aU land within twenty-five mUes from Melbourne, fifteen from Gee- long, and ten from several other towns which were specified, including Bathurst, aU lands within three rnUes from the sea and within two mUes from the Glenelg, the Clarence, and the Richmond rivers. The intermediate districts comprehended, with the excep tion of those parts included in the settled districts, the counties of Bourke, Normanby, Grant, and Auckland, the district of Gipps' Land, and any counties which might be fixed and proclaimed before the 31st of De cember, 1848. The unsettled districts comprehended aU the remaining portions of New South Wales. The governor was empowered to grant, in the un settled districts, leases for pastoral purposes for terms not .exceeding fourteen years, with permission to the lessee to cultivate for his own use, but not for sale or barter. The rent for each run was to be proportioned to the number of sheep or cattle which it would bear, at the rate of ten pounds for every four thousand sheep, and two pounds ten shiUings for every additional one thousand. The quantity of stock which a station would feed was to be determined by two valuers, one to be named by the occupier, the other by the com missioner of Crown lands, and by a referee appointed by these ; and the rents were not to interfere wdth any existing or future assessment of rates and taxes on sheep or cattle imposed by the Legislature. During the term of a lease the land was saleable only to the occupants, and there were several reservations as to the shape of the lots which might at any time be sold, so that no proprietor should monopolize more than a 168 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. in. fair proportion of a watercourse or lagoon. The go vernment were to sell no land at a less price than £1 an acre, but they might appoint valuers to determine the price of any portion of land possessing peculiar advantages. Nothing in the lease was to prevent the governor making grants or sales for public purposes, or for railways, or for the procuring of minerals. In the event of a railway being made through a squatting station, the lands within two miles of the line might be sold. On the expfration of a lease the governor might put up the land for sale, subject to three condi tions : First, that the late lessee should have the option of purchasing at the fair value of the land, when in an unimproved state, but never at less than £1 per acre. Second, in the event of the lessee not purchasing, the value of the improvements to be ascertained by valuers. Third, the upset price to consist of the value of the lands, and the value of the improvements, which latter was to be paid to the lessee if the land were sold. If no part of the land were sold the lessee might obtain a renewal of the lease, or if less than one fourth were sold he might obtain a renewal of the remainder ; but if in the interval the land were declared to be in the settled or intermediate districts, he could only obtain the shorter lease which was to be granted in those parts. The rent of every run, after the expiration of the first lease, was to be increased to the sum payable on the sheep or cattle which it would maintain in its improved state. In the intermediate districts leases were to be granted for eight years ; but at the end of every year, the governor, on giving sixty days' notice, might offer the whole or a part of the land for sale. In other matters, the rules for the unsettled districts were ap- phcable. In the settled districts, the governor might grant leases for one year, exclusively for pastoral purposes. Such were the regulations which had been so long and so anxiously looked for by the colonists. Now that they were known they gave satisfaction, the only exception being some slight objection in reference to 1^7] SEP.mATIOX OF POET PHILLIP COXSIDEEED. 169 the restrictions on agriculture which were to be in serted in the leases. The good pohcy and justice of these restrictions, which were intended for the protec tion of the agriculturists, who were in most instances purchasers of the lands which they cultivated, or te nants to those who expected large rentals, were soon acknowledged, and no complaints on this point were ever afterwards advanced. Somewhat later in this year a despatch was received from Lord Grey, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, notifying that the government had seriously under thefr consideration the separation of Port PhiUip from New South Wales, with the view to its erection into a distinct colony ; and also that they designed to effect certain changes in the constitution of the colony, with the view to making it more Uke that of England. In pursuance of this intention, the Secretary stated that a bUl had been announced for the next session of Par Uament, to divide New South Wales into two colonies, the northern division retaining the existing name, the southern to be caUed Yictoria. As to the contemplated changes in the constitution, the main feature shadowed forth was the creation of two Houses of Legislature instead of one, and the simultaneous establishment of local municipahties. Some method, it was stated, was also to be devised for enabling the various legislatures of the several Austrahan colonies to co-operate wdth each other for the enactment of such laws as might be necessary for regulating interests common to those possessions coUectively, such as the imposition of duties, the conveyance of letters, and the formation of roads, raUways, or other means of internal commxmica- tion which might traverse any two or more of such colonies. At the close of the year a gloom was thrown over the colony by the death of Lady Mary Fitz-Roy, the wife of the governor. This truly melancholy event took place on the 7th December at Parramatta. The death of a lady who, with high birth and distinguished position, combined aU the social and domestic vfrtues, must, under any circumstances, have been regarded as 170 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. LCHAP. ill. an event demanding the tribute of an impressive, if fleeting sadness ; but when such an event occurs un expectedly, and under circumstances peculiarly dis tressing, and more especially under circumstances which render it in an especial manner rather a pub lic than a private calamity, then few indeed are the breasts whence the story of the sorrowful occurrence fails to draw the tribute of a sigh. The governor- general was about to start from the vice-regal residence at Parramatta, on a visit to Sydney, accompanied by her ladyship, and for this purpose a carriage drawn by two horses was provided. Lady Mary and the aide- de-camp. Lieutenant Masters, had taken their seats, and his Excellency, who intended, according to his usual custom, to drive the vehicle himself, had scarcely taken his seat, when the horses, which unfortunately were fresh animals, started off, and becoming unmanage able, upset the carriage, and threw its occupants with violence to the ground. Lady Mary was kUled almost instantaneously, an(i' Lieutenant Masters received such injuries that he died after the lapse of a few hours. Sir Charles himself escaped with a severe shaking and the mental pain which he experienced, not more on account of the catastrophe itself, than on account of the part which, as he himself too scrupulously sup posed, he had in producing it. One feeling of universal regret pervaded the entire community when the oc currence became known, and on the day when the obsequies of the deceased took place, business was universally suspended, as a tribute to the memory of the deceased, and as a mark of condolence with her bereaved relatives. In October, Dr. Leichhardt set out for Moreton Bay to proceed on that exploring expedition fi^om which he never returned. In this journey he proposed to foUow the lagoon until he came to the Yictoria River, pursu ing Sir Thomas Mitchell's outward track for a certain distance, when he would break off, to ascertain the northern waters. Having accomplished this object, he would then take the most direct practicable route to Swan River, which was the goal of the enterprise. The IS--: DE. LEICHH.atDT's LAST EXPEDITIOX. 171 party, independent of the leader, consisted of Messrs. Hentig, Classen (a relative of the leader, who had re cently arrived from Germany), Donald Stuart, and KeUy, and two aboriginals. In a letter, dated the 26th February foUowing (1848), the explorer, writing from Canning Dowms, stated that his stock consisted of fifty buUocks, twenty of which had been presented to him by J. P. Robertson, and thfrty by the govern ment ; twenty mules and seven horses ; his provisions were eight hundred pounds of flour, one hundred and twenty pounds of tea, and one hundred pounds of salt ; his munitions were two hundred and fifty pounds of shot, and forty pounds of powder. He then concluded his letter — " I am going to start next ^Monday, the 28th February. I wiU saU down the Condamine, go up the lagoon, and foUow MitcheU' s outward track to the most northern bend of the Yictoria. I shaU then proceed northward untU I come to some decided water of the gulf, and after that resume my original course westward." He expected to reach Swan River about the end of 1849 or the beginning of 1850. Leichhardt had, in the beginning of the year (1847), set out on an expedition, the object of which was to examine the country between MitcheU' s track and his own; but owing to a series of accidents and mis chances which befel his party, he was obhged to re turn. Nothing daunted, however, by this faUure, he set about organizing the expedition for Swan River, and, as we have seen, his exertions to this end were successful. He now undertook an expedition which, if successful, would have eclipsed aU his previous achievements, and, indeed, those of aU others in the field of Australian exploration. He proposed to cross the island continent from sea to sea in its broadest part, to travel out of his way for the purpose of mak ing a discovery which would prove valuable and inter esting to science, venturing, for these jDuq^oses, into regions which, owing to the obscurity hitherto sur rounding them, and thefr supposed aridity and barren ness, had been not improperly denominated " The Great Desert," and aU this he proposed to effect with 172 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.III. the assistance of six men. Chivalry in its most en thusiastic dreams could conceive no more daring pro ject, nor could the spirit of utility devise anything more calculated to advance science, and benefit a people ; and whether the projector fell beneath the treacherous spear of the aborigines or yielded up his life a prey to hunger and thirst, or fretted out his existence a captive amid a savage tribe, the merit of his undertaking will ever remain unabated, and wiU, combined wdth those undertakings of a similar charac ter which he carried to a successful issue, form a monument for the gaze of future generations as brilUant as it wdll be lasting. In the month of March a steamer, named the " Sovereign," was wrecked when proceeding from More- ton Bay to Sydney. A large number of lives were lost, some of the chief colonists being among those drowned. During this year Benjamin Boyd imported into the colony a number of the savage natives of the New Hebrides, with the view to trying thefr fitness for pastoral pursuits. It is scarcely necessary to say that this experiment proved a failure. A stir was made at this time in the social spheres by an allegation publicly made, that persons of improper character were re ceived at Government House, with the connivance of some of the male members of the governor's famUy, The complaints on this point led to greater cfrcum- spection as to who were admitted as visitors at the vice-regal residence. Intelligence was received that a company had been formed in England to carry out steam communication wdth AustraUa, and that the govern ment encouraged the project. It was also announced that an arrangement had been effected in England, by which, to the satisfaction of the colonists, the Aus tralian Agricultural Company had given up their mo nopoly of the coal mines at Newcastle, the change imposing no burden on the colonial revenue. Measures were adopted in the course of the year with the view to presenting Mrs. Chisholm with a testimonial of the value which the colonists attached to her services. She had sent out a ship freighted with the wives and 18^7.] POPULATION, ETC. 173 chUdren of emancipated or partially emancipated con victs ; and had turned the attention of both the go vernment and the people at home to the ehgibility of New South Wales as a field for immigration, and, to give practical effect to her advice, had established an emigration office in London. The population of the colony was 205,009, of whom 83,572 were adult males, 41,809 adult females, and 79,628 children. The number of acres under crop in the colony during this year was 164,784, the products being wheat, maize, barley, oats, rye, mUlet, potatoes, to bacco, and grasses. The total value of the imports for the year was £1,982,022, of which sum £1,347,341 was paid for goods received from Great Britain ; the value of the exports was £1,870,046, of which amount £1,503,091 was received from Great Britain. The grain and bread-stuffs imported in the course of the year were valued at £62,740 ; the exports of the same articles at £16,944. 174 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. CHAPTER lY. Changes proposed in the Constitution, in contemplation of Port Phillip becoming a separate Colony — Ed-ward Kennedy sets out to explore the York Peninsula — The transportation ques tion violently agitated — Arrival of a con-vict ship — Great de monstration at the Circular Quay — The Grovernor becomes unpopular — Proposal to found a University — The rail-way com menced — The Australasian League — The ne-w Constitution (1850)— Port PhilHp separated. (1848—1850.) I. The subject which chiefly occupied the attention of the colonists at the commencement of this year (1848), was a despatch of the Secretary of State rela tive to certain contemplated changes in the constitu tion of the colony. The passage in the despatch which chiefly attracted notice, was one wherein it was suggested that the legislature might be constituted by a species of secondary election. " It followed," said the Secretary of State, " in revising the constitution of New South Wales, that it would be necessary to consider what changes ought to be made in the exist ing law for the creating of municipalities, in order to secure to those bodies their just weight and consider ation, and especially whether, with that view, they might not be made to bear to the House of Assembly the relation of constituents to representatives." This was an experiment to which the colonists had no desire to be subjected, and early in January a pubhc meeting was held in Sydney for the purpose of giving expres sion to the views of the community on this and the other proposals put forward by the minister. The meeting was one of the most numerous and influential ever held in the colony. The mayor presided ; and I3i3.] PEOPOSED CONSTITUTIONAL CHAXGES. l^'O among the chief speakers were men of aU classes and parties, as Michie, Norton, ^Martin, Wentworth, and James Macarthur. A series of resolutions were adopted, which affirmed — (1.) That the meeting viewed the proposed change in the constitution of the colony, indicated by the despatch of the Secretary of State, with the utmost apprehension and dismay; (2.) that the proposed measure would have the effect of depriving the colonists of the elective franchise, which the meeting maintained was their inahenable right as British subjects ; (3.) that in consequence of the wide dispersion of a large portion of the inhabitants of the colony, any measure for estabhshing municipahties simUar in principle to the district councils which it was attempted to create by the Act of ParUament 5 and 6 Yictoria, would be so repugnant to the wishes, and so adverse to the interests of the community, that it was utterly impossible it could ever be brought into effective operation ; (4.) that the colonists pro tested against thus being made the subject of theo retical experiments in legislation, and were anxious to enjoy a form of government founded, as nearly as circumstances would admit, on the principles of the British constitution ; (5.) that the creation of Port PhUlip into a separate colony afforded no sufficient reason for such innovations." Petitions, embodying these resolutions, were ordered to be transmitted to the Queen and both Houses of Parliament. Meetings were subsequently held in various parts of the colony, at which simUar resolutions were adopted. The same month witnessed another important pubhc meeting, on a different subject. The object of this meeting was to receive the report of a committee appointed in the month of August of the preceding year, for the purpose of carrying out a survey in con nection with the contemplated railway. A report was brought forward, which set forth that the committee had coUected subscriptions towards defraying the ex pense of the survey, and that government had ad vanced five hundred pounds for the same purpose ; that surveys had been effected for hues of railway extend- 176 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. III. ing respectively between Sydney and Goulburn, and between Sydney and the Hawkesbury and Nepean rivers. The survey embraced three several routes between the metropolis and Bong Bong, and drawings illustrative of the work were exhibited. The report was adopted, and it was arranged that an agent should proceed to England for the purpose of drawing the attention of British capitalists to the advantage of introducing railways into the colony. A series of resolutions were adopted, which set forth — (1.) That from aU the information which had been collected relative to the amount of traffic then existing on the public roads of the colony, and especially from the facts communi cated in the report of the surveyor, the meeting was of opinion that the introduction of railways would not only be of inestimable importance for the development of the resources of the colony, but would afford a safe and profitable investment for capital ; (2.) that in the event of a company being originated for the con struction in the first instance of such portions of the surveyed lines as might be deemed most desirable, the meeting was of opinion that there would be no difficulty in raising in the colony one-fourth, or even a larger proportion of the requisite amount of capital ; (3.) that considering that it was the duty of the govern ment to make and maintain the public roads and bridges of the colony, and that the cost of constructing and maintaining economical raUways would not in this country equal that of macadamised roads, while the direct advantages which would accrue from railway transit to the government, as well as to the inhabitants at large, the meeting was of opinion that in the en deavour to realize these advantages private enterprise ought to be extensively assisted out of the general and territorial revenues." The Council assembled in March. Owing to the recent bereavement in the governor's family, the open ing speech was delivered by commission. It set forth " that it was consolatory to reflect that, notwithstand ing the commercial depression which prevailed in the mother country, and the consequent low prices obtained 1*"] STEAM COMMUXICATIOX. 177 for colonial produce in that market, the resources of the colony continued to increase in a manner ahke rapid and surprising. The exports of wool, the main staple of the colony, reached during the previous year the large quantity of upwards of twenty- two millions of pounds weight, valued at one mUhon two hundred and sixty thousand pounds sterhng, being an increase on the preceding year of upwards of five millions seven himdred thousand poimds weight, or a quantity equal to the whole exports of wool in 1838. The other staple commodity, taUow, had also increased proportionately. The territorial revenue was so prosperous that her Majesty's government had been requested to send out five thousand statute adults in addition to those afready sent for, to be selected equaUy from the three great divisions of the empfre." The subject of transporta tion was hghtly touched upon in this speech, " Con nected with the supply of labour to the colony," proceeded his exceUency, " he would also cause to be laid before the House a despatch from the Right Honourable Earl Grey, setting forth the terms on which her Majesty's government would be disposed to send out exUes and ticket-of-leave holders, to be subsequently foUowed by thefr wives and families ; and by a number of free immigrants, equal to the number of such exUes and ticket-of-leave holders, aU to be forwarded at the expense of the British treasury. This proposal was made subject to the concurrence of the Legislative CouncU, and accordingly he recommended it to their early and attentive consideration." The announcement was also made that his exceUency "had received a despatch from the Secretary of State on the subject of estabhshing steam communication between England and the colony by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and by means of vessels fitted with auxiliary screw pro- peUers. This despatch woiUd also be laid before the House. The great importance of the speedy introduc tion of some means by which to effect an expeditious and certain postal communication with England was obvious, that it was only requisite for him to recom mend the subject to thefr further attention and consi- 178 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv. deration, and to repeat the expression of his willingness to co-operate with the Council to the utmost of his power in devising means for hastUy accomplishing this most desirable object." The Council, in their address in reply, promised to give their attention to the several subjects adverted to in the speech, not even excepting the proposition for introducing exiles. Scarcely was the session commenced when Went worth introduced a resolution, relative to the new phase of convictism just mentioned. It was to this purport : — " That the despatch of the Secretary of State of the 3rd of September, 1847, having been submitted for the consideration of the Council, the House was disposed to co-operate with the home government in carrying out this scheme of reformatory disciphne indicated therein, so far as it related to the reception and employment in this colony of the classes of exiles hold ing conditional pardons and tickets-of-leave, on the terms in the said despatch mentioned, namely, that in aU cases the wives and families of such exiles, together with a number of free immigrants equal to the number of such exiles, should be sent out at the cost of the British treasury. The Council, however, urged, as a point of the greatest importance to the complete suc cess of the measure, that the wives and famiUes of the exiles should accompany rather than follow their hus bands and parents, so that the evils arising from the large aggregation of males within the narrow compass of a vessel, and almost necessarily in a state of idleness, might be avoided, and the beneficial tendencies of the first stage of their probationary career on their arrival in the colony might not be needlessly endangered by a severance of domestic ties no longer necessary for the purposes of punishment. The Council would further urge that, through the whole progress of this combined deportation and immigration, due care should be taken to maintain as far as possible the equality of the sexes, so as to prevent a recurrence of those social evils which were allowed on all hands to have been the worst feature of the late system of transportation." is«] EEPOET OF eailways' COMMITTEE. 179 The debate was taken up by Captain Lamb, who expressed his continued aversion to the introduction of criminals under any circumstances, although on the emergency which had arisen, owing to the scarcity of labour, he should not oppose Earl Grey's proposition under certain stipulations; and in order that these might be clearly defined, he moved as an amendment that the despatch be referred to a select committee. Cowper seconded the amendment, admitting that the emergency of the colony was such as demanded a favourable consideration of the minister's proposition, but defending those who had opposed the report of the Transportation Committee. The sense of the House being in favour of the resolution the amendment was withdrawn, and the original motion passed ; and a copy of the resolution was ordered to be presented to his exceUency for presentation to her Majesty, for the in formation of her government. In June, a committee of the House reported on the subject of raUways. They summed up thefr views on the matters which they had had under their consideration by urging thefr conviction, " that the encouragement sought at the hands of the legislature, and without the concession of which they were apprehensive that the introduction- of raUways into the colony would be inde finitely postponed, was justified on the grounds of general expediency, as weU as sanctioned by the example of other colonies. The countenance which it was desfrable to afford to a weU-matured scheme of railway communication would not only be beneficial to the proprietors speciaUy, but to the public generaUy. In New South Wales any raUways that might be pro jected must necessarily traverse, through a great part of thefr course, the waste lands of the Crown. These lands, now wholly unsaleable, would, by proximity to a railway hne, acquire an immediate and marketable value; and the maintenance of the pubUc roads, which was now a constantly recurring annual charge on the revenue, would be saved. The present condition of many of the great hnes of traffic throughout the colony was such that in seasons of drought, or after a con- 180 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. tinuance of wet weather, they were rendered impassable. To put these roads in a condition equal to the require ments of the country, by levelling, macadamizing, and the erecting of bridges, would, there could be little doubt, entail a cost equal to what would be incurred in the construction of a railway on the economical prin ciples followed in America." "In conclusion," pro ceeded the report, " a great and increasing stimulus would be given to all the springs of private enterprise by presenting the means of rapid transit which propul sion by railway could alone afford. New articles of export would be produced, occasioning an increase to the revenue and to trade. New fields of occupation would be opened to the immigrant, lands at present lying waste, from their inaccessibility, would be opened to purchasers. These and numberless other advantages, the magnitude and importance of which it was impos sible to exaggerate, whether regarded in connexion with the social, commercial, or pohtical interests of the colony, must ensue from the introduction of railways, to encourage and regulate which, by a wise and hberal course of legislation, was not only the interest but the duty of the government and the legislature." A series of resolutions founded on this report was adopted by the Council. They affirmed, that the period had arrived when the formation of railways in the colony ought to be commenced ; that to facihtate the speedy formation of a company for carrying out such means of transit in districts where population and internal traffic afforded a reasonable prospect of success, it was expedient that the government and the legisla ture should hold out some peculiar inducement to encourage such an undertaking. Defining what this inducement might be, they affirmed that the Council ought to grant to a company incorporated for such a purpose, in fee simple, not only the land required for the line, but, by way of bonus, other portions also, to a reasonable extent, and, besides, guarantee, for a hmited number of years, a dividend to the share holders on the first one hundred thousand pounds of subscribed capital at the rate of six per cent., and ISK.] EESOLUTIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION. 181 that thirty thousand pounds of the money in the sav ings' bank ought to be invested in railways by the government, on behalf of that institution. These reso lutions were embodied in an address to the governor. His excellency expressed his readiness to co-operate with the Council in every way in which it was in his power to promote so important an object. IL The subject of the change in the constitution, hinted at by the Secretary of State, was brought before the Council by Wentworth. He introduced a series of resolutions, wherein he deprecated the proposal to dis franchise the colonists, by transferring the right of election to municipal bodies, "denying that any British minister, or any other authority, had, or, if right, ought to have, any power to abrogate that immemorial and indefeasible franchise." One of the resolutions said, " that the only useful amendment in the present con stitution suggested by the despatch of the Secretary of State, was contained in the proposition to establish a congress for the several Austrahan colonies, with power to enact laws on inter-colonial questions ; that such a congress, if not too numerous, might be got together for short periods at certain intervals ; but that all the rest of the scheme was so cumbrous and expensive, and imphed so numerous, so concentrated, and so pUant a population to carry out its indispensable details, that it was whoUy unsuited to the circumstances of the community." Cowper moved as an amendment, that the House go into committee for the purpose of framing a series of resolutions to be substituted for those just proposed. His object, he said, was simply to have a more effective discussion of the question, with the view to its more satisfactory settlement. The amendment was carried, and the House having gone into committee, Cowper proposed a set of amended resolutions, when a division of opinion taking place, the question was shelved by Wentworth moving and carrying a resolution to the effect that the chairman leave the chair, report pro gress, and obtain leave to sit again that day six months. Scarcely had the result been witnessed, ere a de- 182 HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv. spatch was received from the Secretary of State, in reply to the petitions sent him by the colonists in the com mencement of the year, relative to the proposed changes in the constitution, and the separation of Port Phillip. Referring to the petition deprecating any change in the constitution of the colony which should not pre viously have received the sanction of the colonists at large, the Secretary of State said, that " he had given his best consideration to the representations thus ad dressed to him, and had delayed answering them for some time in consequence of the expectations held out in his excellency's despatch, that further memorials on the same subject would have been transmitted, which expectations had not yet been fulfilled. His anxiety not to act without being fully in possession of the views of the inhabitants of New South Wales on the question of thefr future government had thus caused a delay which, at the now advanced period of the session, rendered it impossible that any measure could be in troduced into Parliament with the prospect of being carried through its several stages in the course of this year. It therefore became unavoidable to postpone legislation on this subject until next session, when her Majesty's grovernment would be prepared to undertake the task in full possession of all available materials. Enough, however, had transpired to give him an in sight into the general state of opinion among the colo nists, and to enable him, in consequence, to state the outline of the measures which he was prepared to recommend. He coUected from the documents before him, that the objections to the views propounded in his despatch, related to the project of making the dis trict councils serve as the constituent bodies of the legislature, and, in a less degree, to the division of the legislature into Assembly and CouncU. With regard to the first, he continued to believe, that in colonies possessing extensive territory it was highly desfrable that the purely local affairs of the different districts should be entrusted to the management of some local authority distinct from the general legislature, and that the easiest method of preventing a conflict be- i'**-l POET PHILLIP. 183 tween such authority and the legislature, was to make the latter emanate from the former. But he had no wish to impose on the inhabitants a form of govern ment which was not, in thefr judgment, suited to thefr wants, and to which they generaUy objected, and he should, therefore, not think it necessary to advise the carrying of this proposal into execution. With regard to the division of the legislature into Assembly and CouncU, the governor's own opinion, founded, as his exceUency stated, on long practical experience, that it woidd be a decided improvement on the present form of legislature, was one to which he had already stated his adherence. Had therefore the general feehng of the co lony responded in any degree to the views expressed by his exceUency," proceeded the Secretary of State, " he would have had no hesitation in advising her Majesty's government to lay before Parliament the measures necessary to accomphsh the change in question; but it was not such a reform as he considered it to be at aU incumbent on the legislature at home to press on an unAvUling, or even an indifferent people. The in terests of the colonists would, he thought, be better served by leaving in thefr own hands the power of effecting it, whenever they saw reason to do so." The despatch then went on to state the measures which were contemplated with the view to the imme diate separation of Port Phillip. The biU for that pur pose effected no changes in the composition or autho rity of the Legislative CouncU, beyond such as were necessary in consequence of the separation, but would establish in Port Phillip a legislature similar to that now in existence in New South Wales. The despatch also notified the intention of the Imperial Govemnient to grant representative institutions to Yan Diemen's Land and South Austraha, by adding to the existing legislatures elective members bearing the same pro portion to those nominated by the Crown as was ob served in the legislature of New South Wales. But as this form of government, whUe on the whole it might be best adapted to present cfrcumstances, was one which might admit of much modification and improve- l04 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. L^a.^r.i.y. ment under the suggestions of experience, and as the Australian communities were, in his opinion, fuUy com petent to originate and discuss for themselves any changes in this portion of their institution, he had further in contemplation to recommend that the re spective Legislative Councils should have power to make such alteration in their own constitutions as might be thought expedient, subject, however to the condition that no ordinance for this purpose should come into force until it had been specially confirmed by the Queen in Council, after having lain for one month before Parliament. The Secretary of State concluded by adverting to the absolute necessity there existed for providing for uniformity in the commercial policy of colonies adja cent to each other, and having extensive lines of boundary, like New South Wales, South Austraha, and Port PhiUip ; but in what manner this was best to be accomplished, he admitted to be a question of some difficulty, and one which should be reserved for more mature consideration. This despatch gave great satis faction in the colony, and won golden opinions for Earl Grey. The legislative session, the last of the existing Council, closed in June, and writs were issued for a general election. At a public meeting held at Yass, in the latter part of the year, a petition to the Queen was adopted pray ing the reduction of the price of the Crown lands to five shiUings an acre. The petitioners set forth, " That the attempt to maintain the present fictitious value of land had given rise to a series of Crown-land regula tions, in the highest degree destructive to the best interests of the colony, and they desired to express their firm conviction that unless the price of land were reduced, the colony, so far from progressing, must re trograde." The petitioners also prayed the abohtion of the auction system, and recommended that a quantity of land might be surveyed in fifty-acre farms, for the use of agriculturists. They went on to demonstrate that, as the price of land had been raised, the sales had diminished, and that, as a consequence, the re- 13«.1 EDWAED KEXXEDY's EETUEX. 185 venue necessary for immigration had fallen off, so as to produce the present ruinous dearth of labour. Throughout this year the enforcement of the pay ment of the accumulated quit-rents was the cause of considerable complaint, and in some instances of hard ship, executions being issued in various cases to com pel a comphance with the law on the part of those whose means or contumacy made them defaulters. A memorial from a large number of settlers was presented to the governor, praying that the regulations bearing on this matter might be reconsidered, with a view to their modification, or that payment might not be enforced tiU the colony was in a better condition than it was at this time, when the rural population were suffering from a partial failure of the crops. This petition was disregarded, his excellency telling the petitioners that the concessions made in 1846 to persons holding lands chargeable with quit-rents were disapproved of by the Imperial Government. In the discussion w^hich fol lowed, it was vigorously contended that quit-rents were inexpedient from the beginning ; that the system was a remnant of the old feudal relation between lord and vassal, and that its apphcation to a young colony was absurd in principle and oppressive in practice. III. In the early part of this year Edward Kennedy retumed to the colony, after completing the explora tion of the Yictoria, one of the rivers discovered by Sir Thomas MitcheU in his last expedition. Kennedy, who was an officer of the Survey department, was, it wiU be recoUected, one of the surveyor-general's party in that expedition, and he now completed one portion of his leader's work by tracing the river just named as far as lat. 27° 56', long. 142°, where the stream became lost amid sandy barren ground. His party had been absent for about twelve months. Scarcely had he arrived in Sydney, when, wdth a spirit and promptitude which proved that he was a worthy successor of his former leader, he was pre paring for another and still more important and arduous enterprise. The region which he was now about to explore was the York Peninsula. This territory was 186 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, [chap. iv. supposed to contain much valuable country, and if such proved to be the fact, it was perceived that the extensive maritime boundaries of the peninsula would, in all probabUity, render it, at no very distant pe riod, the seat of an important colony, access to which from the East India islands and from New South Wales would be easily attainable. Kennedy's instruc tions were to proceed by sea to Rockingham Bay, and to travel thence by land to Princess Charlotte's Bay and Cape York, After communicating with a ship of war at Port Albany, and receiving a stock of provi sions, to be forwarded thither by the government in four months after his departure, the explorer was to proceed along the east coast of the Gulf of Carpentaria to the Water Plaets, for the purpose of ascertaining whether or not that was an estuary of Leichhardt's river "Mitchell," and, if so, he was to follow the river up to its junction with the Lynd, Thence he was to strike off by a west-south-westerly course to the Fhn- ders, for the purpose of ascertaining the source of that river, afterwards connect his journey with Mitchell's discoveries in 1846 by the Belyando river or some other convenient point, and thence return to Sydney. In pursuance of these instructions he left Sydney in the middle of the year. His party consisted of twelve men, exclusive of the leader. His equipments and supphes were twenty- seven horses, two hundred and fifty sheep, with a quantity of flour, tea, sugar, powder and shot. The arms of the party were eight carbines, four guns, one rifle, and thfrteen brace of pistols. Arriving at Rockingham Bay on the 21 st of May, the explorers set out on the 1st of June on their landward journey towards Cape York, At first starting they found the ground so impracticable that they had to proceed for five weeks in a south-westerly dfrection before they could stand northward. The country stiU presented so many difficulties to the progress of the expedition that it became necessary to leave the carts and most of the heavy stores behind, so that when the party proceeded a few hundred miles further, it became evident that the provisions would not supply them to I't^j KEXNEDY ATTACKED BY NATIVES. 187 the end of the journey, and it was determined that eight men should remain at Weymouth Bay while the leader, with the other four, including the aboriginal guide, Jackey, should proceed forward to Port Albany, and, having arrived there, bring round the schooner which was to have been despatched with the supphes, or the long-boat of the "Rattlesnake," to reheve thefr companions who were left behind. Setting out on the 10th of November in pursuance of this arrangement, after a few days' journey the progress of the small party was embarrassed by one of the Ul-fated explorers accidentaUy wounding himself with a gun, and thefr provisions becoming low, they killed a horse, and hved on the dried flesh. Three weeks after starting, the wounded man becoming too Ul to proceed, the leader left the three white men behind, and hastened forward, accompanied only by the black, leaving instructions with the others that if the wounded man died, the re maining two were to advance ; if not, that they were to wait tUl the assistance which he proposed to send them had arrived. After some days' travelling, the leader and his companion came in sight of the sea in the neighbourhood of Port Albany, and they now feU in with a tribe of blacks, who affected to be fiiendly, fre quently rubbing thefr beUies, and exclaiming " Pomad 1 pomad !" which means " Peace I peace 1" and receiving with apparent pleasure some presents which were given them. The guide, however, doubted the friendship, on the ground that they were too eloquent in professing it, and, as the unhappy result proved, he was right. When the traveUers resumed their journey after the interview, the blacks dogged thefr heels for three days, and even tuaUy threw a shower of spears, one of which struck Mr. Kennedy in the back. Jackey fired, and kUled one of the assaUants, but these renewed the attack, sneak ing behind the trees and discharging thefr spears from time to time. The guide cut out the spear which his master had received, and the latter now attempted to fire, but his gun would not go off, the powder being wet, and he soon was further disabled by two other spear wounds, whUe the guide was also wounded. The ±00 lllbTUltl Ui' INJiW SUUTil WALJCiO. Lv/ua-i.iy. horses having been also speared, jumped about con fusedly, and got into a swamp. Kennedy growing weak, now sat down at the instance of Jackey, while the latter went to collect the saddle-bags. When he returned, he found his master surrounded by aborigi nals, who were stripping him of his watch and the other articles about his person. The blacks, having satisfied at once their cruelty and cupidity, now went away, and the guide carried his master into the scrub, to a place where he was more likely to be undisturbed, frequently asking him, to use the guide's unaffected but touching language in describing the occurrence, "Are you well now ?" "I don't care for the spear wound in my leg, Jackey, but from those other two spear- wounds in my side and in my back; I am bad inside, Jackey 1" was the answer. With bold and not un co mmendable candour the guide told his master "that black fellows always died when they were speared there," meaning the back. "I am out of wind, Jackey," said the dying gentleman. "Mr. Kennedy, are you going to leave me ?" was the affecting response of his faithful follower. "Yes, my boy," said the other, I am going to leave you ; I am very bad, Jackey. You wdll take the books to the captain, Jackey, but not the big ones; the governor will give anything for them." The guide now tied up the papers, while Kennedy, for the last true to his enterprise, asked for paper to write. Having received paper and pencil, he attempted to com mit to writing some final notes in direction, but his strength utterly failing, he fell back. Jackey received him in his arms, and held him till he died, and then, having fulfilled his duty to his master whUe hving, turned round and paid to him the tribute of his tears when dead. " I was crying a good whUe," said he, " until I got well ; that was about an hour ; and then I buried him. I digged up the ground with a tomahawk, and covered over the body with grass, a shirt and trowsers, and then with logs." That evening Jackey left the fatal spot about dark. The blacks threw spears at him, but by getting into a scrub, and walking for half a mile in a creek, with his head only IMS] DEATH OF KENNEDY AND OTHEES. 189 above water, he got away without further injury. He now traveUed onward towards Port Albany. For two days salt water was his only drink, and for the whole of the journey his best food was a few roots, and such snakes, hzards, and guanos as he could catch. Sheer weakness on several occasions compeUed him to rest for an entfre day. After a lapse of thirteen days he arrived at Port Albany, and, foUowing Kennedy's final instruction, proceeded to the place where the ship lay, and, having hailed the crew, was taken aboard. We now return to the party of eight left behind at Weymouth Bay, under the command of Mr. Carron, the naturahst of the expedition. These, notwithstand ing that thefr position was apparently much more favourable there than that of thefr associates, were not less unfortunate than those who had to encounter the danger of a journey through an untrodden forest and hostUe tribes. A few days after the departure of the leader one of the men died, and was soon foUowed to the grave by another. The principal food of the party was horse flesh, and it soon became apparent that, whether from aversion or from the insufficiency of nutriment, the men could not subsist on such diet. In four weeks six of the party had died, aUd the survivors were so weak that they were tmable to bury the two who died last, sinking the bodies in the creek as a mode of sepulture requiring the least exertion. The camp had frequently been surrounded by a tribe of natives numbering sixty or seventy men, who menaced the party, and on one occasion threw a shower of spears, which, however, did no injury, the assaUants flying on the whites discharging a voUey of musketry. When the party were reduced to two or three, humanity appeared to have whispered forbearance in the hearts of the savages, for they now became less troublesome, and even evinced kindness by supplying to the starv ing whites smaU quantities of food. On the 1st of December the appearance of a schooner in the vicinity of the bay revived the hopes of those who survived ; they hoisted a flag and discharged rockets to attract notice, but the vessel passed, and left their position ^.iJ^J niiSTUltl UJC IMliW BUUrn WAIjEB. \ya.i^c.i.y. more gloomy than before. The two men who now re mained wdth difficulty procured by shooting sufficient food on which to subsist, the blacks keeping them in constant terror, and their exhaustion rendering it a laborious work to move out of the tents. Their deliverance, however, was at hand. One day, as the month advanced, a party of blacks ap proached, and one of the number put into the hands of Carron a dirty piece of paper, which, on investiga tion, proved to be a note written by Mr. Dobson, of the schooner "Ariel," the vessel which had been sent to Port Albany wdth provisions for the explorers. The crowd of blacks increased around the tent, and the whites feared lest they should fall victims to treachery, just as their safety was about to be reahzed, when, to crown their joy, Dobson himself, accompanied by four others, including the faithful and determined Jackey, approached the camp. The two survivors were at once removed to the vessel, which was at anchor near the beach, three miles distant, one of them, owing to his complete exhaustion, being borne on the shoulders of the seamen; the blacks to the last displayed their savage disposition by wounding one of the ship's crew. The vessel had previously anchored near the place where Kennedy had left behind the three men, and a party was landed with the view to making an attempt, under the guidance of Jackey, to rescue those, or such of them as might have survived. The party pene trated the woods till they were within a day's journey of the place where the men halted, and met with blacks having in their possession some articles pronounced by the guide to have belonged to the white men. Provisions failing, however, and the safety of the vessel being at stake, the sailors refused to proceed further, and the search was abandoned, a course which was the more readily adopted, as it was thought not to be prudent by a delay, the fruitlessness of which was indicated by the relics observed in the possession of the blacks, to risk the safety of the party of eight who were elsewhere awaiting succour. The vessel having accomplished her mission at Weymouth Bay, it was 184S.] AEEr^Al OF THE " AEIEl" AT SYDNEY. 191 found impossible to muster a party to renew the search for the others, the sailors refusing to leave the vessel for that purpose, and the captain, Dobson, proceeded on his voyage. . Early in March the schooner arrived in Sydney, carrying back the survivors of the hapless enter prise. If either, or aU of the three left behind at the second encampment by the leader in his chivafrous anxiety to procure succour for all, escaped starvation and the spears of the aboriginals, they were never again heard of amongst white men. Carron had kept a journal from the commencement of the expedition, and this, wdth the story of the aboriginal guide, formed a complete narrative of the progress and melancholy termination of the enterprise. A judicial investigation into the circumstances connected with the expedition was immediately instituted by the government, the two European survivors and the aboriginal being the prin cipal witnesses. The whole of the evidence went to show that the conduct of the leader was such as in no way detracted from the honours which he had pre viously won in the admirable field of exploration. His surviving companions were unanimous in declaring that he had done aU that was possible to save the party, and to aUeviate for those under his care the misfortunes which had overtaken them. He had given up his own horses for the use of the sick, and had taken a share in every privation, hardship, and labour, while he remained at the head of his comrades, and finaUy, when it was evident that his efforts in this position would be unavailing, accompanied by one whose assis tance was to be appreciated rather than his companion ship desired, he set out on a journey which, under such cfrcumstances, presented difficulties and dangers, the dread of which nothing but the greatest devotion to his associates, and the greatest fidelity to the duty im posed upon him, could have enabled him to overcome. To die whUe thus discharging a high and important duty, was a privilege fully equivalent to all the honours which would have foUowed success. lY. Certain retums laid before the Legislative 192 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. Council in the course of the year showed that the total number of licensed occupants of Crown lands beyond the settled districts was 1866, of which 1041 were in the Sydney district, and 824 in the Port Phillip district. The estimated quantity of land occupied was 85,125 square miles ; 54,821 in the Sydney district, and 30,304 at Port Phillip. The total quantity of stock depastured on the Crown lands was as follows : — In the Sydney district 3,019,000 head, of which 17,000 were horses, 644,000 horned cattle, and 2,358,000 sheep. In the Port Phillip district 3,399,000 head, of which 9000 were horses, 244,000 homed cattle, and 3,146,000 sheep. The amount of money paid to the Crown in the shape of Ucense fees for one year's occu pancy of these runs was £31,821, of which £18,812 was paid in the Sydney district, £13,009 at Port PhiUip. The total quantity of Uve stock in all parts of the two districts on the 1st January was as follows : — Horses, 103,915; horned cattle, 1,696,914; pigs, 62,646 ; sheep, 10,063,641. The revenue of the colony for this year was £294,873, which, with a balance of £36,176 from the preceding year, made the total amount at the disposal of the government £331,049. At the close of the year a balance of £23,568 remained in the treasury. Lieutenant-General Sir Daniel O'Connell, who had been for many years commander of the forces, died in the course of this year. He was succeeded by Major- General Wynyard. Alexander Macleay also died this year. He had during several years filled respectively the offices of Colonial Secretary, Speaker of the Legis lative Council, and President of the Austrahan Library, and the Benevolent Society. He was also the founder of the Sydney Museum. The inadequacy of the means of administering jus tice was beginning to make itself felt. The people of Moreton Bay and other remote districts were complain ing in reference to the matter. Tbe growth of silk attracted considerable attention at this period, and an association was formed for its promotion. The gover nor made a tour of the southern and western districts. 18«.] CHINESE IMMIGEAXTS AEEIVE. 193 Towards the latter part of the year further measures were adopted with the view to forming a company for the introduction of raUways. His exceUency had for warded home the address of the CouncU on the subject of government assistance towards this project, and untU he had received an answer he could not decide as to the grants of land for the Une, and the lands proposed to be a given as a bonus. To the other re commendation he said he would assent, wdth the con currence of the CouncU, giving a guarantee for interest at the rate of five per cent. In the latter part of the year the first ship-load of Chinese immigrants arrived in the colony, having been introduced at private cost. AU were males, and the introduction of an aUen and inferior race of men without the companionship of thefr wives and famUies, fraught as such a proceeding was wdth some of the worst moral and social evUs, was much repudiated. A despatch was received from the Secretary of State in reference to the aborigines. Earl Grey directed that the reserves for the use of the natives, particularly those intended for cultivation, should be strictly maintained. He recommended that schools should be estabUshed in connection with those reserves, laying down a plan of training for the blacks, by which education should be combined with industry. The copper mines in the vicinity of Carcoar were discovered in the course of this year on the lands of Mr. loely. At Port Phillip the superintendent, Charles Joseph La Trobe, having rendered himself obnoxious to the ultra-Separationists, this party gave fuU vent to their antagonism. At a pubhc meeting held in Melbourne, in July, a petition to the Imperial Government, praying the removal of the superintendent, was adopted. The most tangible complaint which the petition embodied was to the effect that " His honour had neglected, year after year, to expend large sums voted for the pubhc works of the province, though during a great part of the time referred to labour was more abundant and materials cheaper than at any other period; the consequence of which neglect was that these sums had 0 194 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv. been swept off, with the rest of the surplus revenue, to swell the wealth of the Sydney treasury." The question of separation assumed a new phase in connection with the general elections. A majority of the people of Melbourne having adopted the opinion that it was useless to send representatives to the Council at Sydney, the electors dechned to comply with the writ for the return of members. The usual meet ing having been convened for the purpose of a nomi nation, and the returning officer having asked whether any electors had candidates to propose, there was a general response in the negative. The adoption of this passive demonstration gave rise to some apprehen sion on the part of the people of New South Wales, who feared that the contumacy of the Port PhilUpians might have the effect of invahdating thefr legislature, the Constitution Act declaring "that the Legislative CouncU should consist of thirty-six members, of whom the Port PhiUip district should return not less than five, while those at Port PhiUip who were in favour of complying with the writs feared lest the home govern ment might punish the district by giving it, whenever separation came, a nominee rather than an elective legislature. These apprehensions had the effect of leading to a second attempt to comply with the law ; but the mode rate party were not more successful on this occasion. An election did indeed take place, but the extreme party having placed Earl Grey, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, in nomination for Melbourne, in oppo sition to Foster, the resident candidate, the former was elected. The matter having been referred to the Crown law officers, the election was declared vahd. A new writ was nevertheless issued, and the government seeing that the main strength of the extreme party lay, as usual, in the capital, transferred the poUing, place to Geelong. The opponents of election, how ever, did not slacken thefr exertions. They put five of the English privy counciUors in nomination in oppo sition to the colonial candidates ; but common-sense now prevailed over passion, and both the show of 18«-] TEXDEE FOE MAILS VIA SINGAPOEE. 195 hands at the hustings and the voting at the poU were in favour of the real candidates, who were accordingly declared the representatives of the district. 1849.] This year opened with the receipt of intel ligence that in September of the preceding year the Lords of the Admfralty had issued an advertisement calling for tenders for the conveyance of her Majesty's maUs between Sydney and Singapore, the tenders to be sent in on or before the 2nd November, to state the expense of a monthly conveyance each way, when and where the vessels would be ready for survey, and when they would be ready for sea. The announce ment could not be made at a time when it would be more gladly received, for on the 16th January the colonists were stiU without the maUs which were despatched from London on the 1st September. The agitation of the transportation question was continued with renewed vigour. A despatch from the Secretary of State, received at the commencement of the year, for the first time informed the colonists that a petition in favour of transportation had been got up at Sydney and forwarded to the Imperial Government. A copy of the petition was enclosed, and was found to have been signed by about five hundred persons, in cluding a few pubhc men, all professing to belong to the principal class of employers of labour. The Secretary of State said that it would have been far more regular had the petition been transmitted through the governor, and regretted that the subscribers should have thought it advisable to deviate from the usual course. They inight rely upon it, he said, that they could choose no channel through which any wishes they might be desirous of expressing could be transmitted with greater advantage than through her Majesty's repre sentative in the colony. The governor was to acquaint the petitioners, however, that the Secretary of State had laid the petition at the foot of the throne. " His exceUency was aware," proceeded the minister, " that in the general object at which the petition aimed, her Majesty's government concurred, and he would be very glad if means could be found for sending out convicts 196 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.lv, at a proper stage of punishment, so as both to furnish some addition to that supply of labour of which New South Wales stood so much in need, and at the same time protect the colony against that moral injury which was inflicted by the system of transportation as it formerly existed. The certainty of employment in the colony, and the conditions which must be fulfilled before the convict could obtain his pardon, would, it was hoped, by opening up a new prospect of respecta bility and independence, secure those objects. But as he had received the resolutions of the Legislative Council on this important subject, it would be more appropriate to convey to the governor, in answer to that representation, any more particular statement of the views of her Majesty's government." The petition which formed the subject of this des patch set forth that the petitioners were suffering inconvenience and injury from the want of an adequate supply of labour, owdng to the suspension of immigra tion and to other causes which it was beyond their power to control; that this want became every day more urgent in consequence of the additional demand which the natural increase of cattle and sheep rapidly occasioned ; that during the last two years the price of labour had increased about fifty per cent., a rate of increase incompatible with a fair profit in agricultural and pastoral investments ; while, on the other hand, the price of wool, the staple of the colony, had fallen at least forty-five per cent. ; that under these circum stances many of the petitioners were not only precluded from extending their operations, but in some instances agriculturists were obUged to suspend their labours altogether, whUst the owners of flocks and herds would soon have no alternative but to boil down for the mere taUow; that such a state of things, if not speedily remedied, must be productive of results ruinous to the immediate interest of the petitioners, and disastrous to the future prosperity of the colony ; that under such circumstances the petitioners regarded wdth much in terest the despatch transmitted to the governor by the Secretary of State for the Colonies, E. W. Gladstone, 1819.] DESPATCH OF THE SECEETAEY OF STATE. 197 of date 30th AprU, 1846, on the subject of the revival of transportation to the colony. They proceed to state that they had also read with much satisfaction the report of the select committee of the Legislative CouncU, to whose consideration the important despatch in question had been referred ; and they earnestly soh- cited her Majesty's gracious attention to the facts and recommendations set forth in that report, which they trusted would have sufficient influence on her Majesty's counsels to induce a resumption of transportation to the colony on the principles therein recommended, or according to such a modification thereof as might be deemed expedient. Y. Scarcely had the despatch containing this peti tion been pubhshed ere another, bearing on the same subject, foUowed. This latter, however, was much more important in its bearing and its results than the former. Indeed, that now received may be said to have brought the question of transportation to a crisis. It was dated the 8th September, 1848, and in the absence of Earl Grey, bore the signature of the Secretary of State for the Home Department. This famous missive purported to be explanatory of the views and intentions of her Majesty's government on the subject of convict disciphne and transportation. After referring to the proposal of theLegislativeCouncU to receives prisoners of the Crown, accompanied by immigrants, sent out at the cost of the home government, and after stating that the late period of the year precluded any apphcation to Parhament for this purpose, and also that the financial state of the country rendered it impossible that such an application could be made next year, the secretary went on to say that he had thought of altogether abandoning transportation to the colony, as he readily acknowledged that after what had afready taken place on the subject her Majesty's government could not, without the assent of the colonists, refuse to provide for the conveyance of an equal number of free immi grants if convicts were sent at aU to New South Wales. " But," proceeded the Secretary of State, "on further consideration of the despatch of the governor, and 198 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [cuAP.IV. looking at the urgent want of labour, as explained through various means of information, and the great usefulness of convicts previously trained under the system of punishment now adopted in England, he was led to the conclusion that the colonists of New South Wales would prefer, to the entire abandonment of the measure proposed, the receiving a moderate number of convicts even unaccompanied by an equal number of free immigrants, sent out without charge to the co lony." Having referred to a despatch enclosed, a copy of which had been transmitted to the governors of several of the colonies, explaining the terms on which it was now proposed that convicts should be sent abroad, the wily secretary proceeded : — " If the Legis lative Council of New South Wales agreed to receive convicts on those conditions, her Majesty's government would continue to send there a portion of those whom it would be necessary annually to remove from the country ; if not, another destination must be found for them." The cunning and duplicity of the preceding portion of the despatch could only be equalled by the audacity of that which foUowed. "As so much delay would be occasioned in sending to the colony labourers who were urgently wanted, if he were to wait for an answer to this despatch, before any measure for carry ing the arrangement into operation were adopted, he proposed at once admising her Majesty to revolce the Order in Council, by which New South 'Wales was made no longer a place for receiving convicts tmder sentence of transportation." His excellency, however, was "dis tinctly to understand, that it was not intended to send to New South Wales any convicts but such as were considered to be deserving of tickets-of-leave on their arrival, and to be also calculated to become useful as labourers in the colony." The assurance which was so largely characteristic of the despatch was in no instance so much displayed as in the passage which followed. The failure of her Majesty's government, it was said, to provide for send ing out free immigrants, was of the less importance, " inasmuch as the means of renewing free immigration l«9-] IX"DIGNATI0N OF COLONISTS. 199 on a large scale was provided by the colony, and thus would be poured into it a stream of population of the best description, sufficient, it was to be hoped, to neu tralize the demorahzing effect which might be produced if the persons introduced from this country were prin cipaUy convicts." "In the expectation that for these reasons the reception of convicts under this arrange ment would not be unacceptable to the colonists, the scheme would be acted upon tUl an answer to this despatch was received ; but if it should then appear that the colonists objected to receiving convicts on these terms, no more woiUd be sent, and her Majesty's ¦government would apply to Parhament for such a grant for free immigration to New South Wales as, with the repayments for convicts previously sent, would be suf ficient to send out an equal number of free settlers." The explanation of the latter part of this passage is to be found in the fact, that one of the proposals which were designed to induce the colonists to agree to the contemplated measure was to the effect, that the con victs should be required to repay the cost of thefr pas sage to the colony, the fund so created to be appUed to the purposes of free immigration. This part of the details was explained in the cfrcular-despatch above aUuded to, as having been addressed to the governors of several of the other colonies, namely. Western Aus traha, New Zealand, the Cape, Ceylon, and the Mau ritius. The convicts were to be required to pay moderate sums, " because it was conceived they ought not to receive free passages, which could not be granted to many of those who, unconvicted of crime, appUed for that privUege." As might be expected, this despatch was received with the greatest indignation on the part of the colo nists. A letter had previously been received in the colonies from the London Agent of Yan Diemen's Land, and published at Sydney, which had, in some degree, prepared the pubhc mind for the announcement contained in the despatch ; but the cool assurance with which it was proposed to cheat the colonists out of that stipulation, without the enforcement of which even 200 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CilAP. iv. the most unscrupulous amongst them would scarcely have dared to advocate transportation, was something which no person in the community had anticipated. Referring to the despatch in connection with the agent's letter, the leading journal of Sydney — which, as it was then the only daily paper in Sydney, wanted one great incentive to partizanship, while its proprietor, Fairfax, was of the class who stand most firmly by social order — thus expressed itself: — " Prepared as we were, however, this cool, complacent, undisguised, avowal of a gross breach of faith on the part of her Majesty's government, has made us blush for the tar nished honour of the British name." With similar denunciations was the perfidy of the Secretary of State everywhere met. The colonists cried out that they would have convicts on no terms, and under no name whatever. They asked, Was it for such a scheme as that propounded by the Secretary of State they were to be degraded from the dignity of a free colony to the level of a penal settlement ? was it for this they were to perpetuate the gigantic evil re sulting from the disparity of the sexes ? was it for this the character of the colony as a field for free immigra tion was to be blasted ? They cried out simultane ously that public meetings must be held in every town and in every district to protest and petition against this monstrous breach of faith; and a prehminary meeting was at once held in Sydney for the purpose of initiating such a movement. In the succeeding month (March) a grand anti- convict demonstration took place at the Yictoria Theatre, the immediate object being to protest against the terms of the despatch. . The mayor presided, and among the principal speakers were Charles Cowper, Robert Lowe, and Dean M'Encroe. A series of reso lutions to the foUowing effect were* adopted : — " That the meeting having considered the despatch of the Right Honourable the Secretary of State for the Co lonies, to his Excellency Sir Charles Fitz-Roy, of date 8th September, 1848, in which, taking advantage of the remote situation of the colony, his lordship has 18W-] AXTI-COX^VICT DEMOXSTEATION. 201 announced his intention, without waiting for an answer from the colonists, of forcing on the com munity transported felons, in direct violation of the pledge contained in the despatch of the 23rd Septem ber, 1847, namely, that in any arrangement for sending convicts to New South Wales, her Majesty's govern ment were prepared to afford facUities to the wives and families of convicts to join them, and that means would also be provided for sending out at the cost of the British treasury a number of free immigrants, equal to that of such offenders, resolved — (1.) That as the Colonial Office had so unscrupulously broken faith with the colonists, not only in this matter, but also in refer ence to the compact made during the administration of Sir Richard Bourke, as to the pohce and gaol ex penses, and the territorial revenue, this colony peremp torily refuses to receive the offenders of the mother country, whether under the name of convicts, exUes, or any other designation, upon any terms what ever; (2.) that the colonists of New South Wales, in pubhc meeting assembled, desire to express their astonishment and indignation at the avowal made by the Colonial Minister, of a dehberate intention to break a specific pledge upon the plea of temporary financial difficulty — a difficulty which, if the concluding words of the same despatch were to be beUeved, he was quite able to surmount — and at his lordship supposing that any body of intelligent persons could place reUance on the promise contained in the same communication, namely, that if the colonists objected to receive the convicts which it was intended to force upon them on the terms mentioned in the last despatch, her Majesty's government would apply to Parliament for such a grant for free immigration to New South Wales, as, wdth the repayments from convicts previously sent, would be sufficient to . send out an equal number of free settlers ; (3.) that this was not the first instance which the colonists have had to complain of a breach of solemn engagements entered into with the colony by the Colonial Office, and that a repetition of such treat ment was calculated seriously to compromise the per- 202 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP, vi, manency of those relations between the colonies and the mother country which it was so desirable to maintain ; (4.) that his excellency, the governor, be requested, in the event of a ship arriving in the harbour with con victs, to send such vessel back to England ; (6.) that his excellency, the governor, be respectfully requested to call the Legislative Council together without delay, in order that the despatch of the Secretary of State, of date 8th September, 1848, might be laid before them for their consideration." The adoption of a petition to the Queen was the next step in the movement. The petitioners having recapitulated the various protests against convictism made by the colonists in past years, said, "they saw no reason to alter the opinions which they had so fully expressed on former occasions, and they therefore felt greatly aggrieved that the Secretary of State should have taken upon himself, in defiance of those opinions, to advise her Majesty to revoke the Order in CouncU by which New South Wales was declared to be no longer a place for receiving convicts under sentence of transportation, especially as this resolution appeared, by the despatch of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, to have been adopted in consequence of in correct information reaching home, through private channels, by which the Imperial authorities were led to beheve that the urgent wants of the colony for labour would induce the colonists again to submit to the degradation of becoming a penal settlement." " They felt bound humbly, but firnily, to represent to her Majesty, that it was their duty and their deter mination, by every legal and constitutional means, to oppose the revival of transportation in any shape." The agitation thus commenced in Sydney was fol lowed up with vigour throughout the interior, and petitions, similar to that of the metropolis, were adopted in all the principal towns. That of the Bathurst people set forth that " No pecuniary advantage could compen sate for the evils attendant on the introduction of con victs into the colony." YI. While these proceedings were taking place in 1849.] GHOLEEA ON BO^VED A CONVICT SHIP. 203 the colony a piece of inteUigence was received from home which seemed to afford a solemn sanction to the determination of the colonists to resist the revival of felonry amongst them. A ship-load of prisoners were about to be despatched from one of the EngUsh ports for Sydney, when the voyage was prevented by cholera breaking out on board. The more zealous of the anti- transportationists did not hesitate to say that the oc currence was a special manifestation of divine anger. After the pubhcation of the despatch the governor set out on a voyage to Port Phillip, and was absent from head-quarters while the feelings of the colonists were vented wdth regard to the faithless conduct of the Secretary of State. At Melbourne he was importuned to use his authority and influence to ward off from the southem district those evUs of transportation to which that part of the colony had heretofore not been directly subjected, except in a very shght degree. To the deputation who addressed ham on this subject his ex cellency rephed that, " There was obviously a strong feeling at Port PhUhp against receiving convicts, and, indeed, the same feeling pervaded the colony at large ; and, as he considered that there would be a decided injustice in sending convicts to Port Phillip, he should, in his communications with the home government, strongly remonstrate against such a measure, and in the meantime none should land there, as he had given the superintendent authority to forward to Sydney any that might arrive." The tenor of this reply, as might be expected, added to the bitterness with which the people of the middle district were influenced with regard to the question which formed the subject of their interview ; and scarcely had his exceUency landed in Sydney ere a deputation waited upon him in reference to the promise which he had made to the Port PhilUpians. His expla nation was unsatisfactory. He said that, finding there would be great difficulty, in the absence of the neces sary machinery, in disposing at Port PhiUip of a ship load of convicts, sent out with a promise of tickets-of- leave, he had yielded to the urgent entreaties of the 204 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. superintendent that any who might arrive there, pend ing the result of the communication which it had been deemed necessary immediately to make to her Majesty's government on the subject, should be forwarded to the middle district. He also took occasion. to repeat his assurances that there was no desire on the part of either the Imperial or the local government, to con tinue transportation, even in the modified form now proposed, unless such a measure met with the con currence of the colonists, to be expressed through the medium of their legitimate representatives, the Legis lative Council, and promised to make such repre sentations as " would have the effect of causing any measures which were in progress for sending out con victs to the colony to be suspended until he should have been enabled to place the Secretary of State in possession of the deliberate opinion of the legislature on this subject." The new Legislative Council assembled on the 15th of May. The first duty which devolved on the House was the election of a Speaker. Nicholson, the former occupant of the office, was nominated for re-election. Wentworth opposed this proposition. " He would ask the House to select their chairman having regard to those qualities which fitted him for that position ; and where, he asked, would they find a chairman whose presidency was characterized by less of dignity and deportment, by less of distinction of character, less of consistency and firmness, than in that of their late speaker ? The man who was to represent that CouncU, and through them the country at large, should be characterized by knowledge, by wisdom, by decision of character. Had these qualities been displayed by their late speaker ? Could it be said that he possessed the confidence of the House ? Nor while the confi dence of the House was withheld, was the confidence of the country given. Descending to particulars, he pointed out, that when the question of appointing a tribunal for disputed elections arose, and when the government proposed to establish a court of which they Avould appoint three, while the Council only elected 1849.] NICHOLSON EE-ELECTED SPEAKEE. 205 two, Nicholson, among others, opposed this unconstitu tional proceeding wdth his voice ; but when the ques tion came to a vote he was absent." The occurrence here aUuded to took place so far back as 1843 ; but, referring to later proceedings, he showed that in com mittees of supply, Nicholson either voted for a lavish expenditure, as proposed by the governor, or was ab sent when such votes were disposed of. On all occa sions, in fact, even in cases where their acts were clearly unconstitutional, as where the government had infringed the peculiar privilege of the House to vote supplies, by expending money first, and asking for their sanction afterwards, thefr late speaker had, he said, supported the government. He concluded by moving that Donaldson should be speaker. As the result proved, the House was never prepared to adopt this proposition, and Nicholson was re-elected to fiU an office for which, whUe he was not equal to his anta gonist in pohtical talent and in energy of character, he was better qualified than the other by his erudition and by the larger amount of freedom from party and pohtical feehng which he displayed. On the foUowing day the CouncU was formally opened by the governor. In his opening speech his exceUency said, that " they commenced thefr duties of legislation at a time of considerable depression. The commercial distress, consequent on the political con vulsion which had for some time past agitated some of the principal states of Europe, had extended its baneful influence even to these distant regions, and wool, the great staple of the colony, had not escaped that depreciation in value which had affected, more or less, property of every description. The active mea- sures, however, which had been adopted for the in troduction into the colony of an adequate supply of labour would, it was confidently anticipated, effect such a diminution of the cost of production, as would, at no dis tant period, ensure a fair profit on the capital employed in the principal objects of colonial industry. Since the resumption of immigration in 1848, no fewer than fifty-four immigrant ships had arrived in the colony, 206 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv. bringing out thirteen thousand one hundred and sixty-one souls at the public's expense, and seven additional ships were on their way to these shores. In order to meet the expenses attending these impor tations, it was found necessary to make arrangements for raising £50,000, by debentures secured on the terri torial revenue. If, however, as seemed most essential for the general interests of the colony, immigration were continued on a scale commensurate with the urgent demand which stiU existed for pastoral and agricultural labour, some more comprehensive measure for raising the requisite funds must be speedily adopted. Although the latter part of the season was unfavour able, and the maize crops had almost entirely failed, by the bounty of Divine Providence the wheat harvest was unusuaUy productive throughout the whole of the agricultural districts, and by the same divine blessing they continued to enjoy an abundance of aU the neces saries of life, at remarkably low prices. The revenue was prosperous, and, notwithstanding the faUing off in the duties on some articles, was equal to that of the preceding year, which was unusuaUy large. Her Majesty having deemed it expedient to revoke the charter establishing the new colony of North Australia, had been pleased to re-annex to New South Wales the whole of the territory lying northward of the 26th degree of south latitude, which was comprised within the limits of that charter, and which was previously included within the jurisdiction of this government. To that portion of the territory thus re-annexed, the legislative authority of the CouncU would again con sequently extend. It was announced that despatches relative to the contemplated new Constitution, and to the subject of transportation, would be laid before the House at an early date. Referring to the demonstra tions which had taken place on the latter question, his excellency said, that he " had lost no time in trans mitting a fuU report of those proceedings to the Secre tary of State, with a request that any measures which might be progress for sending out convicts should be suspended until he was enabled to place his lordship in 1W8] STEAM POSTAL COMMUNICATION. 207 possession of the dehberate opinion of the CoimcU on the subject. He, accordingly, invited the House to give the matter, wdth aU promptitude, their attentive consideration." Despatches and correspondence rela tive to the projected railways were also announced, and his exceUency thus expressed his views on this subject : — " Without underrating the difficulties likely to be experienced, in the present circumstances of the colony, in carrying out objects of this nature, he was so strongly impressed wdth the advantages which such means of internal communication would afford, that he was prepared, wdth the concurrence of the House, to grant considerable faciUties towards their accomphsh- ment." Referring to the subject of steam postal com munication, he said " he had much gratification in an nouncing to them that her Majesty's government had authorized a contract to be entered into with the Indian and Austrahan Steam-packet Company, for the conveyance of mails by steam between England and the colony, by way of Singapore and Torres Straits, according to a plan suggested for this purpose by the select committees which sat and reported in 1846 and 1848. The Secretary of State further informed him that a proposal for estabhshing steam communication with the Australian colonies, by way of the Cape of Good Hope, was also under the consideration of her Majesty's Government." It was also announced that the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty had ex pressed their wiUingness to make provisions in the navy estimates of the present year for a contribution towards the formation of a dry dock at Cockatoo Island, provided that the works were constructed according to certain dimensions, which were deemed necessary for the reception of a large frigate or steamer ; that her Majesty's ships should have the preference in the use of the dry dock when required, and that the work could be executed at a reasonable cost. Among the more important legislative measures which were to be brought forward by the government, was one having . for its object the introduction of a uniform rate of postage. 208 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv, Within a week from the time of their assembUng, the question of transportation was brought before the House. Cowper moved — " That an address be pre sented to the governor, respectfully requesting that he would not cause any convicts, destined by her Majesty's government for the district of Port Phillip, to be brought into the middle district, and also that his exceUency would be pleased to prevent the dispersion of any con victs who might arrive in the harbour of Port Jackson through the distant districts of the colony, where there was no means of exercising a proper discipline over them, and where their presence must be injurious, in every point of view, to the immigrant families now proceeding thither." James Macarthur moved the previous question. He based his dissent from the motion on the ground that it was premature to move in the matter ; that any decision arrived at in this early stage of the sittings would not be deliberate, especially as some of the leading members of the House were absent. The previous question was carried ; but the result, so far from being favourable to the cause, of the transportationists, only tended to confirm the views of those who insisted on the necessity of a larger degree of free government, for of the sixteen who voted for the previous question ten were nominees, including six government officers ; while, of the nine who formed the minority, eight were representatives of the people. At the commencement of the succeeding month, the question again came under the consideration of the House. Cowper moved, with reference to Earl Grey's despatch of the 3rd September, 1848, " That the Council declined to accede to the proposal therein con tained for the renewal of transportation, and strongly protested against the adoption of any measure by which the colony would be degraded into a penal settlement ; and that the Council would earnestly entreat her Majesty's government to be graciously pleased to revoke the Order in Council by which the colony was again made a place to which British offenders might be transported." The motion was seconded by one of the Port Phillip members, M'Kinnon, and was adopted 1819.] AEEIVAL OF THE " HAEEIAWAY." 209 without dissent, and amid a significant silence. This result was regarded as a settlement of the ques tion, so far as the determination of the colonists was concerned. YH. While these proceedings were progressing in the House, the colonists out of doors were not idle. They had for some time been organizing with the view to making a grand demonstration on the arrival of the* first convict ship ; and in the month of Jtme, when the "¦^^s^aeswgy^' arrived, with two hundred and twelve.-^ male convicts on board, thefr arrangements were com pleted, and the demonstration took place. The ship arrived in the harbour on Friday, the 8th ; and on the Monday foUowing the meeting was held in which the colonists were to foUow up the example set by the legislature, by protesting in the most marked and , solemn manner against being subjected to what they regarded as a poUution, at a time when the medium of" the contemplated degradation was not remote or in / prospective, but within view of their sanctuaries and thefr homes. The appearance of the weather was un- propitious, yet this cfrcumstance in no way interfered with the resolution of the people of Sydney. The greater part of the leading merchants and shopkeepers closed thefr estabhshments, and at one o'clock the citizens wended their way to the Circular Wharf, until five thousand persons were present. As if to add greater force to the demonstration the arrangements at the place of meeting were marked by a want of pre paration, the speakers addressing the audience from the top of an omnibus. Scarcely had the proceedings commenced when rain began to descend, and continued to faU through the remainder of the day, but no one retfred to his home on account of the unfavourable state of the weather. Robert Campbell presided. The pro test, which had been prepared for the occasion, was moved by John Lamb. It was to this effect : — " We, the free and loyal subjects of her most gracious Majesty, inhabitants of the city of Sydney and its im mediate neighbourhood, in pubhc meeting assembled, do hereby enter our most deliberate and solemn protest 210 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.IV. against the transportation of British criminals to the colony of New South Wales. Firstly, because it is a violation of the will of the majority of the colonists, as clearly evidenced by their expressed opinions on the question at all times. Secondly, because numbers among us have immigrated on the faith of the British government, that transportation to this colony had ceased for ever. Thirdly, because it is incompatible wdth the existence of a free colony, desfring self-govern ment, to be made the receptacle of another country's felons. Fourthly, because it is in the highest degree unjust to sacrifice the great social and political interests of the colony at large to the pecuniary profit of a fraction of the inhabitants. Fifthly, being firmly and devotedly attached to the British Crown, we greatly fear that the perpetration of so stupendous an act of injustice by her Majesty's government will go far towards alienating the affections of the people of this colony from the mother country. " For these and many kindred reasons in the exer cise of our duty to our country, for the love we bear our families, in the strength of our loyalty to Great Britain, and from the depth of our reverence for Almighty God, we protest against the landing again of British convicts on these shores." This protest was unanimously adopted, and it was afterwards resolved — " That it was the urgent request of that meeting that the local government do send the prisoners arrived in the ' Harkaway' immediately back to England, and, if necessary, at the expense of the colony." A deputation was then appointed to wait on the governor with the protest and the resolution, with a request that his excellency would forward them to the Queen. The deputation, which was a numerous one, and comprised several persons not of the first respectability or standing, at once proceeded towards Government House ; but on arriving at the gates lead ing towards the vice-regal residence, they found these closed. After some parleying, however, with the sen tinel in charge, the gate was partially opened, and the remainder being excluded, six of the deputation were i«*9-] DEPUTATION TO THE GOVERXOB. 211 admitted. On arriving at Government House, these were informed by the private secretary that it was necessary to forward a copy of the protest and resolu tion to the governor, with a request that he would fix a time to receive the deputation, and this course was adopted. Next day, in pursuance of the appointment made, the deputation waited on the governor, who said that he would lose no time in forwarding the protest to England, to be laid at the foot of the throne. With regard to the request to have the convicts sent back, he said that the deputation must inform those by whom they were deputed that this was obviously im possible. Campbell, who was chief of the deputation, was now proceeding to express his regret that his excellency was unable to return a more satisfactory answer, when the governor cut short the conversation by remarking that he was not prepared to enter into any discussion. As this remark was uttered in a manner and wdth a gesture which precluded further communi cation, the deputation immediately wdthdrew. It was now resolved to hold another meeting with the view to adopting three courses : (1.) To censure the governor for the discourtesy with which he hstened to the protest of the people ; (2.) To petition for the dismissal of Earl Grey; (3.) To assert that the recent difference between the sentiments and instruc tions of the governor and the opinions of the people demonstrated the immediate necessity of responsible government for the colony. This second grand de monstration took place on the 18th, About five or six thousand persons were present, Campbell again presided, and the speakers were nearly aU the same who had addressed the previous meeting. The two first resolutions, which were embodied in a petition to the Queen, were to the effect — " (1.) That considering the arbitrary and faithless manner in which the colony has been treated by the Right Hon. Earl Grey, the meeting humbly prayed her Majesty to remove that nobleman from her Majesty's councUs, (2.) That it was indispensable to the well-being of the colony, and 212 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.IV. to the satisfactory conduct of its affairs, that its government should no longer be administered by a remote, Ul-informed, and irresponsible colonial office, but by ministers chosen from, and responsible to, the colonists themselves, in accordance wdth the principles of the British constitution." A thfrd resolution de clared — " That considering the discourtesy shown by his excellency to the former meeting and to its de putation, the present meeting refrained from appoint ing a deputation to wait on the governor with the pre ceding resolutions, but desired the chairman to transmit them to him, with a request that his exceUency would be pleased to forward them to her Majesty the Queen, for her gracious consideration." Lowe was the mover of the resolution, and his speech on the occasion was one of the finest of his oratorical efforts. On the day of the former meeting it was generaUy known that a double guard had been stationed at the gates of Go vernment House. Lowe now announced, what turned out to be the fact, that a body of mounted police were quartered in the governor's stables, and that the kitchen of Government House was fiUed with soldiers. Referring to the excuse for these precautions, put for ward by the governor's friends, that his exceUency was afraid, " A soldier, and afraid !" said the speaker ; " A Waterloo hero, and afraid 1 Afraid of what ? Of the cotton umbrellas wherewith the people warded off the rain, or of the omnibus which, by accident, was called the Defiance ?" McCurtayne, one of the popular leaders of the day, foUowed Lowe in a speech characterized by rugged eloquence. One of the deputation, speaking of the governor's demeanour, said, " It was the cold repulsiveness of the reception which disgusted them." The governor " evinced his feelings by the increasing depth of his brow, and by his retreating step — retreating, as he did, until he had fairly entrenched himself behind the table near which he had taken his stand." That the governor had exercised more than ordinary formality there could be no question. That he was discourteous he himself denied in private con- 1849.] ADDEESS OF CONFIDENCE IS THE GOVEENOE. 213 versation, declaring, what might weU receive credence, that "he felt no anger or warmth of temper." The period was unquestionably one which called for the exercise of the fuUest firmness on the part of any governor who was resolved to adhere to his instruc tions rather than side with the views of the majority of the colonists. The friends of the governor determined not to leave unchaUenged the censure on his exceUency. An address was got up and presented, which " regretted the attempt recently made at a pubUc meeting in the city of Sydney to pass a vote of censure on his excel lency and on her Majesty's government." The meet ing was characterized as consisting chiefly of the idlers of the city, and the addressers conveyed a renewed assurance of loyalty to her most gracious Majesty, and of unshaken confidence in his excellency's administra tion. A second address, having eighteen hundred signatures, was presented by the mayor. It set forth that the addressers "being thoroughly satisfied that his exceUency on aU occasions since his arrival had used his utmost exertions to promote the prosperity of the colony, and to further the wishes of the colonists, and behoving that his excellency had uniformly acted in the most courteous manner to aU those who were admitted to his presence on pubUc occasions, begged leave to express their sense of the injustice of the imputations so unsparingly cast on his exceUency by certain speakers at the late pubUc meeting." Fitz-Roy, in reply, said, " That they did him no more than jus- tice*in beUeVing that the imputations which were cast upon him of having acted discourteously towards the deputation were not warranted by the cfrcumstances which then took place." In the more remote parts of the colony the anti- transportationists were not less zealous. A meeting was called at Moreton Bay, avowedly to express an opinion favourable to the introduction of exiles, if accompanied by commensurate military and police establishments. So far were those who assembled, however, from concurring in the views of those by 214 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.IV. whom they were called together, that they adopted a resolution to the effect " that while they admitted the great want of labour which prevailed in that part of the colony, there were no terms, however favourable, that the Imperial Government could offer which would induce them, with thefr consent, to receive convicts transported from the mother country." YIII. Among the subjects brought under the con sideration of the Legislative CouncU this year was one which, to a remarkable extent, affected the privileges of members of the House. James Martin having been elected for Cook and Westmoreland, his possession of the necessary property qualification was disputed, and the matter was referred to a select committee. The question was brought forward in the usual way by petition, the petitioners alleging that " having searched the registration office, they faUed to discover any re gistered conveyance in that gentleman's favour of the property which was aUeged to constitute his quahfica- tion." The committee reported that the quahfication did not exist ; the Council declared the election to be void, and Mr. Martin left the House at the instance of the sergeant-at-arms. He was again returned, how ever, and in taking the oath of allegiance, preparatory to assuming his seat a second time, he handed in a letter wherein he stated, " that he did not admit that he had ever ceased to be a member of the Legislatiye Council since his original election for Cook and "West moreland in 1848." A select committee was appointed to inquire into the working of the corporation of Sydney, the efficiency of which had long been doubted, while its proceedings were conducted on the part of the councilmen in such a manner as to excite the contempt of the citizens, Those who were stiU favourable to the corporation attri buted its unsuccessful working, 1st, to the cumbersome machinery by which it had been surrounded, including the number of its members, which was said to be too large ; 2nd, the absence of legitimate endowments. The committee reported " that whatever might be the de fects of the machinery, and how inadequate soever the 1M9.] COMMITTEE ON THE COEPOEATION OP SYDNEY. 215 means of the corporation, these were but secondary, and minor defects, compared with the gross and palpable misconduct of the corporation itself, which had neither used ordinary care in coUecting, ordinary fairness in expending, nor ordinary dUigence in improving its revenues, and that, while to give additional endowment to such a body would be manifestly improper, to aUow it to remain in its present position would be to declare that thq citizens should derive as little benefit as pos sible for the sums they contributed. The committee was perfectly satisfied, from the evidence they had taken, that the body had entirely lost the confidence of the citi zens, and was regarded as an impediment to the improve ment of the city." Theyproceeded to add, however, having reference to the demand so often made from responsible governments, that " they did not think the failure of the corporation could fairly be urged against the colony as a proof of its unfitness for representative government. It was the existence of representative assembUes that was fatal to the successful working of corporations. Under ar bitrary governments they enlisted those ardent spirits whose energies had no other vent ; under free govern ments, the higher order of pubhc men were employed elsewhere, and municipal pohtics lost their attraction. "Thus," theyproceeded, "in England, from the triumph of the representative system in 1668 to the present time, these municipal bodies were graduaUy degenerating, so that offices in the corporation of London, which, in the reign of James IL, would have been the ambition of the highest merchants, had now faUen into the hands of shopkeepers." " The same degeneracy had taken place here, for it was admitted that the corporation had con siderably deteriorated since its first institution, yet if the faults of the corporation of London were no argu ment against the fitness of that great city for returning members to ParUament, such an inference could not fafrly be apphed to the city of Sydney." Among the causes of failure mentioned by the committee was the practice of creating aldermen Justices of the Peace, by which a spurious ambition was generated, and men sought a seat in the city council, not to devote them- 216 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV- selves to business, but to become magistrates. The manner in which the council performed its business was also highly objectionable. Their discussions were prolix and disorderly ; their proceedings dilatory and in consistent; epithets of the most offensive nature, and even oaths were employed in their deliberations; and they indulged in debates on the most trivial matters, such as the reception of a petition or a point of order which were almost interminable. The consequence was that their business fell into arrear ; it was very difficult to know when the council would arrive at a decision, and, when they decided, how long they would adhere to it." The committee concluded by recommending, 1st, That the Acts of Council incorporating the citizens of Sydney should be repealed ; 2nd, That an act should be passed appointing three commissioners, in whom should be vested all the powers at present exercised by the corporation; 3rd, That the local revenues then vested in the corporation should be vested in those com missioners ; and, 4th, That a uniform rate for the pur poses of civic improvement should be imposed by Act of CouncU. A series of resolutions for abolishing the cor poration were subsequently introduced by Lowe, but were negatived by a majority of fifteen to six. An amendment, moved by George Robert Nichols, to the effect that it was the opinion of the Council that the corporation ought to be amended, but not abohshed, was adopted, and the government were left to pursue whatever measures might seem to them desirable on the matter. Another committee reported on certain irregularities which were said to have been practised in the gaol at Sydney. The result of the committee's investigations was that Keck, the gaoler, with several of his subordi nates, were dismissed, and the office of visiting justice abolished. Captain Jones, who had latterly filled that office, having been implicated in the irregularities which characterised the management of the garrison, the report stated that " the general habits of the governor of the gaol and of his subordinates appeared to be those of open and undisguised licentiousness." Both the 1819.] COMMITTEE FOE INSTITUTING A UNIVBESITY. 217 gaoler and the visiting justice were proved to have em ployed the prisoners as servants in their private esta blishments, and in works which were carried on for their pecuhar profit. The former was charged with borrow ing money from the prisoners, and wdth employing some of them as musicians at evening parties and pic nics which he was accustomed to hold. It was even proved that, owing to the laxity of discipline which the gaoler promoted, some of the prisoners had been enabled to exercise their former propensities by committing bur glaries in the town while they were yet under sentence of imprisonment within the walls of the gaol ; one pri soner, too, was at large in the town, and clothed in the livery of the visiting justice, when he was recognized by a police officer as an old offender, and apprehended on a fresh charge. These disclosures proved that it is not merely at places remote from the seat of authority that a government needs to be watchful over the conduct of its agents. In September, Wentworth obtained a committee of the Council to report on the best means of instituting a university for the promotion of Uterature and science, to be endowed at the public expense. The committee reported in the same month. They said, that, " con sidering the rapid progress which the Australian colo nies had made during recent years, and still continued to make, in population, wealth, and revenue, and the period that had now elapsed since the first of these colonies was planted, they felt persuaded that there could not exist any diversity of opinion as to the pohcy of founding, without further delay, on a liberal and comprehensive basis, a university accessible to all classes, and to all collegiate and other educational institutions, which might seek its affiliation. In order to give it this wide sphere of usefulness, they con sidered that it must belong to no religious denomina tion, and require no religious test. To carry out these necessary conditions its visitor must be a layman, its governing body laymen, its professors laymen. By no other means could it be made a truly national in stitution, one to which all classes and denominations 218 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv. might resort for secular education, which, it must be obvious, was the only education it could impart, or suffer to be imparted, within its waUs." Having thus expressed their opinion that the university ought to be founded as soon as possible, the committee proceeded to state their views as to the plan on which it ought to be modeUed, and how and to what extent it ought to be endowed. They detailed the amounts which ought to be appropriated for that purpose, and the departments of revenue whence these amounts ought to be drawn, and recommended the incorporation, by an act of the Legislature, during that session, of a governing body in the nature of a senate. Having explained the number of professors which would be required, their salaries and allowances, and having given some hints as to the composition of the senate, the committee concluded by remarking, that while the University of Harvard was established by the Pilgrim Fathers of New England in less than twenty years after the settlement of that state, "nearly sixty-two years had elapsed since the British standard was first unfurled on these shores, in token of thefr permanent subjection to British rule, and yet, for all beyond the mere rudiments of learning, the colonists were still forced to send their sons to some British or foreign university, at the distance of half the globe, away from aU parental or family control, and, as might be pre dicted, in most cases, wdth certain detriment to their morals ; in few, with any compensating improvement to their minds. This frightful dearth of colonial edu cation had already existed too long ; it was not just to their youth ; it was most painful to the parents ; it was not reputable to the country ; it ought not to be endured any longer. And since the House had un doubtedly the power, wdth the assent of the governor, to incorporate a university, wdth aU the necessary pri vileges, as well as to endow it, this was the course which the committee recommended for their immediate adoption ; and they had prepared a bill which, if passed into law, would carry out this recommendation during the present session." Wentworth was the chairman of i^J COXTiITIOX OF THE ABOElGINES. 219 the committee from which this report emanated, and thus, both as the original projector of the institution, and as the author of the document in which the scheme of its formation was laid down, he estabhshed for him self an indisputable claim to be considered the founder of the University of Sydney. An act to incorporate the senate of the university was shortly afterwards passed. IX. A committee of the CouncU, having reference to a despatch of the Secretary of State, received during the preceding year, was appointed to inquire into the condition of the aborigines. In the report which they prepared they recommended the abolition of the Pro tectorate, as having faUed in the object for which it was estabhshed, as being, in fact, at this time, alto gether useless ; but they could not recommend a sub stitute. They advised the House that it was useless to form new reserves, as recommended by the Secre tary of State ; the education of adults they thought to be hopeless, and the young could be educated only by a compulsory sequestration from thefr relatives and tribes. They concluded by expressing an opinion that, without underrating the phUanthropic motives of her Majesty's government in attempting the improvement of the aborigines, much more real good would be effected by similar exertions to promote the interests of rehgion and education among the white population in the interior of the colony, the improvement of whose condition in these respects would doubtless tend to benefit the aborigines. The biU to incorporate the Sydney RaUway Com pany, being the first instance of Austiahan legislation on this subject, was on the 4th September read a second time without dissent. The capital of the company was fixed at £100,000, divided into twenty thousand shares of £5 each. The right to purchase the raU way and appurtenances was reserved to her Majesty. A dividend of four per cent, was permanently guaran teed by the government, secured on the territorial revenue. The CouncU, by a majority of twenty-one to four, 220 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [Ciiap. iv. voted a sum of money for the erection of a tablet to the memory of Kennedy, the explorer. At the commencement of the year a public meeting was held in Sydney, to petition for a reduction of the elective franchise ; the existing qualification was twenty pounds per annum household, and two hundred pounds freehold. Lowe, Nichols, and John Ryan Brenan, were among the chief promoters of this movement. It was contended, that while, originaUy, the qualifica tion was too high, it had been rendered still more exclusive by the depreciation which had taken place in property, so that, though the population had greatly increased, the number of electors remain stationary. A petition to the Queen and Parliament was adopted which prayed for a reduction to ten pounds annual household, and fifty pounds freehold in Sydney, and five pounds annual household and leasehold, and twenty- five pounds freehold in all other- parts of the colony. The petitioners set forth that in one district containing four thousand inhabitants, owing to the high qualifica tion, coupled with the depreciation of property, there were not more than seventy electors ; and they sub mitted that the reduction prayed for was necessary, in order to give a full and fair share of the representation to the mass of the colonists, and thus carry out the principle which was at the basis of all British consti tutional freedom of making taxation and representation go hand in hand. This petition received three thou sand three hundred and fifty-five signatures. Early in the year the colony was startled by the announcement of the discovery of gold in Cahfornia; and by June two hundred and ninety-nine persons had left New South Wales for the auriferous regions. The result of the exodus thus commenced was a great de preciation in the value of property in the colony, and many, by availing themselves of the crisis to become purchasers, afterwards reahzed fortunes of greater or less extent. In January, the lottery for the lands of the Bank of Australia took place. Several persons were suddenly enriched by this event, while it had the effect of relieving the proprietary of their embarrass- 18^9-] DISCOVEEY OF GOLD IX OALIFOENIA. 221 ments. The governor made a tour of the southem districts. The blacks in the course of this year gave considerable trouble in various parts of the colony. At one station on the Balonne River, they killed seven white men and two domesticated aborigines. The in habitants of the Macleay River District petitioned the governor for protection against thefr depredations. The convicts whose arrival led to the great protest meeting, were distributed over the colony, receiving tickets-of-leave as soon as they succeeded in obtaining employment. Some of the number at once paid the fifteen pounds, for which, according to arrangement, they were responsible for on account of thefr passage. The daughter of the governor, the Hon. Mrs. Keith Stuart, arrived in the colony with her husband and family, and took up her abode at Government House, where, during the remainder of her father's adminis tration, she resided. The experiment which had been made to grow sUk on an extensive scale in the colony proved a faUure, chiefly in consequence of the want of the proper species of mulberry tree. Certain statistics made out in the course of this year showed that the expenditure on account of immi gration to New South Wales for the ten years ending in 1846, was £992,729 ; the number of immigrants introduced during that period was 55,063; the cost per head being £18 3s. Id. The gross amount of the land revenue for the ten years was £1,194,000. Besides the cost of immigration the other charges on the land fund for this period were as follows : — Department of survey, £191,389 ; one-third the ex penses of the treasury and audit offices, £18,158 ; aborigines, including one-half the expenses of border pohce, £102,258. The affafrs of Port PhUhp were each day assuming a more important aspect. Almost simultaneously with the meeting held in Sydney to petition for an exten sion of the franchise, one was held at Port PhUhp to enforce the demand of the occupiers of Crown lands for a share in the representation. Owing to the farmers and other classes advancing their claims in 222 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAp. IV. juxtaposition with those of the squatters, the meeting was tumultuous, and nothing was done. Lord Grey, in a communication to the governor, ac knowledged the receipt of two memorials, one from the City CouncU of Melbourne, praying for the removal of Mr. La Trobe from the office of Superintendent of the dis trict, the other to the same effect from certain other in habitants of Port Phillip. His exceUency was directed to inform the memoriahsts that their petition had been laid before the Queen, but that the Secretary of State was not able to advise her Majesty to accede to the prayer of them. He was also instructed to inform Mr. La Trobe that the minister " had entire confidence in him, notwithstanding the representations of the peti tioners, and he trusted that that confidence was shared in by a large proportion of the community of Port Phillip." "It was difficult, or rather scarcely possible," he proceeded, " to administer the government of a dis trict so circumstanced without opposing, on various occasions, the wishes of different sections of the people, and he was far from supposing that errors might not have been committed by Mr. La Trobe as well as by other gentlemen in his position, in shaping a course so as io avoid or surmount the many difficulties which beset his administration. But he was bound to add that he found no distinct statement of any such errors, nor was there any allegation sufficiently precise to admit of his appreciating the force of the charges made against Mr. La Trobe, in the expressions of those petitioners, or in the reputed language used at the meeting at which that of the town council was adopted." As soon as inteUigence of the temporary withdrawal from Parhament of the Australian Colonies Govern ment BiU was received, a meeting was convened at Port PhiUip to urge on the home government no longer to delay the erection of that district into a separate colony. A resolution was adopted to the effect, " that the inteUigence of the withdrawal from Parliament of the Australian Colonies Bill, and the consequent sub jection of the inhabitants of this province to another year's endurance of the thraldom of the Sydney 1830.] EESOLUTION OX THE SEPAEATION OF POET PHILLIP. 223 government, had been received by the whole com munity wdth deep disappointment and dismay, and had produced a keen sense of injustice and a strong feeling of dissatisfaction in the minds of the colonists." In a second resolution, moved by WUliam Kerr, seconded by John Faulkner, and adopted after considerable op position, the meeting denounced the conduct of the home government towards the settlement ; said the district had conferred everything on the mother country and received nothing, and threatened, as the result of further delay ofthe measure of separation, consequences at the contemplation of which "they shuddered." At a subsequent meeting a petition praying for separation, irrespective of any other measure, was adopted. 1850.] X. The subject of the new constitution was that which occupied most attention at the commence ment of the year. A memorial to the Secretary of State was got up by those colonists who were some times caUed respectable, to distinguish them from those of the more popular party, in reference to this ques tion. The memoriahsts submitted that the government should be vested in three estates : a Governor, to be appointed and paid by the Crown ; a Legislative Coun cil, to be composed of members appointed for hfe by the Crown, and of official members, the latter to be in the proportion of not more than one in four ; and a House of Assembly, to be elected by the colonists. They also proposed that the audit of the customs receipts and expenditure should take place in the colony, and that the charges incurred in the coUection of that and every other branch of revenue, including the land fund, as weU as the expenditure of the net income ofthe colony, should be placed under the control of the colonial legislature, which in return should make provision for a reasonable civU list. They also repre sented that the colonial legislature was clearly entitled to the administration of the waste lands of the colony, and that the most certain course to ensure the econo mical and judicious management of the pubhc domain for the national benefit would be to confide its care to those who were best acquainted with its value, and 224 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CSaF. TV. most deeply interested in its profitable administration. They further urged the soundness of the policy of en trusting to the governor for the time being the patron age of official appointments, and strongly urged that all vacancies, as far as conveniently might be, should be filled up from amongst the inhabitants of the colony. In April a despatch was received by the governor from the Secretary of State, acknowledging the receipt of the address of the Legislative Council against trans portation, and stating that her Majesty had been advised to rescind the Order in Council, making the colony a penal settlement. The Secretary of State said " he regretted to learn that the measure of sending con victs with tickets-of-leave to New South Wales was so strongly objected to by many persons in the colony." He explained that although free immigrants were not to be sent at once with the convicts, her Majesty's go vernment never abandoned the idea of sending them ; and, in fact, free immigrants, he said, were even going to the colony in pursuance of that intention. The de spatch thus concluded, "Until the recorded vote ofthe Legislative CouncU in favour of sending convicts to the colony on certain conditions shall have been recalled by an equally formal proceeding, her Majesty's govern ment are not prepared to abandon the measure ; but, as it appears, as well from the petition to which I have just adverted, as from the proceedings in reference to the matter at Port PhiUip and Sydney, that convicts are much more needed, and wUl be far more willingly received at Moreton Bay than in the other districts, for the present, at least, those that are sent to the colony shall be directed thither. A ship wdll accordingly be despatched almost immediately to that destination with convicts, who will be carefully chosen for their good conduct since their sentences, and these will be followed by an equal number of free immigrants." This de spatch was dated the 11th of November. A second despatch, dated the 18th November, arrived by the same ship. This letter was in answer to the governor's communication, containing the me morial adopted at the famous meeting at the Circular ^^^"¦3 LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ASSEMBLE. 225 Quay, and the address of the Council, based on Cow- per's motion, declining to accede to the proposal to renew transportation. The Secretary of State now said, " With respect to Moreton Bay, you are aware that a ship was engaged, before the receipt of the present despatches, for the conveyance of a party of convicts to that destination. They wiU be foUowed, after aUowing an interval for the disposal of those people, and other persons of the labouring classes who have gone to that part since the date of the memorial you enclose, by an equal number of free people, sent out at the expense of this country ; but afterwards no more convicts will be sent to any part of New South Wales in consequence of the address now received from the Legislative Council." In June the Legislative CouncU assembled for the despatch of business. The governor, in his opening speech, acknowledged, with gratitude to Divine Provi dence, another abundant wheat harvest, and a con sequent abundance of the necessaries of life. The material resources of the colony, he said, continued steadily to increase. The wool exported last year amounted to nearly twenty-eight miUion pounds weight, being an increase on the previous year of nearly five millions of pounds. The revenue was equally prosperous. The gross amount realized in the past year exceeded that of 1848 by the large sum of £95,974 9s. 2d. Of this amount, the excess in the general or ordinary revenue was £38,324 3s. 7d., and in the territorial, £57,650 5s. 7d. The total number of immigrants who arrived during the past year was 20,865, of whom 11,137 were landed in the Sydney dis trict, and 9728 at Port PhUlip. Of the whole number thus introduced, the passages of 15,293 were paid wholly or in part from colonial funds. It was an nounced that the emigration to Cahfornia to this date numbered 3814 persons. Referring to this drain from the colonial population, the governor said, that "he had caused a communication to be made to the Land and Emigration Commissioners, recommending, as a prospective measure, that immigrants receiving pas- 226 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, [CBAP. IV. sages at the colonial expense should be required to enter into an engagement, previously to embarkation, to remain in the colony for certain specified periods, or to reimburse a proportionate amount of their pas sage-money, if they should desire sooner to remove therefrom." The state of the police of the colony, and the best means of increasing its strength to the proper standard, and improving its condition, demanded, his excellency said, the early and serious attention of the government and the legislature. The absence, under the present system, of aU intercommunication between the different branches of magistrates, and of any effec tual prosecution of offenders in the widely-spread dis tricts of the interior, called, it appeared to him, for the organization of a police force, directed by an efficient central department, invested with complete control over the whole of the executive police of the colony, and supported by a sufficient staff responsible to one general head, so that order, regularity, and unity of purpose might be introduced into its constitution and operations. Bills to improve the constitution of the corporation of Sydney, and " to provide for the sewer age of the city, and to promote the health of the inhabitants," were announced. Such were the matters referred to in the vice-regal speech of 1850. A despatch, addressed to the governor, intimating the condition on which her Majesty's government were determined to maintain, in future, a military force in the colony, was laid before the House. The Secretary of State set out by saying, that the chief body of the troops in the colonies were employed like a police force, which was inconsistent with the duties which the British army was called on to fulfil. Referring to some prior despatches, he said, " These communica tions would have fully prepared his excellency for the reduction which her Majesty's government found it absolutely necessary to make in the military expendi ture of the Australian colonies, and he had accordingly to state, that it was proposed to transfer to the colony of New South Wales the barracks and aU other miU tary buildings and hoards not immediately required 1850] DESPATCH ON MAINTAINING A MILITAEY FOECE. 227 for the preservation of stores, and that the charge of providing, maintaining, and repairing mUitary quarters in New South Wales must, in future, be undertaken by the colony, and that the force to be retained there would be reduced to a guard in the capital and in the town of Melbourne. If a greater amount of force were required, the local legislature must then make pro vision for raising a more considerable body of police than was then maintained, or some other description of local force, or else provide for the pay and aUow- ances of an additional number of her Majesty's regular army, in which case there would be no objection to allow additional regiments to serve there." The de spatch proceeded — " In adopting the policy which the Secretary of State was caUed upon to prescribe to his exceUency for his future guidance, her Majesty's go vernment was urged by the consideration that New South Wales afready possessed representative institu tions ; that these, it could not be doubted, would be very speedily extended to the other Australian colonies, and that aU the restrictions heretofore imposed on colonial trade by Imperial legislation had now been removed. It was his duty to apprise his excellency, that if the colonial legislature should not think proper to make adequate provision for the maintenance of the necessary barracks, in such a manner that the health and comfort of the troops would be as well secured as at present, it would be incumbent on her Majesty's government to remove them altogether." While these rigid conditions were imposed on the colonists, they were informed that the right to remove the barracks and other military buUdings would be reserved by the home government, and with that view a nominal rental would be imposed when the transfer took place. There could be no doubt but that the tone of this despatch was influenced, if indeed its terms were not dictated, by the uncompromising spirit which the colonists had displayed in the matter of transportation. At the end of August Mr. John Lambe introduced the question of transportation into the Council, his view in taking this course being, that although the 228 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, ICHAP. iv. matter might be now said to have been set at rest, so far as stipulation and affirmation were concerned, yet until the system had practicaUy ceased to exist, no session of the Legislature ought to pass over without the recording of a resolution expressive of the aversion of the colonists to being made the recipients of the felonry of the mother country. He moved resolutions to the effect, " that an humble address be presented to her Majesty, respectfully setting forth that the Council having maturely considered the despatch of the Right Hon. the Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 3rd September, 1848, declined to accede to the pro posal therein contained for the renewal of transporta tion to this colony, and strongly protested against the adoption of any measure by which the colony would be degraded into a penal settlement ; that the CouncU, therefore, earnestly entreated her Majesty to be gra ciously pleased to revoke the Order in Council by which New South Wales was again made a place to which British offenders might be transported." The pro-transportationists defeated this resolution, by moving and carrying an adjournment, their argument being, that the country had not yet fully spoken on the subject. In the succeeding month, however, the resolutions were again introduced, and, after a debate extending over four days, were passed, 1st October, without a division. Early in the session George Robert Nichols intro duced into the Council a series of resolutions on the subject of colonial patronage. They were to the effect, (1.) That the appointment to all offices under the go vernment in New South Wales should be vested abso lutely in the colonial executive ; (2.) that no person should be appointed to any office under the government of the colony who had not previously been a settled in habitant thereof; (8.) that no recommendation from the authorities in the mother country should give any person a right to be appointed to any office imder the colonial government. A fourth resolution made special reference to a recent appointment to a legal office as 1850.] EESOLUTIONS ON COLONIAL PATBONAGE. 229 being contrary to the principles enunciated in these resolutions, and a fifth provided for the foregoing being embodied in an address to the Queen. After a debate of two days' duration, Donaldson moved as an amend ment resolutions to the following effect — (1.) That the CouncU having had under its consideration the subject of colonial patronage, was of opinion that the reserving to the Secretary of State for the Colonies the gift of ap pointments to pubhc offices in New South Wales was inexpedient, and that, from the advanced state of so ciety in the colony, this patronage ought to be abso lutely vested in the colonial executive; (2.) that, in the opinion of the CouncU, the adoption of such a principle would be productive of the best results, by creating a proper responsibUity with greater efficiency and eco nomy throughout the pubhc service, by doing away with a proUfic source of dissatisfaction and complaint, by opening a field for honourable ambition, and by strength ening those feehngs of loyalty which attached the colony to the parent state. The amendment was adopted, and the resolutions were embodied in an address to the Queen. The Council was prorogued at the commencement of October. Among the measures of this session was the act for the estabUshment of the Sydney university, an act for improving the organization of the pohce, and an act for setting at rest certain doubts regarding the le gahty of Presbyterian marriages. An act was also passed re-organizing the corporation of the city of Sydney. One of the principal alterations was to the effect that the mayor should be elected by the citizens at large. XI. In July the first turf of the Sydney and Goul burn Railway was turned (3rd) . The principal part ofthe ceremony was performed by the governor's daughter, the Hon. Mrs. Keith Stuart. About ten thousand persons witnessed the proceedings. Nearly all the societies of the city walked in procession to the site of the terminus in Parramatta Street, where, notwithstand ing that the weather was unfavourable, the assembled concourse presented one of the most imposing specta cles ever witnessed in the colony. 230 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. iv In August the anti-transportation movement re ceived a new impulse. A copy of a despatch of the governor to the Secretary of State, of date 30th of June, giving an account ofthe two famous Circular Quay meet ings, was received at Sydney, and were pubhshed in the newspapers. The tenor of these papers was such as to render Fitz-Roy for the time being exceedingly unpo pular with a large class ofthe colonists. The governor said that "in forwarding these documents, he felt it right to call his lordship's attention to the circumstance of the protest and resolutions adopted at the first meet ing having been presented to him by a deputation, but that, on account of some alleged discourtesy on his part towards the deputation, which accusation, he need scarcely say, was utterly devoid of truth, and was, he believed, merely asserted as a plea for getting up another meeting, the petition and resolution adopted at the second meeting were transmitted to him through the colonial secretary. He further deemed it his duty to state that the accounts pubUshed in the ' Sydney Morning Herald' of the number and respectability ofthe persons who attended those meetings, and of the sen sation alleged to have been created by the addresses of the speakers, were grossly exaggerated. Notwithstand ing the efforts made for some months by the journal already named, which was the only daily paper pub lished in Sydney, and by persons interested in inflaming the minds of the lower orders of the people, and in ex citing them to proceed to acts of violence on the arrival ofthe first convict ship ; and notwithstanding that each of those meetings was held on Monday — a day quite as much, if not more, kept as a holiday by the operatives of Sydney as by those of the mother country — he could positively state that the actual attendance did not ex ceed hundreds, where thousands were represented to have been present, and of those a great portion were idlers, particularly at the second meeting, attracted by curiosity, but with no intention of taking part in the proceedings ; while of those who did take part in the business ofthe day, there was, with scarce an exception, no person who had any stake or influence in the com- 1850.] DESPATCH ON THE AXTI-TEANSPOETATION MOVEMENT. 231 munity." Thus did Fitz-Roy, with a boldness which we might respect, were it not for the want of veracity by which it is characterized, disparage the demonstration made by the colonists on the memorable occasions re ferred to. To say that the meetings were to be num bered only by hundreds, was what every person who happened to be a spectator on the occasion knew to be untrue. The statement that those who took part in the proceedings were generaUy persons who had no stake or influence in the community was perhaps a little less false; but the character of the chairman alone, who was the head of one ofthe oldest, most respectable, and most wealthy famiUes ofthe colony, not to speak of some other influential men who took a leading part in the proceed ings, might weU have saved the meetings from the whole sale aspersion cast upon them by the governor in this respect. The despatch then proceeded to state that " there could be no doubt, and it would be most improper were he to endeavour to conceal the fact, that a consi derable reaction in pubhc feeling had taken place in the colony since 1846 ; and that many of those who then desired a renewal of transportation had become, in consequence of the extensive immigration now in progress, and for various other causes, averse to this measure. But he could very confidently assure his lordship that among the respectable people of aU classes of the community, whether favourable or unfavourable to transportation, there was a general feeUng of indig nation at the attempts recently made to promote dis turbance and dissension, and at the question of the resumption of transportation having been seized by a small faction whose influence only extended to the mob of Sydney, as a pretext for wantonly insulting his lordship, and passing a vote of censure on himself." Fitz-Roy, aUuding to the statement made by some of the speakers at the meeting of the 18th June, to the effect that he had endeavoured to overawe the pro ceedings of the former meeting by an unnecessary display of mUitary force, said " he had merely to state that it appeared to him to be advisable, after the pains 232 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.IV. which had been taken to inflame the minds of the lower classes of Sydney, and to instigate them to pro ceed to what was termed a demonstration of physical force, to have at hand a sufficient number of troops to assist, in case of necessity, the police force in putting a stop to any acts of violence. But the few men who were added to the ordinary guard stationed at the en trance to the private grounds of Government House, close to which the meeting was held, were kept care fully out of sight, and there was no military display whatever." The despatch concluded by stating "that on the merits of the question various and opposite opi nions were entertained by many most respectable and influential inhabitants of the colony ; but his exceUency believed that there was no reasonable person in the com munity who considered his lordship's present plan of sending out convicts in any way a breach of faith, or de serving the violent and unquahfied denouncement it re ceived from certain agitators at the pubhc meeting re ferred to ; and it might be- worthy of remark that one of the leading men at those meetings, and one who was reported to have inveighed in the most violent terms against the proposition, was a most zealous member of the transportation committee of the Legislative Council in 1846 ; and the same individual, at the close of last session, declared that he stiU identified himself with that committee." Scarcely had the contents of this document been made public, ere an " indignation meeting" was con vened. The assemblage took place at that spot near the Circular Quay which had now become celebrated in connection with this agitation. At the lowest estimate there were four thousand persons present. Robert Campbell presided, and amongst the speakers were Henry Parkes, George A.Lloyd, the Rev. Dr. FuUerton, J. R. WUshire, J. M. Grant, Richard Peek, and Edward Flood. A series of resolutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That the meeting having had under its consideration a despatch from his Excellency Sir Charles Augustus Fitz-Roy, of date 30th June, 1849, transmit ting to Earl Grey the great protest of the inh9,bitants 1850.] INDIGNATION MEETING. 233 of Sydney, in pubUc meeting assembled, against the revival of transportation, declared that in that despatch his exceUency had, in a case of the utmost importance to the general welfare of the colony, grossly misre presented a series of facts of public notoriety, traduced the character of a large majority of the colonists of all classes and in aU parts of the territory, and betrayed the interests of the colony into the hands of its enemies ; (2.) that this meeting, aware of the insidious efforts of an interested though numerically insignificant section of the colonists, to re-estabUsh transportation to the colony, and apprehensive ofthe partial success of these efforts, when treacherously commended to her Majesty's advisers by the local government, felt bound to declare its dehberate opinion that no faith could be placed in the promises of the Secretary of State for the Colonies in this momentous question, and therefore solemnly demanded the immediate and just revocation of the Order in Council making New South Wales a penal settlement ; (3.) that the meeting declared its opinion that the despatch of Sir Charles Augustus Fitz-Roy testified his incapacity for, and unworthiness of the responsible office of governor of the colony, and earnestly prayed from her Majesty his instant removal therefrom ; (4.) that in accordance with the resolution adopted by the pubhc meeting ofthe 18th June, 1849, the meeting reiterated its opinion, " that it was indis pensable to the well-being of the colony, and to the satisfactory conduct of its affairs, that its govern ment should no longer be administered by a remote, Ul-informed, and frresponsible Colonial Office, but by ministers chosen from, and responsible to, the colonists themselves, in accordance with the principles of the British constitution." These resolutions were embodied in a memorial to the Queen. It was not to be expected that if on former occa sions the governor was spoken of in severe terms, in this instance he should get off without denunciation, and accordingly some of the speakers were not sparing of severe language. Lloyd characterized the despatch as an " after-dinner despatch." Flood remarking that 234 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. the governor's two sons were amongst the crowd, said " he hoped the father would take a lesson from them, on this occasion, as he was said to take lessons in those schools which they were accustomed too often to fre quent." This allusion to the weak point which was generally supposed to exist in the morals ofthe governor and his sons, did not pass unnoticed. Captain Fitz-Roy demanded an explanation, and not receiving an answer, sent to Flood a letter, in which he denounced the as sailant of himself and family as a " har and a coward." Flood now appealed to justice, and the case having come before the police bench, was dismissed after an investigation. The result was hailed with " bravoes" by the friends of Fitz-Roy, who mustered largely on the bench, a demonstration which was responded to by hisses and groans from the body of the court. The meeting itself was followed by a counter de monstration. About twenty-five persons attended a meeting at which an address to Fitz-Roy, relative to the recent movement, was adopted. Wentworth pre sided. Chief among the others present were Nichols, Robert Fitzgerald, and a few more of those who were known to be not unfavourable to the revival of trans portation. The address set forth, " that, in conse quence of the resolution adopted at the recent meeting, and of the coarse, turbulent, and highly inflammatory speeches and invectives wdth which those resolutions were prefaced, the addressers wished to declare — (1.) That so far as those of them who were present at the meeting of June, 1849, had observed, and as far as those of them who were not present had heard and believed, his excellency's despatch, the accuracy of which had been impugned, contained a substantially correct statement of what occurred at that meeting ; (2.) that the meeting lately convened for the purpose of throwing discredit on the statements in that des patch, and petitioning for his excellency's recal, was, as regarded the persons who spoke on that occasion, and those who were active in supporting the resolution then proposed, very inconsiderable in point of num bers, as compared with the entire population of the I860-] OOUNTEE DEMONSTEATION, 235 city, and, stiU more, wanting in point of character and respectability ; (3.) that there were, in fact, but very few persons of any standing or consideration in society among those who were present taking an active part in those proceedings ; (4.) that there was an anti- British and democratic spfrit springing up among the lower orders in the city, of so violent and dangerous a character as to render it unsafe for any one not belong ing to their class to attend public meetings at all, and that persons who did attend, and attempt to offer op position to the resolutions proposed, were maltreated, and refused a hearing ; (5.) that in consequence of this state of things, the respectable classes of society ceased to attend public meetings in the city, and adopted private addresses and petitions as the only safe and practical mode of giving free expression to their opi nions on public subjects ; (6.) that whilst they wished to avoid, on the present occasion, the expression of any opinion whatever on the question of the resumption of transportation, they did not hesitate to declare that the doctrines expressed, and the resolutions adopted at both the meetings above referred to, or at any such meetings, were no index of the pubhc opinion of the colony, but the mere manifestation of the passions and prejudices of that excited and anarchical element of the population which, if it were allowed to gain the ascendancy, would uproot in the colony the foundation of property and order ; (7.) that, on the other hand, a very large majority of the loyal, peaceable, and weU- disposed classes of the community of aU grades were highly indignant at the low vituperation and unfounded attacks which had been made upon his exceUency's mo tives and government ; and they adopted this mode of conveying to his excellency their assurance that they fully appreciated the moderation and impartiality of his excellency's administration." With so much effrontery did a meeting of twenty or thirty persons set them selves up to repudiate the views, contradict the state ments, and revile the character of assemblages which represented in every respect the overwhelming majority of the colonists at large. 236 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES, [CilAP. iv. An address of a different character soon followed. It deprecated the proposed revival of transportation, but " regretted that in the discussion of a question so im portant, and one requiring such calm deliberation, per sonal invective and recrimination should have been al lowed admission," and pointed out that there was cause for apprehension that " in the political excitement which had thus been created, the real welfare of the colony would be overlooked. ' ' The memoriahsts prayed his ex ceUency to continue his efforts to convince her Majesty that the Order in Council which made New South Wales a colony to which convicts might be transported, must be revoked. " They would humbly entreat that her Majesty would be pleased to comply with this re quest, being fuUy persuaded that, untU the question of transportation was set at rest by the revocation of the Order in Council, so that convicts could not, under any name, condition, or circumstances whatever, be sent to New South Wales, there was no security for social or political tranquilhty." This memorial was signed by twelve hundred persons. Fitz-Roy, in re ply, said, "It would be his duty to make known to her Majesty's government their desfre that the Order in Council should be revoked ; but it was right, neverthe less, that he should inform them that the Secretary of State had already given notice, in a despatch which he had made pubhc, that the revocation of this order must depend on the final decision of the Legislature, which, his lordship observed, must be regarded as au thorized to declare the sentiments of the inhabitants of the colony whom they represented. XII. In September the anti-transportationists made another grand effort. In that month a public meeting was held in the Barrack Square (16th), for the pur pose of once more entering a protest, in the name and on behalf of the colonists at large, against the revival of felonry in any shape or under any name. Six thou sand persons were present on this occasion. A peti tion to the Legislative Council was adopted, which gave a history of the transportation question, from 1840, when transportation to New ' South Wales was 1850.] PEOPOSAL FOE A QUALIFIED SYSTEM, 237 first discontinued. The petitioners showed that al though at first the measure was carried into operation too abruptly, having due regard to the interests artifi- ciaUy interwoven with it, every subsequent year deep ened throughout the colony the conviction of its wis dom and necessity, and ofthe inexpediency of any return to the evils which were thus happily removed ; that since this event upwards of one hundred thousand free British subjects had arrived in New South Wales, and that these, as well as those who had previously arrived, had formed new ties, completely binding themselves and thefr famUies to the colony, in the full assurance that its penal character had been for ever removed. They then adverted to the adoption of the report of a committee of the Council favourable to transportation, and the subsequent repudiation of that report by the same Legislature. The proposal for a quahfied system of transporta tion was next adverted to, the petitioners calling to mind that agreement among the various parties in the House, by which the colony accepted exiles accompa nied by free immigrants, and the breach of the latter part ofthe contract by the Imperial Government through financial considerations. They proceeded to say that although this cfrcumstance had no share in originat ing the aversion of the colonists to transportation, that having previously existed, it rendered the colonists more ahve to the danger of trifling with the question, and estabUshed a conviction of the necessity of adhering to a firm and consistent opposition to the resumption of transportation on any terms — a conviction which hither to was believed to have been at length fuUy and irrevo cably adopted in a vote of the Council of 1st of June, 1849, whereby an address to her Majesty was adopted, whoUy declining to accede to a proposal of the Secre tary of State for the resumption of transportation, strongly protesting against any measure by which the colony would be degraded into the position of a penal settlement, and entreating that her Majesty would be graciously pleased to revoke the Order in Council by which the colony was again made a place to which Bri- 238 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV. tish offenders might be transported ; that the petition ers were surprised and indignant to find, by the despatch of Earl Grey of 1 6th November, 1 849, that even after the receipt of the address of the Council, his lordship still hesitated to comply wdth the wishes of the colony, by recommending her Majesty to revoke the obnoxious Order in Council, and that his lordship still waited a further expression of the desire of the colony on this question ; that the injury inflicted by such refusal was aggravated by the circumstance that in the full reliance that the resolution of the House repudiating the trans portation report would be considered final, and that the question, therefore, could not be re-opened, several mem bers of Council, avowedly opposed to the views of their constituencies on the subject, or indifferent thereto, were elected, who would otherwise have been rejected, or at least compelled to give pledges on this question, as a con sideration paramount to all others ; that for this reason it was evident that even were a change in the resolution of the House possible, it ought not to be taken as afford ing the slightest indication of a change in the opinion of the colony. The petitioners nevertheless prayed that, as there could be no security for the social or political stability of the colony untU this question was finally set at rest, the House would not fail to reiterate the prayer of their previous address to her Majesty, and, if pos sible, in still more unequivocal terms. The petitioners further prayed that, as many of the evils they depre cated might be inflicted indirectly and insidiously by affording facilities to offenders to resort to the colony from Yan Diemen's Land, Norfolk Island, and other penal settlements which already existed or might yet be formed in Australasia, the House would represent to her Majesty's government that the creation or mainte nance of any such penal settlements would be a mean and cruel evasion of the promise given to the colony not to send British criminals thither without the consent of the colonists; further, that if any such penal colony were formed within the limits of the present territory of New South Wales, although detached from it for that purpose, such an act would be even more than mean — 1850.] LEAGUE AGAINST TE.\]SrSP0ETATT0N. 239 it would be, in fact, a direct breach ofthe promise made to the entfre colony as now subsisting. They further submitted that if the House should aUow the fear of any such act to control and alter the expression of the wishes of the colony, though the Legislature were in vited, a concession so extracted would be degrading ahke to the colony and to the British nation ; and they therefore finaUy prayed that the Council, while adopting every possible means to prevent the colony from being exposed to evil from this source, would not, through an apprehension of thefr inabUity to avert such an evU, re frain from giving their most uncompromising opposition to the introduction of convicts into every part of New South Wales, under any name, conditions, or circum stances whatsoever. The meeting at which this very expUcit memorial was adopted was presided over by Charles Cowper. The principal speakers were Norton, Robert Campbell, the Rev. Dr. Ross, G. K. Holden, Archdeacon M'Encroe, George Bowman, Captain Lamb, Rev. Joseph Beazley, Rev. W. B. Boyce, Mort, Piddington, and Weeks, — a combination of men whereby were represented every class, grade, and section of the entire com munity. Among the resolutions adopted by the meeting was one " congratulating their fellow-sub jects of the Cape of Good Hope on their triumphant success in opposing the introduction of convicts into that colony." The resolution added, that the people of this colony " deserved encouragement for their example to persevere in resisting in the most deter mined manner, and by all lawful means, the revival of transportation to New South Wales." Another resolution " deplored, on behalf of the colonists, the moral and political evils resulting from the transporta tion of convicts to YanDiemen's Land, and sympathized with the indignation excited among the people of that colony, by the system being continued beyond the period when the Imperial Government had promised it •should cease." The meeting pledged themselves to co-operate with their brethren in Yan Diemen's Land I'-n fivp-r^ pirort.in-n tn nrocure the final cessation nf 240 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.IV. transportation." At this meeting was initiated the " New South Wales Anti-Transportation Association." The people of Yan Diemen's Land were exerting themselves in such a way as to merit the sympathy thus expressed in their behalf. They had projected a league on the part of the whole of the Australasian colonies against transportation, and were labouring to carry the project into effect. In a circular which they had re cently issued, they said that " as a last resort they turned to their fellow-colonists, who, united wdth them by the strictest ties, were liable to the same wrongs, and who would not be indifferent spectators of suf ferings which they might ultimately share. If they looked at the chart, they would perceive that the geo graphical position of Yan Diemen's Land established for her a relation wdth the adjacent colonies which no laws could disown and no time dissolve. A few hours suf ficed to convey vessels from their shores to the ports of Yictoria, New South Wales, and South Australia, and a few days' sail brought ships to New Zealand, and thence to the numerous islands that studded the Pacific Ocean. The constitution lately prepared by the Parlia ment of Great Britain would tend to consohdate the Australasian colonies. Her Majesty's ministers had taught the communities established in this portion of the empire that their ultimate interests were one ; that in the public spirit, inteUigence, and virtue of each, in no small measure depended the happiness and pros perity of all. They reminded their fellow-colonists that, in twenty years from the present moment, should transportation continue, and the annual number remain stationary, seventy or eighty thousand convicted pri soners would have passed through Yan Diemen's Land to the neighbouring colonies. These would consist of men not only originally depraved, but confirmed in de pravity, inasmuch as aU would have gone through the demoralizing probation of pubhc gangs; they would all have dwelt for several years in exclusively convict society, where every prevailing sympathy must be« tainted with habits of crime." " The sacrifice of Yan Diemen's Land, therefore, would not exempt the neigh- 1850.] CIECULAE FEOM VAX DIEMEN's LAND. 241 bouring settlements from any portion of the mischief incident to dfrect transportation. They would receive prisoners later in Ufe, but deteriorated in character. EvU associations caused evU men to become worse and worse. Such was the dictate of reason ; such was the solemn warning, written in the oracles of God." "Were they to appeal to the principle of selfishness in addressing their countrymen, they might remind them that the reputation of this entire hemisphere was com promised by the condition of Yan Diemen's Land. The nice geographical distinction which colonists might make were lost in the distance. As Austrahan vessels entered foreign ports, the hne which divided the popu lation ofthe other colonies from that of Yan Diemen's Land faUed to distinguish them." Alluding to certain measures adopted in Cahfornia relative to persons ar riving from the Australian colonies, they said "they had heard with regret, and not without humiliation, that the British name, everywhere respectable tUl now, had ceased to ensure to many who had never forfeited its sanction, the common confidence of foreign nations ; that a petty state, but of yesterday, had initiated laws intended to stigmatize all the inhabitants of the south em world, and attributing to the whole the character of convictism. In the mutation of human affafrs, the arm of oppression which had smitten the people of Yan Diemen's Land with desolation inight strike at the social weU-being of aU the colonies. Communities bound together by blood, language, and commerce could not long suffer alone. They conjured thefr feUow- colonists, therefore, by the unity of colonial interests, as weU as by the obhgation which bound aU men, to intercede with the strong and unjust on behalf of the feeble and the oppressed, to exert their influence to the utmost that transportation to Yan Diemen's Land might for ever cease." Such was the appeal which more immediately led to that expression of sympathy on behalf of the people of Yan Diemen's Land, which had taken place at the recent pubhc meeting in Sydney, as weU as to the estabhshment of the Anti-transporta tion Association. 242 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. A memorial to the Legislative Council against the obnoxious proposition, which was possessed of more than ordinary weight, considering the class from whom it emanated, not less than the arguments it contained, was adopted in the course of the year. The memoriahsts were all employers of labour, and paid coUectively in the shape of wages £36,000 per annum. They set forth " that the decision which the House had already twice expressed against the resumption of transporta tion had met with their warmest concurrence, and this promise, in connection with the promise of her Majesty's government to abide by such decision, and the increased prosperity which had attended the industrial pursuits of the petitioners since the discontinuance of transpor tation, had emboldened them to invest large sums of money on the erection and enlargement of manufac tories, granaries, and other estabhshments, in a manner and to an extent altogether different from any course which the petitioners would have ventured upon in the prospect of a return to transportation in any shape; that therefore they were now grieved and alarmed to find that the Order in CouncU fixing on New South Wales the character of a penal colony stiU remained un revoked, and that further reference was made to the Legislative CouncU for an expression of opinion on the subject ; that they believed the resumption of transpor tation in any shape would cause an immediate moral and social retrogression, would eventuaUy drive away from the colony that kind of labour now employed by the petitioners, and would generally exclude free im migration, thereby ultimately advancing the price of labour ; would greatly diminish the security of pro perty, would increase the expenditure for the purposes of protection, would divert capital to the neighbouring colonies which were not subjected to the stigma of transportation, and thus make competitors of present consumers, and eventuaUy injure the trade of the port of Sydney ; that the petitioners, without the adventi tious aid of convict labour, had been enabled success fully to compete with the old-estabhshed manufactures of the mother country ; that they believed the resump- I860.] COLONIAL INDEPENDENCE FOE VICTOEIA. 243 tion of transportation would prove highly injurious to the monetary and commercial interests of the colony ; but that, even could it be shown to be otherwise, they did not desire to enhance thefr profits by the demoraliza tion of their country, and by degrading themselves and thefr famUies in the eyes ofthe whole civihzed world." They therefore prayed the CouncU " to avert so great a calamity, and to offer the most uncompromising oppo sition to the introduction of convicts into any part of New South Wales in any shape whatever." Such was this very forcible petition. Anti-transportation meetings were held aU over the colony, at which petitions against the proposed measure were adopted in every instance unanimously. Present ing a slight contrast to the state of feeUng, a memorial in favour of the introduction of exiles was transmitted to the Secretary of State by some stockholders at Moreton Bay. Scarcity of labour was the excuse by which these memoriahsts sought to justify themselves to thefr feUow-colonists. The " Act for the better government of her Ma jesty's Austrahan Colonies" was received in the colony in December, having received the royal assent on the 5th August. Into Yan Diemen's Land and Southern and Western Australia this act introduced the elective principle for the first time, and on Port PhUhp, now named "Yictoria," it conferred colonial independence. As regarded New South Wales the act made but httle change, and the colonists complained that they were stiU burdened with a heavy civil list, were stUl forbidden to interfere with the expenditure of the customs and excise departments, and that the Crown lands adminis tration was stUl monopohzed by the local government and the Lords of the Treasury. The boundary of the new colony of Yictoria was declared to be a straight hne drawn from Cape Howe to the nearest source of the Murray. The Council was empowered to ficx the num ber of members of which the new legislature should be composed, the proportion of nominees and elective members being the same as in the existing House ; and on them also devolved the duty of dividing the J44 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. .IV. lew colony into convenient electoral districts. The qualification of electors in both colonies was fixed at 6100 freehold, and £10 household or leasehold. A 3ivil list of £73,500 was established for New South Wales. The CouncU was empowered to alter aU or my of the sums mentioned in the schedules, but with this proviso, that every bill altering the salaries of the governor or the judges, or the sum set apart for public worship, should be reserved for the royal assent. The local legislature might make such alteration in the constitution as they thought fit in reference to the election of members, the qualification of electors and members, and the number of legislative chambers ; but every bill bearing on those matters was to be reserved for her Majesty's pleasure, and was to be laid before both Houses of ParUament for the space of at least thirty days before her Majesty's pleasure thereon should be signified. This act enabled her Majesty, on the petition of the inhabitant householders of the territories north of the thirtieth degree of south lati tude, to detach such territories from New South Wales, and erect them into a separate colony or colonies. Some extended powers were also given to the local legislature relative to district councils. Such was the latest instalment of constitutional freedom. On the morning of the first day of the year, shortly after midnight, a mob of ruffians paraded the city in a riotous manner, set fire to some old buildings, and broke the windows of several houses. These proceed ings naturally aroused the indignation of the citizens, and a meeting was held a few days after, the mayor presiding, at which a resolution was adopted to the effect, " that his excellency, the governor, be requested to cause inquiry to be made into the cfrcumstances connected with the outrages of the mob on the 1st of January, and the aUeged refusal of the pohce to act when called upon, and to take such steps for the security of the lives and property of the citizens in future as might be deemed necessary." A scarcity of water was experienced this year owing to a drought, and it was suggested that water should be conveyed I860.] FEAES FOE SAFETY OF LEICHHAEDT. 245 to Sydney from the Nepean by means of an aqueduct. In the early part of the year bush fires raged aU over the colony, and in the neighbourhood of Sydney did considerable damage, occupying the attention of the citizens for several days. The dweUings of many set tlers were destroyed and thefr farms ravaged by the flames, and so much distress was experienced in con sequence that a subscription was set on foot to reheve the sufferers. Many speculations were afloat as to the origin of these fires. Some imagined that they arose from spontaneous combustion, others that a spark from a stockman's pipe, or the remains of the buUock- driver's camp fire might have occasioned the confla gration; others that they resulted from the abo rigines setting fire to the scrub to drive out the kangaroo, while some imagined that they were pro duced by the fragments of glass bottles acting as so many lenses. Fears for the safety of Leichhardt were first excited towards the close of 1850. Three years had nearly elapsed since the commencement of his last under taking, and he himself had always calculated that he would accomphsh the journey in two. It was now caUed to mind that although he had been successful in one expedition he had faUed in another, and Kennedy's fate was ominously mentioned. It was suggested that an expedition should be fitted out, for the double purpose of making a journey to the Gulf of Carpentaria and searching for the missing explorer. In November a meeting was held at Sydney with the view to initiat ing measures for the introduction of the alpaca, John Lamb presiding. It was proposed to raise £2,000^, for the purpose of importing a flock containing four hundred breeding ewes. The blacks in the course of this year committed outrages in the Wide Bay and Burnett dis tricts. Within a period of three months five white men were kiUed, and four thousand sheep destroyed. The total revenue of the colony for the year was £370,354, which, wdth a balance of £71,345 standing over from the preceding year, made the total amount at the disposal of the government £441,669. 246 HISTOEY OF ISIEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. IV At Port Phillip, one of the chief events of the year was an anti-convict demonstration. The Port PhU lipians assumed it to be a settled point that no convicts were to be landed on thefr shores, but they were determined to assist in averting from the other colonies an evil which, if tolerated, would indirectly affect themselves. A petition to the CouncU, in accordance with these views, was adopted. One of the resolutions passed at the meeting declared that no representative of Port Philhp could vote in favour of the resumption of transportation to New South Wales without betray ing the trust reposed in him by his constituents, and forfeiting his right to retain his seat. On receiving the inteUigence which arrived in No vember that separation had been accomplished, the people of Melbourne suspended business for four days, during which time they indulged in every demonstra tion of rejoicing, thanksgiving services in the churches, royal salutes, processions, Uluminations, fireworks, and games. The military were assembled immediately on the receipt ofthe joyful intelUgence, and a royal salute having been fired, three cheers, led off by the superin tendent, were given for the Queen, and three more for the new colony which bore her name. 1851.] ANTI-TEANSPOETATION STOBM. 247 CHAPTER Y. Anti-transportation Delegates assemble at Melbourne — Addresses to t^e Colonists and to the People of the United Kingdom — Re monstrance against the Constitution of 1850 — Discovery of Gold in the Western District — Res-alts of that event— The Anti- transportation League petition for the dismissal of Earl Grey — Fitz-Roy Governor-general of all the Australasian" Colonies — Transportation finally discontiuued to New South Wales — The Constitution of 1853 — Gundagai destroyed by a Mood — The Question of the proposed Constitution agitated in the Colony — The Ne-w Constitution passed — Authoriiy to establish a Mint at Sydney. (1861—1858.) 1851.J I. The new year was ushered in amid the undi minished violence of the transportation storm. The anti-transportation delegates having assembled at Mel bourne, issued an address to the colonists. They said that, "the moral warfare which had so long been raging through these colonies now approached a crisis. The parent state saw fit to continue, as heretofore, to transport annuaUy to Yan Diemen's Land thousands of her malefactors. Sad it was to reflect on such proceedings at the hands of a parent, after her own experience and the long and earnest cry of her chil dren had demonstrated the ruin with which she over whelmed them. Representations were made, several years since, to the home government of the frightful state to which Tasmania had been reduced by the in flux of British crime ; stiU, year after year, heedless of the consequences, the home government had ejected her bands of criminals on these far-off shores. The time came, however, when, in aU penitence, the pa rent state announced that she would instantly avert the vicious stream ; and the governor of Yan Diemen's Land, in 1847, intimated to the legislature of that co- 548 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. ony that her Majesty's government had apprised him ihat it was their purpose to cause the entire cessation )f transportation to that island. This pledge had been itterly disregarded, and transportation, in all its ap- salhng extent, had been again directed to the devoted shores of Tasmania. The inhabitants of all the Austra- ian colonies were bound together by one great moral nterest in this question. It was true that convicts were transmitted direct only to Yan Diemen's Land ; 3ut from thence, aided by the pohcy of the govem- nent, they quickly spread over the adjacent colonies. [t was in the highest degree cheering to mark the unanimity of public opinion which everywhere around bhem prevailed on this question. Tasmania and Yic toria now addressed the colonists, and from Sydney, South Australia, and even New Zealand, they had satis factory evidence of a state of preparation for the con flict which might yet be necessary for the common wel fare. Sorrowful they were to observe, however, as they ranged over the Australian states, that all had not sided with the cause of virtue and society. The eye met with one defaulter. Would they plead for Western Aus tralia, that her comparatively slow and sickly growth had discouraged her ? or would they, more happily and with more reason, assume that, previously un tainted by the presence of British felons, she surmised not the awful calamity she incurred as regarded the present time, or the long vista of the future, when she consented to the importation of criminals ? Deeply did it concern them that Australia should, in a new and hitherto uninfected locaUty, be thus additionally dis honoured. But still more immediately did it concern them, when they reflected that the rapid progress of settlements throughout this vast territory, and the an ticipated early introduction of steam communication along its shores, would shortly unite Western Aus tralia in a much more intimate association with her presently remote and isolated neighbours, and thus in terpose a new and powerful hindrance to the earnest effort which they were now making for the welfare of the country. But her day of retribution was certain. 1851.] ANTI-TEANSPOETATION DELEGATES. 249 Her future historian might dUate on her roads, bridges, and public edifices, and her flocks and herds roaming over a thousand hiUs ; but he would also mourn a moral bankruptcy of society, daily recurring tragedies on those roads and among those pastures ; robbery, violence, and murder, and every abomination that dis graced human nature. " It might perhaps," they proceeded, " be deemed presumptuous that Britain should be dictated to by her colonial offspring ; that she should be assured by thefr repeated experience that, in respect to transporta tion, her penal system was radicaUy injurious ; that it was unjust in its operation, and not reformatory of the offender ; that it poUuted at the very core, by over whelming proportions and numbers, the young and in teresting societies that were ever rising up in the southem hemisphere ; and that, by the fictitious faci- hty it held out for ridding the country of its criminals, the wise purposes of Providence, which, in the diffi culty of dealing with offenders, would enforce a more earnest attention to methods of prevention and cure, were thwarted. But if these colonies ventured thus to address the parent state, they did so from a sense of the most urgent necessity, and from no desfre to inter meddle with any part of the Imperial pohcy of that great nation; but experience had shown those colo nies that for them there was no real or permanent safety short of such a change as that just indicated. It was to the pressure of this cursed system on the home government that they must attribute the broken promises of the Imperial authorities, and they had that government itself declaring that if the colonies now estabhshed persisted in rejecting convicts, other settle ments of a penal character must be formed in thefr neigh bourhood ; that, in short, if criminals could not be sent to Yan Diemen's Land, they must go to Moreton Bay. " Earnestly did they impress on their feUow-colo- nists that nothing would be gained to them by a shift like this. In a different condition of the southem hemisphere Britain ejected her bands of criminals on a vast and desolate sea- coast, at that time but imper- 250 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. fectly known even to geographical science ; but during the last sixty years, in the rapid progress of the world, and the necessities of overcrowded Europe, there was now exhibited over that great expanse the numerous outposts of commercial enterprise, and the foundations of a society and colonization destined to reproduce, with the energy and rapidity that characterized their progress, the name and language and free institutions of their fatherland. Infinitely more noble and bene ficial on the part of Britain would it be, as it was her duty, to remove from her overcrowded ranks to the vacant sphere of the Australian settlements the mass of her poor and unemployed, ere necessity or misfor tune had led them to the commission of crime. How extraordinary was it that, as yet, there was no national provision for this great and necessary purpose; that still, day after day, and year succeeding year, they found the old system in full operation by which helpless and destitute beings were dogged by an invincible po lice until they were caught in the commission of crime, and then, at an enormous expense to the British pubhc, were imprisoned, convicted, and transported to Aus tralia. Thus everything was done to detect, but no thing, to prevent, the occurrence of crime. " If the colonists were to regard thefr best and dearest interests, if they were to consider not only themselves but those who were to come after them ; if they were to perform their duty to the incipient na tions and empfres of the British race in Australia, transportation to thefr shores must for ever cease. They repeated that transportation must cease, and having so resolved, it became them to consider the means. They had seen that their representations to the home government, however strong, however true, how ever affecting, would serve no efficient end ; and they had seen, too, that, on this subject, even the pledges of the government were utterly worthless. "Under these cfrcumstances they proposed to their feUow-colonists the formation of a great league, a so lemn covenant, on the part of all the Australasian colonists, in order to carry out this grand object. ^831-J MEETING OF THE CONFEEENCE. 251 They contemplated, in aU their proceedings, nothing more than legal and moral resistance, even should the government persist in its destructive course ; but they must also keep in view that thefr cause was itself the cause of law and order, and that they contended for interests and principles which were sacred in the high est degree to civUized man. They were not, therefore, assembled as advocates for violence, disloyalty, or re- beUion ; and it was gratifying to have experienced, in the issue of the noble example set them at the colony of the Cape, that the British Parhament and the British pubhc would not regard in such a hght thefr uncom promising efforts to avert from thefr society the poUu tion of crime." The first formal meeting of the conference at which this address was adopted was held on the 1st of Feb mary, and was immediately foUowed by a pubhc meet ing of the inhabitants, convened for the purpose of rec tifying and adopting its acts. These consisted of (1.) The league and solemn engagement of the Austrahan colonies ; (2.) an address to the inhabitants of the United Kingdom ; and (3.) the address to the inhabi tants of the Austrahan colonies, the substance of which has just been quoted. The engagement, in a long pre amble, referred to the several promises made to discon tinue transportation, to its final discontinuance to New South Wales, to the deep injury inflicted on Yan Die- men's Land by the continuous stream of convictism poured into that island, to the increased enterprise manifested as the result ofthe discontinuance of trans portation to New South Wales; also enforced the principle that native Austrahans were entitled to all the privUeges of British subjects, and pointed out the many attempts that had been made to cause transporta tion to be altogether discontinued. It then proceeded to engage aU those adopting it (1.) Not to employ any persons who might thereafter arrive under sentence of transportation for crimes committed in Europe; (2.) to use aU the powers they possessed, official, electoral, and legislative, to prevent the estabUshment of EngUsh prisons or penal settlements within their bounds, to 252 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. refuse their assent to any projects to facilitate the ad ministration of such penal systems, and to seek the re peal of all regulations, and the removal of aU establish ments for that purpose; (3.) to support with their advice, money, and countenance, aU who might suffer in the lawful promotion of this cause. The address to the inhabitants of the United King dom set forth that the League was convinced that the injury inflicted by the transportation of British offen ders to this portion of the world was unknown to the people of Great Britain, and that nothing was more hkely to secure redress than a calm exposition of the wrongs thus inflicted ; that from the ministers of the Crown, who in the matter had forfeited the confidence of the colonists, they now appealed to the British pub lic, relying on their equity, and imploring Uberation through their generous interposition ; that Englishmen who had been told by Imperial authorities that Aus tralia afforded a boundless field for penal experiments, should remember that crime did not retire and become isolated, but even crowded into cities, the effect of transportation being not to disperse, but to coUect to gether the idle and incorrigible ; that if nothing could induce a British community to bear the concentration of national crime, the Australian colonies would neither endure the burden nor brook the infamy ; that it was the hope of the colonies that, when fairly appealed to, a na tion which a few years ago devoted twenty mUhons of gold to redeem the negro from bondage, would not re fuse to bear the burden of its own crime, nor meanly pour out into a young world a perennial stream of poUu tion. But if the colonists were compelled to owm, pro ceeded the address, that their interests might be ruined by an official despatch, that their name and fame might be dishonoured to relieve the gaols of Great Britain, if their youth could not visit any country under an Australian flag without being made to feel that they were born in a degraded section of the globe, then they were at a loss to imagine what advantages conferred by the sovereignty of Great Britain could compensate for the stigma of her brand. The address thus concluded. 1851.] AEEIVAL OF DELEGATES IN SYDNEY. 253 " For their part it only remained for them to pronounce the unchanged resolution of the Australian people, that they would not suffer the setting up of European gaols within thefr bounds. They addressed the word of sup- phcation, not of threatening. A few short years, how ever, and that which was now a grievance would have grown into a quarrel, and those eternal laws which justified thefr appeal must secure its triumph. By in stant concession, an act of justice would become a monument of Imperial clemency. But these colonies were solemnly pledged, each to the other, by their mu tual interests, their future destinies, thefr fellowship of weal and woe, and now by thefr league and solemn en gagement, to accompUsh the freedom of their common country." AU these proceedings of the conference were ap proved and confirmed by the pubhc meeting. A sub scription was commenced with the view to raising a fund to assist in giving effect to the determination of the League ; and the people of Melbourne at once gave a most practical proof of thefr unfailing sincerity in the cause of anti-transportation by thirty-one gentlemen and mercantile firms putting down their names for one hundred guineas each. The entire amount which it was proposed to raise was twenty thousand pounds. II. In March the delegates arrived in Sydney. The Anti-transportation Association gave them a public reception, and subsequently they were enter tained at a banquet. One of the results of the visit of the delegates was the incorporating the Anti-trans portation Association wdth the general League. Hav ing attended a meeting in Sydney, in which the inhabi tants of the city renewed the expression of thefr resolve to resist the renewal of convictism, the delegates pro ceeded through the interior, and attended meetings convened for a similar purpose at aU the principal towns. One of the delegates for Yan Diemen's Land was the Rev. John West, a congregationahst clergy man, whose pen and voice never ceased throughout the entfre agitation to render the most effective service to the cause of the colonies. 254 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. Having accomplished this portion of their mission, and returned to Sydney, a meeting of the League was convened, at which the delegates attended. At this meeting a series of resolutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That amongst the blessings which religion had bestowed on the world, it had placed the inter course of mankind on a basis of established duties — duties which were not less binding on nations than on individuals, and that for these there was not one of greater obhgation than the duty of man towards his neighbour; (2.) that the inundating by Great Britain of these colonies with the crime of the empire was not only a violation of the duty which men owe their neighbours, but was destructive of those charities which it behoved the parent state and her offspring to cultivate and cherish towards each other ; (3.) that the meeting accorded their deepest sympathy towards Yan Diemen's Land, and recognized in her admitted wrongs, her promised relief, and in the cruel violation of that promise, additional incentives to in creased exertion ; and they appealed to their fellow- subjects throughout the empire, and entreated them by their discretion as men, by their compassion as phi lanthropists, and by their consciences as Christians, to put an end to the system of transportation to Austra lasia ; (4.) that as parents they were bound by every obligation of duty and affection to protect thefr children from the dangers incident to the transportation of offenders to these colonies, and they united in a solemn appeal to the humanity and justice of the sovereign and people of Great Britain on behalf of the rising generation. The final session of the Legislative Council was opened in the latter end of March. The governor, in opening the session, confined himself to a few remarks. He explained that his object in calling the House together was the consideration and enactment of the measures necessary for giving effect to the provisions of the recent Act of Parliament by which Port Phillip was to be created into a separate colony, and a new arrangement made in the electoral districts of New 1861-] ELECTOEAL BILL. 255 South Wales. A copy of the act, and also a copy of the despatch from the Secretary of State, explanatory of the views of her Majesty's government in recommending to ParUament the enactment of its several provisions, would immediately be laid before them. It would be his duty to transmit, without delay, the necessary biUs for carrying out the objects in question. It was his anxious desfre in the preparation of those measures to place on a satisfactory and impartial basis the repre sentation of the several interests of which the colonial conimunity was constituted, and to arrange the elec toral divisions of the two colonies in the best manner possible in the present unsettled state of the popula tion, especiaUy in the pastoral districts. He had availed himself of the presence of the Superintendent of Port Phillip to obtain such suggestions as the long experience of that officer in the management of the district enabled him to offer for the proper division of the new colony of Yictoria, over which, as a reward for his long career of usefulness, her Majesty had been pleased to signify her intention of appointing him the first Lieutenant-governor. The chief measure of the session was the Electoral BiU, by which the new apportionment of members was effected. Here the combat between the urban and rural, or rather the pastoral interest, was renewed in aU its vigour. It was at first purposed that the new CouncU should consist of thfrty-two elective members and sixteen nominees, and it was proposed to apportion the elective members so that eight should represent the population beyond the boundaries, fourteen the pastoral and rural population within the boundaries, while ten were aUotted to Sydney and the other towns. This proposal was received with indignation by a sec tion of the public out of doors, and a meeting was held at which a petition was adopted setting forth the injustice of aUotting to the people ofthe towns, number ing, as they did, one-half the population of the entfre colony, less than one-third of the representation, pray ing that in allotting the members reference should be had only to population, and setting forth that the entire 256 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. number of the representatives proposed in the new arrangement was too small in proportion to the popu lation. Ultimately a bill was adopted which made the number of the representatives thirty- six, and slightly modified their apportionment as originally pro posed. Early in the session Wentworth obtained a com mittee to prepare a remonstrance against the new Constitution Act. In a week or two the committee brought up their report, and presented a declaration and remonstrance for the approval of the Council. This document, which was adopted by a majority of 18 to 8, set forth that " the Legislative CouncU felt it to be a solemn duty they owed to themselves, to thefr constituents, and to posterity, before they gave place to the new Legislature established by the recent Act of ParUament, to record thefr deep disappointment and dissatisfaction at the constitution conferred by that act on the colony they represented. After the reite rated reports, resolutions, addresses, and petitions which had proceeded from them during the whole course of their legislative career, against the schedules appended to the former Constitution Act, and the ap propriation of the ordinary revenue through and by the sole authority of Parliament, against the adminis tration of the waste lands and the territorial revenue thence arising, against withholding the customs de partment from their control, against the dispensation of the patronage of the colony by or at the nomination of the Secretary of State, and against the veto reserved and exercised by the same minister in the name of the Crown in all matters of local legislation, they felt they had a right to expect that those undoubted grievances would have been redressed by the recent constitution, or else that the power of redress would have been conferred on the constituent bodies thereby created, wdth the avowed intention of estabUshing an authority more competent than Parliament itself to frame a suit able constitution for the whole group of the Australian colonies. These, thefr reasonable expectations, how- ' ever, had been utterly frustrated." The declaration !'«'-] PEOTEST OF LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 257 then proceeded to specify more particularly several grievances, adverted to the undue fines placed on land, the unsuitable class of immigrants introduced, and the bestowal of offices by or at the nomination of the mi nister " without reference to the just and paramount claims of the colonists, as if the colony itself was but the fief of that minister." The CouncU pointed out that, in fact, aU the material powers exercised for centuries by the House of Commons itself had been withheld. " Thus cfrcumstanced they felt that on the eve of the CouncU's dissolution, and as the closing act of their legislative existence, no other course was open to them but to enter on thefr journals thefr solemn declaration, protest, and remonstrance, as well against the Act of ParUament itself as against the intrusion of the minis ter, by which the smaU power of retrenchment that act conferred on the Colonial Legislature had been over ridden ; and to bequeath the redress of grievances which they had been unable to effect by constitutional means to the legislature by which they were about to be succeeded. " They, the Legislative Council of New South Wales, did accordingly hereby solemnly protest, insist, and declare — (1.) That the Imperial Parhament had not, nor of right ought to have, any power to tax the people of this colony, or to appropriate any moneys le vied by the authority of the Colonial Legislature ; that this power could only be lawfuUy exercised by the same legislature, and that the Imperial Parliament solemnly disclaimed thefr power by the Act 18 Geo. III., which act remained unrepealed in the Imperial statute book. (2.) That the revenue arising from the pubhc lands, derived as it was whoUy from the value imparted to those lands by the labour and capital of the people of this colony, was as much thefr property as the ordinary revenue, and ought therefore to be subject only to the control and appropriation of the Colonial Legislature. (3.) That the customs and aU other departments should be subject to the direct supervision and control of the same legislature ; that they should have the appropriation ofthe gross revenues s 268 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. T. of the colony from whatever source arising ;. and, as a necessary consequence of their authority, the regulation of the salaries of all colonial officers. (4.) That all offices of trust and emolument should be conferred only on the settled inhabitants of the colony, the office of governor alone excepted ; that this officer should be appointed and paid by the Crown, and that the whole patronage of the colony should be vested in him and the Executive CouncU, who in its dispensation should be wholly unfettered by any instructions from the minister for the colonies. (6.) That plenary powers of legislation should be conferred upon and exercised by the Colonial Legislature for the time being, and that no bills should be reserved for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure unless such as affected the prerogatives of the Crown or the general interests of the empire. " Solemnly protesting against these wrongs, and declaring and insisting on these their undoubted rights, they left the redress of the one and the assertion of the other to the people whom they represented, and the legislature which was to foUow them." This declaration and remonstrance having been adopted, was ordered to be entered on the minutes of the House. An address was presented to the governor, requesting his excellency to transmit a copy to the Secretary of State ; and the speaker and clerk were directed to forward printed copies to the rest of her Majesty's ministers and to all the members of the Privy Council, with a circular requesting each to exercise whatever influence he might possess in her Majesty's councils towards procuring a redress of the grievances therein declared and insisted upon. Copies were also ordered to be forwarded to such noblemen and gentle men, in or out of Parliament, as had taken an interest in colonial affafrs, and more particularly in the affairs of the Australian colonies. On the 2nd May the session terminated, and with it the first representative legislature of New South Wales, after an existence of eight years. The go vernor, in his speech closing the session, took occasion 1851.] FIEST DISCO-\'EEY OF GOLD. 259 to chasten the pride which the people of Port Phillip had evinced in the enjoyment of their newly acquired honours. He said, " It could not be denied that so prosperous a community could not so suddenly have risen up but for its connection with the older settlement of New South Wales, and the advantages which it thus possessed of obtaining sheep and cattle, and the expe rience necessary to their successful management." A few days after the close of the session the su perintendent of Port PhiUip, the members of CouncU for that district, and the Melbourne delegates to the Anti-transportation Conference, sailed for the new colony. Several of the chief members of the govern ment and other pubhc men assembled on the wharf, and as the steamer which conveyed the Port PhiUipians moved away, gave a salute of three cheers. Thus did the pohtical association of the two districts finaUy come to a close. The same month that witnessed the termination by lapse of time of the first elective Legislature of New South Wales was also remarkable for an event which, immediately affecting only its material condition, was ultimately destined to effect a complete revolution in all the interests and relations of the colony. Edward Hammond Hargraves, a colonist who had recently re turned to New South Wales after a brief visit to Cah fornia, succeeded in discovering gold in the vicinity of Bathurst. While in America, Hargraves observing that there was a simUarity between the geological formation ofthe gold-producing regions of that country and some districts of New South Wales which he bad visited, felt persuaded that gold would also be found in the colony, and returned to test the accuracy of his conjecture. The result proved that he was correct. Summerhill Creek was the locality where the existence of gold in considerable quantities was first demonstrated. Some " nuggets" and dust having been brought to Sydney, a rush at once took place to the auriferous regions, the numbers who had recourse to the ordinary means of conveyance being so great that the fares of the coaches were at once doubled. 260 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. The intelligence received day by day was such as tended to increase the excitement. A nugget of forty- six ounces having been brought into town and exhi bited raised the passion for gold-seeking to the highest pitch ; and it was confirmed by the receipt of authentic intelligence that a blacksmith of Bathurst had taken eleven pounds weight of gold out of one hole. The un settling of the population which now took place affected the price of provisions, and in a fortnight the price of flour rose from £20 to £30 per ton. On the 8th of May Mr. Green, a Croivn lands c'om- raissioner, wrote to the government, conveying the first official information that gold had been found at Sum merhill ; on the 14th of the same month, Mr. Stutch- bury, the government geologist, who had been des patched to that quarter by the government, reported that he had proved the existence of the precious metal ; at the commencement of June such were the attractions which the prospect of accumulating a sudden fortune presented, that one traveUer from Bathurst to Sydney counted eighteen hundred persons wending thefr way to the gold fields. Besides the ordinary prudent precautions, the chief measures adopted by the government to meet the emer gency which had then arisen was to impose a license fee of thirty shilhngs per month on aU persons seeking for gold on Crown lands. In the course of the month of June gold was dis covered at the Turon and several other localities in the western districts, as well as in the vicinity of Goul bum, and towards the end of the month gold to the value of £3600 was sent home in one ship. In July one hundred and six pounds weight of the precious metal in a solid mass was found by a black on the station of Dr. Kerr, in the vicinity of Bathurst, and in the same month in which the colony was startled by the announcement of a fact which surpassed the erections of fancy, gold to the value of £11,648 was sent home by otne vessel. In October the precious metal was dis covered in Yictoria, and thus were the people of that colony relieved from the fear that by the draining away 1851.] LICENSES GEANTED. 261 of the population to the auriferous regions of the parent colony, thefr own prospects as an independent commu nity would at the very outset be blighted. The total number of licenses issued in New South Wales up to the close of October was 12,186. Of these 2094 were issued at Ophir, 8637 at the Turon, 1009 at the Meroo and Louisa Creek, 41 at the Abercrombie, and 405 at Araluen. It would be difficult to decide in what respect the event just detaUed most benefited the colony. Yet there were those in the country, and men, too, occupy ing influential positions, who affected to think that the revealing of the golden treasures of the land was a great calamity. In one respect the beneficial influence of the event cannot be better illustrated than by stating a simple fact. In the month of March, two months be fore the operations at SummerhUl were reported to the government, a meeting was convened in Sydney by Mort, Hickey, GUchrist, and other employers of labour, with the view to urging on the government the sys tematic introduction into the colony of a permanent stream of immigration. The meeting was numerously attended, and its promoters submitted a proposition in accordance with their views. There were those pre sent, however, whose ideas were altogether different, whose experience learned them to think that the re sources of the colony did not admit of a further con siderable increase of the population without serious detriment to their interests. Some of the leaders of the working classes contended that there was afready more labour in the colony than could find employment, except at a rate of wages so scanty as to be insufficient to maintain the labourer, and some of the employers who were present impUedly admitted that such was the fact. One of them said that he regarded eighteen to twenty shillings a week as good wages for a labouring man in Sydney, and another said that he had employed immigrants to proceed to the interior at the rate of £18 per annum for single men, and £25 for married couples. Accordingly an amendment declaring that, under pre sent circumstances, it was inexpedient to introduce any more labour into the colony was adopted. 262 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. Now here was an anomalous state of affairs, which nothing but the discovery of gold could have corrected. The employers must have experienced the evils of a scarcity of labour, otherwise they would not have entered on a movement intended to increase the sup ply ; the labouring classes must have felt that the field of industry was too circumscribed to admit of their em ploying their labour as profitably as they had a right to expect. In both instances a remedy was found in the development of the auriferous resources of the ' soil. In the gold fields the surplus population found an im mediate and advantageous resource; in the tens of thousands of people who flocked to the colony to grasp at its golden treasures, the employers of labour were certain, sooner or later, to find men able and wiUing to assist them in their several departments of enterprise and industry. The effect of the golden revolution in assisting to set at rest the question of transportation is so obvious that it scarcely need be indicated. To continue trans portation to AustraUa now would be to hold out a pre mium for the commission of crime. Hundreds of men. in every part of the United Kingdom, would not hesi tate to undergo a brief period of punishment, in order that they might find themselves settled in a country where gold was to be found by the hundredweight. Then, in a country where the attraction of the gold- fields influenced, more or less, the entire population, what guarantee was there that, in the general confu sion, or, at all events, during the turmoil consequent on the discovery of some unusually rich mines, or during a fierce political contest, so Ukely to arise out of the new condition of the colony, prison discipline might not be completely destroyed, so as to let loose in the colony the gangs of villains and desperadoes who might fill the gaols, barracks, . and stockades ? The minister who, under these circumstances, would seek to perpetuate transportation, would indeed deserve the severest reprobation which language could convey, if, indeed, he met with no more positive punishment. The event, too, greatly expedited the advent of per- 1851.] EFFECT ON TEANSPOETATION QUESTION. 263 fectly free institutions, for, while the colonists from the earUest period proved that they had a full appre ciation of the value of freedom, and had sufficient spirit, energy, and zeal to work out their constitu tional rights, it must be admitted that amongst those thousands who were now attracted to their shores, were many whose assistance in the final struggle for liberty was likely to be very valuable. Most of these had been nurtured in the arms of freedom ; all of them were individuaUy men of a bold and enterprising cha racter ; the pursuits on which they had entered were such as were calculated to cherish a love of indepen dence in those who afready possessed it, and develop that virtue in those who possessed it not. Under such cfrcumstances, that perfect measure of constitutional freedom for which the colonists had so long contended could not, under any condition, have been long de ferred. That emulation, too, which sprung from the coUision of the two classes which were now created, the old colonists and the new, was not without its ad vantages. In most instances the new arrivals had an unswerving idea of their own educational and inteUec- tual quahfications as compared with the colonists of older standing. A Uttle experience tended to disabuse thefr minds of this wrong impression. They soon found that there were among the colonists men bom in the country, or, at aU events, men of colonial educa tion, who were more than the equals of the best of those recently arrived, in aU tbe spheres of inteUec- tual exertion. The young men of the colony, on the other hand, found that they were now necessitated to be doubly vigilant and active if they were to maintain that position which was thefr birthright ; and, as they had never been deficient in natural endowments, they now proved that they were neither idle nor apathetic in turning these to the best account. Such were a few of the advantages, independent of those material benefits, which were as obvious as great, conferred on the colony by an event which, looking at the period of its occurrence, the deficiencies which it supplied, and the blessings which it conferred, must be 264 HlSTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. regarded as one of the highest illustrations ofthe wis dom and beneficence with which an over-ruling Provi dence directs and governs the affairs of man. III. At the commencement of July the question of transportation was again brought conspicuously before the public by the receipt in the colony of a recent speech of Earl Grey. The speech was delivered in the House of Lords, on the occasion of Lord Monteagle presenting a petition from the inhabitants of Yan Die- men's Land against transportation. Earl Grey, refer ring to the alleged promise of the Imperial Govern ment that transportation should be brought to a close, said that, " in every despatch laid on the table of that House, and before the Legislature of Yan Diemen's Land, for the information of the colonists, what was invariably stated in reference to this subject was, that it was not the intention of the government to continue transportation as it previously existed. He would not deny that it was possible that, in writing some of these despatches, and in making statements to that House, there might have been used expressions that, taken by themselves, separate from the statements of which they formed a part, were capable of being represented as announcing an intention of putting an end to trans portation altogether ; but no man who read those des patches as a whole could fail to perceive that, from first to last, it was the view of the government that while the greater part of the sentence of transporta tion was to be inflicted at home, it was always to form a part of the system that convicts, after having under gone a large portion of their punishment in England, should afterwards be removed to the Australian colo nies." He then referred to the system of sending out convicts who had undergone a part of their sentence at Portland and Pentonville, as having worked well, pointing out that of one thousand six hundred and eighteen persons sent out between the 1st of June, 1849, and the 30th of April, 1850, having tickets-of- leave, there were only forty whom it was found neces sary to punish, and the offences of even these were of a minor character. He proceeded to remark that 1S61.] EAEL GEEY's SPEECH ON TEANSPOETATION. 265 " they had been trained in England to useful labour, and had proved an acquisition to the colony. The in habitants of New South Wales, when they calmly viewed the working of the system, would, he was per suaded, see it for their interest that convicts should be sent to some parts of that colony. He admitted that convicts ought not to be sent to Sydney, Melbourne, or any other of the more considerable towns, or even to the more thickly -peopled country districts ; but they might be sent, with immense advantage, to those large tracts of country which were now becoming co vered with sheep, and he hoped the Legislature of New South Wales would come to that conclusion." Referring to the debate of August, 1850, in the Coun cU, on the convict question, which was adjourned for a month, he said, "At the end of the month an address to the Crown against receiving convicts was passed. But if such were the feehng at that time, it might be antici pated that when the bUl of last year came into opera tion, and the colonies were divided, the result would be different. The Port PhUhp members, who would in future be removed from the Legislature of New South Wales, voted in a body against the receiving of convicts at all ; while of the New South Wales repre sentatives a majority were in favour of the reception of that class of persons. He trusted that the colonists of New South Wales would not be so blind to their own true interests and the interests of their country, as to refuse the receiving of convicts. The act of last year contained a clause by which her Majesty, on the petition of the inhabitants of the northern districts of Austraha, was enabled to erect that part of the ter ritory into a separate colony. As he believed that every single individual who had property in those parts wished to have the advantage of convict labour again, he had no doubt but that if the Legislature of New South Wales refused to open that colony to such labour. North Austraha would avaU itself of the powers given by the act of last year, and apply for a division of the colony with the view to obtaining that supply of labour which she so urgently required." 266 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap.V. Referring to the promise made in 1849, that " after the ship already employed had proceeded to Moreton Bay, it was not intended that any more convicts should be sent to any part of New South Wales," he said that while this might be regarded as a pledge that without the concurrence of the colonists the practice of send ing out convicts would not be again resumed, and while her Majesty's government acted strictly on this understanding, and would continue to do so, still, " considering that the judgment of the Legislature had, from time to time, undergone more than one change on the question, and that the opinion of the community in reference to it had always seemed to be much divided, it appeared to him to be inconvenient to revoke the Order in Council in reference to transporta tion until it should clearly appear, after being more fully apprised than they were at the date of the last advices of the measures taken by her Majesty's go vernment to meet their wishes, as previously expressed, that the Legislature had deliberately adopted, as a final conclusion, a resolve that no more convicts ought, under any consideration, to be sent to any part of the colony." The council of the Australasian League lost no time in calling a meeting in reference to the views thus put forward. The immediate object of the meet ing was to consider whether the time had not arrived for appealing directly to the Queen by a petition, pray ing her Majesty to dismiss Earl Grey from her coun cils, and entreating her to command her ministers to redeem the honour of the British Crown by fulfilling the pledges touching transportation, which had re peatedly been given by them in her Majesty's name to the colonists of New South Wales and Yan Die- men's Land." The meeting was held on the 29th July. Cowper occupied the chair. The principal speak ers were Norton, J. F. Josephson, Parkes, Gil bert, Wright, Kemp, J. K. Holden, Captain Lamb, Robert Campbell, and Archdeacon McEncroe. A pe tition was adopted, which, having given a history of the discussions on transportation, and having reviewed 1851.] THE AUSTEALASIAN LEAGUE. 267 the despatches and letters on the subject, proceeded to refer more particularly to the case of Van Diemen's Land. The petitioners, addressing her Majesty, said, " they would further represent that the condition of Yan Diemen's Land and the conduct of Earl Grey had raised a very general sympathy throughout Aus tralasia, and it could not be unknown to her Majesty that these colonies were closely connected by all the ties which create a community of feeling and interest, and that, happily for thefr ultimate welfare, the shock of oppression extended far beyond the surface on which it was inflicted. New South Wales, South Aus traha, Yictoria, and New Zealand, had aU a dfrect and awful concern in the issue of this question. Sending convicts to Yan Diemen's Land was but as a pause in the career, and the sacrifice of that colony increased the common danger. Her Majesty would judge, there fore, with what feelings the inhabitants of the Austra han colonies looked forward to the arrival among them annuaUy of thousands of persons who had spent, on an average, seven and a half years in the condition of convicts, and amidst almost exclusively convict asso ciations. The petitioners had still entertained the hope that Earl Grey would have received the reiterated decision of the constitutional representatives, to await which decision he himself professed that the revocation of the Order in CouncU was alone deferred, as a con clusive reason for a complete change in his policy regarding transportation ; but this last hope had been painfully dispeUed by the language used by his lord ship on the 5th March, 1851. And the petitioners felt compeUed, at length, humbly, but firmly, to represent to her Majesty in person that the subterfuges, eva sions, equivocations, and breaches of faith practised towards those colonies by Earl Grey had unhappily destroyed all confidence in his lordship's administra tion of colonial affairs. " They further represented that they were most so licitous that their honour and happiness should be com patible with the continuance of their present political relations with the mother country, and the very con- 268 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAp. v. stitution of their League prohibited the use by thenr of other than moral means ; but they would not disguise from her Majesty the persuasion that what was lately but a grievance was ripening into a quarrel, and their opinion that the continuance of transportation in oppo sition to the united resolution of Australasia leagued together against it, would peril the connection of these colonies with Great Britain, and jeopardize what a wiser policy might long retain, the brightest jewel of her Ma jesty's Crown. " They submitted, lastly, that when the oppressions efven of the supreme authority threatened desolation, men were not to be reasoned out of the feelings of hu manity, nor would they consent to sacrifice their dear est interests for the sake of a scrupulous adherence to those political maxims and principles which were originally established only to preserve them. "Wherefore they besought her Majesty that in order to continue the happy connection of these colo nies with Great Britain, and to secure the present af fectionate allegiance of the colonists to her Majesty's person and government, her Majesty would be gra ciously pleased to dismiss Earl Grey from her councils, and to command her ministers to redeem the honour of the British Crown, by fulfilling and maintaining in violate the pledges touching transportation, which had been repeatedly given by her Majesty's ministers in her Majesty's name to the colonies of New South Wales and Yan Diemen's Land." This petition was signed by the president and council of the League on behalf of the colonists. The elections for the new Legislature now occupied public attention, and it was considered a fortunate cir cumstance that the intention of Earl Grey to seek to procure from the Council a vote in favour of transpor tation was revealed just prior to the choosing of the re presentatives by the colonists. All the writs having been returned by the commencement of October, on the 14th of that month the new Legislature was inau gurated ; Nicholson was a third time elected Speaker. On the 16th the House was formaUy opened by the 1851.] FITZ-EOY GOVEENOE GENEBAL. 269 governor. Fitz-Roy in his opening speech announced what had afready become otherwise known, that he had been appointed Governor-general over all her Majesty's Austrahan possessions. It would afford him much gratification, he said, in the exercise of the powers thus conveyed, to promote and cement those friendly rela tions between the several colonies over which his com mission extended, which was so desirable for thefr mutual welfare and prosperity. He then announced that the writs for the first election of members to serve in the Legislative CouncU of Yictoria having been issu^ on the 1st of July, that portion of the former territory of New South Wales was thenceforward a separate colony, and the authority of the Governor and CouncU of New South Wales there finally ceased from that date. Referring to the development of the auriferous resources of the colony, he said, " The dis covery of an extensive and productive gold field had opened out fresh prospects of advancement and pros perity, which could not faU eventuaUy to prove highly advantageous in their results. He was happy to say that the event had not hitherto been attended by any serious interruption to, or disturbance of, the ordinary industrial pursuits of the colony. He had found it ne cessary, under the peculiar circumstances which had so suddenly arisen out of the extraordinary state of things, to increase the pay of the constabulary force, and of some other persons holding subordinate situations under the government. He reUed on their giving their legislative sanction to this increase, which the great rise in the price of provisions and the temptation to leave the public service, afforded by the successful prosecution of gold digging, rendered absolutely necessary for the pubhc advantage." Among the despatches, the receipt of which was announced, was one from Earl Grey in reference to the address of the late CouncU to her Majesty, of date 1st of October, 1860, on the subject of transportation. This despatch intimated an intention of advising her Majesty to take an early opportunity to revoke the existing Order in CouncU. In regard to the revenue, it was announced that the increase in the 270 HISTOEY OF NEM^ SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. public income happily kept pace with the growing de mand upon it. Besides a considerable amount beyond the revenue estimated for this year, when the estimates of 1850 were laid before the late Council, there was a much larger unexpended balance in the treasury than was anticipated. It was announced that among the most important measures to be laid before the House was a biU for imposing a new and improved tariff of duties on articles imported into the colony. The measure was framed on the most moderate scale, con sistent with the raising of a sufficient revenue to pro vide for the public requirements, and abohshed all dis tinction whatever in the rates imposed on articles of import, in whatsoever country produced, or from what soever country imported. It was calculated, by the removal of the present high duties on many articles of foreign produce and manufacture, to open out a market in this colony for their disposal, and thus offer induce ments for the sale of numerous and valuable produc tions of New South Wales, in those countries which might use this new field for commercial enterprise." In the address in reply the only passage which was not a mere echo of a corresponding passage in the address, referred to the gold discovery. " The recent discovery," said the House, " of extensive gold fields, of a rich and highly productive character, was an event the importance of which it was impossible to over-rate, whether as regarded the interests of the British empire generally, or as affecting the political and social condition of the colony. That the ultimate result of the discovery would be highly beneficial they entertained strong hopes, although its immediate effect would be to impose a very serious burden on the principal productive interests of the country." lY. At the commencement of the session John Lamb introduced a series of resolutions relative to transportation, calhng attention to that which was now generally regarded as an unanswerable argument in the hands of the anti-transportationists, namely, the exis tence of rich gold fields in the colony. The resolutions were to the foUowing effect — " That the Council having 1851.] lamb's EESOLUTIONS. 271 had under its consideration the despatch of Earl Grey to Sir Charles Fftz-Roy of date 10th April, 1851, re solved — (1.) That since the passing ofthe resolution of the late Council in October, 1850, events had occurred which rendered indisputable the policy of the resolution then affirmed, that no more convicts ought under any conditions to be sent to any part of the colony. (2.) That the opinion of theLegislative CouncU having been twice expressed, at the invitation of the Secretary of State, under his promise to abide by the result of their deliberation, the disposition evinced by Earl Grey to keep open the question of transportation, and to sanc tion the separation of Moreton Bay for the express purpose of evading the fulfilment of his pledge, filled the CouncU with alarm, and was calculated to inspire the colonists with distrust in the faith of her Majesty's ministers. (3.) That the objections before entertained against transportation to the Austrahan colonies had been so much strengthened by the recent discovery of large auriferous deposits within their territories, as to induce many who formerly advocated the system to join the ranks of its opponents ; and that consequently the feeling was now general that the continued intro duction of the criminals of the mother country into these colonies would be highly injurious to the religious, moral, and social condition of the inhabitants. (4.) That the Imperial Government, whUst admitting the extent of the evU inflicted on Yan Diemen's Land by the accumulation of convicts within her limits, avowed the intention of relieving that island by dispersing the criminals through the other Austrahan colonies, which, since the discoveries of gold, were, from Imperial as weU as colonial considerations, whoUy unfit for their reception. (6.) That from these considerations the CouncU solemnly protested against the continuance of transportation to Yan Diemen's Land or any of the existing Austrahan colonies, and deprecated the esta bUshment of any new penal settlements either north ward of New South Wales or elsewhere in the southern hemisphere, contiguous to the shores of Australia, Yan Diemen's Land, or New Zealand." 272 HISTOEY OF KEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. Captain King objected to these resolutions on the ground that their language, more especially that of the second, was such as the House ought not to adopt. The language of that resolution, he said, was such as members might fairly have used in the warmth of de bate, but was not such as should be placed solemnly on record as the language of the House. He proposed, as an amendment — (1.) " That the Council having had under consideration the despatch of Earl Grey to his Excellency Sir Charles Fitz-Roy, of date 10th April, 1861, and having again deliberated on the whole ques tion of transportation, reaffirmed the decision of the late Council that no more convicts ought, under any circumstances, to be sent to any part of this colony. (2.) That the grave objections hitherto urged against the continuance of transportation to the AustraUan colonies, derived increased weight from the recent discoveries of productive gold fields, which, having been found so widely distributed throughout New South Wales and Yictoria, might also be reasonably expected to be developed in the neighbouring colony of Yan Diemen's Land. (3.) That the Council, therefore, convinced that the transportation of criminals from the United King dom would entail on the colonies, and more especially on New South Wales, the most serious moral and social evils, and would be wholly inefficacious as a secondary punishment, protested against its continuance, in any form whatever, to any part of her Majesty's Australian possessions." These resolutions were adopted in pre ference to those originally proposed by a majority of twenty-three to eleven, and his excellency was re quested to transmit them to the Secretary of State, with a view to their early consideration by her Majesty's government. A week or two after the adoption of these mea sures, namely, on the 10th of December, the governor- general transmitted to the CouncU a copy of a des patch which he had just received from the Secretary of State, forwarding an Order in Council revoking, so far as concerned New South Wales, the Order in Coun cil of the 4th of September, 1848, appointing places 1851.] FUETHEE IMMIGEATION EESOLUTIONS. 273 to which felons and other offenders might be conveyed. This message was received by the House with cheers, although it was far from conclusively setting the ques tion at rest, seeing that the colonists had now arrived at the opinion that they would not be safe, so long as any of the Australian colonies, or any part of Austral asia in their immediate vicinity, was made the recep tacle of convicts. The pleasure evinced by the Council on this occasion proved how real was the anxiety with which the colony looked forward to their final deliver ance from the curse of convictism. Notwithstanding the great influx of population which followed on the discovery of gold, and the pro babUity that this influx would continue unabated, the question of immigration still occupied the attention of the employers of labour. It was seen that the gold- fields would, for some years, be the centre of attraction with the working-classes, and it was justly conjectured that the only way to check the evil tendency of this state of things as regarded the labour market, was, as far as possible, to glut the colony with labourers. Ac cordingly, early in the session, Donaldson moved a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That there was nothing in the prospective results of the discovery of gold in Australia to justify the government in ceasing to carry on immigration at the public expense ; (2.) that, on the contrary, many reasons might be urged for as sisting the immigration of their fellow-countrymen ; (3.) that aU interests in the colony, as well as those of the immigrants themselves, would be promoted by a carefully-adjusted immigration from the United King dom, on a large scale ; (4.) that the financial condition of New South Wales at this time held out peculiar in ducements to the government to increase, rather than to diminish the amount of the debentures issued on the security of the territorial revenue, the proceeds of such debentures being applied to immigration purposes. These propositions were unanimously adopted, and an address presented to the governor-general, requesting his excellency to transmit them to her Majesty with his favourable recommendation. 274 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP, v; The question of a mint was first raised by Martin moving for leave to bring in a biU to establish a public assay and refining office. Dawell moved as an amend ment the appointment of a select committee of seven to report on the expediency of establishing in Sydney an assay office and mint, and the amendment was adopted. A few weeks later the committee reported. With respect to the establishment of an assay office, they were of opinion that, while the expense would, in all probability, be large, such an institution would of itself be of very little, if any, value to the colony. They therefore reported that it was not desirable for the Council, at present, to undertake any legislation in this matter, feeUng persuaded that the natural require ments and operations of trade would, within a compa ratively short period, regulate the supply and demand of coin for the exigencies and the security of commerce, and remove any apparent anomalies which, during the first few months of the intense excitement of the gold discovery and its wonderful development, had affected the exchange, or partly lowered the price of the gold itself. They nevertheless believed that if her Majesty would be pleased to establish a mint or a branch of the Royal Mint in Austraha, at which unassayed gold, or gold in bars or ingots, might be exchanged for the cur rent gold coin of the realm, on the payment of an esta blished charge, much good might be expected to result to the interests of all producers of raw materials in the colony. Dawell moved the adoption of a petition to .the Queen, based on this report. The petition set forth that large quantities of gold had recently been dis covered in New South Wales and Yictoria, by which the wealth of her Majesty's subjects would be in creased by many millions of pounds sterling annually ; that the attraction of labour to this new employment, and the rate of exchange consequent on the wonderful disproportion between colonial exports and imports, had seriously discouraged the former staple produc tions of the colonies, and menaced them with destruc- 1851.] PETITION FOE A MINT. 275 tion — a result which, it was submitted, would be no less ruinous to individual flockmasters than injurious to her Majesty's Imperial interests ; that the evU inight be diminished by the exercise of the royal prerogative in the establishment of a branch of the Royal Mint at Sydney; that the facUities thus afforded her Majesty's subjects of converting gold into the current coin of the realm, would give an additional value to the result of thefr labour in its discovery, and correct the exist ing unnecessary depreciation of the other produce of the colony, -odthout any undue interference with trade or the rights of any portion of the subjects of the Bri tish empfre ; that the increased facUity of converting AustraUan gold into the current coin of the realm, by giving encouragement and stability to the trade and commerce of the Austrahan colonies, and additional value to her Majesty's possessions in that portion of the globe, would serve to perpetuate those feehngs of gratitude for her Majesty's consideration, and reli ance on her Majesty's justice, which were the truest bonds of connection between those colonies and the British empfre. This petition was adopted by a ma jority of sixteen to eleven. A petition to the Queen and Imperial ParUament, on the general grievances of the colony, brought up by the select committee appointed for that purpose, was adopted by the House on the motion of Wentworth. It consisted of a recital of the declaration and remon strance adopted by the former CouncU, which the pre sent CouncU, with a shght modification respecting the patronage of the customs department, reafi&rmed. The only new feature in the present appeal was contained in a passage to this effect : " In order that her Ma jesty's confidential advisers might have no excuse for the continuance of these abuses, this CouncU unhesi tatingly declared that they were prepared, on the sur render to the colonial Legislature of the entire manage ment of all the revenues, territorial as well as general, and on the estabhshment of a constitution among the colonists, simUar in its outhnes to that of Canada, to assume and provide for the whole cost of the internal 276 HISTORY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. government of the colony, whether civil or military, and to enact an adequate civU list during the life of her Majesty and for five years after her Majesty's de mise, instead ofthe sums appropriated in the schedules to the Imperial Act 13 and 14 Yictoria." The question of the defences of the port of Sydney which, since the gold discovery, had occupied the at tention of the public still more seriously than hereto fore, was formally brought before the Council by a message from the governor-general. .The message stated that the home government was prepared to send out military labour to execute the necessary works, provided the colony supplied the ordinary and working pay of the workmen so sent. On the motion of the colonial secretary, that the message be referred to a select committee of the Council, Donaldson moved an amendment to the effect — " That the Council de clined to entertain the proposal of the government for the construction of such works as might be necessary for the defence of Port Jackson untU the local legisla ture should have been invested with the entire control of the colonial revenues, territorial as well as general.'' The amendment was carried by the casting vote of the speaker. Among the resolutions adopted by the House was one by which the Council refused to vote any increase of the expenditure rendered necessary by the gold discovery, unless some portion of the gold revenue was placed at their disposal. The result was that the governor caused the expenditure in question to be borne out of the territorial revenue. The Council, on the motion of Nichols, adopted an address to the governor-general, praying that £2000 might be placed on the estimates to fit out an expedi tion to go in search of Leichhardt and his party. The session was closed on the 22nd December. The governor-general, in his . speech, informed the House that in the expectation that her Majesty would sanction a measure for raising money for immigrg,tion purposes secured on the territorial revenue, he had borrowed, on favourable terms, a sum of £69,600, and 18"-] THE " CUMBEELAND DISEASE." 277 it was his intention to raise a further sum of £30,000 to replace the drain of labour consequent on the gold discovery. A duel, fought in the month of September, fur nished the colonists with a new topic of conversation. The combatants were Stuart Alexander Donaldson, a member of the legislature, and Sfr Thomas Mitchell, the surveyor-general of the colony. The cause of the quarrel was a statement made by Donaldson to his constituents of the county of Durham relative to the expenses of the surveyor-general's department. Sir Thomas, in a letter to Donaldson, characterized the statement in question as " false," and the result was the hostile meeting. Three shots were exchanged, but without serious mischief. One shot whizzed close to the ear of Sir Thomas, and the other's hat was penetrated by a bullet from his adversary's pistol. The friends of the dueUists protested against hos- tiUties being carried any farther, and the combatants left the ground without a reconcUiation. The distemper known as the " Cumberland disease" made great ravages among the cattle in the course of this year. It was confined to the county of Cumber land, but attacked herds brought from other parts. Out of one lot of cattle which came from Twofold Bay, fifteen died in one night. Sheep were also at tacked by this disease, and a man died by some matter getting into a smaU scar on his arm while skinning a diseased sheep. The government appointed a board to inquire into the nature of the djstemper, and, if possible, devise a remedy. In March the first railway contract was accepted. The work to be executed was the substructure of a portion of the hne between Ash- field and Haslam's Lock, at a cost of £10,000. The Rev. W. B. Clarke, the weU-known geologist, claimed the credit of having first announced the exist ence of gold in Australia. He proved that he had at vari ous times pubhcly announced that the colony contained auriferous deposits, and stated that Hargraves was led to the localities where he found the gold by his pub hshed statements. One letter, in which he set forth 278 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. his convictions on this point, addressed to Sir H. De la Beche, had been published in the " Quarterly Review." The question of steam communication between the Australian colonies and England was again brought prominently under consideration this year. In March a select committee of the House of Commons was ap pointed " to inquire into the existing steam communi cation with India and China, and also into the best mode of estabUshing intercourse by that means be tween England, India, China, Australia, and New Zea land." A committee, appointed at the instance of Lord Jocelyn, reported in favour of the establishment of steam communication with Australia by way of the Cape of Good Hope ; but Earl Grey, probably to retaliate for the rough treatment which his name had received at the hands of the colonists in connection with transportation, declined to carry the recommen dation into effect. A census was taken this year, which showed the population of the colony, exclusive of Port PhUhp, to be 187,243 souls, of these 108,691 were males, 78,552 females; 184,560 free, 2693 bond; 93,137 were members of the Church of England, 18,156 Presbyterians, 10,008 Wesleyans, 66,899 Roman Catho lics, and 6472 were members of other Christian sects. Of Jews there were 979 ; Mahomedans and Pagans, 952 ; of other persuasions, 740. The total revenue of the colony for this year, in cluding that of Port PhiUip, up to 30th June, was £440,246. The gross expenditure was £469,282. 1862.] Y. In the early part of this year the trans portation movement was occupying the undiminished attention of the colonists. On the 6th of AprU a meeting of the League and the public generaUy was held in Sydney, to consider Earl Grey's determination to continue transportation to Yan Diemen's Land as avowed by him to the Yictoria delegate, Mr. King. Cowper occupied the chair, and a series of resolutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That so long as Yan Diemen's Land continued oppressed by transportation, all the other colonies of Australasia were bound by 1852.] CONFEEENCE AT VAN DIEMEN's LAND. 279 sympathy and generosity, as weU as impeUed by self- interest, to aid in her dehverance from this cUnging curse, and that meeting solemnly pledged itself to unite wdth and assist the Tasmanian colonists in thefr efforts to obtain its entire abolition; (2.) that that meeting recorded its warm expression of admiration and respect for the patriotic representative members of the Yan Diemen's Legislature in the noble stand which they had taken in this important and vital ques tion; (3.) that the determination avowed by Earl Grey to the Yictoria delegate, Mr. King, on the 26th of November last, to persist in transportation to Yan Diemen's Land, and to separate Moreton Bay from New South Wales for penal purposes, in breach of his repeated promises, demanded the indignant reprobation of that meeting, and they accordingly bound them selves by all they held dear and sacred to resist to the utmost an oppression so desolating, bravely, solemnly protesting that the responsibUity of aU the conse quences would remain with the oppressor. These re solutions were ordered to be embodied in an address, to be presented by the president in the name of the meeting to the Tasmanian delegates, at the conference about to take place at Hobart Town. Two months later the citizens were caUed together to receive the report of Cowper, the president of the League, on his return from the conference at Yan Diemen's Land ; to consider the future proceedings of the League, and to adopt an address to her Majesty on the occasion of the resignation of Earl Grey. The conference at Yan Diemen's Land was attended by eighteen representatives, severaUy sent by the four colonies. These held regular sittings, and carried on their discussions constantly for some days. Cowper's reception was most warm, and every effort was made by the people of Yan Diemen's Land to evince their gratitude for the aid and co-operation of New South Wales, by doing honour to its representative. One of the most important measures of the conference was to direct the preparation of a petition to her Majesty, to be signed by the president, embodying- the solemn 280 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. decision of the Legislative assemblies of all the Aus tralasian colonies on this question of transportation. Another measure resolved upon related to the co operation of the press in England. The League had heretofore benefited by this co-operation, and they de termined, in order to do so stiU more, to incur some little expense. They proposed to advertise their pro ceedings and remonstrances, in order that the British press and the British public might see what the Aus tralian colonists were doing to help themselves. A bolder and much more portentous measure than either of these, however, followed. The conference submitted to the executive board that, in the event of the answer from the Secretary of State to the past remonstrances of the colonists being unfavourable, a special meeting of the colonists should be convened in the province of Yictoria in or about January 1853 ; that, besides the delegates from the councUs of the League, each colony should be requested to send to this assembly not less than ten persons, to be nominated through the councils of the League, in such form as might be deemed desirable, and to consist of persons who had been members of the Legislative chambers, or of the municipal institutions, or of the chambers of commerce; that, having so assembled, they should concert such measures as might be consistent with the importance of the cause, and with the principles of the British constitution, and that the people of Yictoria should be requested to make such arrangements as might facilitate the business of this assenibly, and the reception and entertainment of its members. Cowper, in summing up his account of his mission, said that " their friends were prepared to try every constitutional means of obtaining redress, but at the same time they were resolved to show that they were in earnest. They were determined, under every cir cumstance, to lie rid of this withering curse of convic tism. What might be the results of the peaceful and constitutional means then used was a question he w(mld not enter upon. They would, at all events, leave no means untried, by remonstrance and ai"gument, to 1862.] EESOLUTIONS ON TEANSPOETATION. 281 convince those with whom lay the decision of the jus tice of their claims." A series of resolutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That the meeting cordiaUy welcome the presi dent of the League on his return from the conference at Yan Diemen's Land, and begged to convey to him the expression of their thanks for the gratifying manner in which he had accomplished his mission; (2.) that they acknowledged with gratitude the firmness and moral courage evinced by the Executive Council of the colony in reminding Earl Grey of his lordship's pledge, which, in thefr opinion, no less than in that uniformly maintained by the Australasian League, precluded his sending convicts to Moreton Bay wdthout a manifest breach of faith, and deeply regretted that his lordship, instead of feeling indebted to the CouncU for their honest warning, should have endeavoured to avoid its appUcation by an unmeaning interpretation of his former language ; (3.) that the resignation of office by Earl Grey was a matter for congratulation, both to the colonists of Australasia and to the Queen's most exceUent Majesty, and the meeting recorded its solemn conviction that the penal pohcy of that minister was sowing the seeds of disloyalty throughout these terri tories, and ahenating the affection of her Majesty's subjects ; (4.) that the meeting, while solemnly de nouncing the continuance of transportation to any of these colonies, as incompatible with the permanence of British rule in Australasia, earnestly protested against their language being represented as that of wanton defiance, or of anti-British feeling, prompted as it was by the deep consciousness that in this case the sense of oppression was impressed on the whole of these feelings, which, as a Briton's noblest heritage, gained strength among the colonists ; and that if the fatal alternative should continue to be thrust upon them, of choosing between British connection in name, and an unsuUied British character in fact, the dictates of principle, and the onward course of events, must, before long, lead to the preference of the latter at any sacrifice." 282 HISTOEY OF NT!W SOUTH WALES. [CHAP V. These resolutions were embodied in a petition to the Queen. The Council was opened on the 8th of June. The governor-general, in his speech, " congratulated the House on the abundant harvest, and on the moderate prices of the necessaries of life — circumstances which were the more favourable, looking at the causes which of late so powerfully operated to affect the ordinary industrial pursuits of the colony. He informed the CouncU that, acting on their resolution of the 7th November, he had lost no time in raising £100,000 for the purposes of immigration, and in remitting that amount to theLandand Emigration Commissioners, with an earnest recommendation to the Secretary of State that immigrant ships at the rate of three per month should be despatched to the colony. He congratulated them on the new and productive gold fields which had been discovered in different parts of the colony since he last addressed them. Whatever inconvenience might have arisen, or might still arise from the with drawal of a portion of the labouring population from their former pursuits, he confidently believed that this new som-ce of wealth would ultimately conduce largely to the general development of the great resources which the colony possessed. From his personal ob servation during a recent visit to the western and southern gold fields, it afforded him much gratification to be able to testify to the loyalty to her Majesty, the good feeling towards the local government, the orderly conduct, and obedience to the laws and estabUshed regulations which happily and creditably characterized the great body of the people engaged in this pursuit. The state of the finances of the colony continued to be highly prosperous. The general revenue exceeded in the past year the amount received in that which preceded it by a sum of upwards of £29,000. The territorial revenue, including that derived from the gold fields, also showed an increase of nearly £60,000. It gave him satisfaction to be able at length to an nounce that tenders had been accepted by her Ma jesty's government for establishing a bi-monthly line 1852.] EAEL GEEY's EEPLY TO EEMONSTEANOE. 283 of steam communication wdth the colony by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and that the first ship was to sail in April, so that her arrival might be immediately expected. He had also been informed that tenders had been invited for bi-monthly steam communication by way of Singapore. On the completion of these combined arrangements the long-desfred object of a monthly intercourse with England would be attained, together with its coUateral advantages. In addition to the more regular and speedy postal communication which would be effected by these measures, the route by the Cape would afford greater facUities for the in troduction of passengers and merchandize from Europe, whUst that by Singapore would more closely connect the Austrahan colonies with the Indian presidencies, Ceylon, and China." In the address in reply the Council departed from the ordinary course, by expressing a doubt as to the immediate reaUzation of a monthly steam communi cation with England, remarking that " they anticipated no such result from the steps yet taken by the Imperial Government." A few days after the commencement of the session Wentworth obtained a select committee to prepare a constitution for the colony, pursuant to the powers conferred on the Council by the Imperial Act 13 and 14 Yict., chapter 69. The motion received the assent of the government, and a committee was appointed by baUot, consisting ofthe mover, S.A.Donaldson, C. Deas Thomson (the colonial secretary), J. H. Plunkett (the attorney-general), James Macarthur, Charles Cowper, John Lamb, James Martin, J. A. Murray, and Dr. Dou glas. Wentworth had named a committee, in which no nominee member was included, but the colonial secretary having demanded a ballot, the above list was the result. In July, Earl Grey's reply to the remonstrance against the Constitution Act was received in the colony. The Secretary of State said that " it could not be other wise than a subject of regret that the CouncU should have entertained so much objection to the different provisions of that measure, and should have thought it 284 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. necessary to declare those objections in their formal shape ; but he must be permitted to doubt whether the remonstrance accurately expressed the feelings of the country, for it was certain that her Majesty's govern ment, in framing the measure, took as much pains as was in their power to make themselves acquainted with and consult the feelings as well as the wants of the colonists, and they had every reason to believe that they had succeeded in doing so from the report of the Privy Council, which was closely followed in the bill submitted to ParUament, was received in New South Wales with a very general expression of satisfaction. The act, therefore, which embodied the recommenda tion of the report thus formally received, could hardly be supposed to be unacceptable to the colonists. If, indeed, the institution erected by it had been tried and found inefficient— if any of its provisions had been found oppressive or impracticable — then it would be perfectly natural that those whose anticipations had been favourable should profess themselves disappointed. But it had not been tried at aU, and he was therefore entitled rather to suppose that this declaration of the Legislative Council did not, as he said, correctly repre sent the public feeling, than that the public feeling had thus changed without a motive." The secretary then proceeded to say that he felt too much weight was due to the opinion of the body which had so long conducted the legislative affafrs of the colony, not to record fuUy the grounds on which he thought himself entitled to deny the justice of these objections. He pointed out, in the first place, that the declaration had frequently been made, when the mea sure was in contemplation, that the government did not profess to make a new constitution for New South Wales. Its primary object, he said, was the separation of Port Phillip, and the accommodation of the existing constitution to that separation. " There was one fun damental alteration named, that which gave to the two legislatures, subject to certain conditions, the power which the former united one did not possess, of amending and altering, almost to the fullest extent, ^^^^J EAEL GEEY's EEPLY CONTINUED. 285 their own constitution. This, and this only, was the great constitutional change effected by the act; and no allegation had yet reached him that the powers thus conferred were likely to prove in any degree inadequate to the purposes of good government and progressive improvement. He must, therefore, regard the remon strance, except in some points of detaU, rather as a protest against the principles on which the Australian provinces had hitherto been governed, and against some laws affecting those colonies which the Parliament had thought fit to maintain, than against this parti cular act. With regard to the schedules of expenditure, it was obvious on the face of the act that the powers of the new Legislature over them were considerably more extensive than those possessed by the old Council. He had stated in his despatch transmitting the act, that it was essential that existing interests should be protected. To this, he could not suppose that the Legislative Council entertained any objection. The declaration was made out of regard to the natural apprehensions of those who were rendered more de pendent than heretofore on the votes of the Legislature, and not in any expectation, so injurious to the Legis lature, that such a restriction would be distasteful. He had referred further to the opinion ofthe committee of the Privy Council, that the salaries of the principal officers ought to be permanently guaranteed ; and if this restriction were complained of in the remonstrance, he could not certainly do otherwise than express his agreement in that opinion. It was indeed the convic tion that the maintenance of this principle was essential to the success of constitutional government at the out set, and not with any wish to secure particular sums for particular services, which mainly induced Parliament to preserve the portion of the former constitution of New South Wales, subject to the increased power of alteration conferred on the Legislature. " With regard to the administration of the waste lands, as referred to in the remonstrance, it was his duty not to withhold the expression of his decided dissent from the doctrine that the waste lands of New 286 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. South Wales, or the revenue derived from them, were in any reasonable sense the exclusive property of the inhabitants, or that their representatives ought to have, as of right, the control and disposal of that revenue. The waste lands of the vast colonial possessions of the British empire were held by the Crown as trustee for the inhabitants of that empire at large, and not for the inhabitants of the particular provinces, divided by arbitrary geographical Umits, in which any such waste lands might happen to be situate. Otherwise this consequence would follow, that the first inhabitants of any of those vast provinces, if possessing those repre sentative institutions which arose as of right in ordinary British colonies, would be indefeasibly entitled to the administration of all the lands and land revenue of the great unexplored tract caUed a province, of which they occupied the extremity, wholly without regard to the interests of the nation which had founded the settle ment, perhaps at great expense, in order to serve as a home for their own emigrants, and as a market for their own industry. When, and on what condition it might be desirable to transfer the control of the waste lands of a colony to the local legislature was, in his belief, a question of expediency and not of right — of expediency respectively both to the local community and to the people of the empire at large, whose claim required joint consideration and mutual adjustment. But while such were his views as to the right under which the revenue was administered, he wdUingly acknowledged that it was the essential duty of those who administered it to regard in a special manner the interests of those who had established themselves on the spot, and whose purchases afforded the fund to be so disposed of; and he believed that this object was in a high degree attained by the existing arrangement." The minister then referred to the remarks of the Council on the manner in which immigration had been carried out by the Imperial authorities. " It was to him," he said, " equally a subject of surprise and regret that the Council should have seen reason to express an opinion that the duty imposed on the advisers of the 1*".] EAEL GEEy's EEPLY cont:inued. 287 Crown had been so Ul performed as to warrant the assertion that the use of the moiety of the territorial revenue appUed to immigration purposes had been in a great measure confined to the introduction of people unsuited to the wants of the colony. The view thus communicated to him was certainly inconsistent with any of the detaUed information which had been fur nished respecting the successive immigrant ships as they reached Australia, and with the general opinion previously transmitted from aU the colonies to which immigrants had been sent. Any one who consulted the detaUed reports which had been made respecting the 31,400 immigrants sent out by the Immigration Commissioners between 1847 and 1861, on thefr reach ing the colony, and which were pubhshed in the annual reports of the commissioners, might easUy see how smaU, amidst this great multitude, was the proportion of persons of whom there had been any serious com plaint. Nor had there been wanting general testi monials of a gratifying nature to the satisfaction felt wdth the character of the immigrants selected and sent out by the commissioners." Referring to the claim of the CouncU to a dfrect supervision over the customs and aU other departments, and to the appropriation of the gross revenues of the colony from whatever source arising. Earl Grey said "he had no wish to controvert the assertion that the colonial Legislature ought to be enabled to exercise a superintendence, and in one sense a control over the administration of the customs, as of other departments of the pubhc service, but he would here point out that the power of exer cising a superintendence over the customs department had afready in effect been conferred by the circular de spatch ofthe 8th of August, 1860, which the Legislative CouncU in its remonstrance seemed to have overlooked. By that despatch the management ofthe customs depart ment, which was formerly retained in thefr own hands by the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury, had been en trusted to the local government, subject to the same conditions as other branches of the public service. The government had ever shown its perfect readiness to 288 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. communicate to the Legislative Council the most ample information as to the manner in which its administra tion had been conducted ; and thus the people of New South Wales, through their representatives, possessed the same powers as their fellow-subjects at home, of interfering to correct any abuse or mismanagement which might occur in the transaction of their affairs, by advice or remonstrance addressed to the Crown, or to the governor by whom the Crown was represented. No more control than this over the customs department could be given to the Legislative CouncU of New South Wales, without violating those important consti tutional principles, as to the strict separation of execu tive from legislative functions, which in this country it had always been considered expedient to maintain. With regard to the claim that the gross instead of the net revenue derived from the customs should be placed at the disposal of the Legislature, he had to observe that in this respect the law in New South Wales was precisely the same as that which had ever existed in England, where the Crown had always had the power of paying out of the gross revenue the expenses of col lection, and the salaries of the officers employed in it. It could hardly be considered that there was any griev ance to be complained of in this matter, when the Legislative Council was placed, in regard to it, pre cisely on the same footing as the Imperial ParUament. " On the subject of official appointments it was im possible that the Imperial Government could recognize on the part of the inhabitants of New South Wales any monopoly of the right to such situation, so as to pre clude their being bestowed on others of her Majesty's subjects. The inhabitants of New South Wales were not considered disqualified for receiving similar ap pointments, either in other colonies or at home, nor could anything be more injurious to the general interests of the British empire than to lay down a rule by which the empire should be broken up into a num ber of small communities, the members of each of which should be considered as only admissible to em ployment in that to which they more immediately be- ^^-•] OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS. 289 longed. But whUe the principle of regarding all her Majesty's subjects as admissible to office in New South Wales could not be abandoned, there had assuredly been no practical grievance inflicted in this respect on the inhabitants of the colony, since for years past pub Uc employments there had, wdth scarcely an exception, been filled by persons selected by the governor, whose nominations had almost invariably been approved of by the Secretary of State, and he considered it of great importance to the interests of the colony, as tending to secure a good selection of persons for such employ ments, that the existing rule should be maintained, by which the governor was required to report his appoint ments, and receive her Majesty's confirmation of them in regard to offices exceeding a certain value. "With regard to the last clause of the protest, which claimed what were caUed plenary powers of le gislation, he said that although the CouncU necessarily confined their declaration to the case of the province which they represented, it was impossible to notice it in answer except as applying generaUy to the colonial possessions of the British Crown; for the constitu tional rule or principle against which the protest was made was equally in force in every colony enjoying a separate legislature. It could hardly be altered in one colony without a general change of system, and the in troduction of so vast a change would requfre far more practical and pressing grounds to justify it than what he must term a theoretical preference of some different and imtried scheme. It was not denied that the go vernor, as representing the Crown, must necessarily be a party to aU legislation ; and there would be ob vious objection to placing in the hands of the ablest governor the power of binding the Cro\^^l by his ac ceptance of acts in necessary ignorance of the views which the Sovereign, through her advisers charged with the superintendence of the general interests of the em])fre, might entertain. This he beheved to be the main ground on which this power had been gene raUy retained and exercised by the Crown, from the earUest periods of colonial history ; nor did it seem u 290 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. that it could be abandoned with safety to the perma nence of the connection between the mother- country and her colonies. The only substitute for the existing system which he had seen suggested, and to which he believed the Legislative Council referred, although he was not certain of their meaning, was this, that the subjects of legislation should be divided into local and Imperial ; that in the case of the former, the governor should give or withhold the royal assent without fur ther confirmation from the Crown ; that in the case of the latter the local legislature should have no power at all, its acts, or any portion of them, affecting those subjects, being absolutely null and void. On this pomt, he would observe on the practical inconveniences which would seem necessarily to attend a system under which a large number of subjects, and many of them very diffi cult to define, would be absolutely withdrawn from the power of the local legislature, so that they would at once be unable to legislate at all in many matters in which it was most desirable they should legislate, sub ject to the control of the Crown, and at the same time be under constant uncertainty whether acts passed with strictly constitutional intentions might not be invalid through some inadvertent infringement of the limits of their authority — ^limits which could ultimately only be defined and preserved through the uncertain process of judicial interpretation in the courts of law. If, indeed, this power of the Crown were complained of as a practical grievance, the representation of the Council would have great additional weight ; but no such complaints appeared to be made, nor did he see how they could. Not more than seven acts of the Legislature of New South Wales had been disaUowed since the commencement of representative institutions, and about the same number had been returned for the insertion of amendments before her Majesty's confir mation could be given ; and of the trifling number thus interfered with — nearly all being passed in the first three sessions, when the experiment of a repre sentative legislature was new — several were obviously such acts as the local legislature, under the proposed i'*'2] REPLY TO THE DE.SPATCH OF THE COUNCIL. 291 division of subjects, would have had no right to pass at aU. On the other hand, a very slight examination of the acts, more than two hundred in number, which had received the royal confirmation, would probably show that many would have been either whoUy or par tially in excess of the Uke power of legislation, and absolutely void if such a division of authorities existed. "He had thus explained the views of her Majesty's government on aU the principal heads of the declara tion of the late Legislative CouncU, and he trusted that, however this explanation might be received by those who, as members of that body, adopted the de claration, thefr constituents would be more disposed to weigh the considerations he had advanced, and to endeavour, to the best of thefr power, to mitigate opposition of opinions, and conciliate jarring interests, than to adopt, without demur, the sweeping conclusions which that declaration advocated. At aU events, he felt certain that on reflection they would acquit her Ma jesty's government of any intention to inflict on them a system of misrule and oppression. They had had the interests of the local community and of the em pire — which, rightly considered, were the same — solely in view, and to attribute to them other motives would be as unjust as it would be, on his part, to impute the language of that declaration, because he did not agree with it, to a spirit of faction or resentment, and what ever might be the censure which the late CouncU thought fit to indulge in towards himself, he could not be guilty of such injustice towards them." YI. No sooner was the despatch containing the reply published in the colony, than a committee of the Council was appointed to prepare an answer. Early in August this body, having completed their labours, sub mitted to the House a draft of the proposed answer, and it was unanimously adopted. The Council set out by " denying that the report of the committee of the Privy Council had been received wdth any general, or indeed with any expressions of satisfaction. If satis faction had been eUcited at Port PhiUip it arose mainly, if not entirely, from the separation of that province 292 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. from New South Wales." To show that the power of amending and altering the present constitution which had been conferred on the Legislature was, by inference, cancelled only with the intention of evading it by means of the veto, they instanced the fact that a similar power, conferred on the late Council in regard to the governor's salary, having been exercised by the Council in June 1844, it was rendered nugatory by the reservation of the act for the signification of the royal pleasure. Without denying that the Act 13 and 14 Yictoria, chapter 69, gave the Council the sem blance of a power to deal with some subordinate appropriation contained in the schedules to that act appended, they again insisted that all such appropria tions by the authority of the Imperial Parliament were against the right of the people of this colony to raise and appropriate their own moneys. " This was an inherent and indefeasible right which all colonies founded by British subjects carried with them by virtue of the common law, whether it were exercised by means of a charter from the Crown alone, or of a constitution granted by the Imperial Parliament, and the declaratory act by which the right of the people of all British colonies was solemnly recognized, con tained no such distinction as Earl Grey relied on, but, on the contrary, was repeatedly admitted by the Im perial Parliament to apply to Canada, having a consti tution similar to their own. As to the Crown lands, while they admitted that they were vested in the sovereign as trustee, they denied that their present value was mainly given them through the expenditure incurred by Great Britain in founding, maintaining, and defending them. It had been proved before the Trans portation Committee of the House of Commons in 1837, and the General Grievance Committee of the CouncU in 1844, that all the expenditure thus incurred had been reimbursed in a more than two-fold degree by the savings which, up to 1836, had accrued from the transportation to these shores of the criminals of the mother country, whUe as regarded Yictoria that province was notoriously self-supporting from the out- i^52-3 EEPLY CONTmUBD. 293 set, and had besides, in common with New South Wales, paid out of the territorial revenue for the passages of a great number of thefr feUow-countrymen who had immigrated to these shores prior to separa tion. It being thus obvious that whatever value was imparted to the waste lands was derived from the labour and capital of the colonists, it followed from Lord Grey's admission that such value of right be longed to those who had erected it, and that, there fore, the Crown was the trustee, not, as was erroneously asserted by his lordship, for the inhabitants of the empire at large, but for the colonists alone, and that consequently the territorial revenue ought to be as much under the control and appropriation of the CouncU as the ordinary revenue. In re-asserting the right of the local legislature to the appropriation of their revenue, and to the control of the lands from which it was derived, they were aware that such right could not be exercised without benefit to the inha bitants of the empire at large, and that whether the territorial revenue were expended on immigration from the United Kingdom, or on roads or railways, or im provements of any sort which might render the colony more desirable as a home for the masses who were continuaUy leaving the mother country, the appropria tion was, in either case, equally conducive to the general advantage. They entirely concurred with the denunciation of the late Legislative Council as to the manner in which the territorial revenue of the colony had been expended, under the Emigration Commis sioners, feeling, no doubt, that a much larger number and better class of immigrants would have been pro cured had the very large sums placed for this purpose at their disposal, been judiciously and economicaUy expended. Nor was it the least of the manifold grievances the colonists had to complain of, that revenue to this extent, wholly derived from their earn ings, should be placed in the hands of _ those over whom they exercised no practical supervision, whose expenditure they had no power of auditing, and whose selections they beUeved were mainly, if not entirely. 294 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. influenced by those whose interest it was that the more undesirable classes of the people should be shipped to Australia." Referring to the subject of the customs, the CouncU said that " not being able to come to the con clusion that the Act of Parliament by which the con trol of the customs department had been vested in the Lords of the Treasury, was repealed by the circular despatch alluded to, they could not comprehend how the assertion was borne out that the supervision and control of the customs revenue had already in effect been conferred on the Legislative Council. Nor did they admit, whether the House of Commons had the appropriation of the gross revenue of the customs, or only of the nett revenue, after deducting the expense of collection, that this was a precedent to guide the colonies ; for whUe the salaries of aU public officers were in effect fixed, from time to time, in accordance with the reports of the committees of that House, on a scale proportioned to the services rendered by the officers of the various pubhc departments, here, on the other hand, they were fixed by the minister for the colonies, on his sole discretion, and, under the principle contended for, might be made irrevocable, or increased beyond Umit without any authority in the Council to alter them were they ever so excessive. Hence the necessity which existed for that entire power of appro priation of this branch of the revenue which was in sisted upon, and which was, in effect, necessary to establish a rule of uniformity in all departments of the local government." Referring to the subject of the patronage, the reply proceeded to say — " Whether the inhabitants were, or were not, considered disquahfied for receiving appointments at home, or in the other colonies, this was certain, that they had never yet received such appointments, and it was not anticipated by the most sanguine amongst them, considering upon what principles the patronage of the Crown was dis pensed by her Majesty's ministers, that they ever would. Nor could they admit that no practical griev ance had been inflicted in this respect on the inhabit- '®'-] EEPLY CONTINTJED. 296 ants of the colony, or that for several, or any number of years past, pubhc employments here, exceeding a certain low value had, with scarcely an exception, been fiUed by persons selected by the grovernor. They knew, on the contrary, that as regardedlhe higher offices, and indeed aU above the annual value of £200, the govemor had a list of candidates furnished from Downing Street, out of which, doubtless, he might make a selection, sub ject to the ultimate aUowance of the colonial minister, but to which list, except in unforeseen circumstances, he was compeUed to confine his choice, so that though the governor appeared to exercise a direct power of nomination in the first instance, this function was, in effect, indfrectly exercised at home. Under these cir cumstances they were quite wilUng to submit to the inconvenience aUuded to by Earl Grey, ' to be broken up into a smaU community,' and to resign aU preten sions to any office of profit or emolument, at home or in the other colonies, in consideration of enjoying all the patronage of thefr own colony." Referring to another head of the remonstrance, the CouncU said — " The observation of Lord Grey with regard to that plenary power of legislation in local matters, claimed in the declaration and remonstrance, was no answer to that claim, nor was the case of any other colony paraUel to that of New South Wales and the other colonies of the Australian group. The North American colonies possessed responsible government, one of the results of which was that scarcely any legislation was practicaUy reserved for aUowance by the Queen, or disaUowed after having been assented to by the gover nor in her Majesty's name. Here, on the contrary, many of the most useful acts of the local legislature had been rejected on the most unsatisfactory pretences, after having been assented to by the governor, or sent back with amendments which had frittered away thefr chief value. They repeated that the British constitu tion, so far as it was apphcable to their cfrcumstances, was the inalienable bfrthright of the people of these colonies. One of the most important rights which that constitution conferred on thefr feUow-subjects at 2yD HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. v. home, was the enjoyment of that plenary and imme diate power of legislation which was here contended for. The veto of the Crown, which Earl Grey wished to keep suspended over the local legislature, had at home become practically obsolete from the responsibihty, as to its exercise, which the Crown cast upon the Prime Minister of the day. The same responsibihty might and ought to be established here, and the result would be to surround the Queen's representative with efficient and responsible advisers in the same manner as her Majesty was surrounded by such advisers at home." With regard to the question of local and Imperial sub jects of legislation, they said that "what the Council proposed was the unrestricted right to legislate in all matters whatsoever; that, with regard to legislation affecting the prerogative of the Crowm or Imperial interests, the Crown should continue to exercise the power of assent or disaUowance, while with regard to legislation for merely local or municipal concernment, the assent or dissent of the Crown should at once be given or withheld by the govemor. This proposition evidently entailed no greater difficulty in deciding the limits of such legislative power than existed at present under the restriction imposed by the early charters of America, as well as by the constitution of the later colonies, that the laws shaU not be repugnant to the laws of England. That the general power of disaUow ance now possessed by the Crown was a practical grievance, and had been considered such, it were a mere waste of words to prove. The very uncertainty whether a law, however necessary, would ultimately pass or not- — an uncertainty in this colony generally extending over two years— was of itself a practical grievance of no ordinary magnitude. But when to this was superadded the notorious fact that the power of disallowance was exercised frequently on the representa tion of governors who would not venture to exercise it on the spot ; frequently again in the immature opinions of the minister or his subordinates ; more frequently still in the secret representation of people, either in the colony or elsewhere, who had the ear of those subordi- 1852] EEPOET ON THE CONSTITUTION. 297 nates, and whose private interests were affected, or sup posed to be, by the acts having to pass through tlus ordeal ; it would be absurd to contend that no practical grievance had been the result." They instanced the disaUowance of the act assented to by the governor in 1849, which requfred the registration of the names and places of abode of aU freed convicts from Yan Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island, as one instance wherein great hardship had been inflicted on the colony, which was at the expense of the coercion and maintenance of those persons. In conclusion, they said that while fuUy agreeing wdth Earl Grey "that the interests of the colony and of the empire rightly considered were the same, they could not understand why they should not be treated as an integral portion of that empire, and enjoy the same power of self-government which was possessed by their feUow-countrymen at home. To be content wdth anything less would be derogatory to themselves, and unjust to their children. It would be to bequeath to them a smaller measure of freedom than their fathers transmitted to themselves. This was a measure to which they could never submit, and a wrong which they could never perpetrate. Nor would they be deterred from the assertion of thefr undoubted rights by the flattery, the imputation, or the obstinacy of any minister, but would continue thefr efforts untU all they contended for, aU that was necessary to place them on a perfect equahty with their feUow-subjects at home, was conced.ed to them and to thefr posterity at once and for ever." Scarcely had the House so far disposed of the exist ing constitution, ere they were caUed up to consider that by which it was proposed that it should be re placed. In September the select committee, appointed in the month of June preceding, to prepare a constitu tion for the colony, brought up their report. Doubts having arisen as to whether the constituent power con tained in the thirty-second clause of the Act 13th and 14th Yictoria were sufficiently extensive to enable the committee to frame a constitution suited to the wants of the colony, without a further intervention of Parlia- 298 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. ment, the committee, with the view to place the effi cacy of their labours beyond all doubt, proposed an Act of Parliament, empowering her Majesty to assent to two bills appended to the aforesaid act byway of schedules. By means of these bills or schedules, one of which was entitled " An Act to grant a Civil List to her Majesty," and the other " An Act to confer a Constitution on New South Wales," it was proposed to repeal all Acts of Parliament then in the way of those constitutional rights to which the colony laid claim. To give effect to their recommendation, they submitted the three pro posed bills to the House. The committee proceeded to say that the principal difficulty they had had to contend with was the devising of a scheme of a Legislative Council which in its working might prove an efficient check to the democratic element of the Assembly, and at the same time be competent to discharge with effi ciency the revising, deliberative, and conservative functions which would devolve upon it. Some of the committee thought that these ends would be most effectually attained by leaving the nomination of this body wholly to the local executive, with the under standing that not more than one-third of the Council should hold offices of emolument. Another section pro posed that the CouncU should be wholly electional, some being in favour of a high property qualification, and a limitation as to age ; others again suggested that there should be no restriction on those latter particu lars. A fourth portion advocated as a middle course between these extremes of pure nomination on the one hand, or pure election on the other, that the govern ment should have the nomination for life of two-thfrds of the members of the Council, out of persons who had been elected members of the past or present legislature, or who might be elected to any future assembly ; the other third holding office during pleasure. The bill which related to this subject was presented to the House, wdth a clause embodying this last-mentioned principle, but with a distinct understanding that in its progress through the House this question was to be as open to the objections of the members of the com- 1832] EEPOET CONTINUED. 299 mittee as of any other members of the House. The committee said that " upon the main clauses of these biUs it might be sufficient to observe that the princi ples embodied in the petitions adopted by the House to her Majesty and both houses of ParUament at the close of last session were fuUy carried out by them, and that if they passed into law, aU the grievances insisted on in those petitions would be fuUy redressed, and the inhabitants of the colony would at length be placed, as far as cfrcumstances would admit, on a fair if not full equality wdth their feUow-countrymen of the United Kingdom. With the view to preventing corruption, and maintaining pm-ity of election in the assembly, it was deemed expedient to introduce those leading grounds of disqualification which existed in the parent country, whUe to ensure the due and impartial adminis tration of justice among aU classes of her Majesty's subjects, it was thought that this was a fitting occasion to make the judges of the land independent of the Crown, according to the recommendation ofthe general grievance committee of 1844, and to place their tenure of office on the same footing as that of the judges of England. They had recommended a civil Ust on a far more Uberal scale than the schedule reserved by Parlia ment for hke pubhc services. Thefr object was two fold — to give her Majesty a practical proof of the sin cerity ofthe often-repeated assurances ofthe House and the colony at large of thefr affection and loyalty to her Majesty's person and government, and to show that the spirit of distrust in which this odious and most uncon stitutional schedule originated was equaUy injurious to the character of the colony as to the public service in this portion of her Majesty's dominions. In proposing as they did a salary for the governor-general, to be contingent on the refusal of the home government to sanction its payment out ofthe Imperial funds, the com- v-mittee had thus acted, not because they expected the contingency to arise, but because should her Majesty's confidential advisers dechne to foUow the Canadian pre cedent by making the salary, hke that of the Governor- general of Canada, a charge on the Imperial treasury. 300 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. they did not deem the principle thus insisted upon of suflB.cient consequence to perU those important mea sures." In drawing to a close, the committee said that " the advantages which the colony would derive from this new constitution were such as must necessarily follow in the train of that responsible government which they were meant to introduce. They were summed up thus — ¦ (1.) In the decrease of correspondence wdth the colonial office, arising from the almost entire cessation of per sonal and public references and complaints to that de partment; (2.) in an improved tone of feeling and courteous intercourse between many of those whom past conflicts had estranged either from the head of the government or from each other ; (3.) in the more rapid and satisfactory despatch of the ordinary business of the administration; (4.) in the growing conviction which the leading men on aU sides would feel, that non-theo retical discussions about principles of government having been disposed of, they must stand or faU in pub lic estimation by the intelligence and activity with which they devoted themselves to the development of the resources of the province and the advancement of the inteUectual, moral, and material interests of the population." YII. In August Wentworth moved his famous proposition for stopping the supplies, or rather, for postponing their consideration. His motion was to the effect, " that an address be presented to the governor- general, requesting that with the view to giving further time for the arrival of a reply to the petition to her Majesty adopted by the Council on the 6th December, 1851, his excellency would be pleased to prorogue the Council from the 15th September to the 1st December next, to be then again caUed together for the considera tion of the estimates of 1853." The proposition was lost by a majority of twenty-eight to seventeen. A few days later Wentworth moved a proposition of a somewhat similar effect, with better success. In the proposition for going into committee to consider the estimates, he moved the insertion of words declaring that " before 1853.] WENTWOETH S FAMOUS PEOPOSITION. 301 going into committee on such estimates the House felt that it was thefr imperative duty to record thefr dehbe rate determination not to consider any future estimates unless an intimation were received that the grievances complained of in the petition to her Majesty, adopted by the House on the 6th December, 1851, would be favourably considered, with the view of thefr being finaUy redressed." This proposition was adopted by a majority of twenty-four to twenty-three. In the foUowing month (September) Wentworth moved, in reference to the gold revenue, as an amend ment on the motion for going into a committee of supply — (1.) That the revenue arising from the Ucenses to dig gold, and from other sources connected with the recent discovery of auriferous deposits in the colony, not having been authorized by any act of the Colonial Legislature, or of the Imperial ParUament, but being levied and appropriated on the sole authority of the governor-general, was of an un-EngUsh and arbitrary character, highly dangerous to the hberties of the colony, and subversive of the constitutional rights of that House; (2.) that in the opinion of that House the despatch of the Right Hon. Earl Grey, of date 17th October, 1851, fully authorized the governor- general to place this branch of the pubhc revenue at the disposal of the CouncU ; and that it was expedient that it should be so placed in order to enable them to meet the increased demand upon the government, which was occasioned by throwing open the gold fields of the colony to the competition of the world." The government asked for and obtained a postponement of the debate on this proposition, and before it was re sumed a despatch was received from Sfr John Pakington, who was now Secretary of State for the Colonies, for maUy placing the revenue in question at the disposal of the colonial Legislature. A select committee ofthe Legislature, appointed to inquire into the affairs ofthe Sydney municipal councU, which had long worked unsatisfactorily, brought up their report towards the close of the year. They recommended that in lieu of the existing body, which 302 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CiiAP. v. consisted of twenty-four town councillors, there should be substituted six aldermen, having the right to choose one of their number to be mayor ; that the mayor should be a justice of the peace, by virtue of his office, and have precedence over all other magistrates except the chairman of quarter sessions. As regarded the electors they recommended a graduated scale, com mencing with a qualification giving one vote, and ascending to four votes, according to the value of the premises occupied, the qualification of an alderman to be the right to vote as a citizen, and real estate of the value of £500 ; the mayor to receive a salary of £600, and the aldermen £100 each ; the first six aldermen to be nominated by the government, and two to go out annually, their places being filled by two elected by the citizens. Cowper moved the adoption of this report, but an amendment moved by DaweU was carried. It was to the effect, " that the House having taken into consi deration the report of the select committee appointed to inquire into the working of the city corporation, resolved that an address be presented to the governor- general, requesting that the Crown law officers might be instructed to prepare a bill to abolish the Sydney corporation, and to transfer its powers, duties, and revenues, with the exception of the power of levying rates, to a paid board of three commissioners, to be appointed by the Crown, and to impose, by direct authority of the Legislative Council, a fixed rate of assessment for municipal purposes." This proposition was carried by a majority of twenty-one to nine, and a bill was introduced by the government accordingly ; but at the second reading the measure was so strongly opposed on the ground that it was immature, and that it could not so suddenly be put into operation with advantage to the citizens, that it was deemed expedient to postpone its consideration till the next session. The second reading of the Civil List Bill, one of the measures intended to confer a constitution on the colony, came forward on the 10th; but Wentworth 1^52.] TEANSMISSION OF BOOKS BY POST. 303 compUed with a proposal for postponing the considera tion of the entfre question till next session. The grounds on which it was deemed expedient to accede to a postponement were that one-fourth the mem bers of the Council were absent, and that no reply had yet been received to the remonstrance recently sent home. The CouncU was prorogued on the 28th December. The governor in his closing speech said, in reference to the address recommending that a branch of the royal mint should, without delay, be established in Sydney, that he had the satisfaction to inform the House that previously, under the advice of the Executive Council, he had requested the Secretary of State to adopt the proper measures for this purpose ; and in order to defray the cost of the necessary machinery and apparatus he had remitted to England £10,000, which he charged on the gold revenue. Referring to the system of immigration, he said he had lost no time, on the receipt of the address of the Council of the 9tli July, in talong the necessary steps for raising the sum of £50,000 on the security of the territorial revenue for the purpose of introducing immigrants. The tenders received being highly advantageous, and the demand for labour stUl of the most pressing character, he did not hesitate to raise the additional sum of £50,000, making £100,000 in aU. In remitting the amount to the Land and Emigration Commissioners he had re quested that immigrant ships, at the rate of five in each month, should be sent to the colony, until that sum and the previous remittance of £100,000, now in the course of disbursement, had been expended. Among the measures passed during this session was one for allowing the transmission of books by post at a reduced charge, which was intended to foster a taste for Uterature, and disseminate useful information throughout the colony. In the month of January an expedition, under Mr. Hovenden Hely, set out in search of the missing ex plorer, Leichhardt. It consisted of seven white men and three blacks, and was provided with sixteen horses 304 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. and fifteen mules, and supplied with provisions for nine months. Hely intended at setting out to proceed from the Darling Downs along the Dawson as far as Peak Range, where he hoped to find in a spot known to himself, letters or other traces of Leichhardt. If he found the track, he was to follow it down ; if not, he was to take another course with the view to finding it. Returning unsuccessful in July, on the 22nd of that month he wrote to the colonial secretary, from the Balonne River, giving a detailed account of his expe dition. He had deviated from the course which he originally proposed to pursue, in consequence of re ceiving an express communication that the natives reported the murder of a party of white men, on a creek distant ten days' journey from Mount Abun dance. He secured the services of two blacks as guides, one of whom professed to know all about the murder of the white men. These led him to a spot which proved to be an old camping-place of Sir Thomas MitcheU, and picked up sheep-bones and other remains as it were in corroboration of their story. One of the blacks had, on first joining the party, given what appeared to be a very clear account of the whole affair. He said he was very young when the murder took place, being now only sixteen ; that the blacks followed the party for several days, and finaUy speared them when they were asleep ; that they subsequently drove off and killed all the horses and mules ; that only one shot had been fired by the whites, and that this had killed one black fellow, and that some of the bullocks had escaped, and were then roaming about at some distance from the scene ofthe pretended disaster. He assigned as a reason for the murder, the ill-treatment of some gins by two blacks attached to the party, and he gave an accurate description of the two aboriginals who accompanied Leichhardt. The party now proceeded upwards along the Mara noa to latitude 26° 4' S. Here they fell in with a gin, who told them that white men had been killed at a place seven days' journey in advance, and that there were plenty of saddles and other accoutrements at the spot 18°2] A CAMPING PLACE. 305 to prove the truth of her assertion. Advancing a few days' journey further, they received simUar information from two other gins, who, separately and wdthout con sulting each other, told the same story. The leader forced these gins to accompany him to the place they described ; but, arrived there, none of the indications of the disaster, such as old guns, saddles, and other articles, which these, as weU as the other informants, had spoken of, were to be seen. One of the gins — a withered hag — got over the difficulty by saying that " a big water had carried them away." This woman had, in nearly aU respects, told the same story as the boy. She said she was present at the murder, or rather, as the women and chUdren always were in such cases, that she was in the background when the mas sacre took place ; that the blacks, who foUowed the party for several days, were in countless numbers, like the " niemen," or ants, to which she pointed in an ad jacent ant-bed ; that one black was kUled, and that the cause of the massacre was the iU-treatment of some black women. Moving forward, the party encountered, at a spot ten miles distant, one of Leichhardt's camping-places, which, besides the usual mark on a tree, presented in dications of the presence of the party. Hereabouts they met with other blacks, who told a similar tale about the fate of the explorers ; but these indicated that the scene of the massacre was eight days' journey further off. Two men volunteered to lead Hely to the very spot, and accompanied him for some time; but the interpreter saying that they were deceiving the party, and that they would only lead them to a place where the bones of blacks were deposited, the leader spoke to them on the subject, when they said they feared he would shoot them if they showed him the bones of his countrymen ; and when the alleged scene of the disaster was now four days' journey distant, they ran away. This was in latitude 26° 21' S. The black who had accompanied them from the outset now de serted, and, their provisions falhng short, nothing re mained for the party but to return, and this they pro- X 306 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES, [CHAP.V. ceeded to do after foUowing for some short time longer the creek by which their last guides had led them, in the fruitless hope of falUng in with others who would give them information, or, at all events, with a man who would act as guide. They arrived at the Balonne seventeen days after the desertion of thefr interpreter, and four months from the day on which they had left the Darling Downs. They found the interpreter there before them. His only excuse for his desertion was that the blacks were deceiving the party; that they would never lead them to the scene of the outrage lest they might be shot in revenge. Hely was of opinion that of the truth of the report of the blacks there could not be the slightest doubt, the manner and cause of the murder having been told and corroborated in the same terms by so many persons. Such was an expedition which has ever been looked upon as unsatisfactory in its results as regarded the fate of the lost explorer. The consistency which the blacks evinced in the story they told would, at first sight, appear to support very strongly the view adopted by Hely ; but a slight acquaintance with the character and the habits of the aboriginals will enable any one who studies the question to perceive that, uncorrobo rated by positive testimony, their story was not to be much relied upon. Some of those aboriginals had seen Leichhardt's party; others had heard of them, receiv ing an accurate account of the numbers and peculiari ties of the men, for we know that even for hundreds of miles they transmit information of this kind with considerable minuteness ; they had heard that at the settlements it was generally feared that the party had been murdered or subjected to captivity. Nothing is more consistent wdth the characteristics of savages, or even the more ignorant of civilized nations, than that, under such circumstances, they should have invented the story of the massacre — an occurrence which, espe cially taken in connection wdth the cause uniformly given, they would deem to be highly creditable to that prowess in warfare which many tribes so largely 18=2.] gundegai almost desteoyed. 307 affected. This tale, invented in the first instance by one tribe, would be received by others as true, and the same characteristics of the uncivUized and untaught would lead each tribe to profess to have been parti cipators in, or to have an actual knowledge of, an event which they would regard as so very important amongst their savage traditions. The main circum stance, however, reUed on by those who doubt or dis- beheve the story of the blacks, is the absence of all traces of the lost explorers. Granted that the tribes had kiUed them to avenge some insults offered to their females, they would not have utterly destroyed the booty which treachery or force had placed at their dis posal. Some remnant of the clothing, the accoutre ments, the arms, of the vanquished would have been found. A "big water" might have washed away the bodies of the men, but it would not have obliterated every trace of the equipments. In the absence of every such trace, Uttle reUance is to be placed on the tales of the blacks, however plausible or consistent. YIII. In the month of June (26th) a fearful catastrophe visited the colony. The vUlage of Gunde gai was almost entirely destroyed by a flood, and seventy-seven of the inhabitants lost their hves by the inundation. The Ul-fated town was situated on the banks of the Murrumbidgee ; most of the houses were built on a tongue of land between the river and a creek which separated the town from the high ground. When the creek and the river rose together, as always happened in a flood, the townspeople were cut off from aU means of escape, except by boats ; such was the case in this instance. The river and creek rose rapidly, not only fiUing thefr beds, but overflowing ^he town. The inhabitants, cut off from escape, took refuge on the roofs of the houses ; the waters continued to rise until the current had acqufred such force that it swept away the dweUings, and with them, in most instances, the unhappy owners. Thfrty- four houses were washed away. The waters com menced rising on Thursday night, and not tiU the Saturday morning foUowing did they begin to faU. 308 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. After the flood had subsided the dead presented a heartrending spectacle ; in several instances father, mother, and children lying in a heap, and friends and relatives mourning over them. One gentleman who escaped had to mourn the loss of his entire family, eight in number ; another, who was absent in the country, returned to find his entire household among the dead. Many who had saved themselves from drowning by taking refuge in the trees, died from exhaustion, and were taken lifeless from the branches to which they clung to the last. Much blame was attached to the government in connection with this catastrophe. It was said, and with truth, that the officers of the government ought never to have laid out a township in such a position ; but there was a still more forcible ground of complaint. After the township was marked out, and several of the allotments sold, and when the people, examining their position more accurately, saw that it was exposed to dangerous inundation, an application was made to the Executive to change the site, and to allow those who had purchased to select aUotments on some part of the higher grounds ; but the application was sternly refused. If governments were influenced by con scientious scruples, that which refused the apphcation in question must, when they saw the fearful result of their perverseness, have experienced very uncom fortable sensations. A law case, which for some years subsequently occupied a considerable share of public attention, was first tried in the Supreme Court in the month of April of this year. This was the weU-known Newtown ejectment case. Nicholas Diving, an officer of the government, who arrived in the first fleet, having served the government for twenty-five years as super intendent of convicts, received, according to the cus tom of those times, a grant of land to the extent of 210 acres, in recognition of his services. On this pro perty he built a house, and took up his abode there. As he advanced in years, and grew feeble both in mind and body, a man named Bernard Rochford "°21 THE NEWTOWN EJECTMENT CASE. 309 came to reside with him as his assigned servant, or rather as his guardian, for this position was as sumed on one side and submitted to on the other. In 1827, Devine, influenced by gratitude, as was aUeged on one hand, or actuated by the imdue influence of Rochford, as was said on the other, executed a convey ance of the whole of his landed property to the ser vant, or guardian, taking back a lease to himself for his lifetime, and after the demise of Devine, Rochford, being now imfettered by the lease, sold the whole of the property. In the course of the few succeeding years Sydney largely extended its Umits, and Newtown, as old Devine's grant was now caUed, became one of the most populous, healthful, and highly-improved suburbs of the city. Things having assumed this altered aspect, the whole history of the affafr was not long in reaching the ears of Devine's relations in Ire land, and the grand nephew and hefr-at-law of the original grantee came to the colony and claimed the whole estate, on the ground that the conveyance, or assumed conveyance of 1827, was either a forgery or a fraud, Devine being, as was aUeged, at that time and for some years previously, imbecUe ; or if this ground were not tenable, that Rochford, being a prisoner of the Crown, could not lawfuUy acqufre, hold, or dispose of property of this nature. Twenty-six gentlemen de fended thefr homesteads in this lawsuit. After a trial, extending over eight days, the jury found a verdict for the defendants. With regard to the inabUity of Rochford to hold landed property, it was contended for the defence that although voidable at the instance of the Crown, the conveyance to Rochford was not absolutely void from the beginning ; and that, therefore, as the Crown never asserted its right to resume possession of these lands, on account of the freehold having been transferred to a convict, a good title came down to the subsequent possessors. The case was referred to the Privy CouncU, and a new trial granted on the ground that the presiding judge. Sir Alfred Stephen, had indulged in some extra-judicial remarks in charging the jury. It was again decided 310 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [cuap.v. in the Supreme Court at Sydney, in 1867, in favour of the defendants, after a trial extending over thfrty days, Judge Dickinson presiding. Eventually further litiga tion was prevented by a compromise, the plaintiff re ceiving a sum of money in consideration of foregoing his claim. In October this year the Sydney University was in augurated, and thus did New South Wales acquire the honour of being the first colony of the British empire which possessed an educational institution of the highest order. Inaugural addresses were delivered on the occasion by Sir Charles Nicholson, the vice-pro vost, and by the Rev. John WooUey, the principal pro fessor. The members of the first Senate were : — ^Pro vost E. T. Hamilton, M.A., Yice-provost Sir Charles Nicholson, Knight ; Fellows — Rev. W. B. Boyce, Ed ward Broadhurst, B.A., John Bayley DaweU, M.A., Stuart Alexander Donaldson, Right Rev. C. H. Davis, D.D., Alfred Denison, M.A., J. Macarthur, F. L. S. Mereweather, B.A., Bartholomew O'Brien, M.D., J. H. Plunkett, M.A., Justice Therry, E. Deas Thomson, William Charles Wentworth. In the month of January a vessel left Sydney for England, having on board two tons of gold. The governor-general made a tour of the Western gold fields in the early part of the year. The ffrst mail steamer, the " Chusan," arrived in the colony in August. She caUed at St. Yincent, the Cape of Good Hope, and Port PhUlip, making the passage to Sydney in seventy- nine days, or sixty-seven days actual running. This steamer arrived, in pursuance of an engagement be tween the home government and the Peninsular and Oriental Company, for a bi-monthly communication. The local government had long held out a bonus vary ing from £6000 to £2000 a-year for the establishment of a monthly line of steamers. In this year Port Jackson became a free port, an act for abolishing har bour dues, entry and clearance fees, lighthouse and water police dues having become law. The steamer " Great Britain," the largest vessel then afloat, her bur den being 3500 tons,' anchored in Port Jackson in No- 1*^1 NEW GOLD fields' EEGULATIoNS. 311 vember, her arrival affording a remarkable iUustration of the importance to which the Australian colonies had now attained. The gross revenue for this year was upwards of half a million, being an increase on the previous year of upwards of £100,000. Of the total sum £413^548 was general revenue, £92,113 territorial. 1853.] With this year commenced the operation of the new gold fields' regulations recently adopted. These excited very great dissatisfaction. The diggers com plained that the hcense fee of thirty shillings per month which they enforced was excessive as regarded the un successful miner, and especiaUy as regarded the em ployer of labour, whUe, owing to the removal of aU motives to evade payment, the revenue raised from a fee of ten shillings per month would, it was aUeged, be as large as that produced by the larger fee. At Sofala aU the miners stiuck work on the day the act came into force, and held a pubhc meeting to express thefr senti ments with regard to its provisions. A protest was adopted in which the diggers decried the act, on the ground of the summary jurisdiction it gave to the com missioners and justices, not less than on account ofthe fees. By way of making a practical protest four per sons refiised payment of the Ucense fee ; they were ar rested, but were hberated after a brief period of du rance, thefr fines having been paid by subscription. By the regulation a double fee was imposed on foreigners. This was pecuharly offensive, and was strongly denounced in the protest. The object which the government had in view in imposing the double fee was twofold. In the first place they wished to retahate on the Cahfomians, who arrived in large numbers, for the indignity with which they had treated those Sydney people who emigrated to Cahfornia on the discovery of gold in that country ; and, in the next place, to keep in subjection that democratic element which these Cah fomians introduced among the miners. The Executive met the opposition on this point by simply remarking that foreigners could avoid aU hardship by becoming naturahsed. 312 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. The agitation was taken up in the metropolis, and in March a public meeting, at which five hundred per sons attended, was held to consider the new regulations. The mayor occupied the chair ; Dawell, Mort, Pidding ton, Chambers, Bogue, and others taking an active part in the proceedings. Resolutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That in the opinion of the meeting the act recently passed by the Council for regulating the man agement of the gold fields of the colony, and the regula tion promulgated by the Executive government pursuant to that act, were fraught with serious injury to the so cial and commercial interests of the community ; (2.) that whUe entertaining the utmost respect for the con stituted authorities, the meeting desired to record their solemn protest against a measure of hasty and iU-con- sidered legislation such as that under consideration, by which the natural rights of industry were fettered, the true principles of commercial freedom violated, and proceedings subversive of their justly prized civil Uberty sanctioned; (3.) that they pledged themselves to take and use every legal and constitutional means to pro cure the repeal of the act in question, wdth the view to the enactment of measures for the regulation of the gold fields on more just and equitable terms, and in the meantime to use their utmost exertions to procure the suspension of the law, until its provisions could be more duly and carefully considered by the governor-general. A petition to his excellency, founded on these resolu tions, was adopted, with a further request that the Legislative Council might be convened immediately, wdth a view to the repealing of the obnoxious act. IX. The Council was opened on the 10th of May. The governor in his opening speech " acknowledged with gratitude to Almighty God the general prosperity enjoyed by all classes of the community. At no former period in the existence of the colony had the material condition of its inhabitants, he might confidently assert, been in a more satisfactory and progressive state. He must except, however, from this cheering state of things the position of the paid servants of the Crown, whose incomes, fixed with reference to former 1853.] THE goveenoe's OPENING SPEECH. 313 prices, now proved very inadequate to their proper position and reasonable support. It would be his duty, therefore, to invite their concurrence to such an advance in their present remuneration as the altered circum stances of the colony might appear to render just and expedient." Among the measures announced was one for augmenting the amount aUotted for education, with the view to the extension of primary schools, as weU as the encouragement of institutions destined to promote the higher branches of literature and science. " It was with Uvely satisfaction," proceeded his exceUency, " that he was at length enabled to place before them the decision of her Majesty's government on the repre sentations contained in the petition to her Majesty, adopted on the 6th of December, 1861, complaining of certain grievances, and praying that her Majesty would be pleased to adopt the necessary measures of redress. It was to him a matter of unfeigned gratification that the important concessions which this decision involved had been assented to during the time that he had had the honour to administer the government of the colony, as he entertained a confident and earnest hope that, by the wise exercise of the additional powers of self- government thus conceded, this rising and important dependency of the Crowm would rapidly advance in its social, moral, and religious condition. He congratu lated the CouncU on the highly favourable state of the public revenue. The aggregate amount coUected in the past year exceeded that received in 1851 by £100,000. This increase arose exclusively in the general revenue ; in the territorial revenue there was a trifling decrease, but the funds from this source had at aU times been liable to considerable fluctuation. In the present year, however, he anticipated a much more favourable result. Regulations had been promulgated for establishing local land offices, and directions given for accelerating the survey of lands, for the sale of which appUcation might be made. He confidently trusted that these measures might have the effect of greatly facilitating the acquisition of land, and thus, by affording a safe and profitable investment for the funds 314 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. which, under the present propitious circumstances of the colony, had been so largely accumulated by the com munity generally, tend materially to promote social and moral advancement." A biU for the better pre vention of desertion by seamen was notified. His ex cellency further informed the Council that in conse quence of the number of persons passing to and from the Yictoria gold fields, and the outrages that occurred on the line of road, it was found necessary to increase the police establishments. Patrol stations had been established through the whole line of road as far as Albany, and detachments of native pohce ordered to be organized at convenient stations in the border districts. The despatches in reference to the grievance peti tion were published wdthout delay. Sir John Paking ton said that " the government having considered the petition, were fully impressed with a sense of the im portance to be attached to it, not only as proceeding from the great majority of the Legislature of the pro vince, but as reiterating that statement of the causes of the discontent felt by the community which had been deliberately urged by their predecessors — a statement, moreover, accompanied by Sir Charles Fitz-Roy's assur ance that its sentiments were shared by the most loyal, respectable, and influential members of the community. But they were influenced in addition by those extra ordinary discoveries of gold which had latterly taken place in some of the Australian colonies, and which might be said to have imparted new and unforeseen features to their political and social condition. They were sensible that they had now to consider the prayer of the petition thus laid before her Majesty, with reference to a state of affairs which had no parallel in history, and which must in aU human probabihty stimulate the advance of population, wealth, and ma terial prosperity with a rapidity ahke unparalleled. Her Majesty's government had observed with a degree of satisfaction which it was impossible to express too strongly, the general order and good conduct which had distinguished the multitudes who were attracted to the gold deposits ; and they had the additional good fortune 1853.] DESPATCHES ON THE GEIEVANCE PETITION. 315 of being able to approve of the general firmness and sound judgment which were displayed by the local au thorities under circumstances so strange and difficult ; and with such evidence as this before them, they could not but feel that, whUe it became more urgently necessary than heretofore to place fuU powers of self- government in the hands of a people thus advanced in wealth and prosperity, that people had, on the other hand, given signal evidence of their fitness to regulate their own affairs, especiaUyunder legislative institutions, amended in the manner in which the Council itself pointed out in the concluding part of their petition." Referring more immediately to the grievances, the Secretary of State said that her Majesty's government " concurred with Earl Grey that there was no just cause of complaint in evidence before them as to the distribution of the patronage of the Crown in the AustraUan colonies, and that the exclusive rule pro posed by the CouncU could not be adopted without great prejudice to the public service. He beheved the wish of the CouncU that the customs should be subject to the dfrection, supervision, and control of the local legislature had been to a considerable extent met by the instructions contained in Earl Grey's despatches of 8th August, 1850, and 12th February, 1851, and there fore he would not at present enter further into that ground of remonstrance, except by saying that the Im perial Government were prepared to give a fair con sideration to any representations or proposals which the legislature of the colony might be disposed to make on that subject. With regard to the exemption of legislative enactments of a strictly local character from the disaUowing power of the Crown, her Ma jesty's government stUl had no indisposition to meet the views of the Council, if any practicable mode could be devised of distinguishing local from Imperial subjects for legislation ; but they believed that under the present mode of exercising the royal prerogative, the grievance complained of was rather theoretical than practical." On the two remaining grounds of complaint, namely, the taxing and appropriating power 316 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.V. assumed and exercised by the Imperial Parliament in regard to the revenues of the colony, and the want of control on the part of the Colonial Legislature over the territorial revenues, " her Majesty's government were ready, to accede to the wishes of the Council and of the colony, in the spirit of entire confidence." In reference to the waste lands, the Secretary of State concurred with Earl Grey's opinion, that when and on what conditions it might be desirable to transfer the control of the lands to the local legislature was a question for expediency and not of right. But he had arrived, after full consideration, at the conclusion that under the new and rapidly changing circumstances of New South Wales, the time had come at which it was his duty to advise her Majesty that the administration of those lands should be transferred to the Colonial Legislature, after those changes in the constitution had been effected which were adverted to in the petition. With regard to the ci^dl list, he understood the com plaint of the Council to be, both that the sums reserved by those schedules were necessarily and disproportion ately large, and, further, that the power which the Act of 1860 gave for altering the appropriation of those sums was so clogged by instructions, as to be practically insufficient. That the sums in question were unneces sarily large, her Majesty's government was disposed to agree, and it appeared to them that, although no fur ther restriction was imposed by the instruction referred to, than that any act altering their amount and distri bution should be reserved for the royal confirmation, if it affected existing interests, yet a restriction so ex pressed might easily be understood as imposing a serious delay, if not more permanent obstacles, in the way of any except the most trifling change ; and her Majesty's government, therefore, desired to meet on this point also the wishes of the Council." Refer ring to the subject of transportation, which " although not included in the petition, was a subject of extreme interest and importance to the Australian colonies, and one of no ordinary difficulty to the mother country," the despatch said that " her Majesty's government 1853.] DUKE OF Newcastle's despatch. 317 were unable to resist the force and justice of those re monstrances which emanated from the Legislature and a large portion of the people of the three colonies, and in pursuance of the announcement made in the speech from the throne at the commencement of the present session of Parhament, they proposed altogether to dis continue transportation to Yan Diemen's Land, at as early a period as might be consistent with the comple tion of arrangements which were indispensable for bringing to a close a system which had been so long in operation." Reverting again to the subject of the proposed change in the constitution, the Secretary of State said, that " in comphance wdth the opinion expressed by the Council in favour of a constitution simUar in its out lines to that of Canada, and with a view also to the most simple and expeditious mode of completing the whole transaction, it was the wish of her Majesty's government that the Council should estabhsh the new legislature on the basis of an Elective Assembly, and a Legislative Council nominated by the Crown. Adopt ing this general outUne they would leave to the judg ment of the Council to determine the number of members of which the chambers should severaUy con sist, and to make any change which they might deem necessary in the constituency by which the Assembly was to be elected, subject to the approval of such change by her Majesty." The despatch concluded by announcing that the receipt of her Majesty's advisers of such a constitutional enactment, with a civil hst annexed, in accordance with what was under stood to be the intention of the Legislative Council, they undertook forthwith to propose to Parliament such measures as were necessary to carry into effect the entfre arrangement, namely, the repeal of the Land Sales Act, and the requisite alteration in the Constitution Acts, and the schedules annexed to them. Pakington's despatch was accompanied by one from the Duke of Newcastle, confirming the promise that as soon as a new constitution had been passed by the Legislature of the province, and had received the 318 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [chap. v. approval of her Majesty, the disposition of the waste lands, and the appropriation of the fund accruing from their sale and management, would be placed without reserve under the supervision and control of the legis lative authority in the colony. " This policy," said the despatch, " would, of course, be inoperative with out legislation in this country, and it would be neces sary to invite Parliament to empower her Majesty to make the proposed transfer of functions from the Crown to the Colonial Legislature." It is scarcely necessary to remark that the tenor of these despatches excited the liveliest satisfaction among the colonists at large. A committee of the Council was appointed to prepare resolutions expressive of the sen timents of the CouncU with regard to them, and the House unanimously adopted the resolutions which they had proposed, and which were to the effect — (1.) That the Council, while adhering to thefr previously recorded opinions respecting the constitutional rights of the inhabitants of the colony, deemed it proper to express their deep sense of the conciliatory spfrit evinced in the late despatches from the Right Hon. Sir John Pakington and His Grace the Duke of Newcastle, and expressed a hope that they would be the commencement of a new and auspicious era in the government of her Majesty's Austrahan colonies ; (2.) that at the same time they desfred to record their appreciation of the despatches of his excellency the governor-general, recommending the concessions which had been made. Copies of these resolutions were ordered to be trans mitted by the Speaker to the Secretary of State, and to be also presented to the governor-general. Encouraged and stimulated by the tone assumed by the home government, the next step of the Council was to appoint a committee finaUy to prepare a constitution for the colony. The committee was chosen by baUot, and consisted, besides the mover, Wentworth, ofthe colonial secretary (Thomson), James Macarthur, the attorney- general (Plunkett), Cowper, Martin, Macleay, Thur- low, Murray, and Dingless. The despatches of the Secretary for the Colonies and of the Duke of New- JS53.] COMMITTEE TO PEEPAEE A CONSTFTUTION. 319 castle were referred to them for their guidance and assistance. Having been appointed in May, in July they brought up their report. They said, " They found it necessary to suggest some alteration in the measure brought up by the committee of last session, though they ftiUy concurred not only in the scheme of legisla tion recommended by that committee, but also, for the most part, in the provisions of the proposed Act of ParUament and in the bUl to be appended to it as a schedule, by which unitedly the new constitution was to be legalized and estabUshed." The most important alterations made by them in the measure recom mended last session related to the constitution of the Legislative CouncU, and to the civil Ust to be granted to her Majesty. As regarded the constitution ofthe Legislative Coun cil, they considered that, by the terms of the declara tion and remonstrance of the 5th of December, 1851, and by the letter of Sfr John Pakington of the 15th of December, 1852, agreeing to those terms, the House was pledged to a constitution simUar in its outhnes to that of Canada. The subsequent despatch of the Duke of Newcastle appeared, indeed, to admit of some lati tude of discretion on this most important subject ; but the committee were of opinion that the offer contained in the declaration and remonstrance necessarily in cluded a nominated Legislative Council in the first instance, and from this offer they saw no reason to de part. They desired to have a form of government based on the analogies of the British Constitution. They had no wish to sow the seeds of a democracy, and until they were satisfied that the nominated or future Elective CouncU which they recommended would not effect the object they had in view, of placing a safe, revising, deliberative, and conservative element be tween the Lower House and her Majesty's representa tive, they did not feel inclined to hazard the experi ment of an Upper House based on the general elective franchise. They were the less disposed to make the experiment, as such a franchise, if once created, would be difficult to be recalled. Actuated by these views. 320 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. they had introduced into the bill two clauses which, to a certain extent, would be found in accordance with the analogous clauses to be found in the Imperial Act " for making more effectual provision for the government of Quebec." That act authorized the Crown, whenever it thought proper to confer any hereditary title or honour, rank or dignity, to annex thereto the heredi tary right of being summoned to the Legislative Coun cil. The committee were not prepared to recommend the introduction into this colony of the right to sit in the Upper House by descent ; but they were of opinion that the creation of hereditary titles, leaving it at the option of the Crown to annex to the title of the first patentee a seat for life in such House, and conferring on the original patentees and their descendants the inheritors of their titles, the power to elect a certain number of their order, to form, in conjunction wdth the original patentees then living, the Upper House of Par liament, would be a great improvement on any form of Legislative CouncU hitherto tried or recommended in any British colony. A House so constituted would be a close imitation of the elective portion of the House of Lords, supplied from the Irish and Scotch peerage ; nor was it the least of the advantages which would arise from the creation of a titled order that it would necessarily form one of the strongest inducements not only to respectable families remaining in the colony, but to the superior classes of the United Kingdom, and of other countries, who were desirous to emigrate, choosing it for their future home." Having intimated that they were favourable to a large extension of the elective franchise, and having referred to the number of the members of the proposed Assembly, and to the apportionment of the members to the electoral divisions of the colony, and having pointed out that a clause of the bUl reserved fuU con stituent power to alter the proposed form of constitu tion whenever two-thirds of both Houses of Parlia ment were in favour of such alteration, the committee proceeded to refer to the civil hst. They said that the sum which they proposed to grant to her Majesty ^®^J GENEEAL ASSEMBLY. 321 was £24,700 less than the civU hst recommended by the committee of last session, and £10,200 less than the Parhamentary grant for that purpose contained in the first, second, and thfrd parts of schedule A, appended to 13 and 14 Yict., cap. 59. " The cause of this great reduction was to be found in the elastic and rapidly-expanding character of the colony, which, in fact, proved that any fixed provision for the various departments of the government must soon become in adequate, however Uberal they might appear at pre sent. But they had, in aU cases, made the same pro vision for the salaries of the judges, and other legal officers of the Crown, which they found in the afore mentioned schedule, and in some cases, where they thought it just and expedient, had recommended an increase of salary." Among the grants enumerated in the civU Ust was one for the pensioning of those func tionaries who then held the offices which might be con sidered as the responsible offices of the government. The committee expressed an opinion that there could be no doubt but that the moment the consohdated revenue was placed at the disposal of a Legislative Assembly consisting entfrely of members elected by popular constituencies, responsible government would take effect, and that one of the first results of such new order of things might be to displease the actual incumbents of the principal offices. Another grant provided for the pensioning of the judges of the Su preme Court. Referring to the question of federation, the com mittee went on to say that " one of the most promi nent legislative measures requfred by the colony, and the colonies of the Austrahan group generally, was the estabhshment at once of a General Assembly, to make laws in relation to those intercolonial questions that had arisen or might thereafter arise among them. The question which would claim the exercise of such a jurisdiction appeared to be — (1.) Intercolonial tariffs and the coasting trade ; (2.) raUways, roads, canals, and other such works running through any two of the colonies; (3.) beacons and hghthouses on the coast; 322 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. V. (4) intercolonial penal settlements ; (6.) intercolonial gold regulations ; (6.) postage between the said colo nies ; (7.) a general court of appeal from the courts of such colonies ; (8.) a power to legislate on aU other subjects which might be submitted to them by ad dresses from the Legislative CouncUs and Assemblies of the colonies, and to appropriate to any of the above- mentioned objects the necessary sums of money, to be raised by a per-centage on the revenues of aU the colo nies interested." The committee proceeded to remark that, as it might excite jealousy if a jurisdiction of this importance were to be incorporated in an Act of Par liament which had nierely become a necessary part of the measures for conferring a constitution on the colony, in consequence of the defective powers given by the Parhament to the Legislative CouncU, " they confined themselves to the suggestion that the esta blishment of such a body had become indispensable, and ought no longer to be delayed, and to the expres sion of a hope that the minister for the colonies would at once see the expediency of introducing into Parha ment, with as little delay as possible, a biU for this ex press object." X. A few days after the appearance of this report, a meeting was held at the Royal Hotel, at which a re solution was adopted to the effect, " That the meeting viewed wdth surprise and strong feelings of opposition the scheme proposed for the political constitution of the colony, especially in respect to the estabUshment of an Upper House of Crown nominees, and a certain unprecedented order of colonial nobUity ; and also the manifestly unjust distribution of the new seats, by which the present representative system was to be enlarged — a distribution which would effectuaUy de stroy the popular character of the Lower, or elective House." It was further resolved to hold a more general meeting of the colonists " to record a protest against a measure so repugnant to the feelings of British subjects, and fraught with so much danger to the political rights of the people." The " Constitution Committee," which afterwards 1853.] GENEEAD MEETING OF THE COLONISTS. 323 obtained so much celebrity, was appointed on this occasion, " to carry into effect the expressed wishes of that meeting, " and "to communicate with such country gentlemen as might be deemed favourable to the great objects contemplated by them, with the view to secur ing thefr co-operation, and originating similar move ments in the country districts." The general meeting of the colonists took place on the 16th of August, that just referred to having been held on the 3rd. The intentions of those convening the meeting are best gleaned from the preface to the ad vertisement they issued, which ran thus : — " Colonists I wiU you submit to be robbed of your rights ? A com mittee of the Legislative CouncU has passed a new constitution for the colony, by which it is proposed — (1.) To create a colonial nobihty with hereditary privUeges ; (2.) to construct an Upper House of Legislature, in which the people shaU have no voice; (3.) to add eighteen new seats to the Lower House, only one of which is to be aUotted to Sydney, while the other seventeen are to be distributed among the country and squatting districts ; (4.) to squander the pubhc revenue by pensioning off the officers of the government at fuU salaries, thus implanting in our in stitutions the principle of endless jobbery and corrup tion ; (5.) to fix this oUgarchy, in the name of free insti tutions, on the people irrevocably, so that no future legislature can reform it, even by an absolute majority. The Legislative CouncU have had the hardihood to propose passing this unconstitutional and anti-British measure with only a few days' notice, and before it can be considered by the colonists at large." Such was the manifesto put forward in the name of the people, in reference to the important measure with which the colonists had now to deal. At the meeting which assembled in comphance with this notification, John GUchrist, a leading meniber of the mercantUe body, occupied the chair. The principal speakers were DaweU, who now assumed with general assent the position of leader of the popular or demo cratic party ; Robert Johnson, Henry Parkes, Monte- 324 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. fiore, J. W. BUgh, Denieby, Mort, Archdeacon Mc Encroe, John Brown, Piddington, and Flood. A series of resolutions were unanimously adopted to the effect — (1.) That the proposed constitution bill was radically defective, and opposed to the wishes and interests of the inhabitants of the colony, who beUeved that a re presentative legislature, consisting of two elective chambers, would alone possess that stability, energy, and usefulness which were maintained by public confi dence, and without which no government could per manently exist; (2.) that the meeting earnestly pro tested against any attempt in the hasty manner now proposed in the Legislative Council to impose a consti tution on the colony which was formed in dfrect oppo sition to the wishes of the people; (3.) that they pledged themselves to resist, by every constitutional means in their power, the formation of any second chamber which was not based on popular suffrage ; (4.) that the proposed alteration in the electoral act was calculated to increase that inequality in the representation of which the colonists had so justly complained, which in- equaUty, instead of being increased, ought now to be rectified, so that the representative system might be established on a just and satisfactory basis ; (5.) that the present CouncU having been elected without re ference to the proposed change of the constitution, the colonists were entitled to demand the interposition of such a delay between the first and second readings of the proposed bill as would enable them fuUy to express their views on this momentous question. These reso lutions were embodied in a petition for presentation to the Council. The holding of this meeting was hailed with general satisfaction, as vindicating the colonists from the charge of indifference to their political rights, to which it was previously feared they were becoming amenable. Meetings followed throughout the interior, at which similar resolutions were adopted. On the 16th of August Wentworth moved in the Council the second reading of the New Constitution Bill, delivering on that occasion a speech which fully ^*^J NEW CONSTITUTION BILL. 325 confirmed his reputation as one of the first of Uving orators. The debate was adjourned for a week on the motion of DaweU, who led the opponents of the bUl, on the ground that so forcible and so important a speech required a week's consideration before it could be effectively answered. On the 2nd of September the debate on the bUl finaUy closed, having occupied seven days. Went worth' s reply was fuUy equal in point of eloquence and force to his opening speech, and some of the con cluding passages were received with bursts of cheers, in which the gaUery joined. The second reading was carried by a majority of thirty-four to eight, two of the minority being members from Moreton Bay, who avowedly voted against the biU on the ground that they objected to the clause relating to the northern boundary of the colony. The committal of the bUl was made an order of the day from the 6th of December. Three days after the second reading a great aggre gate meeting of the colonists was held at the Circular Quay, for the purpose of giving expression to pubhc opinion in reference to a measure which now stood before the country in a tangible form. A series of re solutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That the meeting dehberately re-affirmed the opinion expressed in aU parts of the colony that the proposed new consti tution was unjust in principle, repugnant to the feehngs of British people, whoUy unsuited to the cfrcumstances of the colony, and devoid of aU true analogy to the British Legislature ; (2.) that the meeting recorded thefr surprise and indignation at the unconstitutional doctrines advanced in the Council during the discus sion on the present measure, whereby the great maxim of joint and enlightened government, that " all power emanated from the people," was sought to be denied ; and that, viewing the inherent defects of nomineeism and class interest in the existing Legislature, they pub licly recorded thefr total want of confidence in that body in reference to this measure, which was fraught with the most momentous consequences to the whole people; (3.) that they emphatically declared that no 326 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. V. form of constitution would be acceptable to the people of the colony, or be calculated to promote the public welfare, and maintain the existing happy feeUng of loyalty to the Crown of England, which should not secure to the country absolutely and for ever the right of representation, freed from the proposed Crown nomi nation and class ascendancy; (4.) that they believed the best form of Parliamentary representation would be by two Houses based on popular suffrage, the Upper Chamber being composed of members in proportion to the Lower House of one-third, to be elected for a longer period, and to retire at different intervals of time, their quahfication being determined by age, property, and residence. These resolutions were embodied in a petition to the Queen, which further set forth "that the petitioners desfred to see established in this country a form of government framed in accordance with the genius and spirit of the constitution of the mother country, which the petitioners believed to be the views entertained by her Majesty's present advisers ; that the present Legislative Council did not and could not, as now constituted, represent the voice of the people of New South Wales, and that they were therefore incom petent to frame a constitution which would be satis factory to the people of this important section of her Majesty's dominions. They prayed her Majesty to withhold her assent from any measure which faUed to embody the views and wishes of her Majesty's loyal petitioners as herein expressed, and that her Majesty would be graciously pleased to have regard to them in any measure which she might cause to be laid before the Imperial Parliament." Thus it was apparent that the difference between the CouncU and the petitioners was as to what constituted the genius and spirit of the British constitution. At this meeting a resolution was adopted, making the Constitution Committee a standing body, for the purpose of taking all necessary steps to procure for the people of New South Wales a constitution based upon British liberty, and expanding with the onward progress of an advancing nation. I'^ss-l THE CONSTITUTION COMMITTEE. 327 In November, the committee, having elaborated a scheme of a new constitution, submitted to the public the results of thefr labours. They declared thefr con viction that in any constitution to be framed for the better government of the colony, two Houses of Par Uament were absolutely necessary to ensure weU-con- sidered and just legislation, and that to be satisfactorily and safely established both must be based on the prin ciple of popular election ; that the Upper House, to be equal to the discharge of its true functions in the business of the state, must be essentiaUy conservative, that is, constituted, as far as it was possible for it to be by any justifiable condition of the franchise, of those members of society who were identified with the country. by long experience of its various interests, who were best known for their intelligence and personal independence, and who had most merited the confi dence of thefr feUows by the exercise of a matured judgment, and the performance of pubhc services ; that this might be accomplished under election by the people, by the formation of larger constituencies, by a longer period of duration of the Council, and by legitimate restrictions as to the quaUfications of candi dates ; that the required restrictions might reasonably consist in Umiting eligibUity for the Upper House to a body of individuals, sufficiently numerous to afford ample scope for popular choice, selected in some manner by the representatives of the people in the Lower House, as being qualified by moral endowments and social position for the higher duties of legislation ; and that if a sufficient number of qualifications were thus conferred, in the first instance, by the Lower House, additions might afterwards be legitimately made by her Majesty ; that the Legislative Assembly, or Lower House, should consist, in the present state of the colony, of not more than fifty-four members, and en dure for no longer period than three years ; that the Legislative CouncU should consist of not less than eighteen members, to be elected by the same system of suffrage, by not more than six electoral districts, embracing the whole number of persons in the elec- 328 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. toral roll, and in the apportionment of which the amalgamation of the various interests of society should be considered as a guiding principle — the mem bers to hold office for nine years ; that the apportion ment of the representation ought to be regulated mainly by the principle of population ; that no civil list ought to be established by the Constitution Act, and that the civil service of the colony could only be constitutionally provided for by a separate and specific enactment, and that the Constitution Act itself ought to be confined to the settlement of the great funda mental questions of government. Such was the scheme, which, it must be admitted, was far from democratic, in which the Constitution Committee put forward their views on this great question. XI. On the 6th December the Council met, pur suant to adjournment. On the first day of meeting two petitions were presented against the biU from the country, one of which was rejected on the ground of informality. On the foUowing day several other peti tions were brought forward, which objected to the bUl chiefly in reference to the nominee feature. One or two were also presented in favour of the bill. Wentworth, in moving the committal of the mea sure, informed the House that he had abandoned that clause which empowered the existing government to summon the members of the Upper House for life, substituting instead a clause giving the first members their seats for five years. This change he adopted, he said, on the ground that it was not desirable to give the present government, inasmuch as it was not " re sponsible," so important a power. The clauses which partook of a hereditary character were also aban doned. Dawell moved as an amendment on the motion for going into committee, that the bill be committed that day six months, and the House dividing, after consi derable discussion, the original proposition was carried by a majority of thirty-five to nine. In committee Martin proposed that the Upper House should consist of thirty-six members, to be 1853.] SALAEY OF THE GOVEENOE-GENEEAL. 329 elected by the colonists ; but this proposition was lost by a majority of thirty to nine. Wentworth gave notice of a motion for increasing the salary of the governor-general, as fixed by the schedules, from £7000 to £10,000, but the proposition, meeting with some opposition, was withdrawn in dis gust." A motion by George AUen, to the effect that the city of Sydney should have six members instead of four, as proposed in the biU, was rejected. On the 21st the bUl, having been disposed of in committee, was read a thfrd time by a majority of twenty-seven to six, amid general cheering. The measure which had thus passed through its most important stage, preparatory to becoming the law of the land, estabhshed two dehberative chambers, a Legislative CouncU and a Legislative Assembly. The former was to consist of not less than twenty-one naturalized or natural born subjects, four-fifths of whom should be persons not holding any civU office of emolument under the Crown. The members were to hold thefr seats for five years, at the expfration of that period aU then holding seats to be entitled to sit for hfe. The President was to be nominated by the Crown. The Legislative Assenibly was to consist of fifty-four members, to be elected for five years. The qualification for members and electors was the same. AU inhabitants of fuU age, being natural bom or naturaUzed subjects of the British Crown, and not having been convicted of any crime, or, if convicted, pardoned, and having paid aU rates and taxes for which they were hable, were qualified as candidates and electors under any of the foUowing quaUfications : — As the owners of a freehold estate of the value of £100; as householders, lodging occupiers, or lease holders for three years, at £10 per annum. To these were added boarders at £40 per annum, persons re ceiving £100 a-year salary, and pasture-Ucense holders for one year. Ministers of religion were precluded from holding seats in the Assembly. Several sections of the bUl were devoted to defining " Imperial sub jects," and limiting the authority of the Crown and 330 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. v. the govemor wdth respect to the disallowance of, or assent to, colonial statutes, and provision was made for referring disputed questions on their behalf to the judicial committee of the Privy CouncU. The bill having passed through all its stages, Wentworth moved a series of declaratory resolutions, of which he Jiad given notice, in reference to it. These were as follows : — 1. That in the opinion of this House the "BUl to confer a Constitution on New South Wales, and to grant a civil list to her Majesty," which has just passed the Council, is an embodiment of all the rights for which this House and the preceding Legislative Councils have for years past been contending, and will, when passed into law, redress all the grievances enumerated in the petition to her Majesty and both Houses of Parhament, adopted by the House on the 6th December, 1861. 2. It gives plenary powers of legislation in all matters of local and municipal concernment. 3. It prevents, except in certain enumerated cases, relating solely to the prerogative of the Crown and Imperial interests, that double power of veto which has hitherto been a source of much uncertainty and dissatisfaction. 4. It greatly enlarges the basis of popular repre sentation. 5. It establishes amongst us for the first time an independent judiciary. 6. It abolishes the schedules annexed to the Im perial act now in force, and involves the necessary im plication that the Imperial Parliament has no right to tax the inhabitants of the colony, or appropriate any portion of its revenues. 7. It surrenders to the control of the Legislature the waste lands of the Crown, subject to the main tenance of vested rights, and other interests that have grown up under the existing laws. 8. It surrenders to the like control and appropria tion the entire consolidated revenues of the colony, from whatever source arising, except that portion 1853.] EESOLUTIONS ON THE CONSTITUTION BILL. 331 thereof which is voluntarily granted to her Majesty by way of civil hst. 9. And, as a necessary consequence, it estabUshes responsible government, properly so called, and places in the hands of responsible ministers the appointment to all offices of trust and emolument within the colony, thus giving to the inhabitants thereof, as nearly as cir cumstances wiU admit, the same rights and privUeges which belong to thefr feUow- subjects in the United Kingdom. 10. In framing this bUl it has been the anxious de sire of the House that the Legislative- CouncU and House of Assembly should form as close an approxima tion as possible to the constitution of both Houses of the Imperial Parhament ; and the whole scope of this measure is to give stabihty to those British institutions which we have, to introduce those which we have not, to cement that union which now happily exists between this colony and the parent country, and to perpetuate, if possible, that identity of laws, habits, and interests which it is so desfrable to render enduring. 11. Such being the intention of this bUl, and the power to frame it having been delegated to this House, under the admission that it was more competent than Parliament itself to devise a suitable constitution for this colony, this House desfres to record its earnest hope that his exceUency the governor-general wiU lose no time in forwarding to the Minister for the Colonies this biU, for the signification of her Majesty's pleasure thereon ; and that his exceUency will be pleased to ac company it with such explanations as he may deem necessary to show the large majorities, both of the nominated and elective members, by which it was sup ported in all its stages, and ultimately passed. 12. That the draft Act of Parhament, brought up by the select committee, to authorize her Majesty to assent to this bUl, of which a copy is hereto appended, be transmitted to the governor-general, with a request that his exceUency wiU be pleased to forward the same to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, as being a fit enactment to give the requfred vaUdity to this bUl. 332 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP, v These resolutions were adopted by a majority of twenty- three to two, and, having been embodied in an address, were presented to the governor-general. Thus terminated this the most important labour which had ever previously devolved on an Australian legislature. In the course of this session a committee of the Council recommended that £5000 should be given to Hargrave as a reward for the discovery of the auri ferous wealth of the colony, and that £1000 should be awarded as a gratuity to the Rev. W. B. Clarke, to mark the appreciation in which the country held the geological reports addressed by him at various times to the government. The same committee recommended the reduction of the license-fee required from diggers to ten shillings per month, and that a royalty of one and a-half per cent, should be imposed in regard to private gold fields. These several recommendations were subsequently carried out, the House voting Har grave £10,000, instead ofthe smaller one recommended by the committee. A bill abolishing the municipal cor poration, and substituting in its stead three paid com missioners, passed the Council this session; also bills empowering the commissioners to carry out the works necessary for draining the city and supplying it with water. The Council voted a pension of £100 per annum to Madame Leichhardt, the mother of the ex plorer. The provision for education was largely in creased this session, both in regard to the primary schools, and to those institutions whose object was to promote the higher branches of science and literature. The Council was prorogued on the 23rd of December. In the early part of this year a scarcity of water prevailed at the places whence the city was supphed, and, as a consequence, considerable alarm was excited amongst the citizens. A public meeting was held, at which the expediency of forming a company to secure a permanent and abundant supply was discussed. Re solutions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That, looking at the inconvenience and alarm which had arisen from the scarcity of water now prevailing in Sydney and its 1853.] IMPEEIAL SANCTION OF THE BEANCH MINT. 333 # suburbs, and the prospect of this inconvenience and alarm becoming still greater, owdng to the rapid increase of the population, it seemed imperative that measures should be adopted to provide for the present and future wants of the city ; and it was therefore resolved that a company shtfuld be formed, to be caUed the " Sydney Water Company," which should bring the matter before the government, and, with their concurrence, enter into the construction of works to effect that purpose; (2.) that his exceUency be requested to introduce a bill into the Legislative Council to vest in the hands of the government the authority and duty of providing an ample supply of water for the city, and for such other city purposes as might be deemed of vital importance to the citizens ; (3.) that in the opinion of this meeting the drainage of the city, as weU as the supply of water, were each works of the greatest urgency and impor tance ; and that as no system of drainage could be effective imaccompanied by an unUmited supply of water, it was most expedient that these undertakings should be carried out by separate and independent authorities. A memorial, in accordance with these resolutions, was presented to the governor-general. In July the formal sanction of her Majesty's govern ment to the establishment of a branch of the Royal Mint at Sydney, was received in the colony. The Lords of the Treasury had had before them three apphcation s for branch mints, namely, for South AustraUa, Yictoria, and New South Wales. They at once decided that it was expedient to establish mints only in colonies where gold fields had been discovered, so that the claim of the ffrst-mentioned colony was at once refused. As re garded the other two colonies, each of which expressed a wish to be made the seat of a central mint for the colonies generaUy, thefr lordships gave the preference to New South Wales, £10,000 having been received from the local government towards the expenses of the proposed estabUshment. The stipulations on the part of the home government were, that the colonial mint should be estabUshed under the authority of an order by the Queen in councU, which should constitute such 334 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP, V. mint a branch of, and subordinate to, the Royal Mint. The dies from which the coins of the colonial establish ment were to be struck were to be furnished by the Master of the Mint in London. Precise directions were to be given as to the firmness and weight of the coin, which must, in these respects, correspond with the coins of the realm ; and to ensure the correspondence, a certain proportion of the colonial coins were from time to time to be transmitted to England, to be assayed and tested by the Master of the Royal Mint. The principal officers were to be appointed by the Crown. A few months later, intelligence was received that the appointments to the new establishment had been made. Captain Edward Wolstenholme Ward, of the Royal Engineers, was appointed deputy-master, at a salary of £1000 per annum. In May intelhgence was received in the colony of the death of the Bishop of Sydney, Dr. Broughton, who passed from this life while on a visit to England. The deceased prelate had attained his sixty-fourth year, and had occupied the episcopal office for a period of seventeen years. An American steamer, the "Monu mental City," was wrecked in May, near Gelo Island, while on her passage from Sydney to Melbourne, on which calamitous occasion thirty lives were lost. At a meeting held at Moreton Bay in the course of this year, a peti tion in favour of separation was adopted. The same meeting petitioned against the principle of nomination introduced into the Constitution Bill. The new works for the defence of the harbour at Pinchgut Island, Lady Macquarie' s Point, and elsewhere, were com menced this year, in accordance with the expressed de sire of the Legislative Council. Two sums of £100,000 each were appropriated this year for the purposes of immigration. 18S1.] DUTIES OF THE CITY COMMISSIONTIES. 335 CHAPTER YI. The Constitution Bill sent home — ^Apprehensions excited in the Colony by the Russian war — The last. of Irresponsible Govern ment — lie Imperial Parhament petitioned against the Consti tution Bin — Fitz-Roy retires, and is succeeded by Sir WiUiam Denison — Defences of Sydney Harbour — The Constitution Act finally passed — Inauguration of Responsible Government^ (1856) — A ministry formed by Mr. Donaldson — The Cowper administration succeeds — The Parker government — Cowper a second time Premier, forms the first strong ministry — Parha ment dissolved. (1854—1857.) I. The commissioners who superseded the city coun cil commenced operations at the opening of this year, 1854. Thefr duties, as specified in the act by which they were incorporated, were to carry into effect the provisions for cleansing, draining, hghting, and sup plying water to the city, and aU other measures for the sanitary improvement and good rule and government of the same which might have been adopted by the late municipal body. To enable them to carry out the more effectuaUy the powers conceded in reference to the water supply and drainage, special privUeges were conferred by two acts of the Legislature. By these the governor was authorized to raise by loan £200,000 in aid of each undertaking, and the several powers necessary to enable the commissioners to carry on the works were also conceded. At the commencement of the year inteUigence was received which confirmed the news of the war between Russia and Turkey. The colonists now began to think of the expediency of adopting measures of protection against foreign aggression and interruption of their commerce, for it was seen that the golden treasures of Austraha must prove a tempting bait to Russian pri- 336 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP, vi, vateers. The merchants of the city were the first to take the matter practically in hand. The Chamber of Commerce having held a meeting in reference to the defences of the colony adopted a report, in which they set forth that there had been excited in the minds of a large portion of the most influential and intelligent members of the community considerable alarm and ap prehension as to the undefended state of the port, and that a general feeling existed that no time ought to be lost in initiating measures for the protection of the city and harbour. They recommended that his excellency should be urged to call the Council together with as little delay as possible, wdth the view to procuring the passing of an act for the enrolment of volunteers, to be placed under the command of the naval and mUitary officers of the port and garrison for the time being. It was shown that there were at the disposal of the government sufficient means to arm three thousand men; but there were no weapons in the ordnance stores, such as tomahawks used in boarding, Avith which to equip men for an attack on an enemy's ship ; and the chamber recommended that the government should be urged to cause such weapons to be manufactured, and to arm at least one thousand men, to be trained by the superior naval officer. They also recommended that the governor should be petitioned to retain in the port all the naval force at that time there, or likely soon to arrive, namely, three war ships and two war steamers, and that steps should be taken to have the force in the garrison increased, so as to form a complete regiment. It was pointed out that while the mihtary force in the colony received extra pay, the naval force did not, although the services of the latter, not less than the former, were frequently made available, both ashore and afloat, and it was suggested that this incongruity should be corrected by placing the naval and military forces on an equal footing. The recommendation con cluded wdth one to the effect that his excellency should be requested to urge the home government that a naval force, consisting of a line of battle ship ofthe first class and two steam frigates, might be despatched ""•] OPPOSITION TO DE. LANG. 337 for the protection of the port without loss of time. Such were the measures adopted in the anticipation of England becoming involved in the war between Russia and Turkey. A few weeks later this anticipation was reahzed to the colonists, and now the citizens at large assembled for the purpose of addressing the Queen in reference to the war. About two thousand persons were present. The chafr was occupied by the Speaker of the Council. DaweU proposed the adoption of an address, wherein the meeting expressed thefr desire at this period of threatened warfare to convey to her Majesty thefr assu rance of their unalterable devotion and loyalty to her Majesty, and of their hearty approval of the decided measures adopted by her Majesty's government to re pel the unrighteous invasion of Turkey by the Emperor of Russia. With profound gratitude for a long and prosperous interval of peace, they were prepared to submit to the calamities of war in defence of the great principles of national independence and general civili zation, and they would assist to the utmost of their abUity to maintain the honour of the British flag and the safety of these portions of her Majesty's dominions." The adoption of this address was opposed by Dr. Lang. " He objected to the people of the colony, situated as they were, pronouncing an opinion on a war in Europe, whether it was just or not; much more did he object to their interference in a war to support a man who yesterday was a Greek and Chris tian, to-day a Mohammedan. Besides, the interference of England came six years too late. If it were right to put down Russia on the Danube, it was ten times the duty of the European powers to have put her down in Hungary. Great Britain and France ought to have begun in Hungary when a noble and chivalrous nation of twelve miUions of men were ridden over by Russians. The address which they were caUed upon to adopt was a virtual proclamation of war against the Emperor of Russia, who had fifty-six mUhons of sub jects, and settlements on both sides of the Pacific as weU as Great Britain herself, and was therefore a 338 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. Vl. sheer piece of impotence. Besides, what reason had they to believe that France would remain the aUy of England ? It would be easy, for France and England combined, to drive the Russian fleet off the ocean, but they might afterwards have a more serious enemy to deal with in Louis Napoleon, with his stronghold in New Caledonia. Then again, if the colonies were valuable to Great Britain, she was bound to defend them. It was very questionable indeed whether Great Britain could defend all her numerous colonies, now number ing fifty ; but if the Imperial Government came forward and said they were not able to protect the colonies, then it would be for the colonists to take into consider ation whether or not they would grant them assistance. It would then rest with the people of New South Wales to state their grievances, and say they would not grant a sixpence tiU these were redressed. He objected to the meeting and to its object, because he regarded it as a sly attempt to pledge the funds of the colony for any armament which an inefficient government might get up." Thus did the rev. speaker support sea opposition at the bottom of which was that animosity which he had always evinced towards Govemor Fitz-Roy. He moved, as an amendment, that the adoption of the address be postponed till that day six months, but this proposition not having been seconded, it fell to the ground, and the address was adopted. Two other resolutions were then adopted, to the effect — (1.) That immediate preparation be made to notify the approach of any hostile force, and to call into preconcerted and combined action all the available strength of the colony; (2.) that the citizens of Sydney were prepared to support the Executive Go vernment in all needful measures for the protection of the colony against foreign invasion. This address was signed by the chairman, and was ordered to be trans mitted to the governor-general' for presentation to the Queen. The meeting closed wdth three cheers for the Queen, the Emperor Napoleon, and the Sultan of Turkey. The question of railway communication was taken 1^^] EAILWAY COMMUNICATION. 339 up at the commencement of the year. In January a pubhc meeting was held in Sydney in reference to the subject, at which many wealthy and influential colonists attended. A resolution was adopted to the effect that " The present scale on which railways were being constructed was utterly inconsistent with the altered cfrcumstances and urgent requfrements of the colony, and that looking at the rapidly-increasing resources and population of New South Wales, the time had at length arrived when it became imperative on the inhabitants to adopt a comprehensive system for the construction of raifroads throughout the colony." A committee was appointed for the purpose of dfrect ing pubhc attention to the subject as embodied in this resolution. Having passed the Constitution BiU through its several stages, the next care of the Council was to adopt measures wdth the view to preventing the repre sentation of the opponents of the measure having the effect of causing fundamental or material changes being made therein during its passage through the Imperial ParUament. Wentworth, the author of the bUl, and Thomson, the colonial secretary, one of its warmest supporters, were appointed a deputation to proceed to England with the view to conciUating for the biU the favour of the Parliament and the govern ment. They left the colony on this mission in the early part of the year. The departure of each was made the occasion of a pubhc demonstration. A large sum was subscribed wdth the view to erecting a statue or procuring a painting of the author of the consti tution. When he was about to embark an address was presented to him in the presence of a large con course, who assembled to accompany him to the ship. The address, which was read by James Macarthur, came from the subscribers to the testimonial fund. The addressers expressed the high sense entertained by them of the pubhc services rendered by Wentworth to the country, and assured him that they were desir ous of placing those services on record. Reference was made to his early and courageous struggles for those 340 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. constitutional rights to which, as British subjects, the people of the colony were entitled, and also to his untiring and valuable exertions in the Council from the first institution of that body, particularly to his suc cessful efforts to pass measures for legalizing a lien on wool, for the foundation of the university, and, lastly, for the formation of a new constitution for the colony. Wentworth, in reply, said that although their kind tribute greatly exceeded his merits, yet it might be useful in stimulating others to zeal in the public cause. He solemnly declared that in all his public efforts he had ever the welfare of his country at heart, and espe cially in the formation of the new constitution he had studied her dearest and most lasting interests. Though the principles on which he had acted in reference to this measure were not shared by the whole community, yet he rejoiced to believe that they were entertained by a very large portion of the people, and the recently- altered tone of the remaining portion clearly indicated that they too would graduaUy acknowledge the sound ness of his views. He was quite satisfied that the pohtical course had been approved by those who, from having had opportunities of watching his career, were best qualified to form an opinion. In conclusion, he said that although he was about to depart for England AustraUa would still be his home, and he hoped soon to return with his family, and employ his last energies in his country's service. Having concluded these re marks, he embarked amid the plaudits of his friends, but not without an expression of disapprobation on the part of some who still believed him to be unfidendly to what they conceived to be their rights and privi leges. Thomson, on the occasion of his departure, was also presented with a testimonial by his personal friends, and the admirers of his political conduct as colonial secretary during a period of seventeen years. For this purpose, a sum of £2250 had been collected. Of this sum £1000 was appropriated to the purchase of a service of plate, the remainder was devoted to founding the " Thomson scholarship" in the Sydney 1854-] TESTIMONIAL TO THOMSON. 341 University, and to procuring a portrait of the reci pient. The testimonial was presented in the theatre, in the presence of a large concourse of the citizens. When the day appointed for the meeting of the CouncU arrived (May 9th), the governor-general being stUl ab sent on his tour through the northern settlements, the Speaker caUed the House together on his own autho rity. Considerable blame was attached to Fitz-Roy for not making his arrangements so as to be present, or not further proroguing the CouncU according to custom. On the day after the assembhng of the House, how ever, he arrived, and on the 16th he ftirther prorogued the CouncU tUl that day month. The prorogation took place by message, wherein Fitz-Roy apologized for not being at home, and explained that he had arranged for arriving in Sydney on the 1st of the month, but that he was prevented by unexpected and unavoidable delay from acting up to his intention. He added that he would have avaUed himself of an earUer period for receiving the advice and assistance of the Council, had he seen grounds for participating in the alarm which was said to prevail on the subject of the defences of the port and city of Sydney ; but he had great pleasure in stating that he was satisfied, from the most authentic sources of information wdthin his reach, that no immediate occasion for alarm existed. From his advices, it would appear that the accounts which had reached the colony respecting the strength of the Russian naval force in the East Indian seas were much exaggerated. He was in a position to state that the entfre naval force in these seas consisted of six Enghsh ships, carrying altogether ninety-six guns, exclusive of the ships in the Austrahan division of the station ; two French frigates and a steamer, and one Russian frigate of fifty guns, a smaU corvette, and a steam sloop. He had not been able to obtain such authentic inteUigence regarding the Russian force in the Pacific, but he had reason to beheve that only one ship of war belonging to that nation was stationed there, while it was weU known there were British and French squadrons in that ocean of considerable strength. Under these 342 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.ti, circumstances he did not deem it expedient to convene the Council for the despatch of business wdthout giving the usual time for preparation, and for the assembling of members from the country. Meanwhile, he would cause the works afready commenced to be prosecuted with vigour, and would secure the continued presence in the port of one of her Majesty's ships of war. At the appointed time, the Council finally assem bled for the despatch of business. The governor-general in his opening speech said, " They were called together under circumstances which were calculated to lend more than ordinary interest to their deUberations. For the first time in the history of the colony the Legisla ture had to contemplate the possible contingency of warfare ; and though he yet hoped the contingency might not arise, or that if it did it would afford but slight grounds of anxiety respecting the security of this remote portion of the British empire, he deemed it thefr duty to aid in pressing forward the works in progress, and the measures in contemplation for the defence of the colony. The works commenced some months since for the protection of Sydney were in a satisfactory state of advancement ; so that if the war which menaced the world at the date of their last advices were not averted, he had every confidence that with the efficient aid which would be afforded by the naval force in the harbour, they possessed ample means of repelling any predatory attack which might be at tempted by privateers, or armed vessels sailing under a hostile flag, while the vigilance of the commanders of the combined English and French naval forces in the Indian and Pacific stations, acting tmder the instructions of their respective governments, afforded adequate security that any more serious attack, should such be meditated by the enemy, would be easily frus trated. He proposed laying before the House a bUl, having for its object the formation of a volunteer corps for the defence of the country. Should the bill meet with their concurrence he would lose no time in carry ing its provisions into operation, in so far as that result was dependent upon him ; and he felt confident 1^^] VOLUNTEEE COEPS BILL. 843 that the loyal and manly spirit which animated the people of the colony in common with thefr feUow- countrymen of the United Kingdom, would induce more than a sufficient number to tender their services for the protection of their country and thefr homes. In the confidence that the provisions of such a biU would be sufficient, he refrained at present from pro posing the formation of a body of mUitia, or the raising of any more regular force. His exceUency proceeded to announce that the pubhc finances' continued in a highly prosperous state. The importance ofthe subject of immigration had not been lost sight of, and the Land and Immigration Commissioners had been urged to expend the funds at their disposal in immigration, to be carried on under the ordinary regulations, should the self-supporting system, for which provisions were made last session, not prove adequate to the require ments of the colony. An apphcation was announced from the Sydney Railway Company for further assistance by way of an additional loan, and a guarantee of interest on an extension of capital. Among the bUls so an nounced was one for promoting pubhc health and for the regulation of common lodging-houses, and also one to enforce building and other regulations intended to lessen the probabilities of fire, a measure suggested by the cfrcumstance that many conflagrations had recently occurred in the city. BUls to make permanent the laws relating to the gold fields, and to do away with some uncertainty which existed relative to the laws of mar riage, were also announced. The CouncU was informed that her Majesty having been pleased to sanction the estabUshment of a branch of the Royal Mint, as prayed for in the address of the House of 19th December, 1851, a smaU detachment of Sappers and Miners had arrived to erect the necessary buildings and machinery. It was also intimated, that an apphcation would be made for grants to assist the estabhshment of coUeges afBUated to the university. The address of the Council was an echo of the speech. In reference to the proposed biU for the for mation of a volunteer corps, the House joined his 344 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. exceUency in the confidence which he expressed in the loyalty and spirit of the people of the colony. They felt sure that when called upon to act the co lonists would worthily vindicate the character, and emulate the courage, of the great race from which they sprung. II. One of the first duties to which the House de voted themselves was the adoption of an address to the Queen, on the occasion of the declaration of war. They said, that* having learnt, from the proclamation of the 28th of March, that the anxious efforts of her Ma jesty and her advisers to preserve the blessings of peace were unsuccessful, and that, in concert with her aUy, the Emperor of the French, she had deemed it neces sary to declare war against the Emperor of Russia, they offered the expression of their unfeigned loyalty to her crown and person, and their hearty sympathy with those just principles by which her Majesty and her ministers had been guided in so momentous a crisis. Uniting in the sentiment of cordial approval of the policy of her Majesty's government which had been manifested by the great body of their fellow-subjects throughout the British Empire, they earnestly prayed that, under favour of Divine Providence, her Majesty's arms might be crowned with success ; and they as sured her Majesty that, as far as in them lay, they were prepared to adopt all necessary measures for resist ing external aggression, and for upholding and main taining her Majesty's royal authority in this distant portion of her dominions. Now that the colony had received authority to esta blish a mint, and was placed in a position to do so, some hesitation was evinced by the Council as to whether they would avail themselves of the privilege. This arose from a variety of causes, but chiefly from the antagonism of the banking interest towards the new institution, which it was seen would interfere with the profits of those who were accustomed to transact the monetary affairs of the colonists, especially be tween England and the colony. There were some, however, who really doubted whether the advantages 185*0 LETTEE FEOM WENTWOETH. 345 of the proposed institution would be equivalent to the outlay which it would occasion. Accordingly, to set the matter finaUy at rest, Martin introduced a resolu tion to the effect, " That the House was of opinion that the branch of the Royal Mint which her Majesty had been pleased to estabUsh in the colony ought to be brought into operation wdth the utmost possible expedi tion." The proposition was not opposed by the govern ment, but the colonial secretary moved that it be supple mented by the addition of the words, " That the plan submitted with the governor-general's message of 4th July, 1854, for the conversion of the staff-offices, and for erecting the requisite buildings for the mint esta bhshment on the ground attached to the said offices, at an estimated cost of £12,499, be adopted." He said that if the resolution were carried in the shape which he proposed, the government would know to what ex tent the House had pledged itself in reference to de fraying the expenses of the mint. This was the more desirable as the uncertainty which the government felt upon this point was, in some measure, the cause of the delay which had heretofore occurred. Martin as sented to the amendment, and the resolution thus supplemented was, after a debate, carried by a majo rity of twenty-two to eight. In September a letter was received in the colony from Wentworth, dated 8th July. He informed the Council that he had had an interview wdth Sir George Grey, the Secretary of State for the Colonies. That minister said, that having only just assumed the seals of office, he had not had time to consider the detaUs of the bUl; and, at that late period of the session, he feared there was not time to give this and other colo nial measures that mature consideration which thefr importance demanded. He gave it as his private opinion that the Act of ParUament requfred to give the biU vitaUty would not be passed before the next session. A few days later a despatch, was laid before the CouncU, stating that the measures for giving effect to the constitution of New South Wales, Yictoria, 346 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. and South Australia, would be deferred till the next year. The reason for the delay was, that it being deemed desfrable to consider the three bills together, this was impossible during the present session, see ing that those of Yictoria and New South Wales did not arrive till the session was far advanced. " The novelty and importance," said the minister, "of some of the provisions of these acts, to which no effect could be given without Parliamentary enactment, re quired that the decision of' her Majesty's govern ment, as to the advice which it would be thefr duty to tender with regard to them, should be made after fuU and serious deliberation. Time would also be requisite for the preparation of any bills to be sub mitted to ParUament respecting them, and for the con sideration by Parliament of such bills after their intro duction." A novel proposition was introduced into the Coun cil in the course of this session. This was nothing less than a motion of want of confidence in the government — a proceeding which, however consistent with the form of government about to be introduced into the colony, was without precedent in respect to such an administration as that which then existed. Thomson, the colonial secretary, had retired from the office which he had so long and so efficiently filled, having been ap pointed, as was seen, one of the deputation to whom was entrusted the watching of the Constitution Bill during its passage through the Imperial ParUament, the vacation of office being nominally of a temporary character, but in reality permanent, seeing that the new form of government would be initiated almost con temporaneously with his return to the colony. The next in rank, and consequently the next entitled to succession to the superior office, according to official usage, was RiddeU, the treasurer. This functionary had, during a long period, fulfilled the duties of his office with credit to himself and no disadvantage to the colony, but he was generally understood to be a man who by talent and temperament was unfitted to occupy such a post as the Colonial Secretaryship, which re- '^^¦] EIDDELL, THE TEEASUEEE. 347 qufred the display of mental activity, tact, and elo quence. He was, as his very appearance indicated, a man of ease and routine ; and, as became a man of Ids name and kindred — for he was one of the Scottish RiddeUs, who so long were the champion wine drinkers of that country* — he was generally ImoAvn to be fond of wine, although not to such an extent as to interfere with his official duties so long as he was content wdth the treasurership. Under those circumstances it was proposed that Mereweather, who held the office of auditor-general, should succeed to the secretaryship. Although not by any means a man of shining talents, or of great activity, he possessed some necessary quah fications which the other wanted ; he was younger, more energetic, and more active. This proposal having been mentioned to RiddeU, was Ustened to wdth indigna tion by the old officer ; he had fiUed a position, he said, superior to that occupied by his competitor, and had fiUed it weU ; he had been in the pubhc service a year for every month the other had served the country, and he was not prepared to make his shoulders a stepping- stone for a man who had never displayed any qualifica tion which entitled him to pass over the heads of his seniors. These objections were accepted as conclusive; RiddeU assumed the secretaryship, and Mereweather stepped into the treasury. The office of auditor-general was now to be filled up, and the Executive selected for this post Mr. SterUng, the agent for Church and School Estates. Like RiddeU, he had never given evidence of the possession of any other talents than those which were necessary for the discharge of purely official duties, but he laboured under a disquahfication from which the former was free, namely, inexperience in the * " By the gods of the ancients !" Glem-iddel replies, " Before I surrender so glorious a prize, I'll conjure the ghost of the great Rorie More, And bumper my horn with his twenty times o'er. *** * * * * To the board of Glenriddel our heroes repair. So noted for drowning of sorrow and care ; But for wine and for welcome not more known to fame Than the sense, wit, and taste of a sweet, lovely dame." 348 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WAXES. [CHAP. vi. transaction of legislative business ; unless, indeed, it was thought that the fact of his having formerly held the office of Serjeant-at-Arms to the House was a qua lification in this respect. It must be confessed that at the very outset this administration was not the most promising. Two of its members were either unquali fied for the discharge of the duties which they were en trusted with, or were altogether untried in the new spheres on which they had entered, while the third undertook his new functions with feelings of disappoint ment, and probably of chagrin, the result of his having failed to obtain the higher post which his friends had sought for him. The result was as had been anticipated. In assist ing to transact the legislative business of the country, the government from the first displayed the most glar ing incapacity. This was chiefly observable when the estimates came to be considered. These were prepared in a slovenly manner, and the result was that delay, otherwise unnecessary, occurred in voting the sums required for the public service. With regard to those questions of general importance which came before the House, it was observed, and with considerable truth, that on nearly all such matters the elective members appeared to be better informed than the government. Then the members complained that they were treated discourteously. Seldom being able to give a satisfac tory answer to those numerous questions which are usually put to the representatives of the Executive, especially in committee of supply, it was not to be wondered at that the officials should occasionally lose temper, and act, if not discourteously, at least ab ruptly. It seemed probable, too, that their adversaries took advantage of their weakness to annoy them by questions which might not be altogether necessary. The others, seeing this tendency, or suspecting it, if it did not exist, sometimes treated as idle questions of the greatest importance, and thus the evil was aggra vated in a variety of ways. Nor was it in the House alone that the inefficiency of the heads of the govern ment was observable and its results manifest. The 1854-] COWPEE's EESOLUTIONS. 349 subordinate officers grew less zealous, and the pubhc contractors became careless or fraudulent. The con sequence was that the pubUc works in some instances were carried out in the most disgraceful manner. That such was the fact in regard to one most impor tant work, the Cfrcular Quay, was clearly shown before the House. It was under those circumstances that Cowper introduced, as a motion contingent on the order of the day for going into the estimates, a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That the government ofthe colony, as at present administered, did not possess the con fidence of the House ; (2.) that the Council resolved to postpone the consideration of the estimates for the year 1855, untU they were assured that the pubhc ex penditure would be made under a government formed on the principle of ministerial responsibUity ; (3.) that an address be presented to the governor-general transmitting the foregoing resolutions, and requesting his exceUency to take them into his favourable con sideration." Cowper, in his speech, excepted from the proposed censure the attorney-general and soUcitor-general, who were known to be efficient officers. Adverting to the deficiencies of the other members of the Execu tive, he said, " The House had had submitted to them that year a supplementary estimate quite unparaUeled in amount, so large, indeed, that it was almost equal to what, a few years ago, was the estimated expendi ture for the entfre year, being no less a sum than £186,000. And he would ask hon. members whether, in discussing the items of that estimate, there was not an amount of ignorance, apathy, and unconcern mani fested by those officers whose duty it was to supply the necessary information, which appeared most dis creditable ? It frequently happened that the statement of one pubhc officer was contradicted by another; besides that, the greatest ignorance was displayed both as to the items themselves, and as to the pro gress of the works to which they referred." In the debate which foUowed, the friends of RiddeU pointed 360 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vl. to the efficiency which he had displayed as colonial treasurer, and said it was unfair to place him in juxtaposition with an officer of such great adminis trative ability and experience as the late colonial se cretary. The decision of the question was postponed for a week, and the motion was finally lost by a majority of twenty-seven to ten. The minority consoled them selves by alleging that they represented half the popu lation and property of the colony, nine of the majority being nominees. III. The opponents of the Constitution BiU were determined not to let the session pass without giving expression to their dissent, if they could not hope to give effect to the opposition. In October Dawell sub mitted a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That the New South Wales Constitution Act, sent home for the consideration of the British Parliament, was passed by the Council in opposition to the wishes of a large majority of the colonists, who desired, as the basis of their future local government, a representative legisla ture and a just distribution of the elective franchise ; (2.) that if this act should unhappily become law, the government of the colony would fail to obtain that confidence of the people wdthout which it could not be either useful or powerful, and the future welfare and peace of the colony would be disturbed by the intro duction of those changes which could never be effected without difficulty and confusion ; (3.) that it was the manifest desire of her Majesty's advisers, and of the Imperial Parliament, to confer on the colonists a form of local government, in accordance with their wants and wishes ; and as that .Council, as then constituted, did not represent the opinion of the people of New South Wales, and as it was constructed on principles fundamentally opposed to the British Constitution, it was expedient and just that the constitution of the local government should be determined by the wisdom of Parliament, and not by the now existing local legis lature. These propositions were negatived by a majority , of twenty-four to ten. 1851.] PETITION AGAINST CONSTITUTION BILL. 361 Having faded in the House, a result for which they must have been prepared, the dissatisfied party trans ferred their efforts to that more congenial field which was presented out of doors. At the close of the same month, a meeting, for the holding of which ample prepa ration had been made, assembled for the purpose of petitioning the Queen and Parhament against the bUl. Montefiore, a merchant, occupied the chair. Resolu tions were adopted to the effect — (1.) That in the opinion of this meeting the Constitution Act passed by the Legislative CouncU during the last session was at variance with aU true principles of representative government, was calculated to establish and perpetuate class domination, and check the free and elastic spirit of this rising country, and was utterly repugnant to the feelings of the community ; (2.) that the meeting cordiaUy approved of the enhghtened principles of government recently enunciated by her Majesty's ministers with reference to the Canadian constitution, and desired to see those principles carried out to the fuUest extent in the future constitution of New South Wales ; (3.) that the meeting declared its entire want of confidence in the Legislative CouncU as at present constituted, and denied its competency to frame a constitution that would be satisfactory or beneficial to the people of this country. A petition was adopted, which set forth that " the the Act of 1850, passed by the Imperial ParUament for the better government of the colony, would have con ferred benefits if fafrly and equitably carried out ; that the Electoral Act of 1851, owing to the unconsti tutional character of the local legislature, and the predominance of the pastoral interest, was made the bane of the former act, giving to four-ninths of the population of the colony resident in the county of Cumberland, and in the towns there situated, which were the principal towns of the colony, only eight members; whUe to the remaining five-ninths, to be found in the pastoral districts, were given twenty- eight representatives, the first-mentioned section of the colonists representing upwards of one-half the wealth 352 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.vi. of the colony, while the registered electors among the four-ninths numbered considerably more than those among the five-ninths ; that the natural effect of this policy had been vfrtually to extinguish the popular ele ment in the Legislature by means of a mock represen tation for the thinly peopled portions of the territory, and to reduce the colonists to a state of entire help lessness under the power of a virtually self-constituted and irresponsible Legislature ; that it was by a Legisla ture of so questionable a character the new Constitution Bill of 1853 had been framed, and that, in so far as the representation was concerned, the said bill was merely a reproduction and expansion of the present constitu tion under the Electoral Act of 1851 ; the county of Cumberland, with four-ninths of the population and upwards of one-half the wealth of the colony, having only thirteen members assigned to it, while the rest of the colony, including the whole of the pastoral dis tricts, had forty-one." The petitioners pointed out that they had already protested against the biU, and said, that " having ascertained that its consideration had been deferred tUl next session of Parliament, they again approached her Majesty to reiterate the same expression of opinion, and to renew their earnest peti tion that the said bill might never become the law of the land in the colony. While they were desirous that an Upper House or Senate should be established in con junction with a House of Assembly, they decidedly and strongly objected to the principle of nomineeism being introduced in any form, or to any extent, in either House of the future Legislature ; and they respectfully but firmly insisted, as their undoubted right, on a fair and equitable distribution of the representation, on the British principle of population and property combined." Adverting to the question of the administration of the public lands as connected with the constitution, they said, that " while they were of opinion that the admi nistration of the waste lands of the colony, as well as of all colonial revenues whatsoever, should be conceded to a legislature constituted on the principles indicated, with full power to deal with all existing arrangements ""¦^ IMMIGEATION EESOLUTIONS. 353 in such manner as inight be deemed expedient and necessary for the public welfare, they were decidedly of opinion that the present land system not only checked the sale of land, and diminished the land revenue to an incalculable extent, but afforded unnecessary en couragement for the introduction of inferior races, impeded the prosperity and advancement of the com munity in an endless variety of ways, and thereby prevented the rapid settlement of the country with a thoroughly British population. " " Having therefore no confidence in the present Legislative CouncU, or in any constitution which a legislature so composed might frame, they prayed, as they were reluctantly compeUed to do, that the task of framing constitutions for the Austrahan colonies generaUy, and for New South Wales in particular, might be devolved on the Imperial Parhament, in accordance wdth the principles here indicated, or on a constituent assembly caUed together under the authority ofthe British Parhament." Thus unremittingly did a section of the colonists pursue thefr opposition to a measure which was objectionable in thefr eyes, in so far as, whUe it concerned the colo nists at large, it emanated from a body which did not, in the ordinary sense of the term, represent the people of the colony. In the course of this session, the endowment was provided for the affidiated coUeges. On the motion of Cowper it was resolved, " That a sum not exceeding £20,000 be granted out ofthe general revenue towards any buUding fund created by any affiUated coUege that might be estabUshed in connection with the Sydney University, such grant to be contingent upon the raising of an equal sum for the same purpose by pri vate contributions." The question of immigration was dealt with by a series of resolutions introduced by James Macarthur, to the effect — (1.) That the CouncU, after maturely considering the subject of immigration in aU its bear ings, was of opinion that the continued prosperity of the colony in a great degree depended on a large and uninterrupted supply of labour ; (2.) that the increasing A A 354 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. vi. resources and population of the colony, and the proba bihty of a large and progressive increase of the land revenue, fully justified the policy of borrowing, on the security of that revenue, the funds necessary to keep up such supply ; (3.) that a further sum of £100,000 be remitted for that important object, so as to reach England by the month of June, 1866, and that such portion thereof as might be required be raised on the before-mentioned security. A proposition was entertained by the CouncU, hav ing for its object the increasing of the salary of the governor-general retrospectively. On the motion of Dawell an address was adopted, praying that a bUl might be sent down to the House to appropriate a sum of £6000 in augmentation of the salary of the governor- general, to defray the increased expenses of his office from the 1st of June, 1851, to the 1st of June, 1854. The address was carried by a majority of twenty-four to eight. It was contended, in support of the aug mentation, that the colonists would be acting ungene rously, or perhaps unjustly, if, while they themselves were enjoying unparalleled prosperity as the result of the new order of things which had sprung up in the colony, and while, moreover, they had increased the salaries of the subordinate officials, the govemor alone was left in the same position wdth regard to the amount of his increase. In December the approaching close of the admi nistration of Fitz-Roy was brought imder the notice of the House. James Macarthur moved a series of reso lutions to the effect — (1.) That the Council, on the eve of its prorogation, and of the departure for Eng land of Sir Charles Augustus Fitz-Roy, desired to re cord its deliberate opinion of the practical ability, sound judgment, and eminent success which, during a period of more than eight years, had characterized his excellency's personal administration ofthe government of this colony ; (2.) that the Council more especiaUy desired to express its sense of the frank, cordial, and truly- constitutional spirit on all occasions manifested by his excellency in his communication with that branch 1854.] DE. LANG's SPEECH AGAIN,?! PITZ-EOY. 355 of the Legislature — a course which had been attended with the happiest results, and had, in no shght degree, tended to confirm that love of order, and loyalty, and attachment to the parent state which pervaded aU ranks of the community ; (3.) that in bidding him fare- weU, the CouncU desired to convey to his exceUency the assurance of thefr best wishes, and to express a hope that his exceUency's administration of the go vernment of the colony inight ensure to him a continu ance of the confidence and favour of the Sovereign. Dr. Lang, in a speech fraught with bitter invective towards the Fitz-Roy family, proposed as an amend ment a series of resolutions condemnatory of the cha racter, the conduct, and the pohcy of the administra tion of Sfr Charles. The original proposition was carried, however, by a majority of twenty-eight against sis, and the resolutions so adopted were embodied in an address to the governor-general. Among the acts passed during this session was one empowering the government to treat with the se veral raUway companies for the purchase of thefr works. On the 3rd of December the House was prorogued. Fitz-Roy, in his speech, intimated that the end of his administration was near at hand. For this reason he intended to defer the initiation of the comprehensive system of raUway communication contemplated in an address presented to him by the House, leaving the adoption of the necessary measures in regard to that object to the officer who was to succeed him. Having referred to the estabUshment of the University, and to the endowment of the suffragan coUege.s, and the founding and endowing of the Sydney Grammar School, he announced that, "whUst the higher branches of education were thus liberaUy provided for, he had also, on thefr recommendation, appointed a commission to inqufre into the state of education throughout the colony, and he trusted that the result of thefr labours would be to increase the efficiency of the primary schools. He was unwUling to lose that opportunity of recording his opinion that the efforts made in the 356 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. cause of education in the colony were in the highest degree creditable to the inhabitants and to the mem bers of the Council. Bearing in mind the compara tively small number of the population, the sums ap propriated in aid of public education, in its various grades, would bear favourable comparison wdth the con tributions for like purposes of any other country whatever." Adverting to a subject which, although not poli tical, was of the deepest interest to the colonists, his excellency said that he had recently been informed by the Secretary of State that an expedition was being fitted out by her Majesty's government for the explora tion of the interior of the Australian continent. He was not without hope, he said, that advantage would be taken of this expedition, which would probably ren dezvous in the first instance at Moreton Bay, to carry out the recommendation contained in an address of the Council of that session, relative to making an effort to ascertain the ultimate fate of Dr. Leichhardt and party. This was the eighth and last session prorogued by Fitz-Roy. At the opening of this year a commencement was made of issuing leases to the squatters, the land regula tions promising which had been obtained in 1847. The carrying into effect of the measure at this particular juncture excited discussion which would otherwise not have taken place. The opponents of the Constitution Bill said, that to issue at this period leases which might have been issued at any time during the previ ous seven years, was intended to enable the friends of the squatters to urge on the ministry at home, in refer ence to that part of the Constitution BiU which dealt with the public lands, that the squatting system could not be altered in regard to tenure or rents, because the question had been settled under lease. On the other hand, it was alleged that the reason why the leases were not issued before was that the surveys were not made ; that there was no other reason for granting them at this particular juncture than that the arrangements for that purpose had just been com- ^^**1 ALEXANDEE CUTHILL SHOT. 357 pleted, and that they could be issued more opportunely than at the commencement of a year. The govemor-general, in the early part of the year, made a voyage to Port Curtis, where a settlement had recently been estabUshed. The "Golden Age," an American steamer of three thousand tons burden, ar rived in Sydney Harbour. An experiment was made with the view to covering with herbage the sand- hUls in the vicinity of Sydney, a sum of £600 having been voted for that purpose by the CouncU in the session of the preceding year. About six acres having been fenced in with boughs, was sown with oats and grass. Alexander CuthiU, an old-estabhshed and much es teemed medical practitioner of Sydney, was shot to wards the middle of the year by an insane person, when returning to town from Cook's River, where he had been on a professional visit. He was long celebrated for his benevolence and humanity, and he confirmed his character in this respect by leaving a legacy of £10,000 to the Asylum for Destitute ChUdren. In May a notorious gambhng house situate in Market Street was entered by the pohce by means of a key found on the person of a prisoner. The proprietor and seventeen others were found engaged in gambling, and were cap tured, after a struggle with the police. The keeper of the house was punished by two years' imprisonment, and the others were fined in various sums. A move ment was set on foot to petition the govemor-general of India in favour of the immigration to Austraha from Indian ports of cooUe labourers. The movement origi nated with about forty of the principal squatters and magistrates. The seventeenth of August was observed in the colony as a day of humUiation and solemn prayer to Almighty God on account of the war with Russia. Petitions were presented to the Legislative CouncU in the course of this year from a number of artisans and other working people in Scotland, praying that they inight receive such assistance as would enable them to remove to the colony. Many of the petitioners were 358 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. hand-loom weavers, whose occupation was abolished by the introduction of machinery. The petition was signed by twelve hundred adult persons. 1855.J This year opened with the departure of Fitz-Roy, and the installation of his successor. On the 20th the retiring governor-general held his fare well levee, and on that occasion he received addresses from the Executive Council, the Church of England and Roman Catholic clergy, and the clergy of the Church of Scotland, together with an address from the inhabi tants of the colony at large, accompanying a munificent testimonial in the shape of £2000 in money. On the 28th he embarked. He was accompanied to the place of embarkation by a large concourse of people, who cheered lustUy as they proceeded, and three steamers crowded with passengers accompanied the vessel down the harbour. Few are the governors whose characters have been so much aspersed as that of Sir Charles Fitz-Roy, yet during the administration of no govemor of New South Wales were the affairs of the colony so prosperous as they were while Fitz-Roy held the reins of government. One of his first official acts was to give audience to a deputation from a public meeting assembled for the pur pose of promoting the introduction of railways, and at a later period the first sod of the first Austrahan rail way was turned by a member of his family, himself as sisting in the momentous work. In his administration was also witnessed the consummation of a steam postal service between the colony and Great Britain, the dis covery of the auriferous treasures of the country, and the initiation of measures for the establishment of the Mint; and while he had the satisfaction of thus witnessing or assisting the rapid advances of the colony in a material point of view, he had the stUl higher pleasure of aiding its political, social, and intel lectual improvement in a remarkable degree. During his administration the colony passed through the throes which resulted in the birth of the constitution of 1853. In this period also was initiated that splendid monument of the enlightenment and civilization, as ^855.] CHAEACTEE OF SIE CHAELES FITZ-EOY. 359 weU as the munificence of New South Wales, the Sydney University. WhUe the political and inteUectual status of the colony was thus elevated to an almost un paraUeled extent, its social condition was improved in a proportionate degree by that entfre and final cessation of convictism for which the colonists had so long and so violently contended. K we look more intimately into the administration, we wUl find that to Fitz-Roy personaUy must be attid- buted no inconsiderable share of the success by which it was attended. Rarely, if ever, can a government be successful, the head of which is not capable ; but, not to be guided by general maxims, we find that Fitz- Roy was far from being that indolent, pleasure-seeking man whom his enemies would depict him. We know, as a matter of fact, that he made numerous tours through the colony and voyages along its coasts at no inconsiderable personal inconvenience. He was the ffrst of aU the governors who traversed the squatting districts, encouraging, by the presence of the repre sentative of royalty, the pioneers of enterprise and civilization. Nor was his industry in the cabinet less than his energy abroad, if we are to beUeve those who had the best opportunities of knowing. It is said that no paper of importance passed through his office, not only without his personal perusal, but without being minuted by him. An undue partiaUty for the fair sex was the weak point at which Fitz-Roy was most assaUed ; and in the censure in this particular his sons were always invol ved. Yet whUe there was abundant reason to know that the famUy were under the influence of this failing, which in thefr case may be considered hereditary, there is no weU authenticated proof that thefr amours were in themselves calculated to produce detriment to the pubhc morals, or injury to private honour. On the other hand, it is known that the sons of the govemor were on intimate terms with numerous young women of the middle class, whose reputation and prospects in no way suffered by an acquaintanceship which appears to have been as harmless as it was frank. 360 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI If in the agitation on the convict question, Fitz- Roy, on one occasion, did depart from the line of strict duty, it is certain that the difficulty of his position, the excited state of public opinion, the unscrupulous character of some of those who were opposed to him, and, above all, the vituperation which was poured on himself and family, through the columns of one or two not very reputable newspapers, to some extent afforded him an apology. On the other hand, he will ever be entitled to respect and gratitude for the success which attended the measures of his government for carrying the colony over those difficulties which beset its career during the great social revolution which foUowed on this discovery of its golden treasures. Y. But if the retiring governor, having admin istered the affairs of the colony for eight years, did not escape censure, his successor, even in assuming the reins of government, was deemed far from blame less. He was governor of Yan Diemen's Land when he received the superior appointment vacated by Sir Charles Fitz-Roy, and had held the reins of govern ment in that colony during the storm which prevailed there in reference to the transportation question. He never wavered in his line of conduct in connection with that momentous struggle. The pleasure of his employers was his sole rule of duty ; future advance ment his principal object. The results of this policy belong to the history of Tasmania rather than to that of New South Wales; but how far it was understood and appreciated in the latter colony is to be gleaned from the comments with which the announcement of the appointment of the new governor was hailed at Sydney. Referring to this subject a few weeks before Sfr William Denison's arrival, one of the leading Sydney journals said^" The claims of this gentleman to ' promotion ' in this line of professional business are one thing and his qualification to administer the government of New South Wales are another. That he is a man of considerable ability there can be httle question ; but he has earned, in Yan Diemen's Land at least, the mere reputation of a gaoler, and not that of 1*55.] MEMOEIAL TO THE N"EW GOVEENOE. 361 a very mild one. Nor is this aU. Our own govemor was once convicted, on strong evidence, of misrepre senting the sentiments of the colonists on the trans portation question. The cfrcumstance went far to destroy his beneficial influence here. But Sfr WUham Denison has been proved guUty of the same fault in aggravated forms, and of using language in his de spatches of a very slanderous character with regard to the persons of his opponents. How such a man can deserve place and power in such a colony as New South Wales we are at a loss to understand. Nor is it easy to take refuge in the consideration that the occasion of such misrepresentation is past and gone, and cannot return. The individual who has done a wUful wrong once, and not pubUshed his repentance, ought not to be trusted a second time. Sfr WUham, on coming here, will have to earn confidence before he gets it."* The party from whose organ these remarks ema nated was the first, nevertheless, to memorialize the new govemor. Early in February a meeting was held at Sydney, at which a petition was adopted, praying his exceUency to dissolve the CouncU, with a view to the reconsideration of the hew constitution. The petitioners said that " in fuU reUance on his excel lency's desfre and abUity, by all constitutional means, to promote the advancement and good government of this colony, they submitted that it was of the highest importance that the form of government to be esta bhshed in New South Wales shoidd be in accordance wdth the judgment of those on whose respect and sup port the strength, utUity, and permanence of that go vernment would depend. They further submitted that the Constitution BiU, now under the consideration of her Majesty's advisers, was passed by the Legislative CouncU in ignorance or in defiance of the opinion of a large majority of the electors by whom the representa tive portion of the House was elected, and that, in a matter of such moment, it was just and indispensable that those whose obedience to the future government * Sydney " Empire." 362 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. and laws of this country would be required, and who had been appealed to by the Imperial Parliament to sanction and define that government, and the creation of those laws, should be fully heard and clearly under stood. This they submitted was the intention of her Majesty when this momentous question was submitted to the Colonial Legislature, and this wdse and most gracious intention would be defeated, and a heavy responsibility incurred, if any form of government should be constituted for the colony without a direct and constitutional appeal to the decision of the elec tors, by a general election of representatives to serve in the Legislative Council ; and although they denied that, under the present Electoral Act, those opinions could ever be fairly represented, yet they would point out that their right thus to exercise the suffrage, upon the proposed fundamental law, was sanctioned by the principles and in accordance with the practice of the British Constitution. They submitted that the trifling inconvenience of a general election must, under any circumstances, soon take place, while irreparable mis chief might be done by omitting to ascertain, beyond doubt, the opinion of the country, as far as it was pos sible to do so, on this the most important question that could be submitted to a people deemed worthy of self- government. For these reasons, amongst many others, they requested the immediate dissolution and re-elec tion of the CouncU, assuring his excellency that as they earnestly desired to avoid the possibility of con tention with the Imperial Parliament, or her Majesty's advisers, so they desired that the future constitution of this colony should as closely as possible adhere to the principles of that of Great Britain, and that for the success or failure of such constitution, framed by themselves, the colonists alone might be answer able." In reply to this address, Denison said he " must express his regret that, relying as the petitioners pro fessed to do on his desire and abihty to promote the advancement and good government of the colony, they should, within so short a period after his assumption 1855] MEETING FOE THE PATEIOTIC FUND. 363 of the government, have pressed upon him the adop tion of a measure of so extreme a character as that of the dissolution of the Council — a measure which, in the present circumstances of the colony, appeared to him not only uncaUed for, but injurious, as tending to excite unnecessarily bitter feelings of pohtical and party strife. He said unnecessarily, for whatever the opinion of the members of the new CouncU inight be upon the subject of the form of government to be henceforward estabUshed, it could not, at that late period, be made to operate in modilying the course of action of her Majesty's government in relation to the measure which had been submitted for thefr consider ation in accordance with the forms prescribed by law. For these reasons he must dechne to accede to the request of the petitioners that he would dissolve the CouncU." The Queen's warrant for forming a fund by public subscription for the reUef of the widows and orphans of those soldiers who feU in the Russian war was pub Ushed in the colony at the commencement of February, and a few days later a meeting was held in Sydney to adopt measures for assisting the efforts of the British Central Committee ofthe "Patriotic Fund," as that in question was caUed. The meeting was one of the largest and most enthusiastic ever held in the colony. The govemor-general presided. A series of resolu tions were adopted, to the effect — (1.) That the meet ing regarded with the highest admiration and gra titude the gaUant conduct of their countrymen who were engaged in the naval and mihtary operations in the east of Europe ; (2.) that they cordiaUy responded to the proposition of her Majesty that a fund be formed for the reUef of the widows and orphans of the soldiers, saUors, and marines kUled in action, or dying from other casualties when employed in service connected with the war ; (3.) that, recognizing the justice of the great struggle in which her Majesty and her allies were then engaged, and deeply sympathising with thefr feUow-countrymen who were caUed upon to meet danger and death in the contest, they pledged them- 364 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VL selves to renewed efforts in support of the objects em braced in her Majesty's commission, should the con tinuance ofthe war render such efforts necessary." A committee was appointed to carry out the foregoing re solutions, with instructions to communicate with the clergy, magistrates, and other colonists, soliciting their prompt and liberal co-operation, and suggesting the formation of local committees throughout the various districts of the colony. Within a few days £8000 was subscribed. The list of subscriptions contained one sum of £1000, one of £500, three of £250, one of £200, and twenty-eight of £100. Mr. Daniel Cooper subscribed £1000, and promised £500 annually during the continuance of the war. In the country meetings similar to that held in Sydney speedily followed, and the entire colony acted in a manner to prove that there are occasions when extensive empires wdll co-operate with as much zeal, goodwill, and efficiency as a single family. While the colonists were thus liberally assisting the parent state in the war in which she was engaged, they themselves were not exempt from the evils attendant on the contest. Steam communication ceased as a re sult of the war ; the company which had the contract for conveying the mails alleging that, after the com mencement of hostihties, they lost by their contract at the rate of £40,000 per annum. The Council met on the 6th of June. The gover nor-general in his opening speech said that of aU the subjects which pressed themselves on the attention of the government, that to which they attached most im portance was education. " Much had been done by the munificence of the Legislature in endowing institutions such as the University, the affiliated colleges, and the Sydney Grammar School, but these could hardly be ex pected to produce the proper fruit, unless the seed of education were sown in primary schools, and ample means provided for the instruction of the whole mass of the population. It was with the view to the intro duction of a system which would keep pace with the requirements of the rapidly-increasing population, and 1855.] OPENING SPEECH OF THE GOVEP.NOE-GENEEAL. 365 which would afford the youth of the colony the means of qualifying themselves to take that share in the ad ministration of the government to which, as natives, they had a right to look forward, that he was prepared to submit a measure for thefr consideration, which, whUe enforcing on the people the paramount duty of educating thefr chUdren, would place in the hands of the government ample means for meeting aU the ex penses which a perfect and comprehensive system of education must involve." He recommended to thefr special consideration a measure which, under the name of a bUl for promoting the pubhc health, was, in point of fact, an enactment conferring on the inhabitants of towns a system of local organization for certain pur poses, bearing not only on their sanitary condition, but on thefr coinfort and convenience. " This municipal system was based, of course, on the principle that the funds apphed to local purposes should be raised by local assessment — a principle which might be most be- neficiaUy acted upon with regard to the roads of the colony. Past experience proved the utter inadequacy of the common macadamized road to meet the daily in creasing demands for transport of every kind, and it was therefore obvious that, as the means of water- carriage were in this colony so very Umited, recourse must be had to an extensive system of raUways, by which the country must be covered as with a net- work, so that eventually every settler might hope to be within a reasonable distance from one of those main routes of transit. Contemplating, however, as he did, this very extensive development of the raUway system, it was not proposed to adopt a mode of construction which, by involving an inordinate expenditure on the original formation of the roads, must of course limit the dis tance over which it would be in the power ofthe colony to extend them. This expensive system of construc tion inight be necessary where high rates of speed were required, but by Umiting the speed to ten or twelve inUes per hour, by employing the material which nature had placed at thefr disposal, by eschewfrig every ex pense which had not economy for its ultimate object, it 366 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. would be possible to bring the cost within such narrow limits as would enable the colony in the course of some few years to reckon the number of mUes of railway by thousands." Referring to the stoppage ofthe regular monthly postal communication wdth England, which had already produced much inconvenience, his ex ceUency said that he had addressed letters to the governors of the other Australian colonies and of New Zealand, for the purpose of ascertaining whether, by the joint action of all, arrangements might not be made which, by relieving the home government of a portion of the cost of maintaining the monthly steamers, would ensure the speedy re-establishment of a system, the advantages of which were so great. The House were informed of the measures which had been adopted in connection with the defences of the harbour — a subject which had acquired increased importance since the breaking out of the war. " The general scheme of de fence," said his exceUency, "which was prepared some years ago, and was approved of by Sir John Burgoyne, and which was adopted in part by the government of the colony, appeared to have been, so far as the works themselves were concerned, well calculated to secure the harbour from insult ; but, in attempting to carry this out, sufficient attention was not paid to the altered circumstances of the colony, nor to the nature of the means at the disposal of the government for maintain ing a military force adequate to the defence of those works. Under those circumstances he had thought it advisable to discontinue any further outlay on the works at the entrance to the harbour, and to cause a fresh scheme to be prepared, which, while it would mate rially reduce the outlay on the works themselves, would at the same time very much facilitate the arrangement for providing proper and efficient garrisons for them." The course adopted by the govemor in regard to the fortifications did not long go unchaUenged. On the motion for going into the consideration of the estimates, which were brought forward in August, Martin moved as an amendment a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That the Council having passed an ^®^-^ THE FOETTFICATIONS. 367 act appropriating, in addition to the sums already voted, £30,000 for the execution of works of defence at Middle Harbour and South Head, it was their opinion that it was the duty of the Executive to carry that act into effect ; and that the conduct of the gover nor-general in not only neglecting such duty, but in spending the money so appropriated in dismantling the batteries at ]Middle Harbour, and in abandoning altogether the works of defence at South Head, was highly irregular and unconstitutional, and called for the strong condemnation of the House ; (2.) that the works at South Head and Middle Harbour ought to be immediately proceeded wdth, and the CouncU was prepared to vote, in addition to the £30,000 afready appropriated, such other sums as might be necessary to complete such works in an efficient manner; (3.) that immediate steps should be taken to procure, not only with a view to the present crisis, but as a wise measure of protection under any cfrcumstances, a large niunber ofthe heaviest guns, not less than two hundred and fifty, with not less than five thousand Minie rifles, and a corresponding supply of ammunition; (4.) that urgent application should be at once made to the Secretary of State for the Colonies for at least two heavy frigates, fitted with auxiliary screw propeUers, to be sent to Sydney immediately on danger of any war arising between Great Britain and any maritime power other than Russia ; and that the CouncU was prepared to vote the whole of the money requfred to maintain such frigates, so long as they should remain in, or be employed in the actual defence of. Port Jackson or any other port of the colony. These reso lutions were, after a debate extending over two days, negatived by a majority of twenty-eight to nine. At the same time, the House voted £60,000 for the new works projected by the govemor at Kissmg Point and elsewhere. YI. In October, the new Constitution, retumed with the confirmation of the Imperial Parhament, was received in the colony, and on the 31st of that month the govemor-general announced the fact to the CouncU 370 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. by message. The act was accompanied by a despatch from Lord John Russell. The Secretary of State said that " it was his opinion, and that of the Parliament, that although the Legislature of New South Wales had exceeded the powers conferred on it by passing the bill, and although, therefore, a parliamentary enact ment was necessary, it was expedient to preserve in form as well as in substance the measure which had been fully considered and finally enacted by that Legis lature, rather than supersede its provisions by dfrect parliamentary legislation. In rigorous adherence to the same principle, no alteration had been made in any of those provisions which were simply of a local cha racter. But those portions of the provincial enactment which controlled and regulated the future power of the Crown as to the reservation and disallowance of colonial acts, and as to the instructions to be given to the governors respecting them, had been omitted by ParUament. The only other portions omitted were clauses 63 and 54 of the Colonial Act, according to the original enumeration, which went beyond the functions of the Legislature, as they applied to other colonies besides New South Wales, and might have become inconvenient from their possible conflict with other local enactments. " With respect to the schedule containing the ciril list, as it was popularly termed, although in effect it was only an enactment withholding certain portions of the regular expenditure of the colony from being voted in the annual estimates, her Majesty's government had the fullest reason to recognize the ample nature of the provision therein made, and to admit that the Legislature had acted on a very Uberal understanding of the mutual engagements which formed the basis of the present enactment. It was, however, by no means the wish to enforce on the colony the observance of the present arrangement as final ; but the governor-general was instructed to reserve for the assent of the Crown any bill which might affect the interests of the present incumbents, either in regard to their salaries or thefr pensions, unless in his discretion he might think proper i^°-l LOED JOHN EUSSELl's DESPATCH. 369 to negative it. With respect to aU other bUls, he had no instructions to convey, other than those imphed in the general rule, that her Majesty's government fuUy recognized in practice the expediency of leaving local questions to be dealt with by the local legislature, al though they were not prepared to admit the practi cabUity of the scheme devised by the Legislature of New South Wales for classifying such questions. " He need scarcely say that the question of in troducing into the measures lately before Parliament, clauses to estabhsh a federal union of the Australian colonies for the purposes of thefr common interest.^;, had been very seriously weighed by her Majesty's go vernment ; but they had been led to the conclusion that the present was not a proper opportunity for such an enactment, although they would give the fuUest consideration to any proposition on the subject which might emanate in concurrence from the respective legislatures. " He would conclude with the expression of a sin cere hope, and that of her Majesty's government, that the new institution thus conferred on New South Wales, greatly extending as it did the powers of self- government now possessed by the community, inight prove a permanent and sohd advantage. It had been a source of deep satisfaction to her Majesty's govern ment, and to aU classes in the mother country, to mark the practical evidence afforded by their Australian feUow- subjects, and, foremost amongst these, by the people of New South Wales, of deep sympathy with the fortunes of the parent state in the arduous struggle in which she was then engaged ; and at the same time the colonists of New South Wales, by their avowed desire to assimUate the institutions as far as possible to those of the parent country, had proved that this sympathy was not merely the expression of a common sentiment arising from a common origin, but was con nected with a dehberate attachment to the ancient laws of the community from which thefr own had sprung. Whilst continuing, therefore, to pursue their present independent career of progress and prosperity, B B 370 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. he had the fuUest confidence that they would combine with it a sedulous maintenance of ties thus cemented alike by feeling and principle." Clauses 63 and 64, referred to by the Secretary of State, related to the boundaries of the colonies, de claring, among other things, that the boundaries of New South Wales, Yictoria, and South Australia were not to be altered without the legislative sanction of the colony parting with its territory. One amendment introduced by Parliament gave considerable satisfac tion. This had reference to the obnoxious two-thirds clauses, as the 17th and 42nd were caUed. The former declared that no alteration should be made in the num ber or apportionment of the members of the Assembly unless two-thfrds of the members of the Assembly voted for the second and third readings of the bill for that purpose; the latter declared that no alteration should be made relative to the construction of the Le gislative Council, except wdth the concurrence of two- thirds of both Houses. The act, as it was returned to the colony, authorized the repeal of those clauses by a bare majority. To make this matter intelligible, it is necessary to point out that, as the sanction of Par liament was necessary for the bUl, the several provi sions of the measure became, in point of fact, sections of an Act of Parliament, and it was, at least, doubtful whether, in the absence of a special provision, the new Colonial Legislature could have in any way meddled wdth them. Except in regard to the matters referred to in the 17th and 42nd clauses, no such special pro vision was contained in the original bill; and thus, while the new Legislature could alter the system of representation and the constitution of the Council by majorities of two-thirds, it was doubtful whether they would have power to abolish that condition, seeing that the framers of the bUl had omitted to provide for legis lating in reference to the provisions of the biU all and several. The Parliament introduced a clause into their assenting bill, giving the new Colonial Legisla ture authority to alter or amend any of the provisions of the constitution by bare majorities. Hence it was ^'^=J ADDEESS TO THE QUEEN. 371 that to the Imperial ParUament the colonists owed the power to repeal the two-thfrds clauses. The CouncU adopted, on the motion of Cowper, an address to the Queen on the occasion of the faU of Se bastopol. The address set forth that "Her Majesty's loyal subjects, the members of the Legislature of New South Wales, in councU assembled, begged to approach her Majesty with the assurance that the inteUigence which had just reached thefr shores of the capture of Sebastopol by the aUied forces had fiUed aU classes of her Majesty's subjects in this distant portion of her dominions with joy, to which no language of thefrs could give adequate expression ; and they hastened to join in the congratiUation which a triumph so brilliant and decisive had aleady eUcited from those whose proximity to the scene of victory had enabled them to offer an earher, but not more earnest or spontaneous expression of the proud feehngs which inspfred them." The CouncU adjourned for a day in honour of the event. The mode in which the contract for the perform ance of the sewerage- works of the city of Sydney was carried out occupied a good deal of the attention of the CouncU and of the pubUc during this year. It was aUeged that the contractors had fraudulently charged as rock some parts of the excavation which were only soU, and that the officers of the commission ers had connived at a deceit by which the country was defrauded of large sums of money. Martin and Flood were the principal movers in the matter in the House, the latter, owing to his practical acquaintance with such works, being justly regarded as a good authority in reference to the transaction. A committee of the House, with Martin for chairman, was appointed to in vestigate the charges, and these appointed a board to examine the works. In thefr report to the House the committee inti mated that it had been proved that the bricks and cement used in the works were of an inferior cha racter. They had further arrived at the conclusions, looking at the evidence, that the contract was drawn in a most injudicious, improper, and unbusinesslike 372 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. manner ; that in an erroneous analysis, made by the city engineer, of the various tenders sent in to the commissioners, that of Mr. Randle was accepted, while another tender, that of a Mr. Murphy, was far more advantageous, and would, if accepted, have saved the city many thousands ; that the difference between the tenders of Randle and Murphy, and the great advan tage of accepting the latter in preference to the former, were so palpable that the commissioners were dfrectly blameable for allowing themselves to be misled by their engineer in this most important matter ; that the ma terial and workmanship in the earlier portion of the work were of a most inferior character ; that in several instances the rendering of cement, provided by the contract, was not performed, and portions of brick work, actually paid for and required to ensure the solidity of the work, were omitted by the contractors ; that large portions of the excavation, extending to several thousands of feet, were permitted by the en gineers to be made by means of tunneUing, when they ought to have been made by means of open cuttings, which, according to the schedule of prices, would have been about one-fourth the expense of tunnelling, and, therefore, a saving of many thousands of pounds thus improperly thrown away ; that upwards of two thousand linear feet of tunnelUng had been paid for as though driven through rock, or through rock and soil combined, when it was, in reality, driven through soil, thus involving an over-payment to the contractor of many thousands, and that, too, on certi ficates so palpably false, that the commissioners were morally responsible for the frauds which such overpay ments implied ; that the prices agreed to be given to Randle for the excavation were most extravagant; that in the excavation alone, supposing Murphy's ten der to have been accepted, and he had made open cuttings where these ought to have been made, and charged only for soil where soil appeared, the saving to the city would not have been less than £30,000, and would, in aU probability, have been considerably more. The report then went on to say that, although i*»^-l THE SEWEEAGE CONTEACT. 373 there was a clause in the contract prohibiting Randle from underletting any portion of the work, without the consent of the commissioners, the contractor did underlet portions wdthout such consent, and at prices which clearly showed that the commissioners had made a most improvident bargain ; that the repeated refusal of Mais, the assistant-engineer, on whose report aU the payments were made, to produce the original measure ment-book to the committee, and the connivance in such refusal by the commissioners, and particularly by Commissioner DaweU, were circumstances which were calculated to create, and had created, in the minds of the committee the gravest suspicions ; that these sus picion were strengthened by the fact that in one street Mais reported, on four different occasions, at intervals of a fortnight, that nearly two hundred feet of tunnel- hng had been driven through rock, more than the whole length of the timnel in that street, thus making a " mistake " in favour of the contractor to the extent of nearly £1000, which was but one of a series of similar " mistakes" to even a greater extent. The report went on to say, " That, upon the whole, it was the opinion of the committee that the commissioners had shown themselves unfit to be continued in office any longer, and that the city engineers had displayed a degree of negUgence, ignorance, or corruption, which rendered it incumbent on the law-officers of the Crown to inqufre whether they had not brought them selves within the reach of the criminal law." Having expressed thefr regret that in the discharge of thefr pubhc duty they were compeUed to arrive at and record the foregoing conclusion, the committee said that " they were now thoroughly persuaded that the appointment of the commissioners was an unconstitu tional experiment, the error of which had been most un mistakably demonstrated. However weU grounded were the complaints against the late city councU, they did not think that the worst enemy of that body would ever dream of charging upon them such grave mis conduct, or unpardonable inefficiency, as the commis sioners had exhibited. If it were possible, within the 374 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [cHAP. VI. short period which would elapse before the prorogation or dissolution of the Council, to reconstruct the Cor poration Act, they thought that such a course ought to be taken. But, as that course was impracticable, they were of opinion that some temporary expedient should be adopted, and therefore made the following recommendations — (1.) That an address be presented to the governor-general, praying the dismissal of the three commissioners ; (2.) that the act appointing these officers be immediately repealed, and power given to the governor-general to nominate as the city council, till the end of next year, any twelye persons who had ever been members of the late city council, and also as mayor, at a salary of £800 a year, some gentleman who had afready held that office ; (3.) that Rider, the city engineer, and Mais, the assistant-engineer, be re commended for immediate dismissal, and be considered incapable of ever after holding any appointment in the public service ; (4.) that immediate proceedings be taken to recover damages from Mr. Randle for breach of contract, as weU as the large sums which he had been already overpaid. Martin, who was chairman of the select committee, moved, in his place in the House, the adoption of the report. James Macarthur moved as an amendment that an address be' presented to the governor-general, transmitting the report, with the evidence and ap- j)endix, and requesting his excellency to cause such steps to be taken in relation to the evidence, and such further inquiry to be made, as the public interests de manded, but at the same time informing his excellency that the Council was not committed to the conclusions arrived at in the report of the select committee. After a protracted debate the amendment was carried, twenty- two members voting in the affirmative, and six in the negative. Thus was compromised an affair in which a suf ficient amount of fraud and corruption were proved beyond question to afford a striking example of the ne cessity there exists that a government should never re lax its vigilance over the acts of even its highest ^®^J THE COUNCIL PEOEOGUED. 375 officers, and that in a country where representative in stitutions prevaU, the Legislature should never slumber to the acts and proceedings ofthe government and its officials. A committee of the Legislature, assisted by a board consisting of scientific men, and by numerous witnesses, arriving at the conclusion that in one item alone the country was defrauded of thfrty thousand pounds, in connection with works executed within the city, nay, in the principal streets, under the eyes ofthe authorities, and at the doors of the citizens, show that if private fortunes may be ruined by recklessness or improvidence, cfrcumstances may arise wherein com monwealths also may suffer from the same causes, no less than from those other evUs which usuaUy lead to the falling away of states. The House during this session adopted an address to the govemor-general, on motion of George Macleay, praying that £1000 inight be placed in the estimates for the ensuing year for the purpose of clearing the channel of the river Murray, and £1000 for a simUar work in the Murrumbidgee. On motion of DaweU a resolution was passed, increasing the governor-general's salary from £5000 to £7000. In July the CouncU had the first practical intimation of the approaching inau guration of the new constitution. A message was re- • ceived from the govemor-general, instructing the House to prepare two chambers, with a view to the division of the Legislature contemplated by that measure. The govemor-general proposed that a sum of £600 should be voted to test the quahties of Aus trahan woods. YLE. On the 19th of December the CouncU was pro rogued, and thus closed the last session of a Legis lature whose constitution impUed that the colony was StUl in a state of pupUage, incapable of exercising that complete control over its own affairs which was in herently its right. Thenceforward the colonists, in completely dfrecting their intemal pohcy, were respon sible for the condition which their affafrs would pre sent in the eyes of the world. Hitherto, if the tide of prosperity were checked, the colonists were enabled to 376 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. transfer the whole blame to the shoulders of the au thorities in London, who possessed so large a share in their government, or, at all events, to that system under which they only partially enjoyed the right of re presentation. If calamity overtook the colony, from execrating these the colonists derived some solace in their tribulation. Now it was to be otherwise. If the colony did not prosper, the people incurred contempt or odium in the eyes of their fellow-subjects in other parts of the empire ; if its affairs presented an example of growth and advancement, their wisdom, enterprise, and energy would be the theme of praise and admfra tion. Thus they had attained a boon which, according as it was used, might be the source of degradation or the medium of the highest honour. So far as the past could be an augury of the future, the new era which was opened up to the colonists was of the most promising character. It could not be said that the great political prize which they had just won was one which they did not esteem at its proper value, for long and painfully did they struggle for its attain ment. The superior position which they had now at tained they had contended for inch by inch and step by step. The colony in a political sense might be likened to one of those individuals occasionaUy met with in history, who, born in the humblest grade of Ufe, and*- amid the greatest penury, by dint of industry, energy, and perseverance, combined with certain superior qualifications which they possessed inherently, suc ceeded in elevating themselves into the highest ranks. Never was an individual more impoverished in regard to the world's goods than the colony in its early days was in regard to political freedom ; never did a man occupy among his contemporaries a more humble social position than did New South Wales occupy among the colonies of the British empire for many years after its establishment. And as those men who rise from the humbler walks of life to positions of dignity and affiuence, rarely, if ever, fall into a state of apathy or idleness, so it was to be expected that a colony which by its own assiduous and laborious exertion had risen from i'-5=] THE N-EW CONSTITUTION INAUGUEATED. 377 the lowest grade which a dependency could occupy, would not, now that it had attained a position of high honour, be content to devote itself thenceforward either to inactivity, or to the achievement of objects of a merely secondary or unpraiseworthy character. On the same day on which the CouncU was pro rogued, the new constitution was formaUy inaugurated by the govemor-general being newly sworn in under a commission from her Majesty, revoking that under which he formerly held his authority, and re-appointing him Governor-in-chief of New South Wales. Hitherto he was the servant of the administration in England ; he now became the representative of her Majesty, and one of the three estates constituting the government of the colony. The question of the expediency of continuing state aid to rehgion was agitated in the course of this year. A proposal having been made in the CouncU to supple ment the schedules for pubhc worship by a vote of £17,000, to enable the clergy to meet the increased expense thrown upon them in consequence of the gold discovery, those who were opposed to state support altogether seized the occasion for the purpose of a de monstration in support of their views. A numerously attended meeting was held in Sydney, at which reso lutions were adopted to the .effect — (1.) That the system of state endowments for religious purposes, as existing in the colony, was anti-scriptural, inasmuch as it granted support to antagonistic creeds ; that it caused a wasteful expenditure of the pubhc money, and that results more beneficial for the religious in struction of the people and the adequate maintenance of ministers of the gospel would flow from devolving the support of reUgious ordinances on the Christian hberaUty of the people ; (2.) that differences of opinion regarding the duty of the civU magistrate in rehgious matters need not hinder united action in endeavouring to put an end to an admitted practical grievance ; (3.) that the CouncU be petitioned to refuse its assent to the proposal of the govemor-general to supplement the estimates by any additional grant for ecclesiastical 378 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. purposes, and, further, that the Legislature be earnestly requested to take any measures competent to them to abolish state endowments for the maintenance of pub lic worship in New South Wales. A petition, based on these resolutions, was adopted, but the House, nevertheless, voted the additional grant. And very properly too, for owing to the greatly augmented cost of the necessaries of life, many of those clergymen who happened to have large families were reduced to a position of absolute distress ; and as voluntaryism had not yet been recognized by the state, nor generaUy adopted by the people, it was the duty of the govern ment to see that the clergy were not, through the in adequacy of their salaries, reduced to a state of penury, as much as it was their duty to exercise a similar care with regard to the class of ordinary officials. A new exploring expedition set out in the month of July this year. The enterprise was suggested by the Geographical Society of London, and the expense was borne by the Imperial Government. The leader was Mr. Gregory, who had afready become favourably known as an explorer by journeys in the vicinity of Swan River. The party consisted of twenty, includ ing a geologist, botanist, surgeon, and draughtsman. Two vessels bore them with their equipments and stores to Moreton Bay.. Here they were to take in a quantity of live stock, and thence sail round Cape York into the Gulf of Carpentaria, and onward to the mouth of the Yictoria River. Arrived here, they were to proceed in thefr vessels up the river as far as it was navigable, after which they were to disembark, and taking up the track pursued by Capt. Stokes on a former occasion, foUow it as far as was practicable towards the head of the river. After this it was left to the discretion of the leader to proceed in the direc tion which should seem most promising for the purpose of effecting the grand object of the expedition, namely, to penetrate into the heart of the country. This expe dition excited the more interest, as it was conceived possible that it might throw some light on the fate of Leichhardt's party. 183.5.] DEATH OF SIE THOMAS MITCHELL. 379 In September the raUway to Parramatta having been completed, was formaUy opened in the presence of an immense concourse of spectators, the first train setting out on its journey amid a salute of artUlery and the cheers of assembled thousands. In June in teUigence was received to the effect that the home government had resolved to re-estabhsh steam commu nication with the Austrahan colonies. This determi nation was influenced by certain riots which had taken place at BaUarat, in Yictoria, wherein the military were caUed into action to queU the rebeUious diggers. The Sydney mint was opened on the 14th May, and at the same time a proclamation was issued making the Sydney coin current in aU the colonies of Austraha, and in Tasmania and New Zealand. Up to the 9th of March, a sum of £30,000 had been remitted, in two drafts, as a quota of the contribution of New South Wales towards the Patriotic Fimd. No British colony had equaUed even this contribution. In May arrived Dr. Barker, the second Bishop of Sydney and Metropohtan of the Protestant Episcopal Church. The colony lost one of its most distinguished men in the course of this year. Sfr Thomas MitcheU, the indefatigable and successful explorer, the accomphshed "historian of his own expeditions, the poet, and the man of science, died on the 5th October. A miUtary officer of more than forty years standing, he was on the staff of the Duke of Wellington in the Peninsular war, and received a medal and five clasps for his services in the field of battle. At the time of his decease he was entitled by seniority to the rank of major-general. His services to the colony were numerous, and of the most valuable description. The several exploring ex peditions which he conducted need not be mentioned, as they have been fuUy referred to in the course of this work ; to his skUl and energy was due the successful construction of the principal roads by which the in terior of the country was opened up for the purposes of colonization, chief amongst which is that over the Blue Mountains. His zeal and efficiency as surveyor- 380 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. general was evinced in various ways, not the least of which was the execution of several valuable maps and plans. Besides his exceUent narratives of his own expedition, he contributed to literature a metrical translation of the Lusiad of Camoens, and shortly before his death he laboured successfully in the field of science by applying to the screw propeller the princi ples on which the boomerang of the New Hollander performs its wonderful gyrations in the air. To the very last he devoted himself to the discharge of his onerous duties. His death resulted from bronchitis, produced by exposure during a surveying expedition, in which he had recently been engaged. He was em phaticaUy one of those men whose career dignifies the nation among whom they Uve and labour. The total revenue of the colony for this year was £1,643,403, and the gross expenditure £1,660,688. 1856.] YIII. This year opened wdth the establish ment of responsible government. On the 22nd Janu ary the govemor-general sent for Stuart Alexander Donaldson, and charged him with the important duty of forming the first ministry. Although, as in all un dertakings which are completely new, great difficulty was apparent at the outset, Donaldson did not shrink from the task. His first step was to ask Cowper to join the administration which he proposed to form. Recognizing the fact that he was chiefly distin guished in matters of statesmanship by his skiU in finance, Donaldson proposed to assume the secondary office of treasurer, with the honorary position of premier, giving to Mr. Cowper the principal office of secretary. Whether, as is probable, he felt chagrined that to himself, as the principal leader of the colonists in most of the great movements in which they were latterly engaged, had not been entrusted the work of constructing the first administration, or whether some other cause influenced him, Cowper declined this offer ; and similar proposals, as was said, having been rejected in other quarters also, the month closed without a ministry having been caUed into existence. A provi sional Executive was now appointed, the heads of the 1858.] ASSEMBLY OP THE NEW PAELIAMEN-T. 381 late government remaining in charge of thefr several departments untU a more successful attempt to form a constitutional administiation shoidd have resulted in supplying thefr places. On the 29th February the old Council was dissolved, and the elections under the new order of things pro ceeded. The elections having been completed Mr. Donaldson resumed his efforts to form a ministry, and this time was more successful. He himself assumed the office of chief secretary and premier. Manning was attorney-general, DaweU soUcitor-general, and Nichols auditor-general. The office of treasurer stUl remained unfiUed. The ministers were appointed mem bers ofthe Executive CouncU on the 29th AprU. The new ParUament assembled on the 22nd May. The Houses were opened by commission. Sfr Alfred Stephen assumed the position of President ofthe Coun cU. For the office of Speaker of the Assembly there were two candidates — Mr. Daniel Cooper, who was put forward by the Liberal party ; Mr. Henry Watson Parker, by the Conservative section of the House. The former was elected by a majority of one vote. On the foUowing day, the govemor-general opened the House in person. In his opening speech he con gratulated himself on addressing for the first time a Legislature constituted under the provisions of an enactment framed for the purpose of adopting, as far as circumstances would admit, the principles which were characteristic of the British constitution ; and he trusted that this form of government would be foimd congenial to the habits and feehngs, and conducive to the happiness and prosperity of the people of New South Wales. " Under the former constitution of the colony the govemor alone was responsible for the pohcy of the government, and for the measures sub mitted to the Legislature by which that pohcy was intended to be carried into effect ; under the present constitution the govemor was most properly reUeved from that great responsibihty, which now would faU on those gentlemen whom he inight select as his advisers, and in whose abUity, integrity, and pohtical principles 382 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. the Legislature placed confidence. As in their former relation he was always most anxious to press on their notice whatever could, in his opinion, be conducive to the interests of the colony, so now he should be ever ready to carry into effect, as the head of the Executive, such measures as the Legislature might consider best calculated to enhance the general prosperity." He con gratulated them on the propitious season with which, under Divine Providence, they had been favoured, and on the general prosperity of the colony. Revert ing to the less favourable side of the picture, he said that the failure of the cereal crops in 1854, followed by considerable commercial depression arising from this and other causes, had exercised an unfavourable influence on the customs revenue for 1855 and for the first four months of the present year, and the amount of revenue coUected during this period had fallen considerably short of the estimate. A bill to repeal those clauses of the Constitution Act which required a majority of two-thirds of the Legislature to effect changes in the system of representation in the con stitution of the Upper House, was announced. His exceUency proceeded to say that "the management of the public lands, and the control ofthe revenues derived from that source, having been surrendered to the local government, and the Imperial acts for the disposal of those lands having been repealed, it would be their duty to give their immediate attention to this most important subject. He confided in the wisdom of the Legislature to aid the government in the enactment of measures by which, without violating the pubhc faith, or sacrificing existing interests, greatly increased faci lities might be afforded for the acquisition of land by persons of all classes, and the settlement of the country promoted. Arrangements were in progress for sur veying and preparing for sale a very large extent of valuable land, and for the improvement and more prompt issue of deeds of grant." In conclusion, he announced that he had not yet placed the members of the Executive in charge of the departments of the government because their seats in the Assembly would 1856.] goveenoe's opening SPEECH : ADDEESS IN EEPLY. 383 thereby have become vacant ; and as there was no power to issue new writs for the respective districts until the meeting of ParUament he should then have been de prived of the opportunity of explaining at the com mencement of the session the principles on which the government was prepared to act wdth reference to many important questions which must necessarily be sub mitted for thefr consideration. The address in reply was moved by Faucett. It was opposed by Cowper and his friends, on the ground that the govemor-general had not acted right in caUing a new ministry together. It was argued that instead of appointing ministers to undertake the functions of the old officials, those gentlemen who had been so hbe- rally provided for by the country should have been at the outset vested with the functions of responsible ministers. " Some of these," it was said, " had pre sented themselves to constituencies, and had been retumed to the Assembly; and those who had not should have been nominated to the Upper Chamber, so that in one House or the other they might have met the representatives of the people. Some of them were stiU in office, why were not aU in one House or the other ? Some of them were in the Upper House, why were any of them there if not to meet in thefr official capacity the first Parliament ofthe country ?" On the other hand it was argued that the old officials, having been provided with pensions by the 61st section of the Constitution Act, they were pensioned off, and the time had arrived when they should retfre on pohtical grounds. " But," it was asked, " had they retfred ? They had not been released from the duties of their office according to the spirit of the act. Then, again, the govemor-general could not appoint ministers ofthe Crown. It was not the Crown that appointed ministers in England, as was shown by the fact that it sometimes happened that the Premier was most obnoxious to the Crown. AU the Sovereign had to do in such cases was to ascertain who were the men among the represen tatives of the people who commanded the greatest amount of the confidence of the House, and having 384 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. vi. ascertained that point, these were the men who should be in office and none others." In his explanation Donaldson admitted that Cowper, in the first instance, aUeged as a reason for not joining his administration, that the time was premature for forming a ministry — that affairs were not ripe for such an event. He said he should like to join, but under the circumstances he must formally decline to do so. Th^ negotiation extended over two days. In the first instance Cowper was offered the treasurership, and having declined this, the office of secretary was placed at his disposal. Having taken a day to deliberate over this proposal, his answer still was that he could not join ; " that it appeared to his friends, and to him also, that in a cabinet with Donaldson he might be placed in a false position if he received so great a favour." The debate on the address extended over five days. Cowper proposed two amendments. The following passage in the address was objected to : — " We fuUy re ciprocate the feelings of satisfaction expressed by his exceUency at meeting for the first time the Legislature as at present constituted. We cannot doubt that the adoption in this colony, so far as circumstances will permit, of the principles which characterize the British constitution will be congenial with the feelings and conducive to the happiness of the people." It was pro posed to substitute a passage so worded as to antici pate reform. It ran thus : — " We fully reciprocate the feehngs of satisfaction expressed by your excellency in meeting for the first time a Legislature assembled in pursuance of an act by which increased powers of self- government have been conferred on the colony, and shall be happy to join in such amendments of the con stitution as may from time to time be considered de sirable." The second paragraph which it was proposed to supersede went to approve of the course adopted by his excellency in calling a ministry together. " We ac cept," said the address, " as an earnest of your excel lency's desire to ensure the harmonious working ofthe different branches of the Legislature, that in a political act of so much moment as the creation of the Legisla- ^^^¦1 AMENDMENTS NEGATIVED. 385 tive CouncU, your exceUency sought the advice of gen tlemen who had been retumed as members of the Leei.s- lative Assembly, and who thus gave the best constitu tional guarantee that they possessed the confidence of the country. And it is satisfactory to us to find that, by the course which your excellency has adopted, under the pecuhar cfrcumstances attending the first in troduction of responsible government, your exceUency has been afforded the opportunity of explaining, at the commencement of the session, the principles on which your exceUency's government is prepared to act wdth respect to the many important questions that wiU be submitted for our consideration." The passage with which it was proposed to replace the foregoing went to condemn the course which had been pursued in forming a-ministry before the assembUng of ParUament. It was to this effect : — " With reference to the recent appoint ments by the Executive of gentlemen who have been returned to the Legislative Assembly as members ofthe Executive Council, without the charge of any depart ment, we desire to convey to your exceUency the ex pression of our opinion that the officers of government for whom pensions or retiring aUowances are provided by the Constitution Act, on their release or retirement from office, on poUtical grounds, are not entitled to claim under that act such pensions and aUowances, unless such release or retfrement takes place after some dfrect Parhamentary manifestation of thefr inabiUty to carry on the government, which manifestation has not yet been made ; and that the assumption of office as responsible ministers, under existing circumstances, by any person in the place of those for whom such pensions have been provided, before such manifestation shaU have taken place, is highly irregular and unconstitu tional. The existence of an entfre ministry, no mem ber of which is the holder of any office under the Crown, is also in thefr opinion incompatible with that responsibUity to which every administration ought to be subject." The first amendment was negatived by a majority of twenty-seven to twenty-one ; the second by a majority 0 0 386 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. VI. of twenty-nine to nineteen. A further amendment, the previous question, was also rejected. Such was the result of a debate on a question which might well excite doubt. On principle, doubtless, it was desirable that the opinion of the Assembly should have been ascertained with regard to the men who were best qualified to form an administration; but practically such a course was beset wdth difficulty. The head of the old administration declined the task of forming a government, on account of the faiUng condi tion of his health ; and then it was very doubtful whether the old officials would have been elected had they offered themselves in a body to constituencies. As to meeting the Parliament in the Upper House as nominees of the Crown, this would be, to say the least of it, initiating responsible government under bad auspices ; and, moreover, it would hardly have been treating with proper consideration the men who had grown grey in the service of the State, to say that they should not receive the reward of their services or re tire into repose until they had been, as it were, turned out of office by a hostile vote of the Parliament, for it could never have been contemplated that a govern ment so formed would have lasted, even for a reason able period, looking at the great unpopularity into which the official system had fallen — an unpopiUarity which also attached in a very great degree to the men by whom it was carried into effect. The impracticability of the proposal was proved a few days after the meeting of Parliament. Alexander Warren, a country gentleman, said to be possessed of considerable financial ability, was appointed to the office of treasurer, with a seat in the Upper House. On the 5th of June Richard Jones introduced a resolu tion to the effect, "that as the Constitution Act pro vided that all taxation and appropriation bUls' should originate in the Assembly, the House was of opinion that to secure the due administration of the financial affairs of the colony, and the direct Parliamentary re sponsibility of the officer administering them, the office of financial minister should be filled by a member ofthe 18^0 EESIGNATION OP MDaSTEY. 387 Assembly." The motion was carried, not having been opposed by the government, and Warren resigned, and was succeeded by Mr. Thomas Holt, a member of the Assembly. IX. On the 21st of August the country was startled by the resignation of the ministry. The cause of this step was, that the government had carried a motion rela tive to the departmental aiTangements only by a majority of two. When the House assembled after the ministe rial elections, among the measures which Donaldson announced was one " which would most probably in volve the creation of a Board of Trade, and enable him to introduce certain material changes in the adminis trative departments, with the view to the simplification of official forms, and the better distribution of depart mental responsibUity." This announcement was re ceived with satisfaction by all parties ; for whUe such a complete remodelling of the administration was deemed a desirable accompaniment of responsible government, the measure would, at the same time, test the abUity of the ministry, or, at aU events, give their opponents a suitable opportunity of contending for the possession of the ministerial benches. When the time came, however, it was found that the ministry had modified thefr views wdth regard to the reorganiza tion of the departments. Donaldson met the question by simply moving the appointment of a select commit tee to inqufre into and report on the expediency of creating an additional ministerial department — that of Lands and Works, and of rendering the auditor-general no longer a responsible minister, and to consider what salaries should be attached to the office of each re sponsible minister. The opposition evinced disap pointment at this proposal, and Jones moved as an amendment the appointment of a select committee to consider and report on the ministerial arrangements under which the government of the colony could henceforth best be carried on. He contended that " the obhgation lay with the govemment to propound a scheme of departmental arrangement, and take their stand on this proposal. The govemment faUing to do 388 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. this, the only proper course was to refer the whole mat ter to a select committee." Cowper contended that the government should take the responsibility as to these matters, and not ask for a committee ; or, asking for a committee, that it should be the province of such a body to deal with the entire question of departmental reform. The amendment was negatived, but the government deemed the majority too slender to justify their retain ing office, more especially as they had been placed in a similar position on some question of less importance. Donaldson, in next day announcing the resignation of himself and colleagues, said, "The position in which the members of the government found themselves, more especially from the division of last night, had induced the ministry to take a step which its members considered it their duty to adopt, wdth a due regard to their position in that House, and also with a due re gard to their own dignity and character. The ministry- had been denied that support which they thought any government must expect, and which the House must give to a ministry before it could hold that position of usefulness which it ought to occupy." He then moved the adjournment of the House. Murray rose on behalf of the opposition. He said, that, " as one who had opposed the government, he regretted the step which they had taken. Of course they must be left to the exercise of their own discretion in the matter ; but as one who had taken a part against them, he must say that his opposition had been mani fested towards their measures, and by no means against the individuals composing the government, and, he be lieved, that was the case with the great majority, if not with the whole of the members who united with him in opposition. He had no doubt but the members opposite had maturely considered the consequences of the step they were about to take ; yet a grave suspicion crossed his mind, that possibly they might imagine that, in con sequence of the entanglement of public affairs which would, in all probability, follow from their resignation, they would be enabled to come back again with greater strength than they had shown during their past career. l"''-3 DAWELL's SPEECH. 389 But, considering the pohcy Ukely to emanate fi-om the present govemment on some great pubhc questions — a pohcy which had already been shadowed forth with regard to certain biUs — if their view was to re-enter on office, and take up a stronger position in that House, cer tainly they would be grossly disappointed. Thefr fate would still hang on their measures. But there would be found sufficient spirit in the House to establish a ministry able to carry on the affafrs of the country with a large majority, because of the measm-es that ministry would propose — measures far more liberal than those which were contemplated by the members opposite. He was surprised that the premier and the attorney-general, who had in that House borne the brunt of poUtical strife for eight or ten years, the one on the opposition side, the other on that of the govern ment, should be so very thin-skinned, so exceedingly sensitive, as to think that, because they had been left in a minority, or only with a majority of one or two, on some few occasions of no great moment, they were caUed upon to throw the government into that confusion which, at aU events for a week or so, must necessarily foUow." ¦^ DaweU replied in a speech marked by considerable spirit. "He had hoped," he said, "that this the last act of a ministry who had been willing to do what good they could for the country, but who had been impeded at every step, that this, the last act of their drama, might have been passed through in the usual parlia mentary and courteous maimer — in sUence. They might have supposed that those who were neither will ing to give them credit for thefr good intentions, or for what abihty they might possess to carry on the govemment of the country, would at least have per mitted them to resign the trust placed in thefr charge without the unusual accompaniment of censm-e. It was carrying to the most extreme point that system of vindictive opposition which was anything but just, and which he thought the country would denounce in its true character." Amid an outburst of confused cries, Murray rose 390 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. YI. to order, characterising the term "vindictive oppo sition" as unparliamentary. The Speaker ruled that the words were not unparliamentary, and Dawell proceeded, " He rose because he had been compeUed to do so by those charges of having been in fluenced by unworthy motives, which, up to the last, had been heaped on the govemment. Even the propo sition to resign, couched as it was in the most mode rate language, and based as it was on that necessity which ought to regulate the conduct of every gentle man, whether thick-skinned or thin-skinned, had been made the point of attack by those who charged them wdth unworthy and base motives in everything they did. This last proposition to resign a trust which they could no longer retain in their hands, was designated as a miserable attempt to seek hereafter what they did not now possess. He called on the House, if they thought, in anything the government had done, in any thing they had said, or in anything they wished to say, they sought to abuse the power intrusted to them, to assume the preservation of a confidence they had not, or to resign for the purpose of coming back again with a power they did not then possess ; he called on the House," he said, " if they thought those things to put him dowTi by indignant denial — by the reiteration of the charge by some hon. gentleman whose opinions and language commanded more weight than those of the hon. member who had just sat down, who never hesitated to heap undeserved censure right and left, doubtless well knowing what little value it possessed." Having explained the circumstances under which he had taken office, and further expatiated on the opposi tion which the government had met with, he said, " They were not there to carry on the government for the convenience of their opponents, or for the con venience of the country, when inconveniences so great were thrown in their way. Those members who would follow them — for he hoped, for the country's sake, some would be found to take their places — might derive some trifling assistance from their labours ; and he was sure of this, that when they came into power, they 1^*-^ DAWELL's SPEECH CONTINTED. 391 would not be met in the same spfrit of opposition with which thefr accession to office was received. They would treat their successors fafrly, and if they put them into difficulties by thefr majorities or smaU minorities, they wotUd not taunt them wdth throwdng the country into confusion when they felt bound to relinquish the reins of govemment." Such was the closing scene in the first act of the grand drama of responsible government. It was clear from the beginning that Murray and others were jealous of the influence which Macarthur and the old Conservative party exercised in the newly- formed administration, and that on this ground, if on no other, they would lose no opportunity which inight present itself for driving the ministiy out of office. In reference to the beUef which the opposition professed to entertain, that the ministry ought not to resign because they had been left in a smaU minority, the govemment argued that thefr opponents were only temporizing untU the country members, among whom was the principal body of thefr supporters, had retfred, when they might succeed with a certainty of command ing a considerable majority during the remainder of the session, and that by remaining in office they would only be labouring and shaping a poUcy for the benefit of thefr opponents. This, next after the constitutional grotmds, was the reason of the resignation of the Donaldson ministry. That this step was such as was caUed for by constitutional usage, as weU as by the respect which every man, placed in the position of a minister of state, owes to himself, few could deny. That it was justified by good policy the subsequent confusion which attended the working of responsible govemment did not disprove, for what was in every instance required to make the machinery work in more perfect order was the consistent support of a majority of the House for some one or other ministry, whUe in the one instance in which a ministry sought to cling to office after they had ceased to com mand a majority, their tenacity only added disgrace to thefr downfaU. 392 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WADES. [CHAP. YI. X. To Cowper was entrusted the task of forming the new administration, and in this he speedily suc ceeded. Taking himself the position of chief secre tary and premier, he associated with him Robert Camp bell as treasurer, Murray as minister of lands and works, and Martin as attorney-general ; Lutwyche, a recently-arrived barrister, who having failed in his profession, had firmly attached himself to the Cowper party, was appointed solicitor-general without a seat in the Cabinet. The House having adjourned for the ministerial elections re-assembled on the 16th September, all the members of the new administration having been elected with but little opposition. Hay at once gave notice of a motion of want of confidence. It was to the effect — " That in the opinion of the House the for mation of the present ministry, under circumstances which precluded the prospect of its obtaining the con fidence of the representatives of the people, was calcu lated to abstract the public business, and was highly reprehensible." It was generally understood that this motion had reference, in a great degree, to the appoint ment of Martin as attorney-general in the first place, because he, as a young man, and one who, in his public career, was not whoUy free from blame, ought not to have been entrusted with an office where he exercised the combined functions of public prosecutor and grand jury of the colony, and, in the second place, because he was appointed to the office while he was yet an at torney, and before he was admitted a barrister ; a pro ceeding which was protested against by the members of the bar as being a violation of constitutional usage, and an invasion of the rights and privileges of their body. Cowper, in his explanation, taunted the late govern ment with having abandoned those duties which him self and his colleagues undertook. With regard to the attorney-generalship, he had, before applying to Martin, offered it to Plunkett and to Isaacs, and would have offered it to Broadhurst if he thought that gentle man would have accepted it. He said that, " when he is^^-J THE COWPEE ADMINISTEATION. 393 looked at the opposition manifested towards Martin it did surprise him. That gentleman, it was true, was not entitled to practise as a barrister at the particular moment when he accepted office, but he had been qualifying himself in every possible way, and it was notorious to the whole colony that, within a very few days, he would, not by any royal road to the position, but by a comphance wdth eveiy preliminary laid down for the observance of candidates for the bar, have be come a barrister. Within a few days after his appoint ment he was caUed to the bar ; but he was no more now than he was on the occasion of his beinsr sworn in." He concluded by saying, " He understood that great reliance was placed on some hon. gentlemen supposed to occupy the cross-benches, who, it was said, were determined to co-operate with some hon. gentlemen on the opposite side in not permitting the ministry to bring forward thefr measures. He would not do those hon. gentlemen the injustice to suppose that they would be parties to any such opposition, which, if carried out, would indeed be a factious oppo sition. But whether it were so or not, they were de termined to meet opposition in a proper manner. They had not hghtly taken office, nor should they lightly abandon it." Donaldson repudiated the charge of having aban doned the govemment. " There was no abandonment at aU. He and his coUeagues held certain opinions with regard to the duty which a responsible govem ment owed to that House, and hence thefr resignation. Thefr views inight possibly be caUed transcendental. It was quite clear, from the opinions that could be gathered from the address they had just heard, that the hon. member at the head of the present govem ment had no such feehng as to the responsibUity of a ministry to that House. He thought, and he had no objection to repeat it again, that the government ought to be responsible to the Assembly, and that they should hesitate to continue in office unless the confi dence of the House was displayed, night after night, in thefr favour." He concluded by asserting that all 394 HISTOEY OP NBW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.Vi. the measures announced by the new ministry were based on those of his administration. On the day foUowing, Hay brought forward his want of confidence motion. His speech was chiefly directed towards assailing the reputation of Martin in reference to his having, on a former occasion, taken his seat in the House under a qualification so questionable that he was forced to go back to his constituents. Martin fol lowed, defending himself in a speech of great vigour, wherein he showed that some of those who were now his most bitter opponents formerly voted for his admis sion to the Australian Club, when he was a candidate for joining that institution, and, moreover, visited his house. He wound up his remarks by a forcible appeal to the men of his own class who occupied seats in the Assembly. "He was surrounded," he said, " by those who had raised themselves to high position by their own honourable exertions — true sons of the soil, not in the narrow sense in which the term was generaUy understood, but in the sense of the old Roman satirist, who applied the expression to those who owed their success in hfe neither to wealth, nor pedigree, nor for tune. With these and him there were many things in common. He asked them, and he asked them confi dently, not ungenerously and unjustly to desert him on this occasion. From his outset in life till that time he had had to achieve everything for himself, and from the humblest beginning he had fought his way almost to the highest point which, in this colony, it was pos sible to attain. At every step he had met with op position, and had been compelled to make good his ground, and whatever he had achieved he owed not to the favour or affection of any man. He had never cringed, nor fawned, nor played the sycophant, and if his conduct was open to condemnation, it certainly was in a contrary direction. The lesson of selftrehance, of which he trusted he might be pardoned in regarding himself as an example, would not, he hoped, be shorn of its value by an unmerited reverse in the moment of final triumph. As he had borne up against and over come many obstacles of gi-eater magnitude than the 1858.] WANT OP CONFIDENCE MOTION. 396 present, he trusted that he should successfuUy bear up against this one also, and that in the stand which he then took the generous and spontaneous sympathies of the House would go along with him, and that the only effect of the present storm would be, like those of the physical universe, to leave the atmosphere of public life purer than before." After a debate extending over five days, the mo tion was carried, twenty-six members voting for, and twenty-three against it. The House adjourned for a day, to give the ministry time to consider what course to pursue. On its re-assembling Cowper said that he had tendered certain advice to the govemor-general, and that his excellency requfred time to deliberate. The House accordingly adjourned for six days. Shortly after the adjournment a meeting was caUed in the Prince of Wales Theatre, with the view to pre senting an address to Cowper, congratulating him on the success which had attended his past efforts to carry out responsible govemment, sympathizing with him in his recent defeats, and encouraging him in regard to his future exertions. The meeting was excessively uproarious, and broke up in disorder, without coming to any resolution. A counter meeting, caUed at the Yictoria Theatre, for the purpose of adopting resolu tions approving of the vote of want of confidence, and affirming the necessity for the resignation of the mi nistry, terminated in a similar manner, each party being determined to stifle aU expression of opinion on the part of the other. The Parliament re-assembled on the 2nd of October. Cowper announced that he and his colleagues had re signed, and that they now held office only tiU the ap pointment of their successors. Parker stated that he had been directed to form a ministry. He was a member of the House who, as chairman of committees, which office he held for some time, had acqufred a character of impartiality, equanimity, and smoothness of manners. He was a fluent although not an eloquent speaker, his style of oratory being characterized by great neatness and precision. He had been private secretary to Sir 396 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.VI. George Gipps, and this fact led to the impression that he was not altogether destitute of statesmanship, or, at all events, that he was endowed with considerable ad ministrative ability. Connected by marriage with the Macarthur family, he was on this, as on other grounds, identified with the conservative or old official faction, while, owing to the mediocrity of his talents, and the conciliatory tendency of his disposition, he had avoided individually incurring the decided enmity or hostiUty of the opposite party. Such was the man who, it was hoped, would conciliate sufficient support from both sides of the House to enable him to carry on the government, at all events for a period sufficiently long to admit of the public service being efficiently provided for, and to enable the various elements of which the Assembly was composed to amalgamate and mould themselves in such a way that government by party might be carried on without confusion and detriment to the public interests. It transpired that Cowper had advised the governor- general to dissolve the House, on the ground that while his ministry did not command a majority, it was clear that their opponents would not have sufficient support to enable them to carry on the government, and also on the ground that the opposition to his government was factious and personal, rather than directed against his measures. The governor-general dechned to take this course, alleging that the diffi culties which had arisen were only such as might have been expected at the initiation of responsible govern ment, and also that the Assembly had not yet been called upon to express an opinion on any question of considerable interest to the community. It is worthy of note that, on the very day on which Cowper announced his resignation, a bill was intro duced by him to authorise the issuing of fresh deben tures, to meet those then falling due, and passed through aU its stages in one day. Thus anxious were all parties to preserve the public credit. XL The new ministry consisted of Parker, chief secretary and premier; Donaldson, treasurer; Hay, minister of lands and works; DaweU, attorney- 18^6-1 THE PAEKEE MINISTRY. 397 general. Deas Thomson was appointed vice-president ofthe Executive CouncU, with a seat in the Cabinet, and represented the govemment in the Upper House. At the ministerial elections aU the candidates were strongly opposed except Hay, and for this exemption he had to thank the overflowing of a river, which prevented his opponents entering the field until it was too late. John Campbell, the brother of the treasurer ofthe Cowper ministry, successfuUy opposed Donald son for the representation of the Hamlets ; but a candi date making way for the latter in the South Ridmg of Cumberland, where an opening happened very oppor tunely to occur, he re-entered the Assembly as repre sentative of that electorate. The House re-assembled on the 28th. Parker in his explanation stated that " he had endeavoured to conciliate the personal feelings of both parties, and unite Donaldson and Cowper in his ministry. The former consented, but the latter declined to enter into this arrangement. Cowper at first said he could not see his way clear, adding that it was a common observation among the pubhc that "Donaldson and Cowper were bad boys, and Parker was sent to whip them." When pressed still further, he said, finally, that "he could not break from his party." He con cluded by a few remarks as to what he considered the principles of responsible government. "He desired to see the words ' responsible government' reUeved ft'om any mysterious interpretation. He saw no mystery in the terms. The words meant, to his mind, nothing ex cept good govemment, that was to say, a hberal, eco nomical, intelligent, pure, and expeditious administra tion of the pubhc affafrs, under the eye and observation of the people. If this government failed to bring forward measures of enlightened pohcy, if it did not promote the extension of civil and religious liberty, if it did not discourage, as much as it possibly could, a wasteful and wanton extravagance of the pubhc funds, if it winked at corruption, if it did not stifle incompe tency, it then did not carry out those objects which he had indicated." 398 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WADES. [OHAP. VI. Hay also addressed the House, aUeging that nothing but a regard to the welfare of the country could have induced him to accept an office for the dis charge of the duties of which he by no means felt him self to be in the highest degree qualified. Cowper followed. He assailed the author of the vote of want of confidence, by saying that he fuUy con curred with this member when he said that he was unfit for the office which he held. In reference to the negotiation between himself and Parker, he said that, although he did not give an immediate answer, the latter must have se'en from the first that he had no in tention to join, and he further said that eventually his answer was simply No. " He would again assert that the way in which he had been treated was factious ; he repeated the expression. He beUeved that, in the course which had been taken with regard to his measures, he had been improperly dealt with, and he hoped to see the day when that resolution by which he had been forced to resign office would be erased from the records of the Assembly." He promised, however, to canvass fairly the measures of the new adminis tration. The first asgault on the government was made in connection with the defeat of Donaldson, the finance minister, on the election for the Sydney Hamlets. Some days after the meeting of the Assembly Cowper moved a resolution to the effect that the continued absence of the treasurer was an infringement of the rights and privileges of the House. The motion was lost by a majority of twenty-seven against eleven. A day or two later the treasurer, having, been elected for the South Riding, as already mentioned, took his seat. The constitution of the Upper House occupied the attention of the Assembly during this year. The nomination of the members of the body fell to the lot of the Donaldson ministry. Those nominated were chiefly merchants and professional gentlemen, of whom a large proportion were lawyers, together with a few country gentlemen. Seats were offered to the heads of the four principal religious denominations, but were '^•3 TEANSPOETATION QUESTION. 399 dechned, on what grounds did not appear. It ia probable that the denimciation which the entfre sys tem of nomineeism had for some years past met with in the colony, led the ecclesiastical dignitaries to be Ueve that the acceptance of seats in a nominal chamber body w^ould not add to the respect to which they were entitled in thefr sacerdotal character. The judges took a different view of their duty in this respect. The chief-justice accepted the office of president, and two of the other judges became members of the House. The expediency of these appointments was, however, questioned from the beginning by a section of the Assembly. It was contended that a position which was to some extent poUtical, tended to abate the respect due to the judicial office, and to affect unfa vourably the independence of the judges ; and, further, that by thefr occupying seats in the Legislature thefr efficiency was impafred, and that thus an increased ex penditure of the pubhc funds was occasioned. A reso lution embodying these views was introduced into the Assembly by Foster, and was carried by the casting vote of the Speaker. A few days later, however, this resolution was rescinded, on motion of Donaldson, by a majority of one. The question of transportation again loomed in the political horizon. A rumour having arisen that More- ton Bay was to be separated wdth the view to reviving transportation, Parker introduced into the Assembly a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That this House, with feehngs of sincere and unniingled grati tude, recognized in the act of her Most Gracious Majesty, by which the transportation of British crimi nals to the Austrahan colonies was made to cease and determine, the concession of a great and complete measure of justice, which was sought by the unani mous prayer of the colonists, and had been productive of general and permanent satisfaction; (2.) that in the opinion of this Souse the comphance of her Majesty with the prayers of the colonists, in the settlement of a question so long agitated, whUe it had confirmed the feehngs of loyalty and attachment 400 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. to the mother country which happily existed in these communities, had led to the most beneficial results, in the greatly improved social condition of the colonies, and their rapid progress in political character and commercial prosperity ; (3.) that in the opinion of this House, any steps on the part of the Imperial Govern ment to revive the transportation of convicts to the northern portion of New South Wales, or to any part of Eastern Australia, or the islands adjacent, would be regarded by the colonists as a breach of faith, would create general discontent, and lead to consequences greatly to be deplored." These resolutions were se conded by James Macarthur, and, considering the nature of the propositions themselves, and looking at the men -by whom they were brought forward, both being of considerable influence on opposite sides of the House, it was not to be wondered that they were unanimously adopted. A resolution was passed in the course of this ses sion, on motion of Donaldson, praying her Majesty to make the gold coins of the Sydney Mint a legal tender in all parts of the British dominions, by autho rizing the use of Imperial dies or otherwise, the reports of the Master of the Royal Mint to the Commissioners of the Treasury having shown that as much confidence could be placed in their integrity as ih those of the Royal Mint itself Up to the middle of the year a million and a quarter of sovereigns had been issued from the Sydney Mint, and charges had been received to the extent of £13,000. So far, the introduction of the establishment had proved a wise and beneficial measure. Rear-Admiral Phillip Parker King died in the course of this year. He was the son of Captain King, who, having been the first Commandant of Norfolk Island, afterwards became Governor of New South Wales. Rear-Admiral King was a native of the co lony ; he entered the navy at 'the age of fourteen, and was actively employed for twenty-three years, seven of which were spent in surveying the coasts of Australasia. ^^^^¦^ CENSUS TAKEN. 401 A census, which was taken in the course of this year, showed the population of Sydney proper to be. 53,118 ; that of the suburbs was 28,209. Mr. W. W./- Manning paid into the pubhc treasury in the course of this year a sum of £3000, towards hquidating the debt which his father owed to the colony. 1857.] XII. On the 18th of March, Parhament was prorogued. In the vice-regal speech the govern ment apologized for not having carried out all that was promised at the opening of the session. " Un avoidable delays, consequent on the ministerial changes which had taken place, had partially interfered with the intention expressed in the speech with which the session was opened ; but," said the governor-general, " it afforded him great satisfaction to be able to con gratulate ParUament on their having perfected vari ous useful and highly important bUls." Among the measures recapitulated were the repeal of the two- thirds clauses in the new constitution, the re-establish ment of a municipal council in Sydney, the act for the better management of the gold fields, and the exten sion of a branch of the Supreme Court to Moreton Bay. During the recess, W. Wise assumed the office of sohcitor-general. The ParUament assembled in its second session on the 11th of August. First among the measures an nounced in the gfivernor-general's speech was a new electoral act. "Experience had shown," said his excellency, " that the change in the system of govern ment required a corresponding change in the system of representation. A bill would therefore be laid be fore Parliament to increase the number of members of the Assembly; to remove the disabilities to vote arising from the change of residence or quahfication ; to introduce the baUot, and to bring the electoral dis tribution in harmony with the changes among the population indicated by the late census." The question of federation was formally broached in this speech. " The important questions of an intercolonial character which were constantly arising, suggested the establish- D D 402 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WADES. [CHAP.TI. ment of a Federal Legislature, possessing power and authority for the discussion of, and determination on^ the interests of the Australian colonies generaUy, and he recommended the subject to their early considera tion." The financial condition of the country was stated to be satisfactory. " The deficit in the revenue existing at the commencement of 1866 had been dimi nished by economy and the improved state of the public income, and up to this tirne the govemment had not been compelled to avail themselves of the authority to borrow any portion of the sum of one hundred and fifty thousand pounds placed at their disposal to cover this deficit. Under these circum stances, it was not intended at present to propose any alteration in the customs tariff, nor to increase the amount of revenue raised by indirect taxation." It was announced that the commercial and monetary state of the country was sound and satisfactory, and the Parliament was congratulated on the fact that prosperity attended aU classes. In reference to steam communication with the mother country, it was stated that a provisional arrangement had been entered into with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company for a monthly postal communication between Southampton and Sydney by way of Panama and New Zealand — a scheme which, if carried into effect;, would give the colonies the advantage of postal communication with England every fortnight. Among the measures announced were bUls to faci litate the acquisition of land in fee simple, to extend municipalities throughout the colony, to establish district courts, to promote education and the intro duction of immigrants, to improve the management of the railways, to provide for the construction and maintenance of ordinary roads, and the establishment of electric telegraphs : bills to appoint a public prose cutor, with the view to separating the political duties of the attorney-general frOm the office of grand jury, and to appoint a board for the management ofthe light houses and harbours on the coast, and the supervision and regulation of the pilot establishments, were also ^^"•] THE paee;ee ministey. 403 mentioned ; and the ParUament was informed that as the Assembly had decided that aU legislative bodies should be elective, it would be necessary to take into consideration the constitution of the Legislative Council. Such was the very extensive programme wdth which the Parker ministry came before the Parliament. It was seen, however, that the burden which they had thus placed on their shoulders was more than they could conveniently bear, and, acting quite consistently with human nature, and still more consistently with the practice of political warfare, their opponents took advantage of the weakness they had incurred by as suming so great a weight of public business. In the debate on the address in reply, which extended over two days, the opposition affirmed the inability of the government to carry out the measures promised in the speech. No amendment was moved, however ; and the address, w^hich as usual was a condensed reiteration of the speech, was adopted. The ministry soon learned that the passiveness which their opponents displayed in this instance was not to be continued. Several of the appointments of the government were of a nature to give dissatisfaction. Persons scarcely emerged from boyhood had been ap pointed to offices of trust and responsibility ; and men, whose career as public officers had heretofore been condemned, were placed in situations great in impor tance to those for which they had been pronounced disqualified, or from which, in some instances, they had been ejected. The commission of the peace issued by the new ministry formed a principal ground of com plaint. Many ofthe persons appointed were notoriously unfitted to sit in judgment on their fellow-subjects ; bankrupts, drunkards, persons possessing neither moral nor social influence, were to be found amongst them ; and the public papers teemed with complaints in which such persons were indicated. On the other hand some magistrates of old standing were omitted, whose right to be in the commission was indisputable, and against whom no complaints had been uttered. Such were the 404 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. weak points at which the opposition resolved to make their attack. Cowper at once gave notice of a motion to the effect, " that while the House recognized the wisdom of the constitution in placing the appointment of public officers in the Executive Government, they felt called upon to express their strong disapproval of the manner in which the ministers had advised his excellency to dispense the patronage of the Crown, and to construct the commission ofthe peace." This motion came on for discussion on the 14th. Cowper in his speech commenced by remarking that for several years the subject of appointments to the public offices formed a chief ground of complaint with the colonists ; that when responsible government was established they had a right to expect better things ; but that so far from an improvement having taken place, it appeared that it was only now the reign of corruption had commenced. He then proceeded to specify the matters which were conceived to be causes of complaint. The position which Deas Thomson oc cupied, as Yice-President of the Executive CouncU, was the first subject mentioned. The leader of the opposition argued that it was derogatory to the new position of the colony that one whose energies had been exhausted in the service of a government which exercised its authority independently of the people, should occupy one of the most dignified posts under a government founded on the principles of true constitutional freedom. He asserted that it was generally understood the government had intended to divide the department of Lands and Works into two branches, and that this intention was abandoned only because a particular individual, who was a partizan of the ministry, declined to accept the new appointment which would then be created, the individual in question being Mr. George Macleay. The appointment of Mr. Wise to the office of solicitor-general was complained of on the ground that the new functionary had only recently arrived in the colony, and had not yet acquired a standing at the colonial bar ; the fact of his being a relative of the late attorney-general. Manning, being 1867.] COWPEe's MOTION ON PUBLIC APPOINTMENTS. 405 dwelt upon to show that personal favour, and not pubhc merit, was in this as in other instances the passport tq^ office. The appointment of DaweU, one of the late^ commissioners for the city of Sydney, to the office of poUce magistrate of Parramatta, and that of Reny, another member of the same body, to the post of secretary to the raUway board, were severely censured, more especially the former. It was contended that the commissioners, having proved themselves un trustworthy, if it were necessary to provide other appointments for them, at aU events none of them should again have been placed in so influential a post as that of police magistrate in an important towm. AUud ing to the commission of the peace, Cowper said, " the united voice of the whole colony has condemned this commission as discreditable to the ministry who got it up. It was notorious that names were omitted which ought to have been inserted, and that names were put in which ought to have been left out. The names of dead men had been inserted, and the names of persons who had left the colony many years ago were still suffered to remain ; among the rest that of a gentleman who was in the colony only a short time several years since, and who was then govemor of another colony. Many of the appointments were of a disreputable cha racter ; some were appointed for reasons of a partial character, and many more for poUtical reasons. Then in one instance, contrary to a rule on which the govem ment had heretofore uniformly acted, three brothers, who formed one family, had been placed in the com mission ; and it had happened that the elder presided in a case in which the younger was concerned, so that the impropriety of these appointments had afready been practicaUy demonstrated." Parker foUowed, defending the acts of the govern ment thus assaUed. He scarcely denied the aUegation that the department of Lands and Works remained undivided only because Macleay would not accept office. He merely remarked that he did not know why that gentleman had been aUuded to, as it was known that he had frequently dechned to accept office. As to 406 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. the family connection subsisting between the late attorney-general and the present soUcitor-general, he said it was so remote that it could scarcely have influ enced the appointment. Referring to the cases of Reny and Dawell, he said that nothing had occurred in connection with the inquiry into the commissioners department to disquaUfy them from receiving appoint ments under the government. As commissioners they had been displaced, not because of any misconduct of theirs, but because the Legislature had abohshed the city commission and re-established the corporation. Adverting to the magistracy, he said that in some instances wherein names had been omitted which ought not to have been left out, the government had received letters stating that the individuals so struck out were dead, and if, in some instances, objectionable names appeared in the list, those were to be found there before the issue of the late commission. After a debate, extending over three days, the motion was lost by a majority of twenty-three to eighteen. The government, however, were doomed to enjoy their victory only for a very short time. A fortnight later they sustained two defeats in one day. The first of these reverses was in a bill introduced by Donald son to separate from the office of treasurer the duties of paymaster of accounts. This was proposed on the ground that the duties of treasurer were too onerous, that they involved the necessity of dealing too much with details, the latter respect differing altogether from those of finance minister in the mother country. The duties of treasurer in the colony, it was said, were equivalent to those of the Lords of the Treasury at home, and the former did even more work than the latter, because he had under his control the offices equivalent to the Board of Trade and the Customs ; be sides that, he transacted all the business of the money department of the government. The bill was opposed by Cowper, who contended that this was only another attempt to multiply offices with the view to providing for the friends of the 1857-] .ADJOUENMENT OP THE HOUSE. 407 ministry, and that the treasurer, not having the affairs of even a mUlion of people to look after, was in no respect in the position of the finance minister at home, and was not overburdened with work. He fur ther pointed out that a board, which had recently inqufred into the state of the pubhc departments, had not recommended any such change as that proposed. He moved that the bill be read a second time that day six months, and the amendment was carried by a majority of twenty-two to nine. The second measure on which the ministry were defeated was the bUl to reconstruct the Light, PUot, and Navigation Board. It was proposed that the body should consist of five men of nautical skiU and expe rience, whose duties should be honorary, the members merely receiving such an allowance as would recom pense them for the neglect of thefr private affairs involved in thefr attendance at the board; that the staff of the postmaster should form part of the war department, the postmaster himself being its executive head and president of the board. The scheme was opposed as cumbrous and complicated, the chief ground pf objection being that while the postmaster was requfred to consult the board, as an officer of the go vernment he had the power to act without reference to thefr'advice. Cowper recommended that the board should be executive, the senior warden receiving double pay. Donaldson objected that as the members must be aU men of nautical abihty, it would be next to im possible to find the requisite number of men to act in an executive capacity. The bUl, at its second reading, Afas rejected by a majority of twenty-one to fifteen. These events transpfred on Thursday, the 27th. On the foUowing day, Parker announced to the House that in consequence of the adverse divisions of the preceding evening, and the uncertain position of par ties in the House, the ministry thought it advisable to take time to consider what course to pursue, and he accordingly moved the adjournment of the House tiU Wednesday, a proposition which was assented to. Xin. When the House re-assembled (2nd Sept.) 408 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. he made an announcement which proved that, at aU events, his ministry did not want resolution. He said that he and his colleagues had arrived at the determi nation that, looking at the balanced state of parties in the Assembly, the backward position of the legisla tive business of the country, the importance of some of the measures which were still before the House, and the comparative unimportance of those on which they had been defeated, they ought not to resign ; that they would not be consulting the good of the country if they did so, and that they would resign only when they were beaten on measures of a distinc tive character. He admitted that in making this avowal he was placing himself and his colleagues in a humiliating position, but he was prepared to do this for the good of the country. He disclaimed aU idea of retaining office for its own sake. But if a few months previously the Donaldson ministry were taunted with being thin-skinned because they resigned before they had, as their opponents thought or pretended, received sufficient cause for taking that course, the Parker ministry, which was only a modification of the former, were doomed to be treated with equal severity because they chose to adopt the opposite course — so opposite in pohtical life do we frequently find men's true sentiments and their outspoken language. When the premier had made the announcement just stated, Cowper rose and said, that seeing that the ministry considered the bills on which they had been defeated to be good measures, and that having been defeated they asked time to consider what course to pursue, there were only two resorts left to them, either to resign or dissolve, and between these they should choose. That, he said, was his impression, and the impression of the country at large. He then proceeded to say that the cause of the ministry adopt ing the extraordinary course of clinging to office was to be found in the circumstance that a section of the House having held several meetings during the brief recess, had, through a deputation, prevailed on the i35r.] COWPEE CALLS ON THE MINISTEY TO EE3I0N. 409 premier not to resign, assuring him that hereafter they would be more zealous in thefr support, and that he inight also reckon on the votes of some of thefr friends who happened to have been absent on the occasion of the recent defeats. " All this," he pro ceeded, "was most derogatory to the dignity of the govemment, who, in giving thefr sanction to such pro ceedings, were also laying the foundation of corruption of the worst kind ; because if persons having pecu niary interests in matters which were under discussion in the House — as the squatting members had — could so far lose aU sense of propriety as thus to make themselves the arbiters of govemment, the whole system of electoral representation became a mere farce, and they had abohshed the old system only to get a worse. He could not, moreover, forget that two out of three of the very gentlemen who formed the de putation to the premier in the recent instance, waited upon him when he took office as a deputation from the very section of the House to which he had aUuded, with the expressed intention of intimidating him from proceeding with the govemment of the country. These were the cfrcumstances under which the present ministry thought fit to come back to the House. Having once adopted that course which they thought fit to pursue, they ought at least to have taken the sense of the House as to what they had done. Let them, as on a similar occasion Sfr Robert Peel had done in the House of Commons, by a dfrect motion of confidence test the opinion the House had of them. This course he chaUenged them to take if they had any sense of propriety left. The vote on the electoral act could never give the opinion of the House on the conduct of the ministry, nor was this or any other of the important measures aUuded to by the premier to be brought forward by a ministry so weak that they did not know from day to day what moment they inight faU to pieces." In order to give the ministry time to bring forward a motion of confidence, he moved the adjournment of the House tUl next day, when, he said, if the government faded to bring for- 410 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WADES. [CHAP. VI. ward such a motion, he, or some one else, would pro pose a motion of want of confidence: Parker said he was prepared to meet such a motion, and knowing that there was a probabihty that it would be, rejected, and feeling how much such a result would strengthen his government, he challenged Cowper to bring it forward at once. Referring to the deputation, he said that the three gentlemen aUuded to had caUed simply to assure him that their absence from the House on the occasion wherein the ministry was de feated was altogether accidental. For the rest he was prepared to stand or faU by the motion of want of confidence, the electoral bill, or the land bill. The motion for adjournment, which was intended to test the strength t)f the ministry, was lost by a majority of one, twenty members voting for and twenty-one against it, a result which clearly fore shadowed the fate of the administration. On the same day Parker moved the second reading of the electoral bill. He set out by saying that the measure was intended to provide for the broad repre sentation of the interests of the country. It was pro posed by the bill to protect the interests of the com munity at large as opposed to those of any section or class. This representation of interests was the fa vourite theory of the party whom Parker represented. In its practical application it simply amounted to this, that as the pastoral interest was the chief source of the wealth and prosperity of the colony, the represen tatives of those who followed pastoral pursuits should not be numerically overborne by the representatives of the cities and chief towns, the inhabitants of which, while they were much more numerous than the pas toral population, were nevertheless, it was contended, for the greater part only the factors of the producers of wool and the breeders of stock. The minister " confessed that he did not hold with the population basis of representation, and the bill was not so based. He believed that popidation was one great element on which the representative principle should be founded, but it was not the only element." Referring to the l-^5'0 ELECTOEAL BILD, SECOND EEADIX(>. 411 prayer of a petition from the Electoral Reform League, wherein, among other things, the right of every free male subject of her Majesty, of fuU age, who had been resident in the colonv for six months, to a voice in the election of representatives was msisted upon, he said, " that he did not agree with this principle of manhood sufifrage, and it was not a feature of the bUl. If this pinciple were adopted, he did not see by what rule the female sex were excluded ; if taxation and repre sentation were to go hand in hand they were as much entitled to votes as the other sex, inasmuch as they also were consumers of dutiable goods." He then proceeded to state the plan according to which the representation was distributed. The cities and towns were to return forty members, the counties forty-six, the pastoral districts eighteen, making a total of one hundred and four. He then went on to show that although the population basis was eschewed in the biU, the measure was in this respect more Uberal than that which was then in force, showing that if the represen tation were distributed according to the existing plan, the cities and towns would have had only thirty- one members, whole the counties would have had fifty, and the pastoral districts twenty-thi^ee. The proportion which the number of representatives would, according to the biU before the House, bear to the population in the several divisions ofthe colony, was next stated. The cities and towns, including the Sydney hamlets, would return one member for every two thousand nine himdred and thirty-six of the population, and every six hundred and seventy-six of the electors ; the urban po pulation, not including Sydney and the hamlets, woidd return one for every one thousand eight hundred and one of the population, and every three hundred and sixty-four of the electors; the counties would return one for every two thousand five hundred and fifty of the population, and every three hundred and thirty-two of the electors; the pastoral districts would return one for every one thousand six hundred and eighty-one of the population, and every one hundred and thfrty-five of the electors. By this bUl hustings speeches were 412 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP.VI. done away with, a system of simple nomination being substituted, and the ballot replaced open voting. The qualification of electors was to remain as it then existed, namely, a £10 rental, and a proportionate freehold qualification, with the stipulation that after a certain date no person should be entitled to be regis tered as an elector who could not read and write. To counterbalance this restriction, the disqualification which followed on the change of residence subsequent to the date of registration was abolished. Cowper followed. He opposed the bUl, on the ground that it adopted as the basis of representation interests rather than population ; that it united towns in the one electorate which had no common ties, and gave undue preponderance to the pastoral interests. With regard to the franchise, he said he could never be satisfied tUl manhood suffrage had been adopted — till every free male adult, after he had been a certain time in the colony, was entitled to exercise the suf frage. He moved as an amendment that the bill be read a second time that day six months. The fate of the biU might be said to have been sealed when James Macarthur announced his intention to vote against it, for its main principle was altogether in accordance with his views. His objection had refer ence to the details. It was generally understood that the mode in which Camden, the electorate over which he exercised all but complete control, was divided into two was such as to give him dissatisfaction. At aU events, he protested against the joining together of towns and districts which had no common interests, and the separation of others which were connected by various associations. He objected to the proposal to dispense with hustings nominations, and, as might be expected, seeing that he was one of the few men in the colony who had a numerous tenantry within the sphere of his influence, he opposed the ballot. Then to add so large a number as fifty to the Assembly would, he very justly conceived, lead to the entire character of the House becoming degenerate, inasmuch as it would then be inevitable that the country must fre- 18-57-] EESIGNATION OF THE PAEEDE MINISTEY. 413 quently select as representatives men utterly disquaU- fied for that position, whether by education, standing, or character. Some members objected to the educational test, as an uncaUed-for innovation, while others averred that the result of the proposed distribution of the repre sentation would be to create antagonism between town and country. That part of the scheme by which it was proposed to unite various smaU towns, so as to form one constituency, would, it was said, have the effect of vfr'tuaUy disfranchising some of the smaUer towns. Some, in fine, objected to the bUl on the ground that it was based on no recognized poUtical principle. After a debate extending over two days Cowper's amendment was carried by a majority of twenty-six to twenty-three. This result was scarcely announced by the Speaker when Parker intimated his intention to resign, and moved the adjournment of the House with that view. He said it was a matter of no regret to him that he should close the term of his administration, and ex pressed a hope that whUe he held office he had made no personal enemies. The House having adjourned, on the foUowing day (Friday, 9th of September) he an nounced that he and his coUeagues had placed thefr offices at the disposal of his excellency, retaining thefr position in the ministry only untU thefr successors were appointed. The House adjourned tiU Tuesday, and on its re assembling on that day, the names of the new minis ters were made known. Cowper occupied the office of chief secretary and premier, Jones was treasurer, Murray secretary for Lands and Works, and Martin attorney-general. The House adjourned on the mo tion of Flood, who acted on behalf of the new ministry, tUl the 20th of October, to aUow of the ministerial elections taking place. Such were the cfrcumstances under which the Cow per ministry, the first strong administration under responsible govemment, was re-estabUshed in office. 414 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WADES. [OHAP. VI. The friends of the late ministry took credit for them on the ground that they did not advise a dissolution — a course, it was said, which they were perfectly justi fied in adopting, looking at the numerical insignifi cance of the majority by which they were defeated. But it was apparent, from the moment that ministry assumed office — if, indeed, it might not be predicted before — that they could not possibly command the con fidence of the party who had most influence in the House and in the country. If Donaldson, the fluent orator, the accomplished debater, the veteran cham pion of financial reform, the zealous and active pro moter of the political and social advancement of the colony, failed to command the confidence of a majority of the House, because he had leagued himself with that party which was supposed to be inimical to the complete development of liberal institutions, it was not to be expected that Parker, the place-holder and the man of mere routine, could maintain his position, seeing that he had no public services to show, while the mediocrity of his talents precluded the idea that he could be anything else but the instrument of the same party whose aUiance might be said to have proved fatal to his predecessor. The ministers having been re-elected by their vari ous constituencies without opposition, the Parliament re-assembled according to adjournment. The pre mier's explanation was brief. He said that in again undertaking the duties of his office he felt that he was not joining a new ministry, inasmuch as nearly aU those who were now associated with him were his col leagues in his former administration. The ministry, then, being the same, their policy would be the same. In order to bring the session within reasonable hmits, it was their intention to introduce, during the year, only two or three measures of the more important class. He was happy to say that the government had nearly all their measures ready, and he was quite will ing to accept the promise held out by the head of the late administration, ou behalf of himself and his col leagues, when they resigned office, that neither their 1^-] LAiro BILL INTEODUCED. 415 measures nor themselves would meet with unnecessary or vexatious opposition. XIY. On the foUowing day the land biU was intro duced. The waste lands of the colony were classified under four heads, namely, town, suburban, agricultural, and country lands. By the last-mentioned were meant aU lands which were not eminently suited for agricul ture. The minimum prices named, respectively, were eight pounds, two pounds, one pound, and five shU hngs per acre, and the auction system was retained-. The extent of country land to be sold in one lot was limited to six hundred and forty acres, and the squat ters had the right of purchasing at the minimum price the lot on which their homesteads stood. Donaldson opposed the bUl on the grounds that its effect would be to reduce aU the agricultural lands to the value of five shUlings, inasmuch as every block must contain some land of the best quaUty ; that thus the pubhc credit would be impaired ; and, further, that the inducements to speculation thus held out would so largely divert capital from the ordinary channels, that commercial embarrassment would be the result. Others objected to the reduction on the ground that it would enable the squatters to " pick out the eyes of the country," as it was caUed, by selecting the best portions of the territory; some again, on the ground that it would militate against the pastoral interests ; others opposed the bUl because, as they aUeged, it was unfavourable to the poor man. A caU of the House having taken place, the bill was, however, read a second time by a majority of thirty-six to eight. In committee the classification of the lands was opposed on the ground that it would admit of fraudu lent preferences, and, wdth the assent of the chief secretary, the upset price of country lands was uni formly fixed at five shUlings. After a great deal of contention as to the detaUs of the measure, a motion that its further consideration be defen-ed to that day sis months was submitted, and negatived only liy the casting-vote of the chafrman. Cowper now wdthdrew the biU, and explained that the course of the govern- 416 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WADES. [CHAP.VI. ment would be to proceed wdth those measures which had already advanced to their later stages, and then go to the country, first calling a short session to pass an Electoral Reform Act. A few days later (17th Dec), the ministry having been defeated on a bill to increase the assessment on stock and the rent of the Crown lands, adjourned for a day to deliberate, and then dissolved the House by proclamation — a proceed ing which was severely censured, as being, by its abruptness, discourteous to the members. In the course of this session a select committee of the Legislative Council reported on the subject of Australian Federation, the question having been pre viously introduced into the Melbourne Legislature by Mr. Gavan Duffy. They recommended a meeting of delegates from the Legislatures of the four colonies of New South Wales, Yictoria, South Australia, and Tas mania, with the view to devising the plan of a General Assembly for aU the colonies. They suggested — (1.) That this Assembly should have power to legislate in reference to intercolonial tariffs and the coasting trade, railways, roads, and other such works running through two or more colonies, beacons and hght houses, intercolonial penal settlements, intercolo nial gold regulations, and the postage between the several colonies ; (2.) that it should have power to legislate on all other subjects submitted to it by ad dresses from the Legislatures of the colonies, and to appropriate to any of the objects named the necessary sums of money, to be raised by a per-centage on the revenues of all the colonies interested; (3.) that it should form a general court of appeal from the courts of the several colonies. Deas Thomson was chairman of the committee from whom these recommendations emanated, being, in New South Wales, the chief mover in this very important question. In the course of this year the Pitcairn Islanders, the name by which the descendants of the mutineers of the "Bounty" were called, were finaUy established at Norfolk Island, the govemor-general visiting the island for that purpose. These people were removed from 1857] EXTENSn'E FLOODS. 417 Pitcaim Island, that being the place whither their fathers finaUy betook themselves, at the instance of the Imperial Govemment, to whom it was intimated that the island was no longer adequate to the main tenance of the increased numbers of the community ; and Norfolk Island was selected as their future home, with the view to allowing them, as far as possible, to maintain that pecuhar form of pohty imder which they had hitherto Uved. They numbered one hundred and ninety-four souls, and on landing took possession of the houses previously occupied by the convict esta bUshment, which was removed to make way for them. They were aUotted lands for cultivation ; and suppUes for a Umited period, wdth seeds and agricultural imple ments, were suppUed them. For the immediate adminis tration of the affafrs of the settlement, a magistrate and chaplain were appointed ; but the instructions of the Secretary of State were that the islanders should be interfered with as Uttle as possible, and that their existing social system was to be maintained. Thus were the descendants of Christian and his companions estabUshed in a home, which, at aU events, as regards climate, soU, and picturesque attractions, fuUy emu lates that which tempted thefr progenitors to commit a crime, the dark outlines of which continue to be greatly redeemed by the colouring of romance. Under a wise and watchftU guardianship, a century hence they may form a community whose characteristics wiU fuUy atone for the misdeeds of which they are now in some degree the victims. At the commencement of this year Mr. Plunkett was appointed President of the Upper House, Sir Alfred Stephen having resigned. DaweU having been advanced to the attorney-generalship. Wise as sumed the office of solicitor-general. In September despatches were received announcing the intention of the home government to erect Moreton Bay into a separate colony. Extensive floods took place about the middle of the year at the Hunter, the Hawkesbury, and other parts of the colony. Many famUies were reduced to E E 418 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VI. the greatest distress in consequence of the destruction of their crops and dwellings. Two dreadful shipwrecks took place in the imme diate vicinity of the Heads of Port Jackson. The first occurred on the 21st of August, the vessel wrecked being the "Dunbar," Captain Green, from London. Approaching the harbour during the night, when a fearful gale was blowing from the north-east, and when heavy masses of clouds shut out every ray of light, the cap tain, as was supposed, mistook the Gap — an indentation .situate a short distance south of the Heads — for the entrance to the port. The Ul-fated vessel was driven with fearful violence against the rocks, and in a few minutes her timbers were shattered to pieces. Had her destruction been less rapid, stiU the nature of the coast at this place rendered the position of the pas sengers hopeless ; for the rocks ascend perpendicularly to the height of many feet, while the waves roU to the very base of this rugged wall. One man only escaped, as if speciaUy preserved to tell the particulars of the dreadful occurrence. Washed ashore on a plank, he clung to a rock and succeeded in maintaining his position tUl the storm subsided. When the masses of timber, and the dead bodies which floated even into the harbour, attracted people to the coast, he was, after some time, observed from shore, and was drawn up by means of a puUey. The total number of persons on board was one hundred and twenty. Among the passengers were several famiUes and individuals of the most respectable class in the colony. They had visited Europe for pleasure or on business, and re turned to die at the threshold of their homes. Many of the bodies were recognized by the relatives and friends of the deceased; but in most instances the mutilation was so great as to render identification impossible. The obsequies of those which were re covered at once were solemnized by a public funeral. Business was suspended throughout the city, and all the government offices closed, while the ships in the harbour wore their flags in mourning style. The mili tary force, the officers a.nd men of the war-vessel in 18570 WEECK OF DUNBAE AND CATHEEINT; ADAMSON. 419 port, and the city pohce, joined in the funeral proces sion, which was accompanied by many thousands of the citizens. No event had ever difiused such general grief throughout the city and the colony generaUy. The second wreck was that of the "Catharine Adam- son," also from England. Twenty-one hves were lost, including several persons weU Imown and much re spected in the colony. Towards the close of the year, died, at the age of forty-seven, George Robert Nichols, who, having been for several years one of the most active of the pubhc men of the colony, had latterly fiUed a ministerial office under responsible government. Among the native- bom he perhaps occupied the second position in point of patriotism and abihty. As an orator, he was pos sessed of considerable force, although his style wanted regularity and smoothness. Disinterestedness appears to have been one of his chief characteristics, for he died poor, whUe his contemporaries became rich. The official statistics showed that the hve stock in the colony in this year amounted to 180,000 horses, 2,148,700 horned cattle, 8,139,000 sheep, and 109,000 swine. 420 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vir. CHAPTER YII. The Elections — Dismissal of Mr. Plunkett from the Chairmanship of the Board of National Education — Observations on that pro ceeding — The New Parliament — A New Electoral Act — Gold Field at Port Curtis — The Alpaca introduced — Parliament again dissolved — Separation of Moreton Bay — Ministerial Appoint ments — The Education BUl — The Porster Ministry — Eobertson forms a Cabinet — Destructive Floods — Gold at the Rocky River — Concluding Remarks. (1858—1860.) I. At the opening of this year (1858) the elections engrossed the attention ofthe colonists. That for the city of Sydney, which came off early in January, was an event of more than ordinary interest and significance. At the former election four candidates were put forward in a body by the radical party, and notwithstanding that a candidate of high social and poUtical standing entered the field on behalf of the more conservative classes, the " Bunch," as the four were termed, suc ceeded in achieving a victory. This was not unreason ably regarded as an anomalous result, for the fifth candidate polled nearly as many votes as the four to gether. The " Bunch party" now became an epithet of reproach, and, to prevent a recurrence of what was conceived to be their tyranny was a cherished object with a large section, if not a moiety of the citizens. At this election an effort was made to destroy their influence, and successfully. Mr. George Thornton, a man who, while he possessed little or no political merit, had succeeded in. rendering himself popular with the humbler classes, chiefly by participating in their social festivities, came into the field as a candidate. Fowler, a lecturer at the Mechanics' Institute, turning to advantage the odium in which the " Bunch" were held, also threw himself into the contest. These, with 18«8J THE ELECTIONS. 421 Allen, a soap manufacturer, who put himself forward as a protectionist, bid fafr to render the struggle a severe one; but as the day of election approached, a more ehgible candidate was placed at the disposal of the in dependent party. Mr. Robert Louth, a wealthy brewer, having been defeated in a contest for the representation of one of the suburban electorates, was at the last hour brought forward for the metropohs. The result was that the representation was equaUy divided between the two sections of the citizens. The successfiU candi dates were — CampbeU, Cowper, Thornton, and Louth, the two last mentioned supplanting DaUey and WUtshfre. The metropohtan election was scarcely completed, when a new event formed the subject of general dis cussion, not only among the citizens, but the colonists at large. This was the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the chairmanship of the Board of National Education. This Board was appointed to superintend the formation and management of schools, to be " conducted under Lord Stanley's National System of Education ;" and by the act of incorporation they were authorised to make bye-laws, rules, and orders touching aU matters which to them should seem fit and expedient for the attain ment of the objects of the corporation and the adminis tration of its concerns, the act dfrecting that such bye- laws, rules, and orders should, within one month from the date thereof, be published in the " Govemment Gazette." Now, it would appear that the schools in Ireland conducted under Lord Stanley's system consisted of two classes, the vested and the non-vested, the former being the property of the Board, the latter belong ing to individuals or societies, but receiving assistance from the Board on condition of complying with cer tain regulations of that body. Hitherto the Board of New South Wales extended its aid only to vested schools, but Mr. Wilkins, the inspector, representing that the extension of grants to non- vested schools would advance the cause of education, the Board acting on the suggestion drew up a set of rules, with the view to 422 HISTOEY .OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. bringing the class of non- vested schools within thie scope of their operations.* On the 18th of December these were transmitted to the chief secretary, with the view to their being published in the " Gazette," and laid before Parliament in the manner prescribed by law. On the 4th of January the Board, finding that their regulations had not been published, that no answer had been received to their communication transmitting the rules, and that the prescribed period of a month was passing away, requested their chairman to write again to the chief secretary, Mr. Cowper, which he did. After pointing out that the rules had not been pub lished, the chairman said that if the chief secretary " should, for any reason unknown to the Board, con sider that they had been mistaken in regarding him as the proper channel for carrying out thefr intention to obey the law, they requested that he would direct the printer of the " Gazette" to obey such instructions as the Board might give in this matter." The reply came from the under-secretary, who said he was directed by the minister " to observe that, as it was stated in the original communication of the chairman that, in order to enable the Board effectually to carry out their views, it would be reauisite that additional funds should be placed at their disposal, it seemed to the chief secretary desirable that the rules alluded to should not be published by the government untU an opinion had been elicited from Parhament whether or not the class of schools in question, aided as they were proposed to be from the public revenue, would receive the approval ofthe Legislature." It was added that the rules did not appear to the government to be of a cha racter contemplated by the act incorporating the Board. Plunkett, in a succeeding letter, still speaking for the Board, after pointing out that his original request simply amounted to a publication in the " Gazette," and contending that the rules were perfectly in accord ance with Lord Stanley's system, said " the members of the Board were perfectly aware of their being answerable to Parliament in this matter, as well as de- See Appendix B. 1868-] DISMISSAL OF ME. PLUNKETT. 423 pendent on thefr bounty for funds to continue their labours for the pubhc welfare, either under the present or any improved regulations ; but, in the meantime, it was impossible that they could be guided by the indi vidual opinion of the colonial secretary in the exercise of thefr duty, whether in framing these rules or in giving them pubUcity, as far as they had the power, in the mode requfred by the act. If, therefore, their pubhcation in the "Gazette" were withheld, this breach of the law would not rest with them." He added that, in order to expedite the pubhcation of the rules wdthin a month, he had sent a copy to the printer of the " Gazette," and the members of the Board expected that no obstacle would be placed in the way of thefr in sertion. The under-secretary, in reply, said he was dfrected to state "that it was the dehberate opinion of the govemment that the Commissioners had no au thority under the Act of Incorporation to make such rules and regulations" as those in question, " and that in this respect they had exceeded their powers. The govemment desired it to be distinctly understood that they were in no way pledged to provide funds for the class of schools proposed to be estabUshed without the express sanction of ParUament, to whom the subject would be submitted as early as possible after their assembUng." It was added that the regulations would be inserted in the " Gazette" as a publication by the commissioners. Then foUowed the letter, of date 8th of January, which led to the extreme step mentioned at the open ing of this narrative. In this communication Plunkett went on to say " that he was in doubt as to what indi viduals were included in the word 'government,' as it was generaUy understood that the office of secretary for lands and works was stUl vacant, and the office of finance minister was vacant tiU Monday last (4th of January), and he was informed that the attorney- general had been out of town some days preparing for his election ; therefore, under such circmnstances, he might be pardoned for not attaching much weight to the dehberate opinion of the government on the rules 424 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. VII. in question, more particularly when he recoUected the hostility which the present colonial secretary had uniformly evinced towards the system of education which the Legislature had entrusted to the Board." With this letter the correspondence terminated for that time, but on the 8th January Plunkett published in one of the morning papers the letter transmitting the regulations, together with the regulations them selves ; and again, on the 11th, aU the subsequent correspondence, including his letter last quoted. On the 6th February, comes the letter announcing to Mr. Plunkett his dismissal. It bore the signature of the minister himself. Having referred to the letter of the 8th, and to its publication in a newspaper almost im mediately after its transmission to his office, Mr. Cowper said that he had brought the whole of the correspon dence of which the letter formed a part before the govemor-general and the Executive Council, and he had now to acquaint the writer with the decision arrived at by the govemment in reference to the course adopted by him. " Upon a perusal of the correspon dence the Executive Council regretted to observe that he should not only have thought fit to address the chief secretary of the government in terms so highly impro per as those in which the letters of the 6th and 8th of last month were couched, but that he should also have been induced to resort to the frregular and unseemly step of publishing his letters in one of the public newspapers while the correspondence was yet going on with the government. The course thus adopted by him the Council could not but consider unjustifiable in every respect, and after a calm and dehberate consi deration of all the bearings of the case, they were reluctantly forced to the conclusion that it was the duty of the government, under the circumstances, to dispense with his further services as a commissioner of the Board of National Education." On the same day Plunkett transmitted two several letters to the chief secretary, the one replying to the letter just quoted, the other intimating his resignation of the several offices which he held at the pleasure of the govern- 18«8.] DISMISSAL OP MB. PLUNKETT. 425 ment. In the first mentioned, referring to his removal, he said " he shoidd abstain from offering any comment on the arbitiary and despotic character of this pro ceeding ; but as he had not either been caUed upon to explain, or been afforded an opportunity of defending the conduct which had induced the govemment to adopt this course towards him, he begged leave to submit that the decision conveyed by the chief secre tary's letter was premature. He was prepared to de fend that conduct, and also to maintain what appeared to him to be a vahd objection to the jurisdiction of the Executive CouncU as at present constituted and sum moned. He had held the office in question since the first formation of the Board in January, 1848 ; and although a mere honorary office, he had discharged its duties as dUigently as if he were in the receipt of a salary for thefr performance. He valued the office as a means of usefulness to the present and future gene rations ; and he did most respectfuUy, but firmly, protest against his removal from it by a fraction of the Executive Council, the majority of that body, as he had reason to beUeve, not having been summoned, or not being present to take part in its deUberations or deci sion." In the other communication he resigned the offices of justice of the peace and manager of the Ro man Cathohc Orphan School. " These were the only offices," he said, " which he held at the wiU ofthe go vemment ; but if there were any others which had escaped his recoUection, held on the same tenure, he desfred to relinquish them aU, as ' the reign of terror had commenced.' " On the same day he resigned into the hands of his exceUency the office of President of the Upper House, together with his seat in the Legis lative Council. n. Before entering on a consideration of the merits of a dispute which roused the attention of the colonists more generaUy, perhaps, than any other personal quarrel since the days of Bhgh and Darhng, it wiU be neces sary to say something of the antecedents and the cha racter of the principals, otherwise the reader, who is not afready acquainted with colonial history, would 426 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. find it impossible to arrive at a just decision. At the same time, a sketch of the characteristics of a remark able public man could not be more appropriately introduced than at a place where it is necessary to narrate an event which, viewed from different points of observation, has been regarded by some as a pohtical downfall, by others as a triumph of personal character; Mr. Plunkett arrived in the colony twenty-five years previously to the occurrence of these events with the office of solicitor-general, procured for him, as is understood, rather by the good offices of his friends than at his own solicitation. He was thus probably among the first batch of Roman Catholics who benefited in the way of official preferment by the achievement of CathoUc emancipation. NaturaUy of an austere tem perament his rigidity of life was probably strengthened by the circumstance that he was of a faith against which a strong prejudice was cherished by a large and influential section of the community amongst whom he found himself thrown. Be this as it may his private character was without blemish, whUe as the chief legal functionary of the colony — he had long fiUed the office of attorney-general— he was distinguished by impar tiality and justice, erring, if at all, only by a too rigorous enforcement of the letter of the law. Thus securely armed in his own quaUties, he was stiU further justi fied by the sectional support which the accidents of reU gion and nationality attracted towards him. For very many years the number of Irish Roman Catholics of education and standing to be found in the colony, was very limited indeed. Hence, besides that he was firmly attached to his reUgion and professed a zeal for his country, it is not to be wondered at that Plunkett was from the first regarded as a prominent, if not the most prominent leader of the Irish Catholic party, who from the first formed no insignificant element in the popu lation of New South Wales. A third source of influence remains to be mentioned. Having no children of his own, that tendency to nepotism which is a characteristic of the Irish gentry, receiving in his case a special incentive, he became the patron of every family and 1868-J DISMISSAL OF ME. PLUNKETT. 427 individual whose necessities, or lack of self-reliance, led them to seek his assistance or protection. Thus, in the better sort of his feUow-countrymen and co-reli gionists, he had adherents ; in the less worthy or more needy, he had foUowers. But it must be aUowed that among the other sections of the community he also enjoyed a large amount of esteem and respect. Many, who were neither Irish nor Cathohc, adinired him for his private virtues and his strict public integrity; others attached themselves to him in the hope of ad vancing themselves by the aid of the large influence which they knew him to wield. Such is the description which may be apphed to Mr. Plunkett almost from the day of his arrival ; such was his standing at the time when he came into coUision wdth the colonial secretary. Now, it is clear that the influence of such men is at all times to be respected ; and it is equaUy clear that when the strength of such is fuUy exercised, there is reason for apprehension on the part of thefr antagonists, no matter whom they may happen to be. Doubtless this was the feeling which influenced Mr. Cowper in the case under consideration. Whether it were so or not it wiU be admitted that aU that is now necessary, in order to decide as to the justice of the step taken by the minister, is to determine whether or not the course adopted by Plunkett was such as tended to overawe the premier. The pubUcation of the cor respondence almost sets this point at rest. This was an appeal to the pubhc from those who were directly and immediately responsible to the public, and in so far the proceeding was unnecessary, if it were not otherwise objectionable. If the pubUcation of the letters were intended to influence the elections then it was nothing more nor less than a piece of political cleverness, not to use a harder expression, which jus tified the ministry in retaUating in the most severe manner justified by the law and the constitution. The course adopted by Mr. Plunkett in resorting to the pubUc journals was vindicated by his friends, on the ground that Parliament was not then sitting ; but in 428. HISTOET OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. putting forward this plea, the apologists have only made more manifest the particular points in which Mr. Plunkett was blameable. They admit, what indeed they could not deny, that Parliament was the proper tribunal to decide between the chairman ofthe National Board of Education on the one side, and the chief responsible minister on the other. The same excuse was put forward to justify the tenor of the letters. As a matter of fact, there was little or no force in the apology. It was known that, looking at the state of the public business. Parliament must have assembled, as it did, almost as soon as the elections had been completed. In the meantime the cause of education, or the dignity of the Board, could have suffered but little by allowing the matter to remain in abeyance. This brings us to consider how far the Board were justified in framing and seeking to enforce the new regulations. It was not pretended that the proposed plan was, even in Ireland, anything more than a sup plement of Lord Stanley's system, and as such it was no part of the system itself. It was such an arrange ment as might be rendered desfrable by local circum stances. Were the circumstances of Ireland and of the colony the same in this particular ? By no means. The national system was the first and the only system of primary education which Ireland ever enjoyed. In New South Wales, on the contrary, two systems were already in fuU operation, much to the dissatisfaction of a large class of the colonists, who complained, in the first instance, of the waste of pubhc money which such a state of things involved, and, in the next place, of the inconsistency of the state's supporting opposite and, to some extent, conflicting systems. Thus the minister had ample grounds for declining to give the sanction of the government to the proposed arrange ment, without its being inferred that he intended wantonly to disregard the suggestions of the Board. How far the chief secretary was justified in failing to answer the first communication of the Board, may be a matter of question. Seeing that the ministry were involved in the bustle of a general election, and 18«8-] ADDEESS TO ME. PLUNKETT. 429 seeing, moreover, that the next meeting of Parhament was very shortly to take place, the cfrcumstance may weU be explained without attributing discourtesy to Mr. Cowper. The chief secretary was accused of cun ning in refraining from taking his " vengeance " tUl the Sydney election had passed over, the fiiends of Mr. Plunkett aUeging that he would have been re jected had he proceeded to remove the chairman before that event; but this charge wiU not bear investiga tion. Only seven days elapsed between the date of the offensive letter and the close of the Sydney elec tion, and only four days between the pubhcation of that letter and the day of poUing. Under any circum stances the minister inight be excused for taking four days to dehberate over so important a step, much more during the heat of an election in which aU the principal members of the Cabinet were engaged. The course pursued by the govemnient, in deferring their final step, could not have had reference to the elections generaUy, for these were not nearly completed when Mr. Plunkett' s removal was made known. Another point on which, great stress was laid was the fact that, four days before the chairman's removal, the minister entered into a negotiation with Sfr Daniel Cooper, with the view to his accepting the seat at the National Board to be thus vacated. From this it was inferred that the chief secretary intended to add the further indignity of communicating to the pubhc through the " Gazette " the dismissal of Mr. Plunkett, and the appointment of his successor. Plunkett hav ing gleaned the fact in a conversation with Sfr Daniel, and thinking that it was intended to fiU up the place of Sfr Charles Nicholson, then on a visit to Europe, waited on the governor-general, with the view to re monstrating against such a step, when he was in formed that it was himself who was to be supplanted. The conversation with the governor-general took place on the 6th, and on the foUowing day the chairman re ceived the note communicating his removal. It might have shown more candour on the part of the govem ment had they communicated thefr final step to Mr. 430 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. Plunkett before seeking for his successor ; but where good faith is violated on the one side, it is but rarely maintained in its fuU integrity on the other. It should be mentioned that the legal objection spoken of by Mr. Plunkett, in his letter of the 6th, had reference to the fact that aU who by virtue of their ministerial position became members of the Executive, continued to occupy that position after they ceased to be ministers — a practice which, according to some legal authorities, clashed with the provisions of the Consti tution Act in reference to appointments made by the advice of the Executive Council. These events were followed by a public meeting in Sydney, at which an address to Mr. Plunkett was adopted. James Macarthur presided, and several of that party were amongst the speakers. The sub stance of the address was contained in a resolution, to the effect " That the meeting, while expressing its deep and grateful sense of the important services rendered by Mr. Plunkett, in various official capacities, during the past twenty years, desired to convey to him their warm assurance of the confidence and affection of his fellow-colonists, and of sympathy with him under his abrupt and arbitrary dismissal from the Board of Na tional Education." Demonstrations, at which similar addresses were adopted, took place in various parts of the interior. The new Parliament assembled in March (23rd). In his opening speech the governor-general announced that the chief measure to be laid before the House was a bill to reform the electoral law, legislation with re gard to the pubhc lands being deferred till a parlia ment had been chosen under a more popular electoral arrangement. In the meantime steps would be taken to facilitate the survey and sale of agricultural lands, for which purpose the staff of the surveyor-general's department would be placed on a more efficient foot ing. On the address in reply some discussion took place relative to certain changes which had occurred in the ministry, Jones giving place to Robert Campbell in the treasurership, and Robertson succeeding Mur- 1858.] TEOOPS FOE INDIA. 431 ray as Minister of Lands and Works. Jones explained that he had retfred not on account of any quarrel with his coUeagues, but because he had long believed that the ministry did not receive that support which they had a right to expect. On the same ground he had long desfred to resign. Donaldson twitted Cowper with inconsistency, inasmuch as the amendment which led to the withdrawal of the land biU was moved by Robertson, his new coUeague, and also because the same member opposed the assessment and rent bUl of the preceding session. The ministry was also assaUed on the ground that they had deferred all measures, both of economy and taxation, which were calculated to reheve the monetary embarrassment or maintain the credit of the country. Robertson defended his col leagues and himself by alleging that however he might have voted on those occasions referred to, he was uni formly a fidend of the ministry. The address was adopted without opposition. At the outset of the session the govemment suc ceeded in achieving a triumph, by electing Arnold to the office of chafrman of committees, in opposition to Owen, who was put forward by thefr opponents. III. This session was marked by a coUision between the Legislature and the head of the Executive. In his opening speech, the govemor-general announced that he had intended, under the impression that the Sikhs had risen, to send to India, to assist in queUing the Sepoy mutiny, the company of Royal ArtUlery then in Sydney, together with horses and equipments, suppUed at the expense of the colony, these latter being intended as a gift to demonstrate the sympathy which the colo nists had with the mother country in the struggle in which she was engaged. In the succeeding paragraph, his exceUency said that later inteUigence from the seat of war rendered it unnecessary to send the troops to India, but the 77th Regiment was to be sent to Hong Kong, their place to be supphed as speedUy as possible with other troops. Nothing was said in this part of the speech relative to the artUlery. In the address in reply, the House, referring to this subject, said they 432 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CAHP. Vir would have been happy to co-operate with his excel lency in carrying out the intended arrangement, but they were rejoiced to find that the heroism of the troops in India, and the success which had attended that heroism, rendered it unnecessary to put the colony to the expense of the proposed equipments. Under the supposition, which it appeared was weU-founded, that his excellency stUl intended to send away the artUlery, Thornton, one of the city members, subse quently introduced resolutions in the Assembly, to the eftect — (1.) That as the despatch of the Governor- general of India did not urgently requfre that the com pany of Royal Artillery at present stationed in Sydney should be sent to India, it was the opinion of the House that the withdrawal of this force at the present time would, unnecessarily, leave the expensively-con structed fortifications of the harbour unmanned and useless, and their city in a defenceless position; (2.) that from the foregoing and other grave reasons, the removal of this force would be inexpedient and inju dicious." These resolutions having been carried by a majority of twenty-seven to twenty-one, were em bodied in an address to the governor-general. In his message in reply, his exceUency, adverting to the passage in the address of the House at the open ing of Parliament, previously quoted, expressed his regret that the Assembly should so soon have changed their minds. He said he had communicated to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, and to the Go vernor-general of India, the nature and amount of assistance which might be expected from New South Wales, and "he was deeply grieved that he should now be compelled to admit that the Legislative As sembly, after recording in the most unqualified terms their approval of the course to be adopted by the government, had, so far from affording any assistance to the govemment of India, shown every disposition to withhold that aid which the government and military authorities were alike convinced might safely and ad vantageously be afforded." "Whatever," proceeded his excellency, " might be the opinion of the Assembly 1868.] COMMITTEE APPOINTED. 433 as to the meaning of the despatch of the Governor- general of India, he assured them that the services of a company of artiUery were urgently required in that country, and that a battery, fully horsed and ready to take the field, would be of the greatest possible assist ance to the force about to move forward to the attack of Oude and RohUcund. As, however, the Legislative Assembly had expressed an opinion that the removal of the artiUery would be inexpedient and injudicious, he had suggested that, until further advices from India, this portion of the mihtary force might be aUowed to remain in Sydney." Thornton moved for a committee to prepare an address in reply to this message, when an animated discussion followed, in the course of which Cowper assumed, on behalf of the government, the responsibihty of the message, the language of which was strongly condemned even by some of the warmest fiiends of the ministry. Above aU it was, and with justice, strongly denied that the House was pledged by the address to carry out the airangement originaUy contemplated by the governor-general with regard to the artillery. A committee was appointed, who, after the lapse of a day or two, laid the draft of an addi^ess before the House. The address having been modified in some particulars, was, after a warm discussion, adopted by a large majority. It was to the effect, that " the House regretted that his exceUency should have been advised to express himself in terms which appeared calculated to impair the cordiality which it was obviously essential should be maintained between the several branches of the Legislature. A due regard to the character and the dignity of the House required that they should in the most emphatic manner declare that there was neither justice nor correctness in the imputations which would seem to be conveyed in his exceUency's state ments, to the effect that the House had entfrely altered their opinions as to the policy of the measures adopted by the government for affording assistance to their countrymen in India ;' and that, after recording in the most unqualified terms their approval of the course F F 434 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. Vll. adopted by the government, they had, so far from offering any assistance to the government of India, shown every disposition to withhold that aid which the government and the military authorities were alike convinced might safely and advantageously be afforded." The address was opposed clause by clause by the go vernment, so that its adoption was a defeat which involved the necessity of a resignation of ministers. The country, however, was saved from the incon venience of another ministerial crisis, by Parker at once giving notice of a vote of confidence in the government. On the following day the question was debated, when a resolution was adopted, by a majority of twenty-nine to seventeen, to the effect " that the House, being anxious for the uninterrupted conduct of the public business, desfred to express its confidence in the present administration." Early in the session, the matter of Plunkett's re moval was brought before the Assembly. James Macarthur introduced resolutions to the effect — (1.) That the House having had under its consideration the question of the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the Board of National Education, was of opinion that in promul gating regulations for the establishment of non-vested schools, the Board did not exceed the powers conferred on them by their act of incorporation ; (2.) that the House, therefore, the more deeply regretted that an erroneous view of the law on the part of the Executive government should have led to a course of action involving injustice to Mr. Plunkett, and which had deprived the cause of education of his invaluable assis tance as chairman of the Board, especially after the eminent services rendered by him in that capacity during a period of more than ten years ; and was of opinion that the interests ofthe community would best be promoted by his early restoration to the chairman ship of the Board." In the course of his speech the mover said that Mr. Plunkett had made it an in dispensable condition, on his acceptance ofthe chair manship, that the Board, as constitutionally established, should be wholly independent of the Executive CouncU. 1858.] EESOLUTIONS ON PLUNKETT's EEMOVAL. 435 Cowper in his reply said, " He found proof positive that Plunkett could have made no such stipulation. He found that from the first the Board prepared rules at the instance of the Executive Council, and subject to their approval; and he found that these rules were subject to the votes of the Legislature, with special reference to the money placed at the disposal of the body. When he proved these two points, then he thought there would remain but very httle to prove in reference to this particular case." Piddington moved an amendment to the effect, "That the House could not but disapprove of Mr. Plunkett's letter of the 8th January, but felt constramed to regret that any misunderstanding should have deprived the cause of education of his invaluable assistance as chairman of the Board, especiaUy after the eminent services rendered by him in that capacity during a period of more than ten years ; and were of opinion that the interests of the community would best be promoted by his early restoration to the chafrmanship of the Board." The original resolution having been negatived by a majority of twenty-nine to twenty-two, amendments, severaUy proposed by Parker and by T. W. Smith, having been amalgamated, were carried in preference to that just quoted. The resolutions thus finally agreed to were to the effect — (1.) That the House desfred to record its deep regret at the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the chairmanship of the Board of Na tional Education, and felt caUed upon to express a hope that such steps might be taken as would enable the government to restore him to a position in which he had afready rendered such imminent services to the cause of education in the colony ; (2.) that the House desired to record its opinion that the Board, in drawing up the regulations for the establishment of non-vested schools, did not exceed the powers conferred on them by 11 Yic, 48. Thus did the Assembly mediate be tween the contending parties wdthout pronouncing an opinion as to the merits of the question at issue ; for the point was not whether the Board had ex- 436 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. vil. ceeded its powers, but whether the chairman had adopted a legitimate course in enforcing what he conceived to be the privileges and rights of the Board. It was subsequently announced that the government were prepared to restore Mr. Plun kett, provided he withdrew the offensive part of the correspondence. Early in May the measure of the session, the new Electoral Bill, was submitted to the House. The mem bers ofthe Assembly were by its provisions increased by fourteen, making the entire number sixty-eight. Of these twelve were allotted to the pastoral districts, fourteen to the metropolitan police district, nine to the inland towns, twenty-eight to the settled districts, and five to mixed electorates. The city of Sydney was divided into four districts, with nine members. The police districts were made the basis of the electorates. The franchise was extended to every adult male of six months' residence in any electorate. The salary qualification was abolished, and vote by baUot intro duced. The bill differed from that of the former government, inasmuch as it did not group together towns having no common interest ; but where a town had not sufficient population to be entitled to a member, it merged into the adjacent district. Donaldson opposed the bill on the ground that it struck at the root of the constitution, by giving the sway to democratic principles. He said " he would have admired the ministry had they come down with a new Constitution Bill at once. They had not the courage to do that, but they struck at the root of the existing constitutional system. The bUl entirely changed the representation of the country, and left property unrepresented. James Macarthur moved an amendment to the effect that the bill be deferred in order to give the ministry time to prepare a measure for reconstructing the Upper House on an elective basis. His argument was that the bill, if carried into effect, would give the democratic element such a preponderance that the nominated Upper House would be no check on the 1858] THE NEW ELECTOEAL BILL. 437 legislation of the Assembly, while an elective Upper House might. After a debate extending over several days the amendment was negatived, and the motion for the se cond reading, not being otherwise opposed, was carried. In committee the number of members was increased to eighty, the additional twelve being distributed over the country districts ; and votes were given in the city to persons who, dwelhng outside the boundaries, occupied houses in the municipaUty. These were the principal changes effected in the bUl by the Assembly. The bUl did not pass through the Upper House without considerable trouble. Having been read a second time its committal was, by a formal resolution, deferred for a period of three weeks, with the view, as was aUeged, to its being the more deliberately consi dered. A week later the solicitor-general, who repre sented the govemment in the Council, brought forward a motion to rescind the resolution deferring the committal of the bUl. This proceeding occasioned a great outcry among the opponents ofthe ministry, who aUeged that it was sought to take advantage of the fact that several members had retired to thefr homes in the interior on the strength of the postponement. The intention to rescind the resolution was defeated by the members who were opposed to that step ab senting themselves day after day ; so that there was no House until the three weeks had expired — a lesson well calculated to check that tendency to rescind re solutions which had latterly manifested itself in the Legislature. The detaUs of the biU having been finaUy con sidered no material alterations were made by the CouncU, and the measure was sent back to the Assem bly in November, and almost immediately afterwards became law. A bUl to regulate the introduction of Chinese im migrants having been introduced by the government in the course of this session passed through the Assem bly, but was rejected by the Upper House. The object of the bill was to raise a revenue by means of a tax, 438 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vll. to be appropriated so as to counteract the evils, social and otherwise, which were very reasonably supposed to spring from the presence in the colony of hordes of men of an inferior race, who were altogether uncon trolled by those domestic influences which are among the best guarantees of good citizenship and moral and social worth. The ground on which the biU was rejected was that it was immature, yet two thousand five hundred and sixty persons had petitioned in favour of its adoption. lY. The ministry were in the course of this session involved in a second difficulty, arising out of a personal dispute. Towards the close of the year Mr. Martin re tired from the attorney-generalship, and it was gene rally understood that the cause of his resignation was a misunderstanding with his colleagues. The public were soon enlightened on the subject by Martin himself, in his place in the Assembly, entering into an explanation of the affair. He had retfred in consequence of receiv ing from his colleagues a request to resign. The reasons given for this step on the part of the ministry were, that the attorney-general displayed apathy in attending to his ministerial duties, that he had faded to attend cabinet meetings when important matters were to be decided, and that he was generally negli gent in his attendance at the meetings of the Executive Council. It was further alleged that he had faded to attend in ParUament to give information respecting the branch of the public business entrusted to his super vision, " by which he had alienated, as he was frequently warned, in a great degree, the best friends and sup porters of the government" — a state of things, it was said, which had existed for some months. Such were the allegations put forward by the ministers in the letter communicating to the attorney- general their wish that he should retire, and in the explanations subse quently given in the House. The immediate cause of the misunderstanding ori ginated with the House itself A resolution was passed calling for certain returns relative to insolvent estates, and these were only partially furnished, the official 1858] ME. MAETIN S EESIGNATION. 439 assignees refusing to comply wdth thefr instructions in that respect. The duty of providing the retums came within the attorney-general's department, and the House adopted a resolution to the effect that the go vernment, in not compelling the assignees to supply the retums, had failed in thefr duty. The chief secre tary, in his explanation, more especiaUy complained that the attorney-general was not present and was not to be found when the Cabinet was considering what course they should adopt in reference to this vote of censure. Martin's reply to this aUegation was that the course the ministry were to adopt had previously been decided upon, which was that they should not go out. To the several other charges of apathy and ne glect, he merely offered a general defence, such as made it clear that these charges were not without some foundation. It was said that the attorney-general had advised the governor that the assessment on runs, provided for by a recent act of the Legislature, was iUegal ; but it appeared that this was not the case, although Mr. Martin admitted that he was of opinion that the as sessment was contrary to the Constitution Act. The severance of the connection of the attorney- general and his colleagues did not excite much sur prise, for it was generaUy understood that the union was not one of choice on either side. Cowper usuaUy referred to his conferring the appointment on Mr. Martin in apologetic strains, while it was weU known that Martin's true poUtical principles, as weU as all his earher associations, precluded his thoroughly sym pathizing with the party with whom he was recently leagued. Among the measures passed during this session, was the act to estabUsh district courts, the act to estabhsh local municipahties throughout the interior, and an act for the better management of the main roads and railways. The prorogation took place on the 26th of Novem ber. His excellency, in his speech on the occasion, congratulated the Parhament on having accomphshed 440 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. several of those important measures which had baffled their predecessors. About the middle of the year, the colony was startled by the announcement that gold had been dis covered at Port Curtis. The immediate locality of the new gold field was Canoona, a plain adjacent to the banks of the Fitz-Roy, about forty miles distant from the head of the navigation at Rockhampton. At the period when the discovery was announced considerable numbers of the working-classes were unemployed in Sydney and other parts of the colony, and this cir cumstance, which had the effect of enhancing the ordi nary attractions of the new gold field, and as this part of the territory had not heretofore been tested by the diggers, it was not to be wondered at that many che rished the hope that here would be found auriferous deposits equal to those which had astonished the world in the adjacent colony to the south. Both circum stances tended to divert a population to the new re gion with a rapidity and to an extent almost unparal leled in the history of Austrahan gold seeking. Within the period of a month four thousand persons had left Sydney for Rockhampton, and in Optober ten thou sand persons had congregated in that district, each of the colonies sending a contingent, but chiefly New South Wales and Yictoria. It was soon found that the actual diggings were confined to a space of about two and a-half acres, and that even here the precious deposits lay exclusively on the surface. Prospecting parties extended their searches as far as the adjacent hills, but wdthout success, and soon it became clear that, for the vast bulk of the congregated thousands, the new gold field was a blank. In October the reflux of population set in to Sydney, and in a few weeks large numbers of disappointed diggers were wandering about the city in idleness and distress. In this emer gency several mercantile gentlemen and other citizens generously formed themselves into a committee, and took measures to aUeviate the prevaUing want. Col lecting money and provisions, they forwarded to the several gold fields of the colony such of the unem- 185S.] FLOCK OP LLAMAS, ALPACAS, ETC., LANDED. 441 ployed as appUed for thefr aid, paying thefr expenses on the road, and furnishing them with provisions for a hmited period after their arrival at thefr destination. In this way large numbers were enabled to render thefr industiy avaUable for their own advantage, whUe the city was freed from the inconvenience and danger which invariably foUow from the presence of unem ployed and penurious masses of men. Towards the end of November only four or five hundred persons remained at Canoona. In October (29th), the electric wfre having been completed as far as Albany, telegraphic communication was estabhshed between Sydney, Melbourne, and Ade laide. At the same time were sanctioned the exten sions to Bathurst and Maitland, which have since been completed. In November a new era was opened for the pas toral interests of New South Wales. In that month (28th) were landed in Sydney, from South America, a mixed flock of two hundred and eighty Uamas, alpacas, and vicunas, the wool-producing animals of the west ern continent. In a preceding chapter of this History is noticed an effort made in Sydney by a combination among some of the leading colonists, with the view to introducing the alpaca. The best and greatest achieve ments which the world has witnessed have been due to the almost unaided efforts of individuals, and whether or not the creation of a new article of export and ma nufacture may be classed among such achievements, it is certain that not to an association, but to an indivi dual, is due the naturaUzation of these valuable ani mals on the plains and hiU-sides of the Austrahan con tinent.* The importer of the new stock was Mr. Charles Ledger, an Englishman, who had been, for a considerable period, estabhshed in Peru, where he de voted himself to the trade in alpaca wool.f In pro curing these animals, and conveying them some thou sands of leagues through rugged and frequently inhos- * See Appendix C. t Translation from a Valparaiso paper in the " Sydney Morning Herald." 442 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. vil. pitable regions, Mr. Ledger encountered difficulties, privations, and dangers, which would fill a volume. In the prosecution of his undertaking he traveUed through Peru, Bolivia, and the Argentine Republic, and, in ad dition to the ordinary rigours incident to his labours, had to encounter the machination of the governments of those countries, who, influenced by a narrow-minded policy, were averse to a proceeding which, if carried into effect, would, they foresaw, result in calling into existence a formidable competitor in the field of com merce. The latest accounts relative to the alpacas show that they are progressing as favourably as can be desired, being thoroughly acclimatized, while their numbers are considerably increasing. Some parcels of the alpaca wool, sent to England, have also realized satisfactory prices. In the course of this year another important step was made towards opening up the interior of Austraha by means of river navigation. The Murrumbidgee was for the first time traversed by a steamer as far as the town of Gundagai. The statistics of the colony showed that in this year there were in cultivation 223,296 acres of land. This area was principaUy under wheat, maize, barley, oats, potatoes, tobacco, hay, the vine, gardens, and orchards. Of wheat the quantity cultivated was 94,749 acres ; of maize, 55,505 acres. The average produce of wheat per acre was 16'6 bushels, of maize, 36"6. The total value of the imports for the year was £6,463,500 ; of the exports, £6,034,800. Of the imports, the value of those received overland was £404,100 ; of the exports, the value of those trans mitted by land was £1,848,500. In December (7th) the Parliament reassembled. In his opening speech, the governor-general explained that his sole reason far calling the Legislature together so soon after the prorogation was the paramount im portance of voting the supplies for 1869 previous to the commencement of the year, in order that the expenditure of the public revenue might take place according to constitutional principles. At the very outset of this session, the House struck 1S5S.] ME. BAYLEY, ATTOENEr-GENTlEAL. 443 a severe blow at the oft-agitated principle of State aid to rehgion. During the crisis occasioned by the dis covery of the gold fields, the Legislature supplemented the grant for the support of pubhc worship by a sum of £14,025, intended to meet the increased exigencies of the ministers of rehgion. This sum the Assembly now struck out of the estimates, much to the alarm of those who had always adhered to the principle of sup porting pubhc worship out of the funds of the State. 1859.] The successor of Martin in the attorney- generalship was Mr. Bayley, a barrister recently arrived from the mother country. The appomtment of a new arrival to so important a post excited considerable dissatisfaction among a section of the members of the House, as weU as out of doors, notwithstanding that many members of the bar, as was imiversaUy known, were unwUling to accept a post the tenui-e of which was seen to be of a precarious nature. Early in the session the matter was brought before the Assembly. Deniehy moved resolutions to the effect — (1.) That, in the opinion of the House, no appointment as minister of the Crown, or to any important public office of trust and power, ought to be conferred on any person (ex cept in the case of individuals retumed to ParUament by popular election) whose residence in the colony had not been of sufficient length to afford the country satisfactory guarantees of the fitness and propriety of the appointment; (2.) and that the appointment of Lyttleton Holyoake Bayley to the office of attorney- general was unsatisfactory to the House. These reso lutions were negatived. In the course of this session the House adopted a resolution to the effect that it was expedient that the govemment should purchase the alpacas at a price not exceeding fifteen thousand pounds, and undertake measures for thefr management at a cost of not more than one thousand a-year. These resolutions were subsequently acted upon. The Legislature occupied itself to some extent with inquiring into certain charges of fraud preferred against the department of customs. The investiga- 444 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. vir. tion, together with subsequent revelations, made it clear that frauds to the extent of some thousands a-year had been committed for a considerable period. The collector was removed, and some of the subordi nate officers having been prosecuted criminaUy, two of them were found guilty, and sentenced to im prisonment. Y. In April, Parliament was prorogued, and im mediately after was dissolved, preparatory to the elec tions under the new Electoral Act. The elections throughout the colony possessed, for several reasons, more than ordinary interest. The extension of the franchise, the equalization of the electoral districts, and the introduction of the baUot, formed a new era in the brief history of responsible government, and this of itseff was sufficient to arouse the interest of all who paid even the least attention to the political affafrs of the country. Moreover, it re mained to be seen what course the partizans of Mr. Plunkett would adopt now that an opportunity was presented to them for asserting their faith in their leader. But on this point there could have been little doubt. The ousted chairman had a strong party in the colony ; he might have acted unwisely, but he had acted with promptitude and spirit, and that was suf ficient to ensure him the continued support of his adherents, for, in public life, energy and daring are amongst the most attractive qualities. Nor was the quarrel between Martin and his late coUeagues with out its interest at this particular juncture. Never did public man owe so Uttle to popularity as did the late attorney-general. He had alternately been abused, sometimes persecuted, by almost every section of the colonists, but chiefly, as sometimes happens to men who rise from low estate, by that class with whom he was to a large extent identified by religion and nationality. Now, however, the scales were destined to turn in his favour. The friends of Plunkett made common cause with him ; the enemies of the ministry adopted him ; such as had always adhered to him became stiU more attached to his fortunes, so that it was not surprising 18690 EESIGNATION OP MINISTEY. 445 that he competed successfuUy with a combination of can didates for the eastern division of the city of Sydney, receiving so many plumpers at the poU, that it was questionable whether he did not occupy the first place among the successful candidates. Throughout the interior the Catholic party exerted themselves vigorously, and in nearly every instance succeeded in returning their candidate — each and aU openly, or by impUcation, pledged to oust the existing ministry. When Parhament assembled in the latter end of August, it was apparent that the ministry must give way before the determined opposition which had been marshaUed against them. In the vice-regal speech, ParUament was congratu lated on the orderly manner in which the elections were conducted, affording, as they did, practical testi mony in favour of the ballot. It was announced that the importance of the Austrahan colonies received another recognition by the estabhshment of a separate naval command in the Austrahan seas. A biU was recommended to the notice of the Legislature for making the Upper House elective ; and a measure was announced to repeal the schedule in the Consti tution Act providing for pubhc worship. At the very commencement of the session, a blow was struck at the ministry by the ousting of Arnold from the chairmanship of committees, and the election of Piddington, a member of the opposition, to that post. A more serious defeat soon foUowed. Parker intioduced a resolution declaring that the obnoxious duties on tea and sugar ought to be forthwith repealed. The revenue from this source was £150,000 per annum, so that to repeal the duties at once must have greatly embarrassed the financial affafrs of the country. The government opposed the motion. They admitted that the tax was objectionable, but contended that the pro posed repeal was inopportime as weU as injudicious, inasmuch as in a few days the ministry would bring forward thefr fiscal pohcy. " The House having heard the financial statement, if it were not satisfactory, then 446 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vll. would be the proper time to submit the motion. This resolution, besides embarrassing the government, would, if carried, have the effect of deranging trade and ruining many persons who had purchased on the faith of the tariff being settled." The resolution was carried by a majority of one, twenty-nine voting for, and twenty-eight against it. The ministry resigned, and Mr. Murray, at the suggestion of Cowper, was sent for. He applied to Hay for assistance in forming a ministry, and faUing to obtain the co-operation of that gentleman, he gave up the undertaking as a hopeless task. The House re-as sembled on the 6th September, the resignation having taken place on the 2nd. Cowper moved an adjournment for two days, at the same time giving notice that he would move the rescinding of the resolution in refer ence to which he and his colleagues had tendered thefr resignation. At the next meeting of the House the members of the former government took their seats on the ministerial benches. A question was raised as to whether the ministry, having resigned, were not bound to appeal to their constituents before they resumed office. The chief secretary repUed that his resignation had not been accepted, and that, moreover, until their successors was appointed, the ministry did not cease to hold office. The Speaker's opinion was in favour of this view of the matter, and the subject dropped. In the course of the explanation which took place it transpired that Murray had successively applied to Plunkett, Parker, Martin, Flood, Foster, and Pidding ton in his endeavours to form a ministry. The two first-mentioned declined, Plunkett aUeging that the resignation was merely a dodge intended to strengthen the ministry, by showing the impracticability of form ing, at that juncture, another cabinet capable of carry ing on the business of the country. The motion for rescinding the resolution relative to the tea and sugar duties was, after a debate extending over two days, carried by a majority of forty to twenty-one. The ministry next submitted a proposition for the 1859.] QUEENSLAND EEECTED A SEPAEATE COLONY. 447 creation of a new department. Hitherto the control of the lands and pubhc works was entrusted to one minister. It was found that the growing importance of these two branches of the pubhc business rendered it desfrable that they should be separated, and a motion was submitted to the Assembly to the effect that a new department be created, to be caUed the De partment of Public Works. The House readUy as sented to a proposition which held out the prospect of the more effective administration of the Crown lands, for which the public generaUy were clamouring, and Geofirey Eagar, a new man in pubUc Ufe, was appointed to the newly-created office, with a seat in the Upper House. YI. The separation of Moreton Bay and its erec tion into a separate colony, under the designation of Queensland, occupied the attention of the Legislature. A copy of the London " Gazette " of 3rd January, containing the official announcement of that event, having been received in Sydney, the colonists were led to reflect seriously on the bearing which the separation of a large portion of their territory would have on the parent colony, more especiaUy in reference to the debt which had been contracted on the security of the waste lands, including that portion of the pubhc domain which was about to be taken away. In October the matter was formally brought before the Legislature. DarvaU moved a resolution to the effect — That the proposed separation of Moreton Bay from New South Wales was premature and inexpedient. (1.) Because the power reserved to her Majesty by the Constitution Act to alter the boundary of the colony of New South Wales to the north, in such a manner as to her Majesty might seem fit, had not been generaUy invoked by the people of the colony, nor by their representa tives; (2.) because the assent of the Legislature of the colony to the proposed separation had not been obtained, and it was manifestly harsh and inconsistent to split into fragments, without their own consent, a community possessing responsible government and absolute control over thefr local affairs; (3.) because 448 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. VII. the population of the proposed colony of Queensland was so smaU and scattered as to be unable to discharge the duties of self-government economically or effici ently." In the discussion which foUowed, the chief point dwelt upon was the public lands. On these was secured a debt of eight hundred thousand pounds, and it was contended that the matter should be settled before separation took place, otherwise its adjustment would sow the seeds of dissension between the two colonies. Some even argued that as the constitution made over all the public lands to the government of New South Wales, the waste lands of Moreton Bay would still be the property of the parent colony, even after separation took place. The affirmatory part of the proposition having been adopted, the first reason was withdrawn, and, as an amendment on the second, a proposition moved by Hay was adopted. It was to the effect, " that such arrange ments as had been made, either by the Imperial Go vernment or that of New South Wales, seemed cal culated to establish the metropolitan predominance of the country of Stanley and the town of Brisbane — a predominance which was not justified by natural advantages, and was opposed to the interests of the districts further north." The third of the original reasons was withdrawn. The measure of separation was warmly defended by some even among the repre sentatives of New South Wales proper. It was con tended that to estabhsh a colony to the northward would, by giving the elder colony a central position, enable her to maintain that pre-eminence which, by her seniority and her achievements in the sphere of colonization, was her right, at the same time that to estabhsh a new colony was a step towards that Austra lian federation which was now eagerly looked for as an event that would have the effect of consolidating a great Anglo-Saxon nation in the southern hemisphere. The subject of ministerial and official appointments was again brought under the consideration of the Assembly. Martin resolved upon assailing the govern ment through the medium of some of the legal func- 1859.] MINISTEEIAL AND OFFICIAL APPOINTMENTS. 449 tionaries recently appointed by them. With this view he moved a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That the chief advantages of governments are that they are able to afford a pure and efficient administra tion of justice ; (2.) that such purity and efficiency cannot be reasonably expected where the higher ap pointments, connected with such administiation, are conferred on persons, not with reference to their fit ness, but for the purpose of promoting the party views of the government appointing them; (3.) that in several instances of late, appointments were so made, and under cfrcumstances such as to justify the most serious apprehensions of danger to the public interests ; (4.) that the conduct of his exceUency's present advi sers in recommending such appointments, and other wise in reference to the administration of justice, had been such as to caU for the marked condemnation of the House." The mover's attacks were chiefly dfrected against Bayley, the attorney-general, whom he described as a man so Uttle endowed with professional abUity that in England he was an apphcant for a situation the salary of which was not more than a hundred a year, while in the colony he was unable to obtain even an ordinary amount of practice. The appointment of DaUey, a young barrister bom in the colony, to the office of sohcitor-general, with a seat in the Executive, was also assaUed, on the ground of the inexperience of the person appointed; so also Hargrave, who suc ceeded to the same office, was described as being unac quainted with criminal law, and so not qualified for a post wherein the duty of conducting criminal prosecu tions would frequently devolve upon him. Some of the appointments to district judgeships were simUarly dealt with. The debate on these resolutions, if debate it may be called, was one of the most remarkable which occurs in the records of the Colonial Legislature. The attorney-general did not speak, leaving the defence of the govemment and of himself to his coUeagues, and it was generaUy surmised and whispered that the cause of his silence was his inabUity to repel the severe G G 450 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. assault of his antagonist. The ministers and their supporters resolved to bring the debate to a close as speedily as possible, and they but feebly responded to the speeches from the opposition benches. As the night advanced, a motion for the adjournment of the debate was made by the opposition. This was resisted by the other side, and then commenced a series of motions, followed by divisions, intended to force the government into an adjournment. The object of the opposition was to give the country an opportunity of digesting the vigorous, and, to a large extent, effective speech levelled by the mover against the recent -ap pointments, with the view to damaging the ministry with the public, and through the public with the House. The ministry, seeing through the motives of their opponents, and confident in the muster of their supporters, were determined that the question should no longer hang like a sword suspended over their heads, and insisted on the debate being brought to a close without delay. Motions for adjournment, varied so as not to clash with the standing orders, and speak ing against time, were resorted to by the opposition members. Those on the government benches only spoke to adduce arguments why an adjournment should not take place ; they said they were willing that the debate should go on; they were prepared to hear all that could be said in support of the resolutions. Thus was the entire night consumed, and the profitless dis cussion was stiU going on when the newspapers came into the House in the morning containing the reports of the speeches delivered up to midnight. At nine there was half-an-hour's adjournment, to aUow of the Speaker, who was nearly exhausted, obtaining refreshment. After the lapse of the half hour, the dis cussion was renewed, and continued till past noon. It was now ascertained that the Speaker's strength was rapidly failing, and the opposition gave way. To the last, however, they endeavoured to thwart thefr oppo nents. With one exception, they left the House in a body, hoping by that means to prevent a division. When the question was put, there was a cry of divide. 18 'S-] EDUCATION EEFOEM BILL. 451 and one of the supporters of the government walking over to the other side, tellers were named, and the re solutions were thus formaUy negatived. Soon foUowed the measure which was doomed to be the great stumbhng-block of the Cowper adminis tration. Among the reforms for which the country had long caUed, was one which, superseding the two fold scheme of education which prevaUed in the colony, should place the primary training of the youth on a definite and lasting basis. Although it was doubted whether the matter was sufficiently pressing to call for the ministry risking their pohtical existence in dealing with it, there was no doubt but a general opinion pre vailed that under the existing arrangement, primary education was not carried out in an efficient and com prehensive manner. The National Board of Education, as a corporate body, affected to be above the control of the Executive, whereas the Denominational Board was Uttle more than a mechanical agent for the distribution of the funds voted by the Legislature. In introducing a bUl to reform the scheme of public education, the chief secretary said that he purposed to assimUate the system in the colony to that estabUshed in England in 1859, and known as the Privy Council system, although he would not follow the English plan in aU its detaUs. He approved of what was called the grant-in-aid prin ciple, under which the people themselves would be induced to take some voluntary action towards promo ting the education of their children. It was proposed not to aUow of any interference in reUgious matters ; the Board should not force the schools, nor the schools the parents of the children. To illustrate the success of the English system, which was taken as a model, it was shown that while, in 1839, the sum voted for expenditure by the Privy CouncU was £30,000, in the last few years the vote had increased to a miUion. The bUl aroused considerable agitation out of doors. The clergy, as a body, appeared to be either favourable to the proposed scheme, or indifferent as to its fate. The Church of England clergy, the bishop included, were never advocates of the new measure. 452 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vll. and it was said that one of the principals of the Wes leyan body, and a person assuming a position of some influence among the Roman Cathohcs, assisted in concocting it. Nevertheless, a public meeting, called to express approval of the bill, ended in confusion. The opposition to the measure was based very largely on political grounds. In England the ministers of the day formed the committee of the Privy Council on Education ; in the colony it was proposed to make the Executive Council a board for the discharge of the same duties. This was a function which, owing to its peculiar importance, as affecting the entire youth of the colony, few were prepared to intrust to the Execu tive. It was said that to vest the management of education in the Executive would be to disjoint the supervision of the schools by every change of ministry. Could they, it was asked, consent to subject this matter of high moral concernment to such constant fluctuation ? Then the friends of the national system contended that their favourite plan had not failed ; year after year," they said " it was wdnning friends from the ranks of its early opponents, and it was found specially useful in the interior. In the bUl under consideration, on the other hand, there was no principle. The English scheme was no system of education at all; it was resorted to as an expedient, rendered necessary by the complications of Enghsh society, and was looked upon even by its promoters as a thing of transition. No case had been made out against the existing systems, whUe the bill before the House would give the direction of education to men who, in some instances, would not be quahfied for the office of schoolmaster." On the motion for the second reading, Mr. Murray moved as an amendment that the biU be read a second time that day six months. The amendment having been lost by a majority of forty to twenty-five, the original motion was negatived by the unusually large majority of fifty-seven to eight. The ministry immediately resigned. Hay was sent for, but he declined the task of forming a cabinet on faUing to secure the co-operation of certain of his 1'59-] EESIGNATION OF MINISTEY. 453 fiiends. His exceUency now caUed on Foster, as being the most likely to concUiate the opposing sec tions of the Assembly. Foster undertook the duty, and after considerable negotiation, succeeded in getting together a ministry which, from the first, possessed Uttle or none of the elements of strength. Assuming for himself the position of chief secretary and premier, he associated with him Samuel, as colonial treasurer; Black as secretary for lands, and Eager as minister of pubhc works. Inherently, this ministry, as has been said, possessed no strength ; in many respects they were pecuUarly weak. The premier was noted, hereto fore, chiefly for being always in opposition; he was attached to no party or section in the House, and his bitterness and prejudice had made him many enemies. Black, in accepting office in a ministry which must de pend chiefly for support on the extreme conservative party, was not unjustly regarded as a seceder from the hberals, on whose shoulders he, a complete stranger, had been borne into ParUament. Eager was stig matized as a deserter of those by whom he had recently been elevated from a position of obscurity to the rank of a minister of the Crown. Samuel, although a respectable financier, and a useful member of the Legislature, had no influence in the House. With such a set of men holding, to a large extent, the destinies of the country in thefr hands, and with such a party in power, it may weU be supposed that the country was startled from one end to the other, when, on the day succeeding the formation of the new ministry, an address came from Cowper to his consti tuents, announcing his retirement from pubUc Ufe. In this address the late premier said, that after sixteen years of close attention to his legislative duties, he felt " that his absence from pohtical affairs was neces sary to himself, and might, in the present state of par ties, tend to remove some difficulties in the way of carrying on the pubhc business which his presence might rather aggravate. The relaxation which he sought would be considered only reasonable, when the wear and tear of mental and bodily energies, occasioned 464 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. VII. by the waste of time, and the vexatious mode in which the debates had, during the past two years, been con ducted, were considered. Deeply impressed with the belief that the death of one of the most valued of his colleagues was the penalty he paid for a too sedulous discharge of his public duties in the face of a violent opposition, he was disposed to regard the calamity as a special warning to himself. During the present ses sion the same kind of factious and harassing conduct had evidently been determined upon, and in an in creased degree ; and though a change of government had taken place, the objections to the present adminis tration were so numerous that it was clear they would not meet wdth less opposition than was manifested towards the government which preceded them. He trusted his constituents would not accuse him of de serting their cause, or betraying their interests. To the cause of good government he had devoted a large portion of the best years of his life, and had made larger sacrifices than any other public man. In return for these services he asked no other favour at their hands than that they would disbelieve the mendacious slanders of a venal and licentious press, and believe that he had honestly and faithfuUy performed the high and important functions of their representative." The retirement of one who at all events must have been admitted to have been the hardest worked po litician which the colony produced, was an event all the more serious, inasmuch as it was felt that the apprehensions expressed by Mr. Cowper were to a large extent well grounded. There could be little doubt but that the coUeague alluded to in the address, Robert Campbell, the late treasurer, had faUen a victim to hard work, combined with anxiety of mind, the result, in a large measure, of the difficulties which party strife threw in the way of the ministry. The chief secretary had incurred antagonism from which the treasurer was free, and hence the position of the former was more critical than that of the latter could have been. Situated as he was, his only course, indeed, was to retire ; and in avowing that his retirement might tend 1560.] THE FOSTEE MINISTTR. 465 to remove difficulties in the way of carrying on the pubhc business, he evinced a degree of sincerity and true moral courage which some of his opponents inight weU have emulated. Nor was the step without a lesson of a far different character. Destitute of pension and emolument, and possessed of but a moderate share of private wealth, as the retiring minister was, the pubhc now saw how great was the contrast between him and his selfish and grasping antagonists, whose love of domination was surpassed only by thefr greed for pay and patronage. The new ministry met the House in November. Foster said that in assuming the duty of forming a cabinet he was influenced by a behef that from the position he had occupied in the House he might suc ceed in moderating the differences of members. It was the intention of the govemment, he said, to make the session a short one, so as not to disarrange the busi ness ofthe next year. They proposed to introduce biUs to alter the constitution of the Upper House, to prevent the renewal of the leases of Crown lands at the expi ration ofthe period often years then approaching, and to reduce the salaries of the pubhc servants ; and it was also intended, at as early a period as possible, to reform the magistracy. By the bill to reduce the salaries it was proposed to fix that of future governors at £5,000 per annum, being a reduction to the extent of £2,000, and the salaries of ministers it was intended to fix uniformly at £1,200 a-year. The object of this mea sure was to give a moral sanction to retienchment throughout the entfre civil service. YII. At the very outset, the govemment was met in a manner which boded their speedy downfaU. The chief secretary had committed blunders of a serious description, even in endeavouring to form his ministry. Rotton, a country member of some abUity as a debater, and of great perseverance, made a revelation which excited the mirth of the House at the expense of the govemment. He had received a letter from Foster asking him to take office in the new ministry, but scarcely had he read this epistle when another came 456 HISTOEY OF KEW SOUTH WALES, [CHAP.vn. withdrawing the offer. While members were specu lating as to the cause of this movement a friend of Arnold's announced that that member had been ten dered any office in the ministry from the premiership downwards, and that the offer was withdrawn under precisely similar circumstances. As these incidents were continued, it was apparent how much the new government was under the control of those on whom they chiefly depended for support. The first important bill introduced by the govem ment, was one to make the Upper House elective. By this measure the entire colony was made one elec torate, the qualifications of voters and candidates were the same as for the Assembly, except that no one under thirty years of age was eligible as a member. Electors could vote for any candidate, but only for one, and the vote was to be recorded in the district where the elector usually resided. The mode of no mination and election was to be the same as for the Assembly. The number of members was fixed at thirty, and the Council thus formed was to endure for six years. In the event of a vacancy occurring the governor might summon the next highest in the Ust of candi dates, not having less than one thousand votes. The initiation of this bUl in the Assembly greatly excited the indignation of the Council, who regarded the pro ceeding as an insult, if not as an infringement of thefr privileges. I860.] The opposition clamoured for a land biU, that being the measure, they said, which the country most urgently required ; and in February Black sub mitted, in the shape of a bill, his scheme for settling the mode of alienating the waste lands of the country. The minister had been president of the People's Land League, and was the author of a manifesto issued by that body, so that his bill was looked for with peculiar interest. He proposed that a large quantity of land, not less than two hundred and fifty thousand acres, should be surveyed in suitable localities, in addition to that afready in the market ; that blocks of eight thou sand acres should be laid out on the banks of rivers 1860.] UPPEE HOUSE BILL SECOND EEADING. 457 and in simUar situations, for the purpose of forming settlements ; that any person might select a portion of any such block, if not less than forty acres, nor more than three hundred and twenty, at the price of ten shillings per acre, on the payment of which he inight at once take possession ; and that those taking up land in this manner should be entitled to depasture stock on the portion of eight thousand acres not taken up. Such were the main features of the land bUl of the Foster ministry. Had the measure been advanced to its more mature stages, it is probable that it would have been opposed chiefly on account of the reduction of price. Such a reduction was strongly objected to, first, because it was conceived to be unjust to those who had purchased under the system which fixed the minimum price at one pound; secondly, because aU the agricultural land of the colony was known to be value for one pound per acre ; and thfrdly, because to reduce the price would be to lessen the value of the colonial securities. But this bUl was not destined to occupy the at tention of the Legislature. In February, the second reading ofthe Upper House BiU came on for discussion. The measure was opposed chiefly on the ground that a House, the members whereof shoidd be elected simultaneously, and retfre simultaneously at the end of six years, would not represent the matured pubhc opi nion of the country. The elections, it was said, might take place under the influence of a temporary pohtical excitement ; and should the pubhc commit an error in choosing the members, as they were Uable to do, they would be precluded from rectifying their mistake even partiaUy, untU the House ceased to exist by lapse of time. It was also contended that to make the entfre colony one constituency would be to give an undue influence to the population of Sydney, or, rather, to that section of the metropohtan community who de voted themselves to pohtics. They would nominate the bulk of the candidates, and they and their fiiends in the interior would control the elections. In the debate which took place on the motion for the second 468 HISTOEY OF NFIW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP: vil. reading some avowed themselves in favour of the Le gislature consisting of only one House. An amend ment to that effect was negatived by a majority of forty-three to ten, and the biU itself was rejected by a majority of twenty-nine to twenty-six. If the ministry were defeated, they were determined that thefr brief period of office should not be curtailed of a single day which it was in their power to pre serve. The biU having been rejected on the 24th the House again assembled on the 28th, no unusual lapse of time having taken place. The business was pro ceeding in the ordinary course when a member moved that the House adjourn, to give ministers time to explain what course they intended to pursue. The chief secretary said that the day was one of those set apart for business not introduced by the government, and if the House chose to adjourn, ministers could not object. He would take no notice of the adjournment. The next day was devoted to govemment business, and he would then be prepared to state what course the government intended to pursue. In the course of the discussion which followed it was said that if anything were wanting to show the unfitness of the ministry for the position they occupied, it was furnished by the idle and ill-timed remarks of the chief secretary. The motion of adjournment was withdrawn, and next day Foster announced that the ministry did not intend to resign ; that they purposed to get through the estimates and then dissolve. In taking this course he had a precedent in English Parliamentary history ; for when Lord Derby was defeated on the Reform Bill he did not resign. They were then in the third month of the year, and the estimates were not yet passed, while the necessities of the country were crying out on all sides for efficient action on the part of the go vernment. The ministry would give way only before a distinct vote of want of confidence. One of the leaders of the opposition said he was prepared to give the government a vote of credit for three months, to enable them to dissolve, but nothing more. Gray, a country member, said that the time had come to accept I860.] EESIGNATION OF THE MINISTEY. 459 the challenge of the premier. It was not possible for the govemment to carry on the pubhc business after they had sustained defeat after defeat, and after they were placed in a position of humiliation unprecedented in pohtical history. He moved that the continuance of ministers in office was an obstruction of the public business, and that this, the opinion of the House, be communicated to the govemor-general. Foster and his friends objected to the motion being entertained, on the ground that the ordinary notice had not been given. The Speaker said that notices were given in order that members inight come prepared. In this instance the motion did not originate the proceedings, of which notice had been given on the previous day, when the premier announced that he would make an explanation. Under aU the circumstances, he thought the motion might be proceeded wdth. The House accepted of this ruling, and after a debate of some hours the motion was carried — ^Ayes, 33 ; noes, 25. YELL Next day the ministry resigned, and it was announced that the govemor-general wdshed to caU in the as.sistance of Sfr Daniel Cooper, who was then ab sent from town. It should be mentioned that Sfr Daniel had recently resigned the Speakership in con sequence of faiUng health, and had been succeeded by Murray. After a delay of a few days, it was announced that Sfr Daniel had declined the task of forming a mi nistry. Jones was next sent for. His first step was to telegraph for Cowper ; but, after some unsuccessful negotiation with other leading poUticians, he abandoned the task of forming a govemment, which was now intrusted to Robertson. After a brief negotiation a ministry was formed, in which Cowper occupied the position of chief secretary, with a seat in the Upper House. Robertson was secretary for lands, and pre mier ; Weeks treasurer, and Arnold secretary for pubhc works. The ministerial elections having been completed, Parhament re-assembled on the 3rd of AprU. One result of the frequent ministerial changes which had taken place was that the pubhc money had been ex- 460 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. VII. pended without the proper Parliamentary sanction, and accordingly one of the first measures announced by the Cabinet was an act of indemnity. With regard to the general business of the session, Robertson said it was intended to lay on the table bills for settling the land question, for reconstructing the Upper House, for abolishing state aid to religion, and for regulating Chinese immigration ; that the more formal business of the session having been disposed of, a short recess would take place, after which the govemment would proceed with the bills just named. The treasurer, in his financial statement, had to announce a considerable decrease in the revenue, both territorial and general. The falling-off in the receipts on account of the pubhc lands amounted to seventy per cent., that in the cus toms revenue to ten per cent. The decrease in the sales of land was attributed to the doubt which pre vaUed in the pubhc mind relative to the final settle ment of the land question. No one, it was said, liked to invest in the purchase of land whUe the very un settled state of parties in the House rendered it alto gether uncertain what sort of measure would eventu aUy be adopted. The decrease in the customs revenue was explained by certain temporary causes, among others the separation of Moreton Bay.* A committee of the Assembly, appointed at the in stance of Parker, reported on the condition of the work ing classes. The evidence which was taken proved that considerable distress prevailed in the city of Syd ney, even among the more deserving of the populace. In their report the committee pointed out as the chief means of redress, the fostering of colonial manufac tures, the better administration of the public lands, and the equalization of taxation. The evidence also revealed the existence of a fearful amount of prostitution, even among females of a tender age. The adoption of the report was opposed by the government, on the ground that the recommendation of the committee embodied the principle of protective duties, and the House treated the matter coldly, for in * See Appendix D. I860.] NOCTUENAL MEETINGS OF UNEMPLOYED. 461 new countries there is always an unwillingness to beUeve in the existence of distress arising from want of em ployment. The report was rejected by a large majority.* Nocturnal meetings of the unemployed had re cently been of frequent occurrence, the object of these assemblages being twofold, first to induce the govern ment, to create employment by throwing open pubhc works, or extending those already commenced ; se condly, to force on the Legislature the final settlement of the land question. Three days after the rejection by the Assembly of the report just referred to, a tu multuous assemblage congregated in front of the Par Uament Houses, at an advanced hour in the evening, when the Assembly was in debate. The mob were addressed by some of thefr leaders, who assailed in no measured terms certain of the members who had voted against the adoption of the report on the condition of the working-classes ; and the shouts which responded to each successive burst of oratory were heard within the chamber, and disturbed the proceedings. Even tuaUy it was proposed to send a deputation to a mem ber. The pohce, who were stationed at the gate, imder the dfrection of the mayor, consented to ad mit a few within the inclosure ; but the mob rushing forward, sought to enter in a body. A fight was the residt, in which some severe blows were struck, and wounds inflicted, and not before a large force of pohce, horse and foot, arrived on the ground, was the tumult queUed. A few of the ringleaders were apprehended, and the principal was sent before the criminal court, where he was sentenced to a brief imprisonment. This, the first attempt, in New South Wales, to bring popu lar clamour, in a dfrect manner, to bear on the Legis lature for the purpose of intimidation, or to influence thefr proceedings, met, as it deserved, with the repro bation of nearly every member of the House. A coUision took place between the Assembly and the CouncU, arising out of the Indenmity BiU, of which the premier had given notice when he assumed office. Since the passing of the last Appropriation Act, and * See Appendix; E. 462 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [OHAP. vil. prior to the expenditure for which the indemnity was asked, some votes of credit were granted to the govern ment by the Assembly. The Council held that their sanction was necessary to give effect to a vote of credit, as well as to the Appropriation Act ; and, when the bill was transmitted to them for their concurrence, while they made no demur to giving the required indemnity, in order to assert what they conceived to be their pri vileges, they included in the biU all appropriations made since the preceding session. When the biU, thus altered, was returned to the Assembly, a warm dis cussion took place there, relative to the course adopted by the Council.' A considerable section of the opposi tion defended that course, contending that the bill was not of a financial character, and otherwise adopting the views of the Upper House. The government resisted the amendments, their supporters contending that the alteration effected by the CouncU converted the bill into a money measure, even if it were not so before. Others argued that an Indemnity Bill was unnecessary, that the Appropriation Act would cover all the expenditure for the year. Eventually, the amendments of the Council were rejected, and then the House adopted a motion to. the effect that they dechned to proceed further with the consideration of the bill. In the dis cussion which took place in the Assembly on this ques tion, a great deal of odium was heaped on the CouncU, its nominee character being spoken of in terms of great contempt. While the occasion may be said to have demonstrated the advantage of a second chamber, it also proved that where two chambers exist, they should be vested with something like commensurate authority and dignity. It was said that the Council would retaliate by re jecting the Appropriation Bill. The bill did meet with a very considerable opposition in the Upper House, and its passing was delayed for some days in consequence ; but eventually it did pass, although the majority in favour of the second reading was smaU. The House revenged themselves in another way, however. Deas Thomson introduced a series of resolutions to the 18«0] EETIEEMENT OP JUDGE THEEEY. 463 effect — (1.) That the CouncU proceeded to the order of the day for the thfrd reading of the Appropriation BUl on the fuU understanding that this measure would not of itself involve a sanction or indemnity with regard to any portion of the iUegal expenditure of public moneys avowedly made by the government since the passing of the last Appropriation Act ; (2.) that the mere coinci dence of any items in the Appropriation Act, with ante cedent unauthorised expenditure, would not alone, in the opinion of the CouncU, be any ground of immunity to the persons concerned in thus violating the law and the constitution, and that, even in cases where great pubUc emergency could be pleaded in excuse, the iUe- gaUty could only be properly condoned by a distinct act of indemnity, passed in due form by aU branches of the Legislature; (3.) that the CouncU, in further assertion of its undoubted rights as a branch of the Legislature, resolved that for any person or persons whatsoever, employed in the payment of public money, to pay or cause to be paid any sum or sums of money for or to wards the support of services, whether voted in any ses sion of Parliament or not, before the same was included in an act ofthe Legislature, duly passed according to law, was derogatory to the privileges of Parliament, and subversive of the constitution. These resolutions were adopted by a large majority, and were embodied in an address to the govemor-general, wdth the view to their being transmitted to England for the information of her Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies. In July Parhament was prorogued, and thus termi nated a session which was generally admitted to have been as unprofitable as it was prolonged. 1869.] Judge Therry retired from the bench, and from the several other offices which he held in the colony. He entered the public service of New South Wales in 1829, and filled successively the offices of Com missioner of the Court of Requests, Attomey-general, Resident Judge at Port PhUlip, and Judge of the Supreme Court, and Primary Judge in Equity. Few men had ever succeeded in acquiring so largely the esteem of all classes of the colonists. 464 HISTOEY OP NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. Vll. IX. Captain Cadell ascended the Darling in a steamer for a distance of five hundred miles. This river had never before been navigated, even in a boat. Subsequently a Mr. Randall ascended beyond Fort Bourke, almost to the junction of the Nammoy and Barwang. Mr. Gisborne came to the colony with the view to promoting the extension of the submarine telegraph from Aden to Sydney by way of Torres Straits. Having submitted his scheme to the Chamber of Commerce, that body adopted a series of resolutions to the effect — (1.) That telegraphic communication with England was highly desirable ; (2.) that Mr. Gisbome's project for that purpose appeared practicable, and (3.) that the govemment ought to take the matter into their con sideration without delay. Telegraphic communication wdth Yan Diemen's Land was effected in the course of the year. Thus the four principal colonies were con nected by means of the electric wfre. I860.] The commencement of this year was marked by heavy and continuous rains, which, causing the rivers and creeks in various parts of the country to overflow their banks, produced in many instances very disastrous inundations. The country immediately ad jacent to the Shoalhaven and Araluen rivers, in the south, suffered most from this visitation. The banks of the Shoalhaven was the seat of an extensive agricultural population ; at the Araluen was one of the most popu lous gold fields in the colony. The prospects of the agriculturist and the digger were alike blasted by the overwhelming force of the waters. Many Uves were lost; in some instances whole famUies were drowned. Cattle, crops, fences, agricultural implements, household furniture, entire houses were overwhelmed, and the wreck of households and farms carried to the sea from a distance of miles strewed the sea-coast in the vicinity of the mouths of the rivers. The land itself was in some places destroyed, the farms being covered to such a depth with sand that the hopes of tillage were utterly frustrated. At the gold fields the sinkings were fiUed, and the labours of months rendered altogether value- iseo.] DISASTEOUS INUNDATIONS. 465 less. The floods were not confined to the districts just named. From aU parts of the colony the reports con tained similar tidings. At Goulbum one proprietor lost two thousand sheep, and altogether suffered to the extent of four thousand pounds. At Braidwood another lost to the extent of five thousand pounds. These dis asters occurred in the month of February. Nor was the metropolis free from the evUs consequent on the continuous rains. Some of the streets at times pre sented the appearance of swoUen rivers ; many dwell ings were inundated, and in some instances Iffe was en dangered. At the same time the raUway works suffered to a large extent; embankments were washed from under the raUs, culverts burst, and bridges destioyed by the combined force of the rushing waters and masses of floating timber. The ordinary roads did not suffer less, and hardly a bridge remained entire throughout the colony. Scarcely had the unhappy sufferers commenced to remedy the evUs to which they were thus subjected, when they were afflicted by another visitation of the same character. These second floods took place in AprU ; they were not so severe as in the former instance, although coming at such a time, and under such cfrcumstances, thefr severity was perhaps more acutely felt.. The colony at this time presented a more gloomy aspect than at any other period for some years past, the resources of the country at large suffer ing no less than those of individuals by the ravages of the waters, not to speak of the immediate hardships to which a large proportion ofthe colonists were subjected. The Assembly voted a sum of three thousand pounds for the rehef of the sufferers. At the same time a movement was set on foot with the view to raising subscriptions for the same purpose. A .com mittee was formed under the auspices of Mr. Charles Kemp and other philanthropic gentlemen, and a large sum of money, together with a quantity of corn and clothing, having been coUected and judiciously dis-. tributed, considerable relief was afforded by these means. WhUe affafrs were in this condition, the announce- H H 466 HISTOEY OF NEW SOUTH WALES. [CHAP. vil. ment of the discovery of a rich gold field at the Snowy- River tended somewhat to lighten the gloomy pros pect. The Snowy River takes its rise in the moun tainous regions at the boundary of the colonies of Yictoria and New South Wales, and pursuing a tortu ous course, falls into the sea west of Cape Howe. The discoverer was a Mr. Pollock. Geologists had pre dicted that here would be found the richest gold field in the Austrahan continent, and when, in the month of February, a large parcel of gold the produce of these regions was exhibited in Sydney, all was excite ment and anticipation. The cold season, however, had already set in at Kiandra, that being the name of the locality where the gold was found, and was rapidly approaching in the more northern latitudes, so that the exodus which would otherwise have taken place from Sydney and the other parts of the colony, was de ferred for a few months. Large numbers did emigrate thither, however, chiefly from the Yictoria diggings, and in March there were five thousand persons at Ki andra and its vicinity. Mr. Commissioner Cloete had been despatched to the Snowy River as soon as the discovery was announced, and prompt and efficient measures were adopted for the preservation of order. The receipts of gold, by escort, continued to be con siderable, notwithstanding that digging operations were carried on amid frost and snow, and no reflux of the tide of population took place. It became a settled conclusion that a discovery had been made, which, turned to proper account, bid fair to raise the prosperity ofthe colony to the highest pitch.* In May, a public meeting was held in Sydney, the leading merchants and other influential persons attend ing, ,at which resolutions were adopted, urging on the government to adopt measures for the construction of a road from the metropolis to Kiandra. Similar meetings were held in various parts of the interior, and the government, influenced by this pressure from without, was not slow in adopting such measures as, by the time spring had set in, rendered the conveyance * See Appendix F. »8 45 493 155 865 1161 1261 Ditto (M'Kinley's)... N. S. W. 70 563 85 795 1091 1191 Mooma (Lyon's) ... 5) 50 613 35 745 1041 1141 The Darling River . . . ?» 35 648 710 1006 1106 Mildura (Jamieson's) Victoria. . 50 698 50 660 956 1059 Ditto (M'Gxath's) ... )j 46 744 96 614 910 1110 Euston (Punt) 5) 104 848 200 510 806 906 MeeaUnan (Ross's) . . . N. S. W. 28 876 228 482 778 878 Murrumbidgee Windomal (Phelps's) Wakool River 3) )1 3225 15 908933948 260285300 450425410 746 721706 846 821806 480 APPENDIX. 1^ Distance tbom O Em I g ^ I CoghiU's SwanHUl Goun (Capel's) Paracouta (C. Bagot's) Maiden's (Punt) Goulbum River Lake Moira Edward River (Junction) TeeUma (M'Donald's) Cobram (C.Hughes's) Mulwayla (Punt) ... Ovens River (Junction) Collendina (Robert Brown's) . Foord's (nearest and best route to Beech- worth) Owlong Jinjindra Albury Victoria. N. S'.'W. }f Victoria. N. S.W. Victoria. N. s!'w. Victoria. N. S. W. Victoria.. N. S. W. Victoria.. N. S. W. 46 94 74 160 46 201816 24 9050 2415 4040 36 24 994 1088 11621312 13581378 13961411 14351525 16751599 1614 165416941730 1764 346 440 514 664 710 730748 763787 877927 961966 10061046 1082 1106 364 270196 46 20 3863 77 167 217 241259 296336 372 396 660566 492 342 296276 258243 219 129 75 63 40 40 76 100 760 666692 444 396376 358343 319 229176155 146 100 60 24 An improvement in the back country becomes perceptible beyond the Darling. There the waters of the Lachlan, the Wakool, the Murrumbidgee, and the Edward, connected for a great portion of the year by a network of creeks, render a large portion of the New South Wales territory north of the Murray capable of supporting vast numbers of either sheep or cattle. This great district may be regarded as extending for 600 miles along the river, from 100 miles below the junction of the Murrumbidgee to the Edward, and is generally alluded to as the Murrimbidgee district. About 350 mUes before reaching Albury a manifest improvement takes place in the character of the country adjoining the river. The climate also changes for the better, and the country in the back ground gives promise of a fine agricultural district. The influence which the waters of a navigable river have upon the welfare and civilization of a people must at all times be con siderable in AustraUa. Cultivation and population gradually but surely ascend it ; vil- .APPEXI>IX. 481 lages are formed at the confluence of streams and rivei-s, and these soon become towns and cities, the centres of civUization and of com merce. Whereas, looking at those parts of Australia which have made the least progress, we shaU find that it is in the interior, where the country is not intersected by any considerable stream or river, and where, in consequence, there exists but a scanty population who foUow pastoral pursuits, a state by no means conducive to the pro gress of civilization. If we extend our survey of the rivers of AustraUa along the Eastern coast, we find that into Shoalhaven there falls a river of considerable magnitude, but the entrance is difl5.cult and obstructed with shoals, and the country for some distance along the banks is low and swampy. This river has its source about 30 nules from the coast, and after a northerly course of about 100 miles, feUs into the sea at Shoalhaven. The great Bosworth GuUy on the Shoalhaven River is a most remarkable geological feature. It is said to be four miles wide and two miles deep, its depth being thus one-half its breadth ; but these dimensions are probably exaggerated. It is, however, an undoubted fact that the most tremendous ra vines or gullies are occasionally to be met with in the course of some of the rivers of AustraUa. Mr. Oxley (formerly surveyor-general) who first explored the vaUey of Apsley River, thus describes one of these ravines : — •" This tremendous ravine," says Mr. Oxley, " runs nearly north and south ; its breadth at the bottom does not apparently exceed 100 or 200 feet, while the separation of the outer edges is from two to three mUes. " I am certain that in perpendicular depth it exceeds 3000 feet. From either side of this abyss, smaUer ravines, of similar character, diverged ; the distance between which seldom exceeded half a mile." This ravine was the bed of the river Apsley, and it seems probable that it was formed by the working of the stream, during many ages. The rivers that faU into Botany Bay and Port Jackson are of very trifling dimensions, and it is probably to these rivers that the writer of the paper read at the PhUosophical Society referred, when he stated that " there is no river in New South Wales of sufficient capacity to float a cancel" The Hawkesbury River which faUs into Broken Bay is a river of considerable magnitude. It rises near Lake George, runs for some distance parallel to the Shoalhaven River, but its coarse is very cir- cuitous. At its source it is caUed the WoUondiUy, then the Warra- gnmba, next the Nepean, and lastly the Hawkesbury. This prac tice of caUing the same river by different names prevails in other parts of the colony, and leads to much confusion of terms, if not of ideas. The next river of importance is the Hunter, and this river, with its tributaries, waters an extensive and fertile district, comprised T I 482 APPENDIX. within the valley of the Hunter, which includes the valley of the WiUiam and the Paterson. The Hunter River being navigable for sea-going vessels as far as Morpeth, that place is made the terminus of water conveyance from Sydney, and of land-carriage from the interior. In conse quence, however, of flats and shoals in the river, the steamers are often liable to detention, in spite of their light draught of water ; and several plans have been proposed for deepening the channel over the flats. In a short " Memoir relative to the Improvement of Harbours and Rivers in AustraUa," published by the writer in 1856, the foUow ing passages relating to the Hunter occur : — " Thus the flats on the lower Hunter wUl, it is to be feared, be re-formed, in spite of all endeavours to remove them by dredging, unless an increased velocity can be given to the out-flowing stream, by confining its current within certain limits, by such means as dams or weirs on the branches, and longitudinal dykes or ' levees' in the stream, being embankments carried in a parallel direction with the river's course, and formed of permanent materials, for the purpose of contracting the tidal current, and of increasing the scouring power." (Page 11.) And again at page 25 : — " The lower part ofthe Hunter River divides itself into several small branches, which are only navigable for boats, and by closing these branches by dams or weirs, a larger body of water would be thrown into the main channel, thus deepen ing it by the additional scour thus produced ; and this would be stUl further augmented by the construction of a longitudinal dyke or levee, to contract the channel over the flats." It is believed that the improvements in progress on the lower Hunter are based upon the principles herein suggested, and that means have been adopted to direct the current of the river, as far as possible, into one course, and to close up the smaller branches, thus preventing the water from spending its strength in passing through them. It seems certain that improvements in rivers must be based on a knowledge of the changes in the bed of the river, the soil of the banks, and the velocity of the current, and that such improvements be not only practicable, but also of a permanent character. The river Po, situated in the great plain of Northern Italy, affords an instructive example of the effects produced by the ItaUan engineers. According to Lyell, the changes graduaUy effected in the channel of this river have been considerable. Extensive lakes and marshes have been gradually fiUed up, as those near Parma, Plaoentia, and Cremona, and many have been drained naturaUy by the deepening of the river's bed, which frequently deviated from its course and invaded new territories. To check these deviations, a generaLsystem of embanking this river was adopted by the early Italian engineers so far back as the thirteenth century, and the Po, the Adige, and abnost aU their tributaries, are now confined between high artificial banks. The increased velocity of the current acquired by streams thus closed in enables them to carry a much larger pro portion of foreign matter to the sea. APPENDIX. 4^8 From Port Stephens to Port Macquarie the principal river is the ^Manning, which empties itself into the sea by two mouths at Har rington and Farquhar Inlets. It has, however, a dangerous bar with only seven to eight feet of water at low tide. The Hastings River, which falls into Port Macqtiarie, has also a bar at its entrance, and flows through a very mountainous country, an elevated peak of which, caUed Sea- View Hill, is said to have an elevation of nearly 6000 feet. The Macleay River falls into Trial Bay in lat. 30' io or there abouts ; it waters an extensive and fertile district, the sources of this river being in the table-land of New England, From hence to Shoal Bay there are few rivers of any mag nitude. The Clarence River falls into Shoal Bay in lat 29' 30', and is one of the most important rivers in this part of the colony. It is distant from Sydney 380 miles, and its head waters take their rise in the dividing range near Mount Lindsay, which locaUty gives rise also to the Richmond and the Logan Rivers. The north head of the Clarence, Uke that of the Hunter, consists of a saudy spit on which the sea breaks heavily during easterly gales ; the inner south head is formed by a beautrftil grassy bill^ to the north of which is a reef of rocks, which, in their present state, render the entrance somewhat difficult. The soundings on the bar vary from two to three fethoms, and for about 15 miles up the river the soundings vary from three to four fathoms, the average width being rather more than a quarter of a mUe ; but above this point the river widens into a magiuficent reach, nearly 18 nules long and half a mile wide — ^the breadth and depth being sufficient to work a ship of large tonnage as high as Grafton, about 4-5 miles from the mouth. The town of Grrafton has been laid out on both sides of the Clarence River, and it is rapidly increasing its population. It must eventuaUy become a place of considerable commercial importance from its situation in connection with New England. There is also a large quantity of exceUent land on the banks of the Clarence River. The next river of importance is the Richmond, the mouth of which is situated in lat. 28° 60' or thereabouts. The north head of the Richmond is a bold headland of basaltic formation, whilst the south head is a low sandy spit, thus reversing the conformation of the entrance to the Chirence. Owing to the set of the current, and to other causes, a dangerous bar is formed at the entrance, on which at low water there is seldom more than nine feet. The rise of tide averages four feet, which gives a depth of 13 feet at high water. For a distance of 45 mfles from its mouth, at which point it is joined by the North Richmond, the channel of the river preserves an almost uniform depth and width, and is adapted for vessels of considerable tonnage. The North Richmond has a length of more than 40 nules, and is navigable for that distance. At the viUage of Lismore, which has been laid out on the North Richmond River, at a distance by water of 75 mUes from the Heads at BaUina, vessels of 1.50 tons burthen are in the habit of discharg- 484 APPENDIX. ing and taking in their cargoes. No less than six vessels loaded here in the month of November, 1857. The Richmond River itself is navigable for about 80 miles from the entrance, and a considerable navigable stream called the South Creek flows into it, together with numerous small creeks and streams, and a better watered district it would be diflBcult to find in the whole colony. The banks of these- rivers and streams comprise also some of the richest land in the colony, and little apprehension need be enter tained of their affording abundant retums for the labour that may be bestowed on the cultivation of maize, tobacco, cotton, the sugar cane, the coffee plant, and other plants indigenous to tropical regions. One serious drawback to the advancement of the Richmond River district consists in the bar which exists at the mouth of the river, and which precludes vessels drawing more than twelve feet from entering. It seems, however, that a permanent deep-water. channel might be formed by the construction of a mole or covering- pier, projecting from the South Head, and carried seawards m the direction of the ebb tide. This would have the effect of increasing the strength of the current during the ebb, and, consequently, of deepening the channel. In this manner it is beUeved that the outfaUs of many of the rivers emptying themselves into the Pacific might be permanently improved. Thus the bar which exists at the mouth of the Clarence is capable of great improvement, at no very considerable outlay. The condition of this river is very favourable, a reef of rocks pro jecting from the inner South Head, and offering a soUd foundation for the erection of a mole or covering-pier, with an abundance of stone near the site for the construction of the work. Between the Clarence River and Moreton Bay there are not less than the following rivers, viz. : — the Richmond, the Brunswick, the Tweed, the Parry, the Barrow, the Arrowsmith, the Logan, the Pine, the Caboolture, the Brislaane, and the Bremer, besides in numerable smaller creeks ; and many of these rivers are navigable. It is a mistake, therefore, to suppose that we have no navigable rivers in Australia, and it is the chief object of this paper to draw attention to some of these rivers, and to advocate the cause of their improvement. At the same time the writer wishes it to be clearly understood that he is not one of those "misguided" individuals who would deprecate the formation of cheap railways in the colony. The accompanying table affords a general view of the various rivers flowing into the sea, to the east of the dividing range, to the parallel of Moreton Bay. The lengths given are, however, to be taken only as the approximate lengths, as, owing to the extremely winding and circuitous course of most of these rivers, it is difficult to ascertain their lengths with accuracy. APPENDIK. 485 Table of Australian Rivers flowing to the East of the Dividing Range, No. Name. Flows into Latitude of Mouth. Length.. la 1 2 3 4 66 7 89 10111213 14 1516 17 18 1920 21222324252627 2829 30 3132 33 343536 373839 40 41 42 Albert Apsley Barnard Bellinger Bremer Brisbane Brunswick Brogo Bundo or Clyde Clarence Colo Cox Crookhaven Dart EUenborough . , Grose Goulbum ... Greorge Guyra Hastings Hawkesbury Hunter Isis Kamah Landsdown Logan Macleay Macdonald Ma.TiTiiTig Maria MitcheU Mongarlow .... Moruya Myall Nepean Nambuckra .... Odalberree Page. Pambula Parramatta Paterson Remboka Raikes ; Logan R Macleay R Manning R The sea Brisbane R Moreton Bay The sea. Cape Byron Remboka R Bateman's Bay ... Shoal Bay Hawkesbury R. ... Warragamba R. ... The sea Hunter R Hastings R Hawkesbury R. ... Hunter R Botany Bay Apsley R Port Macquarie . . . Broken Bay The sea atNewcastle PageR Port Stephens Harrington Inlet . . . The sea Trial Bay Hawkesbury R. ... Farquhar's Inlet . . . Hastings R Clarence R Shoalhaven R The sea at Moruya Myall Lake Hawkesbury R. The sea Bellinger R Hunter R The sea at Panbula Port Jackson ... Hunter R The sea WoUombaR. ... 30 d. 30 m. 27 d. 25 m. 28 d. 30 m. 35 d. 44 m. 29 d. 30 m. 31 d. 25 m. 33 d. 35 m. 32 d. 55 m. 27 d. 40 m. 30 d. 50 m. 31 d. 55 m. 30 d; 40 m. 36 d. 40 m. MUes. 253535 40 30 95252526 140 40 3020 15 45 15 35 4040 100 20 2520 40 60 35 50204020 2020 30 303035151535 25 486 APPENDIX. No. Name. Plows into Latitude of Mouth. Length. 43 Richard WoUombaR The sea at BaUina Shoalhaven Bay , . . Logan R 28 d. 50 m. 34 d. 60 m. 28 d. 10 m. 32 d. 12 m. Miles. 44 Richmond 130 45 Shoalhaven 95 46 Teviot 40 47 Towamba Twofold Bay The sea. Point Dansrer 30 48 Tweed Warragamba Werranungo Wingecaribbee WoUondUly 25 49 50516^, Nepean R Shoalhaven R WoUondiUy R Warragamba R. ... The sea C. Hawk... Hunter R. 20 15 2535 53 WoUomba 54 WiUiam 40 Feedeeick S. Peppeecoene, Civil Engineer and Surveyor. Bicliiiioiid BiTer, Dec. 1st, 1857. B.—Page 422, NATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD. (Removal of Mr. Plunkett from.) Ordered by tlie Council to be printed, 31«< Mwrch, 1858. No. I. The Chaiemau op the National School Boaed to The Peincipal Seceetaet. National Education Office, Sydney, 18th December, 1857. Sib, — On behalf of the Board of National Education, incorporated by Act of Council, 11 Vict., No. 48, I have the honour to transmit herewith some additional Rules made by them, under the power conferred by that Act, and to request that the same may be pubUshed in the " Government Gazette," and laid before the Legislature, in manner thereby prescribed. 2. [t wiU be perceived that these Rules have reference to the proposed extension of aid to Schools which, in their origin, may be other than National, and of which the property may not be vested in the Board, upon condition, nevertheless, that instruction of the same efficient and unsectarian character as that required in Schools purely National be therein given, without distinction of sects, during an adequate number of hours in each day (exclusive of Sunday), and that any sectarian reUgious exercises or instruction be given either before or after the ordinary school business, and to those chUdren only whose parents approve of their receiving it. appendb:. 487 3. The Board has been induced to initiate these Regulations partly in compliance with appUcations of a pressing nature from conductors of Schools excluded from assistance by the previous Rules, but willing to accept aid on the terms now proposed ; partly from a pubhc avowal by those promoting Denominational Schools of a principle quite in accordance with the system proposed, although wanting, in their hands, the sanction of uuifonn and binding regu lation ; but chiefly by finding in the Reports of the Commissioners for National Education in Ireland evidence of the extensive preva lence and great success of a similar plan there in operation. 4. It is at the same time evident, that, in order to enable this Board effectuaUy to cany out their proposal, it wiU be requisite that additional fonds be placed at their disposal by the Legislature., The appUcation of the new Rules wUl open out a neiv field of operations, and of consequent expenditure, while their existing means are barely adequate to the building and maintenance of Schools strictly their own. ¦5. It wiU, however, be manifest, that exactly in the proportion in which non- vested Schools may conform to these new Rules, and thus obtain aid through this Board, the requirements of those who seek aid in a character avowedly Denominational wiU be reduced ; and, as our plan merely substitutes positive regulation for individual caprice, in a matter affecting the pubUc expenditure, and really exacts nothing more from Denominational Schools than the more enlightened and Uberal of their conductors already profess to con cede in practice, we venture to hope that the operation of these new Rules wiU tend to reconcUe the conflicting wants and difficulties which have hitherto occasioned so large an expenditure of the public money in maintaining two systems, and pave the way for a simpler organization, comprising the advantages of both. 1 have, etc., Johx H. Pluxeeti, Chairman. The Hon. The Principal Secretary, etc. (Enclv.nrre in Xo. 1.) regulanoys fob the establishment and conduct of non-vested National Schools in New South Wales. To extend the benefits of National Education in the Colony, on a plan sioiilar to that so successfnUy pursued in Ireland, the Com missioners of National Education will give assistance to Schools which in origia and ownership may be other than National — subject only to the conditions making their conductors responsible to the Board — (1) For adequate instruction of the same nature as that prescribed for Schools purely National, open on equal terms to aU ; and (2) For the strict limitation of special religious instruction to those whose parents approve of it. The foUowing are the conditions on which aid wiU be afforded to Schools not vested in the Commissioners : — 1. The aid to sach Schools wiU be limited to Salary and Books. 2. Before aid can be granted the Commissioners must be satisfied 488 appendix. that the case is deserving of assistance ; that there is reason to expect that the School will be efficiently and permanently supported ; that the School-house is sufficient for the purpose, and suitably furnished ; and that a competent teacher has been, or wiU be appointed. 3. To entitle a School to a continuance of aid, the house and farniture must be kept in good repair by means of local contribu tions ; the School conducted in aU respects in a satisfactory manner, and in accordance with the regulations of the Commissioners, and the instructions of their Inspectors ; and there must be an average daily attendance of at least thirty children. Note. — The Commissioners reserve to themselves the right of giving aid in special cases to Schools where the average daUy attendance may be temporarily below thirty. 4. WhUe the appointment and removal of teachers in non-vested Schools wiU rest with the local patrons or managers, the Commis sioners wUl require to be satisfied with the character and compe tency of the teacher so appointed, as a condition to the payment and continuance of salary. 5. A time-table, sanctioned by the Commissioners, must be kept constantly hung up in a conspicuous part of the School-room. 6. During the hours appropriated in the time-table to the ordi nary instruction of the pupils, the usual routine of a National School must be observed in non vested Schools ; but the Commis sioners wUl not exercise any control over the use of the School at any other time. Note. — Any religious exercise or instruction peculiar to the private character of the School must, therefore, occupy some time before or after thfi hours fixed for the ordinary duties, so as to admit of the convenient absence of any chil dren whose parents object to their attendance. 7. No books shall he used for ordinary instruction under the preceding Rtde but such as are sanctioned by the Commissioners. 8. Registers shaU be kept in each School, and retums forwarded to the Commissioners, according to forms that will be supplied by them. 9. The Commissioners and their officers are to be allowed to visit and examine the Schools whenever they think fit. Those deputed to visit by the Commissioners wUl be furnished with credentials. 10. The public generaUy must have free access to every School during the stated school hours, not to take part in the business or to interrupt it, but as visitors to observe how it is conducted. 11. The Commissioners reserve to themselves the power of altering or revoking any of the foregoing regulations as, from time to time, it shall seem to them to be expedient. / J. H. Plunkett, Chairman. / >, I G. K, Holden. ^^¦^¦^ 1 J. Smith. \ G. W. Allen. W. C. Wlllis, Secretary. National Education Office, Sydney, 14th December, 1857. APPENDIX. 489 No. n. The Undee Seceetaet to The Chairman of the National School Boaed. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 4th January, 1858. SiE,— I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 18th ultimo, forwarding, with a request that they may be published in the " Govemment Gazette," and laid before the Legislature, certain additional Rules framed by your Board, having reference to a proposed extension of aid to Schools which, in their origin, may be other than National, and of which the property may not be vested in the Board, and to observe, that as it is stated in the fourth paragraph of your communication, that in order to enable the Board effectually to carry out their views, it wfll be requisite that additional fdnds should be placed at their disposal, it seems to the Colonial Secretary desirable that the Rules aUuded to should not be published by the Government untU an opinion shaU have been eUcited from Parliament whether or not the class of Schools alluded to, aided as they are proposed to be from the PubUc Revenue, would receive the approval of the Leois- lature. 2. The Colonial Secretary desires me to add, that the Rules transmitted in your letter do not appear to the Govemment to be of the character contemplated by the third clause of the Act incor porating the Board of Commissioners of National Education. I have, etc., W. Eltaed. The Hon. J. H. Plunkett, Esq., Chairman ofthe National School Board. No. m. The Chaieman of the National School Boaed to The Peincipal Seceetaet. National Eduxation Office, Sydney, 4th Januarr, 1858. SiE, — Together with our letter of the l&th December, 1867, I transmitted to you certain Rules framed by the Board of National Education, under authority of the Act of CouncU, 1 1th Victoria, No. 48, with a view to a compliance with the law as thereby enacted, requiring that such Rules shall, within one month from the date thereof, be published in the " Govemment Gazette." As these Rules have not hitherto appeared in the " Govemment Gazette," I have the honour to recal your attention to the subject ; and if you should, for any reason unknown to the Board, consider that they have been mistaken in regarding you as the proper channel for carrying out their intention to obey the law, we have the honour to request you to direct the printer of the " Gazette" to obey such instructions as the Board may give to him in this matter. I have, etc, J. H. Plunxett, Chairman of the Board of National Education. The Hon. The Principal Sex:retary, etc. 490 APPENDIX. No. IV. The Undee Seceetaet to The Chaieman op the*National School Boaed. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 5th January, 1858. SiE, — In acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to refer you to my communication of yesterday's date, on the subject of the Regula tions transmitted in your letter ofthe 18th ultimo, having reference to a proposed extension of aid to Schools which, in their origin, may be other than National, and of which the property may not be vested in the Board. 2. The copy of the Rules which appear to have been sent by the Board to the Govemment printer will be inserted by him in the " Gazette," as a publication by the Commissioners. I have, etc., W. Eltaed. The Hon. J. H. Plunkett, Esq., Chairman of the National School Board. No. V. The Chaieman of the National School Boaed to The CoLONLiL Seceetaet. National Education Office, Sydney, 5th January, 1858. SiE,^-In acknowledging the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, in reply to mine of the 18th ultimo, I have the honour to observe that the Board of National Education do not perceive in its contents anything which could justify them in withholding the request contained in my letter to you of the same (yesterday's) date, and which had been despatched before receipt of that now under reply. That request simply consists of an intimation of the wish of the Board to obey the directions of the Act by which they have been incorporated, " by publishing in the ' Govemnient Gazette' within one month," Rules framed by them under the powers confided to them, and considering that those powers are vested in them for the express purpose of carrying out " Lord Stanley's System of Educa tion," they are at a loss to imagine on what ground the doubt of their authority, conveyed in the last paragraph of your letter, can rest, inasmuch as the new Rides are in exact accordance with the system of Lord Stanley, as administered under the sanction of the British Legislature. The members of the Board are perfectly aware of their being amenable to ParUament in this matter, as well as dependent upon its continued bounty for fnnds to continue their labours for the pubUc welfare, either under their present or any improved Regulations ; but, in the meantime, it is impossible they can be guided by the individual opinion of the Colonial Secretary in the exercise of their APPENDIX. 491 duty, whether in framing those Rules or in giving them pubUcity (as far as they have the power), in the mode required by the Act. If the pubUcation in the " Govemment Gazette" be withheld, this breach of tlie law wiU not rest with them. In order to expedite the pubUcation of the Rules " within a month" (which wiU expire on the 14th instant), I have sent a copy to the printer of the " Govemment Gazette," and the members of the Board expect that no obstacle wiU be placed in the way of their insertion. I have, etc., John H. Pluneeit, Chairman. The Hon. Charles Cowper, Colonial Secretary. No. VI. The Undee Seceetaet to The Chaieman of the National Education Boaed. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 7th January, 1858. Sib, — I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to inform you, in reply to your letter of the 5th instant, that it is the deliberate opinion of the Govemment that the Commissioners for National Education have no authority, under their Act of Incorporation, to make such Rules and Regulations as those transmitted in your letter of the 18th ultimo, and that, in this respect, they have exceeded their power. 2. The Govemment, I am instructed to add, desires it to be distinctly understood, that it is in no way pledged to provide funds for the class of Schools proposed to be estabUshed, without the express sanction of ParUament, to which the subject wiU be sub mitted as early as possible after its assembling. 3. The copy of the Regulations aUuded to in the second para^ graph of my letter of the 6th instant, forwarded to the Government printer by the Board, has, you wiU observe, been inserted in the " Grazette" as a pubUcation by the Commissioners. I have, etc., W. Eltaed. The Hon. John H. Plunkett, Esq., Chairman of the National Education Board. No. vn. The CJhaiemaii of the National School Boaed to The Unt)ee Seceetaet. National Education Office, Sydney, 8th January, 1858. Sib, — 1. have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, stating that you are directed by the Colonial Secretary to inform me, in reply to my letter of the 5th instant, that it is the dehberate opinion of the Govemment that the Commissioners for National Education have no authority, under their Act of Incorporation, to make such Rules and Regulations as those transmitted in their letter of the 18th ultimo; and that, in 492 APPENDIX. this respect, they have exceeded their powers ; and farther stating that the Government desires it to be distinctly understood, that it is in no way pledged to provide funds for the class of schools pro posed to be established, without the express sanction of Parliament, to which the subject wUl be submitted as early as possible after its assembling. 2. In reply, I have the honour to state, that I am in doubt as to what individuals are included in the word " Govemment," as it is generally understood the office of Secretary for Lands and PubUc Works is stUl vacant, and the office of Finance Minister was vacant untU Monday last, and I have been informed that the Attorney- General has been out of town some days, preparing for his election ; therefore, under such circumstances, I may be pardoned for not attaching much weight to the " deliberate opinion of the Govemment" on the Rules in question, more particularly when I recollect the hostUity which the present Colonial Secretary has uniformly evinced towards the system of education which the Legislature has en trusted to the Board. 3. The names of the members of the National Board are appended to the new Rules ; and it is scarcely necessary for me to say, that each and aU of those members entertain an equaUy " deliberate opinion" as to their powers to frame those Rules, as weU as the expediency of promulgating them ; and they do not think they lay themselves open to any charge of vanity in asserting for their con joint opinion an equal weight with that which you have announced. 4. I have already intimated, in my letter of the 5th instant, " that the members of the Board are perfectly aware of their being amenable to Parliament in this matter, as well as dependent on its continued bounty for funds to continue their labours for the public welfare, either under their present or any improved Regu lations." They are therefore quite prepared, and perfectly wUUng to abide by the decision of the new Parliament, in the fnU confidence that the representatives of the country will not take the same narrow-minded view of so all-iinportant a suiject as that which you assert is taken by the present Government. 1 have, etc., John H. Plunkett, Chairman. William Elyard, Esq., Colonial Secretary's Office. No. VIII. The CoLONLiL Seceetaet to The Hon. John Hubeet Plunkett, Esq. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 5th February, 1858. Sir, — I have the honour to inform you that, upon the receipt of your letter of the 8th ultimo, I considered it my duty to bring it under the special consideration of the Government, and to draw attention to its contents, and to the fact of its having been published by you in the newspapers almost immediately after the time that it was despatched to my office. The whole of the correspondence, of which that letter forms a part, having, in consequence, been APPENDIX. 493 brought before the Governor-General and Executive Council, I have now to acquaint you with the decision which has been arrived at by the Government in reference to the course which you have adopted in this matter. 2. Upon a perusal of the correspondence, the CouncU regret to observe that you should have not only thought fit to address the Chief Secretary of the Governra.ent in terms so highly improper as those in which your letters of the 6th and 8th of last month are couched, but you should also have been induced to resort to the irregular and unseemly step of publishing your letters in one of the public newspapers while the correspondence was yet going on with the Government. 3. The course thus adopted by you the CouncU cannot but con sider as unjustifiable in every respect, and after a calm and dehberate consideration of all the bearings of the case, they are reluctantly forced to the conclusion that it is the duty of the Govemment, under the circumstances, to dispense with your further services as a Commissioner of the Board of National Education ; and, with the Council, His Excellency the Govemor- General, by virtue of the powers conferred by the 2nd section of the Act incorporating the Commissioners, has removed you from the said office accordingly. I have, etc., Chaeles Cowpek. The Hon. John Hubert Plunkett, Esq. No. IX. J. H. Plunkett, Esq., to The Colonial Seceetaet. Macquarie Street, Gth Pebruary, 1858. SiE, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of yesterday's date, intimating to me that, for the reasons therein aUeged, His Excellency the Govemor- General, with the advice of the Executive CouncU, by virtue of the powers conferred by the second section of the Act incorporating the Board of National Education, has removed me from the office of Commissioner. I shall abstain from offering any comment on the arbitrary and despotic character of this proceeding, but as I have not either been caUed on to explain, or afforded the opportunity of defending the conduct which has induced the Government to adopt this course towards me, I must beg leave to submit that the decision conveyed by your letter is premature. I am prepared to defend that conduct, and also to maintain what appears to me a valid objection to tbe jurisdiction of the Executive Council as at present constituted and summoned. In the weU-known case of Mr. Justice WiUis, his removal from office was decided by the Privy Council to have been premature aud iUegal, and I submit that the present decision wUl be found, on consideration, to be equally premature, and far less justifiable. I have held the office in question (that of Chairman ofthe Board of National Education) since the first formation of the Board in January, 1848. Although a mere honorary office, I have discharged 494 APPENDIX. its duties as diligently as if I was in receipt of a salary for their performance. I valued the office as a means of usefulness to the present and to future generations; and I do respectfuUy, but firmly, protest against my removal from it by a fraction of the Executive CouncU, the majority of that body (as I have reason to beUeve) not having been summoned, or not being present to take part in its deliber ations and decision. I have, etc., John H. Plunkett. The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. No. X. J. H. Plunketi', Esq., to The Honoueable the Chief Seceetaet. Macquarie Street, 6th February, 1858. SiE, — I beg leave to resign, and do hereby resign, the office of Justice of the Peace for New South Wales. I also resign the office (if so it can be caUed) as one of the Management of the Roman CathoUc Orphan School, Parramatta. These are the only offices I can recollect that I hold at the pleasure of the Government ; but if there are any others which Jiave escaped uay recoUection, held on the same tenure, it is my desire to reUnquish them aU, as " the reign of terror has commenced." I have, etc., J. H. Plunkett. The Hon. The Chief Secretary. No. XI. J. H. Plunkett, Esq., to His Excellenct Sie. W. T. Denison. SiE, — ^Tour Excellency was pleased, about twelve months ago, to confer on me, under the authority vested by the Constitution Act in the Governor-General, the high office of President of the Legislative CouncU. It has now been intimated to me by a letter from the Chief Secretary of the Govemment, that your ExceUency has been pleased, by the advice of your Executive CouncU, to remove me from another office which I have held for a much longer period, as member of the Board of National Education. The circumstances are such as to impress me with the conviction that I cannot, con sistently with self respect or public advantage, hold the office of President of the CouncU ; for I cannot be free from the appre hension that, on grounds as insufficient, and, in my opinion, un justifiable, I may be removed from the office of President, by the same authority that has sanctioned my removal from the office of Chairman of the Board of National Education. The very pecuUar constitution of this Govemment renders it impossible for me to form a satisfactory opinion how far your Excellency, under whom, as Govemor- General, I hold the Pre sidency of the Legislative CouncU, is identified with the act of the APPENDIX. 495 Executive above referred to ; I have, therefore, no alternative but to tender my resignation of the office of President, which I do, ac cordingly. I have, etc., J. H. Plunkett. His Excellency Sir. W. T. Denison. No. xn. J. H. Plunkett, Esq., to His Excellenct Sie W. T. Denison. Macquarie Street, 6th February, 1858. SiE, — ^I hereby resign my seat in the Legislative CouncU of New South Wales. I have, etc., J. H. Plunkett. His Excellency Sir W. T. Denison, Grovemor-G-eneral. No. xni. Alfeed Denison, Esq., to J. H. Plunkett, Esq. Government House, 6th February, 1858. SiE, — I am directed by Hig ExceUency the Governor-General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this day's date, tendering the resignation of your office of President of the Legislative CouncU. His ExceUency cannot but express his regret that you should have felt caUed upon to resign this high office, as it appears to him that the grounds stated in your letter, namely, your removal by the Executive from your seat as a member of the Board of National Education, are not sufficient to justify the apprehensions you appear to entertain. As, however, you say that you cannot, consistently with self-respect or pubUc advantage, retain your office of President of the Legislative Council, His ExceUency has no alternative but to accept your resignation, though he does so with extieme regret. I have, etc., Alfeed Denison. J. H. Plunkett, Esq. No. XTV. The Seceetaet to the National Education Boaed to The Pelscipal Seceetaet. National Education Office, Sydney, 16th February, 1858. Sir, — I have the honour, by direction of the Board of National Education, to acquaint you, that at their meeting, holden on the 16th February instant, the enclosed Resolutions were moved and adopted, and the Secretary was instructed to transmit a copy thereof to the Honourable the Principal Secretary. I now, therefore, do myself the honour to forward to you a copy of the Resolutions in question, in compliance with the instructions ofthe Board. I have, etc., W. C. Wills, Secretary. The Hon. The Principal Secretary. 496 APPENDIX. (Enclosure in No. 14.) EXTBAGT from the Minutes of the Proceedings of ihe Board qf National Education, dated 15th February, 1858. Resolved, — 1. That the Commissioners of National Education feel them selves compelled, under a deep sense of their responsibUity in the conduct of the important department they are appointed to ad minister, unanimously to represent their conviction that the loss of the services of Mr. Plunkett at their Board wUl be so grievous an injury that they earnestly trust a regard to the welfare of the Colony wiU, even yet, induce those who have the power to use the means to avert it. 2. That they lament the admixture of any personal or poUtical controversy with a question demanding such calm and serious con sideration as that which the Board has, by its new Rules, laid before the Public and the Parliament, They, therefore, refrain from any comment on the correspondence which has placed Mr. Plunkett at issue with the Executive, beyond submitting their simple declaration that these rules were framed by the Board under suggestions made to them by their Inspector, after most carefully considering their Act of Incorporation and the Reports of the Irish Board of Edu cation respecting the system which the Board was appointed to carry out ; that they acted under a foU persuasion of their lawfiil authority — and in the absence of any explained ground of objection, they have hitherto been at a loss to imagine any. (A true Extract.) W. C. Wills, Secretary. No. XV. G. K. Holden, Esq., to The Colonial Seceetaet, Sydney, 6th February, 1858.' SiE, — Having been informed by Mr. Plunkett that you have intimated to him his removal from office as a member of the Board of National Education, in consequence of the course he deemed it right to pursue in regard to the new Regulations lately issued by the Board, and to a correspondence with you, remonstrating against your objection to carry out the law by their pubUcation in the " Government Gazette," — I deem it incumbent on myself, as a member of the Board by whom part of that correspondence was drafted, and the whole agreed- to, distinctly to avow this my par ticipation therein ; and, moreover, to declare my acquiescence in the propriety of its cotemporary publication in the newspapers, — considering that the usual Parliamentary channel of information was then shut up, and this at the very time when the pubUc were especiaUy concerned to know and to judge of such questions as this correspondence involved. Whether this avowal be or be not considered a ground for my own removal, it wUl at aU events relieve me from any consciousness APPENDIX. 40 , or suspicion of retaining even an unpaid office through disingenuous concealment. I wiU not deny that I value the office as a means of enduring usefulness, far beyond others of more conventional importance, and fer this reason alone I abstain, under the circumstances, from voluntarily terminating, by resignation, those labours which, as regards the pubUc, I am wilUng cheerfnUy to continue as long as I have the power to bestow them. I have, etc., G. K. Holden. The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. No. XVI. The Colonial Seceetaet to G. K. Holden, E?q. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 17th February, 1S58, SlE, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 6th instant, in reference to the correspondence ¦which has passed with respect to the establishment of non-vested Schools by the Board of National Education, and the consequent removal of Mr. Plunkett from the office of Chairman of the Board. 2. In this letter you state that, " you deem it incumbent upon yourself, as a member of the Board by whom part of the corres pondence was drafted, and the whole agreed to, distinctly to avow this your participation therein ; and, moreover, to declare your acquiescence in the propriety of its cotemporary pubUcation," — but you intimate at the same time, that although this avowal may be considered a ground for your own removal, you abstain, for reasons therein stated, from voluntarily resigning your seat at the Board. 3. The Govemment do not clearly understand whether by these expressions you intend to avow your entire concurrence in the pro priety of the language adopted by Mr. Plunkett in reference to the Government in his letter of the Sth January, and your approval of the act of its pubUcation in the "Empire" newspaper. Before therefore arriving at any decision in the matter, and with a view of removing any ambiguity as to your meaning, I have the honour to request that you wiU have the goodness to state expUcitly "whether you desire the Govemment to understand that you deUberately adopt the language of Mr. Plunkett's letters, and also approve of their cotemporaneous pubUcation in the newspapers. 1 have, etc., Chaeles Comtek. The Hon. G. K. Holden, Esq., Sydney. No. XVII. G. K. Holden, Esq., to The Colonial Seceetaet. Sydney, 18th Februaty, ISoS. Sie, — I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 17th, in which, referring to mine of the 6th instant, you request me to state expUcitly whether I desire the Govemment 498 APPENDIX. to understand "that I deliberately adopt the language of Mr. Plunkett's letters, and also approve of their pubUcation in the newspapers." I beg, first, to observe, that I consider the position of Mr. Plunkett entitled him to express, with far less restraint than would have been becoming in myself individually, his indignation at what he, in common with every member of the Board of National Educa tion, regarded as an unwarrantable interference with their functions ; furthermore, that, on the spur of the moment, language might be venial, if not justifiable, which would be otherwise if deUberately adopted without renewed provocation, after a considerable lapse of time. Bearing these considerations in mind, and, therefore, without implying any judgment of mine upon the act of Mr. Plunkett or its results, I answer that I do not myself deUberately adopt the language of his letters. As to the question of publication, I have already stated that I acquiesced in it under a conviction that it was peculiarly important the public should become acquainted, at that juncture, with the merits of this question, through the only available channel. So far as the correspondence contains matters of offence separable from those merits, I certainly now regret that it should have been pub lished, or even written. But, if the pubUcation of the whole be considered an unpardonable act, admitting neither of retractions nor apology, I cannot shrink from taking my share of the blame, at the same time that I express a regret, which I have no doubt Mr. Plunkett would equally have himself expressed, had he been aUowed a Uke opportunity. I have, etc., G. K. Holden. The Hon. The Colonial Secretary. No. XVIII. The Colonul Seceetaet to G. K. Holden, Esq., M.L.C. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 23rd February, 1858. SiE, — I do myself the honour to inform you that the Govem ment, having had under its consideration your letter of the 18th instant, in reply to that which I addressed to you on the preceding day, has determined that it is unnecessary to adopt any proceedings with reference to your seat at the Board for National Education. I have, etc., Chaeles Cowpee. The Hon. G. K. Holden, Esq., M.L.C, Sydney. No. XIX. The Honoueable James Macaethue to The Colonul Seceetaet. Camden, 8th March, 1858. SiE, — I do myself the honour to forward herewith a Petition from the Local Patrons and others interested in the National School at appendix:. 4W Camden, addressed to His Excellency the Governor- General, in reference to Mr. Plunkett's removal from the Chairmanship of the Board of National Education. I have, etc., Jas. Macaethue. The Hon. The Colonial Secretary, etc., etc., etc. (Enclosure in Xo. 19.) To His Excellenct Sie William Denison, K.C.B., Governor- General, etc., etc., etc. The Petition ofthe undersigned. Local Patrons, Parents of ChU dren and others interested in the National Schools at Camden, HuMBLT Sheweth — That your Petitioners have, during a long series of years, witnessed with admiration and gratitude the laborious and suc- cessfiil exertions of Mr. Plunkett as Chairman of the Board of National Education. That your Petitioners cannot conceive it possible that your ExceUency's Constitutional advisers wiU desire to persist in in- fficting on the pubUc the permanent loss of Mr. Plunkett's services, by his removEd from that office, for the mere act of using strong language towards themselves, while maintaining the rights of the Board, — at aU events, without affording him opportunity for vin dication or explanation of the act complained of. Tour Petitioners, therefore, pray that your ExceUency wiU be pleased to take some effectual steps for the retention or restoration of Mr. Plunkett's inestimable services as Chairman of the Board of National Education. And your Petitioners wUl ever pray, etc. [Here foTloy-- 55 Signatures.'] Camden, Febmary, 1858. No. XX. The Under Seceetaet to The Honoueable James Macuethue, Esq. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 15th March, 1858. SiE, — I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 8th instant, forwarding a Petition from the Local Patrons and others interested in the National School at Camden, addressed to TTih Excellency the Govemor- General, in reference to the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the Chairmanship of the Board of National Education. 2. The Petition has been duly laid before the Governor-General ; and, in reply, I am directed to inform you that His ExceUency regrets that the course pursued by Mr. Plunkett on the occasion aUuded to should have rendered his removal by the Govemment from the Chairmanship of the Board a matter of necessity. I have, etc., W. Eltaed. The Hon. James Macarthur, Esq., etc., etc., et«. Camden. 500 appendix. No. XXI. To His Excellenct Sie William Thomas Denison, Knight Commander ofthe Most Honourable Order ofthe Bath, Governor-General in and over aU Her Majesty's Colonies of New South Wales, Tasmania, Victoria, South AustraUa, and Western AustraUa, Captain- General and Go vernor-in- Chief of the Territory of New South Wales and its Dependencies, and Vice- Admiral of the same. The Petition of the undersigned Local Patrons, Parents of ChU dren, and others interested in the National School at Singleton, HuMBLT Sheweth — That your Petitioners have, during a long series of years, witnessed with admiration and gratitude the laborious and successful exertions of Mr. Plunkett as Chairman of the Board of National Education. That your Petitioners cannot conceive it possible that your Excellency's Constitutional advisers will desire to persist in in flicting on the pubUc the permanent loss of Mr. Plunkett's services, by his removal from this office, for the mere act of using strong- language towards themselves in maintaining the rights of the Board, — at all events, without affording him an opportunity for vindication or explanation of the act complained of. Tour Petitioners, therefore, pray that your ExceUency will be pleased to take some effectual step for the retention or restoration of Mr. Plunkett's inestimable services as Chairman of the Board of National Education. And your Petitioners wiU ever pray. [Sere follow 57 Sig^iattires.] No. XXII. The Petition of the undersigned Local Patrons, Parents of Children, and others interested in the National School at Gosforth, in the PoUce District of Maitland. [26 Signatures.'] The Petition of the undersigned Local Patrons, Parents of ChUdren, and others interested in the National School at Sugar Loaf, Parish of Stamford, County of Northumberland, PoUce District of East Maitland. [25 Signatures.] The Petition of the undersigned Local Patrons, Parents of ChUdren, and others interested in the National School at Orange. [51 Signatures.] The Petition of the undersigned Local Patrons, Parents of ChUdren, and others interested in the National School at Clarence Town. [36 Signatures.] No. XXIII. The Undee Seceetaet to R. Rodd, Esq., J.P., and othbes. Colonial Secretai-y's Office, Sydney, 25th March, 1858. Gentlemen, — I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to inform appent)ix. 501 you that the Petition forwarded by you to the Governor-General, in reference to the removal of Mr. Plunkett from the Chairmanship of the Board of National Education, has been duly received ; and to state, in reply, that His ExceUency regrets that the course pursued by Mr. Plunkett on the occasion alluded to should have rendered his removal by the Government from, the Chairmanship of the Board a matter of necessity. I have, etc., W. Eltaed. R. Sodd, Esq., J.P., and the Local Patrons, Parents of Children, and others interested in the National School at Singleton. [A similar reply was mad^ to each of the other Petitions.] NATIONAL EDUCATION BOARD. (Petition for Reinstatement of J. H. Plunkett, Esq., as Chairman of.) Ordered by the Council to be printed, 16th April, 1858. To the Honourable the Legislative Council of New South Wales. The Petition of the Board of National Education, — Humblt Sheweth — That your Petitioners are incorporated under the Act of the Legislature of this Colony, 11th Vict., No. 48, and by virtue thereof are intrusted with the duty of " Superintending the formation and management of Schools to be conducted under Lord Stanley's National System of Education," and of making Rules touching aU matters which may, from time to time, appear to your Petitioners "fit and expedient for the effectual attainment of the objects of the Corporation." That this Act was passed in pursuance of the recommendation of the Report of a Select Committee of the Legislative CouncU on Education, appointed in the year 1841, consistrne of Messrs. Lowe, Cowper, Windeyer, E. Deas Thomson, Plunkett, Nicholson, Robinson, Mr. Justice Therry, Dr. Lang, and Sir Thomas MitcheU ; which Report, besides expressing an opinion that the Board should be incorporated, recommends " that it should be invested with a very wide discretion." That Mr. Plunkett, who has acted as Chairman of the Board from its first institution, until recently removed therefrom, accepted the office (as we are assured by him) on the express condition that the discretion ofthe Board in framing its Rules should be so guarded by Legislative enactment as to render it independent of the inter ference of the Executive Govemment, and the Act was framed and passed in such terms accordingly. That on the 11th December last, the Board passed, under their Common Seal, pursuant to this Act, certain Rules, calculated to render their administration of Lord Stanley's System in this Colony more conformable than it has hitherto been with the course pursued ever since its commencement, in 1831, by the Board in Ireland. That, with a view to comply with the provision of the Act which 502 APPENDIX. prescribes pubUcation, within one month, of aU such Rules in the " Government Gazette," the Board transmitted these Rules to the Colonial Secretary, requesting that they might be so pubUshed. That, although the Colonial Secretary so far yielded, after some objection, as to permit this pubUcation, he caused the Board to be at the same time informed, through their Chairman, that it was " the deliberate opinion of the Govemment that they had exceeded their powers;" and their Chairman has since been removed from office, by the Executive Government, in consequence of the course taken by him in protesting against this hitherto unexplained imputation. That the Board, beUeving they have herein lawfuUy and rightly exercised an authority in regard to which they are amenable to Par liament alone, now humbly submit the whole subject thereto, inclusive of your Honourable House, as one branch thereof; and, in order to prevent useless repetition and expense in printing, they beg leave to refer your Honourable House for further explanation of the matters herein mentioned to their ordinary Report for the past year, when it shaU be submitted to your Honourable House, in the usual course. Tour Petitioners, in conclusion, represent to your Honourable House, that the sudden removal of Mr. Plunkett from their Board has greatly embarrassed their operations, to the great detriment of the public service, and that they conceive it impossible, under existing circumstances, adequately to supply the loss by the appointment of any successor ; since, however otherwise qualified, no successor can possess that special aptitude and influence w^hich have been acquired by Mr. Plunkett as the fruits of a matured experience in the business of the Board. Tour Petitioners, therefore, deem it their imperative duty to the public and to the cause of Education, irrespectively of any con sideration of justice to Mr. Plunkett, or of gratitude for his past services, to entreat your Honourable House to exert its influence in promoting his reinstatement. And, as in duty botmd, your Petitioners wUl ever pray. [Here follow 4 Signatures.] G.—Fage 441. ALPACAS. (Correspondence respecting). Presented to both Houses of Parliament by command. No. I. C. Lbdgee, Esq., to The Seceetaet foe Lands and Public Woeks. Liverpool, 16th April, 1859. ^IJ*' — In conformance with the verbal communication that I had APPENDIX. 503 the honour to have with you on the 9th instant, on the subject of the future management of the Alpacas, etc., I now submit for your information a specification of aU the animals landed, ex " Salvadora," from the ChUian port of Caldera, and now depasturing on the Col- lingwood Estate, viz. : — 46 male Alpacas, pure breed. 38 female ditto, ditto. 9 Alpaca Lambs, bom in the Colony. 110 female Llamas. 27 ditto, cross in first generation, between Alpaca and Llama. 11 ditto, second ditto, between male Alpaca and female from first cross. 5 ditto, third ditto, from male Al paca and female from second cross. 40 Lambs of first, second, and third cross, male Alpaca and female Tilama, etc. 4 male Vicunas. 1 female Vicuna. 1 male (cut) Llama, carrier. 292, aU of which are much improved in condition since land ing. It is very satisfactory to be able to state that the 49 lambs bom since arrival are superior, in general appearance, to what I have seen them in South America. With regard to future management, it wiU be necessary for me to inspect the country — for which object I hold myself at your dis posal : and as to the expenses attendant on what would be necessary for the cross breeding, so as ultimately to obtain a purity of Alpaca blood, I should require, at the outset, the eight shepherds and over seer that I have at present, and untU the animals become accustomed to the "Run." Taking into consideration the necessity of sending to Peru for my chUdren, and without troubling you with further details as to expenses of journeying, and firsf^forming of the establishment, I would, at once, taking the wool, undertake to pay all expenses of future management, in conformity with the tenor of vote you have generously passed for the maintenance and carrying through the Alpaca enterprise, to the fiivourable development of which I wiL, as heretofore, dedicate my best endeavours. I have, etc., C. Ledgee. The Honourable the Secretary for Lands and PnbUc Worts. At a subsequent date, having received instiuctions to proceed into the interior to look out for a suitable run for the animals, the Superintendent thus writes : — The Supeelsiendent or Alpacas to The Seceetaet foe Lands and Public Woeks. Lirerpool, 15th June, 1859. Sib, — I have the honour to advise receipt of your communication. 504 APPENDIX. 13th instant. I am glad to see that the steps taken by me for the preservation of the Alpacas, etc., during the winter months, as also the suggestion that I considered it my duty to lay before you respecting the change in my route to Maneroo, has met with your approbation. Owing to the difference in the seasons in this country, the drop ping of lambs at the present time is mjurious to their preservation, as nature does not admit of the mothers supplying sufficient nourish ment, consequently both suffer accordingly, whereby I have lost several of the former. The animals are healthy and playful, generaUy speaking; the timely supply of green fodder and barley wUl, I doubt not, preserve a few that are much reduced. During my absence J. H. Atkinson, Esquire, has kindly con sented to supply my place to a certain extent, but the party directly responsible is Pedro Cabrera, the Overseer, who has accompanied me the last seven years. The said Cabrera has my written instructions, in Spanish (a copy duly translated I have now the honour to enclose), to call on Mr. Atkinson for any assistance that he may require, and, so as to facUitate his intercourse with the said gentleman, I have left him an interpreter, the former speaking Spanish only. In former communication I requested permission to take with me a party to assist in the selection of fit "Run" for locating the animals on ; I now beg leave to reiterate said request, and beg you wiU be so kind as to acquiesce therein by apportioning so much per diem as is oustomary, or you may deem fit. If in order, I would also solicit you to have forwarded to nie, at Goulburn, some introductory Circular to Magistrates, Commis sioners, etc., so that I may obtain information and assistance, if required. I have, etc., C. Lbdgee. The Honourable the Secretary for Lands and Public Works. The Supeeintendent of Alpacas to The Seceetaet toe Lands and Public -Woeks. Livei'pool, 23rd August, 1859. Sie, — I do myself the honour to lay before you a Report of my tour of inspection of a portion of this Colony, undertaken by your direction, in search of suitable country for permanently locating the Flock of Alpacas, Llamas, and Vicunas. In doing so, I beg to state that my own observations of the capabilities of the country, or districts thereof, I visited for affording pasturage to the Flock, are confirmed by the opinion of a Peruvian gentleman, who, with the sanction of the Government, accompanied me on my tour. I started from Liverpool on the 6th July last, and proceeded along the Southern Road as far as Tass, extending my observations of the country over an area of four or five mUes, and occasionally a gi-eater distance, on either side of the road. From Tass I directed my APPENTJIX. 505 course to the Murmmbidgee, whence vid Queanbeyan, Micahago, and Bredbo, I entered Maneroo. A careful examination of the Breadalbane and Tass Plains convinced me of their suitabUity to the rearing of the Alpacas ; the neighbourhood of MicaUago, Bredbo, struck me as no less suitable. My opinion of the adaptation of these places to the above purpose is based chiefly on the marked identity of the natural features of the country with those of that part of South America from ivhich the Alpacas came. The countrv aU through Maneroo indeed corresponded so exactly with those of Peru aud BoUvia, that I could easUy have beUeved myself back again in those countries. This similarity vtsls stiU more apparent with re spect to the Snowy Mountains, as that magnificent range appeared clad in their winter garb. Koskiusko reminded us of the strata or nUonari, and, with the Australian CordUleras in foU view, we re membered our trials and hardships among the ranges of their more stupendous and more terrible counterparts of South America. But it was, of course, on the natural pasturage of these places, as the most important object in otir examination, that w^e bestowed the gi-eatest attention. Not only are the pasturage and herbage, rocks and stones, identical with those of Peru, but I found through out the districts I have indicated abundance of a description of wiry grass known as the " ichu " of South America. It is upon this grass that the Llama tribe mostly feed, being extremely palatable and nourishing, and of which they are immoderately fond. The great importance of furnishing the Alpacas with fodder as closely as possible resembling that on which they have been accustomed to feed in their native country, need scarcely be pointed out. It was accordingly my deliberate conviction, and also that of my compa nion, that the Maneroo district was admirably adapted for the loca tion of the Alpacas. Should the Govemment determine on locating the Flock in that district, I would recommend for the purpose the country contiguous to the Snowy River, on account of the faciUties which the undulating plains and mountain ranges would afford in obtaining a change of temperature w^henever the removal of the Flock to a warmer or cooler spot should be desirable. By continual thermometrical observations I found that a similarity of tempera ture existed in the months of July and August at Maneroo, as in the country from which the Alpacas were extracted. The thermo meter at 71i. 30m. A.M. varying from 24 to 31 degrees. The only thing I found to cause any apprehension was the exist ence of •¦ fluke " in the sheep. In South America its ravages are counteracted by not allowing sheep, cattle, or Llamas, to drink the stagnant waters that might be formed from springs. Lakes, ponds, or puddles formed by rain, are not supposed to cause the disease. I cannot refi^in from expressing my warm acknowledgments for the very uniform kindness and hospitality everywhere met with in my line of journey, aud I particularly mention the wiUing assist ance aud valuable information received from Messrs. Calvert, C. and H. Hale, Freestone, Cosgrove, Smith, Ryrie, Wright, Windeyer, Hebden, Massey, Gunn, Manning, and Dr. Haley. I beg to recommend that the animals be moved up to Maneroo 606 APPENDIX. with as little delay as possible ; and, as my personal attention is necessary, I beg to request you wUl think fit to reUeve me from mv intended iourney to New England, at least for the present. ¦' •' I have, etc., C. Ledgee. The Honourable the Secretary for Lands and PubHc Works. No. xni. The Supeeintendent of Alpacas to The Seceetaet foe Lands AND Public Woeks. Liverpool, 29th August, 1859. Sie,— The Alpacas, etc, are fast improving. I am very desirous to get them into the interior as soon as possible. I beg to request you wiU please to forward the order to march in fifteen days from date ; by that time the paddock on which they are feeding wUl be eat down. For the journey I require a two-horse dray complete, for the conveyance of luggage, beds, tents, etc., for self and men. I also require a saddle-horse for self, please to authorize my purchasing the same. I liave, etc., C. Ledgee. The Honourable the Secretary for Lands and Public Works. The following letter, addressed by Mr. Ledger, to Dr. Mueller, the manager of the Zoological Gardens at Melbourne, in reference to a small flock of Alpacas at that establishment, wiU be interesting as being the latest report relative to the naturalization of that ani mal in the Australian colonies : — Melbourne, 30th October, 1860. Sie, — I have been dehghted to have had the opportunity of per sonally verifying the statement made to me by my overseer, Pedro Cabrera, on his return to Sydney from this city, as to the splendid condition of your flock of Llamas, and I unhesitatingly declare that in their native country it would be impossible to meet with any to sur pass, and, I very much doubt, to equal it. A practical and intimate experience in the management of this pecuhar animal, for the last fifteen years, will admit, I trust, of your accepting the following observations as emanating from the great desire I entertain of even tuaUy seeing the product of this truly noble and valuable animal occupying the place I confidently predict for it in the future of Aus- tralia- I class your stock of Llamas as of very inferior breed in size of animal, quantity, and quaUty of fleece. By continually crossing the female Llama and its female progeny with pure male Alpacas, up to the seventh cross, purity of Alpaca-blood most undoubtedly will be obtained. There should not exist a chance of retrocession of breed ; every stage of crossing should be progressive, until arriving at the same purity as the male Alpacas the Government of New South Wales has forwarded to you. I would strenuously recom mend the preservation ofthe flock intact, untU such time as every trace or sign of Llama blood be eradicated. This species of animal requires APPENDIX. OUC a dry and pure atmosphere, humidity under foot does them no harm unless compeUed at night to repose on wet ground. I would recom mend their being exposed to every vicissitude, changing their folds every now and then during w^et weather, so long as they are con fined to a limited space for grazing on. This animal, when left to itself, at nightfaU generaUy selects a sloping ground for reposing on. In my opinion it w^ould be desirable to confine them as much as possible exclusively to the natural grasses of the country. Sus ceptible, as every other animal, to prefer the superior to the inferior, it would readfly become pampered on clover and other luxurious food ; but I entertain the idea that this aTiimal is destined to graze and browse on such elevated and inclement parts of this country, suitable only to themselves and goats, at present useless for the depasturing of other stock. The acclimatization of the Alpaca and Llama in Australia is now proved beyond a doubt. The smaUer flock in this colony, and the larger one in that of New South Wal^, have fiiUy satisfied me as to the adaptabUity of this pecuUar aTiima.! to the climate and natural grasses of the country. I would recom mend, for the present, the males being separated from the females on the 1st of February, and the union of them again on the 1st of November, yearly, so that the lambing may take place in the middle of spring ; I would also wean the lambs about the middle of April The Alpaca possesses great hardiness of constitution, and actually requires less food than the sheep. During my wanderings with the flock in South America the animals were, on one occasion, twenty- two days without water. This happened in the Desert of Atacama, on the coast, in the heat of summer ; and on arriving at water, they showed a greater inclination to bathe in than to drink it. At Ar- thursleigh, near GUjulboum, New South Wales, the aniTnals there under my charge rarely took water more than once a week, although conducted to it every other day during the summer months. This animal is freer from constitutional diseases than ordinary sheep, less subject to those arising from repletion aud exposure to rain. Foot-rot, catarrh, and bottle, are unknown to them, neither are its young exposed to those accidents liable to befal the lamb of sheep. The mothers are provident and careful nurses, nor do the young ones require any aid to enable them to suck. Except at the rlltting season, these animals stand in no need of attention. .Shepherds need only visit them occasionally, and such are their gregarious habits, that the members of one flock seldom stray away and mix with another, being kept in a good state of discipline by the old ones, who know their own grounds, and become attached to the place of their nativity, to which they return at night, evincing an astonishing vigilance and sagacity in keeping the young ones to gether and free from harm. The meat of the Alpaca is tender, wholesome, and savoury ; the flesh of the young ones, four or five months old, is often recommended by physicians to sick persons, in preference to fowls. When the Alpaca is of a proper age, and weU fed, the cleft of the haunch is smooth and close, the meat smaU- grained and rather mottled, the fat white and firm, and when from 508 APPENDIX. three to four years old, of full flavour. It is not a greasy, but rather a juicy meat, and easUy digested. The flesh of a fnU-grown one is more nutritious than that ofthe yearUng, although the latter is deU cate and savoury. In point of flavour Alpaca meat has, by good judges, been compared to North American venison, and even to heath-fed mutton. Mr. Darwin, the talented naturalist, speaks very highly in its favour. By trials, careful study, and intimate knowledge of the Alpaca, after an almost daily association with this interesting animal, of twenty-two years in South America, and two in AustraUa, it is placed beyond a doubt in my mind that this animal may be natura lized and made to readUy propagate in almost any climate ; and every day the facUities and the efficacy of their proper breeding must become more apparent. The hardy nature and contented dis- pcsition of the Alpaca, its extreme docility and gregarious habits, cause it to adapt itself to almost any soU or situation, provided the air is pure, and the heat not too oppressive. I have had innume rable proofs of its hardiness, and its power to endure cold, heat, damp, confinement, hunger, and thirst — vicissitudes to which it is constantly exposed on its native mountains. No animal in the creation, it is my firm conviction, is less affected by the changes of climate or food ; nor is there any one to be found more easUy domi ciliated. In conclusion, I will merely add that I am led to beUeve arrangements wiU be effected with the govemment of New South Wales and myself, by which I shaU be enabled to fully develop and palpably demonstrate the importance that I confidently portend wiU, ere many years elapse, attend the introduction of this valu able and novel animal into Australia. It is almost superfluous on my part to assure you that at all times I wUl readUy furnish aU and every information in my power to give regarding this animal ; as also wiUingly aid by supplying from time to time, as you may con sider it necessary, such pure male Alpacas as may be required to improve, and finaUy raise, your stock to uniformity and purity of blood. I wiU only further add, that the ratio of increase in your flock has far exceeded that in the flock under my charge. I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, C. Ledgee. APPENDIX. 309 B.—Page 460. THE EEVENUE. Compabative Siatejieni of the Consolidated Bevenv.e of the Colony of Xev: South 'SVales, and of the Spiciod Fiucds paid into the Treasury, at Sydney, during the Quo.der.s ended ZOth Se^'terahfr, 1859, and ootJt Septendjor, 186u, nspedictly, showing the Increase or Decrease under each 'head thereof. ESCETPr. Quarter ended i Quarter ended 30\ii September, SCtli September, 1S.59. 1860. Decrease. I Increase. EETENXE PEOPEE. £ I. 77.409 12 7,947 2 2,850 4 Customs: — Spirits W^ine Ale, Porter, and Beer ) of all sorts ) Tobacco 23,283 4 Tea 8,428 12 Sugar and Mola^es ... 17,916 10 Coffee and Chicory ; 1,804 19 Opium ! 268 12 11 £¦ s. 73,437 13 7,352 15 2,309 8 21,936 U 6,762 14 15,903 4 1,561 17 860 16 !139,902 19 0130,125 0 9 10,376 1 7 FiSXS A^TD FoE- JErrTEES : — j Sheriff Courts of Petty Sessions Water Police Court ... For the Unauthorised') I Occupation of > Croirn Lands J Crown's share of sei-"\ zuieshytheDepart- ( ments of Customs I and Distillerira ...J Proceeds of Sale Confiscated & TTn. claimed Property Moreton Bay Court Other Fines 194 19 627 13 30 2 7 } 15 0 794 6 6 79 5 11 463 0 611 1 79 10 7 10 0 114 15 8 38 0 6 12 0 0 1 S22 19 8' 1,287 18 5 DrxT 05 SprsTTS') DiSTTLiED rs- > 15,380 THE CoLoyr ... 3 10,348 9 7 £ >. d. 3,971 19 7' 594 7 7 510 16 3^ 1,346 12 5 1,665 17 9 2,013 5 8 243 2 4 s. d. 16 11 9 794 6 6 38 0 0 45 7 6 894 5 9 5,031 12 592 3 4 592 3 4 268 1 9 49""8 0 6 5 0 35 9 9 359 4 6 510 APPENDIX. Head of EEvninjE, oa Receipt. Quarter ended 30th September, 1859. Quarter ended 30tli September, 1860. Decrease. Increase. Q-OLD : — Duty on Gold £ J. d. 9,245 5 6 2,679 10 0 1,172 0 0 90 0 0 86 19 0 £ s. d. 10,539 6 10 2,748 8 4 1,608 0 0 110 0 0 367 11 2 £ .. d. £ s. d. 1,294 1 4 Miners* Eights 68 18 4 B usiness Licences Leases to work Auri- 1 ferous Lands ( Fees for Escort and') Conveyance of > Gold, etc ) 436 0 0 20 0 0 280 12 2 13,273 14 6 15,373 6 4 2,099 11 10 Mint Eecbipts 4,134 6 3 5,958 8 4 36,466 6 6 49,062 8 11 80,947 17 6 618 9 4 33 14 1 49 0 0 337 10 0 1,824 2 1 Land Eevbnfb Proceeds of Land Sales EentsofLand 55,205 7 4 60,737 10 3 100,499 17 7 44 9 8 2 4 6 91 0 0 571 0 0 18,739 0 10 12,675 1 4 19,552 0 1 42 0 0 233 10 0 Assessment on Euns... Quit Eents 573 19 8 31 9 7 Eedemption of Quit { Eents S Survey of Euns Licenses to cut Tim- "^ her, etc., on Crown > Land ) 217,151 9 4 167,515 6, 4 50,241 12 3 605 9 3 Postage 11,305 2 2 11,690 13 4 385 11 2 ' Licences : — To Wholesale Spirit? Dealers J To Auctioneers 250 0 0 66 19 10 819 5 0 3,634 14 7 3,277 10 0 10 0 26 10 0 50 0 0 15 11 0 360 0 0 69 17 2 939 15 0 3,560 13 11 3,110 0 0 5 0 0 17 0 0 50 0 0 17 18 2 74 0 8 167 10 0 9 10 0 110 0 0 2 17 4 To Bonded Storekprs. To Retail Fermented J and Spirituous • Liquors ) Night Licences to ") Publicans, and for > Billiard tables ...) ToDistiUersandEec-"} tifiers ) To Hawkers and Pedlars To Pawnbrokers AU other Licences 120 10 0 4 0 0 "2"7 2 8,141 10 5 8,130 4 3 251 0 8 239 14 6 APPENDIX. 511 Head op EEviinnB, ob Becbzpt, 1 t as- 7 ionS .°3 Fees ob Office : — On Commissions to Public Officers On Certificates of Na turalization On Copies and Trans- cripta of Papers On the Preparation and Enrolment Title Deeds Eegistrar-General Prothonotary of Su- f premeCourt ...... S Master in Equity Curator of Int^tate) Estates j Insolvent Courts Sheriff District Courts Courts of Petty Sessions Water Police Courts Shipping Masters ... Steam NavigationBoard Court of claims On disputed Claims? , at the Gold Fields i Moreton Bay Court Fees Other Fees .. Qnarter ended Quarter ended 30th September, 30th September, 1839. 1860. Decrease. Increase. Berts — Eiciusite OF Land: — Tolls and Ferries Wharfs Military Canteen, 1 Sydney J Government Build ings & Premises t} Eailwat'Tolm 9,727 8 10 £ s. d.\ 10 10 0 102 7 OJ 15 0 £ o. d.. 21 0 0 a. d. £ ». d. 10 10 0 51 13 6, 50 13 6 15 0 1,710 15 0, 1,067 5 0' 643 10 0, 770806 301 157 9 111 12 8 2 1 0 10 389 9 0 214 1 6 1,408 11 10 510 2 1 98 13 10 565 15 9 41 0 0 2 0 0 17 132 0 0 17 0 768 6 750 16 329 13 63 7 450 7 297 13 1,538 14 503 13 109 16 568 11 39 0 10 3 2 3 11 55 15 11 93 18 6 6 8 7 2 0 0 10 0. 22 17 6 16 0 132 17 7,239 13 6, 6,593 18 9, 1,004 7 5 2,476 1 10 1,963 5 0 9 12 6 74 15 8 4,523 15 0 ElSCTEIC Teie-; GBAFH EeCEIPTS ErLOTAGE, Hae BOUE DlTES, Fees(22Viot. Hae-),A1JD > 0T.4)) 1,467 18 2 3,779 4 8 2,592 19 7 1,538 4 2 425 0 10 12 10 3 94 8 1 4,238 2 1 425 0 10 13,760 18 6 3,118 18 9 2,989 5 0 28 11 4 60 18 6 83 11 6 130 2 11 11 2 4 2 15 7 8 3 0 22 17 6 358 12 8 116 17 9 2 17 9 19 12 5 139 7 11 4,033 9 8 789 19 8 1,651 0 7 512 APPENDIX. Head or REVENrs, oe BSCEIFT, Newcastle Ton- \ NAGB Dubs ... j IMMIGEATION Eb- ") mittances j MlSCELLlNEOtrS Eeceipts : — Sale of Govemment ) Property ) For the treatment of S Patients in the Lu- > natio Asylums ...) Collections by the Ac- ") countant of the ( Government Print- C ing Office J Contributions to- ^ wards the support ( of the Gunpowder C Magazine J For work performed T by Prisoners in > Gaol ) Store Eent of Gun- \ powder J Surcharges Eecovered Balances in the hands ¦) of Pubhc Officers, [ etc., refunded j Fees on presenting \ Private Bills to the / Parliament, and on V Letters of Eegis- 1 tration j Interest on Bank De- I posits ) Other Miscellaneous I Eeceipts ( Quarter ended 30th September, 1859. Intbeest ON City I Debentubes £ J TotaiEetenue > Peopeb £i £ s. d. 669 14 6 4,199 10 2 335 11 7 299 15 0 395 14 6 22 18 3 120 3 6 143 11 3 67 11 4 2,449 18 6 190 0 0 3,544 0 8 546 13 3 Quarter ended 30th September 1860. 8,115 17 10 £ s. d. 763 8 6 890 0 0 480 2 10 240 10 6 451 2 0 22 12 3 163 2 2 75 3 8 204 18 4 1,591 19 3 100 0 0 11,741 17 4 6,443 4 8 Decrease. I. d 3,309 10 2 59 4 6 0 6 0 68 7 7 857 19 3 90 0 0 21,514 13 0 3,162 0 9 450,841 6 2 407,460 12 8 Increase. £ a, d. 93 14 0 144 11 3 55 7 6 42 18 8 137 7 0 1,076 17 4 73,399 8 3 8,197 16 8 5,896 11 5 14,474 12 6 3,162 0 9 30,018 14 9 APPENDIX. 513 Head op Ekvejtub, ob Bbcsift. SPECIAL RECEIPTS, Police Eeward Pund. . . PoUce Superannua- I tion Fund ) Poundage Imperial Postage Shipping Master (Sea- I men's Wage>) J Church and School | Estates' Fund j TOTAX Speciai ') EECEIET3 ...£) Quarter ended 30th September, 1859. £ ». d. 408 9 8 529 1 2 1,448 11 2 260 11 8 75 17 0 815 11 4 Quarter ended 30th September, Decrease. Increase. £ s. d.i £ s. d.\ £ a. d. 354 6 1' 54 3 7 661 2 01 I 132 0 10 1,224 13 6 223 17 8 338 11 3 157 16 li 2,138 7 2 I 77 19 7 I 81 19 1 ; 1,322 15 10 3,538 2 0! 4,874 16 1^ 278 1 3 1,614 15 4 Geand ToTAi... £,154,379 8 2412,335 8 9 78,677 9 6 31,633 10 1 Deduct Increase £ 31,633 10 1 Decrease on the Qviarter ... £42,013 19 5 The Treasury, New South Wales, 4th October, 1860. E. C. WEEKES, Teeasueer. -E..—Page 461. (Frmn the " Sydney Morning Herald," Zrd of November, 1860.) STDNET LABOUR MAEKET. Speh-CBE AsHLnr reports : — We have but a moderate iaqniry for farming men. Some engagements have been made dnring the week, chiefly with the late Kew Zealand arrivals for the Northern districts, both for shepherding and bnsh work. Mechanics and female servants, plentifol. Quotations as follows : — Married couples, £55 to £60 ; single ploughmen, £30 to £36 ; farm labourers, £30 to £32 ; groom and gardeners, £35 to £60 ; bushmen aud rough car penters, £40 to £45 ; single shepherd ditto, £25 to £85 ; shepherd-. ing families, £55 to £70 ; blacksmiths and wheelwrights, £65 to £80 ; men cooks and waiters, £40 to £70 ; female servants, £24 to £30 per annum, with board and lodging. 139, Pitt Street, opposite Union Bank. LL 514 APPENDIX. SYDNEY MARKETS.— FRIDAY. Unless otherwise expressed, the prices quoted in this article are those in transactions between the producer and the first purchaser. Eloue remains at £20 for fine, and £18 for second quality, per ton of 2000 lbs. Bean, Is. 3d. to Is. 6d. per bushel. Wheat, 7s. to 8s. per bushel. Bread, 6d. the 2-lb. loaf. Biscuit. — Mr. Wilkie quotes cabin biscuit at 27s., and navy at I7s. per 100 lbs. Mr. Hamilton : navy 17s., and ship 27s. per 100 lbs. Butcher's Meat. — Beef Hd. to 2id., mutton 2|d. to Sd., pork 5^d. to 6d., veal 4<^d. to 5d. per lb. Lamb, 6s. per quarter. Poultry and Dairy Produce. — Fowls 3s. to 3s. 6d., ducks 4s. to 4s. 6d., geese 6s. to 8s., turkeys 8s. to 12s., pigeons Is. 6d. to 2s., wild ducks 4s. to 4s. 6d., teal 2s. to 2». 6d., rabbits 2s. to 3s. 6d. per couple. Roasting pigs 3s. to 6s. each. Butter 6d. to 9d., cheese 6tZ. to 7d., bacon and hams, 6d. to 7d., lard 6d. to 7d. per lb. Eggs 8d. to 9d. per dozen. Vegetables. — Potatoes £12 to £15 per ton. Cabbages 3». to 8s., lettuces 6d.to Is. 6d, pumpkins 4s. to 8s., vegetable marrows 8s. to 10s. per dozen. Asparagus 7s. to 9s., rhubarb 3s. to 4s., celery 6s. to 9s., leeks 9s. to 12s., turnips 2s. to 3s., carrots 2s. to 3s., parsnips 2s. to 3s. per dozen bundles. French beans 8s. to 10s., broad beans 2s. to 3s., green peas 3s. to 4s. per bushel. Fruits. — Oranges Is. 4d. to Is. 6^^., lemons Is. to Is. Sd., bananas Is. 6d. to Is. 9d., citrons Is. to Is. 6d. per dozen. Loquats, 3s. to 10s. per basket. Honey, M. to 4-ld. per lb. in the comb. Bark £2 15 to £3 10s. per ton. Forage. — Sixty-three loads were brought to market during the week. Hay £5 10s. to £8, straw £4 10s. to £5 10s. per ton. Maize 2s. 8d. to 3s. Id., barley 3s. to 3s. 6d., oats 3s. to 3s. Sd. per bushel ; green food 9d. to Is. per dozen bundles. PRODUCE CIRCULARS. [moet and co.J Wool. — About 120 bales of the new cHp catalogued for our sale to-day, but with the exception of a few small parcels we were com pelled to pass it for a higher figure. There was an evident disin clination to purchase except at such prices as we did not feel justified in submitting to. Sheepskins. — No upward tendency can be noted, prices being evidently affected by the arrivals of greasy wool. A lot of fiill fleeced from New Zealand brought 8id. per lb. Tallow. — A little more demand, but without any improvement in price. Hides.— Most of those offered were of inferior quality, one parcel of good brought 12s. 9d. each. Fat Cattle. — An abundant supply; some very choice sold at £5 5s. APPENDIX. 515 Pat Sheep. — The market glutted, and several flocks shortly ex pected. Freights to London : — Wool, id. to Id. per lb. Hides, 3o«. to 40». per ton. Tallow, 45». to 50». per ton. Oil, per tun, nominaL Grold, i per cent, by sailing vessel, and f by steamer. Exchange on London — Bank drafts 1 per cent, premium at 60 days' sight. Private bills (with produce hypothecated), i per cent, discount, if drawn against wool, tilow, or gold. PeICES CtTEEEXT. Wool. Superior Clips Nominal Fair to good Ditto Low to middling Ditto Grease Ditto Locks, pieces, broken wool, etc. . . Ditto Handwashed Ditto Scoured Ditto Beef . . . Mutton . . Station tallow Hides, each . Sheepskins, per lb. Tallow. £ 8. .d. £ s. d. 36 0 0 to 40 0 0 42 0 0 to 47 0 0 36 0 0 to 41 0 0 0 2 6 to 0 13 0 0 0 5 to 0 0 9 Pitt Street, Sydney, Ist November. [w. WILLIAIIS.] Floub. — The arrivals during the past week have not been pro portionate to the consumption, the stocks therefore, which are already light, win suffer some diminution ; and with the prospect of a late harvest in some districts of this colony, it becomes important to the community that importation should continue for a time to keep pace with our wants. Adelaide fine flour — ^best brands — ^is worth £18 to £18 10«. per ton ; Launceston, New South Wales, and South Ameri can, £18 to £18 10a. per ton. Wheat. — ^The previous remarks apply with equal force to the cir cumstances of this cereal, which goes off readily at hix rates. Say at 9». per bushel for Adelaide, and 7s. for Califomian. The millers are aU buyers to a moderate extent. Bbak and Pollaed. — ^Market overdone, duU at Is. 3d. per bushel. Maize. — Heavy arrivals have lately taken place, and prices have receded sUghtly ; the superabundance has now, however, disappeared, and better rates are looked for. Prime samples are at present worth 2*. lid. to 3*. per bushel. 616 APPENDIX. Baeley is scarce, and good samples are worth 3s. .Gd. per bushel. Oats. — Dull of sale ; prime heavy may be quoted at 3s. 6d. per bushel. Lucerne Hay.. — Some of the hay now coming to market is infe rior and damaged, which inspires general distrust in the purchase of the article. Prime samples, however, are saleable, and may be quoted at £3 16s. to £4 per ton. Oaten Hay.— Camden pressed is worth £6 10^. to £7 per ton ; Hunter River, coarse, £5 10s. per ton. Potatoes. — Best quality are worth £13 per ton. Bacon. — Prime weU-cured lots are worth 7d. per lb. Cheese. — Prime colonial worth 7d. to 8d. per lb. BuTTEE. — Market fiilly supplied. Best brands worth 9d. per lb. Haedwood Timber. — ^Assorted cargoes worth 16s. 100 feet. Shingles. — Prime forest oak are worth 25s. to 30s. per 1000. Cedar (in log). — Prime cargoes are worth 14s. per 1000 feet. Coal, 17s. to 20s., according to quaUty. THE GOLD ESCORT. The gold received by escort was as follows : Western. SofalaBathurst . . . Louisa Creek Tambaroora Mudgee ozs. dwts. grs. 1027 7 20 304 4 658 17 524 10 665 4 20 9 2312 9 3080 15 1 Southeen. ozs. dwts. grs. Goulbum 435 4 12 Braidwood 3194 17 0 Adelong 1177 1 2 Tumberumba 83 12 0 Gundagai ... 40 16 8 Kiandra ... 2699 14 12 7631 5 20 10,712 0 22 The amount of gold coin issued by the Sydney Branch of the Royal Mint during the week ended to-day, November 2nd, has been 31,000 sovereigns. APPENDIX. 51 7 Y.—Fa^e 466. SOUTHERN GOLD FIELDS. (Report from Deputy-Master of the Mint, and Professor Smith, of the University of Sydney.) Ordered 'by the Legislative Assembly to be printed, 27th September, 1860. The Deputy Mastee op the Mint aitd Peofessoe Smith, Univer sity of Sydney, TO the Honoueable The Colonlll Szceetaet, reporting on their Visit to the Southern Gold Fields. < Sydney, 22nd August, 1860. ' SiE, — Having concluded a tour of the principal Southem Gold Fields of this Colony, and a portion of those of Victoria, under taken with the approval of the Govemment, and in pursuance of the design set forth in Captain Ward's letter to the Treasury, dated 15th May last, we have now the honour to submit the foUowing Report : — The main object of the tour having been to ascertain the cha racter of machinery best adapted for extracting gold from auriferous quartz, and to coUect information as to the difficulties experienced in treating quartz impregnated with " mundic,"* we deemed it advisable to take that route which would permit of a general survey of the principal Southem Gold Fields, with a more particular examination of Adelong and Bendigo — ^the leading quartz fields of this and the neighbouring colony. Accordingly, on the 21st Mar, we went by steamer to NeUigen, and thence to Braidwood, and the auriferous vaUey of the Araluen. From this we proceeded to Queanbeyan, -whence, as the time at our disposal and means of con veyance were Umited, one took the route to Kiandra via Cooma, and from Kiandra to Tumut ; the other the route by Yass and Gundagai to Tumut. Then we visited the gold field of the Lower Adelong, and afterwards proceeded through Albury, Yacandandah, Beech- worth, and Melbourne, to Bendigo, and having inspected the latest improvements in quartz-crushing introduced there, we returned to Melbourne, and thence to Sydney vid Twofold Bay. The Braidwood diggings, being of an aUuvial character, did not claim from us any particular investigation. The sinkings are mostly shaUow. The bed rock is granite, except on the Mongarlow, where it is clayslate. In the Araluen VaUey (the most populous part of these diggings at present) the "washing stuff" is commonly abed of coarse gravel and roUed boulders lying on granite at a depth of 20 to 25 feet. In working the claims, the superincumbent detritus is removed entirely from the auriferous layer, so that large pits are formed which floods fiU up again, thus occasioning much extra * The term "mtrndic" is applied hy miners chiefly to iron pyrites, but is employed also to designate other ores haTing a similar appearance. 618 APPENDIX. labour. There is a constant drain of water into the claims, which requires a good deal of labour and machine power to get rid of. Quartz is described as being tolerably abundant on the Mongarlow, and if experimental crushing machinery were erected at the Mint samples would be sent to be tested. A quartz reef is being worked at Moruya, but operations are impeded as at Adelong by the presence of " mundic." Altogether we were favourably impressed with the productive ness of the Braidwood Gold Field, and led to believe that it is yet capable of much farther development. Our visit to Kiandra was undertaken at the request of the Govemment, rather with the hope of coUecting information as to the state of the roads connecting it with the centre of population and the sources of supply, than for the purpose of examining the geo logical features of the country, for which the time at ou^ command was too limited. The existing communications between Kiandra and the principal towns and agricultural districts, according to data suppUed to ns by the Surveyor General, are — 1. — From Sydney vid Goulbum, Bungendore, Queanbeyan, Micalago, and Cooma, 312 mUes. 2. — Prom Sydney vid Goulbum, Yass, Gundagai, Tumut, YarringobilU, 330 mUes. 3. — From Sydney to NelUgen by water (165 nules), thence through Braidwood, Queanbeyan, and Cooma (190 miles), 355 miles. 4. — From Sydney to Merimbula by water (243 mUes), thence to Kiandra by land (135 mUes), 378 mUes. 5. — From Sydney to Eden by water (265 miles), thence to Kiandra by land (140 mUes), 395 mUes. The additional communications proposed to be opened are — 1. — From Sydney and NeUigen, leaving the road between NeUigen and Braidwood at Monga, and proceeding vid Major's Creek and Jingera, joining the road between Quean beyan and Cooma near the Bredbo, and thence to Kiandra, by water, 166 miles ; by land, 170 miles ;* 335 nules, 2. — From Sydney by the main road to Yass, thence direct to Kiandra, 270 mUes. In considering these several routes it wUl be sufficient for the purpose of this Report to view that by Merimbula as identical with that by Eden, since the ultimate superiority of either wiU depend on the comparative facUities offered at the respective ports for landing and embarking goods and passengers. As regards the remainder, if we assume for the sake of comparison that goods conveyed by land travel at the average rate of 10 miles per day, and those by steam at 180 mUes with equal ease, it wUl follow, after making due allowance for the faciUties which the short length of raUway can offer, that the journey, in point of time and trouble, from Sydney to * We have been assured by persons conversant with the country that this distance ia over-estimated by about 25 mUes. APPENDIX. £)iy Kiandra vid Eden is shorter by nearly one-half than that by any existing land route, to which even the route by NelUgen and Braid wood is, in point of distance, preferable. The foUowing facts are in support of this conclusion. The cost of carriage in June last from Cooma to Sydney by the best available land route was £30 per ton ; that by Eden was £16 10s. per ton, of which the water-carriage was but 30».* The average time con sumed on the former journey exceeds one month, that on the latter (assuming the sea portion to be performed by steamer) does not exceed 18 days. Even during the time of year most favourable for land carriage, there is a saving both in time and charges in sending goods to Sydney vid Eden, and it is probably only on account of imperfect arrangements at the port of shipment, and the present deficiency of teams in the district, that the Eden route is not gene raUy preferred. This route, however, is at present attended with aU the risks due to the want of suitable landing-places for goods, and of sufficient means for their conveyance between Sydney and Twofold Bay. But these are obstacles which wiU, no doubt, soon be removed or ren dered insignificant by the erection of wharves and piers should the Kiandra diggings prove as auriferous as is anticipated. Though the above facts are sufficient to justify the conclusion that the route by Eden wUl eventuaUy obtain the preference over aU existing means of communication between Sydney and Kiandra, there are advantages possessed by another which has been surveyed, but not yet completed, perhaps sufficient to counterbalance, if not exceed, any which the Eden route can offer. The route before referred to as No. 1 of those proposed, wUl consist of 170 miles of land, and of 165 miles of water-carriage. The former is in excess of the land journey vid Eden by only 30 nules, whilst the country through which it wiU pass, after surmount ing the coast range, is comparatively flat, and in that respect prefer able. Passing, as it will, through, or near to the best part of the Braidwood diggings (Araluen, Major's Creek, BeU's Paddock, ete.), it wiU be the readiest and best means of connecting two most im portant centres of production with the metropohs, and by placing two such auriferous districts in direct communication with each other, wiU tend to lessen the fluctuations of price in the necessaries of Ufe, and in other ways contribute to their mutual prosperity. From .personal experience of a portion of the roads, together with conversation with many intelUgent persons possessing a good knowledge of the coimtry, our conclusion is that the road from NeUigen vid Monga, Major's Creek, and Cooma, wiU form the best means of communication between Sydney and Kiandra, and that it ought to be constructed and maintained for that object. There are certain goods, as tea, sugar, and other imported articles, which can be supplied to Koandra cheaper from the metropolis than from any inland town ; and it is obviously due to the large population that will assuredly assemble at these diggings, to famish them with the * The charge of conveyance from Cooma to Kiandra would, in each case, be additional to these chargea. 520 APPENDIX. means, so far as roads are concerned, of obtaining their supphes from the cheapest possible source. As regards the improvement and construction of the other roads noticed, it appears to us that the primary actuating principle should be — to provide facilities whereby Kiandra may be supplied with the necessaries of Ufe, and other articles of consumption and use at the cheapest rate ; and thus to offer inducements for the permanent settlement of population in that country. The Districts of Tumut, Gtmdagai, Yass, Queanbeyan, Braidwood, and Goulbum (being mostly agricultural, and capable of supplying Kiandra vrith this class of necessaries), should have their means of communication with it improved in proportion to the necessities of the diggings, — the nearest and most fertUe district receiving the first and greatest consideration. It would be obviously unjust towards a rich agri cultural district like Tumut, to leave unimproved the road connect ing it with Kiandra, and yet to expend money on the construction of a road from Kiandra to Yass. On the other hand, the proximity of Tumut to Kiandra, considered in connection with its fertUity, gives it a natural claim to consideration for the sake of Kiandra in preference to more distant districts. Indeed it appears to us that an opposite policy would operate as a protective duty at the expense of the consumer, in favour of a district having no claim to prefer ence ; and its tendency would be to drive popidation to diggings more readily supplied with articles of consumption, and to check the prosperity of agricultural districts favoured with natural advan tages. The communication with Kiandra vid Eden or Merrimbula, though not likely to compete successfuUy for the Sydney traffic with the road recommended by NeUigen, Monga, and Major's Creekj wUl probably be the means by which a portion of the suppUes from other colonies wUl be sent to these diggings. The improvement of this road, with a view of encouraging the use of it for the transmis sion of such goods, would, we consider, be a sound policy. WhUst, in accordance with the principle already stated, it appears to us the simplest, if not the only practicable course, for securing to this colony the contribution due to it from the dutiable articles consumed within it, obviating the pursuit of a policy vexatious and burden some to the frontier towns, and to the settlers on the borders, and the intervent'On of compUcated arrangements with the neighboming Governments, for the coUection of duties the property of this colony. Free trade across the Murray might be conceded without material detriment to the revenue, if the means of communication between Merrimbula or Eden and Kiandra were at the same time facUitated. From the necessarily hurried character of our visit, we do not feel in a position to add to the information regarding the auriferous character of the Kiandra Diggings ali-eady laid before the public in the reports of the Rev. W. B. Clarke, Chief Commissioner Cloete, Colonel Freeling, R.E., and the correspondents of the Press. Our casual inspection of this, and the surrounding country, confirms the impressions which these reports convey. At numerous points on APPENDIX. 521 the routes pursued by us, the geological features were such as are usuaUy considered highly indicative of the presence of gold, which indeed has actually been found at nearly aU of them by prospecting parties. We may mention the Maneroo Plains, the ranges near Micalago and the EumaraUa, the country between Queanbevan and Yass, about Gundagai, Tarcutta, Kyamba, and Albury. We may add our conviction, that at some of these places quartz-mining will yet prove a profitable pursuit, as weU as aUuvial digging ; and that, as the Rev. W. B. Clarke has already pointed out in his reports to the Govemment, many hundreds of square mUes of this portion of the colony are rich in auriferous deposits. The main object of our journey having been to ascertain the difficulties experienced in extracting gold from auriferous quartz, and the character of machinery employed for the purpose, our attention at Adelong was speciaUy directed to these points. The quartz reefe of this district at present worked are five in num ber, and a description of them wiU be found in Appendix 1 (page 529). For crushing the material obtained from them there are thir teen establishments, of which five only were in active operation at the time of our visit. The arrangements of each comprise a stamping battery, with stampers having direct vertical action, together with a combination (varied in each case) of some of the numerous appU- ances for retaining and amalgamating the gold, — such as blankets on sloping tables, ripple boards, Chilian mills, gold gleaners, Tyro- Ifise amalgamators, shaking tables, and revolving barrels. The machines we found at work are driven by engines or water-wheels of from 15 to 25 horse power, the former being considered sufficient to work eight, and the latter twelve stamps of 700 lbs. each at the rate of sixty blows a minute, and with a height of Uft varying from nine to thirteen inches. The amount of quartz crushed by these means varies according to the nature of the material, and the degree of fineness to which it may be desired to reduce it, or betweenone and two tons in twenty- four hours for every stamp employed. The usual charge for crush ing one ton varies from 20s. to 35s. The general nature of the operations carried on in these ma^ chines is as follows : — The quartz is first ground in the stamping battery, through which a stream of water is kept constantly flowing. This current washes the pounded quartz (or "pulp") through a fine grating of wire, and then over a sloping surface covered with blankets which retain a large proportion of the gold. These blankets are frequently changed and washed, and the washings are worked up with mercury in the revolving barrel. The stream of pulp then flows over ripple boards suppUed with mercury, which takes up part of the fine gold that has escaped the blankets. The pulp runs next into the ChUian mUl, where it is farther triturated and brought into intimate contact with mercury ; and finally it passes through some of the other amalgamators that have been named before it escapes as " tailings." On our subsequent visit to Bendigo we were struck with the simpUcity of the machinery there as compared with Ade long ; but at Bendigo there is rarely so much mundic as to interfere 622 APPENDIX. in the least with amalgamation. Stamps are used as at Adelong for pounding the quartz, — ^indeed the simple Cornish stamper has almost superseded every other machine for crushing. The " pulp " runs over ripple boards containing mercury, and then througli some simple kind of amalgamator before escaping as " tailings." Blan kets are very little used, and the ChUian mUlhas almost disappeared from Bendigo. The favourite kinds of amalgamators are those pre senting a surface of copper rubbed over with mercury. They have assumed a variety of shapes. The simplest is a sloping box lined with the sUvered copper, and having a sort of pocket containing mer cury at the lowest end. Another form is seen in Meyerhofi^s galvanic cradle, which is held in considerable repute ; and stUl another modi fication is called " Hill's gold gleaner."* We have been informed that the blankets formerly in use at Clunes are being superseded by the sloping tables of sUvered copper. The difficulties experienced in working Adelong quartz by the means described may be understood by the foUowing particulars : — In working the " main reef " at Adelong, the quartz for some sisty feet in depth yielded 10 to 15 ounces, and occasionaUy even more of gold per ton, and was free of " mundic." The quartz then sud denly changed its character. It became loaded with mundic, and could not be got to yield so much as half the former quantity of gold. The first of this mundic quartz was crushed by Messrs. Mandelson and Co., in May, 1858. Their machine consisted of a battery of stampers and a ChUian mill. They put 15 tons of the quartz through the machine in one continuous operation, and during the process 80 lbs. weight of quicksUver was put into the basin of the ChUian mUl. On " washing up " the product at the close of the operation, they obtained only 40 lbs. of amalgam, which yielded 60 ounces of gold, whUe nearly 46 lbs. of mercury had disappeared altogether. From previous experience on the reef and from the look of the quartz it was judged that at least 10 ounces per ton ought to have been obtained, and it was reasonable to suppose that the quicksUvet that had escaped had carried with it a large proportion of gold. On examining the amalgamating basin there was found near the water level an unusual brown deposit, partiaUy choking up the holes in the perforated plates through which the ground quartz escaped; and this deposit, on being repeatedly washed with water, was found to contain a large proportion of gold amalgam. The remarkable and unexpected result of this crushing operation caused much dis cussion and excitement among the miners, and suspicions of unfair dealing became rife. In this state of affairs Mr. Commissioner Lynch obtained a series of specimens from Messrs. Mandelson, and trans mitted them with a statement of particulars to Professor Smith for * This gleaner is in the form of an inverted cone of copper, seven feet in dia meter, and seven inches deep, coated with mercury, and made to revolve about twenty times in a minute. The water and pulp are made to fall perpendicularly on the revolving disc at seven inches from its centre. The centrifugal force is sufficient to throw the refuse outwards, but not the gold, which gravitates towards the centre. APPENDIX. 523 chemical investigation. The chief results were briefly these : — The quartz, as taken from the jeef, contained a large proportion of iron and copper pyrites, the former predominating, together with specks of visible gold. In the "bumed quartz" part of the sulphur of the pyrites had been driven off, leaving magnetic oxide and sulphuret of iron with sulphuret of copper. Exposure to air had oxidised portions of the sulphurets, and converted them into sulphates. The brown deposit was found to contain nearly half its weight of mer cury and about 17 per cent, of gold, the remainder being chiefly magnetic oxide and sulphuret of iron, undecomposed pyrites, and white quartz, aU in fine powder. Notwithstanding the amount of metal in this deposit its specific gravity was low (4'3), and this seemed to be caused by the close adhesion of air to the powder when it was mixed with water. This also made it be easUy floated off by the water from the amalgamating basin. It did not appear that the mercury had been acted upon chemically, the effect being appa rently of the same kind as when that metal is triturated for a length of time with prepared chalk. The oxides and sulphurets in the quartz had acted mechanicaUy like chalk, in so comminuting and enveloping the particles of mercury as to prevent their agglutination in the usual manner.* Ever since the period now spoken of the quartz of Adelong has been more or less mixed with mundic, which has been a prolific source of trouble and loss to the miners and machine owners. But many of these men are inteUigent and enterprising — some, indeed, are enthusiasts in their profession, — and they have introduced such improvements in the mode of operating that the loss has been ma- teriaUy reduced, though stUl probably considerable. We were informed of one case where no less than 6 lbs. weight of mercury was lost for every ton of stone crushed, together with an unknown but probably large quantity of gold. The amalgam has frequently been seen to float away on the surface of the water like a bluish-black, greasy-looking, and frothy scum. At other times it has adhered so firmly to the basin and roUers as to require a hammer and chisel to remove it. On retorting such ama.lgg.Tn obtained from mundic, it is generaUy found that the gold is much aUoyed with copper. A specimen of this aUoy, melted and assayed recently at the Mint, was found to contain only 12 per cent, of gold. It is known that native copper exists occasionally in the auriferous veins and " casings ;" but whether this alone is the origin of the copper in the amalgam, or whether any of the copper ore of the mundic get reduced in the operation, remains yet to be determined. The foUowing interesting experiment on some old "taUings" was communicated to us by Mr. D. S. M'Kay. About three tons were run through a ChUian mUl with shaking tables. After washing up and retorting there was found only a smaU quantity of black slag, which, on smelting, afforded an aUoy of copper with a third part of gold. About 30 lbs. of mercury were lost during the amalgamation, * It is not yet quite certain that the action is purely mechanical It may pos sibly be begun and promoted by a smaU amovmt of chemical action. Experiments are now being conducted at the Mint to elucidate this point. 524 APPENDIX. part of it being seen floating off the surface like dirty soapsuds. Afterwards 2^ tons of the same taiUngs were put through the mUl along with 3 tons of white quartz, free from mundic, and believed to contain very little gold. The yield in this case was 7k ounces of gold per ton, most of which, it was thought, must have come from the "taUings." The weight of mercury, instead of diminishing as before, increased during the operation, and the gold, when retorted, came out nearly pure. A simUar experiment has recently been made by Mr. WUson, of the Reefer Machine, at Adelong, and with remarkable success. He states that having placed 40 lbs. of mercury vrith about 9 cubic feet of pulverized matter in a revolving barrel, and kept the machine in motion for the usual number of hours, he was able to obtain a return of but 24 lbs. of mercury, the remainder being mixed up into a substance resembling soapsuds. This led him to dispense with the use of the barrel, and in its stead to submit the pulp discharged from the stampers and caught on blankets, to the action of mercury in a ChUian mill, with three times its bulk of sharp gravel procured from the race. This expedient appears to have been successful. The mercury was restored to its clear fiuid state, and there was no farther loss. There were 31 tons of quartz crushed with about 250 lbs. of mercury, and the yield of gold was 103i ounces. If dilution by clean gravel had not been adopted, Mr. WUson judges that the loss of mercury would have been 3 or 4 lbs. to every ton. At Bendigo, we foand that mundic rarely exists in the quartz in such quantity as to interfere with amalgamation. In one reef, however (the whip reef), the quartz at a certain depth gave place almost entirely to mundic, which in this case was chiefly arsenical iron pyrites ; and the operations of the company were brought to a close, owing to the difficulty of extracting the gold. They consulted with scientific persons, and tried a variety of processes without much advantage. They also sent a quantity of the mundic (17 cwt.) to Messrs. Johnson and Matthey, of Hatton Garden, in the hope that the metaUurgic skUl of those gentlemen would enable them to solve the difficulty. They reported that the sample contained gold at the rate of 19 dwts. to the ton, and sUver at the rate of 4 ounces, but they did not suggest any method by which these metals could be profitably extracted. The company are now about to recommence operations at the whip reef, and to follow a plan for reducing the mundic devised by Mr. Shiress, of Bendigo. He proposes to break the ore into smaU pieces, mis it with charcoal, and roast in a farnace. He states that ih this way the whole of the sulphur is carried off as bisulphuret of carbon, and that the residue can then be ground and amalgamated with facility. Mr. Wilkinson, of Anderson's Creek, Victoria, has laid before the public a plan of roasting quartz, which he states he has tried with success, and which he considers would effectually deprive mundic quartz of all its objectionable ingredients. It is to roast the material by means of heat, obtained from the combustion of carbonic oxide and hydrogep. He obtains these two gases by passing steam APPENDIX. 625 from a bofler through an iron pipe containing charcoal heated to redness, the decomposition of the steam Uberating hydrogen, and the combination of its oxygen with carbon producing carbonic oxide. He suppUes by a separate pipe a current of air to enable the com bustion of these gases to take place among the quartz, which, when sufficiently burned, is aUowed to drop into a tank containing water. The time occupied in calcining a ton of quartz by this process must, of course, depend on the size of the arrangement. The cost per ton is stated as not exceeding 3s. 9d., excliLsive of labour. The advan tages said to be secured are— a disintegration of the quartz so as to aUow double the usual amount to be crushed per hour, a saving of wear and tear on machinery, and a combination of small particles of gold into globules, the result of fasion under great heat, by which amalgamation is rendered perfectly easy, and the loss in tailings entirely prevented. Xotwithstanding these and other proposals for overcoming exist ing difficulties, we are impeUed to the beUef that the economical separation of gold from mundic quartz is a problem not yet satisfac torily solved.* Its solution requires patient and continued research, and the combination cf scientific knowledge with practical skill. We shall proceed to point out first the course we recommend to be pursued for the ftiU elucidation of the question, and then the measures which may be immediately taken for mitigating, if not altogether overcoming, the difficulty. The first step towards the solution of the problem should be to obtain for examination and chemical analysis characteristic specimens of each kind of mundic that is found to act injuriously on mercury, or to present other difficulties in treating. With each of these should be transmitted a description of the treatment the quartz has undergone, that is, of every operation of the crashing and amalga mating, in consecutive order, with samples of the " pulp" at the different stages ; and finally of the taUings, together with a state ment of the quantity of gold per ton obtained by such treatment, and of mercury per ton lost in obtaining it. A carefal examination of the chemical and mechanical states of these various specimens would, we feel confident, ensure the detection of the injurious con stituents, and the manner in which they operate. This would clearly be the first step towards neutralizing their action. With the Imowledge thus obtained a series of experiments should be instituted, to determine the best practical method of treating each kind of quartz ; and for this the experimental quartz-crushing * The following extract from the last Eeport of the Board of Science in Yic toria, shows the condition in which the question stands in that colony : — (page 7.) " It would be a great assistance to the miner if some experiments were insti tuted with a view to ascertain the best methods of separating the gold from the quartz. Mr. Cowan has brought raider the notice of the Board the diiEeulties iu the way of effecting amalgamation with mercury, when the quartz is largely mixed with iron pyrites. This is a question which can only be satisfactorily determined by a series of experiments conducted by an experienced chemist, having due re gard to the economy of the mode of extraction ; .and perhaps it would be well to seek the opinion of Professor Faraday, or some other competent chemist ia Europe." 526 APPENDIX. machine, proposed by a member of the Legislature to be erected at the Mint, would prove serviceable. By the same means the relative value of every resource or appUance in use, or proposed, could be ascertained, the results being communicated for public information. There is no doubt that by a series of such experiments, methodically conducted, the " mundic" difficulty would disappear, and the modes of treating auriferous quartz in general would be much simplified and improved. Our experience at Adelong satisfied us that some such course as that we recommend is necessary. We found that though a practical miner cotUd point out, by its appearance, the ore which presented the greatest difficulty in working, he was unable to state the ingre dient to which the difficulty was due, or the reason of its injurious action ; and though he might infer from the loss he had sustained in treating a particular ore with mercury, that some gold had also been carried away in taUings, he had no means of ascertaining the extent of his loss. As regards the appliances for extracting gold from quartz the predUection in favour of any one appeared to be due more to the fact of its having been purchased, and to the favour with which the owner naturaUy regarded a machine from which he- obtained his living, than to any sound conclusion based on ascer tained results. It is jei an open question which of the many forms of amalgamators, or what combination of them, is preferable ,- whether blankets are better than amalgamated copper placed in the same position — whether mercury should be used in every stage of the operation, commencing with the stamping, or be dispensed with in almost all. At present it appears that the richness of quartz veins is estimated, not by the gold they contain, but by that which im perfect means have been able to extract ; and our analysis of some taiUngs of these reefs leave Uttle doubt that two and three ounces per ton are frequently lost in tailings which are thrown away. To carry through the analytical portion of the inquiry, it woxdd be advisable to instruct the gold commissioner or receiver at Adelong to offer every assistance and encouragement for the systematic collection of the samples of quartz and tailings before referred to, and to transmit them to the Mint by govemment escort. The experimental portion of the investigation, if carried on in Sydney, would require the transmission of quartz in quantities of not less than one ton of each sort. It is not probable that individual miners, or crushers, wiU be willing to bear to any extent the cost that carriage of so much weight for a distance of 280 mUes wiU entaU. The success of this portion of the scheme must, therefore, depend on the pecuniary assistance which the govemment are dis posed to afford. The aboUtion of the gold duty, resolved on by vote of the Legislative Assembly, wiU directly limit the power of the government to render assistance, and the claims of the mining community to grants from the pubUc Treasury for such purposes. It may therefore be worthy of consideration, if it would not be more desirable to retain a portion of the impost, for application to this and similar objects, than to sacrifice entirely a revenue which has APPENDIX. 527 not been shown to have checked mining enterprise, but which thus appUed would directly encourage it. Whilst these investigations are in hand those who are practically engaged in quartz-crushing might try one or more of the foUowing methods, which appear to us likely to produce in some degree the desired results : — The plan which holds out the greatest prospects of success, and is at the same time most easUy practised, is that which has been reported to us by Mr. M'Kay and Mr. WUson, viz., — mixing the ground quartz^ containing mundic, either with quartz free of this ingredient, or vrith clean sand, in the proportion of two or three parts of sand to one of mundic quartz, and grinding the whole together with mercury in a ChiUan or other miU. There are several grounds for concluding that the action of mundic on mercury is chiefly, if not entirely, mechanical in character; and that the buoyancy which is given to the amalgam is due to the retention of globules of air in the mass of mundic and mercury intimately com mingled by trituration. By diminishing, then, the per centage of mundic in the mass, the mercury would be enabled to retain its cohe sion, and remain in the Uquid state at the bottom of the miU. The reefs at Adelong are weU adapted for this kind of treatment. They contain an abundance of white quartz poor in gold, but free of mundic. By intermixing this with mundic quartz, in proportions which experience must decide, and crushing them together, the poor quaUty, itself not of value, would become so by the service it would render in extracting the gold from the richer, and in saving mercury. Where there is no pure quartz, the mixture nught be with clean sand or gravel. The gross cost of this plan obviously cannot exceed that of crushing the additional matter, which, in the case of white quartz, would probably be more than met by the gold obtained from it. It has been asserted that quartz can be crushed in Victoria at 11«. the ton, and even less. On the other hand it is not easy to estimate the saving which may result, as no attempt has hitherto been made to ascertain with accuracy the gold which has been carried away. The minimum loss of mercury at Adelong is probably ^ lb. to every ton of mundic quartz crushed. Now mercury is capable of absorbing nearly one- half its weight of gold. Assuming, however, that on an average 1 lb. of mercury absorbs from 1 to 2 ounces of gold, the average loss per ton would be about £3, The injurious effect of mundic on mercury being promoted, as we beUeve, by the action of the Chilian rollers, a discontinuance of the use of this machine inight be attended with advantage. The important function discharged by it, viz., that of securing the deten tion of fine particles of gold by grinding them with mercury, seems to be more than counterbalanced by the buoyancy of the compound formed when mundic is present, and the consequent loss of mercury and gold. For the mUl might be substituted an extended layer of blankets or amalgamated copper plates, a means now much in use at Bendigo for the detention of gold, and preferred, as giving Uttle or no trouble in cleaning or shifting. 628 APPENDIX. Assuming that the buoyancy of the amalgam is mainly due ta the adhesion of air, it might be desirable, where ChiUan miUs are relied on, to introduce into the water a jet of steam (which might readily be done by a pipe from the boUer of the engine), iu order to preserve it at a degree of heat during the action of the roUers sufficient to expel the air. This temperature could hardly be maintained on the present plan of running a constant stream of water through the miU, but the mill might perhaps be worked apart from the general arrangement with successive por tions of pulp. Mr. Shiress's plan of roasting mundic quartz with charcoal in a furnace has not yet been tested on a great scale, but is sufficiently promising to deserve a trial. For this purpose, a sum has been placed on the estimate appended to this report. The practical value of Mr. WUkinson's process must depend on the cost at which the two gases for combustion can be produced, and the amount of labour involved. The heating power is very great, and no doubt capable of rendering the quartz more friable, and the gold in it easier to collect. The experiments which we have proposed to be undertaken by the govemment wUl require the erection in Sydney of a stamping battery, driven by steam power, a reverberatory fnmace for roasting quartz, as well as other contingent appUances. From the information we obtained in Victoria regarding the functions performed by the Mining Surveyors there, and from the view we have had of the condition of some of the gold fields of this colony, we are induced to recommend to the Government the appointment of simUar officers here. Besides giving assistance to the Gold Commissioners in marking out alluvial and quartz claims, surveying blocks of land to be leased for mining purposes, examining into disputed claims and such like, it would be the duty of these Mining Surveyors to prepare topographical and geological maps of the gold fields, with plans and sections of undergrotm^d workings ; to record whatever may be ascertained respecting the distribution of gold deposits, and the extent, configuration, and character of quartz reefs ; to describe peculiarities^ in the modes of mining, or of extracting gold from quartz ; to coUect statistics of the population, yield of gold, steam and animal power employed, and in short to procure and digest aU attainable facts that would tend to the scien tific comprehension of the gold fields, and the economical direction of the labour of the practical miner. The Surveyors should send in monthly reports to the Govern-' ment, together with their maps, plans, and Ulustrative specimens. The reports should then be published for general information, and the maps, etc., should be deposited in a central office for the inspec tion of the pubUc. Copies also should be returned to the Commis^ sioners of the respective gold fields, where aU interested might have access to them. Instructions were issued for the guidance of the Mining Sur veyors of Victoria, by the Board of Science in Melbourne, and we find it stated in the last annual report of that Board that APPENDIX. 529 " the objects sought to be attained when preparing the instructions were these : — " 1. — Maps of each mining district sufficiently large to show clearly the situation of the principal gullies and worked quartz reefe, with their respective names ; and at the same time to be easily portable. The scale adopted was half an inch to one nule. " 2. — DetaU plans on the scale of four chains to one inch of the most important gulUes and flats, quartz mines, and deep leads, with iUustrative horizontal and vertical sections. Such plans to show the mining characteristics, the lands leased for mining purposes, extended claims, the method of laying off paraUels, the sites for dams and reservoirs, and the natural features of the country. " 3. — " Reports on the nature of the mining works on each gold field, the remuneration of the labours of the miner, and the number and character of the machines employed. " 4. — To give information to the pubUc on the opening of new gold fields." Should it be found impossible to obtain at once a sufficient number of competent persons to act as "Mining Surveyors on aU the leading gold fields, we would recommend that the experiment be first tried at Kiandra and at Adelong. Another point to which vre would eaU the attention of the Govemment is the desirabUity of instituting a ilining Museum in Sydney, where models of tools and machinery, sectional models of mines, geological specimens, maps and plans, and anything else iUustrative of mining in general, might be arranged for the daUy inspection of the pubUc. Avery interesting and instructive Museum of this sort has been coUected in Melbourne, under the superin tendence of Professor M'Coy, and we append a priced Ust of some of the models in that coUection. In conclusion we desire to express our acknowledgments to the Wardens at Bendigo ; to the Chief Commissioner and Commissioners of the Southem Gold Fields ; as weU as to other Govemment officers and gentlemen who have rendered us assistance in the prosecution of our inquiries. We have, ete., E. W. Ward. J. Smith. The Hon. the Colonial Secretary. APPENDIX 1. OX THE QUAETZ REEFS OF THE LOWER ADELONG. The foUowing Paper was read by Professor Smith, at the Monthly Meeting of the PhUosophical Society of New South Wales, on Wednesday, August 15th ; Elis ExceUency, Sir WUUam Denison, K.C.B., President of the Society, in the Chair : — The Adelong River is a tributary of the Murmmbidgee, faUing into it a few nules below Gundagai, after a course from south to north of about thirty miles. Towards the head of the river, and abc at various points along its course, there are aUuvial diggings of M M 530 APPENDIX. a tolerably productive character. The quartz-mining is at present restricted to a portion of the eastern side of the valley, about two miles in length, running northwards from the township of Lower Adelong, which is some fourteen mUes from the mouth of the stream. In this locality several spurs run down to the river ia a south-westerly direction from the range that bounds the eastern side of the vaUey. These spurs consist mainly of granitic rock, inter spersed with numerous veins of quartz. On the most southerly of these spurs the Government camp is situated, and close by there is a quartz vein called the " Camp Reef," which is not now worked. Proceeding northerly, the next spur is called " Mount Charcoal," the highest point of which is probably 400 or 600 feet above the river. Cutting the crest of Mount Charcoal obUquely, and running down its sides, we find the Old or Main Reef; and to the westward of this, in a bifurcation of the spur, we have the " Victoria Reef." Several quartz veins have been opened bet^ween these two reefs, but none of them are at present worked. Looking from Mount Charcoal northwards, we see the " Kurrajong Reef" on the slope of the next ridge ; and on surmounting this spur to its junction with the bounding range, we come upon the "Donkey Reef." Nearly a mUe further northwards is situated the " Gibraltar Reef." Several veins have been tried in the neighbourhood of the Kurrajong and Donkey Reefs, but are not worked. In June there were twelve or fourteen claims being worked on the Old Reef; eight or ten on the Victoria; six or seven on the Donkey ; two on the Kurrajong ; and two or three on the Gibraltar. In the beginning of last year the claims worked on the Old Reef numbered between eighty and ninety. I proceed to lay before you a few particulars which I coUected regarding the principal reefs, during a visit, in company with Captain Ward, in June of the present year. The very limited time at my disposal prevented me obtaining materials for a fuU account of these reefs, and it is possible that some of the statements I shall make may not be minutely accurate ; for in putting a multiplicity of questions, and in listening to the experience of a variety of miners, I may sometimes have misapprehended or forgotten the exact import of the information tendered to me ; also, the testimony on certain points was conflicting. The Main Reef runs due N. and S., the north end, however, apparently bends a little towards the East. On the summit of the ridge the reef comes to the suaface, but on the slopes it sinks and recedes from the surface rapidly. It has not been distinctly traced far on the north side, although there are some indications in the same line, right across the valley, that seem to connect it with Fletcher's Reef on the opposite slope, and perhaps even with the Donkey Reef. On the southern slope of Mount Charcoal, half-way down or so, shafts nearly 200 feet deep (as I understood) faUed to strike the quartz, though sunk in the line of direction ; but near to the-creek, in the bottom of the gtUly, the reef was found at a much less depth. The deserted " Camp Reef" is not far distant from the last shaft on the Main Reef, and is very nearly in the same line. APPENDIX. 531 The Main Reef was opened in June, 1857, and the oldest shaft in it is now about 200 feet down. We descended this shaft (on Mr. Channon's claim, on the crown of the ridge) and learned the fol lowing particulars : — The dip of the reef, or underlay, as the miners caU it, is westward, at an average angle of about 78 degrees from the horizontal. At first, however, the angle is not so great, being about 60 degrees, but afterwards greater, approaching, in parts, to the perpendicular. The thickness of the vein varies from about eighteen inches to nearly seven feet. The quartz is generaUy sepa rated from the neighbouring granite by a thin casing of soft mica ceous slate. In sinking this claim the quartz, for sixty-five feet, was ferru ginous and free from mundic. It yielded ten ounces and upwards to the ton, and it had a soft ferruginous " casing," which yielded a great deal of gold by simple washing. The average thickness of this part of the vein was about two feet eight inches, the minimum being one foot. After that came 1 20 feet of quartz strongly im pregnated with mundic, three and a-half feet in average thickness, and producing six and a-half to seven ounces of gold per ton. It was certain, however, that much gold, as weU as quicksilver, was lost in the amalgamation. Below the mundic came mUky quartz, seven feet in average thickness, and almost destitute of gold ; but this was accompanied by a thin vein of mundic quartz, which yielded about two ounces to the ton. The miners had gone down about fifteen feet in this white quartz without any signs of change, and they feared that no more good was to be got from the reef. The neighbouring claim-holders were proposing to subscribe to have this shaft sunk for another 100 feet to test the quality of the quartz, and stiU deeper if necessary. The quartz being very hard has to be quarried by blasting, and the sinking of a shaft costs about £6 a foot Labourers were got at £4 a^week each. It is the practice on the Adelong to foUow the " underlay" of the reef in sinking, whUe at Bendigo they prefer to sink perpendicularly, and to drive horizontaUy upon the reef at convenient depths.* This latter plan renders pumping and winding easier, and seems, on the whole, preferable. In Channon's claim, at a depth of about eighty feet from the surface, they made a drive westward for five feet, and came upon a thin vein or " leader," as they caU it, of auriferous mundic quartz, nearly paraUel to the Main Reef, but graduaUy approaching it, for on driving thirty feet lower down, they found it only three feet from the reef. Some of the granite intervening between this vein and the reef has been crushed, and found to yield about 12 dwts. to the ton. The granite contains some mundic, and the miners think that wherever there is mundic there is gold. Besides the thin vein men tioned, there have been found several smaU "leaders" entering the reef from the western side, but they have not been foUowed up. WhUe Mr. Jenkins was sinking a shaft on the northern slope of * The miners use the ferm underlay to indicate what a geologist caUs dip. By dip the miners mean the inclination of the vein from the surface, in the line of direction. 532 APPENDIX. the Main Reef, he came upon a singular cavity in the reef at a depth of about 140 feet. The cavity was ten or fifteen feet deep. Its sides and floor were covered vrith carbonate of lime, partly of lami nated reticulated appearance, and partly in the form of white rhom- boidal calcareous spar. The roof of the cavern consisted chiefly of crystallized quartz. By driving westward at a depth of 100 feet, Mr. Jenkins has recently struck upon an auriferous vein, about ten feet distant from the Main Reef, and which is probably a continua tion of the vein worked by Mr. Channon. The Victoria Reef runs, like the others, N. and S., but is more nearly perpendicular than the Main Reef. Some claims were down about 140 feet. One party told me that they had pretty good quartz for about 100 feet ; the vein then almost disappeared, but on sinking deeper they found a small " leader" of mundic. The mundic of this reef is iron pyrites with little or no copper-ore, and is therefore not so troublesome in amalgamating. Also the gold is purer than that got from quartz containing copper, as in such cases a portion of copper gets amalgamated, and is ultimately found alloyed with the gold. Following this reef southward in the line of direction, it is found to dip rapidly. Next to a claim where it came almost to the surface, a shaft had to be sunk fifty-eight feet before striking the reef, and the two or three foUowing shafts had not then come upon it, though one was down eighty to ninety feet. The party sinking were following a schistose layer in the granite which they expected would become the " casing" of the reef. Kurrajong Reef — The deepest shaft (about 90 feet) was one belonging to Mr. Jones. They were getting quartz yielding six or seven ounces of gold to the ton, but loaded with mundic, more uniformly disseminated through the stone than in the Main Reef. The reef had split into two veins of no great thickness, separated by a few feet of granite. Some of this intervening granite had been crushed, and yielded nearly one ounce per ton. I was informed by Mr. Edwards (who owns the neighbouring claim) that on sinking his shaft he got forty feet of good quartz, vrithout mundic, yielding ten or fifteen ounces to the ton. The vein then almost disappeared (it had previously been about a foot thick), but after sinking a good way further they came upon a thin vein of mundic, yielding four or five ounces per ton. This was probably a continuation of one of the two veins worked by Mr. Jones. The Donkey Reef has the same north and south direction as the others, and is nearly vertical. Some think that it may be a con tinuation of the Main Reef, as it is nearly in the same meridional line, and patches of quartz are found at two or three points in the interval between the extremities of the two reefs. On this reef the miners got first some sixty feet of ferruginous quartz, rich in gold ; then twenty or thirty feet of mundic quartz ; then about fi% feet of very poor white quartz, succeeded again by mundic — the whole depth reached being about 140 feet. The mundic of this reef con tains both iron and copper pyrites in great abundance, and often of much beauty, from the prevalence of " peacock ore." This appears to be the only refif where water is very troublesome, and it would APPENDIX. 533 much promote the economical mining of the quartz if the miners woxdd combine together to erect a pumping engine. I did not visit the Gibraltar Reef, but was told that it was not so regularly developed as the others, being more of a patehy nature. There were only two or three claims being worked upon it. The miners on the Adelong often anxiously inquire whether their reefs, which have been diminishing in value as they get deeper, are likely to improve again. We know too Utile of auriferous veins to predict anything with confidence. Some leading authorities are known to hold the opinion that such veins invariably diminish in value as they are foUowed down, and that deep mining for gold can never be profitable. When their attention is directed to some of the shafts in Victoria that are giving satisfactory retums at a depth of some 400 feet, they say that thiit is not to be accounted deep sinking, and that no reaUy deep sinking is yet known in these colonies. The miners of Adelong may therefore take heart, their deepest claim not being yet more than 200 feet, whUe there are many examples in Victoria of very rich quartz farther down, and even of veins improving materiaUy below such a depth. I went down a claim on Johnston's Ree:^ Bendigo, 300 feet deep, where the quartz was turning out seventeen ounces to the ton. Half a ton of quartz taken recently from near this spot on the same reef, yielded 304 ounces of gold. The Nnggetty Reef, at Tarrangowur, was worked down to the granite, and was supposed to have run out ; but some claim-owners continued to sink, and at a depth of more than 200 feet struck it again in a thick lode, which yielded au average of six ounces to the ton. On the German Reef the i average yield is five ounces per ton at a depth of 2 73 feet. Another reef is mentioned which first yielded four to eight ounces ; it then got poorer ; but at a depth of 220 feet the yield increased to eleven ounces. In another case the yield was two ounces to six ounces at a depth of 1 8-5 feet ; below that the quartz improved tiU it pro duced seventeen ounces to the ton. The Mining Surveyor of the Ararat district, in Victoria, says, in a recent report to the Board of Science, that it has been proved throughont his district that the reefs become richer as they get deeper. It is also asserted that rich quartz is found in California at a depth of 600 feet ; and, farther, that there is a mine in New Granada, belonging to the Columbian ilining Ajs.sociation, which is payable at a depth of more than 2000 feet. It is quite possible, then, that the quartz reefs of Adelong may vet recover their pristine richness, and even exceed it. On the other hand, there can be no certainty prior to actual trial. - Mine.^ of all sorts are notoriously inconstant, and neither the practical experience of the miner, nor the scientific insight of the geologist, has yet been able to lay down rules by which to interpret and anticipate the apparent caprices of mineral veins. A famous English miner, named Joe Odgers, on being asked the result of his long experience as to the productiveness of lodes in certain situations, replied — " I"ve worked forty years as barrow-boy, tut- workman, and tributer, and my experience is this here, where there's ore, there's ore; and where there's none, there's none." I think, however, that the riskfal lottery of quartz-mining might be 534 APPENDIX. greatly mitigated if the claim-holders would combine together, and work more on the co-operative principle. Perpendicular shafts might be sunk at the most favourable points along a reef, and exploratory drives made in different directions at different depths. A complete knowledge of the ground would thus be obtained, and the company could then employ their available labour and capital in the most productive manner. I refrain at present from entering on the methods of extracting gold from the mundic quartz. Experiments now going on at the Mint wUl, I have no doubt, throw new Ught on this puzzUng question ; and when these experiments are in a more forward state we shall have the subject brought again under the notice of this society. APPENDIX 2. 131, King Street, Melbourne, Victoria. Peice List of all the different Mining Models which are at present at the Melbourne Public MMseum, and manufactured by 0. Bobardt, Mechanical Engineer. No. £ i. d. 1. *Model of Stevens and Hoskins' patent revolving stamp quartz crusher — scale 2 inches to 1 foot 28 0 0 2. *King and Howlands' patent revolving quartz stamper — scale 3 inches to 1 foot . . . 76 0 0 Ditto ditto scale 1|^ inches to 1 foot 44 0 0 3. Model of No. 11, W. Battery, of 12 stampers of the Clunes workings — scale 1^ inches to 1 foot: dimensions 6 feet by 2i feet, by 3i feet long ; stamper rods square, and of wrought iron . 60 0 0 4. Model of Dr. Ottaway's improved ChUian mill — scale 2 inches to 1 foot . . . . . . 25 0 0 5. Model of CoUyer's crushing and amalgamating ma^ chine — scale li inches to 1 foot . . . 32' 0 0 6. Model of CUssold's crushing machine with Maud- nit's amalgamator — scale 2 inches to 1 foot . 46 0 0 7. Model of wet crushing and stamping machine in general use at the diggings . . . . 26 0 0 8. Model of P. W. Waite's patent spiral stampers — scale 2 inches to 1 foot . . . . . 16 0 0 9. Model of Kin near 's patent crusher and amalga mator — scale IJ inches to 1 foot . . . 19 0 0 10. Model of Hart's patent puddling and pumping machine — scale 2 inches to 1 foot . ] 1. Model of Hart's amalgamator — scale 2 in. to 1 foot 12. Model of stiff clay puddling machine — scale 2 inches to 1 foot 13. Model of Stranbel's patent planetary horse puddUng machine •-..... 14. Model of common horse puddling machine 15. Model of Russian sieve machine — scale f inch to 1 foot ; dimensions 4 feet by 2 feet, by 3 feet . 56 0 0 * In general use at the Victoria Diggings. 48' 18 0 0 0 0 29 0 0 35 12 0 0 0 0 APPENDIX. 535 No. £ 5 16. Model of Russian fine washing table . 1 7. Model of Russian cradle . . . . . 8 0 0 18. Model of Tyrolese amalgamator, used by the Port PhUlip Gold Mining Company — scale 3 inches to 1 foot 16 0 0 19. Model of a set of shaking tables — scale 2 inches to 1 foot 20 0 0 20. Model of large pumping work for deep sinkings (400 feet) — scale 2 inches to 1 foot, . . . 53 0 0 Eaeth-boedjg Appaeatcs. 21. Model of large boring tower with boring rods and movementi^-scale f inch to 1 foot ; dimensions 6k feet by 4 feet, square bottom . . . 60 0 0 22. Models of two small boring towers with spring boring apparatus .... (each) 21 0 0 23. Models of a set of 63 different boring instruments (each) 10 0 These models are made after the most approved . boring apparatus at present in use. 24. Model of hydrastatic faU borers, for boring in deep wet holes with the aid of water (to 1000 feet deep) 50 0 0 a.— Page 473. AGRICULTURE. Eetuen showing the Quantity of Land in Oultivation, and the Pro duce of the same {exclusive of Gardens and Orchards) in the Colony of New South Wales, from the Year 1848 to 1867, inclusive. CHOPS. 1 1 ^.¦^ i- ^ < o "5 i 1 " 6 1" 1 i Ha 1° Acres. Axn-es. j Acres. Acres. Acres Acres Acres. | Acre 3 Acres. &^ 1848 67,801 20,220 5,954 4,252 167 14 3,197 201 21,693 123,499 1849 66,459 23,316 7,741 2,809 203 18 3,138 458 31,664 135,806 1850 70,720 23,170 7,576 2,717 293 42 4,236 510 35,383 144,647 1851 82,110 25,017 6,723 2,470 245 54 4,079 731 30,626 152,057 1852 75,942 18,609 5,084 1,629 16.3 9 3,690 58 25,450 130,643 1853 74,537 24,234 3,937 2,*8 97 44 5,050 32 27,723 138,052 1854 63,092 28,093 3,568 1,626 73 79 5,079 8 29,324 130,944 1855 86,369 34,407 4,476 2,614 235 29 9,158 116 32,666 170,070 1856 106,124 32,O03 4,340 3,480 1 97 99 8,881 218 29,823 185,015 1837 89,195 42,813 4,483 4,665 1123?, 147* 1 1 8,006 176 33,774 183,385 536 APPENDIX. N <(p PEODUCE. "S « i i O 1 1 ID i d 1 Bufhels. Bushels. Bushils. Bnshels. Bushels. Bushels. Tons. Cwt. Tons. 18481849 18501851 1852 185318541855 1856 1857 1,118,6541,401,063 921,582 1,407,465 1,194,480 1,384,541 786,278 1,335,4461,756,9641,289,044 258,412 108,816 276,406, 115,379 457,102 124,625 717,053, 133,944 554,631 80,476 684,253 69,128 843,310 36,812 1,016,494' 64,887 1,085,279 67,847 1,118,006, 58,088 37,86649,656 53,313 49,069 22,833 36,86627,441 49,86548,471 61,253 2,386 2,9595,5294,8912,226 1,869 816 3,2721,3491,396 158134848713 92 536 637 553 677 1,468 7,6148,300 9,400 13,644 12,772 20,308 16,163 38,29627,93221,491 3,059 4,2384,923 12,530 1,978 342260 1,512 2,8131,301 27,17231,91444,76236,605 20,733 34,595 25,34363,067 43,633 53,064 1857. . . . 2298 Acres, Gardens, Orchards, etc. 1857. — The Rettu-ns received being incomplete, those for the previous year have been substituted. Colonial Secretary's Office, Sydney, 1st May, 1858. VINEYARDS. Eetuen ofthe number of Acres of Land planted with the Grape "Fine, and of the quantity of Wine and Brandy made from the produce thereof, from the year 1848 to 1857, inclusive. Tear. Acres. PEODUCE. Wine. Brandy. 184818491850 1851 1852 18531854 18551856 1857 887 963 l,069i l,060il,096i 962i913 l,030i1,0181 l,128i Gallons. 97,300 95,843 111,085 84,843 92,744 57,49157,959 11^,614 95,645 108,174 Gallons. 1,163 1,266 1,9581,641 1,581 1,587 674 1,4261,547 1,414 APPENDIX. 53/ LIVE STOCK. Eetubn of Live Stock in the Colony, from the year 1848 to 1857, inclusive. Tear. Horses. Eomed Cattle. Pigs. theep. 1848 97,400 1,366,164 65,216 6,530,542 1849 105,126 1,463,651 52,903 6,784,494 1850* 111,458 1,374968 52.371 7,092,209 . 1851 116,397 1,373,257 65,510 7,396,895 1852 123,404 1,495,984 78,559 7,707,917 1853 139,765 1,552,285 71,395 7,929,708 1834 148,851 1,576,750 63,255 8,144,119 1855 158,159 1,858,407 68,091 8,602,499 1856 168,929 2,023,418 105,998 7,736,323 1857 180,053 2,148,664 109,166 8,139,162 * 1850. — To this year has been added information from the Lower Darling District; not received when the general retnm of Uve stock was published in 1S51. Colonial Secretary's Offic/C, Sydney, 1st May, 1858. THE LAND ACTS. No. 1. — An Act for Regulating the Alienaxion of Ceowh Lands. [Assented to \8th October, 1861.J Preamble. Whereas it is expedient to make better provision for the aUena- tion of Crown Lands, Be it enacted, by the Queen's Most Excel lent Majesty, by and with the adrice and consent of the Legis lative CouncU and Legislative Assembly of New South "Wales in Parliament assembled, and by the authorily of the same, as foUows : — Interpretation. 1. The following terms within inverted commas shall for the purposes of this Act, unless the context otherwise indicate, bear the meanings set against them respectively : — " Crown Laiids" — ^AU Lands vested in her Majesty which have not been dedicated to any pnbUc purpose, or which have not been granted, or lawfoUy contracted to be granted, in fee simple. "Town Lands" — Crown Lands in any City, Town, or VUlage, or set apart as a site for the same. " Suburban Lands" — Crown Lands declared in the " Gazette ' to be Suburban by the Govemor and Executive CouncU. 538 APPENDIX. " First Class Settled Districts" — Lands declared to be of the Settled Class by the Queen's Orders in CouncU. " Second Class Settled Districts" — Lands converted into the Settled Class by the Act twenty-three Victoria, number four, or that may be hereafter so converted under the Crown Lands' Occupation Act of 1861. " Orders in CouncU" — The Orders in CouncU and Regulations from time to time issued under the Imperial Act fifth and sixth Victoria, chapter thirty-six, and ninth and tenth Victoria, chap ter one hundred and four. " Minister" — The Minister for the time being charged with the administration of the Public Lands. " Land Agent" — Any person duly appointed to sell Crown Lands. " Land OfBce Days" — Days notified in the " Gazette" upon which Land Agents shall attend at the Land Offices of their Districts respectively. " Appraisement" — Settlement of price, value, or damage, by appraisers appointed in manner prescribed by this Act. " Arbitration" — Settlement of boundaries by arbitrators appointed in manner prescribed by this Act. " Improvements" — Improvements on Crown Lands, or Lands conditionally sold, to the value, to be determined by appraise ment if disputed, in Town and Suburban lands, of not less than tvrice the upset price of the aUotment or portion on which the improvements may stand, and on other lands of not less than the unimproved value of the lands, to be in Uke manner determined, not being less than one pound per acre. " Frontage" — Frontage to any road, river, stream, or water course, which, according to the practice of the Survey Depart ment, ought to form a boundary between different sections or lots of land. Bepeal of Orders in Council, etc. 2. On and after the passing of this Act the Orders in CouncU shaU be repealed ; provided that nothing herein shall prejudice or affect anything already lawfully done or commenced, or contracted to be done thereunder respectively, or to prevent the several pro visions of the said Orders in CouncU from being carried into effect with respect to lands under lease, or promise of lease, made pre viously to the twenty-second day of February, one thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, during the currency of such leases, as fully as if the same had not been hereby repealed. Alienation of Crown Lands. 3. Any Crown lands may lawfoUy be granted in fee simple, or dedicated to any public purpose, under and subject to the prorisions of this Act, but not otherwise ; and the Governor, with the adrice of the Executive CouncU, is hereby authorized in the name and on the behalf of her Majesty so to grant or dedicate any Crown lands. Publication of notice of sites of Cities, Towns, Suburban Lands, Be- serves, etc. 4. The Governor, with the adrice of the Executive CouncU, may. APPENDIX. 539 by notice in the " Gazette," declare what portions of Crown lands shaU be set apart as the sites of new cities, towns, or vUlages, and define the limits of the suburban lands to be attached thereto, and to any existing city, town, or viUage, and also the portions of town lands or suburban lands to be dedicated to pubhc purposes, and what lands shall be reserved from sale nntU surveyed for the preservation of water supply, or other pubUc purpose ; and upon any such notice being pubUshed in the " Gazette," such lands shall become and be set apart, attached, dedicated, or reserved accordingly ; provided that within one month, shoidd Parliament be then in session, and otherwise within one month after the commencement of the next ensuing session of Parliament, there shaU be laid before both Houses of ParUament an abstract of aU such declarations. Dedication of Croivn Lands to Public Purposes. Abstract to be laid before Parliament. 6. The Govemor, with the adrice aforesaid, may, by notice in the " Grazette," reserve or dedicate in such manner as may seem best for the pubUc interest any Crown lands for any raUway or raUway station — any pubUc road, canal, or other intemal communication — any pubUc quay or landing-place — any pubUc reservoir, aqueduct, or watercourse — or for the preservation of water supply — or for any purpose of defence — or as the site for any place of pnbUc worship, any hospital, asylum, or infirmary — any public market or slaughter house — any eoUege, school, mechanics' institute, pubhc Ubrary, museum, or other institution for pubUc instruction or amusement— or for any psisturage common — or for pubKc health, recreation, con venience, or enjoyment — or for the interment of the dead — or for any other pubUc purpose ; and upon any such notice being published in the " Gazette," such lands shall become and be reserved or dedi cated accordingly, and may at any time thereafter be granted for such purposes in fee simple ; prorided that an abstract of any intended reservation or dedication shaU be laid before both Houses of Parliament one calendar month before such reservation or dedi cation is made. Temporary Beservations. Permanent Beservations. 6. After any land shall have been temporarily reser^-ed for sale, the same shaU not be sold, or otherwise disposed of, untU such reser vation shall be revoked by the Govemor with the adrice aforesaid, and the notice of such revocation pubUshed in the " Gazette ;" and aU lands which have hitherto been, or shaU hereafter be, permanently reserved for any of the purposes aforesaid, shaU be deemed to be set apart, attached, and dedicated accordingly, and every conveyance or ahenation thereo:^ except for the purpose for which such reservation shall have been made, shaU be absolutely void, as weU against her Majesty as aU other persons whomsoever. Exceptions from Sale of certain Lands. Limitation of pre-emptive Bight of Purchase. 7. Crown lands held under lease, or promise of lease, issued or made previously to the twenty-second day of February, one thousand 540 APPENDIX. eight hundred and fifty-eight, shaU, during the currency of such lease, be exempt from sale under this Act, unle^ where such lands have been lawfully withdravm from the holding of the lessee in accordance with the Orders in Council, or may hereafter be lawfully withdrawn from such holding ; provided that the lessee may be per mitted to exercise a pre-emptive right of purchase over one portion and no more of an area not exceeding six htmdred and forty acres out of each block of twenty-five square miles, and at a value to be determined by appraisement, not being less than one pound per acre ; prorided, nevertheless, that any land purchased under the Orders in CouncU preriously to the passing of this Act shaU be estimated in the six hundred and forty acres aforesaid ; and pro rided that such appraisement shaU not include any value for improve ments ; and provided that every application for the purchase of land under these conditions shall be advertised in the " Govemment Gazette" for the period of one calendar month before the sale is completed. Sales in consideration of Improvements. 8. Upon application made within twelve months after the passing of this Act by any person or his aUenee, who may, prior thereto, have made improvements on any Crown lands, or upon appUcation within twelve months after the notification in the " Gazette" of any reserve from lease, or promise of lease, under the Ordei'S in CouncU, within which improvements may be situated, or upon application by the holder of any lease, or promise of lease, of Crown lands, containing improvements made preriously to the expi ration of such lease, or upon application by the improver or his alienee, made at any period for the sale of improved lands in pro claimed gold-fields, the Governor may, with the like advice, seU and grant such lands to the owner of such improvements, without com petition in fee simple, at a price to ie fixed by appraisement, not being less than the minimum upset price of the class of land as set forth in section twenty-three of this Act, and in no case less than one pound per acre ; but such appraisement shaU not include any value for improvements ; prorided that nothing herein contained shaU be held to require the sale of any land which may contain auriferous deposits ; prorided also that such sales shall be made in accordance with the general subdivision of the land, whether town, suburban, or other lands, and shaU embrace only allotments of por tions on which improvements may stand, and that the area shaU not for each improvement exceed half an acre for town land, two acres for suburban land, and land on gold-fields, and three hundred and twenty acres for other lands. Beclamation of Lands by Proprietor of adjoining lands. — Not to interfere with Navigation nor with adjoining Proprietors. 9. The governor vrith the Uke adrice may authorise any proprie tor of land haring frontage to any harbour or river to fiU in and reclaim any land adjoining thereto, and lying beyond or below hio-h- water mark, or to erect a wharf or jetty upon or over the same, and, APPENDIX. 541 on payment of an adequate money consideration, to be determined by appraisement, for the unimproved value of the land, such land, or any land which may already have been reclaimed, shall become vested in fee-simple in such proprietor, and may be granted to him accordingly ; prorided always, that no such reclamation shall be authorised which shaU be calculated in any way to interrupt and in terfere with the navigation of such harbour or river, or with the rights or interests of adjoining proprietors ; and, prorided also, that the intention to grant such land shall have been preriously an nounced in the "Gazette" for four consecutive weeks before such land is granted in fee-simple. Closing and Alienation of Unnecessary Boads. 10. TThenever the owner or owners of any lands adjoining a road which has been reserved for access to such lands only, and is not otherwise required for pubUc use or convenience, shaU make application to the minister to close such road, or whenever any road which shaU have been proclaimed through any land, shaU have rendered unnecessary a reserved or other road, bounding or trar versing such or neighbouring land, it shall be lawful for the Go vemor, with the adrice aforesaid, to notify in the " Gazette," and in the local newspapers if any, that such reserved or boundary road will be closed, and, at any period not less than three months after the first publication of such notice, a grant or grants of the site of the road so closed may issue to the owner or owners of adjoining lands in fair proportion, or in accordance vrith agreement among such owners ; prorided that an adequate money consideration, to be determined by appraisement, shaU be paid for the same. Sales without Cmnpetition in special cases. 11. In cases in which no way of access to any portion of Crown land may exist, or may be attainable, or in which any such portion may be insufficient in area, for sale, conditional, or by auction, or in which a portion of Crown land may lie between land already granted and a street or road which forms, or should form, the way of ap proach to such granted land, or in which buildings erected on lands already granted may have extended over Crown laud, or in any other cases of a like kind, the Govemor may, with the adrice afore said, sell and grant such lands to the holder or holders of adjacent lands without competition, and at a price to be determined by ap praisement, being not less than the minimum upset price per acre of the class of land as set forth in section twenty-three of this Act. Eescigsion of Beservation of Water Frontage. 12. The govemor may, with the Uke adrice, rescind any reser vation of water frontage on the sea coast, or any bay, iiUet, harbour, or navigable river, or land adjoining such frontage, contained in any Crown grant, either wholly, or to such extent, and subject to such conditions or restrictions as shaU be deemed adrisable ; and the land beinc the subject of such rescission shall, on payment of an 542 APPENDIX. adequate money consideration, to be determined by appraisement, being not less than the minimum upset price per acre of the class of land as set forth in section twenty-three of this Act, be granted to the owner of the land conveyed in the original Crown grant ac cordingly; provided, that nothing in this clause contained shall empower the Governor to grant any land below high-water mark, or to interfere with any land' used as a public thoroughfare, or with any land set apart and dedicated for any pubUc purpose ; prorided also, that, for four consecutive weeks, notice shaU be given in the " Gazette" prerious to issuing such grant. Conditional sale of Unimproved Lands without competition. 13. On and from the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, Crown lands, other than town lands or suburban lands, and .not being within a proclaimed gold-field, nor under lease for mining purposes to any person other than the appU- cant for purchase, and not being within areas bounded by lines bearing north, east, south, and west, and distant ten mUes from the outside boundary of any city or town containing, according to the then last census, ten thousand inhabitants, or five mUes to the out side boundary of any town containing, according to the then last census, five thousand inhabitants, or three mUes from the outside boundary of any town containing, according to the then last census, one thousand inhabitants, or two mUes from the outside boundary of any tovm or riUage containing, according to the then last census, one hundred inhabitants, and not reserved for the site of any town or vUlage, or for the supply of water, or from sale for any pubUc purpose, and not containing improvements, and not excepted from sale under section seven of this Act, shaU be open for conditional sale by selection in the manner following : that is to say, Any per son may, upon any land-office day, tender to the land-agent for the district a written application for the conditional purchase of any such lands, not less than forty acres, nor more than three hundred and twenty acres, at the price of twenty shiUings per acre, and may pay to such land-agent a deposit of twenty-five per centum of the purchase-money thereof; and, if no other Uke application and de posit for the same land be tendered at the same time, such person shaU be declared the conditional purchaser thereof at the price afore said : provided that, if more than one such appUcation and deposit for the same land, or any part thereof, shaU be tendered at the same time to such land-agent, he shall, unless all such applications but one be immediately withdrawn, forthwith proceed to determine by lot, in such manner as may be prescribed by regulations made under this Act, which of the appUcants shaU become the purchaser. Conditional sale in Gold Fields. 14. Crown lands within proclaimed gold fields, and not within areas excluded by special proclamation, and not occupied for gold- mining purposes, shaU be open for conditional sale, subject to aU the provisions applicable to sales under the thirteenth section of this APPENDIX. 543 Act : prorided that, at any period, persons specially authorized by the Minister shaU be at Uberty to dig and search for gold vrithin the lands selected ; and that should the land be found to contain auri ferous deposits, it shall be in the power of the Govemor and Execu tive CouncU to annul the sale, and, thereupon, the conditional pur chaser shaU be entitled to compensation for the value, other than auriferous, of the lands and improvements, such value to be deter mined by appraisement. Becord by Land-Agent. 14. Every land-agent shall duly enter, at the time, in a book to be prorided for the purpose, the particulars of every appUcation for conditional purchase lodged with him under the provisions of sec tions thirteen and fourteen of this Act, and shaU transmit to the proper officer of the Govemment, on Monday in each week, a true extract therefrom, showing the particulars of aU such appUcations for the week preceding. Temporary Boundaries of Land until surveyed by Govemment. 16. If, at the time of conditional purchase of any Crown land, under sections thirteen and fourteen of this Act, such land shaU not have been surveyed by the govemment, temporary boundaries thereof shall be determined by the conditional purchaser, who shaU, within one month after such time of purchase, occupy the land. And any dispute between such purchaser and any other person other than a holder in fee, or his aUenee, claiming any interest therein respecting such boundaries, shall be settled by arbitration : prorided that, if such land shaU not be surveyed by the govemment within twelve months from the date of appUcation, it shaU be lawrftd for the conditional purchaser, by notice in writing to the land-agent for the district, to withdraw his appUcation, and thereupon he shaU be en titled to demand and recover back any deposit paid by him, or the purchaser shaU have the option of having the land surveyed by a duly qualified Ucensed surveyor, and the expense of such survey shall be aUowed to such purchaser as part payment of his purchase- money, such expense to be aUowed in accordance with the scale of charges fixed, or to be fixed, by the surveyor-general. Form of Measurement of portions selected, and Reservation of Roads and Water. 17. Crown lands conditionally purchased under this Act shaU, if measured by the authority of the govemment preriously to such purchase, be taken in portions as measured, if not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres, and if unmeasured, and having frontage to any river, creek, road, or intended road, shall, if within the first- class settled districts, have a depth of not less than twenty chains, and otherwise, shall have a depth of not less than sixty chains, and shall have their boundaries, other than the frontages, directed to the cardinal points by compass, and if haring no frontages as afore said, shaU be measured in square blocks, and with boundaries di- 544 APPENDIX. rected to such cardinal points : provided that, should it seem to the minister to be expedient, the boundaries of portions having fi-ontages may be made approximately at right angles vrith the frontage, and otherwise modified ; and the boundaries of portions having no front ages may be modified, and necessary roadways and water reserves excluded from such measurement. Conditions of Residence and Improvement and Payment of Purchase Money. 18. At the expiration of three years from the date of conditional purchase of any such land as aforesaid, or within three months thereafter, the balance of the purchase money shall be tendered at the office of the Colonial Treasurer, together with a declaration by the conditional purchaser, or his alienee, or some other person in the opinion of the minister competent in that behalf, under the Act ninth Victoria, number nine, to the effect that improvements, as herinbefore defined, have been made upon such land, specifying the nature, extent, and value of such improvements ; and that such land has been from the date of occupation the bona fide residence, either continuously, of the original purchaser or of some alienee or succes sive alienees of his whole estate and interest therein, and that no such alienation' has been made by any holder thereof untU after the bona fide residence thereon of such holder for one whole year at the least ; and upon the minister being satisfied by such declaration and the certificate of the land-agent for the district, or other proper officer, of the facts aforesaid, the Colonial Treasurer shall receive and acknowledge the remaining purchase-money ; and a grant of the fee- simple, but with reservation of any minerals which the land may contain, shall be made to the then rightful owner : provided, that should such lands have been occupied and improved as aforesaid, and should interest, at the rate of five per centum per annum on the balance of the purchase-money, be paid within the said three months to the Colonial Treasurer, the payment of such balance may be deferred to a period within three months after the first day of January then next ensuing, and may be so deferred from year to year by payment of such interest during the first quarter of each year. But on default of a compliance with the requirements of this section, the land shall revert to her Majesty and be liable to be sold at auction, and the deposit shall be forfeited. Purchases under Mining Conditions. 19. Crown lands may be conditionally selected for the purposes of mining other than gold mining, under section thirteen of this Act, except that in such case the price shaU be forty shUlings per acre, and except that in such case, instead of the conditions appli cable to other cases in regard to the declaration and certificate required, a declaration shall be required only of the fact that not less than an average sum of two pounds per acre has been expended in milling operations other than gold mining on the land. And upon such conditions being satisfied, as hereby altered, and on pay- APPENDIX. 545 ment ofthe balance of purchase- money, a grant in fee-simple shall be made vrithout reservation of minerals other than gold ; and the same may be made on satisfaction of such conditions and payment of such balance, notwithstanding the period of three years required in other cases shaU not have expired. And a grant may be made in like manner of any portion (not being less than forty acres) of a larger portion originally selected for purchase, upon a declaration showing an expenditure in such mining operations as aforesaid of an average sum of not less than five pounds per acre on the land so to be granted. And in that case, the purchase of the remainder ofthe land selected shaU be rescinded, and any deposit paid thereon appUed in or towards satisfying the balance of purchase-money of the land granted : prorided further, that if the "Ministpr shaU be dissatisfied with any such declaration as aforesaid, he may cause the fact of the expenditure required to authorize a grant to be referred to arbitration under this Act ; and the issue of a giant shaU, in that case, be dependent on the award thereon. Sale by Auction of Lands abandoned by Selectors. 20. Crown lands, conditionaUy purchased under sections thirteen and fourteen of this Act, and proved to the satisfaction of the Grovemor and Executive CouncU to have been abandoned by the purchaser thereoi^ or his legal alienee, before the expiration of three years from the date of purchase, shall be declared forfeited by notice in the " Govemment Gazette," and may then be sold at auction. Additional selection of adjoining Lands. Proviso. 21. Conditional purchasers of portions of Crown lands, under sections thirteen and fourteen of this Act, not exceeding two hun dred and eighty acres, or their legal alienees, may make additional selection of lands adjoining to the first selection or to each other, but not otherwise, and not exceeding in the whole three hundred and twenty acres, and subject to all the conditions appUcable to the original purchase, except residence : prorided, that in the measurement of such additional selection of lands, the frontage shall not exceed the extent which would be aUowed to an original selec tion of three hundred and twenty acres : prorided also, that nothing herein contained shall prevent the sale of the adjoining lands to any other person before such farther conditional purchase shaU have been made. Additional selection of Lands adjoining Land already granted. 22. Holders in fee-simple of lands granted by the Crown, in areas not exceeding two hundred and eighty acres, who may reside on such lands, may make conditional purchases adjoining such lands, the areas of which shall not, vrith that of the lands held in fee-simple, exceed three hundred and twenty acres, and which shaU not be subject to the condition of residence appUcable to conditional purchases in other cases : prorided, that nothing herein contained N N 546 APPENDIX. shall prevent the sale of the adjoinmg lands to any other person before such farther conditional purchase shaU have been made. Sale by Auction of other Latids. Upset Prices. 23. Crown lands intended to be sold without conditions for residence and improvement, shaU be put up for public auction in lots not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres each, at such places in the Police District in which the lands are situated, and at such times as the Minister shall direct it to be notified by adver tisement in the " Gazette," not less than one month, nor more than three months, before the day of sale; and the upset prices per acre shall not be lower than, for town lands, eight pounds ; subur ban lands, two pounds ; other lands, one pound : prorided, that the upset prices may be respectively fixed at any higher amounts. Sale by Auction of Town and Suburban Lands. 24. Town lands and suburban lands, without improvements, shall be sold by public auction only. As to Lands put up and not Sold. 25. Any Crown lands put up for sale by pubHc auction, and not sold, may be again put up in like manner : provided, that all lands, other than town or suburban, so put up and not sold, shaU be open for sale at the upset price, or in case of a higher price having been offered for the same, then at such higher price, less in either case the deposit, if any, paid thereon : provided also, that the Minister may withdraw any such lands from selection, and again submit them to pubhc auction. Payment of Purchase-Moneys. 26. A deposit of twenty-five per centum of the purchase-money for all lands sold by anction under any prorision of this Act, shall be paid by the purchaser at the time of sale ; and unless the re mainder of such purchase-money be paid within three months there after, the sale and contract shaU be void, and the deposit shaU be forfeited. Should the purchaser faU to pay the deposit, the land shall be forthwith again put up by the agent, and who shall not accept any bid by the person so failing to pay. Becord by Land Agent. 27. Every land agent shaU duly enter in a book, to be provided for the purpose, the particulars of aU sales made by him under this Act. Mode of Appraisement or Arbitration. 28. Whenever it shaU become necessary or desirable to fix or ascertain any price, value, or sum of money, which by this Act, it is prorided, may be fixed or ascertained by appraisement in case of dispute, as to the amount of any compensation to be made under the provisions of this Act, and in case of any matter which by this APPENDIX. 547 Act ia authorized or directed to be settled by arbitration, the appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, and umpire, shaU be appointed, and the appraisement or arbitration shaU be con ducted in manner hereinaJfter mentioned ; that is to say — Appointment of Appraisers or Arbitrators. (1.) The Minister, or an officer authorized by him in that behalf, and the claimant in matters hereinbefore directed or autho rized to be settled by appraisement, or the parties interested in any dispute which, by the provisions of this Act, may be left to arbitration, may concur in the appointment of a single appraiser or arbitrator; or, faUing such appointment, each party, on the request of the other, shaU appoint an appraiser or arbitrator, as the case may require, to whom the matter shall be referred. And every such appointment shalj be made by the Minister or officer and the claimant, or by the parties to the matter in dispute, under their hands, in writing ; or, if such party be a corporation aggregate under its common seal, and such appointment shall be deUvered to the appraisers or arbitrators, and attached to the award when made, and shall be deemed a submission to appraisement or to arbitration, as the case may be, by the parties making the same. Appointment not to be Becoked. (2.) After the making of any such appointment the same shall not be revoked vrithout the consent of both parties, nor shall the death of either party operate as a revocation. Single Appraiser or Arbitrator to act in certain cases. (3.) If, for the space of sixty days after any such dispute or matter shall have arisen, and notice in writing by one party, who has himself duly appointed an appraiser or arbitrator, to the other party, stating the dispute or matter to be referred, and accompanied by a copy of such appointment, the party to whom notice is given fell to appoint an appraiser or arbi trator, the appraiser or arbitrator appointed by the party giving the notice shaU be deemed to be appointed by, and shaU act on behalf of, both parties. Award to be Binding. (4.) The award of any appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, appointed in pursuance of this Act, shall be bind ing, final, and conclusive, upon aU persons, and to aU intents and purposes whatsoever. In case of death of, or faUure, to act by Appraiser or Arbitrator. (5.) If, before the determination of any matter so referred, any appraiser or arbitrator die, or become incapable to act, the party by whom such arbitrator was appointed may appoint. 548 APPENDIX. in writing, another person in his stead ; and if he fail so to do for the space of sixty days after notice in writing from the other party in that behalf, the remaining appraiser or arbi trator may proceed ex parte, and every appraiser or arbitrator so appointed shaU have the same powers and authorities as were vested in the appraiser or arbitrator in whose stead the appointment is made. In case of death or failure, to act by a single Appraiser or Arbitrator. (6.) In case a single arbitrator die, or become incapable to act before the making of his award, or faU to make his award within sixty days after his appointment, or within such ex tended time, if any, not exceeding thirty days, as shall have been duly appointed by him for that purpose, the matters referred to him shaU be again referred to appraisement or arbitration, under the prorisions of this Act, as if no former reference had been made. Appraisers or Arbitrators to appoint an Umpire. (7.) In case there be more than one appraiser or arbitrator, the appraisers or arbitrators shaU, before they enter upon the reference, appoint by writing under their hands, an umpire ; and if the person appointed to be umpire die, or become in capable to act, the appraisers or arbitrators shall forthwith appoint another person in his stead ; and in case the appraisers or arbitrators neglect or refuse to appoint an umpire within thirty days after being requested so to do by any party to the appraisement or arbitration, the Minister may appoint an umpire, and he is hereby empowered so to do ; and the award of the umpire shaU be binding, final, and conclusive, upon all persons, and to aU intents and purposes whatsoever. Determination by Uinpire im, certain cases. (8.) In case appraisers or arbitrators fail to make theu- award within sixty days after the day on which the last of them was appointed, or vrithin such extended time, if any, not exceed ing thirty days, as shaU have been duly appointed by them for that purpose, the matters referred shaU be determined by the umpire ; and the prorisions of this Act, with respect to the time for making an appraisement or award, and with respect to extending the same in the case of a single arbitrator, shaU apply to any umpirage. Production of Documents. (9.) Any appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire, appointed by virtue of this Act, may require the production of such documents in the possession or power of either party as he may think necessary for determining the matters referred, and may examine the parties as witnesses on oath. APPENDIX. 549 Determination of Costs. (10.) All costs o^ and consequent upon, the reference, shaU be in the discretion of the appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, or of the umpire, in case the matters referred are determined by an umpire. Arbitration subject to ride of Supreme Court. (11.) Any submission to arbitration under the provisions of this Act, may be made a rule of the Supreme Court of the said colony on the appUcation of any party thereto. Declaration by Appraiser, Arbitrator, or Umpire. (12.) Before any appraiser, Eirbitrator, or umpire shall enter upon the consideration of any matter referred to him as afore said, he shall make out and subscribe a declaration in the form foUowing, before a Justice of the Peace ; that is to say — I, A B, do solemnly and sincerely declare, that I am not, directly or indirectly, interested in the matter referred to me, and that I will, faith ftiUy, honestly, and to the best of my skUl and ability, hear and determine the matters re ferred to me under the Crown Lands' Alienation Act of 1861. Declaration to be annexed to Appraisement. (13.) And such declaration shaU be annexed to the appraisement or award when made ; and if any appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire shall wilfoUy act contrary to such declaration, he shall be guUty of a misdemeanour. Appraisement to be transmitted to Surveyor-General. (14.) Every appraisement or award shall be in wTiting and be transmitted to the Surveyor-General, and deposited in his office. Instruments under Act to be Evidence. 29. Any instrument of sale or conveyance, made and issued under this Act, may be proved in aU legal proceedings by the pro duction of a certified copy thereoi^ signed by the officer to be autho rized for that purpose under any regulation made as hereinafter enacted. Gfovernor in Council to make and proclaim Begutation.s. 30. The Govemor, with the adrice aforesaid, may make regula tions for carrying this Act into fuU effect, so as to proride for aU proceedings, forms of grants, and other instruments, and aU other matters and things arising under and consistent with this Act, and not herein expressly prorided for. And aU regulations shall, upon being pubUshed in the " Grazette," be vaUd in law : prorided that a copy of every such regulation shaU be laid before both Houses of 550 APPENDIX. Parliament vrithin one month from the issue thereof, if Parliament be then in session, or otherwise within one month after the com mencement of the next ensuing session. Short Title. 31. This Act shaU be styled, and may be cited as, the " Crown Lands' AUenation Act of 1861." No. IL— AN ACT FOR REGULATING THE OCCUPATION OP CROWN LANDS. [Assented to 18th October, 1861.J Preamble. Wheeeas it is expedient to make better prorision for the occupation of the Crown Lands, Be it enacted, by the Queen's Most Excellent Majesty, by and vrith the adrice and consent of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly of New South Wales in Parlia ment assembled, and by the authority of the same, as foUows : — Interpretation. 1. The foUowing terms vrithin inverted commas, whenever used herein, shaU, unless the context otherwise indicate, bear the mean ings set against them respectively : — - " Crown Lands" — All lands vested in her Majesty which have not been dedicated to any pubUc purpose, or which have not been granted, or lawftiUy contracted to be granted, to any person in fee simple. " First-class Settled Districts" — The lands declared to be of the settled class under the Orders in CouncU. " Second-class Settled Districts" — The lands converted into the settled class by the Act twenty-third Victoria, number four, or that maybe hereafter so converted under this Act. " Unsettled Districts" — All other Crown lands. " Orders in CouncU" — The Orders in CouncU, and regulations from time to time issued under the Imperial Act ninth and tenth Victoria, chapter one hundred and four. " Old Run" — Any portion of Crown lands vrithin the second class, settled, or the unsettled districts, comprised in any unexpired lease or license, granted, or lawfoUy contracted to be granted, before the twenty-second day of February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight. " Run" — Any portion of Crown lands comprised in any lease or license granted, or lawfuUy contracted to be granted, on or after the twenty-second day of February, One thousand eight hundred and fifty- eight. "Minister"— The Minister, for the time being, charged with the administration of the Crown lands. " Land Agent" — Any person duly appointed to sell Crown lands. APPENDIX. 551 "Appraisement" — Settlement of rent or value by appraisers appointed in manner prescribed by this Act. "Arbitration" — Settlement of boundaries by arbitrators ap pointed in manner prescribed by this Act. Partial Bepeal of Acts, Orders in Council, and Begulations. 2. On and after the passing of this Act, the Acts of CouncU, eleventh Victoria, number sixty-one, and sixteenth Victoria, number twenty-nine, and the Orders in CouncU, shall be repealed : prorided that nothing herein shaU prejudice or affect anything already law fuUy done, or commenced, or contracted to be done thereunder respectively, or prevent the several provisions of the said Orders in CouncU from being carried into effect with respect to lands under lease or promise of lease made preriously to the twenty-second day of Febmary, One thousand eight hundred and fifty-eight, during the currency of such leases, as ftiUy as if the same had not been hereby repealed. Extension of Second Class Settled Districts. 3. The Govemor, vrith the adrice of the Executive Council, may, by proclamation in the " Gazette," declare any unsettled district, or portion of district, shall on such proclamation become and be of the second class settled districts, under this Act : Prorided that such proclamation shaU in no case affect existing leases. Conversion qf Existing Leases. 4. Existing leases of Crown lands shall not be renewed except under the provisions of this Act. Withdrawal qf Land from Lease. 5. The Governor, vrith the adrice of the Executive CouncU, may, by notice in the " Grazette," vrithdraw from any old run, or run, any lands which may be required for the site of any city, town, or viUage, or for any roadway for general traffic, or for passage of stock, or for access to back runs, or for sale, as containing improve ments belonging to any person other than the lessee of such run or othervrise for sale, or for temporary commonage, for the use of any such city, town, or viUage, or for the working of any mines of gold or other minerals, or for any pubUc purpose whatsoever. Conflieting Claims to Leases. C. In cases in which two or more persons entitled to leases under the Orders in CouncU, or under this Act, may claim the same land, the lease shaU be granted to the person whose right thereto may have been or may be estabUshed, after due inquiry, to the satisfac tion ofthe Govemor or the Minister ; and in any such case in which the right of either claimant to a lease of the land in dispute shall not have been so established, it shall be lawfid for the Minister to require such right to be inquired into and determined by arbitration, and the lease may be granted in accordance vrith the award of such arbitration. 552 APPENDIX. When Valuations under Orders in Council neglected. 7. In any case in which the rent of an old run or any other matter required by the Orders in CouncU to be determined by valuers, appointed in the manner therein prescribed, shaU not have been so determined, it shall be lawful for the Minister to direct that such rent or other matter shall be determined by appraisement under the provisions of this Act ; and the valuation thus arrived at shall be as effectual -as if made under the prorisions of the Orders in Coimcil. Lessee not to obstruct Authorized Persons. 8. It shaU not be lawful for any holder of any old run, or run, to obstruct any Government surveyor, or other authorized officer, in entering on such run whenever such officer may require to do so, nor to obstruct or prevent any person authorized by the Minister, or by such officer as he may empower in that behalf, from entering upon such run, searching for and removing gold and other mine rals, or cutting and removing therefrom indigenous timber, or digging and removing gravel, stone, brick earth, or other material. Marking of Boundaries. 9. It shaU be lawful for any officer duly authorized by the Minister to mark on the ground the boundaries, whether undisputed or determined after dispute by decision of the Govemor, or other wise by competent authority, of any old run, or run, of which no lease from the Crown shall be in force ; and the boundaries so marked shall be and be held to be the boundaries of such old run. Leasing of Lands. 10. Any Crown lands not being comprised vrithin an old run, may be demised or let upon lease under and subject to the pro risions of this Act, or under the provisions of the Gold-fields Act, twentieth Victoria, number twenty-nine, or any other Act which may be passed for the management of the gold fields, but not other vrise. And the Governor, with the adrice of the Executive CouncU, is hereby authorized, in the name and on behalf of her Majesty, to demise or lease any such Crown lands as hereinafter enacted. Duration of Leases, 11. Crown lands may be demised by lease for any terms not exceeding the foUowing ; — For pastoral ptirposes, in the first class settled districts, one year. For pastoral purposes, in the second class settled districts or the unsettled districts, five years. For ferries, bridges, vfharves, quarries, and for the erection of machinery for saw-mUls, brickmaking, and other objects of a like nature, five years. For mineral purposes, other than gold mining, fourteen years. APPENDIX. 653 Beservations from Lease. Prorided, that lands within areas bounded by lines bearing north, east, south, and west, and distant ten miles from the outside boundary of any city or town containing, according to the then last census, ten thousand inhabitants, or five mUes from the outside boundary of any town containing, according to the then last census, five thousand inhabitants, or two miles from the outside boundary of any town or village haring, according to the last census for the time being, one hundred inhabitants, or lands set apart for sites of towns or vUlages, or for the sale for agricultural purposes, or other wise for the use or accommodation of the pubUc, shall not be open for lease for pastoral purposes. Lease of Buns in First Class Settled Districts. 12. Leases of runs vrithin the first class settled districts may be granted, subject to the next following conditions and to the general prorisions of this Act : — ' Size of portions to be Leased. (1.) Lands shaU not be let in portions of less than six hundred and forty acres, or one square mUe, except in special cases hereinafter prorided for. Period of Leases. (2.) Every such lease shall be for the then current year, and shaU expire on the thirty-first day of December. Renewal of Leases. (3.) Leases may be renewed annually by payment, between the first and the thirtieth day of September, to the land agent of the district or to the Colonial Treasurer, of rent for the en suing year, at the rate of two pounds per square mUe, or such higher rate as the lessee may pay for the current year, unless the lands be required for sale, or for any public purpose, or for the satisfaction of any pre-emptive lease claims in right of new purchases ; and leases not so renewed, may be brought to sale by public auction. Conversion of Existing Leases into Leases under this Act. (4.) Leases under the regulations of twenty-ninth March, One thousand eight hundred and forty-eight, shaU not be renewed under those regulations, but may be converted into leases under this Act by payment to the Colonial Treasurer in Sydney, or to the land agent of the district, not later than two months from the pubUcation in the " Gazette" of a notice to that effect, of rent for the ensuing year, at the rate of two pounds per square mUe, or such higher rate as the lessee may now pay, unless the land be required for sale, or for any public purpose, or for the satisfaction of any pre-emptive lease claims which may arise under this Act. 554 APPENDIX. Pre-emptive Leases to Holders of Land in fee- simple. (5.) The holders in fee-simple of any lands may be allowed leases of Crown lands adjoining to their respective properties without competition, at the rate of two pounds per section of six hundred and forty acres, and to the extent of three times their own purchased or granted lands, if there be so much vacant Crown lands avaUable : prorided, that such Crown lands shaU be taken in a block of rectangular form, in which the external lines shall be directed to the cardinal points ; and if the country has been divided into sections of square mUes, then according to the general subdirisions of the land as delineated upon the public maps in the Surveyor-General's office, and subject also to the exclusion of water necessary to the beneficial occupation of adjoining lands : prorided ftirther, that the rent to be charged for land so leased to parties not having the right to take six hundred and forty acres, shall in no case be less than one pound. Determination of conflicting Claims by Arbitration, (6.) If there be two or more claimants under the last preceding condition of the same land, the division of the land amongst them may be settled by arbitration : prorided, that if such land be of less extent than six hundred and forty acres, it may, on an award being made, be forthvrith occupied in accord ance therewith, and without further formal appointment : prorided also, that if at the expiration of three months from the date of a notice in the " Gazette," announcing to the several claimants of portions not less than six hundred and forty acres, the names of their competitors, an award shall not have been arrived at and duly communicated to the proper officer, the leases of the lands so circumstanced may be offered for sale by auction. Notification of pre-emptive Leases. (7.) All leases granted under pre-emptive right shall be notffied in the " Gazette ;" and if vrithin two months from the date of such notification the rent for the same shall not have been paid to the Colonial Treasurer or to the land agent of the district, leases of the land shall be submitted for sale by auction. Leases at Auction. (8.) Crown lands not preriously under lease, over which no pre-emptive right of lease shaU have been exercised vrithin one year from the passing of this Act, may be put up to lease at auction at the land office of the district, either on appUca tion or otherwise ; but no such sale of leases shall take place without one month's notice thereof having been given in the " Gazette." APPENDIX. 555 Upset Price qf Lots. (9.) The upset price of each lot shaU be at the rate of one pound per section of six hundred and forty acres, or of ten shilhngs if half of the current year shaU have expired before the day of sale ; and the foU price bid for each lot shaU be paid at the time of sale. Leases bid for but not paid up. (10.) Any lease bid for, but the price of which may not be forthwith paid, shaU thereupon be again offered for sale at auction. Selection of Leases not bid for. (11.) The lease of any land which may have been offered for sale at auction, and not bid for, may be obtained on payment of the upset price to the land agent of the district. Cancellation of Leases. (12.) The sale, conditional or otherwise, of any portion of land under lease, shaU cancel so much of the lease as relates to the land so sold, and to three times the area thereof adjoining thereto. Leases may also be canceUed by the Minister for other sufficient reason, and the balance of rent from the date of such canceUation shaU in either case be retumed to the lessee : prorided that the lessee of the lands from which such sale shaU be made shall be at Uberty either to retain the remaining portion thereof — paying, however, the same amount of rent as for the whole section — or surrender the same. Pastoral Leases in the Second Class Settled or the Unsettled Districts. (13.) The Govemor, vrith the adrice of the Executive CouncU, may grant leases of Crown lands in the second class settled districts or in the unsettled districts, subject to the foUovring conditions, and to the general provisions of this Act : — Conversion of Leases of Existing Runs into Leases under this Act, and of Leases of old Buns. (1.) Leases of runs shall be converted into leases for five years under this Act, by payment to the Colonial Treasurer, not later than two months from the date of a notice in the " Gazette" to that effect, of rent to be determined by appraise ment, of the fair annual value for pastoral purposes of the lands comprised in such runs : prorided, that in estimating such value neither the construction of dams or reservoirs, nor the laying down of grass, nor the making of any other im provement by the occupier, shaU be taken into account : pro rided also, that the rent shaU in no case be less than ten pounds per annum : prorided also, that upon such conversion 656 APPENDIX. as aforesaid, such runs shall cease to be liable to assessment under the Act twenty-second Victoria, number seventeen. (2.) Leases of old runs may, on their expiration, be in Uke manner converted into leases for the term of five years under this Act. Commencement of Rent, addition of Interest, and forfeiture of Lease. (3.) The rent shaU be payable to the Colonial Treasurer in Sydney, for each year, after the first year, on or before the thirty-first day of December of the year preceding : provided, that a fine shall be payable for the whole time during which any rent due shaU remain unpaid after that date, at the rate of eight per centum on the amount, if not more than three months in arrear, and of ten per centum if more than three months. And if the rent be not paid at or before the end of six months after such date, together with such fine, the lease shaU then become forfeited. No pre-emptive Bight of Purchase. (4.) Leases shall not confer any right to purchase by pre emption. Resumption of Lands leased. (6.) Crown lands may be resumed from lease for the site of any city, town, or rillage, or for commonage for the same, or for any public purpose whatever, and no compensation shall be payable to the holder of such lease for any such resumption, excepting repayment of rent to an extent proportionate to the area withdrawn and the period unexpired : provided also, that in any case of partial vrithdrawal the holder may, if he think fit, surrender his lease, and have the fall balance of rent re- fanded for the unexpired portion of the time for which it was paid. Proclamation of Districts for the formation of Runs. 14. The Govemor, vrith the adrice of the Executive CouncU, may proclaim Pastoral Districts in the Second Class Settled or Unsettled Districts, to be open for the formation of runs, and may from time to time alter the boundaries of such Pastoral Districts, or of any such district now existing ; and leases of such runs may be granted, subject to the next foUowing conditions : prorided, that no district not so proclaimed shaU be open for the formation of such runs : — Area and Capabilities of Runs. (1.) Runs shaU, in ordinary cases, consist of not more than twenty-five square mUes ; but should that area, in the opinion of the proper officer of the Government, be insufficient in average seasons for the pasturage of four thousand sheep or APPENDIX. 557 eight hundred head of cattle, a run may be enlarged to what ever area, not exceeding one hundred square mUes, may be necessary for that purpose. Tenders for Runs. (2.) Tenders for runs may be deposited in a box to be kept for that purpose at the office of the Minister, which shaU be opened periodicaUy by a board of officers to be appointed for that purpose by the Govemor, vrith the adrice aforesaid ; and the person making the earUest tender for any run shaU be entitled to a lease thereof : prorided, that should two or more tenders for any run be opened at the same time, the lease shaU be granted to the person whose tender shall contain the offer ofthe highest premium: prorided also, that should two or more tenders embrace a portion of the same land, the common boundary may be determined by arbitration : prorided also, that should such boundary not be so determined vrithin three months of the date of a notice in the " Grazette" informing the parties of the conflict by their tenders, the whole of the lands tendered for may be leased by auction sale : prorided also, that should a run not be occupied and stocked with not less than two hundred head of cattle or one thousand sheep within six months, or in the event of its being necessary to proride water by artificial means, vrithin eighteen m^onths of the notification of the acceptance of the tender, the run shall be forfeited, and may be leased by auction sale. Direction of Boundaries in Tenders. (3.) The Minister may cause to be modified the boundaries pro posed in any tender, so as to make the run a compact block of rectangular form, in which the external lines shall run east and west, and north and south, subject however to such devia tions as the general features of the country and the adoption of natural boundaries may require ; and subject also to the exclusion of water necessary to the beneficial occupation of adjoining lands. Description in Tenders. (4.) Tenders shall be in form to be prescribed by the Govemor, with the advice of the Executive CouncU, and shall contain clear descriptions ."if the boundaries of the runs appUed for, and the marks or natural features by which such boundaries are indicated, and also estimates of the areas and pastoral capabilities of such runs. Deposit on Tenders. (5.) Every tender must be accompanied by a receipt, showing that a sum of money, equivalent to twenty-five per centum of the rent offered in such tender, has been deposited in the Colonial Treasury ; and in the event of the ultimate accept- 558 APPENDIX. ance of the tender, the tenderer shall receive credit for the amount of the deposit in the first year's rent ; and in the event of the tender being rejected, the amount shall be re tumed to the tenderer. Tenure of Bun at fixed Bent and Assessment pending Appraisement. (6.) Runs may be held from year to year subject to a rent of ten pounds per annum, payable in accordance vrith condition number three, under section thirteen of this Act, and to assessment at the same rate, and subject to the same condi tions as the runs under the Act twenty-second Victoria, num ber seventeen, untU an appraisement shall be made of the fair annual value thereof for pastoral purposes, whereupon the holdings shaU be converted into leases, under section thirteen of this Act, and the rans shall cease to be liable to such assessment as aforesaid. Extension of Leases on account of Improvements. 15. If in any case it shaU appear that at the time of the appraise ment any run in its natural state was incapable of sustaining four thousand sheep, or eight hundred head of cattle, in all seasons of the year, the lessee therefor may, during the first quarter of the last year of his lease, apply for a re-appraisement thereof ; and if it shaU then appear that such run has by the adoption of artificial means been rendered capable of permanently depasturing the said number of sheep or cattle, or if it shaU appear, upon a Uke appUcation in respect of any run of whatever capacity, that such run has by adop tion of artificial means been rendered capable of permanently depas turing an additional number by one-half or more beyond the number of sheep or cattle which the run in its natural state was capable of depasturing, the duration of the lease shaU be extended to ten years at the same rent, and on the same terms and conditions of the original lease. Pre-emptive Leases to holders in fee simple. 16. The holders of land in fee simple within the unsettled and second class settled districts shall be aUowed pre-emptive leases of Crown lands, adjoining to their respective properties, to the extent and in Uke manner and subject to the like conditions as hereinbefore prorided in respect of holders of lands in fee simple in the first class settled districts. Sale at auction of Leases of forfeited B/mis. 17. Forfeited or vacated old runs, or runs, may be submitted to sale by auction in leases for the term of five years, at the minimum upset rent of one pound per annum for every square mUe of esti mated area ; and the whole rental for the first year shaU be paid in advance at the time of sale ; and any such run if unsold may be again put up for sale in like manner at a reduced upset rental, not being less than ten pounds ; and any such run if stiU unsold may thereafter be leased at the upset rental last mentioned to any person APPENDIX. b^y who may apply for the same, or may be again submitted to sale by auction. CanceUation of Leases of Runs, or portions thereof, amd pre-emptive Lease to Purcliaser. 18. The sale, conditional or othervrise, of any land vrithin any lease granted under this act in the second class settled districts, or in the unsettled districts, for pastoral purposes, shaU cancel so much of the lease as relates to the land so sold, and to three times the area thereof adjoining thereto, which last-mentioned area may be held by the new purchaser under pre-emptive lease, to which all conditions and liabiUties attached to pre-emptive leases in the first class settled districts .shall apply. Passage of Stock. 19. Any person driving horses, cattle, or sheep along any track used or required for the purpose of traveUing may depasture the same on any Crown lands vrithin the distance of one half-mile of such track, notvrithstanding any lease of any such lands for pastoral purposes. Prorided that, unless prevented by rain or flood, such horses or cattle shaU be moved at least seven miles, and such sheep at least four miles, in one and the same direction, vrithin every suc cessive period of twenty-four hours. Use of Timber or ilaterial by Le-s.sees. 20. Lessees of Crown lands for pastoral purposes, either in the settled districts or in the unsettled districts, shaU be permitted to cut and use such timber and material for buUding and other pur poses as may be required by them as tenants of their several lands. Bemoval of Timber and JIaterial by others than Lessees. 21. Lessees of Crown lands for pastoral purposes, either in the settled districts or in the unsettled districts, shall not have power to restrict other persons duly authorized in that behalf either fi-om cutting or removing timber, or material for building or other pur poses, or from searching for any metal or mineral vrithin the land leased. Leases for Mining Puiposes otlier than Gold Mining. 22. The Govemor, vrith the adrice aforesaid, may grant leases for purposes of mining for any metal or mineral, excepting gold, to any person of any Crown lands, not exceeding three hundred and twenty acres for coal mining lots, and not exceeding eighty acres for other mineral lots, for any period not exceeding fourteen years, and vrith a right of renewal for a farther period not exceed ing fourteen years, upon the next foUovring conditions, on the breach of any of which by any lessee the lease may be canceUed by the Govemor vrith the adrice of the Executive CouncU : — 560 APPENDIX. Authority to select Mineral lots. (1.) Persons may, on appUcation to the minister, obtain authority in writing to select on Crown lands, vrithin twelve months from the date thereof, coal or other mineral lots, and may take possession of such lots, and hold them for the period men tioned in such authority ; but the right shaU be reserved to determine the boundaries of any such lots, and to make prorision for reservation of water supply. Prorided that applications made prior to the passing of this act may be accepted under it, and shaU take precedence in the order of their date. Payment of Bent. (2.) The rent shaU be five shUlings per acre, payable annuaUy in advance at the Colonial Treasury, the first payment to be made on appUcation for authority to select, and thereafter vrithin the month of September for each ensuing year ; and leases shall in aU cases end on the thirty-first day of December. Necessary Ammal Expenditure. (3.) Lessees shall expend at the rate of five pounds sterling per acre on their lots, within the first three years of the lease. Determination of Leases. (4.) Lessees may determine their leases by giving to the minister three months notice of their desire to do so, but no rent shall in any such case be reftmded. Benewal of Leases. (6.) Lessees may, on appUcation to the minister in writing during the thirteenth year of their leases, obtain a renewal of the same for a farther period not exceeding fourteen years ; and the fine to be paid on such renewal, not being less than two pounds ten shillings per acre, shaU be determined by ap praisement ; and fdU information of the working and retums of the mine shaU be afforded to the appraisers by the lessees on pain of forfeiting their claim to renewal. Bemoval of Machinery. (6.) If any lease be forfeited or not renewed the lessee shall be at Uberty, vrithin six months from the termination of his lease, to remove or othervrise dispose of all machinery and improvements, and the minerals brought to the surface during the term of his lease. Mode of Appraisement or Arbitration. 23. Whenever it shaU become necessary or desirable to fix or ascertain any rent, price, value, or sum of money which by this act it is prorided may be fixed or ascertained by appraisement, and in APPENDIX. 561 case of dispute as to the amount of any compensation to be made under the provisions of this act ; and in case of any matter which by this act is authorised or directed to be settled by arbitration, the appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, and umpire shaU be appointed, and the appraisement or arbitration shaU be conducted in manner hereinafter mentioned, that is to say : — Appointment of Appraisers or Arbitrators. (1.) The minister or an officer authorised by him in that behalf, and the claimant in matters hereinbefore directed or authorised to be settled by appraisement, or the parties interested in any dispute which by the provisions of this act may be settled by arbitration, may concur in the appointment of a single ap praiser or arbitrator ; or failing such appointment each party, on the request of the other, shaU appoiat an appraiser or arbitrator, as the case may require, by whom the matter shaU be determined. And every such appointment shaU be made by the minister or officer, and the claimant, or by the parties to the matter in dispute, under their hands in writing, or if such party be a corporation aggregate, under its common seal ; and such appointment shaU be deUvered to the appraisers or arbitrators, and attached to the award when made, and shaU be deemed a submission to appraisement or to arbitration, as the case may be, by the parties making the same. Appointment not to be Revoked. (2.) AAer the making of any such appointment the same shaU not be revoked vrithout the consent of both parties, nor shall the death of either party opei-ate as a revocation. Single Appraiser or Arbitrator to act in certain cases. (3.) If after any such dispute or matter shaU have been referred to arbitration, and a notice in writing shaU have been given by one party who has himself duly appointed an appraiser or arbitrator to the other party, statmg the dispute or matter to be determined, and accompanied by a copy of such appoint ment, the party to whom notice is given faU to appoint an appraiser or arbitrator vrithin the space of sixty days after such notice, the appraiser or arbitrator appointed by the party giving the notice shall be deemed to be appointed by, and shaU act on behalf of both parties. And if for the space of three calendar months after a notice published in the " Ga zette" by the chief commissioner of Crown lands, both parties shaU faU or neglect to appoint arbitrators, the minister may appoint an arbitrator, who shall in Uke manner act on behalf of both parties. Award to be binding. (4.) The award of any appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, appointed in pursuance of this Act, shaU be bind- 0 0 562 APPENDIX. ing, final, and conclusive upon aU parties to the appraisement or arbitration for aU intents and purposes whatsoever. In case of death of or failure to act by Appraiser or Arbitrator, (5.) If before the determination of any matter so referred, any appraiser or arbitrator die, or refiise, or become incapable to act, the party by whom such arbitrator was appointed may appoint, in writing, another person in his stead; and if he faU so to do for the space of thirty days after notice, in writ ing, from the other party in that behalf, the remaining ap praiser or arbitrator may proceed, ex parte; and every appraiser or arbitrator so appointed shaU have the same powers and authorities as were vested in the appraiser or arbitrator in whose stead the appointment is made. In ease of death or failure to act by a single Appraiser or Arbitrator. (6.) In case a single arbitrator die, or become incapable to act, before the making of his award, or faU to make his award vrithin sixty days after his appointment, or vrithin such ex tended time, if any, not exceeding thirty days, as shaU have been duly appointed by him for that purpose, the matters referred to him shaU be again referred to appraisement or arbitration, under the prorisions of this Act, as if no former reference had been made. Appointment of Umpire. (7.) In case there be more than one appraiser or arbitrator, the appraisers or arbitrators staU, before they enter upon the reference, appoint, by writing under their hands, an umpire ; and if the person appointed to be umpire die, or become in capable to act, the appraisers or arbitrators shaU forthvrith appoint another person in his stead; and in case the ap praisers or arbitrators neglect or refuse to appoint an umpire for thirty days after being requested so to do by any party to the appraisement or arbitration, the minister may appoint an umpire, and he is hereby empowered so to do, and the award of the umpire shall be binding, final, and conclusive upon aU parties concerned, for aU intents and purposes whatsoever. Determination by Umpire in certain cases. (8.) In case appraisers or arbitrators faU to make their award vrithin sixty days after the day on which the last of them was appointed, or vrithin such extended time not exceeding thirty days, if any, as shaU have been duly appointed by them for that purpose, the matters referred shall be determined by the umpire, and the prorisions of this Act, with respect to the time for making an appraisement or award, and with respect to extending the same in the case of a single arbitrator, shall apply to any umpirage. APPENDIX. £)t)3 Production of Documents. (9.) Any appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire, appointed by virtue of this Act, may require the production of such documents in the possession or power of either party, as he may think necessary for determining the matters referred, and may ex amine the parties as witnesses, on oath. Determination of Costs. (10.) All costs of, and consequent upon the reference, shaU be in the discretion of the appraiser or appraisers, arbitrator or arbitrators, or of the umpire, in case the matters referred are determined by an umpire. Arbitration subject to rule of Supreme Couii. (11.) Any submission to arbitration, under the provisions of this Act, may be made a rule of the Supreme Court of the said colony, on the appUcation of any party thereto. Declaration by Appraiser, Arbitrator, or Umpire. (12.) Before any appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire shaU enter upon the consideration of any matter referred to him as aforesaid, he shaU make out and subscribe a declaration in the form fol lowing, before a Justice of the Peace, that is to say : — I, A B, do solemnly and sincerely declare, that I am not directly or indirectly interested in the matter referred to me, and that I vriU faithfnUy, honestly, and to the best of my skUl and abUity, hear and determine the same, under the Crown Lands Occupation Act of 1861. (13.) And such declaration shall be annexed to the appraisement or award when made ; and if any appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire shall vrilfoUy act contrary to such declaration, he shaU be guUty of a misdemeanor. (14.) No appointment or award shaU be set aside for irregularity or error in matter of form. (15.) Every appraisement or award shall be in vmting, and shaU be transmitted by the appraiser, arbitrator, or umpire to the Chief Commissioner of Crown Lands and deposited in his office. Marking of Boundaries by Arbitrators or Umpire. It shall be lawfal for arbitrators, or the umpire who may deter mine, under this Act, the boundaries, or any boundary of an old run, or run, to mark on the ground such boundary, and such bound ary so marked, shaU be held to be the boundary of such old mn, or run, so long as no lease thereof from the Crown shaU be m force. 564 APPENDIX. Attestation of Maps and Plans. 26. It shaU be lawful for any authorised officer, umpire, or arbi trators, who may have marked on the ground the boundaries, or any boundary of any old run, or run, to certify by his or their sig natures, dtdy attached to any plan representing such boundary, the accuracy of such representation, and such plan shall thenceforth become and be legal eridence of such boundary or boundaries. Obliteration of Boundary Marks a Misdemeanor, 26. If any person shaU wilfully obliterate, remove, or deface any boundary mark which may have been made or erected by or under the direction of any authorised officer, arbitrators, or umpire, as aforesaid, he shaU be guUty of a misdemeanor. Descriptions of Leased Lands. 27. In any lease or other instrument, granted under the Orders in CouncU, or under the prorisions of this Act, it shaU be sufficient if the land thereby conveyed be defined by a general description of such land, and of the boundaries thereof, and no such lease or other instrument shaU be held to be void by reason of the imperfection of any such description so long as the land shaU thereby be defined with reasonable certainty. Bight of Lease may be given in Evidence in actions. 28. In any action or suit brought to recover possession, or to recover damages for trespass upon, or othervrise, in relation to any Crown lands of which no lease from the Crown shaU be in force, it shall be lawful for any party thereto to plead, and put in eridence any promise, engagement, or contract from or with the Crown, or its agents lawfoUy authorised, for the granting, under the Orders in CouncU, or under this Act, for any term unexpired, of a lease of such lands ; and such promise, engagement, or contract shaU, as between the parties in such action or suit, have the same effect as if a lease from the Crown of such lands had been duly issued in pursuance of such promise, engagement, or contract, to the party entitled thereunder to such lease. Commonage Proclamation and Regulations, 29. The govemor, with the adrice aforesaid, may proclaim and set apart, temporarUy, any Crown lands for commonage purposes, for the use and benefit of the landholders in any city, town, or ril lage, or other specified locality, and may make and proclaim regula tions for the management of such commonage. Leases for 'Wharfs, Bridges, Ferries, and other objects, 30. The governor, vrith the adrice aforesaid,, may grant, by auction or otherwise, leases of any portion of Crown lands for wharfs, bridges, punt-houBes, ferries, and for the erection of machinery APPENDIX. 565 for saw-miUs, brick-making, and other objects of a like nature, and may determine the upset price thereof, if to be let at auction, or the fixed rent if to be let otherwise, and may annex such conditions to the occupation thereof as shaU seem fit : prorided that an abstract of all such Ucenses or leases, where not sold by auction, shaU be from time to time published in the " Gazette." Licenses to cut Timber, and procure other Materials. 31. The govemor, vrith the aforesaid adrice, may, subject to any regulations, to be made as hereinafter enacted, authorise the issue of Ucenses, for any term not exceeding one year, to enter any Crown lands, whether under lease or license or not, and to cut and take therefrom any timber, or to dig for and remove any gravel, stone, brick-earth, shells, or other material : prorided that the fee which the govemor, vrith the adrice aforesaid, may fix for such Hcense, shall be paid iu advance. Bemoval of Trespassers. 32. On information, in writing, preferred by any Commissioner of Crown Lands, or other person duly authorised, to any justice of the peace, setting forth that any person is in the unlawftU occupation of any Crown land, or in the occupation of any Crown land in virtue or under colour of any lease or Ucense, although such lease or Ucense shall have been forfeited ; for, although the conditions thereof shall have been broken or unfolfiUed, or although such lease or Ucense shaU have expired, or although the term for which the same shall have been granted or made shall have come to an end, such justice shall issue his summons for the appearance, before any two or more justices of the peace, at a place and time therein specified, of the person so informed against. And, at such time and place, such justices, on the appearance of such person, or on due proof of the serrice of such summons on him, or at his usual or last place of abode or business, shaU hear and inquire into the subject matter of such information. And on being satisfied of the truth thereof, either by the admission of the person informed against, or on other suf ficient evidence, such justices shall issue their warrant, addressed to the Commissioner of CJrown Lands, or to any chief or district constable, or other proper officer, requiring him, forthvrith, to dis possess and remove such person from such land, and to take posses sion of the same on behalf of her Majesty ; and the person to whom such warrant is addressed shall, forthvrith, carry the same into execution. Penalties for Trespassing. 33. Any person, unless lawfoUy claiming under any subsisting lease or Ucense, or otherwise, under the Orders in CouncU, or under this Act, or under the Act twentieth Victoria, number twenty-nine, or any other Act which may be passed for the management of the gold fields, who shaU be found occupying any Crown land, or land 566 APPENDIX. granted, reserved, or dedicated for pubUc purposes, either by resid ing, or by erecting any hut or buUding thereon, or by clearing, digging up, enclosing, or cultivating any part thereof, or cutting timber other than firewood, not for sale thereon, shall be Uable on conriction to a penalty not exceeding five pounds for the first offence, and not exceeding ten pounds for the second offence, and not ex ceeding twenty pounds for the third or any subsequent offence, which penalties shaU be recovered before any two or more justices of the peace, upon the information or complaint, on oath, of any person authorised by the minister in that behalf: prorided that no information shall be laid for any second or subsequent offence until thirty clear days shaU have elapsed from the date of the prerious conriction. Limitation of Actions. 34. All actions or other proceedings against any Commissioner of Crown lands, or other officer acting under the prorisions of this Act, for anything wrongfully done under or against the prorisions of this Act, shaU be commenced vrithin twelve months after the matter complained of was committed, and not otherwise. And notice, in writing, of any such action, and of the cause thereof, shaU be given to the defendant one month at least before the commence ment of the proceeding. And in every such proceeding the defend ant may plead the general issue, and give this Act, and the special matter in eridence at any trial to be had thereupon. And no plain tiff shall recover in any such proceeding if tender of sufiBcient amends shall have been made before the same was commenced, or if a sufficient sum of money shall have been paid into court after such commencement, by or on behalf of the defendant, together with costs incurred up to that time. And if a verdict shall pass for the defendant, or the plaintiff shaU become nonsuit, or discontinue such proceeding, or if, upon demurrer or otherwise, judgment shall be given against the plaintiff, the defendant shall recover his fall costs as between attorney and cUent, and have the like remedy for the same, as any defendant has by law in other cases. Instruments under Act to be Evidence. 35. Any lease or other instrument issued under this Act may be proved in all legal proceedings by the production of a certified copy thereof, signed by the officer to be authorised for that purpose under any regulation made as hereinafter enacted. Governor in Coimcil to malce and proclaim Begulations. 36, The govemor, with the advice of the Executive CouncU, may make and proclaim regulations for carrying this Act into ftUl effect, so as to proride for all proceedings, forms of leases and other instruments, and all other matters and things arising under, and consistent with the prorisions of this Act, and not herein expressly provided for. And aU such regtdations shaU, upon publication in APPENT)IX. dU/ the "Grazette," be vaUd in law: prorided that a copy of every such regulation shall be laid before both Houses of Parliament vrithin one month from the issue thereof if Parliament be then in Session, or otherwise vrithin one month after the commencement of the then next ensuing Session. Short Title. 37. This Act may be styled and cited as the " Crown Lands Occupation Act of 1861." INDEX TO VOL. II. ABOEiGrNAL, adventure vrith, 105. Aborigines, civilization, 33 ; de spatch respecting, 219. Address to the Queen on the Rus sian War, 337 ; on the declara tion of war, 341 ; on the faU of Sebastopol, 371. Adelong quartz ree:^ 629. Agricultural Company coal mono poly, 160. Agriculture, 636. Alpacas, llamas, etc., measures for introducing, 246 ; landed, 441 ; purchase of by govemment, 443; correspondence respecting, 502. Aldis Peak, 96. Amby River discovered, 134. American settlers butchered, 117. Anti-conrict demonstration, 200. Anti-transportation meeting, 166, 163 ; at Barrack Square, 236 ; delegates, 247. Appropriation BUl passed, 463. Apsley River, 481. " Ariel " schooner at Weymouth Bay, 190. Arrowsmith River, 484. Assay-office, 274. Australia, climate of, 471 ; soU of, 473. AustraUan com and British ports, 83 ; wheat in English ports, 122 ; colonies bUl withdrawn, 222 ; League meeting, 266 ; Federa tion, Select Committee report, 416 ; Rivers, 485. Balonne River, 131 ; station 221. Bank of Australia faUure, 62 ; lot tery, 220. Barker, Bishop, arrival of, 379. Barrow River, 484. Bathurst, gold discovered at, 257. Bayley, Mr., attorney general, 443. Bean substitute for coffee, 108. Bees, remarkable for their smaU- ness, 140. BUl to incorporate Sydney City, 20, 47. Blacks poisoned, 6, 56 ; trouble some, 221 ; outrages, 245. Boiling-down process, 67. Books, transmission of, by post, 303. Botanical coUection (Leichhardt) left, 109. Bourke, Govemor, recognizes the New Zealand flag, 9 ; statue, 43. Boyd, B., imported natives of New Hebrides, 172. Boundaries of the colonies, 370. Bremer River, 484. Brisbane River, 484. Broughton, Bishop, 31 ; death of, 334. Brunsvrick River, 484. Bunch party, 420. Burdekin River discovered, 100. Bush fires, 245. Bushrangers at Tass, 126. Bushranging increased, 6 ; auda cious, 7. Cabooltuee River, 484. CadeU, Captain, ascended the Dar ling, 464. Calgoa River, 131. Cal&omia, discovery of gold in, 220. 570 INDEX. Camels, expediency of introducing, 37. CampbeU, Robert, death of, 161 ; 211. Canoona gold field, 441. Cape River discovered, 99. Carron's Journal, 191. " Cataraqui," immigrant ship, wrecked, 126. " Catherine Adamson," wreck of, 419. Census complete, 35 ; taken, 401. Chamber of Commerce report in reference to the Russian War, 336. Chinese immigrants, first arrival of, 193 ; bUl rejected, 437. Chisholm, Mrs., labours of, 69 ; her plan, 89 ; testimonial to, 161 ; 173. Cholera in a conrict-ship, 263. "Chusan" mail steamer, arrival of, 310. Circular Wharf meeting, 209 ; Quay meeting, 325. Ciril Ust, outcry against, 61 ; bUl, 303. Clarence River, 483. Clarke River discovered, 100. Clarke, Rev. W. B., claims gold discovery, 277 ; gratuity recom mended for, 332. Claude River, the, 137. " Clonmel " steamer arrived, 22 ; wrecked, 36. Cockatoo Island, 207. Coal monopoly, 160. Colonial patronage, 228 ; nobUity, order of, 322. Commercial embarrassment, 39 ; policy, 184. Committee of CouncU reply, 293. CondeU, Mr., first mayor of Mel- botirne, 58. Constiijution, changes in, 174 ; re solution, 181 ; the, 223 ; new, remonstrance, 256 ; committee on, 318 ; committee, 323 ; bUl, 335. Contraband spirits, seizure of, 55. Conricts, arrival of, per "Hark- away," 209 ; demonstration against, 209. CooUe labour, expediency of, 32 ; petition for, 367. Cowper's motion of want of con fidence, 349 ; forms an adminis tration, 392 ; motion for the ap pointment of pubUc officers, 404 ; proposal for motion of want of confidence, 410 ; amend ment on the electoral biU, 412 ; ministry re-estabUshed, 413; ad ministration resignation, 451 ; retirement from pubUc Ufe, 454. CrocodUes, appearance of, 102. Crown Lands bUl, 21 ; policy, 122 ; bUl, renewal of rejected, 146 ; petition, 184 ; Act, 550—567. " Cumberland Disease " amongst the cattle, 277. CuthUl, Alexander, shot by an in sane person — legacy to Desti tute ChUdren Asylum, 357. Dawell's resolutions on the con stitution biU, 350 ; motion for augmentation ofthe salary of the govemor general, 354 ; speech on the resignation of the mi nistry, 389 ; appointed attorney general, 417. Dawson River, 96. Defence of Sydney, 276. Denison, Sir WiUiam, arrival, 360 ; address to, 361 ; opening speech, 364-5 ; Govemor, open ing speech, 381. Devine, Nicholas, grant of land to, 308. Diggers' Ucense fee reduction re commended, 332. DistiUation, colonial, prohibited, 6. Donaldson's duel with MitcheU,, 277 ; S. A. Prime Mmister, 380. Dowling, Sir James, death of, 93. " Dunbar," the, wreck of, 418. Dunlop and Ross fined, 55. Duties on spirits reduced, 123. Education, Board of, proposal to INDEX. 571 establish, 4 ; 83 ; reform bUl, 4.51. Elective franchise petition, 220. Election of 1859, 444. Electoral bUl, 255 ; defeated, 412 ; new, submitted to the House, 436, 437. Electors' qualification, 244. Electric telegraph proposed, 126. Emancipated conricts, wives of^ 173. Exploring expedition by Mr. Gre gory, 378. Exports exceed imports, 121. FAvrPsE in Ireland, subscription for, 161. Fig-trees met vrith, 100. Fitz-Roy Downs territory, 132. Fitz-Roy, Sir Charles, arrival of, at Sydney, 150 ; Lady Mary, death o:^ 169 ; Governor-general, 269 ; speech of, 355 ; departure o:^ 358 ; character of, 358-9 Flanagan compensated, 121. Flood denounced by Captain Fitz- Roy, 234. Flood at Port PhUip, 6 ; at Gun dagai, 307 ; at the Hunter and Hawkesbury RiTers, 417; dis astrous, 464. Foster's adminietration, 453 ; mi nistry resigned, 4-59. Gaol, the irregularities, 216. German mission, 57. GUbert Trilled by natives, 103. Gipps' plan of pubUc instruction, 3 ; censured by Lord John RusseU, 38; embark for England, 148. Gisborne, Mr., and the submarine telegraph, 464. Gold discovered, 259 ; two tons sent to England, 310. Grold fields regulation create dis satisfaction, 311 ; southern, 517. Gold Ucenses, 260. Gold revenue, Wentworth'a mo tion, 301. " Golden Age" steamer, arrival of, 357. " Govemor PhiUp" vessel pirati- caUy attacked, 52. Governor-General, increase of sa lary motion vrithdrawn, 329. Grovernment, the motion of want of confidence in, 346. Graziers' grievances, 51. " Great Britain" steamer, first ar rival, 310. Gregory's exploring expedition, 3( 8. Grrey, Earl, elected for Melbourne, 194; on the Constitution Act, 288, 4. " Grievances" question, 80 ; of the colony, 275. Gundagai almost destroyed by flood, 307. Haeboue Defence, new works, 334. Hargreaves, E.H., discovered gold, 259 ; £5,000 recommended for, 332. , " Harkaway," arrival of, 209. -^^ ^ Hawden and Sheridan, 119. Hawkesbury, the, overflows, 57; river, 481. Hay's want of confidence motion, 394. " Hazard," war ship, at Bay of Islands, 114. Heki, New Zealand chief, 114. Hely's expedition in search of Leichhardt, 303. Holt, Thomas, appointed trea surer, 387. Horseflesh used as food, 101. Hosking, mayor, resigns, 70. Hume, J. K., murder of, 6. HumiUation, day of, 357. Hunter River, 481. iLLicrr distfllation, 122. Immigration, bounty system, 6 ; schemes, 27 ; class, 31 ; Irish, 54 ; from China, 165 ; fund, 166 ; expenditure, 221 ; appro priation of sums for, 334. Indemnity BUl rejected by the A.ssembly, 462. 572 INDEX. India, proposed despatch of troops to, 432. India and AustraUan Steam Com pany, 207. Indignation meeting at Circular Quay, 232. Insolvency law considered, 19. Instruction, pubUc plan of, 3. Irish immigration, 54. Jewish synagogue opened, 93. Jones' administration formed, 459. Kennedy's return, 185 ; leaves Sydney, 186 ; attacked by nar tives, 187 ; death of, 188. Kiandra gold fields, 466. Kinchela prosecuted by Major Mudie, 21. King, Rear-admiral, death of, 400. King's, Captain, objection to reso lution, 272. Kites, audacity of, 102. Korororika abandoned by settlers, 117; settlement, 118. Kovritti, New Zealand chief, 114. La Teobe, C. j., petition for re moval of, 193 ; despatch from Lord Grey, 222. Labour market, 513. Land Acts, 587—650. Land BUl, introduced and vrith- dravm, 415. Lang, Dr., opposition to address to the Queen on the Russian war, 337 ; resolutions condemnatory of Sir C. Fitz-Roy, 366. Ledger, C, importer of alpacas, 441 ; correspondence respecting the alpacas, 502, 508. Lee, WilUam, deprived of Ucense, 61. Legislative CouncU Constitution, 319 ; and Legislative Assembly established, 329. Leichhardt, Dr., starts for Port Essington, 95; loss of five horses, 109 ; pubUc subscription for, 112 ; rumour of death of, 126 ; last expedition, 170 ; fears for, 245 ; expedition in search of, 303 ; camping place, 305 ; Ma dame, pension to, 332. Live stock, mortgages on, 6 ; live stock, 637. Loans, interest on, 65. Logan River, 484. Lowe, R., chaUenged by H. M'Der- mott, 87; prosecution of M'Der- mottby, 88; 212. Lynch executed, 51. Lynd River discovered, 102. Macaethue salt water river, 107. Macarthur's resolutions on immi gration, 353; resolutions on de- parture of Sir C. Fitz-Roy, 364. Mackenrie River, 97. Macleay, A., speaker, 64 ; death of, 192 ; motion for address to Govemor-general, 375. Macleay River district, 221 ; River, 483. Maguire, FeUx, dreams of a pond, 136. MaUs, vid Singapore, 195. Manning, a defaulter, 37.- Manning River, 483. Martin, James, qualification dis puted, 214 ; speech in defence, 394 ; retires from attorney-gene ralship, 438. Masters' and Servants' BUl, 18. Masters, Lieutenant, death of, 170. Melbourne incorporated, 58 ; re presentatives, 194 ; rejoicings at, 246. Mereweather proposed as colonial secretary, 347. Metropohtan election, 421. MiUtary force, maintenance of, 226. Ministerial appointments, resolu tions and debates, 449, 460. Ministry, the, resignation of, 387. Mint question, 274 ; apparatus for, 303. Mitchell, Sir T., fourth expedition, 127; retums, 138; fourth ex- INDEX. 573 pedition return, 141 ; death o^ 379. MitcheU River, 186. Mob of ruffians in Sydney, 244. Monetary depression, 62. " Monumental City " steamer vrrecked, 334. Moreton Bay, 22 ; visited by go vernor, 65 ; petition in favour of exUes, 243 ; petition for se paration, 334; separation of, 447. Municipal corporation, bUl to abo- Ush,332. Murray River, clearing the chan nel, 375 ; table of distances, 479. Murray attempts to form a mi nistry, 446. Murrumbidgee, great flood, 307; River clearing, 375; traversed by a steamer, 442. Naeean River, 131. National debt, protest against, 28. National education, Plunkett's cor respondence, 486. National system of education, 422. Natives, treachery ot, 103. New constitution retumed, con- finned by Imperial Govemment, 367. New parliament opened. May 22, 381. New South Wales, conditions and prospects, 467 ; as a fleld for im migration, 469. New Zealand, a dependency of New South Wales, 5 ; land pur chase, 9; flag devised, 9 ; chiefs, independence of, 13 ; a sepa rate govemment, 26 ; hostiUties, 116. Newtown ejectment case, 308. Nichols, G. R., death of, 419. Nicholson re-elected speaker, 205. Nine River, 139. Noble, Mr., murdered, 89. Nocturnal meetingsof unemployed, 461. Norfolk Island, piracy at, 53 ; ri sited by the govemor, 70; go vemment transferred to Van Diemen's Land, 93. North Australia re-annexed, 206. O'Beien, H., scours the country, 7. O'ConneU, Sir Daniel (Ueutenant- general), death of, 192. Operatives in favour of incorpora tion, 49. Paeington, Sir John, despatch on grievances petition, 314 ; sa tisfaction at, 318. Parachute Lake, 132. Parker forms a ministry, 396 ; ministry, 408 ; speech on second reading of Electoral BUl, 410 ; ministay, resignation of, 413 ; vote of confidence in govem ment, 434 ; resolution on tea and sugar duties, 445. Parliamentary agent, 86. Pa.rliaTnp.Tit dissolved, 444. Parry River, 484. Pastoral Association formed, 78 ; leases, 167. PentonviUe prisoners, protest against, 126. Piddington's amendment on Plun kett's removal, 435 ; chairman of committees, 445. Pine River, 484. Pinnock, ilr., removed, 29. Pitcaim Islanders established at Norfolk Island, 446. Plunkett risits mother country, 37 ; appointed president of the Upper House, 417 ; removed from chairmanship of Board of National Education, 421 ; ad dress to, 430 ; removal resolu tions, 4.34. PoUock, Mr., discoverer of the Snowy River gold fields, 466. Port Curtis visited by the Gro- vemor-general, 357; gold disco very, 440. Port Essington overland expedi- 574 INDEX. tion, 70 ; arrival at. 111 ; expe dition to, 122. Port PhUip district, 22 ; proposed separation of, 24 ; separation of considered, 169 ; demand for re presentation, 221. Postage, uniform rate of, 207. PrivUeges of the Legislature, 87. Produce circulars, 614. Pumuku, New Zealand chief, 115. Quaetz reefs, 529 ; crushing ma chinery, 621. Quit rents, enforcement of, 185. Railway construction considered, 143 ; resolution in favour of, 162; survey, 175; committee, 179; formation of, 180; con tract (first) accepted, 277 ; com munication, resolution on, 339 ; to Parramatta opened, 379. Randall, Mr., ascends the DarUng, 464. Remarkable tree, 133 ; meteor, 139. Representative govemment peti tion, 41 ; principle recognized, 50 ; institution conceded, 59 ; Legislature, first assembly of, 64. Responsible government, working of, 467. Revenue, the, 609. Richmond River discovered, 65 ; river, 483-4. RiddeU, treasurer, 347. Rider and Mais recommended for immediate dismissal, 374. Riot at Sydney, 36. River narigation, 442. Rivers of AustraUa, 478. Rochford (Bernard) and Devine, 309. Roper and Calvert attacked, 103. Roper River discovered, 108, Royal Mint, Imperial sanction of, 333 ; branch, resolutions, 346. Russell, Lord John, despatch from, 368, 370. Russian war apprehensions, 335. Sailoes' Home, 6. Salvator River, 137. " Satirist" editors prosecuted, 70. Sarings' Bank, run on, 62. Scotland, petition from, for assis tance to remove to the colony, 367. _ Seduction, case of, 161. Severe drought, 6. Sewerage works, report on, 371, 374. Shoalhaven River, 481. SUk, growth of, a failure, 221. Smith, Professor, report on south ern gold-fields, 517. Snowy River gold-field, 466. " Sovereign," the, steamer wreck ed, 172. Squatters, meeting of, 75. Squatting contest, 73 ; regula tions, 125. State aid to religion, question agitated, 377; aid to reUgion, 443. Steam communication rerived, 144; postal communication, 124; communication, 278 ; communi cation ceased, 364. Stephen, Chief Justice, 93. Summerhill Creek, 259. Sydney Incorporation, 47; RaUway Company, 219 ; University Act passed, 229; and Goulbum RaU way, 229; Municipal CouncU, committee on, 301 ; University inaugurated, 310 ; Water Com pany formed, 333 ; Railway Company, additional loan, 343 ; University and AffiUated Col leges, 353 ; labour market, 513. Tahiti, island of, 90. Tea and sugar duties repeal, reso lutions, 445. Telegraph communication between Sydney, Melbourne, and Ade laide, 441. Therry, Roger, attorney-general, 37 ; appointed judge at Port PhUUp, 126 ; Judge, retirement of, 463. Thomson scholarship, 340 ; testi monial presented to, 340. Transportation, report of commit tee on, 1 ; proposal rerived, 151 ; question agitation, 195 ; Order in CouncU rescinded, 224; Lamb's resolutions, 270 ; ques tion, 399. Tobacco, colonial growth o:^ 6 ; first manufactured, 66. Tweed, the river, 484. Tweed manufactures, 56. Unemployed, distressed condition o^ 71 ; operatives, 89. University, institution of, 217. Upper and Lower Houses pro posed, 326. Upper House, life members aban doned, 328 ; BUl discussed, 457. Van DiEirEN Rivee discovered, 106. Van Diemen's Land, transporta tion conference, 279. Vine dressers from Germany, 6. Vineyards, 536. Victoria River, 140 ; exploration of, 185. V-ctoria, boundary line of, 243. Volunteer corps proposed, 342. Wareen, Alexander, appointed treasurer, 386. Waste Lands Act, 67. Water scarcity, 244. Wentworth's claim ia New Zea land, 9 ; resolution on conrict- ism, 178; and the University, 217; proposition for stopping suppUes, 300 ; speech on the new Constituta'on, 325 ; declara tory resolutions on Constitution BUl, 330 ; address to, 339 ; and Thomson sent to England, 339 ; letter from, 345. White men reported kUled, 304. Wickham River discovered, 108. Widows' and orphans' Russian war fond, 363. WUUs, Judge, removed, 58. WUson, Colonel, accused, 5. Windeyer and DaweU committed for contempt, 162. Wise, SoUcitor-general, 417. Working classe.=, distress, 460. Wynward, General, succeeds O'ConneU, 192. ToEK Peninsula, 185. THE FOLLOWING WERE ACCIDENTALLT OMITTED IN THE INDEX TO VOL. I. Wages, regulation of, 87, 96. Walker, Thomas, an advocate for immigration, 469. WardeU, Dr., prosecuted for Ubel on the govemment, 287 ; a second time prosecuted for U- belling Darling and his govem ment, 298. Wardell, Mr., one of the first bar risters, 241. WardeU, Robert, shot by a bush ranger, 438. Water supply, 274. Waterloo, subscription for vridows and orphans of, 210. Ways and means, estimate of, 429. Wellington VaUey, settlement founded there, 234 ; interesting report from missionaries there, 515. Western Port, survey of, 128; a settlement formed there, 294 ; the settlement abandoned, 303. 576 INDEX. WUd cattle, discovery of, 87 ; a second time visited by the go vemor, 122. Wentworth practises as a barris ter, 241 ; speech of, 323 ; intro duces an important paragraph into the address to the King, 341; speech of, 396—400; speech of, 405 — 410 ; presides at a public meeting, 532. Whale oU, colonial, 440 ; fishery, 65. Whateley, Archbishop, on trans portation, 527. Wheat, sudden advance in price of, 424. WU-le-me-ring, an aboriginal, 60. Wine produced at Bathurst, 365. Wombat, animal so called, 109. Wool, AustraUan, in England, 232. Wyndham, W., Secretary of State for the Colonies, 141. THE END. Crown BuUdings, 1 88, Fleet Street, London, October, 1873. SAMPSON LOWj MARSTON & CO.^S ANNOUNCEMENTS FOR THE COMING SEASON. THE AUTHORIZED VERSION OF THE FOUR GOSPELS. WITH THE WHOLE OF THE MAGNIFICENT ETCHINGS ON STEEL, AFTER THE DRAWINGS BY M. BIDA. Ihe drawing, etchings, and engravings have been twelve vears in preparation, and an idea of the importance of this splendid work may be gathered from the fact that upwards of twelve himdred and fifty thousand francs, or fifty thousand pounds, have been expended on its production, and it has obtained for AIM. Hachette the Diplome d'Honneur at the Vienna Exhibition. The English edition will contain the whole of the 132 steel etchings, and in addition some very exquisite woodcut ornaments. The Gospel of St. Matthew will contain 41 Steel Etchings. The Gospel of St. ^L^jjk ,, 24 „ The Gospel of St. Luke „ 40 „ Tbe Gospel of St. John ,, 27 „ Size, large Imperial quarto. It is intended to publish each Gospel separately, and at intervals of from six to twelve months : and in order to preserve uniformity, the price will in the first instance he fixed at ;^3 3J. each volume. This uniformity- of price has been determined on the assumption that purchasers will take the whole of the four volumes as published ; but, as it wiU be seen that the Gosi>els of St. Slatthew and St. Luke contain more etchings and more letterpress than St. ;Mark and St. John, and are therefore proportionately more costly in production, it must be understood that at the expiration of three montlis from the first issue of each of these two volumes, the price (if purchased separately) will be raised to four guineas. This extra charge will, however, be allow^ at any time to all bona fide purchasers of the four volumes. The Gospel of St. John, appropriately bound in cloth extra, price £-2 ^s., will be the first volume issued, and will be ready for publication shortly. 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