Statistical, Historical and Political Description of the Colony of New South Wales Part 8

And although from the increased demand for foreign luxuries, which so great an addition to the colonial income would have naturally occasioned, but a small part perhaps of this sum would have eventually continued in general circulation, still the means of the colonists would have at least been brought to a level with their wants; and a sterling circulating medium would have remained sufficient for all the purposes of domestic economy.

Under such circ.u.mstances there can be little doubt that the active and enterprizing spirit of our countrymen would have long since effected the establishment of an export trade, which would have freed the colony from future embarra.s.sment, and the mother country from the enormous expence which she is annually forced to incur in its support. But the continual and amazing fluctuations which have taken place in the price of corn, have been a death-blow to the success of every effort that has been directed to this most important object. At least but one out of all the numerous attempts that have been made by individuals, (for none have been made by the government,) to raise various articles of export, has realized the expectations of its sagacious author, and promises to become eventually of permanent relief and importance to the colony. But it will be more in the order of the arrangement which I have marked out for myself, to treat of this very important subject hereafter: I recur, therefore, to the conclusion which I was about to draw from the foregoing premises; that to the perfect success of every enterprize of a manual nature, it is essential that the price of provisions in general, but of corn in particular, should be reduced to such a point as to afford a fair profit to the grower; and at the same time that it should not be subject to any such extraordinary rise as to superinduce a proportionate increase in the price of labour. To keep the value of corn in this just mean, it is necessary that the growth of it should be encouraged to a pitch far beyond the sphere of the ordinary demand; and this is to be effected generally in two ways, by augmenting the internal consumption by artificial means, as by breweries, distilleries, etc. and by permitting a free exportation of the surplus. But the colony is at present unable from the smallness of its resources and its remoteness from Europe, the great mart for the surplus corn of other countries, to become a compet.i.tor with them in this branch of commerce: it follows, therefore, that the constant abundance of corn indispensable to the establishment and maintenance of an export trade, can only be guaranteed by the enforcement of all such measures as have a tendency to increase internal consumption; and of these I again repeat that the erection of distilleries, etc. is the most easy and the most efficacious.

Independent of this general reasoning, which is equally applicable to all countries, the colony can unhappily furnish particular grounds of argument in the unfortunate localities of its agricultural settlements, which render the adoption of this measure of still more imperative necessity. Allured to the banks of the river Hawkesbury, both by the superiority of the soil, and the facilities which the navigation of this river afforded for the conveyance of produce to market, a circ.u.mstance of material advantage even at this moment, but of incalculable importance at a period, when as yet there were few or no cattle for the purposes of land carriage, the first colonists were encouraged by Governor Phillip to establish themselves on this low fertile tract of country, not so much perhaps from choice as necessity.

His successors, influenced in part by the same considerations, followed his example in directing the current of colonization into the same channel, till in the lapse of about fifteen years the whole of the fertile lands on the banks of this river were completely appropriated. Thus unfortunately for the colony, its princ.i.p.al agricultural establishment was formed in a situation subject to the inundations of a river, whose waters frequently rise seventy or eighty feet above its ordinary level.

The present governor, to his lasting honour be it mentioned, has done all that prudence could effect with the limited means confided to him, for the prevention of the calamities invariably consequent on these destructive inundations. He has placed the great ma.s.s of the colonists, who have been settled during his administration, in districts that are not subject to flood; thus securing to themselves and the community at large the fruits of their industry. He has also established towns.h.i.+ps on the high grounds, which generally at the distance of a mile or two from the river border its low fertile banks, and has held out various encouragements, in order to induce the settlers to remove their houses and stacks to them. The richer cla.s.s have in most instances been alive to their own interests, and have abandoned their ancient abodes on the verge of the river: so that the destruction occasioned by future floods will be infinitely less extensive. But, still, a great part of the poorer cla.s.s adhere to their ancient habitations, impelled by the double motive of avoiding the cost of carrying their crops to these towns.h.i.+ps, and from thence back again to the river, in order to send them to market by the boats, which ply on it for this purpose. And to such as have not horses and carts of their own, and would consequently be obliged to hire them, a residence on the banks of the river is a saving of greater magnitude than might be at first imagined.

The greatest obstacle to the complete realization of the governor's project, arises from the extreme poverty of the great body of the settlers, occasioned, as I have already noticed, by the limited and precarious market afforded for their produce. To build a house, however small, is an undertaking in this colony as every where else, which can only be effected with adequate means; and if the colonists do not resort in crowds to these towns.h.i.+ps, it is not because they are insensible to the advantages which they would derive from a removal to these seats of security, but because their penury chains them to their present dangerous and miserable hovels, and compels them in spite of their better reason to hold their lives and property on the most precarious of all tenures, the caprice of the elements. But could the governor succeed in this, his project to the utmost, could he induce every settler on the banks of the Hawkesbury to remove to these towns.h.i.+ps, he would be still far from guaranteeing the colony from the calamitous effects of these inundations; since they are not periodical, like the risings of the Nile, but happen at all times, as well when the crops are in stack as when growing, when they are in the infancy of vegetation, as when they have attained maturity and are fit for the sickle. Some other expedient, therefore, would still be necessary to guard against those inundations which may happen at such disastrous periods; and there is but one that will be found sufficient at all times and under all circ.u.mstances. It is to encourage by artificial means, the growth of corn so far beyond what is necessary for the bare purposes of food, that in years of scarcity, whether arising from flood or drought, these artificial channels of consumption may be stopped, and the whole of the corn in the colony appropriated to the supply of the inhabitants. And this encouragement would be amply afforded by the establishment of distilleries; since allowing the colony to require sixty thousand gallons of spirits annually, twenty thousand bushels of grain would be expended in distillation, the whole of which, when necessity required, might be diverted from its ordinary course of consumption, and directed to the purposes of subsistence.

These advantages, great as they must be allowed to be, are not the only ones that would follow the erection of distilleries.

This measure would still further promote the prosperity of the agricultural body, by creating in the market a compet.i.tion with the government for the purchase of grain, and would thus destroy the _maximum_, that has been hitherto arbitrarily a.s.signed as an equivalent for their produce generally, without reference to the state of the crops, whether they have been productive or otherwise. The prejudicial operation of this maximum was noticed in the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons made in the year 1812, and the propriety of devising some remedy for this evil strongly enforced; but this recommendation has. .h.i.therto been disregarded, from the want, perhaps, of information sufficiently precise to enable the government of this country to attend to it.

I close the catalogue of arguments which I adduce in support of this measure with the last and most powerful of them all, its beneficial influence on the morality of the rising generation. I do not so much take into calculation its probable bearing on the existing race of colonists, the greater part of whom are and will, perhaps, always be more or less addicted to the pernicious habits contracted in their early days of riot and debauchery, as on their posterity, who will necessarily soon form the majority of this colony, and whose amelioration or reformation all legislative measures should have princ.i.p.ally in view. With those the immoderate use of spirituous liquors is a long contracted disease, which it is perhaps past the skill of legislation to cure. It is like an old inveterate ulcer, whose roots have penetrated into the seats of vitality, and are so intimately interwoven with the very principles of existence, that the knife cannot be applied to the extirpation of the one, without occasioning the destruction of the other. But though this gangrene can never be entirely eradicated, the experience of late years has shewn that it may be prevented from increasing, and even considerably reduced. Drunkenness has been observed to be less frequent since the unlimited importation of spirits was permitted, even among that cla.s.s who were most addicted to this vice during the long period when the importation was in a great measure restricted, the price of liquor exorbitantly enhanced, and the consequent difficulty of obtaining it much more considerable. Great, therefore, as are the present facilities to the indulgence of this propensity, they should be still further extended, and this would be effected by internal distillation; for although the importation of spirits from other countries has been for many years past subject to no restriction, but the payment of a certain duty, which would be equally levied on all spirits made in the colony, still the expence of freight, insurance, etc. would be avoided, the price proportionably abated, and the means of indulgence increased in the same ratio.

The immediate effect of this free circulation of spirits having been so beneficial, we may easily infer what would be its remote consequences; and it is to these, to the gradual developement of moral perfection, that all laws which are framed with a reference to this end, should be directed, and not to sudden and violent reformations, which are seldom or never attended with the desired results. It was, indeed, natural to expect that this pernicious drug would be depreciated, in the estimation of its consumers, in exact proportion to its superabundance; and although the removal of all restriction to the importation of spirits, might in its immediate beneficial operation on the morals of the existing generation, so long curtailed in the use of them, and so long habituated to excess, whenever occasion offered, have been a matter of serious speculation, before this experiment was tried, its immediate result has far out-stripped the expectations of its most sanguine supporters. The present influence of this measure having been so satisfactory, there cannot be a doubt that the effect of internal distillation on the morality of future generations will be still more salutary and decisive. It is well known that in the countries that are celebrated for the production of wines and spirits, as France, Spain, Italy, etc. so great is the sobriety of the people, that a drunken person is an object of contempt, and a sight which is but very seldom witnessed. This sobriety, therefore, can only be the consequence of a steady, equable supply, which induces moderate enjoyment, without holding out any temptation to excessive indulgence. And however strange or unaccountable this fact may at first appear, the reason of it may be traced to the nature of man, the same inconsistent creature in all ages and in all countries. Intervening obstacles to enjoyment, far from repressing his desires, serve but to stimulate and inflame them; and so perverse and capricious is he in his conduct, that he despises, or at best holds in but secondary estimation, the real substantial good that is within his grasp; while remote or unattainable objects fire his ambition, and swell into fanciful and preposterous proportions the treacherous illusions of a fertile imagination, which possession alone can dissipate and reduce to their proper standard and value. It is thus that lofty mountains seem to connect themselves with the heavens by enveloping clouds; but stripped of their deceptious covering, they stand reduced to their primitive dimensions, the blue vault towers far above their heads, and the eye sees and defines their just limits and magnitude.

There can be but one objection urged against the establishment of colonial distilleries; that it will deprive the resident merchants in India, from whence by far the greater proportion of spirits is at present imported into the colony, of this branch of commerce. The trade, however, of that country is on too extensive a scale, to be perceptibly affected by so trifling a restriction, which, in fact, has always existed till within the last five years; as the importation of spirits, till that period, was always subject to limitation, and only permitted by express licence. But were the case otherwise, what right has one portion of the empire to look for aggrandis.e.m.e.nt at the expense of another? Ought the welfare and happiness of twenty thousand persons to be sacrificed, in order to promote the views of a few interested individuals? If it were politic in his majesty's government to concede any superiority of privilege to any one body of the king's subjects over another, surely a colony composed entirely of Englishmen has reason to expect that such a concession should be made in its favour, and not to its prejudice in favour of a country acquired and in some measure maintained by force, and connected with the parent country by no ties of common origin and affinity, by no congeniality of habit, by no similarity of religion. But the colonists neither expect nor desire any such concessions: they seek the possession and enjoyment of their own indubitable rights; they would not curtail those of others: they neither want to render other colonies tributary to their prosperity, nor to continue, as they have hitherto been, tributary to that of others.

If, on the other hand, we take a hasty survey of the advantages, which I trust it has been satisfactorily proved, would be consequent on internal distillation, never, it will be seen, was there a measure which could adduce in its support more urgent and weighty considerations. It would afford employment, and thus impart fresh health and vigor to the agricultural body, debilitated by long suffering and disease; it would place the means of the colonists on a level with their wants, and by creating a good and sufficient medium of circulation in the place of the present worthless currency, would give rise to other channels of industry, and to the speedy establishment of an export trade. It is the only possible way of insuring the colony against the calamitous effects which have hitherto been invariably attendant on the inundations of the river Hawkesbury; it would lessen the injurious preponderancy of the government in the market, by creating a great compet.i.tion for the purchase of grain, and would thus prevent the arbitrary imposition on this, the princ.i.p.al production of the colonists, of a maximum that is frequently beneath its just value, and it would improve the morals of the present and of future generations. With these irresistible arguments in favour of this measure, it must be evident that the cause of justice and morality would be violated by any further unnecessary delay in its adoption.

The next object of internal consumption, to which in my opinion the government ought to direct the attention of the colonists, is the growth of tobacco. The amount of the annual importation of this article from the United States of America and the Brazils, (the two supplying countries) cannot be estimated at less than five thousand pounds. This would be a very material saving to the colony in its present circ.u.mstances, and one that might be effected with the greatest ease, and without prejudice to any part of the empire. The only question in this instance is, whether it be more politic that the colony should supply itself, or be dependent on foreigners. There are no contending interests to reconcile, no portion of his majesty's subjects in any part of the globe, who could wish to oppose the imposition of a prohibitory duty on the importation of this article into the colony. And this is the only measure that would be necessary to direct the attention of the settlers to this highly important production, for which it has been found that the climate and soil of the colony are peculiarly adapted. In three years at most, after the adoption of this regulation, the colonists would raise a sufficient quant.i.ty of tobacco for their own consumption. It will be an after consideration for the government to take the requisite means to promote the increased growth and exportation of this highly important product to the mother country. The immense advantage that she would derive from possessing in one of her own colonies, an article of such general consumption, and for which she is at present entirely tributary to foreign powers, is too obvious to need ill.u.s.tration, and too considerable not to attract the attention and encouragement of her legislature.

Hemp, flax, and linseed, are also productions to which the climate and soil of the colony, and its dependent settlements at the Derwent and Port Dalrymple are remarkably congenial, and the growth of which might be easily promoted by wise regulations. Yet highly valuable as are all these productions, and altogether dependent as is this country for the amazing quant.i.ties of them, which she consumes in her navy, her manufactures, and her commerce, no attempt has been made since the establishment of the colony to direct the attention of its inhabitants to their growth and exportation. The views of the different gentlemen, who have been successively intrusted with the government, have either never reached so far, or else their means have been inadequate to the accomplishment of these great ends. In embellis.h.i.+ng the capital, and erecting various public edifices, of which, however, I do not mean to question the utility, their attention appears to have been chiefly absorbed. It seems never to have come into their contemplation that all these embellishments would have been the natural and inevitable results of the increasing prosperity of the community, but that they could never of themselves either create or promote it. A flouris.h.i.+ng agriculture, a thriving commerce, would have equally effected all these objects; but with this material difference, without that enormous expence to this country with which they have been attended. The imposition of small taxes for the promotion of public objects, is no grievance to a people whose prosperity is the work of a wise and considerative government. An impolitic and oppressive one cancels alike the will to make, and the power to levy such contributions; and imposes on itself the necessity of moderating its wants, or of having recourse to foreign channels for their supply. In this instance the great burden of these public undertakings has fallen on this country, nor have they been the most inconsiderable item in the amount of the colonial expenditure. Yet all that has been already lavished, and all that this country may hereafter lavish in prosecution of the same narrow and absurd system, will have but little influence in promoting the real purposes of colonization.

This mania for building, which has always directed the government, has unfortunately communicated itself to the colonists, particularly those who inhabit the various towns, and they are at present in the condition of a man who has a large house, but wants wherewithal to furnish and support it. Their situation would be more enviable, if they had smaller habitations replete with a greater degree of plenty and comfort. The establishment of an export trade, that may enable them to procure in sufficient abundance those foreign commodities which long habit has rendered indispensable to civilized life, is what they desire, and what a wise government would desire also; more especially since the parent colony is a great manufacturing nation, and possesses the power of supplying the commodities in question. Millions more expended in the same improvident manner as heretofore, will not effect this great object; and with half the expence already incurred a politic government would have already accomplished it. Of this a.s.sertion the labours of an individual, who, if on the one hand he has met with some support from the more liberal and enlightened administration of this country, has constantly experienced, on the other, all the opposition which the envy and malevolence of the local government could throw in his way, furnish an indubitable proof.

This gentleman, John Mac Arthur, Esq. formerly a captain in the New South Wales corps, which was afterwards converted into the 102d regiment, embarked more largely from the very commencement of the colony, in the rearing of sheep and cattle, than any other individual. Notwithstanding the very great profits which his extensive flocks and herds yielded him, a circ.u.mstance that would have satisfied the ambition, and lulled to sleep the inquiries of a less penetrating mind, he foresaw so long as fifteen years back, what has since been realized, the crisis of general distress and embara.s.sment, to which the course pursued by the local government, would eventually conduct; and on the occasion of his being unjustly ordered to this country by the then governor, where he soon vindicated himself from the charges imputed to him, he convinced the ministry of the advantages that would accrue to the nation from promoting in the colony the growth of fine wool; and obtained from them a considerable grant of land, and various encouragements besides, in order to enable him to carry this highly important project into execution. Among other indulgences, he procured an order in council permitting him to embark on board the vessel that was to reconvey him to the colony, four Spanish ewes and a ram, which he had purchased out of the king's flocks. With this small beginning he undertook, and in spite of an incessant war waged against him by malignity and misrepresentation, the withholding in some measure of the encouragements ordered by the liberality of his majesty's ministry, and endless other disappointments and vexations that would have damped any ordinary resolution, his efforts have been crowned with the most complete success, and he has at present not less than five thousand sheep, of which the wool from continual crosses with Spanish tups, the progeny of the few sheep purchased by him at the sale of the king's flocks, has become as fine as the best imported from Saxony, and has been found to surpa.s.s it in elasticity, a quality highly conducive to the firmness and durability of the cloth. Many gentlemen also of the colony who have large flocks, sensible of the folly of breeding sheep for the mere sake of the carcases, which in consequence of the limited population, and unlimited extent of grazing country, have already become of inferior value, and in a short time more will be worth little or nothing, entered some years back on this gentleman's system; and there may, perhaps, be among all the rest of the sheep holders, the same number of fine woolled sheep which he alone possesses. Here then is an exportable article of immense consequence to the colony, and of the highest political importance to this country; an article indispensable to the support of her staple manufacture, and for which she has. .h.i.therto been altogether dependent on foreign nations; yet has no attempt but the one I have just alluded to, been made, either by the government of this country, or of the colony, to direct the attention of the sheep-holders to its production; on the contrary, the greatest obstacles have been thrown in the way of this gentleman's success, obstacles which none but the most enthusiastic spirit could have surmounted. Thanks, however, to his invincible perseverance, the dawn of prosperity is at length breaking on the colony. The long stormy night of suffering and misery is drawing to a close; yet a few years, and the sun of peace and plenty will appear on its horizon. But although this event will in the natural course of things soon take place, its approach may be greatly accelerated, or r.e.t.a.r.ded by the wisdom or folly of the government. The colonists, in spite of every impediment they may have to encounter, cannot much longer remain insensible to the advantages which _they_ possess, who have already followed the wise example of this gentleman: _these_ they will daily behold in the enjoyment of comparative ease and happiness, and in possession of a certain progressive income, exposed to few or no contingencies, and dependent on no man for its extent and duration; while on the other hand, they will find that their own income must not only diminish every year, but also rest for its continuance on the good pleasure of their governor, who, if he should even possess the will, would not want the power to enlarge it to any considerable amount, and who, should he be their enemy, might at any time reduce it to nothing. The manifest superiority, therefore, which the proprietors of fine woolled possess over those of coa.r.s.e woolled sheep, would alone suffice in the end to draw the attention of all the sheep-holders in the colony to the improvement and perfection of the wool of their flocks. This is happily a much easier task at present than at the period when Mr. Mac Arthur first entered on the system of crossing. At that epoch there were few sheep in the colony, but such as had been introduced from the East Indies, which it is well known are entirely covered with hair. This race, so disgusting in its appearance to Englishmen, has long since disappeared; nor are there any sheep at present, whose wool could be termed actually coa.r.s.e: the wool of the Leicester breed is perhaps the coa.r.s.est that could any where be found. A few years continual crossing with Spanish tups would consequently suffice to cover all the sheep in the colony with fine wool. Three crosses which under a proper system would occupy about six years, would be sufficient, if the government would employ the means at their disposal, to accomplish this great national object. The number of sheep in the month of November last amounted, as it has already been seen, to 170,920; out of which, as I have just stated, 10,000 are of the pure Spanish breed or nearly: it may therefore be perceived what an immense exportation of this precious article might take place in a few years, under judicious and politic regulations.

No country in the world is perhaps so well adapted to the growth of fine wool as this colony. There is in its climate alone, a peculiar congeniality for the amelioration of wool, which has been found of itself to occasion in a few years, a very perceptible improvement in the fleeces of the coa.r.s.est description of sheep. Even the East India breed, entirely covered with hair, produce without being crossed with a finer race a progeny, the superiority of whose fleece over that of the parent stock is visible in every remoter generation. This amazing congeniality of climate is supported by local advantages of equal if not greater importance. For hundreds of miles into the interior, the country has been found to be covered with the richest pasturage, and every where intersected with rivulets of the finest water. A constant succession of hill and dale diversifies the whole face of the country, which is so free from timber, that in many places there are thousands of acres without a tree.

The settlements at the Derwent and Port Dalrymple, though situated in a colder climate, and therefore in all probability not equally congenial to the growth of fine wool, afford the same excellent pasture, and contain in every respect besides, the same facilities for the rearing of Spanish sheep, whose fleeces it is reasonable to expect on comparing the climate of these settlements, with that of Saxony, would not degenerate, if the same system which prevails in that country were followed in the management of sheep in this.

Saxony is situated between the 50th and 51st parallels of north lat.i.tude; and Van Diemen's Land, on the northern and southern parts of which these two settlements are formed, between the 41st and 43d degrees of south; so that allowing for the superior coldness of the southern hemisphere, the whole of this island possesses a climate more congenial to the growth of wool, than the finest parts of a country, whose wool exceeds in value that of Spain and Italy. The settlers, however, have not yet opened their eyes to the advantage of having fine woolled flocks, although they have for many years past had but a very limited market for their mutton, and the government there, as at Port Jackson, have made no efforts to turn their attention to this object.

This unaccountable indifference to a matter of such vast political importance, it is to be hoped will at length be followed by a proper degree of attention and encouragement. Among all the various ends proposed by our extended colonial system, none perhaps is more intrinsically worthy the cordial undeviating support of his majesty's government, than the one in question. In twenty years, the extensive exportation which might be effected under proper regulations in this single article, would alone raise the colonists from the point of depression and misery to which they have been reduced, to as high a pitch of affluence and prosperity as is enjoyed by any portion of his majesty's subjects in any quarter of the globe. Before the expiration of that period, I am convinced that they might be enabled to s.h.i.+p for this country, at least a million's worth of fine wool annually; and for the accomplishment of this vast national object, it would not be necessary for this country to expend one far-thing more than is at present _wasted_ in prosecution of a system of mere secondary importance, and having little or no bearing on the eventual prosperity of the colony. It is only by establis.h.i.+ng this prosperity on a solid basis, by encouraging the growth of exports, until they rise to a level with its imports, that it can be converted from an unproductive and ruinous dependency into a profitable and important appendage. Whenever it shall have attained this point of advancement, whenever it shall have acquired an independence in its resources, then, and not before, will it begin to answer the real ends of all colonization, the extension of the commerce and rescurces of the empire. Then like some vast river of the ocean, will it pour back its majestic stream into the bosom of its parent flood, and contribute to the circulation and salubrity of its bounteous author.

Among the various remaining articles of export, which the colony is capable of producing, and to which the industry of its inhabitants might be gradually attracted, the last two that I shall specify, are the vine and the olive. These, indeed, with the various productions which I have already named, are capable of such vast extension, as to be fully adequate to absorb all the energies of the colonists for many years to come, whatever may be the increase in their numbers. To mention, therefore, the endless less important productions to which the climate and soil of this colony are equally congenial, would only be to perplex their choice, and to divert, perhaps, their industry into less productive channels. It would be superfluous to dwell upon the happy results that would attend the general introduction and culture of these two productions, both with reference to them as articles of internal consumption and exportation; since it is well known how materially they contribute to the comfort and affluence of the countries which are blessed with them. I shall, therefore, only just mention that the greatest facilities have been lately afforded for their general culture by the same gentleman who first introduced the Spanish sheep into the colony; and that there is only now wanting the fostering hand of the government to occasion their further propagation.

One of the most efficacious measures that could be adopted, as well for their general introduction, as for that of the various other valuable productions before enumerated, would perhaps be the establishment of a colonial plantation, in which a certain number of the most enterprizing youths might be instructed in their culture and preparation. This inst.i.tution might, I am convinced, be founded under a proper system without occasioning any considerable expence. The first step to be taken would of course be the selection of a fit allotment of ground, which ought to be granted to trustees, according to the usual forms of law.

These should consist of a certain number of gentlemen of consideration in the colony, who would consent to hold this office as an honorary one, without any view to private emolument, and for the mere sake of promoting the public weal. To place this inst.i.tution near the capital, Sydney, where the greater part of the land is already located, and besides of a very indifferent quality, ought not, by any means, to be attempted, not only for these reasons, but also because the youth, whom it would be the main object of this inst.i.tution to train up to economical and laborious pursuits, would run the risk of contracting the vicious habits, and falling into the excesses of that town; a probability which a removal to a proper distance from that sink of iniquity, would effectually provide against. The most eligible situation, perhaps, for the establishment of this highly important inst.i.tution would be some fertile spot in the cow pastures, which, as it has been already mentioned, are injudiciously reserved for the use of the wild cattle, notwithstanding that they have nearly disappeared.

The only two individuals who have grants of land in this district are Messrs. Mac Arthur and Davison; and my recommendation that this inst.i.tution should be formed in the same district, is not more influenced by the fertility of its soil than by the contiguity which it would in this case possess to the former gentleman's estate; a contiguity, which would enable him frequently to visit it, and to afford the director of it such information as could not fail to contribute very materially to its progress and success. It must be quite unnecessary for me to dwell on the importance of confiding the superintendence of such an establishment to some one, who might be duly qualified for the discharge of the duties that would be attached to it. Perhaps the government would act wisely, if my suggestion on this head should be deemed worthy of attention, in selecting for this office an intelligent person from the South of France, who has been accustomed to the culture of the vine and the olive. These with tobacco, hemp, and flax, are the objects to which, I am of opinion the attention of such an inst.i.tution would be most beneficially applied. And if, as is not improbable, it should be found impracticable to procure a person acquainted with the culture and preparation of all these various productions, it would not be difficult to discover among the colonists themselves men of good character possessing the knowledge in which he might be deficient, and who might be a.s.signed him as a.s.sistants, but still placed under his direction and control. The encouragement which I consider should be held out to the director, as well as to his subordinate agents, ought not to consist of stipulated salaries, which might superinduce lethargy, and prevent them from contributing their utmost to the success of the establishment, but of a certain proportion of the clear profits of the concern, after the deduction of all contingent expences. What I conceive this proportion ought to be, I will hereafter specify, as also the manner in which I would distribute the remainder. The subjects which I propose for immediate consideration are: 1st, The manner in which this inst.i.tution might be founded; 2dly, The number and description of the candidates to be admitted, with the manner of their occupation; and, lastly, the nature of the encouragement to be accorded them.

The means necessary for this undertaking must be unavoidably supplied by the government. "The Police Fund" is so burdened with charges of one sort or another, that I fear it would prove of itself inadequate to the completion of this measure; although there can be no doubt, that most of the ends to which this fund is at present devoted are of but subordinate utility, and might be very advantageously postponed to the object under consideration. The erection of the different buildings that would be immediately required for the various incipient purposes of this inst.i.tution, and the supply of its inmates with provisions and the requisite implements of husbandry during the first eighteen months of its establishment, after which period I consider they would be fully able to administer in these respects to their own wants, would be the princ.i.p.al expences to be incurred. About 6000 would suffice for these objects; while, in return, its operation would gradually extend itself to every district, would develope and bring to maturity various exportable commodities, which are as yet lying in embryo, and which this country does not possess in any of her colonies; and, in fine, would be more sensibly felt, and become more extensively beneficial, in proportion to its own progressive march towards perfection.

Secondly, With respect to the number of candidates to be admitted, they ought perhaps, in the first instance, to be limited to fifty, although they might, and indeed ought to be subsequently increased to not fewer than two hundred. More than those in the commencement, before a due degree of order and economy could be introduced, would undoubtedly create confusion and an unnecessary augmentation of expence. Fifty are as many as I conceive could be advantageously occupied for the first two or three years. It must, however, be obvious, that the capability of this inst.i.tution for the reception and profitable employment of a greater number of pupils, would very materially depend on the director, and be, in a great measure, accelerated or r.e.t.a.r.ded by his ability or incompetency for a due discharge of his duties.

As to the description of these candidates, it would, I consider, be proper that they should consist of young men born in the colony, or who may have come to it with their parents; that they should not exceed eighteen years of age, nor be under fifteen; that they should be of docile tempers and regular habits, which points should be ascertained previously to their admittance; and that their parents or guardians should bind them apprentice for the s.p.a.ce of four years to the trustees or directors of this establishment for the time being, during which period they should renounce all control over them whatever.

I will not here pretend to prescribe all the various modes of occupation which it might be proper to allot them; I have already enumerated those productions, the culture of which I conceive might be most advantageously taught and disseminated by means of this inst.i.tution. Others, however, of equal and perhaps greater utility, may be hereafter suggested by persons more conversant with the situation and interests of the colony, and ought unquestionably, if there be any such, to become identified with those which I have specified. Whatever may be the decision of more competent judges than myself on this subject, I may perhaps confidently venture to recommend, that the pupils should be divided into cla.s.ses, that each of these should be instructed in a particular sort of culture at a time; and that upon the attainment of a thorough knowledge how to cultivate and prepare any one article, and not before, their attention should be directed to some other, and so on, till the expiration of their several apprentices.h.i.+ps. It would be proper also to allow their parents or guardians the selection of the occupations in which they might wish their children or wards to be instructed, in so far at least, as such occupations might be compatible with any of the purposes of the inst.i.tution.

And lastly, with reference to the nature and extent of the encouragements to be accorded to the pupils, I would recommend, in order that their energies might be stretched to the greatest possible point of extension, that six eighths of the net annual profits arising from their labours should be set apart, and remain in the hands of the trustees, for their sole use and benefit; and that on their retiring from this inst.i.tution, the acc.u.mulated amount should be equally divided among them, both to secure their successful establishment in life, and to render the knowledge which they may have severally acquired, of permanent benefit to the community. I would also recommend that the accounts both of the expenditure and profits of the inst.i.tution should be annually submitted to the trustees for their approval, and afterwards printed and distributed among the pupils, not only for the purpose of provoking inquiry into their accuracy, and obtaining that rectification in case of error, which it might be difficult to effect after the lapse of five years; but also with a view to bring home to their understandings, and to convince them beyond the possibility of doubt, of the benefits which they may have derived from their past labours; a conviction that would prove the most cordial incentive, the most powerful lever which could be applied to their future industry and exertion. I would lastly recommend, that the quant.i.ty of land, and indeed that the encouragements of every kind which the government are in the habit of granting to the ordinary cla.s.s of settlers, should be increased in a two-fold proportion to the pupils of this inst.i.tution; but as it evidently would not be expedient or equitable that those who might habitually violate the regulations to be made for the good government of this little community, should receive on the one hand an equal recompence with those whose conduct might have always been regular and exemplary, or that they should be deprived on the other of their quota of the emoluments that might acc.u.mulate during the period of their apprentices.h.i.+ps, I would suggest, in order to mark that due gradation which in every well regulated society must necessarily exist in the scale of rewards to be accorded to such as may be subordinate or refractory,--industrious, or idle; that these latter encouragements should only be extended in this double ratio to those who might quit the establishment with a certificate of good conduct from the director.

With regard to the allowance to be made the gentleman to whom the directors.h.i.+p might be confided, I should imagine that one eighth of the clear profits arising from the inst.i.tution, would be a most liberal compensation for his trouble and attention, and that the remaining eighth would be an equally handsome provision for the whole of his a.s.sistants: one of whom would be required for the superintendence and instruction of each of the cla.s.ses into which it might be determined that the pupils should be divided.

Such are the princ.i.p.al measures which are essential to the revival of the agricultural prosperity. I will now briefly notice the various restrictions with which the commercial interests have been not less injudiciously fettered, and the removal of which is of the highest importance to the progress and welfare of the colony. These may be divided into two heads, duties and disabilities; and first, with reference to the duties with which the various articles of export that the colonists possess or procure, have been shackled by the successive governors. The duties in question are enumerated in the following schedule, and are levied upon the undermentioned articles, whether they are intended for home consumption or for exportation, in which latter case it will be seen that some few of them are even doubled.

On each ton of sandal wood 2 10 0 On each ton of pearl sh.e.l.ls 2 10 0 On each ton of beche la mer 5 0 0 On each ton of sperm oil 2 10 0 On each ton of black whale or other oil 2 0 0 On each fur seal skin 0 0 1 On each hair ditto 0 0 0 On each kangaroo ditto 0 0 0 On cedar or other timber from Shoal-haven, or any other part of the coast or harbours of New South Wales (Newcastle excepted, as the duties are already prescribed there) when not supplied by government labourers, for each solid foot -010 For every twenty spars from New Zealand or elsewhere100On timber in log or plank from New Zealand, or elsewhere, for each solid foot 0 1 0 For each ton of coals from Newcastle for home consumption 0 2 6 Ditto if exported 0 5 0 For each thousand square feet of timber for home consumption 3 0 0 Ditto if exported 6 0 0

That all these duties should be levied on these different articles, in as far as they may be consumed in the colony, may be highly expedient; but that they should be equally levied on exportation, and in two of the most material instances doubled, is so manifestly absurd, that it must be quite superfluous to dilate on the subject. It is a system of policy which it may be safely a.s.serted is unknown in any other part of the world; and nothing but the indubitable certainly of its existence would convince any rational person that it could ever have entered into the contemplation of any one intrusted with the government of a colony. These duties have had the effect which might have been expected from them; they have in most instances amounted to actual prohibitions. Their operation, indeed, has been found so burdensome and oppressive, that the colonial merchants have frequently pet.i.tioned the local government for relief; but no attention whatever has been paid to their repeated representations and remonstrances. Had it not been for the duties on coals and timber, some hundred tons of these valuable natural productions would have been exported annually to the Cape of Good Hope and India; since the vessels which have been in the practice of trading between those countries and the colony have always returned in ballast; and the owners or consignees would, therefore, have gladly s.h.i.+pped cargoes of timber or coals, if they could have derived the most minute profit from the freight of them. This observation holds good in a great measure with respect to the various other articles which have been enumerated: the exportation of the whole has been greatly circ.u.mscribed by the same ridiculous and vexatious system of impost. It can hardly be credited that the veriest sciolist in political economy could have been guilty of such a palpable deviation from its fundamental principles; but it is still more unaccountable, that a succession of governors should have pertinaciously adhered to a system of finance so absurd and monstrous.

Highly injurious, however, as are the duties which are levied in the colony, they are not nearly so oppressive as those which are levied in this country, on spermaceti, right whale, and elephant oils procured in vessels built in the colony. The duties on the importation of such oil into this country, are 24 18s. 9d. for the first sort, and 8 6s. 3d. for the two last.

If we add to these enormous duties those which are levied by the authority of the local government, it will be perceived that all the spermaceti oil procured by the colonial vessels has to pay a duty of 28 8s. 9d. and all the right whale and elephant oil a duty of 10 6s. 3d. before it can come into compet.i.tion with the oil of the same description procured in vessels built in the united kingdom. It has, however, been seen, that the colonists, propelled not less by that spirit of enterprize which distinguishes Englishmen in every quarter of the globe, than by the desire of finding profitable employment for that large portion of unoccupied labour, of which I have hastily pointed out the causes and march for the last fifteen years, have frequently attempted, notwithstanding these overwhelming prohibitions, to carry on these fisheries, but always without success; and that the valuable fishery of right whales which the river Derwent affords at a particular season, is now only resorted to, in order to procure the trifling supply of oil which is requisite for the East India market and for internal consumption. All attempts to export oil to this country have been for many years abandoned; since the trade could only be maintained at a dead loss, as the ruinous experience of many of the colonial merchants has abundantly attested. The reason why these enormous duties were imposed on oil procured in the colonial vessels is not generally understood here, but it is universally known in the colony; and the knowledge has materially tended to increase the dissatisfaction which the imposition of such duties would of itself, to a certain extent, have naturally excited. The act which authorizes these duties, is one of those smuggled acts by which, to the disgrace of our legislature, the welfare and happiness of helpless unprotected thousands have been so frequently sacrificed on the shrine of individual avarice or ambition. It originated in a certain great mercantile house extensively concerned in the South Sea fisheries, and could never have been pa.s.sed, had there been a single person in either house of parliament, at all interested in the prosperity of this colony. This act, indeed, is such a terrible deviation, such a monstrous exception to the usual policy of this country with respect to the fisheries, that it carries with itself the strongest internal evidence of its polluted origin. No such restrictions had ever before been imposed on any of our colonies, as will be sufficiently evident, if we compare the duties which are levied in this country on oils procured in the vessels belonging to the colonies in North America and the West Indies, with those which are levied on oils procured in the vessels fitted out from the united kingdom. These duties are as follow:

*Train oil, the produce of fish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught by the crew of a British built vessel, wholly owned by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in Great Britain, Ireland, or the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, registered and navigated according to law, and imported in any such s.h.i.+pping, per ton 0 8 3

[* See Pope's Practical Abridgment of the Laws of Customs and Excise, etc. etc. t.i.tle 246.]

Train oil, the produce of fish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught on the banks and sh.o.r.es of the island of Newfoundland and parts adjacent, wholly by his majesty's subjects carrying on such fishery from that island, and residing therein, and exported directly from thence in a British built s.h.i.+p or vessel, registered and navigated according to law, per ton 1 4 11

Train oil, the produce of fish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught wholly by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in any of the Bahama or Bermudas islands, or in any British plantation in North America, and imported in a British built vessel, registered and navigated according to law, per ton 3 6 6

Train oil, the produce of fish, or creatures living in the sea, taken and caught wholly by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in any other British plantation, territory, or settlement, and imported in a British built vessel, registered and navigated according to law, per ton 8 6 3

Spermaceti oil, or head matter, taken and caught by the crew of a British built vessel, wholly owned by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in Great Britain, Ireland, and the islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, or Man, registered and navigated according to law, and imported in any such vessel, per ton 0 8 3

Spermaceti oil, or head matter, taken and caught on the banks and sh.o.r.es of the island of Newfoundland and parts adjacent, wholly by his majesty's subjects carrying on such fishery from that island, and residing therein, and imported directly from thence in a British built vessel registered and navigated according to law, per ton 1 4 11

Spermaceti oil, or head matter, taken and caught wholly by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in any of the Bahama or Bermudas islands, or in any British plantation in North America, and imported in a British built vessel, registered and navigated according to law, per ton 4 19 9

Spermaceti oil, or head matter, taken and caught wholly by his majesty's subjects, usually residing in any other British plantation, territory, or settlement, and imported in a British built vessel, registered and navigated according to law, per ton 24 18 9

From the foregoing statement it will be perceived that the duty levied on train oil, or spermaceti oil, or head-matter procured by the inhabitants of Newfoundland, is precisely the same, and only three times the amount of _that_ which is levied on the same substances procured by British subjects residing in the united kingdom; and that the duty levied on oil, procured by British subjects residing in the Bahama, or Bermudas islands, or in the plantations in North America, is only _eight_ times the amount on train oil, and _twelve_ times the amount on spermaceti oil or head-matter, of _that_ which is levied on the same substances taken by British subjects residing within the united kingdom. While on the other hand, the duty levied on oil procured _in any other colony_; (for mark, the contrivers of this act had sufficient cunning not to particularize the unfortunate colony against which it was levied) is _twenty times greater_ on train oil, and oh, _monstrous injustice!_ upwards of _sixty times_ greater on spermaceti oil, or head-matter, than _that_ which is levied on similar substances taken by British subjects residing within the limits of the united kingdom. The duty, therefore, which is payable on train oil procured in vessels belonging to this colony is _nearly seven times_ greater than _that_ which is payable on the same description of oil taken in vessels belonging to the island of Newfoundland, and _considerably more than double that_ which is payable on it, when taken in vessels belonging to the Bahama or Bermudas islands, or to the plantations in North America; while the duty which is levied on spermaceti oil, or head-matter, procured in vessels belonging to this colony, is _five times_ the amount of _that_ which is levied on such oil or head-matter, when taken in vessels belonging to the Bahama, or Bermudas islands, or to the plantations in North America; and _twenty times_ the amount of _that_ which is levied on similar substances when taken in vessels belonging to Newfoundland. This very unequal proportion which the duties levied on these two sorts of oil, if procured by the inhabitants of this colony, bear to each other when compared with the duties which are levied on the same substances if procured by the inhabitants of any of the foregoing colonies or plantations, furnishes an additional proof, were any required, of the correctness of my a.s.sertions with respect to the origin of the act by which they were imposed. The house who were the authors of it, could not consistently get the duty on one description of oil raised, without at the same time admitting the necessity for raising the duty on the other; but as they were not interested in the right whale fishery, they were only anxious to prevent the colonists of New South Wales from embarking in the sperm whale fishery; and could they have accomplished this object without running the risk of discovering the covert aim of the act in its progress through parliament, they would have gladly compromised this point with them, and have left the right whale fishery open to them on the same conditions as it was before the enactment of this bill. To have evinced, however, any such tolerant inclination might have betrayed their design, and accordingly the colonists were debarred from both the fisheries; for notwithstanding that regular gradation has by no means been adhered to in the imposition of these duties, which had been previously observed in the scale of the duties levied in the other colonies or plantations, they have in both instances been more than sufficient to const.i.tute actual prohibitions.

That any superiority of privilege whatever should have been conceded by the legislature of this country, in the various acts which have been pa.s.sed for the encouragement of the fisheries, to British subjects residing within the limits of the united kingdom, is at best a manifest injustice to such of her subjects as inhabit the colonies; but yet so long as this partiality was confined within any reasonable bounds, it would not have excited any considerable feeling of dissatisfaction. That there should, however, be any gradation in the scale of duties to be levied on any description of merchandise procured or produced in the colonies themselves, is a system which it is impossible to reconcile with any principle of justice or policy. Still so long as this disproportion of impost, however unwise and unjust, did not become so burdensome and oppressive as to confine this branch of commerce, whatever it might be, to the privileged colony or colonies, some palliation might be offered by its advocates for its continuance, although the warmest of them would not be able to attempt its vindication. But that any one colony should be utterly excluded from privileges freely accorded to another, is such a monstrous stretch of tyrannical partiality, that it never could have been deliberately discussed in a free government, and must therefore have been contrived by the secret machinations of private avarice and corruption.

Can any reason be adduced why British subjects residing in one colony, should be excluded from the whale fisheries more than British subjects residing in another? Why vessels built in Canada, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, or the Bahama islands, should possess a privilege denied to vessels built in New Holland or Van Diemen's Land? The whale fishery is not more contiguous to the inhabitants of the former colonies than to those of the latter; yet every encouragement is afforded for the carrying on of the one, and every obstacle thrown in the way of the successful prosecution of the other. Why such a broad line of distinction is drawn, it is impossible to divine; since the disability which is the consequence of it, is not only not in furtherance of any of the ends contemplated by the navigation act,* but in diametrical opposition to the whole of them. This will be evident if we refer to its preamble, and to a few of its prominent provisions.

"Whereas for the increase of s.h.i.+pping and encouragement of the navigation of this nation, wherein under the good providence and protection of G.o.d, the wealth, safety, and strength of this kingdom is so much concerned; it is enacted that no goods, or commodities whatsoever, shall be imported into, or exported out of any lands, islands, plantations or territories to his Majesty belonging, or in his possession, or which may hereafter belong unto or be in the possession of his Majesty in Asia, Africa, or America, in any other vessels whatsoever, but in such vessels as do truly and without fraud belong only to the people of England, Ireland, or are of the built of and belonging to any of the said lands, islands, plantations, or territories as the proprietors and right owners thereof, and whereof the master and three-fourths of the mariners at least are English, under the penalty of the forfeiture and loss of all the goods and commodities which shall be imported into, or exported out of any the aforesaid places, in any other vessel, as also of the vessel with all its tackle," etc. From this, which is the princ.i.p.al clause of the act, it clearly appears that British subjects in whatever part of the empire they may happen to reside, are ent.i.tled to precisely the same privileges, and that vessels built in any of her colonies are to all intents and purposes to be deemed of British built, in the same manner and on the same terms and conditions as if they had been built within the limits of the united kingdom, i. e. so long as the master and three fourths of the crew are British subjects. That this admission to a perfect equality of privilege, was and is still the intent not only of the navigation act, but of all the leading acts of navigation which have been pa.s.sed since, we shall be still further satisfied, if we trace them in their whole progress to the present hour. It will not, however, be necessary to extend our examination either way beyond the great registry act pa.s.sed in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of his present majesty, cap.

60. "By this act very considerable alteration was made in the whole concern of registering s.h.i.+pping, with a view of securing to s.h.i.+ps of the _built_ of this country, a preference and superiority which they had not enjoyed so completely before. The plan of regulation then proposed to parliament was the result of an inquiry and deliberation of great length before the committee of Privy Council for the Affairs of Trade and Plantations; and that inquiry was commenced and carried on, and the measure at length decided upon princ.i.p.ally by the exertion and perseverance of the late Earl of Liverpool."** What vessels are still deemed in this careful and elaborate revision of the navigation code to be of _British built_, may be seen from the first clause of this act, which ordains "that no vessels _foreign built_ (except such vessels as have been, or shall hereafter be taken by any of his Majesty's vessels of war, or by any private, or other vessel, and condemned as lawful prize in any court of admiralty) nor any vessel built or rebuilt upon any foreign-made keel or bottom, in the manner heretofore practised and allowed, although owned by British subjects, and navigated according to law, shall be any longer ent.i.tled to any of the privileges or advantages of a _British built s.h.i.+p_, or of a s.h.i.+p owned by British subjects, and all the said privileges and advantages shall hereafter be confined to _such s.h.i.+ps only_ as are _wholly of the built_ of Great Britain or Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, or of some of the plantations, islands, or territories in Asia, Africa, or America, which now belong, or at the time of building such vessels did belong, or which _may hereafter belong to_ or be in the possession of his Majesty; provided always, that nothing hereinbefore contained shall extend to prohibit such foreign built vessels only as before the 1st of May, 1786, did truly and without fraud wholly belong to any of the people of Great Britain or Ireland, Guernsey, Jersey, and the Isle of Man, or of some of the plantations, etc. etc." Here then we have cited the _two leading clauses_ in the _tw