The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-05 00:00:00

EVI:4INING D r LION.

LITERAT URE.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA. containing the HISTORY
if the RISE. PROGRk;SS, and PRESENT
STATE of the COLONY, _HINTS to EilIl•
GRANTS, 6-c. ke.

BY HENRY CAPPER.
Hailes, Leadenhall-street.
Eight years ago a number of gentlemen formed them-
! selves into a Committee for the purpose of founding a
colony in this part of the vast island of Australia, com-
prehending the two great divisions formerly called New
Holland and New South Wales ; and in 1834'a Com-
pany was established, having the same objects in view.
The peculiar principles on which it was founded were
to create a revenue by the sale of the waste and unap-
propriated land of the province of South Australia ; to
employ the whole of the revenue thus created as an
emigration fund ; and to fix the price of waste land at a
rate which would secure the requisite supply of hired
labour for its cultivation. An Act of Parliament was
also passed for erecting the southern portion of the
island into a British Province, declaring that the whole
of the funds arising from the sale of lands and the rent
of pasturage should be employed in affording a free
passage to the colony for poor persons, " provided they
shall, as far as possible, be adult persons of both sexes,
in equal proportions, and not exceeding thirty years of
age," Since that period the colony has made
considerable progress ; and, according to a report
read at a meeting of the South Australian Company on
Tuesday, it appeared that emigrants are flocking out in
great numbers, not only from the British Isles, but from
other parts of Europe, and from other Australian colo-
nies ; that there was a general satisfaction expressed
by the settlers as regarded the soil and climate, and as
the best proof of the success of 'the colony it stated that
the land in the neighbourhood of Adelaide was realising
from 1001. to 1,0001. per acre. We believe this rapid
rise in the value of lnaded property in a new colony is
unexampled, though it may be attributed to well-known
causes—among others to the goodness of the sod, and to
the possession of the settlement lying between the old
established colonies of Van Diemen's and New South
Wales, and the new settlement of Swan River, and
distant not more than from twenty to thirty days' sail
from Java, and many of the adjacent islands. The
principle on which this colony is founded is good, and if
carried honestly and fully into effect may establish a to-
tally new system of colonization. It in fact creates a
fund for carrying out poor emigrants, from the
sale of Crown lands, which cost the Crown nothing,
It has been objected to the system that it encourages
persons with a little capital to emigrate, but those will
always emigrate to places where they can lay it out to
more advantage than in this country, and this plan, of
which we believe Colonel Torrens is the author, coun-
teracts to a great extent the evil, by providing for the
free passage for persons without capital, who must la-
bour here for Bs. and 10s. a week, and not unfrequently
are compelled to apply for parish relief. Mr. Capper's
book contains much useful information on these sub-
jects, and is drawn up with considerable care. We
recommend " Hints to Emigrants" to all concerned.
CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS.

(From the Morning Herald.)
The following is a comparative statement, showing the
proportion of convictions to commitments, for the offences
herein stated, during the twenty-eight years from 1810 to
1837 inclusive ; and in the year 1838, when the punish-
ment of death had become restricted to the most atrocious
cases of these crimes :