The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-25 00:00:00

THE AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.

Sir J. PAKINGTON hoped the house would not consider
that he trespassed upon their time, or that any apology
was necessary from him, when he now begged permission
to call their attention to the condition of our Australian
colonies, and to the policy which appeared to him right to
be adopted by the Imperial Government towards those
colonies under the extraordinary and unexpected circum-
stances in which they had been placed. Since he had had
the honour of a seat in that house, he had never observed
that there had been any unwillingness on the part of the
house to give attention to colonial affairs when brought be-
fore them. On the contrary, he thought that all persons
interested in colonial affairs must admit that for some
years past there had been a growing inclination on the
part of the house to give attention to that subject, and
there was no part of the colonial dominions of her Majesty
which had excited greater interest, either among hon.
members or in the country generally, than the colonies
situated in Australia. These colonies had been always free
from the difficulties which had occurred in the case of de-
pendencies of the Crown acquired by conquest ; they had
been peopled entirely by emigrants going from these
islands; their career had been one of very great prosperity;
they had had the advantage of a remarkably favourable
climate, upon several occasions they had attracted the at-
tention of that house. No longer ago than last session the b.
house had devoted very considerable attention to the affairs_
of the colony of New Zealand when brought before them,
and in 1850 the Government and both houses of Parliament
devoted verygreat time to arranging the constitution for the
colonies of Australia, unconscious at that time of the im-
portant discoveries which were then impending in those
colonies. Towards the close of the year 1850 those extra-
, ordinary discoveries of gold took place which had brought
about a new state of things in that country, which had
stimulated the prosperity of the country to a most remark-
able extent, which had led to a very extensive increase in

its population—emigrants from these islands and from
other parts of the world—and whatever interest might
have been felt by Parliament and this nation generally in
the Australian colonies previously must have been, and had
been, very greatly increased by those discoveries. There
were no statistics which enabled him to state what had
been the exact amount of gold which these colonies had
produced, but he believed he should not overrate the extent
of the discovery of the precious metal in the short period of
one year that had elapsed, if he said that not less than
10,000,0001. sterling had been produced from these colonies
in that time. Of course, this immense discovery had caused
a great rush of the population of this country to those
colonies, and had greatly tended to conduce to their mate-
rial prosperity. But he wished to guard himself against
any intention, either of exaggerating the state of pros-
perity which these discoveries had led to, or of stimulat-
ing emigration from this country. On the contrary, it
seemed to him very desirable that the truth should be
known in this respect—(hear, hear) —it was very desirable
that it should be generally known that, so far from emi-
grants having met with universal success, they had in many
cases had to encounter very great suffering and very great
misfortunes. He did not now refer to the very great sick-
ness and mortality which had prevailed, he was sorry to
say, on board some of the emigrant ships in the course of
last year. This was a subject to which the attention of
Parliament had been called, and, which was well worthy
the attention of the Government. (Hear.) But, irres-
pective of the sufferings which prevailed on board those
ships, the emigrants had landed in a state of very groat
Sickness and very great privation, and found they were
unable to contend with the fatigues and hardships which
the gold mines involved. Great sickness had followed the
pursuit of the precious metal, and in many cases the emi-
grants found they were destined to return without the re-
alisation of those expectations in which they had indulged.
He had no intention of saying anything either to stimulate
unduly, or unduly to discourage the emigration which
flowed from this country towards these attractive colonies.
It was the misfortune of the late Government to hold
office during the yeir when the first effect of these
extraordinary discoveries upon the colonies in which
they took place began to be felt. It was during last
year that the full effect of the discovery of gold, with its
increased prosperity and its rapidly increasing population,
was felt throughout those colonies and this country. He
must simply say that in his endeavour to discharge the
duties of the arduous post in the late Government which it
was his fortune to hold, nothing gave him more anxiety
than that the remarkable crisis which had arisen should be
met in a generous, liberal, wise spirit, calculated to pro-
mote the interest both of the colonies and of the mother
country. His object therefore was on this occasion to state
—and he meant to state it in no boastful spirit—the policy
which the late Ministry thought it their duty to adopt
with regard to the future government of these colonies, and
to call, in no spirit of distrust or suspicion, upon the Go,
vernment of which the noble lord was the leader in that
house to state whether or not it was their intention for the
future to pursue the policy. which their predecessors had
commenced, or, if they intended to deviate from that
policy, to state what would be the extent and nature of
their deviation. In taking this course heiashstooulrydonfotthdesee-
tain the house by entering into the early
Australian colonies. The house was well aware that the
colony of New South Wales was originally entirely a con-
vict colony. He begged leave to show the house the rapid
progress of New South Wales from the period when it
might be said to have ceased to be altogether a convict
colony. In the year 1830 the imports into the colony of
New South Wales amounted to 420 480/ , and the exports
to 141,461/. the
epopapssetuadtion colony in that year
blneintghasts,o;:±r. the imports
in-
creased to 1,333,413/., and the e
oveorf2os.eywexarpso,rt
t0t.whea11Ye:3357,7841.
Soutthsh
showed( He (Hear.) r .) a
veryH e thought the house would admiot_thattetribial
prosperity. great and very rapid increase r
The gold discoveries took place towards the
close of the year 1851, and the imports in that year had
risen to 1,563,9311., and the exports to 1,796,9121., while
the population, which in 1830 was only 55,000 had
in-
creased to 197,163--in round numbers, 200,000. The im-
ports in 1851 amounted to Si., and the exports to about
91., per head of the population. This was a rate of p ros
perity which, he believed, had hardly been equalled bY:
any other community. A still more extraordinary increase
,i
had, however, taken place in the colony of Victoria.
et,sß2:
18 years ago that colony was an untouched wilderness--
not not a single civilised European settler had then
o_d
allow him
him-
self in that great colony. But the house al
perhaps
oftocsetanstreanuoptobnerthfaects,tawtehisinche9he inmeviphtoimonietdrwofietrreh ndo,
but rather with the object of showing
.th
these
great
foresight and wisdom had to do insoremale
anxious to
Aestobultisthhes
it
the Government of the day on the subject,
ys ee tafl el!! 4n, ta t o tipersons
Philip,
L, Tioapplied
rhdo A wbeetonr
•
dweiconte who
ispwasstoht,then
who
wtassheerheedeoadwededotfhuetphnheoybColeauleooarnthilal,einr-owf.ath.,
ten by Lord Glenelg,
be owe
of which
ll ddiestparthtesPihitwllwp_aso suttatetdsutehhat
anosesetttltleemmertt could
would
atiwhichn ofwas
thoserather e
o It:.
the population
n g th t it would involve expense, and not be worth the
tlathnetopoelixctey
extend
concentrateb opposed
s
Ze of this country. Happily for the colony, the British
enterprise and spirit had anticipated the decision of those
statesmen. Before their answers were received, some `vac
tive and energetic men had established themselves at Port
Philip. That was in 1835. In 1845—only 10 years half*

ing passed away—the imports into that settlement amounted
to 248,000/. the exports to 464,0001., and the popula-
tion to 28,000.' In 1851, only 6 years afterwards, the im-
ports had arisen to 1,056,0001., the exports had risen to
1,423,0001., and the figures of the. population were re-
versed—for instead of being 28,000 it had increased, to
82,000.. This was the rapid increase of the _colony. of Vic -
toria, which Lord Glenelg and the Earl of
.Aberdeen—
and_
he was willing to admit that, had he been in their po-
sition, he should probably have arrived at the same deci-
sion as they did—were unwilling to consent to establish.
He now called the attention of the house to what
had been the immediate effect of the discoveries of
gold upon the material prosperity of this colony. He asked
leave to compare the revenue of Victoria for the quarter
ending June 30, 1851, with the corresponding quarter of
1852. For the quarter ending June 30, 1851, the revenue
of Victoria amounted to 35,994/. ; that was the general
revenue. For the same quarter in 1852 the general revenue
had increased to 98,4561., being an increase of .62,4621. The
Crown revenue in the same quarter of 1851 amounted to
87,8741. ; in the corresponding quarter of 1852 it was
]86,5791., showing an increase of 98,7051., and a total in-
crease of 161,1671. In a few months the population' which
in 1851 was 82,000, had risen to 120,000—a result of the
enormous influx of immigrants. This would show the
house the extraordinary progress of the colony of Victoria,
and would show that the state of those colonies was such
as to require the consideration of the late Government.
What had been the amount of emigration (luring the last
few years? In 1849 the emigration from this country to
Australia amounted to 32;191 persons ; in 1850, 16,037 ; in
1851, 21,532 ; while last year (1852) it was not less than
87,434. In considering what ought to be the policy of the
Government towards these colonies, the late Government
considered themselves bound to meet them in a confiding,
trusting, and liberal spirit. They thought that the Go-
vernment, living at a distance, could not judge of their
affairs and their expenditure so well as the colonists them-
selves ; and that they ought to place that confidence in
them which, as Englishmen, accustomed to the institu-
tions of this country, they were so well entitled to possess.
The late Government was strengthened in this determina-
tion by that honourable development of the national cha-
racter which had taken place under such extraordinary
circumstances. He should not do his duty if he did not
point out to the attention of Parliament the most creditable
and honourable manner in which the thousands engaged in
mining in Australia had conducted themselves up to the pre-
sent time. So sudden was the change that the local Exe-
cutive were unprepared with the means of maintaining
order, but both in the gold fields of New'South Wales and
Victoria the general conduct of the people had been most
orderly and creditably. Notwithstanding the temptations
around them, the Sunday had been rigidly and properly
observed, and Divine worship had not been neglected. -Up
to last autumn the Government of Victoria had no troops,
except 50 soldiers belonging to a regiment of the line.
They had no barracks ; they were billeted in the town of
Melbourne ; yet it was a fact highly honourable to the
British army that up to the time when he (Sir J. Faking-
ton) left office he had not heard of a single instance of de-
sertion among the handful of men thus employed near
these boundless fields of exertion. (Hear, hear.) In June
last, considering the expense to which the local Govern-
ment must necessarily be placed by the discovery of the
Victoria goldfields, the late Government determined to
place at the disposal of the local Government the revenue
arising from the gold discoveries. Accordingly, in June,
he sent out a dispatch, in which he announced that the
revenue derived from tho gold was to be regulated by the
local Legislature, and expended by them. Just after the
dispatch in question went out a petition arrived from New
South Wales which attracted great attention, and which
was presented to the House of Lords by the Duke of
Argyll. .The petition was a recapitulation. of what the
colonists conceived to be their rights, and the demands
they were entitled to make. In June, 1851, the then ex-
piring Legislature, of New South Wales in their last ses-
sion had adopted this declaration and remonstrance.
They were answered by Lord Grey, who refused every one
of the prayers of the petition. In June, 1852, just before
Lord X. Russell went out of office, and within a week of
the refusal of Earl Grey, the new Legislature, elected
under the law of 1850, adopted the same declaration. The
complaints might be stated under five heads. Ihe first
was a complaint of the civil list. The second demanded
that- the lands should be placed under the control of the
local authorities, instead of the Imperial Government.
The third prayed for a reform in the Customs. The
fourth required that the appointment to Government
offices should be left in the hands of the local authorities ;
and the fifth prayed that all legislation upon local subjects
should be finally disposed of by and in the colony. Taking
these topics in their reverse order, he had to remark that
the noble lord (J. Russell) thought it would be possible to
draw a line between those matters which might be banded
over to the final legislation of the local Government and'
those which required the assent of the Crown. The aoble
lord (Lord J. Russell), in his speech in February, 1852,
said :

" Another scheme which has been proposed is that a cer-
tain description of laws adopted by the Colonial Legislatures
should require the assent of the imperial authority, but that
with regard generally to the acts of the Colonial Legislatures,
no sucsanction should be requisite ; and that a line should
be drawn between those laws which require the assent of the
Crown and those which should be enforced without such as-
sent. Now, Sir, Ido not believe that. it is possible to draw
any such distinction."

The noble lord then adduced an instance, and said :
" But I mention this as an instance of the difficulty there
would' be in drawing a precise line, and to show that any at-
tempt to draw such a line would be most likely to raise dis-
putes as to whether a particular law came within or shood
without that line. I believe that any man acquainted with
the administration of the colonies will come to the conclusion
that it is only in rare cases that the authority of the Crown
ought to be interposed, and that with respect to local affairs
the executive and legislative authorities are the best judges.",
Now he (Sir J. Pakington) concurred in these expressiOns,
and as with the noble lord that it would not be possible
to draw such a line. He concurred with Lord Grey also in
thinking that any interference on tho part of the Govern-
ment in disallowing the local acts ought to be of rare occur-
rence ; but if the attempt were made to draw the line be-
tween local and imperial legislation, he thought it would
fail. He should be glad to see, however, some such dis-
tinction established as existed in Parliament between private
and public bills. At present ho thought that no real hard-
ship existed under this head. With regard to the claim
that the patronage should be confined to the colonies, the
late Goiernment thought that, for the sake of the colonies
themselves, it would not be for their benefit to exclude the
introduction of persons from this country who might be
appointed by the Crown to offices of trust and emolument.
The general rule was for the Governor to select persons
among the colonists for poblic employments, and he agreed
with Lord Grey, that it was impossible for the Govern-
ment to recognise any monopoly of a right to such situa-
tions on the part of the inhabitants of New South Wales
as to preclude them from being bestowed on others of
her Majesty's subjects. With respect to the Customs,
Lord Grey had in a great degree met the wishes of the
colonists, and the Customs were now placed on very much
the same footing ac at home. The civil list was in New
South Wales a great grievance. It anNounted to 70,0001.
a-year. Before the civil list was secured by the act of
1850, the Government called upon the colonial legislature
provide a civil list, giving adequate salaries to th princi-
pal officials in that colony, and, the Legislature having met
the wishes of the Government, they were allowed to regu-
late the other salaries subject to existing interests. He
saw in his place the hon. member for Kidderminster (Mr.
Lowe) who was more conversant than almost any other
gentleman with the land question in these colonies. He
believed that the hen. member, while he was a member of
the Colonial Legislature, was a party to the very able cor-
respondence carried on upon both sides between the Legis-
lature of New South Wales and the colonial authorities of
this country with regard to the maintenance or repeal of
tide Land Sales Act. This was a subject of the greatest in-
terest in the colony. The Government of the noble lord
(Lord J. Russell) refused the requests of the colonists with
regard to the management of the land. The colonists had
demanded the management of the land as a right. Upon
this subject Lord Grey said

"It is my duty not to withhold the expression of my de-
cided dissent from the doctrine that the waste lands in New
F,outh Wales, or the revenue derived from them, are 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 late Government agreed in these opinions of Lord
Grey, and felt that it would be impossible to admit as a
matter of. right that which, if admitted, would belong as
folly to the 40,000 inhabitants of Western Australia as to
the 200,000 inhabitants of New South Wales, and which
-would indeed have equally belonged to the first few families
whiCh-settled in a corner of New Zealand. The right to
the waste lands was, in the opinion of the late Government,
vr,sted in the Crown. Lord Grey admitted that it might
Le desirable to transfer the control of the waste lands of
a colony to its local Legislatare • but he thought the time
had not yet come. Herein he differed from Lord Grey.
The late Government:thought. the time had arrived when
the control 9f the waste lands might be transferred to the
local Legisture. Having made similar concessions to
Canada and New Zealand, they had determined to give up
the management of the land to the colony. Parliament,
considering it desirable to secure the means of emigration
to the colony, had determined that half the proceeds of the
land sales should be applied to emigration. That arrange-
iner_t had worked well during the last few years. But in
tilt-, present state of the colony, considering its rapid
increase in population and wealth, it seemed no longer
desirable to continue this allotment; and the late Govern-
ment thought it might, be safely left to the Legislature to
decide at what rate the land should be sold, and to what
Purposes the revenue should be applied. On these grounds
the late Government decided upon making the concession
to the colonies ; but the concession was accompanied with
certain conditions which were not set forth in the dispatch
announcing it. It appeared to the late Government that,
irrespective of recent events, the Australian colonies had
outgrown their original constitution of a single Legislative
Chamber, while their recent rapid advance in material
prosperity made the establishment of a second chamber
more than ever desirable. Seeing that the colonies
hall now the entire control of their own lands, and
considering the large revenues they derived from their
bold—the gold licenses issued in the colony of Vic-
toria produced last year 80,006/. the late Govern-
ment were of opinion that the check of a second chamber
would operate advantageously for the interests of the colo-
nists. The proposition for a second chamber was brought
forward in 1850 by the late Secretary for the Home De-
partment, and defeated by the then Government. It was
a second time advanced, and unsuccessfully, by the right
hon. baronet the member for Southwark, who had long
taken- so much interest in colonial matters that it had
caused him Mr J. Pakington) some surprise to see the
right hon. baronet intrusted with the care of parks and
gardens, and he regretted also to find that the right hon.
baronet was not present on this occasion. [Lord J. Russell
—" He is ill."' Then, he regretted the cause of his absence
more than the absence itself. At that time the general
feeling appeared to be in favour of the establishment of a
second chamber. However, the measure was recommended
to the colonies by the late Government, and it afforded him
great satisfaction to learn that the Legislature of New
South Wales had themselves undertaken to devise a con-
stitution, and that a dispatch was on the road to the Go-
vernment containing a plan for a double chamber, not dif-
fering in any essential respect from that which the late
Governinent sent out and urged them to adopt. (Hear,
hear.) The next point upon which be would venture to
addrty3s a row words to the house was the subject of trans-
PeAf.tion. The present Government had announced,
thr,elgh 'the noble lord opposite and the noble duke at the
to head of the Colonial Department, their intention to adhere
the decision of their predecessors in favour of the cessa-
tion of transportation to all the Australian colonies. The
!tep taken by the late, and confirmed by the present Go-
erernent, was an important one, and the reasons which
induced it hat Pressed been explained. Lord Campbell,
he observed, ade
ton' of-trans his disapproval of the aboli-
portati-on and a similar view of the subject
Nms taken by the
most eminent judges in giving evidence
I;efore Parliaments
rY
d take committee in 1847. In the de-
n place on the subject in that house

he, also, had ventured to express a strong opinion in
favour of transportation, as a .most valuable .secondary
punishment. Nevertheless, he felt bound, in conjunction
with his colleagues in the late Government, to defer to the
determined and all but unanimous feeling of the colonies.
(Hear.) All the Australian colonies, with the exception
of Van Diemen's Leila; unanimously resolved to use every
legitimate means'in'their power to prevent convicts from
being landed on their shores. .In Van Diemen's Land the
employers of labour—suffering from the effiux of popula-
tion consequent on the gold discoveries—were anxious that
transportation should be continued, but the great majority
of the inhabitants of that colony were as much opposed to
it as the inhabitants of the other colonies. -Under these
circumstances the late Government determined to put a
stop to the-system, and he believed the house would be of
opinion that they had determined wisely, They might
have embarked in a struggle with the colonies—they might
have succeeded by force of arms--but the success would
have been disastrous. For the sake of moral considera-
tions at home it was impossible that we could longer look
to transportation as an efficient secondary punishment.
There could be no doubt of the fact that offences were now
committed solely for the purpose of securing to the offen-
ders transportation to Australia. The house would consi-
der this of itself a sufficient reason why the late Govern.
ment adopted the policy of abolishing transportation, and
he was glad to find that the present Government intended
to pursue the same course. He must, however, express.
his earnest hope that the noble lord at the Home-office
would net allow a long time to elapse before he explained
to the house the views of the Government on the subject of
secondary punishments. (Hear.) He had strong opinions
on that subject, and when the proper time arrived he
would probobly take the opportunity of stating what the
views of the late Government were regarding it. If he
understood the noble lord (Lord J. Russell) aright, there
wore to be no convicts sent to Van Diemen's Land
after the ships now engaged. He was happy to find,
however, that the noble lord still intended to send
convicts to Western Australia. The objections to
sending convicts to Van Diemen's Land did not apply
to Western Australia, which was 1,400 or 1,500 miles
from the nearest of our settlements, while the intervening
distance consisted of an almost impassable desert. He
hoped, however, that the Government would not send any
large portion of convicts. (Hear, hear.) With reference
to the secondary punishments, the noble lord and the house
must feel that it would be a serious evil if the country were
kept in a state of uncertainty and suspense as to whatthey
were to consist of, and therefore he trusted no unnecessary
delay would take place in announcing them to the house.
He had now stated his views at length on the important
colonial questions to which he had adverted. The noble
lord was aware that the colonists prayed for concessions
which were refused by him when last in office, but which
had been conceded by the late Government, and he was
therefore entitled to ask what were the views entertained
upon these questions by the present Government. With
reference to one important point affecting Canada, the
noble lord had stated that it was the intention to revert to
the policy 'of Lord Grey. But he hoped the noble lord
Would not revert to the refusal which in 1852 he gave to
certain important concessions, but was resolved in a gene-
ions spirit to meet the wishes of the colonists. He would
here make a short quototion from the speech delivered by
the noble lord on the subject of our colonial policy in 1850.
Tho noble lord said :

" As to governing our colonies, I think we cannot do bet-
ter than refer to those maxims of policy by which our ances-
eors were guided upon this subject. It appears to me that in
providing that wherever Englishmen went they should enjoy
Piglish freedom and have English institutions they acted
justly and wisely. They adopted a course which was calcu-
lated to promote a harmonious feeling between the mother
country and the colonies, and which enabled those who went
out of those distant possessions to sow the seeds of corn-
Munities of which England may always be proud."
Ile had never heard language that he thought more worthy
of the high position of the noble lord than this. When in
dffice he (Sir J. Pakington) had endeavoured to act on the
Principles there laid down, and it was on these principles
lie made the concessions to which he had already adverted.
(Hear, hear.) The late Government felt that there were
thro courses which might have been pursued. They
Alight, resting on the strong arm of imperial power,
have refused these concessions, but they felt that there was
another and a wiser policy, viz., to win the confidence of
the colonists by conciliating their affections, and thereby
holonging their attachment to the mother country. (Hear,
oar.) It was on this principle that they endeavoured to
meet the great crisis that occurred in Australia ; and he
hoped to hear from the noble lord that the present Govern-
nient were resolved to carry out the same principle to its
utmost. The right hon. gentleman then moved for copies
of the dispatch from Sir J. Pakington to the governors of
Now South Wales, Victoria, and South • Australia, dated
the 14th of December, 1852, and his dispatch to the Lieu-
tenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, . Dated the 14th
of December, 1852.

Mr. F. PEEL entirely concurred in the opening observa-
tions of the right hon. gentleman, that he was under no
necessity of apologising for drawing the attention of the
house to the situation of the Australian colonies. They
constituted a group of dependencies of which the house
had just reason to feel proud. They exhibited in a remark-
blo degree the capaCity of the English race to take root in
the soil of foreign countries, and there plant communities
which, in an incredibly short space of time, appeared
ahnost to rival the ancient countries of Europe. (Hear,
hear.) The right hon. gentleman had not in any way over-
sthted the results of British industry and enterprise in
those countries. He (Mr. Peel) fully endorsed the tribute
he had paid to the fidelity of the troops which were sta-
tioned at Victoria, and could say quite as much for the
rd,giment placed in New South Wales. (Cheers) The
right hon. gentleman had made a speech, to which ho had
listened with all the attention duo to so high an authority,
and he must say the statements of the right hon. gentleman
were interesting, and abounded with great and reliable in-
formation. If he were to find any fault with the speech,
it would be as to the proportion of the relations between it
and the practical purpose which he had in view. The
speech was not needed as a vindication of his own policy.
No one had impugned that policy, and he believed there
was no one who was not disposed to bear testimony in a
general way to the credit that was due to the right hon.
gentleman's colonial administration. (Hear.) The spon-
taneous communications which were made by the noble lord
the leader of the house, and by the noble duke at the head
of the Colonial Department in another place, had antici-
pated
one half of his motion, and superseded the necessity
for the inquiry which had been made by the right hon.
gentleman. He seemed to think that because they had re-
verted to the policy of the Government which preceded his
own with respect to the clergy reserves in Canada there
wits, therefore, some possibility of their disturbing all the
changes that hatireaently taken place. The right hon.
gdntleman remembered that the Government was not pre-
pared to follow up his views with reference to the Canadian
clergy reserves, and he was instantly filled with solicitude
lest his instructions with regard to some other matters
should meet the same treatment at their hands. He would,
hOwever, endeavour to dispel the fears of the right hon.
gentleman. The dispatch to which the right hon. gentleman
referred was addressed by him about a week before he
quitted office in answer to a communication from the Go-
vernor of New South Wales received six weeks previously.
That communication contained the petition of the Legisla-
tive Council on which the right hon. gentleman had so
largely commented ; and in the reference which he had
made to it the right hon. gentleman noticed certain matters
that had been long in controversy between ourselves and
the colony of New South Wales, and which were there re-
garded as grievances. He had referred to our interference
with the Customs' establishments of that colony, to the
exercise of the veto power of the Crown, • and to the
manner in which the patronage of the Colonial-office had
been exercised. Now, with regard to the Customs' esta-
blishments he might.observe that this country had ceased
to have any interest in the appointment of officers of
Customs in the colony, and before this petition came they
had transferred that establishment over to the colonists,
and it was placed on the same footing with every other de-
partment. (Hear, hear.) With regard to the disposal of
patronage, he believed that any complaint on that head was
unreasonable and unfounded. During his long tenure of
office Lord Grey gave as full a recognition to the claims of
colonial talent as it could venture to advance. With few
exceptions, every 'nomination to office in those colonies was
made on the recommendation of the executive Government
of the colony. It had been contended that it would-be of
advanAage to have a stringent regulation by which a mono-
poly should be secured to the monopolists of all the offices
of trust and emolument in that country. Ho believed that
any regulation of that kind would be attended with great
inconvenience to the public service. Cases would fre-
quently arise where they required that special knowledge
which could not be procured within the narrow limits of a
colony. An instance of this had occurred only a fortnight
ago, the Senate of the University of Sydney having written
letters to Sir J. Herschel' and other gentlemen, requesting
that they would select gentlemen to fill certain professor-
ships, on the express ground that it was impossible to pro-
cure properly qualified persons in the colony. Then, with
regard to the veto, it was well known that the Crown was
a constituent part of every colonial legislature. It was ad-
mitted, he believed, that ,the disallowing power of the
Crown was more grievous in theory than in practice, and
that, in fact, few ordinances were ever disallowed. But
the Legislature of New South Wales had suggested that it
might be possible • to make a distinction between matters
that might be considered of a local or municipal character
only and those which were of an imperial interest, or ap-
peared to touch the prerogatives of the Crown—(hear)--
and that, with regard to local affairs, there could be no ob-
jection to give the governors power to act in behalf of the
Crown. With regard to that proposition, he would only
say, that if it was possible to draw a line of demarcation
distinguishing what were local and what were imperial sub-
jects, and without restricting the powers of the Crown as
to imperial questions, there could be no objection to consi-
der the propriety of establishing such a restriction.. 'He
now came to the more important part of the - petition,
which stated that.if they gave to the, Legislative Council
the exclusive control of the entire revenue, territorial as
well as general, and assisted them in exercising the powers
conferred upon them by the ordinances of 1850 to amend
the constitution, they, on their part, would be ready not
only to defray the whole cost of their civil expenses, but
also to defray the expense of military protection ; and, as
a testimony of the sincerity of their assurances of loyalty
and devotion to the Crown, they were ready to vote to her
Majesty. an ample civil list in substitution for the sums ap-
propriated in the schedules to the act of the 13th and 14th
of Victoria. (Hear, hear.) Now, he believed that a per-
manent provision, not liable to be capriciously altered by
the Legislature, and which did not come under its annual
review, was necessary in order to secure the services of
able and efficient men to act in that country. He believed
that the local Legislatures took the Fiume view, and.part of
their complaint was that Parliament, by its sole authority,
and without their concurrence, had, as they contended, if
not in contravention of the letter, yet hardly inconformity
with the spirit of the declaratory act of 1778, by which
Parliament renounced the power of levying taxes on the
Queen's subjects in the colonies, appropriated part of the
revenue raised by taxes imposed by themselves. On con-
si*lering, this question, he was disposed to admit that the
preponderance of argument in the controversy rested with
the colonial Legislatures, and therefore he believed that
the Government were quite prepared to assert the civil list
vosed by a colony in substitution for the civil list which
Parliament had voted. He anticipated that there would
he no occasion to repent having taken that course, or to
regret the confidence reposed in the good sense of the people
in the colonies. (Hear, hear.) He had recently seen the
draught of a measure granting provision for this object to
her Majesty, which had been prepared by a committee
of • the Legislative Council in New South Wales, and
'he found that the sum proposed to be reserved very con-
siderably exceeded the sum which Parliament devoted to
the purpose. The sum which Parliament appropriated to
the civil list amounted to 73,0001., and the amount appro-
priated by the Legislative Council of New South Wales was
88,0001. It was impossible at this distance to determine
what was the amount required for carrying on the public
business. In the colony of Victoria we had taken a re-

served sum of 20,000/. for the chief civil department of
the Government.
,Now, one might imagine that that sum
bore some proportion to the ordinary revenue of the colony,
so that in the event of the unfortunate contingency of the
Legislative Council refusing to vote a supply, the Govern-
ment might still be carried on without their concurrence.
But the fact was that the estimated revenue for the colony
of Victoria for the next year amounted to less a sum
than 1,750,0001., compared with which the sum of 20,0001.
was as nothing at all. Again, we had reserved 2,0001. for
the department of the Colonial Secretary of Van Diemen's
Land; but, looking to the estimate of the sum required
for carrying on that department for next year, he found
that in consequence of the enormous rise in the rate of
wages and the price of provisions, the sum asked for was
just 11,0001. Therefore it was quite clear that Parliament
could not do better than allow them to vote their own civil
list, in the perfect confidence that they would provide suffi-
ciently for the public service. (Hear, hear.) Then, with
regard to the question of the unappropriated waste lands,
the Crown was proprietor of them as trustee, not for the
benefit of the inhabitants of any particular colony, but for
the good of the people of the empire at large. Here again
an intervention of Parliament took place, regulating the
price the land should be sold at, the manner in which un-
sold land should be occupied, and in which the produce of
the land sales should be disposed of. The right hon. gen-
tleman had not stated that the Legislative Council of New
South Wales had declared the Land Sales Act to be a perni-
cious and impolitic enactment..He was quite prepared to dis-
pute thejustice of that description, for he believed that the
manner in which the Crown had exercised its trust had been of
the greatest advantage. The right hon. gentleman was not
quit correct in his description of the object of that act.
Is was not passed with a view of raising an emigration
fund. In 1838 and 1839 as much was raised from the sale
of land as had been raised in any year subsequent to the
passing of the act. He would not undertake to say whe-
ther or not in that Land Sales Act we stopped in the
ascending scale of price at the point most to the interest
of the colony ; but of this he was sure, that the two lead-
ing principles—first, that the land should be sold, and next,
that the price should be a fixed price—were sound and just
principles. With reference to the system of free grants of
land, the right hon. gentleman would recollect that in
British North America under that system enormous grants
'of land were squandered on persons without capital to
carry on cultivation or procure a supply of labour. If
they wanted an illustration of the effects of the two sys-
tems, let them take Western Australia and Victoria. The
first was ruined by the system of free grants, while Vic-
toria, on the contrary, where land was sold at a high price,
'was the most prosperous, and had been all along, of any
colony, acknowledging the supremacy of the British Crown.
(Hear, hear.) But he was prepared to admit that there
were considerations, having a political complexion, which
overbalanced the economical advantages of the present
management of this matter. They were told by colonial
governors that there was a settled and wide-spread opinion,
extending to the most loyal and respectable of the popu-
lation of these colonies, that this was a subject which
should be transferred to the consideration of the respective
Legislatures, as belonging to their functions to dispose of ;
and the present Government were not unprepared to carry
out the intentions of the last Government with respect to
this point. (Hear, hear.) It had been observed that we
admitted a single chamber in New South Wales in 1850,
because that was in unison with the wishes of the
colony ; but that statement was not accurate, because the
object of the proceeding of 1850 was simply to separate
the district of Victoria from New South Wales, and the
Legislative Council of the latter was left exactly as before.
He understood that the Legislative Council was considering
the propriety of amending its constitution, and a bill had
been brought in for the purpose of transforming the exist-
ing single chamber into two chambers; and in no long
time the reception by the Government of the ordinances
for that purpose might be expected. -Under these circum-
stances, the Government intended, before bringing in any
measure with respect to the Land Sales Act, to -wait and
see what was the permanent basis on which the Legisla-
ture of New South Wales was to be fixed. The right hon.
gentleman proceeded to advert to the question of transpor-
tation, and he concurred very much in the right hon. gen-
tleman's remarks. Whatever might have been the past
collision of interests between this country and our penal
dependencies, we had now arrived at a conjuncture when
the interests of this country and its dependencies were
brought to coincide. The object they had contemplated in
selecting transportation as the chief kind of, secondary
punishment was to have a punishment which, by the terror
it inspired, should deter from the commission of crime,
and should operate with a beneficial and reformatory tend-
ency on the habits and moral character of those who were
subjected to that legal penalty of crime. The 'object had
been most effectually accomplished by transportation. The
removal of offenders to the antipodes, and the infrequency
at that time of communication with that part of the world,
tended to invest transportation with a sort of vague and
undefined apprehension in the mind ; and, with respect to
the beneficial effects of transportation on the convicts, he
might cite the testimony of all those who had been to
Van Diemen's Land. But since the discovery of gold
all that had been entirely changed, and removal to the
antipodes was no longer regarded with terror. On the
contrary, the office of the Emigration Commissioners
was last summer crowded with multitudes of persons
isking for nothing more than to be sent to that colony.
With respect to the effect likely to be produced in, the
discipline of the convicts, he need not remind the
house' that the gold fields of Victoria were in close
Proximity to our penal settlements in Van Diemen's
Land, and therefore the temptation to escape, with the
prospect of making large gains, would in all probability
overpower the apprehension of being recaptured. He must
also remind the house of theimmense increase of the expense
of living there, and that it would be impossible to retain the
services of the officers of the penal establishmentunless their
remuneration were increased about threefold. The main
consideration, however, for putting an end to transportation
there was the feeling which prevailed in those colonies, and
the fact that the Legislative Council in each and all of them
had petitioned her Majesty, and passed resolutions condemn-
ing in strong language the system, and asking this country to
put an immediate stop to it. With respect to Western Aus-
tralia, however, the hon. gentleman concluded by observing,
as we understood, that communications which had passed
between the different departments had satisfied the Govern-
ment that all the convicts of the present year might be re-
moved there.

Mr. ADDERLEY said, it must be satisfactory to those
gentlemen who a fewyears back combined together to direct
the attention of the countrythe to proper
colo-
nialprinciples
government to find in the course of theprinciples of
two speeches just
delivered that almost every suggestion of theirs with the ob-
ject of carrying out the entire localisation of the functions of
the Government had been carried out. It appeared from a
paper which had been put into his hand, drawn up by a gen-
tleman who had visited Canada, that the progress of that
country since it had the' entire manegement of its own
affairs was most remarkable, and fully proved the benefit
resulting from localising the functions of the Govern-
ment. He expressed his approval of the - concessions
which had been made by both sides in respect to the
control of the colonial civil list, and, in reference to the
feelingexpressed
land sales, he was glad that the strong feelin
by the leading colonies of Australia had at last made
an impression on this country, The cost of sending
that a t
need re en
haveue was exactly fifty
per
rt the,
emgriegaznrts
thanby
unauatehrottitesf
feud,
tthhei s
cost c country uwntr y been—thatpme
managed
the taallye, ewmililigreattiohne
greater, charged on the local revenue, thanas 50
other moans of sending out emir, nts.' The that of any
emi-
grants sent out was also not such as was desired°assof
colony. He believed it was not the intention ofby the
t. the pre-
sent Government to carry out the pro •
hon. gentleman, but he was certain it proposition
Oonll of
the right
that which they must ultimately do. In hisyollsiLemag
right hon. gentleman had proved very considerably the e
su-
periority of his policy to that which he understood to be
the policy proposed by the present Government, by giving
up the land revenue to the colony. The giving up of the
gold to the colony was and b
the most statesmanlike
things he had ever known, and by taking that course the
right hon. gentleman had gained for himself great credit.
He had done fn time that which he would ultimately have
been obliged to do, and thereby had gained for himself that
grace and those thanks which would have been lost if the
concession had been made from necessity. Upon the sub-
ject of giving up the control of the land revenue to the
colony, the most able arguments had been those of the hon.
gentleman the Secretary of the Board of Control (Mr.
Lowe). The full conviction he himself entertained upon
the subject was mainly to be" attributed to the able argu-
ments of that hon. gentleman. (Hear.) There was an-
other point. The thing most pressed in 1850, in the discus-
sion upon the Australian colonies, was that the
best Govern
consti-
-
ment did not take the best mode of gg the
tution to the colonies ; and it was said that, either they
might be given the best Bonstitution, according to
them the idea
of this country, by two chambers, or by giving an
the whole
efficient constituent assembly, representing
colony, to form a constitution. The bill in fact, did neither
the one thing nor the other. It was stated avow
and edly
thana
t
the constitution would not be a perfect one,
must be altered ; but then it was said that the power of
altering it should be left to the colonists. The consequence,
however, had been in practice that which was predicated,
—namely, that the Government here had been obligedgiven
them under the 36th clause, and the Government wereat
obliged to attach privileges to those who actednot u willing to
on th
clause, without which it appeared they were
do so. There were only two or three things more that
were necessary to give the Australian constitution a that
British form. Both the chambers ought to be elec-
tive. He hoped that would be the case, and also that the
veto of the Crown on local legislation would be distinctly
given up. It was so in New Zealand, or, rather, was
limited to two months, which was practically
.gg it up;
but why in the one case it should be restricted to two
years, he could not see. So completely did such a s
is-
ystem
of reference to this country restrict and impede local leg
lation, that it was the main cause why the colonies had not
advanced as rapidly as the United States. The right hon.
gentleman had said the colonies had advanced,
ular and
course that
showed how little could the result of any partic
be foreseen. The colonies certainly had advanced
lon rapidlies
y,
but, if they had had the foresight to take from the co
those difficulties which rested on them, but which did not
rest on the United States, they might have seen the Anglo-
Saxon race advancing in them with the same rapidity
with which the United States had risen to become no
of the first nations of the world. (Hear, hear.) He
would add but one word on the subject transporta-
tion. That was a point which had been pressed on their
attention from time to time, and which the force of cir-
cumstances had compelled them to consider. He could
conceive nothing more injurious to the interests or honour
of England than the course of sustained prevarication,
breach of faith, and perpetual infraction of promises, which
had attended the long course of experiments that had been
adopted to keep up the most anomalous and vicious system
of penal transportation. It had been said that criminals by
transportation frequently became honest men ; but did it
never occur to those who used that argument that the im-
provement of those criminals arose from their having
greater space and being afforded the means of occupation ?
And he would ask the house whether itnd occ wouldupation before
not be better
to use those corrective means of space a
crime was committed than aftertvards ? They were pledged
upon this subject, but from what the hon. gentleman tho
Under-Secretary of the Colonies had said he thought the
hon. gentleman did not bear in mind the pledge, as he (Mr.
Adderley) hoped ho would have done, nor did
titheth se hon. gen-
tleman seem to condemn as fully as he d
fed this country
ystem f
transportation, as a selfish system adop by
in consideration of its own interests, and not those of the
colonies. The unforeseen and wonderful discovery of gold in
Australia had rendered the system of transportation thither
a perfect farce as a punishment ; and the colonists had
shown higher feelings in regard to this subject than the
English Government had done ; for, under the present
pressure of circumstances, while labour at any cost was of
value to the colony, it would have been excusable if the
colonists had sacrificed the point of conscience to self-in-
terest, and had accepted, as a matter of urgent necessity,