The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-10 00:00:00

arenin_c nit

LONDON, MONDAY. MAY 10, 1847.

We direct the public attention to an article extracted
from a respected contemporary (the Caledonian
Mercury), which will be found in another column.
The subject is one of considerable importance,
not only to the colony, but to the mother coun-
try. At this moment it is a question of
considerable difficulty with the Government, " What
is to be done with the male convicts, who are sen-
tenced to transportation." The probationary system
as it has been termed, which was lately adopted in Van
Diemen's Land, has turned out a signal failure. The
object should be to reclaim the transport, to separate
him from vicious companions, to restore his mind
to a healthier tone, and to bring him to such a state
that he may be enabled to resist the temptations to
which he may be subjected at a future period ; but by
the institution of the gangs the very contrary results
are obtained. The herding► together of men of strong
passions and weak principles must lead to the utter
demoralization of all. The depraved and ab rndoned
reprobate rejoices in stifling the better feelings of his
less guilty associates ; he desires to bring them to his
own level in crime. He uses the most potent weapon
" ridicule," and few, indeed, have sufficient moral
courage to withstand its application.
The report from the Select Committee of the
Legislative Council of New South Wales will be
peculiarly valuable, accompanied as it is by the evi-
dence on which it has been founded. That evidence
contains the deliberate opinions of many competent
persons who have had considerable experience in the
affairs of the colony—and who are thoroughly ac-
quainted with the working of the convict system in
all its details. The name of Mr. BENJAMIN BOYD
will carry with it the greatest weight. There is no
person at all acquainted with Australia to whom that
name will not be familiar, and who will not be dis-
posed to respect and pay attention to any suggestions
coming from such a source. But the very suggestions
themselves, if proceeding from an unknown person,
would command that respect. The frightful conse-
quences of the former policy are too manifest to be
controverted or denied. No pecuniary consequences
could be balanced against the moral leprosy by which
the district was tainted. Although a certain
amount of labour is much wanting in
the country, to develope its resources, and
improve the properties of its inhabitants, far better
that all should be sacrificed, than that depravity and
turpitude should become universal. But is there no
middle course ; cannot a certain degree of assistance
be rendered, which will, at the same time, prove
beneficial to the colonists, and afford a fair and
reasonable prospect for the amelioration of the un-
fortunate and guilty men, who have forfeited
their liberties to the offended laws of their country,
but whom it is more desirable to reclaim than to
punish ? Mr. BOYD has solved this problem ; he has
shown us how the system may be modified, so as to
render that transportation which has been a
curse, and a deep and serious injury to the colony, a
blessing and an advantage. It is by joining a system
of voluntary with penal emigration, and at once
assigning and distributing the convicts on their
arrival into the interior; whenever this has been
done, and the convict at once separated and far re-
moved from his evil associates, he has, generally
-peaking, turned out a useful and well-conducted
servant, but, after a few weeks of the contagious
influences that beset him while herding with other
more hardened offenders, his ruin is inevitable. There
is no longer a hope of his permanent amendment.
Mr. BOYD calculates that if 5,000 convicts were an-
nually imported, and with them a free emigra-
tion of 10,000 males and females, it would be the
minimum amount of labour that could be absorbed,
so great and so varied are the resources of the
colony. The cost of the free emigration would
be greatly lessened by the saving from the abo-
lition of the convict penal establishments, and
so advantageous would be its adoption, that the
colonists would gladly consent to a loan being
raised for the purpose, secured on the landed fund. We
trust that the project will receive the attentive con-
sideration its importance deserves, that the Govern-
ment may accede to the moderate and reasonable
request that has been made, and thereby render our
Australian dependencies thriving, prosperous, and
valuable adjuncts to their fatherland.