The Sun.
London, England, 1835-12-19 00:00:00

FIE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1835,

PROSECUTIONS OF THE PitEsS.—
VAN DIVMEN'S LAND.

poses. From the accompanying papers you will see, that
by the affidavits which he has produced in refutation of my
e'mr,,d; he has established qttite sufficient for my purpose,
which was to shoW the Htirtie Oovernment that great
abuses existed in the Government of this Colony----Tarticu-
larlyin the appropriation of the public labour. I have not
been able to obtain a sight of any of the affi:lavits except
Pendleberry's, bat I have learned enough of their contents
to see that the following admissions are made, namely
That the superintendent of the Government carpenters did
superintend the erection of the house, for Which he re-
ceived 1001.—that the superintendent of the Government
brickmakers supplied the 'bricks by ccntract, receiving in
payment the labour of a certain number of Government
hfiektnakers, with a certain sum of money in the name of
payment for ration's. 'These brickmakers were from the
loan gangs, which were established under the pretence of
assisting the settlers in erecting buildings on their farms,
--j which have, in fact, been employed in erecting fine
.
palaces for the over _:-,aid public officers ; and have, in reality,
formed a fund for the most atrca,7es system of corrupt offi-
cial jobbing, almost equal to the grant systeul. 110 GuTcril-
meat, as soon as it was deprived of that fertile source of jce6-.
bing, very adroitly substituted the Assignment Boa;tl and loan
gangs, as a fund for rewarding servility, and.an instrumen:
for the ruin of any man who dared to express any complaint
against the numerous measures which have now nearly com-
pleted the destruction of this once flourishing Colony. It
would be tedious to enumerate instances in proof of the
use that has been made of the loan gang ; but I think that
Captain Montagu's contract viiith •Pendleberry, and his
employment of Brown, is such a glaring instance of the
abuses of the system, that no impattial person vrill doubt
the rest. It is important to look at the conduct of Colonel.
Arthur in making room in the Councils for two such near.
relatives as Captains Montagu and Forstef------the first Colo-
nial Secretary, and the second Chief Police IS,lagi4rate,
both of his own making. I hate rie doubt but the reports
regarding Captain Montagu's use of aoitermnQnt materials
have been grossly exaggerated, as I have found on inquiry,
'after I (Tot a key to the circumstances. But the fact of
the building being carried on by eonvictlnbenr, and by super-
intendants in the pay of Government, and the bfieks being
confessedly taken from the man who had control of Govan-
talent brickmakers, will show you. that there was a sufficient
colour for the rest of the cline es: You will observe the
admission, in O'Connor's affidavit, or the' appropriation of a
large quantity of iron stone ; but O'Connor's statement is
not true in that part, where lie asserts that this iron tiiffie
was considered the property of the persons on whose land
it was quarried ; it being well known that the Government
gangs were employed to quarry that stone for the purpose
of forming the New Wharf f and that the proprietors of
the land from which it was taken derived an ample com-
pensation from the increased value of the land, which was
at least five hundred per cent. when the cliff was retrieved,
and its base brought to the level of the 'Wharf. It is true
that several of the proprietors who stood in favour with the
Government, did obtain stone, quarried on their own lands by
the Government hands, which was no more than a proper and
reasonable accommodation, had it been given in general and
impartially. But my attention was first directed to the cir-
cumstance, by a complaint, that while Captain Montagu
was getting those stones, a small supply had been positively
refused tor-3)15r. Askin Morrison, and other of the proprie-
tori,;-bnt_4ho in place of being a relative of the Gover-
nor's, viaSAhen engaged in a law suit with one of Colonel
Arthu'r's Members of Council, which terminated in Mr.
Morrison's obtaining a verdict for 1,5001. That Captain
Montagu's house was principally, if not entirely built, and
the materials prepared by convict labour, is a fact too noto-
rious for that gentleman or his friends to attempt to deny
but the atrocious loan gang system, and the authority of
the Governor, would afford a ready and convenient cloak for
this. But I can prove from my own knowledge, and con-
firm it by many witnesses, that not only the convicts who
may, to suit a purpose, be classed as part of the loan gang,
but even numbers of the chain tang, who are neVer sup-
posed to be lent under any circumstances, have been openly
and repeatedly employed, in and about the erection of this
house, and the improvement of the grounds. It is, how-
ever; due to Captain Montagu, to admit that he was by
no means a solitary instance of such proceedings. The sys-
tem is general amongst the favourite public officers, who are
designated as the` Faction ; and it was purely for the pur-
pose of exposing that system, that I was induced to publish
the charges against Captain Montagu, and for publishing
those charges, I am quite certain of being convicted of libel,
and sentenced to an additional fine and term of imprison-
ment, with every aggravation that vindictive feelings and
unlimited povVer can inflict upon me. But under those suf-
ferings, I console myself with the hope that the condition of
the unfortunate free inhabitants of this colony will attract
the notice of a reformed Parliament, and that an enquiry
will be instituted, which will show that I have merited com-
pensation in place of the punishment I am suffering, for that
I I have done a service to society, and not committed an

The following is a letter from the Editor, of the True
Colonist, now in jail, to Joseph Hume, Esq.; M.P.
Hobart Town, April 24, 1835.
Sin—The last letter Which I had the honour to address
to you would prepare you to expect ttie tteeet!nt. of My
being tried, convicted, and imprisoned, for publiFliitig the
several matters referred to in my lotqt. o(ictri td you
of the lath V6rtiary, cod to tlid mate ill the
fa.la iq the
;te,
Colonist d
tchh o:l4l:ebb:cutiar,id;rwwivalliceil6ld.tip;piayro_ci.c.ii:
beg your attention in these cases are, that the fuels set
pea ft2nlllib6 iv;hlt!lt I wetilti
'tortilla the matter charged .as libellous; were not only ad-
13;_it IL, the eidefiCe t4341'4"1.1,1,,irt.
In
the first case, (the alteration of the date in O'',Jonnat
grant) you will observe that the isolated case itself is coin-
paratively little consequence, and probably would not
have justified the language that I made use of in bringing
it under public notice---but if you look at it in connection
with the ease of Captain Stianston and Broughton's estate,
you will see at once the dangerous practices which it was
My object to expose. And when you 'consider the u_nli-
mited and apparently-irresponsible power _exercised by the
Executive Council, with respect to the titles of land, and
the facility with which the Governor can dispense with the
advice or consent of his Council, as evinced in O'Connor's
case, you will perceive the fearful predicament in which the
rights of the poor ignorant people or persons absent from
the Colony must stand in questions of disputed titles—and
you will also discover how very little reliance the Colonists
can place on the Exectitive Council, as possessing any de_
gree of influence over ilic acts of the Governor, being only
a shield from individual responsibility on his-part. Had I
merely published the facts. of the case, vrithout the ac-
companying matter, I should have failed in my object of
attracting the desired notice to these facts, by placing the
proof . of them on record. Although these facts, and a
great deal more, were, either admitted or proved in the
proceedings on my prosecution, the Chief Justice has sen-
tenced me for their publication to imprisonment for four
months, and a fine of 601.
In the second case, (the appropriation of the hay, grown
on the Government land, by the labour of persons fed and
paid by the crown, to the private farming speculations of
Colonel Arthur, on his own private estates) according to
the intention intimated in my last, I preferred a charge at
the police-office against the person who was in charge of
the Government farm, for embezzling the hay. For the
manner in which this charge was treated by the Maaistrate,
I beg to refer you to the accompanying papers, where the
proceedings are fully reported. At the same time I pre-
ferred a charge against Captain Montagu, for appropriat-
ing Government materials and labour to his own private
purposes—but the manner in which my charge in the hay
case was met, with threats of prosecution, with the refusal
of the Magistrate to summon the witnesses necessary to
prove my-charge, or allow me to conduct the prosecution
in the case, rendered it quite useless for me to attempt
pressing any charge which implicated any Member of the
Government. For the notice which I published relating
to the removal of the hay, I was prosecuted and of course
convicted, and sentenced to be imprisoned for eight months
and to pay a fine of 1201. In this case, as in the former,
the facts published by me were all admitted by the At-
torney-General to be true ; and strange facts were elicited
by him on the cross-examination of my witnessess, corrobo-
rating the purport of my article ;—namely, that a great
portion of the public property and labour, is appropriated
to the private profit and advantage of. Colonel Arthur:
The Attorney-General prOduced the report of Commis-
sioner Bigge, to show that the Lieutenant-Governor for
the time, was entitled to the profits of the Government
domain ; but it only showed that the farm of 180 acres, the
one to which I referred in my last, was then cultivated for
the use of the Lieutenant-Governor, and that was not at
the expense of the Crown. I would respectfully claim your
attention to the very disproportionate rate of salary, re-
ceived by the two Governors, and that in addition to his
salary of 2,5001., Colonel Arthur derives from the produce
of the Government domain, cultivated at the public expense,
emoluments which cost the public, including rent and labour,
at least 1,500/.—admitting the appropriation of the land
and labour, to be permitted by the Secretary of State, with
the sanction of Parliament. It will not escape your notice,
that the hay was not appropriated to the purposes of the
Lieutenant. Governor's official establishment, but to the pri-
vate farming speculations of Colonel Arthur.
Besides these two prosecutions, I was tried on a third
for libelling an attorney, named Rowlands, whose practice
had excited particular complaint here, where the law 'ex-
penses are generally felt to be a system of legalized plunder
upon the community. But you will be able to discover the
enormity of this particular case, by the accompanying papers
referred to on the margin, and You will judge what the or-
dinary practice of the colonial lawyers is, when you com-
pare this case with the declaration of the Chief Justice,
" that Mr. Rowlands had acted with honesty and inte-
grity ;" of Justice Montagu, " that he had shown great
kindness" to the poor man who was his victim ; and the gra-
tuitous testimonial of the Attorney-General, " that there
was not a shadow of imputation on Mr. Rowland's charac-
ter." I trust that the interest which you have so generally
taken in the affairs of your oppressed fellow subjects in this
colony, will induce you to give this case a careful perusal,
and that you will take the trouble to direct to it, the notice
of some of those gentlemen who have more particularly
devoted their attention to the important subject of Law
Reform. It would be impossible for me to convey
to you any thing approaching to a correct understanding of
the wide-spreading ruin which the lawyers have inflicted on
this colony, even could I attempt the description with
safety in a letter which will be published here, and you will
estimate the danger which I would incur by publishing the
whole truth on this subject, by the circumstance of my
being sentenced to fine and imprisonment for publishing
the conduct of Rowlands to Luck. -It is proper to inform
you, that this man, Rowlands, who is pronounced by the
Judges and Crown Lawyers to have acted so kindly and
honourably, was, on a former occasion, complained of to the
Court, for certain of his practices as an attorney for two
ignorant 'men named Stynes and Troy—the particulars of
which are well known to both the Judges and the Crown
Lawyers. He gave those men 3801. to induce them to
withdraw the complaint, and you will observe that this was
not in payment of any claim, but a gratuity for not pro
e -
ceedine• with the charge. Mr. Gellibrand, who was the
legal adviser of the complainers, afterwards filed the affi-
davits in the Courts, being apprehensive, as I am informed,
that lie might incur censure, if not a prosecution, for being
accessory to the compounding of the affair. These affi-
davits were afterwards, on the motion of Rowlands, with-
drawn, and Justice Montagu, in granting the motion, se-
verely censured the conduct of the parties, not for com-
pounding the a ffiuir, but for having made the complaint ! !
The gentleman who will deliver this letter has got copies of
the affidavits filed in Court, which will throw considerable
light on the state of the administration of justice here, when
considered in connection with the case of Rowlands and
Luck, for which I am convicted of a libel. The private
note which accompanies this will also throw considerable
light on those proceedings, and account for the dreadful
state of the administration of justice in this unfortunate
colony. But it is due to the Chief Justice to state,
that he is, with the exception of the Sheriff (Mr.
,Bannister) the only Public Officer in the Island
greatestwho is universally held in the respect, for
never having in any shape, directly or indirectly con-
nected himself with any private jobbing. It is due to Mr.
Pedder to say, that the highly honourable tenor of his con-
duct has secured to him, as an individual, the highest de-
gree of respect from every man of every party, even from
those who blame him for having permitted the lawyers to
work the ruin of the Colony. The evils which the people
have suffered under the administration of a Judge of such
upright and fastidiously honourable principles, arise from
the inveterate Tory prejudices which regulate his public
acts, and his almost superstitious adherence to the anti-
quated principles and practices of Courts of Justice. Al-
though he sees and deplores the outrageous extortion
practised by the lawyers 'of his Court, yet he is afraid
to put forth his hand to correct it, lest in doing so lie
should' disturb some of the venerable cobwebs and dust
which his early prejudices have taught him to revere in
a Court of. Justice. He appears, also, by his own con-
fession, to have lost that authority over the lawyers which
belongs to his office—for when I was on my defence, in
the case of Rowlands, he checked me for some irregularity
—adding," The conduct in this Court is most indecent, for 1
by the manner in which the opinion of the Court is questioned
and replied to, one would think that the Judge was upon his
trial in place of the person before the Court. I do not say
this in reference to yoitr conduct, for I make every allow-
ance for a person unacquainted with the general practice of a
Court, conducting his own care—but here it is the general
practice of the persons belonging to the Bar." This May
in
some degree account for the atrocious extortion which is to-
lerated amongst the lawyers here, while a Judge of Mr. Pod-
der'.s character presides in the Court, who has kept his own
hands so perfectly clean from every stain, that, in the
midst of such a system of usury and official jobbing as pre-
vails here, the breath of slander has never lighted on his
name—although he has been very generally accused of al-
lowing his inveterate political principles greatly to sway his
conduct as a Judge. There is nothing connected with this
Colony that demands the attention of Parliament more
than the atrocious system of plunder carried on by the law-
yers, and sanctioned by the Judges. Since I have been in
prison, Captain Montagu, the nephew by marriage of Col.
Arthur, whom his uncle got appointed Clerk to the Council,
and whom he has now made Colonial Secretary, and Mem-
ber of both Councils, has obtained from the Court a rule
for a criminal information against me, for charging him with
appropriating the. Government materials for his own pur-

offence.
Connected with my trials I would earnestly solicit your
attention to the law, which Colonel Arthur has imposed
on the people of this Colony, in the room of the British
Institution of Trial by Jury. Under this law, ordinary of-
fences are still tried by a Military Jury of seven officers,
nominated by the Governor, who each receive fifteen
shillings a day for this duty. Amongst those are many
who are reckoned standing Jurymen, and others who are
expectants for some of the numerous civil appointments so
lavishly bestowed by Colonel Arthur, on military officers,
to the manifest injury of the regimental discipline, and to
the great detriment of the Colony. From this it must ap-
pear to you that the Governor posseises a very undue in-
fluence over Juries so constituted in any case, where the
accused, from whatever cause, may be obnoxious to the Lo-
cal Authorities. But to silence the strong remonstrances
of the Colonists on this subject, as well as meet the animad-
versions that were expected from yourself, and other inde-
pendent Members of Parliament, the Attorney-General
introduced a clause, into the Jury Act, providing, that in
all cases where the Governor, or any Member of the Coun-
cils, or any Naval or Military Officer on full pay, was di-
rectly interested, the trial should be had before a Jury of
Inhabitants, taken from the Special Jury List. But the
manner in which this. Special Jury List is framed makes
such Jury in all those cases more objectionable, if possible,
than a Military Jury ; for this Special Jury List is princi-
pally composed of persons designated Esquires, an arbitrary
distinction conferred at the 'discretion of the police autho-
rities, principally upon Public Officers and Clerks in the
various Government Offices, several of whom arc not even
householders ; while many of the most wealthy, intelligent,
and upright citizens, are thus excluded from sitting on Spe-
cial Juries, which can alone try criminal cases—and to com-
plete the evils of this law, the accused is denied the right
of challenge. Nor can a verdict be set aside by reason of
any disqualification in any of the Jury, although such
should be discovered after the verdict. An instance of this
occurred on the first prosecution against me. After
the trial, I moved an arrest of judgment on the
ground that Mr. Henry James Emmett, jun.,• one of the
Jury, who is a Clerk in the Secretary's Office, and had
then just returned from some months' absence at the
Mauritius, was not a householder, nor possessed of any
real property in the colony. But the objection was over-
ruled, because I had not taken it before the trial, although
it was only made known to me five minutes before I ap-
plied to the Court.
By the gentleman who will deliver this, I have for-
warded two petitions to the House of Commons, which I
respectfully solicit that you will do me the favour to pre-
sent. I will also write to Mr. Bulwer, to solicit him to
support the prayer of my petitions. If you will do me the
kindness to take any trouble in my case, I will of course
leave it entirely to your own judgment, whether to present
or withhold one or both of the petitions ; or to bring the
matter under the notice of the Secretary of State. 1 trust
that your having done me the honour to commence a cor-
respondence withme, and the fact that I am suffering en-
tirely on account of my endeavours to serve my fellow-
colonists, will render it unnecessary for me to offer any
apology for giving you this trouble, without having the ho-
nour of being personally known to you.
With respect to the general public affairs of the Colony,
the dreadful effects of Colonel Arthur's system are so gene-
rally felt, that even the Government Press does not attempt
to deny the existence of the prevailing distress. Numbers of
the agricultural settlers are leaving the Colony to seek a re-
fuge in the interior of New South Wales ; and should Colo-
nel Arthur remain here for another three years, every man
who can possibly leave the Colony, except those who are the
immediate objects of his patronage, will hay
.deserted it.
The Government ppople. arc attempting to ,scribe this to
the land regulations ; but .the fallacy, of this must imme-
diately appear, when you, consider that the same regaila
tions prevail in New South Wales. It is aindersto,od. here
that Colonel Arthur ha's applied 'to the Secretary of State
for power to renew the former system of gratuitous grants
of land. There is no doubt that such a measure would pro-
duce the most beneficial effects, could any guarantee be de-
rived for the impartial exercise of that power ; but expe-
rience teaches us that in this Colony it would only become
a source of the most corrupt patronage and abuse under the
present Administration. Indeed -the power which Colonel
Arthur possesses in the disposal of the convict labour, en-
ables him to keep the OeloniSts in .a complete state of sla-
very. The great objection to the sale of Crown lands con-
sists in withdrawing from the hands of the settler the capi-
tal which he might otherwise poSsess for the improvement
of his laud ; and also in the 'propriation of the proceeds
of those sales. The former might be obviated, and impar-
tiality secured, by selling the land by public auction, with-
out any fixed minimum price, in lots, to suit the several
applicants, allowing a very liberal credit, at a reasonable
rate of interest, as suggested in orr,) of tl:e accompanying

papers.
1 am led to believe that several gentlerr.en lave adresrsecl
you very fully, in privatelitters, by this oppartuaity,