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Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too ierge to be entirely included In one exposure are filmed beginning In the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many framea as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Lea cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent Atre filmAs A des taux de rMuction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour Atre reproduit en un seul ciichA, II est film6 d partir de Tangle supArleur gauche, de gauche d droite, et de haut en bas. en prenant le nombre d'images nAcessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent ia m6thode. 1 2 3 r- 1 2 3 4 5 6 B fl COLONIAL POLICY. «o \ i 1 I THE COLONIAL POLICY Of LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S ADMINISTRATION. ■; BY EARL GREY. o IN TWO VOLITMES. VOL. I. I LONDON: RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLIN&TON STREET, PuWigi^er in ©rliinarg t0 f^er iBJajegtg. 1853. PBINTKD BT JOKN EDWAKU TAYLOR, LITTLE QUEEN STREET, LINCOLN'S INV KIBtnO. A, PREFACE. It is the object of the following Letters to give some account of the Colonial Policy of the Adnii- nistration in which I held the office of Secretary of State for the Colonial Department. I have not attempted more than a very slight sketch of the transactions to which these pages relate, yet much more time and labour have been occupied in writ- ing them than I anticipated when they were begun, chiefly, froiii my having found it necessary to ex- amine minutely the voluminous papers laid before Parliament, from which the materials have been principally drawn. The completion of the task which I ventured to undertake has also been delayed by various interruptions from other avocations, so that VI I'KKI'ACF,. tlit'sc |)aj^t'8 will be publisluHl sonic months ItittT than they wltc inttMidcd to appfar. I am Ht'iisibh' that this must somewhat detract from any value they may possess ; for the progress of events is so rapid in the times in which we live, that even the delay of a few months has made more than oiu! material change in the aspect of affairs, and my remarks will consequently be found in these cases to have reference to a state of things which has since been altered. Instead of attempt- ing to correct what I had written, so as to make it ci)rrespond with more recent information, I have thouglit it better to affix to each of these Letters the date at which it was finished, and in readhig them I would request that these dates may be borne in mind. I have spoken of the Colonial Policy described in the following Letters as that of the Administra- tion of which I was a member, because I conceive it to have been so both constitutionally and in fact; but I am far from desiring by this to diminish my own responsibility. Though the Se- cretary of State entrusted with the Department of the Colonies receives much assistance from his Col- leagues, and though the most important measures which it is his duty to carry into effect ought to PRKFACK. VII of lol- res to be (Iticided upon with tliuir advice and conrnminee, still the main responsibility tor all errors that are connnitted properly rests with him. Nor does any portion of this responsibility fall upon thosi; by whose assistance! tlu; business (»f the Department is conducted. It has often been asserted that there is some mysterious mfluenet! within the walls of the Colonial Office, which under every different Secretary of State prevents what is right from being done, and causes disa[)pointment ami discontent to the Colonists, and persons con- nected with tht! Colonies, who have business to transact with the Department. Nothing can be more unfounded than such a notion. Those who have observed with attention the administration of Colonial affairs for the last five-and-twenty years will, I am ptirsuaded, agree with me in thinking that it is nnich more justly chargeable with want of steadiness and consistency, from the inevitable differences in the views of successive Secretaries of State, than with an obstinate adherence under them all, to the same erroneous system. No doubt there are many demands urgently pressed upon the Department wl ch have been successively rejected by ditt'erent Secretaries of State; but this only shows that these demands are so unreasonable that VIII I'KKFAJ K. they arc iilik*' iritctcd by nu'ii of tin* most oppo- site political vit'ws, ulicii tlicy ar»' rc(|iiirc(l to decide upon them with t'lill iiilonnatioii and with otKcial re.s[)oiisibility. I am glad to have this opportunity of saying, that while I shall always leel most deeply mdehted to the gentl( men holding permanent siliiations in \hv (/oloiiial Oltiee, lor the exceedingly able and willing assistance 1 received I'roin them in con- ducting its business while I presided over it, i can assert, in the most positive manner, that never upon any occasion was there on their part the slightest attempt improperly to inHuence my de- cision upon (juestions brought before me, or to withhold the best aid they could afford, in the exe- cution of measures which may have been decided upon contrary t<^ their opinion. Having mentioned tilt! permam^nt members of the Colonial Office, I cannot deny myself the satisfaction of expressing my regard and esteem for those who were my Par- lijunentarv Under-yt^cretaries. I should indeed be most ungrateful if I could awv forget how much I owe to Mr. Ilawes for his nnwejiried assiduity, and the friendly zeal with which he shared with me, not only the ordiiniry labours of the l)e()artinent, but the cares and anxieties of five most toilsome and (S^.-.^,.r--.'iitA£M-!VT^- IMlKFArF.. I\ lot ut iui hiinissiiif; Sessions of l*arlimn«'nt, diiriiif^ wliicli I consiiltcd iiiiii iiiin>s(;rvi'(||y upon ('V(M'v (|uostioit that arosi', and dtirivrd tlu' greuti'st bencHt tVoiii iU Witli Mr. IVtl ofti. ' and HHSistnnco ciid coinu'ction was very ituich sliortcr, liavinj? lasted only about four months ; 1)nt this was (|nit(; h)n;j; enough for nie to form a very higli o|)inion of Ids abilities, and to feel uuich indebted to him for the anxiety hi; displayed to give his best assistance in eonducting the business of the Department, and in preparing to meet the antieipat(;d ditticidtiea of the Parliamentary campaign, which was so speedily cut short by tlu; breaking uj) of the Administration. 1 have nothing furtluM- to add in tlu; way of Preface!, except to call attention to what I have said in tlu^ concluding liette-r of tht; series, as to the information I have thought it right to make use of. If I had felt justitied in availing myself of information of a more confidential character, it would not have been difficult to make my account of some of tlu; transactions referred to more com- plete than it is, and probably more int(;resting to the reader. It was however obviously my (hity to abstain from disclosing information not already public, of which I had come into possession in the discharge of my duties as a Servant of the Crown ; PREFACE. and I trust that whatever may be tlie other faults of these Letters (and I am painfully sensible that they have many), they are at least free from that which would justly have been regarded as an unpardonable one— a departure from the reserve imposed upon me by the office I had the honour to fill. Dkcbmbbb 28, 1852. CONTENTS. LETTER I. COLONIAL POLICY.— PllELlMlNARY REMARKS, OF FREE TRADE ON THE COLONIES LETTER II. THE SUGAR COLONIES GENERALLY Page EFFECT • I LETTER III. MAURITIUS. ST. LUCIA. — TRINIDAD LETTER IV. GUIANA. — JAMAICA. — BARBADOES LETTER V. BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.— CANADA LETTER VI. LOWER PROVINCES OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. NEWFOUNDLAND 50 98 . 143 . 200 274 LETTER VII. AUSTRALIAN COLONIES. — SALE OF LAND. — EMIGRATION 303 xu CONTENTS. APPENDIX. A.— List of Officers appointed to the Government of Colonies, by Lord Grey B.—Correspondence relative to the reduction of Military Force • • C— Kecapitulation of Measures relating to the Sugar Colonies D.— Tables of Import and Consumption of Sugar . E.— Mauritius- Address to Governor Higginaon, and His Excellency's Reply F.— British Guiana— Tables of Produce G.— Extracts from Eeports of Select Committees, etc., relating to the West Indies . ■ •• H.—Jamaicar— Despatches to Sir C. Grey 1 —Report of Privy Council— Constitution for the Aus- tralian Colonies 349 367 390 ;u)2 402 404 409 422 THE COLONIAL POLICY OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S ADMINISTRATION. LETTEE I. COLONIAL POLICY. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. — EFFECT OF FREE TRADE ON THE COLONIES. My DEAR Lord John, The aiFairs of the Colonies have of late years been very largely discnssed. The books, the pamphlets, and the speeches of which they have l)een the subject, have been almost innumerable ; but of these even the few to which I should be the last to deny the praise of ability and fairness, advocate views which seem to me either incorrect or incomplete ; while, as the rest have for the most part been designed to serve party or per- sonal objects, they have been little calculated to assist the Public in forming a sound opinion on the questions to which they relate. No small proportion of what has been spoken or written about the Colonies for the last few years, has had for its aim to decry and to misrepresent the policy pursued towards them by the VOL. I. B 2 COLONIAL POLICY. 1 Administration of which you were at tlic head; and as so lai'ge a shart) of the responsibility for the measures of that Government devolves upon myself, it is natural that I should wish the PubHc to have the means of knowing the real character and scope of those mea- sures, and the grounds upon which they were adopted. Nor is this unimportant on grounds far higher than what concerns any individual : the national interest is deeply involved in having the course of Colonial ad- ministration correctly understood. In Parliament, or at least in the House of Lords, the debates which have taken place on Colonial affairs have been entirely con- fined to ptu'ticular questions, affecting individual Co- lonies, and have never afforded me an opportunity of stating my views as to our general system of Colonial Policy, which, to be properly understood, requires to be considered as a whole ; perhaps, also, the subject is too extensive for Parliamentary discussion. I pro- pose therefore to endeavour in these pages to supply a deficiency which I conceive to exist, by laying before the Public a connected view of the Colonial policy which was pursued while I was entrusted with the task of conducting it, as a member of your Adminis- tration. It has appeared to me that 1 shall be able to do this most conveniently in the form of a series of Letters, which I address to you, because you were acquainted, while they were in progress, with the transactions to which I shall have to advert, and will therefore be able to judge of the accuracy of my statements. PllELlMINAIlY REMARKS. You cannot l)ut take an interest in the subject, since all the most important of the measures of which 1 shall have to speak were, of course, adopted with your knowledge and assent ; and I am happy to think that there has never been the slightest difference of opinion between us, as to the principles which ought to form the guide of our policy. It is my intention to avoid, as far as possible, any notice of the vari(ms attacks made upon our measures, and of the misrepresentations to which we have been exposed. I shall do so, because it is my wish to give to these Letters a tone as little controversial as is consis- tent with the object I have in view, and also because the objections which have been made to our policy have been so multifarious and so contradictory, that an attempt to answer them all would be intolerably tedi- ous. Hence, without adverting to the various sp(;eches and pamphlets by which our Colonial administration has been assailed, I shall endeavoiu* to give a general sketch of our policy, of the views on which it was founded, and of its results ; leaving it to those who take an interest in the subject to draw their own con- clusions, and noticing objections which have been made to oiu* policy only when necessary for its elu- cidation. 1 fear that, even adopting this plan, it will be difficult to compress within a moderate com- pass a statement, however succinct, of what has been done in the numerous Colonies of the British Empire, with an explanation of the grounds on which we have acted ; and that much which is not unimportant will 4 COLONIAL POLICY. have to be omitted. The ample information laid be- fore Parhanient, to '-.jiich I «hall take care to refer, will however enable those wlio desire it, to obtain a more perfect knowledge of the transactions to which I shall advert. Before 1 proceed to give an account of what has been done in particular Colonies, it will be convenient that I should state, somewhat fully, the general principles which have in all casi^s betm the guide of oiu' policy, and that I shoidd call your attention to the manner in which the peculiar circumstances of the times have af- fected the administration of Colonial affairs. To begin with the last, 1 have to remark that in these affairs much of the opi)osition we have met with, and the principal difficulties we have encountered, have arisen, directly or indirectly, from our having thought it our duty to maintain the policy of free trade, and to extend its application to the produce of the Colonies. That these difficidties nuist be expected from this policy 1 was quite aware when your Government was formed ; but the greatest service that I believed we were called upon as a Government to render to the country was that of completing the work, which had been happily begun, of removing restrictions from industry, and securely establishhig a system of free trade through- out the empire. So far back as when I first entered upon public life, — now more than twenty-five years ago, — it was my conviction that, next to the removal of the religious disal)ilities which then threatened the disruption of the Empire, and to the accomplishment PllELlMIM\llY KEMA11K8. of such a reform of tin; Mouse of Coniraous as was reqiiisitt! to make it a fitting instruuieut for effecting every other public improvement, the political object of the greatest im[)ortance to the public good was to relieve industry and connnerce from the shackles with which they had been encumbered by measures adopted for their advancement under the erroneous theory of " Protection." Hence, beginning with the year 1827, when 1 voted with a very small minority against the principle of the sliding scale, in the Bill for the amendment of the Corn Laws brought forward by Mr. Canning, I had, both by votes and speeches, sui)ported every proposal submitted to the House of Parliament of which I was a Mendier, which I consi- dered to be calculated to advimce the object of giving greater freedom to industry. I believed that the Co- lonial trade ought to form no exception to the general rule, but should be placed on the same footing as other branches of our commerce. I considered it to be no less for the real and permanent interest of the Colonies themselves, than for that of the Mother- country, that industry should cease to be diverted from its natural channels, and a useless burden to be im- posed on the consumer by differential duties, levied for the purpose of favouring Colonial produce in our markets, and our produce in the markets of the Colonies. Entertaining these opinions, I should not have ac- cepted your proposal to form })art of your Administra- tion, if 1 had not felt satistied that its measures would 6 COLONIAL POLICY. be directed to the conip! jhi of the work of com- mercial reform, and hud 1 not expected that, notwith- standing the dilHculties I anticipated, we should bo supported in tliis policy by Parliament. In that expectation I have not been disappointed. \\y the measures which we have succeeded in caiTy- ing, for the alteration of the duties on sugar, cott'ei;, and timber, for the repeal of the Navigation Laws, and for giving power to the local Legislatures to abolish diflerential duties in the Colonies, provision has been nuide for [)lacing the Colonijd trade on a footing free from serious objection ; while the ac(;om- {)lishment, at no very distant period, of the further improvements it still rccpiircs has obviously been ensured. These measures, necessarv and beneficial as I am convinced they will ultimately oe admitted to have l)een, amounted however to nothing less than a revo- lution in an established system of policy, which could not fail to shock many long received opinions, and to bring about a great change in the relations hitherto subsisthig between this country and the Colonies bV)r more than two centuries, the great object of all European nations, in seeking to obtain possession of (Colonies, was the gain supposed to accrue from the monopoly of their commerce, which it was the practice for the parent State to maintain, while, on the other haiul, it gave to their produce a pref(!rence in its own markets This policy b(3gan to be relaxed by Parliament immediately after the American llevo- AUSTRALIA. the probation system) on which the convicts sent to the Colony were in future to be nianii3 |'»veni tin est (»t \\h' coiip'iiin:' nitlumt chuck or control. To permit the avernmj nt of a distant Colony to l)c 80 carried on lotwitliMiinding the oppression or corruption which might Ik; known to tixist, wouhl in general be for the ease and advantagt; of the Minis- ters of the (hiy, but would not be consistent wit'- my but a very low view of the duties bidonging to the responsible advisers of the Sovereign of this great Empire. In point of fact, it has not unfreciuently hap|)ened, that the absence of ditiiculty in some parts of oiu" Colonial administration has arisen, not from its merits, but from its faults. For instance, so long as the Uonu^ Government took no thought of the condi- tion of the Negro population of the West Indies, it met with no opposition i'rom the Assemblies of ,1a- maica and the other West Indian Colonies ; but when, urged on by i)ublic opinion in this Country and by the House of Commons, the Government undertook to give effect first to the resolutions of 1823, for the amelioration of tin; condition of the slaves, and ulti- mately to the Act of Emanci])ation, it found itself placed in a position of antagonism to the dominant class in these Colonies, the difficulties arising from which ore not yet by any means at an end. Yet it was clearly the duty of the Imperial Goverimient not to leave the population of these Colonies to the un- restricted disposal of the local (iovernments, mid in this respect at least the discontent engendered by the interference of the Home Government was the discon- li COI.OMAL I'OI.ICY. tt'iit of tlic (loininaiit fcnv (who can aloiu; tiiaki' tliciii- sclvcs linird in this Conntry) at int( rt'c rciu^i^ I'xcrciscd t'oi* the protection of the helpless and ignorant niany. Hvcn now, in the former Shive (colonies vvhicrh possess representative institntions, the body of the population docs not practically (exercise such nn intluencc in the A88end)lics as to exiiuipt the advisors of the ('rown from the duty of keejiing a watchful eye upon the proceediiif^s of the Iie{j;islaturcs, for the j)urpose of cheeking any attempts which might he ma(h; to j)ass laws hearing nid'airly on the labouring classes. Hut even where the interfercinci! of the Home (Jo- vei'nmcnt is not necessary for tlu' protection of a j)ai't of the population, too ignorant or too weak to protect itself, there is another consiih-ration, which may rc;- (piire the exercise of some (.'ontrol over the proceed- ings of the local Governments with regard to the internid ati'airs of the Colonies. Kvery act of tliese Ciovermnents, whciher legislative or executive, io done in the name and by the authority of the Sovereign ; hence the honour of the Crown, which it is of the liighest importance to the wIkjIc Kni[)ire to maintain unimpaired, niust.be compromised b\ any injustice or violation of good faith, which it has the power to pre- vent, being committed by the local Authorities. It is therefore the duty of those by whom the Imperial Go- vernment is conducted, and to whom, as the resjnm- sible servants of tlu^ Crown, its honour is entrusted, to take care that this honour does not sidfer by the Sovereign's being made a party to proceedings in- I'UKI.IMINAIIY RKMAKKS. 36 volviiig a (It'piirturc from tlu3 most scrupulous justice and good fiiitli towards individuals, or towards par- ticular classes of the inhahitauts of any of our ('»)louiea. III the Colonics which are the; most advanced in civilization and in the exercise of the powers of self- government, it is not superHnons to insist on this con- si(h'ration : on the contrary, it is in Colonii^s having poj)ular forms of government that there is perha|)8 most danger that, in the < xcitenu'nt of party contests, to which such governments are peculiarly liable, mea- sures not consist(!nt with strict jj'- a) may sonu'times he attempted, and may rer^ii • . . \> w.vkvA] by the authority of the ("rown, (iM.rii i ! the Secretary of State. Any interference oi- • * cliat Minister with measures of purely ii .ai administration in the (colonics to which 1 um now adverting, is to be depre- cated, excc})t in very special circumstances, the occur- rence of which nuist be exceedingly rare ; but 1 am convinced that it nuiy sometimes be called for, and that it is therefore expedient to trust, for averting the evils and the dangers which must arise from an im- proper interferenci; by the iromi! (joverument with the local administration, rather to the discretion with which the powers now vested in the Crown are exer- cised, than to a limitation of these powers by new legal restrictions. In particular, I should regard it as in the highest degree unadvisable to adopt the pro- posal that has been made to take away, so tar as regards certain classes of laws, the general power which the Crown now possesses of disallowing all acts • • .lit 20 (ULUNlAli POLICY. or ordiuanct's passed by the Colonial Legislatures, I shall have to advert to this question hereafter, with reference to New South Wales ; I will tlierefoi*e ab- stain from considering it more particularly at present. I have little doubt that the propriety of regulating the amount of control to be exercised by the Secretary of State over the nu;asures of the local Authorities, by the greater or less infusion of popular power in the constitutions of the several Colonies, will b(; generally recognized ; it renuiins to be considered what steps ought to be takeu for the establishment of repre- sentative institutions where they do not now exist, or for improving them where they exist ordy in an imperfect form. On this head also I think there can be little diflicuhy hi determining the principles which ought to be acted upon, although there will be a good deal more in their practical apj)lication. Keeping steaddy in view that the welfare and civi- lization of the inhabitants of the Colonies, and the advantage which the Empire at large may derive from their prosperity, are the only objects for which the retention of these dependencies is desirable, and believing also that there can be no doubt as to the superiority of free governments to those of an opposite character, as instruments for promoting the advance- ment of communities in which they can be made to work with success, I consider it to be the obvious duty and interest of this Country to extend representative institutions to every one of its dependencies where they have not yet been established, and where this can H T\ 1 ve 1 ch ^^^1 ('ill till t 'i'S^^H tJK tio fl res ■ hai ''J^^B stil ''H^^B lat 1 Co 1 tioi I If 1 po\ IMIELIMINAKY HP^MARKS. 07 1)0 done with saft'ty ; and also to take every oppor- tunity of giving increased development to such insti- tutions where they already exist but in an imperfect form. But I believe that in some cases representative governments could not safely be created, and also that the same form of representative institutions is by no means applicable to Colonies in different stages of social progress. The prhicipal bar to the establish- ment of representative governments in Colonies, is their being inhabited by a population of which a large proportion is not of European race, and has not made such progress in civilization as to be capable of exercising with advantage the privileges of self-govern- ment. Of such Colonies Ceylon affords the best example. The great majority of its inhabitants are Asiatics, very low in the scale of civilization, and having the character and habits of mind which have from the earliest times prevented popular governments from taking root, and ffourishing among the nations of the East. Amidst a large population of this descrip- tion there are settled, for the most })art as temporary residents engagtxl in commerce or agriculture, a mere; handfid of Europeans, and a larger nund)er (but still very few in comparison with the whole })opu- lation) of inhabitants of a mixed race. In such a Colony the establishment of representative institu- tions would be in the highest degree inex])edient. If they were established in such a form as to confer power upon the great body of the people, it must be oc COLONIAL I'OLIOV obvious that the oxpcrimont would b(! iitteiu^ 'd with groat danger, or rather with ilie certainty of failure. If, on tiie other hand, the system of representation were so contrived as to exchide the bulk of the native population from real power, in order to vest it in the liands of the European minority, an exceedingly narrow oligarchy Avould be created, — a form of gov(?rnment which experience certainly does not show to be favour- able to the welfare of the governed. Were a represen- tative Assend)ly constituted in Ceylon, which should possess the powers usually entrusted to such a body, and in which the European merchants juid planters and their agents had the asceiulency, it can hardly be su[)- posed that naiTow views of class interests would not ex- ercise greater intiuence in the legislation of the Colony than a comprehensive consideration of the general good. To anticipate that this would be the effect of placing a large measure of power in the hands of a small mino- rity, implies no unfavourable opinion of the charactei* jind intelligence of the European inhabitants of Ceylon, buu oidy a belief that they would act as men placed in such a situation have generally been found to do. In ^Mauritius, Trinidad, St. Lucia and Natal, a some- what similar state of things exists; for although the [)ri'- poiulerance of the uncivilized races in these Colonies is far less overwhelming tlian in Ceylon, still, taking into account the immigrants from India and Africa (whose welfare; is entitled to especial consideration), the inha- bitants of Eiu-oj)ean origin are but Ji fraction of the whole {)opulation. Hence it appears to me, tluit the PRET-IMINARY REMARKS. 29 surrender of a large portion of the [)owers now exercised by the servants of tlie Crown, and the cstahhshnient of representative Legislatures, would not be calculated to ensm'e the administration of the government upon principles of justice, and of an enlightened regard for the welfare of all classes in these communities. This end may, I believe, be far better attained by nuiintaining for the present in these Colonies the existing systeui of government, of which it would be a great uiistake to suppose that, because the inhabitants are not entitled to elect any of the members of the Legislatures, it pro- vides no securities against abuse. Otluu' influences are brought to bear upon the government of these Colonies, which answd" numy of the objects of a Legislature of a representative cliaracter. In the first place, in all of them the Press is perfectly free; the newspapers connnent upon alJ tlie uieasures of the Government, not tmly with entire liberty, but with the most uid)ounded license ; and the force both of local opinion, and also to a considerable df gree of opinion in this country, is thus brought to Ijcar u{)()n all the measures of the Administration. Every inha- bitant of the Colonies is also entitled freely to addn^ss to the Secretary of State any complaints or remarks he may think proper on the measures of the local Autho- rities, subject only to the rule that such letters shall be transmitted through the hands of the Governor (who is bound to forward them), in order that he may at the same time send such explanations on the subject as appear to lum to be called for. This privilege is largely 30 COLONIAL I'OLrry exercised, and is the means of siii)j)lying iiiuch uselul inforinution. It is hence impossible that the Secretary of State can be kept in ignorance of any errors or abuses committed by the local Authorities,, while, if he fails to interfere when he ought, he cannot himself escape the censure of Parliament. The greatly increased facili- ties of intercom-se with the Colonies have of late years effected a great practical alteration in the position of Colonial Governors ; and, whatever may have been the case formerly, it undoubtedly cannot be alleged that Parliament is now indifferent to what goes on in the Colonies, or that faults, real or imaginary, which may be connnitted in the administration of their ati'airs, can ho})e to escape the ever-ready criticism of an Opposition eager ^o find matter for objections to the Government of the day. Perhaps some persons may think that this disposition has been carried too far for tlie real interest of the Colonics. In these Colonies there exist also Legislative Coun- cils consisting partly of persons filling the chief offices of the Government, partly of some of the principal in- habitants, Avho, though named to their seats in the Legislatiu*c by the authority of the Crown, and not by popular election, are yet in the habit of acting with great freedom, and practically express to a considerable extent the opinion of the class to which they belong. It was my object, while I held the seals of the Co- lonial department, without relincpiishing the j)ower possessed by the Crown, gradually to bring these legislative bodies more under the influence of the ^■•ii*'.*^*^ r^^Ma PRELOfTNARY REMARKS. 31 opinion of tho intelligent and educated inliabitants of these Colonies. With this view, in one or two cases, the jiroportion of unoffieial to official members was augmented, and the practice was everywhere introduced of recjuiring the whole expenditure to be provided for by ordhianccs discussed and passed by the Legislative Council ; these ordinances being founded on estimates prepared and submitted to the Legisla- ture by the Governor, and published for general in- formation. Li general the lixed establishment of the Colonial Governments is provided for by permanent laws, and that part of the expenditure which is of a more fluctuating character, by Ordinances passed an- nually, every chargt; on the Colonial revenue being re- (juired to ha.ve, in one form or the other, the sanction of the Legislature. This regulation was adopted, under my instructions, in all the Colonies to which I am now referring, in place of the very lax and irregular practice previously prevailing in some of them, by which the only authority for a large proportion of their expendi- ture consisted of instructions given by the Secretary of State, with the concun'ence v)f the Treasury. The publicity given to the estimates and accounts of the Colonial expenditure, and tlie rule that, except in cases of great emergency, tlio drafts of all proposed ordi- nances should be published before being passed, have enabled the Colonists to brhig under the consider- ation of the Governors and the Legislative Councils, and ultimately of the Secretary of State, any objec- tions they have entertained to proposed ordinances or 32 rOI.OMAL roiration lias been given to their views, esiieeially when these liave V)eei stated by chambers of eonniieree or mmiieipal l)0('ies, the ad- vice and assistance of whicli, hi tiig'administration of Colonial affairs, are in my judgement of the highest value. These are as effective securities as in the present state of these Colonies I believe to })e attain}d)le, for ensuring their good government ; but I conceive, that gradually to prepare them for a more i)0})ular system of government ought to l)e one of the prin- ripal objects of the policy adopted towards theni, and it is one of which I never lost sight. It was more i)artieularly with this view that 1 endeavoured, whenever practicable, to (;reate a system of Municipal organization, entertaining a strong (conviction that the exercise of the powicrs usually entruste(i to muni- cipal bodies is the best training that a popuhition can have for the right use of a larger measure of pohtical power. With regard to Colonies which already })ossess representative institutions, I have observed above that the form of these institutions varies very much in difterent cases. In Canada and the neighl)ouring provinces the system of government has, within the last few years, been assimilated as nearly as possible to that which prevails in this Country, Ex- PHKLLMINARY HEM AUKS. a3 ecutive (councils having (as I liave already men- tioned) been established, composed of [)ersons iiohhng tlieir offices only vvhih; they possess the confidence of the Assemblies, a!id the administration of the go- vernment beinfj; carried on })v their assistance. In the other Colonies the rej)resentative bodies do not generally participate so directly, and hi some scarcely at all, in the exercise of any power but that of l(!gisla- tion. Wluni I come to treat of the affairs of particular Colonies, I shall iiave to notice the n'on; important peculiarities in their Constitutions, and the: reasons for allowing those peculiarities to contin'"5 : for the pre- sent I will confine myself to some general remarks, on the inexpedi(!ncy of adopting the suggestion which has sometimes been made, that the system of government in all tiio Colonies possessing representative institu- tions should be assimilated to that which now exists in Canada. The system now established in Canada is that of Parliamentary (iovcrnment, that is to say gov(.'rn- ment by nuians of parties. This form of government is now working well in that and the neighbouring provinces, and is probably on the whole the best [)lan hitherto adopted of enabling a Colony in an ad- vanced stage of its social progress to exercise the pri- vilege of self-government ; it may therefore be regarded as the form which representative institutions, when they actpjire their full development, are likely to take in the British Colonies. The experience however of our own Country, in which this system of government VOL. 1. D 34 COLONIAL POLICV. Iins SO long flourished, may teach us that its advaii- tao-es arc by no means unmi\(d, even in communities the l)est a(lii))te(l to it, but that tliere are consid;rea'Jy incn^ases tiu^ (hmger of those abusers to wliicli party governuient is always liabhi, as will readily be understood by those who have observed the effect prodnciid in this Country by a nearly equal division of [)arties. Even iu the Assend)ly of Canada, although a luunerous body, conipar(!(l to most Colonial assend)lies, it has been remarked that its great inferiority in numbers to the House of Commons has a decided and injurious (effect upon its adaptation to the system of government now in force in that Colony. The want of a suthcient number of persons possessing the leism-e and conipe- tenci' reijuisite to enable them to give up their time to the ()ublic service without adopting it as a })rofession, is even a greater difliculty in the way of the ado[)tion hi a snuill society of what has been called in the Colonies "responsible," but what may more proj)erly be termed " party " or "parliamentary," government. Where the })ersons capable of holding office are very few, party contests have a tendency to run into ex- treme and dangerous bitterness. It may be ques- tioned whether these considerations have been suffi- ciently attended to, and whether, in one at least of the North American Colonies, the inhabitants have; not re([uired prenuiturely the establishment of a system of 86 COLONIAI. POMCV. govrniiiifiit lor wliich tlit7 aiv not yv\ sutliciently [)n'|)jir('(l. IS'or oiiu;lit it to lie overlooked, tluit the peenJiur foriii ofgoveriiiiieiit to wliieh the abovt! reiimrks i\\)\)\y is by no means neeessary for the enjoyment, by a Colony, of th(! a(lvaiita<^(!S of a free {rovernment. If a representative Le^nslatin'e exists, the people not only possess the power thronj^h their repn'sentatives of determining ail rpiestions relating to legislation, the imposition of taxes, and the expenditure of the public money, but they have likewise tht; means of e-\|)ress- ing their opinion, in a manner which makes it certain that it will not be neglected, on tiic administration of tlic cxecutiv<' govermnent. In those earlier days of our Colonial history, to which it is now so nuich the fashion to look for an exami»l(! to be followed, these wv]v. i\w only securities for good govermnent ; and there can be no doubt that they are now far more effective than in those times, in consequence of the altered state of public opinion in this (/ountry on such subjects, and of the increased facilities which now exist for bringing before Parliainent any grievances of which the Colonists may have to complain. Nor is it immateriiil to observe, that, even in the United States of America, (Congress do(!S not j)ossess any such direct control over the executive government as tliat wliich is exercised by the Legislatures of Colonies in which Parhanientary govermnent is established ; and the President during the term of his office exercises an authority far larger, and far less subject to any clieck V * IMlKLIMINAin HKMARKS. ^7 agftinsf abuse, timii tliiit vvliirh is vested in the (io- vernor ot" 11 liritisli Colony possi^ssiiif^ a l{e|)iiml t'oi' l»y tliciiisclvcs ^dioiild l)f lillcd up bv t\\c schrtiDii of persons IVom their own IkkIv, wlieii tliis cmi be done witliont ineonvenienee. Accordingly olHees in the Colonies have, lor a consi(K rul)K' time, been tor the most part prrt(;tically disposed of by the (jlovernors. It is tiiu' that tht'Sti ottices, wlien tlieir value exceeds t~M)(l a year, arc in g(!ju'ral nominally at the dis|)osal of 'die Secretary of State, and, when va- cancii's oc(;ur, can oidy be tilled up b) tlu; Governors, subject to the contirmation of the (^rovNii sij^nitied })y that Minister. Mut in the jijrent majority of cases the recommendation of the (jovernors is accepted as a matter of course; the patronage then fore is in etf'e(!t exercised by then», and olHces are tilled up by the ap- pointment of (^olonists. This practice- previiils more or less completely in diiierent C'olonies accordinj^i; to circumstances. In the North American Colonies ap[)ointments may be said to have been for a lonjj; time given exclusively to residents ; and in th(^ other (volouies, having t(!mpe- rate climates and a Kuroj)ean po])ulation, they have been chiefly so, perlia])8 with fewer exceptions than woulfl have be(^n for the real advantage of the Co- lonies themselves. I sny with fewer exceptions than would have been for the n.'al advantage of the Colo- nies themselves, because, until they reach an advanced stage hi their ijrogres;-' I believe that the aj)pointment to some of the principal ottices in the ('olonies of persons not selected from the uju^row circle of their own inhabitants, and imbued with the peculiar feid- IM«K,I,1MINAIIY H KM AUKS. 39 iii^s and opinions which aro apt to prevail in niinh connnunifii's, hut clioscn from anionjjj tht; wvW- f(hi('at('(l ^'cnth-nu'ii of thf M()thfr-<;ountrv, is calou- hitcd }j;r<'iitly to iniprovf tho tono of ('oloniul society, and to prevent it from «^radually deji;eneratin{^ from tlie stanchird of manners and aeipiirements to which we iire aecust(»m(;d at homi*. It is also an advantuy:e in small st)eieties, as tendinjj; to mitijjjatc 1 1 U3 bitterness of that party spirit vvhicli is so often their bane, that somk; of the ofhees of most importanee should be tilled lip by pi^rsons from a distance, not (Connected with any of the small knots and cli(pies into vvhicli such societies usually become ilivided ; while t!ie inter- chanrs and Lieutenant- Go- vernors whom I recommended to the Queen. I will give in tiie Appendix a list of the persons so ap- pointed, distinguishing those with whom I had no personal accpiaintance previously to their nomination, and specifying the public services by which they were known to me*. I have observed in the earlier part of this Lettei", that if the principles I have endejivoured to establish are admitted, it will follow that the Colonies ought to take upon themselves a larger proportion than hereto- fore of the (charges they occasion. The chief source of expense at present on account * See Appendix (A) at the end of this Volume, IMIKMMINAKY REMARKS. 43 of the Colonies is their military protection, as the charges of their civil goveriiineiit are now generally paid by themselves ; and the naval expenditure, which is frequently charged against the Colonies, cannot in my opinion be so with any justice, since, if we had no Colonies, I believe that the demands upon our naval force would be rather increased than diminished, from the necessity of protecting our conmierce. Our military expenditure on account of the Colonies is certainly very heavy, including the charges for the pay of the troops stationed in them ; the cost of bar- racks and ordnance works, that of transport, and the large proportion of the dead weight of the army which is fairly chargeable to the Coloni()s. This expenditure ought, I think, to be very largely reduced; and the Colonies, now that they are relieved from all that is onerous to them in their connection with the Mother- coimtry, should be required to contribute much more than they have hitherto done to their own protection. This would, in point of fact, be only a return to what vvjis formerly the practice of this Country. In the early days of our Colonial history it is well known that the settlers, in what are now the United States, were thrown very nuich upon their own resources in their contests, not onlv with the Indians, but with the IVench, and that the Mother-country acted rather as an ally than as a principal in their wars. In the West Indies the Colonies were also required to contri- bute largely towards their own military prctcictiou; indeed it is only within tlie last twenty years that 44 COLONIAL POLICY. Janinica hns censed to provide rations and barracks for the trooi)s quartered there ; and even now tliere is a relic of the ancient system, in the charge still borne by the Island, on account of the forts, though the kee[)ing up of these forts has, I fear, become little more than a form. I believe it was not until the time of the great revolutionary war with France, that nearly the wJiole l)urden of the defence of the Colonies was undertaken by this Country ; but for the last fifty or sixty years this has been so generally done, and the charges on tliia account borne by the Colonies have been so few and iiiconsiderable, that a sudden change of system could not have been safely effected, fhe importance of returning to a sounder system was not however lost sight of, and we endeavoiu'ed to estid^lish, and by degrees to act upon, the principle that the Co- lonies can only look to the Mother-country for military sup})ort in any dangers to which they may be exposed from a powerful foreign enemy ; that Her Majesty's troops art- not to be expected to undertake the duties of police, and of maintaining the internal traiKpiillity of the Colonies ; and that the Colonies ought to under- take to provide; for the expense of barracks for such of Her Majesty's troojjs as may be stationed in them for their protection. I except the case of those im- portant naval and military stations, which are main- tained rather with a view to the interest, of the Empire at large, than those of the particular Colony, such for instance as Malta, Bermuda, etc., where the foitifica- P REIil M I N A R Y REM A RK S . 45 tioiis an) of far nioro iinportanco to tlu Empire than to the Colony. As a first stop towards carrying these views into effect, instnietions wercf transmitted to the AustraUan Colonies very early in yonr administration, for a large reduction of the force quartered tliere, and for the transfer of the barracks to the Colonijd Authori- ties, except in Van Diemen's Land, where, on account of the large number of convicts, a different rule was of course adopted. The tnuisfer of the charge for barracks to the Colonial Governments appeared to be one of the first steps which ought to be adopted ill attempting to reihicc our Colonial military expen- diture ; because the charge for barracks and military works is a very heavy one, and is also one which it is impossible effectually to check at the great distances of many of oiu' Colonies. Copies of the correspoiid- ence with the Governor of New South Wales on this subject, containing a full explanation of the i)olicy pursued on this subject, will be found in the A})pen- dix*. Although the principle thus acted upon in Aus- tralia was one which it was our intention to adopt as the general guide of oui" policy, there were strong reasons for beginning its application in Australia, and proce(uling somewhat cautiously in acting upon it else- where. The Australian Colonies are, of all the Queen's dominions, the safest from attack by any foreign enemy; their j)osition and the luitiu'c of the country render it impossible that in war such an enemy should do * kSeo Appendix (B) at the end of this Volume. 46 COLONIAL POLICY 1 more than plunder and burn sonic of the sca])ort-towns, and even tiiis vvoukl be effectually guarded against by a very small amount of exertion on the part of the Colonists, iu erecting batteries and forming volunteer corps of artillery. In peace, there being no warlike natives (I confine these observations to the Colonies in Australia, excluding New Zealand), there is absolutely no danger to apprehend. Hence the amount of force required (except for purposes of police, which 1 do not conceive to form part of the proper duties of Her Ma- jesty's troops) is very inconsiderable, and the Col mies may without difficulty undertake the charge of keeping in repair the barracks which have already been built. It is also to be remembered that the Australian Colonies have not lost anything by our recent conmiercial legis- lation : on the contrary, the effect of that legislation has been only to reheve them from restrictions, witli- out depriving them of any peculiar and gainful pri- vileges. In other Colonies, though the same principle has already been partially acted upon, and was intended gradually to be so more completely, there were, as I have said, reasons for proceeding cautiously. In the North American Colonies the necessity of maintaining a considerable force arises almost entirely from their proximity to the United States, and from the fret that, if we were vmfortunately involved* hi a quarrel with that Republic, our Colonies would be attacked as a means of injuring us. These Colonies, as I shall here- after have occasion more particularly to show, had also PllELlMINAUY REMARKS. 47 suffered more really tlmn any others from the ehanges of (Hir commereial poliey ; and the moment wlien they were struggling with the ditticulties thus brought upon them, was not one whieh could properly be chosen for calling upon them to submit to an entirely novel charge on account of their military expen- diture. In the West India Colonies the coiumereial distress, which has for many years weighed so heavily upon them, formed a complete obstacle to their being now called upon for any contribu- tion towards their mihtary defence. But both in the North American and West Indian Colonies a large reduction of force has been effected (a part of this reduction having been only ordered, and not completed, when we left office), by which a very con- siderable saving has been made ; and, in the foniier, the maintenance at the cost of this Country, of an irregular local force, which formerly cost £16,000 a year, has been discontinued, and steps have been taken towards the complete adoption of the same principle as in Australia. I shall have occasion, in adverthig to the transactions of Canada, to return to this subject, and state more particularly what has been done there. The other Colonies are chiefly either garrisons, such as Malta and (iibraltar, or else already contribute largely to their own military ex- penditure, as Mauritius and Ceylon. Other arrangements have also been made, with the view of gradually diminishing the military expense of the Colonies ; of these one of the most important has 48 COLONIAL I'OLICY. L i been tlint for sending out ponsioncrs, instead of dc- tiichnionts from the regular regiments of infantry, as convict guards, and for settling enrolled pensioners in Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. I am persuaded that il* the policy which I have {lius slightly sketched is followed up, and if the Colonies, as they become better able to bear the charge, are required to take upon themselves a larger share of their military expenditure, this burden on the Mother- country may at no distant period be reduced to a very moderate amount. Considering that it is little more than five years since the first steps w^^rc taken towards the adoption of this as a regular system of poUcy, and that during that brief period the disturb- ance of our commercial relations with the Colonies has imposed upon us the necessity of avoiding any hasty proceedings in carrying it hito effect, the pro- gress already made is as great as coidd reasonably be expected. I fear that this preliminary explanation of the prin- cip (^uihmi, of the Istli of Dfcciiiln'r, IS1,(», and tlu' 2m1i of Dfci'inlicr, 1817 (House of (.'oniiiions Sessional l'aj)orof IHI.7, No. 1(50. and IFouse of Fiords Taper of IHIS, No. 250, p. 75) -. tlie i{ep(jrt of the Connnittee of the House of As8rinl)ly on Mhieh the last Memorial was founded (p. H'.i), and the lU'sputeh in reply ]). Kit). See also Lord Harris's l)ea])aleh of the 2Sth of iJeeember. ISlI) (p. (>'J(5 ol' the same Paper), in which he says, that for the last fcti years the greater nuinherof estntes in the Island have been kept in cultivation at a i;reat losj* 54 COLONIAL FOLICV. they do not practically realize, this ttnuleiicy was ag- gravatckl in the case of the sugar-planters by other circuuistunces The iiKiasiu'c for the Abolition of Slavery, which was passed in 1 883, is now generally admitted to have been most unhappily defective, from its con- taining no provisions calcidated to meet what consti- tuted the r(,'al difficulty of that great change in the state of society, namely the want ot adequate motives to im|)el the iVegroes to labour when the direct coer- cion to which they were subject as slaves should be withdrawn. Experience has long demonstrated that men, whatever be their race or their colour, will not submit to steady and continnous labour, unless under the influence of some very powerful motive ; and that in general they can only be induced to do so either by direct compulsion (that is to say, by being treated as slaves), or by the constraint imposed upon them by their inability to obtain otherwise what their habits lead them to regard as necessary for a comfortable existencti. It is notorious that even English labourers, probably the most industrious in the world, relax in their exertions when the power of this motive is diminished ; and it has often been remarked, that when, owing to some unexpected demand, or other circumstances, th(^ wages of any numerous class of labourers art; suddenly and largely increased, the ma- jority avail themselv(;s of the increase to enjoy a larger portion of leisure than before, and content themselves with working only hard enough to live somewhat, but THE bUGAR COLONIES. 55 not greatly, better than they had been previously accus- tomed to do. Now, during slavery, the Negroes were maintained principally by the produce of their own provision-grounds, which they cultivated in the time allowed them for the purpose by their masters, from whom they received in addition certain allowances, principally of clothing and salt-tish, to the value of a few shilhngs a-year : that is to say, they worked under the terror of the whip, without receiving any return beyond these few shillings for their labour, since in most of these Colonies land is so abundant that it can be liad almost for nothing, and theii- provision- grounds coidd not therefore be considered as part of the wages of the Negroes. By relieving them from the coercion under which they had previously worked, and enabling them to connnand the lull value of their labour, which in three or four weeks would amount to as much as they had received from their masters for a year, it was therefore certain that a change would hv. made in their position, in compa- rison to which that experienced by English workmen, in consequence of the most extravagant rise of wages ever known in this Country, under any temporary demand for a particular kind of laboiu', would be as nothing. But although this was clearly to be anticipated, the Emancipation Act did not attempt to meet the dif- ficulty that was sure to arise from the want of any adequate uiotive to induce the Negro to submit to continuous la))our. All that it did was to adjourn the i 56 COLONIAL POLICY. (Ufficiilty by continuing slavery in a nioditied sluipe*, under the name of apprenticeship, for a few years longer; but the people of England, who had paid for the abohtion of slavery, and had b(^en told that it was effected, when it turned out that this was not the case, and that ^lavery was in reality still continued, though in a mitigated form, would not submit to have their expectations thus disappointed. It was with ex- treme diiiicuity that, in 1838, the House of Commons was induced to forgo its demand that the apprentice- ship should at once l)e put an end to by the authority of Parliament, and to rt!st satisfied with passing an Act, which so crippled the power of the masters to enforce compulsory labour, that the right to it was no longer worth retaining, The consequence was, that this remnant of slavery was abandoned, and com- plete emanci})ation w^as granted to the Ni'groes, in the Crown Colonies by an Order in Council, juid in the others by local Acts. None of these laws contained any provisions calculated to bring to bear upon the* Negroes other motives to industry w hen that of coer- cion was withcb'awn. They were also all alike defi- cient in not attempthig to make ad(!quate provision for the education and religious instruction of the newly emancipated population, or for the establishment of an effective police and the inforcement of order. * See Lord Di'rhy'n (tlu'ii Lord Stanloy) speech in tlie House of Lords, (111 tlie 7tli of Felirnary, ISIM. in wiiicli he distinctly states t!iouf,di tliib was strenuously denied in [KV.i) that the apjjreiiticeshiii w&H only a system ormodifi.jd slavery. — Haimard, vol. xcvi. p. 176. THE SUGAR COLONIES. 57 The result was, at first, less difficulty and a smaller diuiinution of the aiiiourit of work done by the Negroes than might have been expected. They ac- cepted moderate wages, not knowing that they could connnand more ; and as, in the early days of free- dom, they imitated their masters and incurred expcmses altogether unsuited to their condition in life, they were obliged, in order to obtain the means of meeting these expenses, to do more work than might have been an- ti(.'ipated. But they gradually got to know the value of their labour, and wages consequently rose ; while at the same time they ceased to think it necessary to show that they were free by indulging so much as at Hrst in fine clothes aiul luxurii^s, and their style of Hving subsided into one less violently different from that to which they had been used as slaves. The un- fortunate consequ(!nce was, that not only did wages continue to rise„but — contrary to what happens in such a country as this, where an undue rise of w ages in any particular employment soon corrects itself, by attract- ing more labour from other (piarters — the higher the wages, the smaller b(;canic the amount of exertion by which the Negro could command what he considered necessary for his comfort ; and, there being no som'ce whence additional labourers coiUd be procm'ed in sufficient munbers to fill up the void, as the cost of labour increased, its (juantity diminis^ied. But the amount of hibour whicli could be commanded being less than was recMiircd to carry on cultivation uj)on its previous scale, while the capital invested in sugar- .5' i ^ 'r ! 1 58 COJ.ONIAL POLICY. l)lHntatioiis, which would be in a great measure saeri- ticed by allowing them to go out of cultivation, was very large, it inevitably happened that the compe- tition among the Planters, for the scanty supply of labour that was available, forced up wages to the very highest rate which the prospects of the sugar- market rendered it possible to pay, w itliout incurring a heavier loss than would have been sustained from the abandonment of plantations. In this state of things it is obvious that the ten- dency of tliat monopoly of the British market for which the Planters contended, was really to increase instead of to dinunish theii* difficidties, because it raised their expectations as to the price their sugar would conmiaud, and consequently the wages they could ven- ture to pay. So powerfully had these causes operated, that, in 1846, wages in Guiana * had risen to two shillings and fourpence for about six hours' labour, the Negroes scarcely ever condescending to work more than foiu" days in the week, and often only two or three f. In other Colonies, wdiere the land is less fertile, or the supply of labour less deticient, wages had not been raised to this extravagant height; but everywhere the tendency of the law by which the price of Colonial sugar was artificially enhanced in the British market, had been to raise the wages of the Negroes, and to diminish the amount of labour w^hich * See House of Commons Sessional Paper. No, 325 of 1817. p. 93. t See House of Lords Sessional Paper, No. 250 of 1818, p. 568. THE SUGAR COLONIES. 59 the Planter could even at an increased price command. Nor is this all. The higl) rate of wages which the Negroes could command, and the absence of any ne- cessity for devoting more thnn a small [)()rtion of their time to labour, instead of proving of real advantage to them, had tended to make them rather retrograde than advance in civilization since the abolihon of slavery. They are described in Guiana (where the evil was greatest) as passing their time in shooting and fishing, leading an irregular and wandering life*, much addicted to petty theft, and committing more serious oft'ences when called upon to submit to a very moderate reduction of their extravagant wages, which was imperatively demanded by an alteration in the price of sugar. Education is stated to have made little progress, and it is observed that " the fact of the continued prevalence and undiminished influence of the practice of ' obtuih' in this and other Colonies will partially illustrate the slow progress of intellectual improvement amongst them ; and there seems to be a giiueral impression that the rising generation are less docile, and more inclined to evil and reckless pursuits, than their eh lersf." Such is the melancholy [)icture, given by a very competent authority, of the social condition of the * See Govomor Light's Dospati'Iiot'tlie 3rdof May, 1848. (HouBf of Lords Paper, No. 250 of 184S, p. 567.) t Mr. Walker's Jteport on the eondition of British Guiana, trans- mitted m Governor Havkly's Despateli of Mareh 21, 1849, in the Appendix to the first Report of tlie Committee of the House of Commons on Ceylon and British Guiana, p. J?J8. GO COLONIAL POLICY. ; i Negro |)0})uljitioii in one of the most iMi{)ortaiit of the fomier Slave Colonies, more than fourteen years after the passing of the Act of Emancipation, and above ten years after the Negroes had been placed in the enjoy- ment of entire freedom by the abolition of the system **f apj>renliceship. Such a state of things (of which the existcisci wis known in 184G, though the descrip- tion oi it I iiave (quoted was nc* written till later) seemed clearly to demonstrate that tiie system which had been pursued towards these Colonies, at the time of emanci|uition and since, was nulically erroneous, and tha ; totally different one ought to be adopted. The change which was thus urgently recpiired could not be eftected by any single; measm-e ; but, for the reasons I have stated, it was a hrst and indispensable step towjird improvement to alter the duties levied in this Conntry npon sugar, so as no longer artificially to enhance the price of Colonial j)roduce, and thereby maintain the extravagant wages hitherto received by the Negroes, which had contributed so nuich to encourage idleness and obstruct the progress of civilization. A severe tem- porary pressure upon all concerned in sugar cultivation in our Coloiiies was no (ls imposed by (^ohmial laws, ('ertain diiferential duties upon articles of foreign origin. These ditterential duties coiUd not be at once repealed (as they had been ini])osed) by the authority of Parliament, because in some cases the receipts from them formed no incon- siderable portion of the Colonial revenue, the sudden loss of which woidd have o(;casioned serious inconve- nience ; accordingly, instead of sim})ly repealing the Act of Parliament imposing these duties, a Bill was pro|)osed, and ])assed into a law, by which the various Colonial Legislatures were empowered to repeal the ■.-— r "--iT,»->*i-»'" M I 62 COLONI.M, POLICY duties in (juostion. At a latiT period the relief of Colonifil <'()iiinu.Tee tVom restrictions imposed hy the autliority of PurUuuient was completed by the nspeal of the i\avip;ati()ii Laws. The various restrictions from which the Colonial su^ar-gnwer was thus relieved were estimated, in a memorandum otficiiUly communicated to the iioard of Trade by the Committee of West India IMaiiters and Merchants in the year 1 830, as equiva- lent to a charge of no less than five shiUings a hiuidred- weiglit on Colonial sugar; the removal thcTcfore of this burden could not fail to afford material assistance to the British Planters, in nieeting tlu^ competition to which they were in future to be ex[)osed. But the chief disadvantage to which they conn)laine(l of being subject, in competing with the foreign sugar- grower, was that creat(Hl by the continuance of the Slave-trade, which enabled the latter to obtain a large sup[)ly of cheap labour. From this disadvantage also the (jrovernment endeavoured to relieve them ; and with that view% as well as on the still higher grounds of humanity, every effort was made to sup- press the Slave-trade by the vigorous use of our naval power, — 1 rejoice to say, with so nmch success, that the last reports received froju the coast of Africa, when we retired from office, represented that detestable traffic as having been ver} nearly extinguished ; and I am hai)py to perceive tiiat Her Majesty's present Ministers have been able to advise the Queen to in- form Parhament, in closing the late Session, that, for the present, the Slave-trade is entirely sup[)ressed on THE arOAH COLONIES. 63 1)1 that part of the Africtm roast where it was formerly carried on to the greatest extent. But there were otlu^r riK^asiires which sei^med to hv still more urgcmtly recjuired for tiie restoration of th(! prosperity of the Su«iar ('olonies. This prosperity, and the welfare of all classes of the inhabitants of these Colonies, depend npon their being enabled to continue io advantage the cultivation of sugar, not merely because this branch of industry constitutes their chief source of wealth, but bec^ause, if it were to cease, there would no longer be any motive for the residence of the Kur()j)ean inhabitants in a climate uncongenial to their constitution, while it is certain that they could not be withdrawn without giving an almost fatal check to the civilization of the Negroes. But in most of these Colonies there was little pro- spect that the cultivation of sugar could be long con- tinued, unless the amount of labour available to tlu^ Planters could be increased, and its cost materiallv reduced. This was the unanimous opinion of all persons interested in the production of Colonial sugar, nor was there any reason for qiiestionhig its correct- ness. Hence the planters and merchants connected with the West Indies and Mauritius were urgent in their demands for the adoption of measures to increase the supply of labour by inmiigration. It was our earnest desire to meet these demands as far as pos- sible, though it appeared to us ji mistake to depend too exclusively on immigration. Accordingly we did all in our power to encourage the introduction of labourers (\i fOLONFAI. I'Ol.rcV. from liuliii, Alricii, and Madeira, (the only (|imrtt>rs from wliicli tlicic .'ipjK'arcd any |)ros|)('('t of ol)tiHnin^ tlieni,) insistinfjj n|)oii iiotlinijjf hul \\\v observance of those precautions which a ihie regiird to humanity imperatively retpiired. It would leii power of availing themselves oi' the competi- tion for their labour to obtain its full value, and thus jiiaintained unnnj)aired that sthnuhis to industry which exists in a healthy state of the relations between labourers and their employers. A.n ordinance founded on these principles was passed in Mauritius, and has worked exceedhigly well, as I shall have occasion to show in giving an av'count of the transactions of that Colony. Somewhat similar laws were also piissed at a later period, (some of them very lately,) in most of tlu; Sugar C'olonicjs. Immigration however was not the only, perhaps not the principal source, from wl ich an increased supply of labour was considered to be ol)tainal)le. It was still more important, in m} opinic^i, to endeavour to augment the amoimt of available labom*, by stimulating the actual population of these Colonics 70 (()I,()N1A1< I'oi.icr to grcaU'i" iii(l»»stry. I have alrcjuly fXpluiiUMl tlie I'lTor wliich WHS cominittcd at \\\v Vmw of tlu; Aboli- tion of Slavery in 1833, in not adoptinji; soino moans of imposing u])on the cmancipat«!(l slaves the neeessity of greater exertion. A plan of emancipation, fonmh'd n|)()n a consideration of this nectjssity, had, in the he- gimiing of the year 1833, been snbmitted on belialf of the (iovernment to the Wt^st Indian Connnittee by Lord lli]>on (then Lord Go(kTi(!h), who at that timt^ hehl tlie oitiee of Sc^cretary of State for the Colonies, The assent of the West Indian Committee was refused to this plan, (l)artly ])erliaps because Lord Ripon was not authorized to accompany the proposjd with the otFer of large pecuniary com[)ensation afterwards granted to the holders of slav(;s) ; Jind the seals of the Colonial Department having been transferred to Lord Derby (then Mr. Stanley), this schenu! was en- tirely abandoned, and a ditferent one was afterwards carried. The distinguishing characteristic of the rejected plan* was, that it [)roposcd to stinudate the Negroes to industry by the imj)osition of a tax on their provi- * Thia plan, and the oorrospondcuee relatintr to it, will be found iu tht' A})i)en(lix to the Fourth lti*])ort oftho CV>minittccof thcllouso ol'Conimonn on Suf^ar and Cotl'iv I'lantinj^. oT 1H4S. p. loS. It had previously been printed in lH3;i, by tlie Committee of the West Indian Arisoeiatiun, and had been extracted from their l*roceeding8 and atided as an Ajipentlix to u eorreeted rc'port, which I pul)li8hed in th;it year, of my 8))eeeh ii' the House of (JonunonH against the nu'asure pro])orted by the Government for establishing ii system of ;i[ii)reutieeshi]) on the abolition of slavery. 1 may be permitted here t :. u- r^-:^^:f^ k-M^u^ THK HllOAR COLON IKS 77 siou-grounds, \v\n\v. wry slrin^(?nt regulations for vn- Ibrciiig the pnymcnt of tlie tax, and for the prevention of vagrancy, were to have been establislied. The design of these proposals was to substitute, for the to quoto H ftfw Hfiiti'iiccH fritin tlio ri'inarkfl l)y which 1 introducctl fht! rcjootcd phiii in tlic uIidvc Appendix, iu order to nhow that tho dilHculties which have arisen fnmi the modo of aholishitif; slavery which was adopted in 18K3, are (tho\i|nli h'ss hi de^^reo) in kind pre- cisely those which I tlien anticipaU-d. After expressing my opinion that shivery ouglit to be abolislied, even if it were certain that the production of sugar in our Colonies would in con8(H|ueuce l)e alto- gether stopped, I proceeded to make the following remarks : — " If however sugar cultivation can he kept up consistently with tlio great principle of allowing every man (subject only to the control of the ;aw and of the magistrate) to have the free diajjosal of his own time at "i labour, it is, J think, most desirable that it shoidd be so ; ami tlii , not less for the sake of the slaves themselves, than for tliat of the planters and of the manufacturers and merchants in this coiuitry, whc) are interested in the commerce of our Colonies. The negroes certainly would be infinitely better oil' than at jjresout if enumcipa- tion were to take place without any accompanying nuvisures for im- posing upon them the necessity of rcgidar work ; in that case it may safely be concluded that they would almost universally become oc- cupiers of land, from which, with very little exertion, they could de- rive a greater abundance than they now have of the neceasarii>s of life, n?Kl of the few comforts to which they are accustomed, so that they might, and in all probability woidd, pass the greater part of their lives iu idleness. This 1 cannot consider to be what woidd be most advantageous for them : to be under the necessity of exerting themselves is, 1 believe, a blessing to men, of whatever country and in whatever situation of life ; while the unavoidable consequence of the general refusal of the negroes to work for wages would be the aimihilation of tlu; commerce of the Colonies, and the ruin of all those who directly or indirectly depend upon it, — a result which in the end woidd be most injurious to the negroes, since it would itre- vent the residence among them of Euro])eans or of any other j)er8ons raised above the necessity of labouring for their sidisistenee. and 78 (OLU.MAl. l>OLI('V. direct coercion of the vvliip hy wliicli the Neprroes had liitheilo Ixu-n impelled to iiihour, the indirect const iiiiiit Ijy which the working-classes in countries vvhirc; slavery does not exist are drivtii to exertion, namely the impossibility of otherwise ohtuining snch a maintenance as tlieir hul)it8 render necessary to tliem. In 184G, when I assumed the direction of the Colo- nial Department, twperience liad only too el( ;irly de- monstrated the urgent want of some su(;h stinuilus to industry as would have been brought to bear upon •lie Negroes by the measures proposed in ls:V.] ; but unfo tunately the tinu; had pussjid away ui which this vvai! could be easily snj)plie(l. It was ini])ossible to expeci that, after eight years of almost unrestricted license, the Negroes would easily be induced to submit to such heavy (hnnands upon them, antl to such stringent re- gulations, as would have been accepted with joy and gratitude on their first emerging from slavery, and as a substitute for its oppression. But though the faci- lities for the reorganization of society (for nothing less was re(piired) which existed in 1.SI33 could no longer ])e conunanded, and rueasui'es which woidd then have tliiis enabled to (iittuse around them tlie knowledge and the refine- ments of civilized life. The proposal which has Ix-en submitted to Parliament is, in my opinion, oltjectionable, not be^'ause it would make it necessary for the negroes to perform a reasonal»le amount of labour, but because it would impose this necessity by direct eom- pulsion, instead of by tlie indirect compidsion (if 1 may be allowed the expression) which would arise from pla^-ing them in eireum- Rtances in which industry would be their only refuge from want." — Appendix, p. 52 : Speech on Colonial Slaveri/, puhlishcd hy I{id.-'.-^ frj^ i- ji» ^ .0. ^^ c IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) W.! .V4 A <° f/> 1.0 I.I ■;;IM |2.5 ■ so ■^" MIIH ■^ IM 12.2 H* 140 IL2^ lliu 11.6 Kiotographic Sdaices Corporation 33 WBT MAIN STRUT WnSTU.N.Y. MStO (716)t73-4S03 \ ^^' ■1>^ iV' <> ^•^ if \ ^ o^ ^■MflK^^ 80 COLONIAL POLICY. U vagrancy in the Sugar Colonics, has long been in- sisted upon by all connected with them ; nor do 1 be- lieve that the advantage of establishing good roads, schools, places of worship, and public hospitals, has been disputed, though I fear that the great import- ance of institutions for the education of the young, and for the relief of the sick and (destitute, has not been sufficiently recognized. But the difficulty of pro- viding funds to meet the expense has hitherto stood in the way of making adequate provision for these objects ; and it has not been understood that not only might this difficulty have been surmounted, but a very powerful stimulus at the same time have been given to the industry of the population, by adopting the mode of taxation to which 1 have adverted. This is a point of such extreme importance, that I must explain somewhat more fully my view^s re- specting it, which I cannot do better, than by ex- tracting a portion of a despatch which, on the 24th of October, 1848, I addressed to Lord Torrington, on the financial measures that had been adopted in Ceylon. In that despatch, after pointing out that from the earliest times the p/actice had existed in that Island, and in India, of requiring from the people; direct contributions to the wants of the Government, principally in the form of gratuitous service, or of a deduction from the produce of agricultural labour, \ proceeded to make the following remarks* : — * Soe Papers relating to the affairs of Ceylon, presented to Pur- liaraent by Command, February, 1819, p. 'AM. m r. 'ii, THE SUGAR COLONIES. 81 I " The methods adopted of imposing this burden on the population may have been objectionable, and it is my own opinion that, both in India and under the na- tive Governments in Ceylon, they were generally either extremely objectionable in themselves or were much abused; but the practice of requiring du-ect contri- butions from the mass of the people appears to me to have arisen from a necessity, inherent in the character, circumstances, and habits of the people, which must continue equally to be felt by their present rulers. But, further, it appears to me to be a mistake, to re- gard the imposition of direct taxation to a moderate amount, upon a population in such circumstances, as really injurious to them. I am persuaded that it may, on the contrary, be conducive to their ti ae wel- fare. The view of this subject, which I conceive to be erroneous, has probably been adopted from apply- ing to a very different state of society, a judgement founded upon that to which we are accustomed in Europe. In all European countries, the necessity of supplying their daily wants is, to the labouring classes, a sufficient motive to exertion ; indeed, the difficulty which they experience in obtai]:\ing the means of com- fortable subsistence is so great, that it has generally been considered (as it always ought to be) the great object of the Governments of these countries, in their financial arrangements, to avoid aggravating this diffi- culty by the imposition of taxes calculated to enhance the cost of subsistence. But the case is very different in tropical climates, where the population is very scanty VOL. 1. G 82 COLONIAL POLICY. in proportion to the; extent of territory ; where the soil, as 1 lisive already observed, readily yields a sub- sistence in return for very little labour; and where clothing, fuel, and lodging, such as arc there required, are obtained very easily. In such circumstanct^s there can be bnt little motive to exertion, to men satisfied with an abundant supply of their mere physical wants ; and accordingly experience prov(5s that it is the dispo- sition of the races of men by which these countries are genernlly inhabited, to sink into an easy and list- less mode of life, quite incompatible with the attain- ment of imy high degree of civilizaticn. But if it be admitted, as 1 think it nmst, that the real welfare of mankind consists, not alone in the enjoying an abun- dance of the necessaries of life, but in their being also placed in a situation favourable to their moral im- provement and to their advance in civilization, it fol- lows that, in such countries as I have adverted to, it may be for the true interest of the working classes that the contributions demanded from them towards the wants of the State shoidd somewhat increase the amount of exertion required for procuring a subsis- tence. "The greater pngress which civihzation has made in temperate as compared to tropical climates, has always, and I believe justly, been attributed to the power with which necessity, which is proverbially the mother of invention and the mainspring of human exertion, has operated in the former as compared to the latter; hence the obvious policy of giving addi- THE SUGAR COLONIES. 88 Is- tional force to this stimulus in those cases in which it is found to be deficient. " Nor is it to be lost sight of, that while direct taxation is, in such circumstances, calculated to pro- mote the progress of society, indirect taxation has the very opposite effect. To create and to foster a taste for the habits of civilized life in a rude population, it is requisite that they should have before them the example of civilized men, and that the gratification of the wants of civilized life should be rendered as easy to them as possible; but with this view imported articles should be rendered cheap, and those branches of trade and industry which require the direction of civilized and educated men, such as the production of sugar and cofl'ee, should be encouraged. Hence the peculiar importance of avoiding the imposition of any taxes which can interfere with trade, and the expe- diency of adopting the very opposite policy to that which would be proper in Europe, by endeavouring, in the imposition of taxes, to make them press, so far as prudence will admit, rather upon those who are content with a mere subsistence, than upon the pos- sessors of property and the purchasers of luxuries. I cannot forbear remarking that what is now taking place in the West Indian Colonies, and the difficulties which are there experienced from the deficiency of adequate motives for industry, afford a striking illus- tration of the justice of the views I have thus ex- plained to you." It will be observed that this reasoning is not less G 2 84 COLONIAL POLICY. applicable to the West Indies than to Ceylon ; indeed the principle of taxation reconnnended in the above extract is far more calculated to be of service in the former, because in almost all the Colonies in that part of the world there exists a great deficiency of labour available for hire (which is not the case in Ct^ylon, owing to its vicinity to India), while the practice has been general of j)roviding for the public expenditure by taxes which have a direct tendency to increase that deficiency. Hitherto the principal source of revenue in the West Indies has been the imposition of heavy duties on imports, including articles of or- dhiary food; aiul it is obvious that this system of taxation must tend both to increase artificially the strength of the motives winch lead the Negroes to prefer working in their own provision-grounds, to laboming for hire in the cane-fields, as the means of procuring a subsistence, and also to discourage the formation of tastes which would afford a new stimulus to industry. Unfortunately the opinion of the Plantei's as a class has been generally no less unfavourable than that of the labouring population might have been expected to be, to a thorough reform of the system of taxation iti the Sugar Colonies upon these principles. Without the decided support of the former it was impossible to attempt to carry such a reform into effect ; compa- ratively little has consequently been accomplished in this direction (especially in the Colonies having repre- sentative Assemblies), although the utmost pains were THE .SUGAR COLONIES. 85 taken to press the subject upon the attention of the various legislative bodies through the Governors*, and though the ablest of these officers entirely concurred in the views I have stated, and did all that lay in their [)ower to promote their practical adoption. Hence the financial hnprovenients that have been eft'ected have consisted chiefly of reductions of taxation, not of the substitution of better sources of revenue for objectionable taxes. In some Colonies the reductions of taxation have been large, as will ap{)ear when 1 come to notice what has been done in different Co- lonies. In the absence of a thorough financial reform, foimded on the principles 1 have endeavoured to ex- plain, sufficient pecuniary means were not available for carrying into full effect the other class of reforms to which I have adverted, especially as in many cases the existing taxes were so objectionable in their cha- racter, that their reduction was imperatively required. But the efforts of the Government were steadily and to iti it lie la- in re- Ire * See particiilarly the following despatches: — To T-ord Harris, October 24, 1848, p. 22 (House of Commons Seselonal Paper of 1846, No. 160). To Lord Hams, April 15, 1848 (House of Lords Paper No. 250, of 1848, p. 775). To Governor Barkly, June 1, 1849 (House of Commons Paper of 1849, No. 594, p. 188). To the same, September 30, 1849. To Sir Charles Grey, December 22, 1847. To the same, February 15, 1851. The laat of these de- spatches is a recapitidation of the substance of many previous com- m\mications to the Governors of the Sugar Colonies, and contains a full explanation of my views on this subject ; I shall have occasion again to refer toil, and I have inserted it at length in the Appendix. See Appendix (C) to this volume. 80 COLONIAL POLICY. constantly directed towards providing the means, by the strictest economy, of giving increased efficiency to the branches of the Administration in which this was most necessary, and towards ensuring such a use of the powers whicli belonged to it, as might bo best calcuhited to correct the errors connnitted since the aboHtion of shivery. Of these errors the follow- ing description is given by Lord Harris, in liis able despatch of the IDth of June, J 848; the most im- portant statements in it are not less applicable to most of the other Sugar Colonies than to Trinidad, of which he is immediately speaking. He says, " The affairs of the Colony have now arrived at that state, that it is absolutely necessary that their position should be thoroughly investigated, and then placed on such a footing as that at all events the lavish exj)enditm'e and hap-hazard legislation which have been going on for the last ten years should not occur again*." In a subsequent part of the despatch he proceeds to ob- serve : — " One of the many errors which have been committed since the granting of emancipation, is the little attention paid to any legislation having for its end the formation of a society on true, sound, and lasting principles. That such an object could be attained at once, was and is not to be expected; but undoubtedly, had proper measm'cs been adopted, much greater progress might have been made. As the question at present stands, a race has been freed, but a society has not been formed. Liberty has been * House of Commons Scssioual Paper of 1848, No. 749, p. 32<>. f TilE SUGAR COLONIES. 87 given to a heterogeneous mass of individuals, who can only comprehend Ucense. A participation in the rights, and privileges, and duties of civilized society has been granted to them ; they are only capable of enjoying its vices. To alter such a state of thuigs, vigorous and prompt measures are required, in order that the authority of the law should be felt ; greater weight must be given to the Executive ; to humanize the people, a general and extensive system of educa- tion nmst be ado))ted ; to assist in civilization, every encouragement should be given to the establishment and to the easy circumstances of a superior class, espe- cially of Europeans, amongst the population. All this re(iuires expense. J3ut what means are ready at hand to effect this ? The energy of the lower Authorities has been shaken, by the partiality which has been in- variably shown until lately in the transgression of the htw, if by a coloured or a black man*." I have quoted this extract from Lord Harris's de- spatch, because it contains, in a few words, what I con- sider to be a singularly accurate exposition of the errors of policy which had been committ 1 in the former Slave Colonies, and because it was the main purpose of the greater part of the voluminous correspondence, which it was my duty to conduct with the Governors of these Colonies, to impress upon them, and, through them, on the leading members of the communities com- mitted to their charge, the necessity of correcting the (;rrors here pointed out. Thi'oughout that correspon- * Ibid., page 323. 88 COLONIAL POLICY. (lenc»; tlu; objects in view were, tt) bring flu; loriU(!i' slave populatioti under a niueli stricter (liscii)line tiian they had liitherto been subject to; to make them miderstand that tiie abohtion of shivery was not hi- tencUjd to relieve them from the obligation to exertion, but to create motives to industry, to promote educa- tion, and to provide for the strict enforcement of tlie hiw, at the same tinu; to relieve the Planters by a ju- dicious revision of the system of taxation, and by the reduction of all unnecessary expense, carefully avoid- ing however all reductions which would either have violated the public faith to individuals, or interfered with the maintenance of the public establishments on that footing of complete ctficiency which tme economy reqnires. Unfortunately the Planters, and others interested in the production of Colonial sugar, were so detennined to look for relief from their difticnlties only by a retiu-n to the former system of monopoly, and were so nmch encouraged in this temper by those who ctUled them- selves their friends, that they were induced to adopt a course which rendered it impracticable for the Go- vernment to carry the [)olicy I have endeavoured to describe more than very partially into effect. The course to which 1 refer, as having been adopted by the West Indian party, led to such serious results, that 1 must advert to it rather more particularly. For about a year or a Uttle more after the passing of the Act of 1 846, for the alteration of the Sugar-duties, there aj)pearcd to be a general dispositi(jn, on the part of THK 8lJ(iAll COr-ONIKS. 81) to se 1st 1st of lot" those who hud opposed {\\i\ nicftsnrc, tacitly to acquiesce in its contiuuunce ; and during the; St;ssion of IH47 the subject was ahnost, if not ([uite, unnoticed in Parha- nient. lint tlie connnercial disasters, in the latter part of that year, entirely altered the feelings of all con- nected with the Sugar Colonies, and created a panic among them, which prompted them to endeavour, by every means in their power, to prevail upon Parliament to retrace the steps which it had ])reviou8ly taken. Accordingly the distress of these Colonies became, during the S(;ssion of 1848, one of the principal sub- jects of Parliamentary debate. A Conunittee of in- (juiry into the causes of this distress was moved for in the House of Commons by the late Lord George Bentinck, with the avowed object of again excluding foreign sugar from our market ; and when the evidence thus obtained came under the consideration of the House, a strong effort was made to prevail upon it to substitute a return to this {)olicy for the measures which were brought forward by the Government. You must doubtless well remember, that while we freely acknowledged and deplored the severe distress which at that time pressed upon the sugar-growing Colonies, we judged it to be far less attributable to the alteration in the Sugar-duties by the Act of 1846, and to the disturbance of existing relations, which is usually the first result of the abandonment of a vicious connnercial system, than to the more general causes, under which all branches of the trade and industry, not only of this Country, but of Europe, were then ' I i)0 (OLONIAL I'OMCY Hutt'oriug ; and vvr wire iMTsiiadt'd timt a ic^tiini to the tornuT poliry, of (^xcliKling foivign snpir trtmi our luiirkcts, woulil uggruvutc, instead of uiitigatiiig, the evils so loudly eoui[)lained of. We therefore- resolvi'd not to de[)urt from the poliey which had been a(h)j)teducod in 1851 : — Differential import duties . . £3321 Export duty on sugar, from 9rf. to Gd. 15,(X)0 Reductions proposed in 1852 : — Export duty on sugar, from 6d. to 4>\d £7500 £18,321 Export quay duties Harbour dues Registration dues Portal charges . 5600 10(X) 50(X) KXK) £20,000 Making a total of taxes reduced since 1846 of £87,704 per annum, including taxes for the repeal of which ordinances have lately been passed. The above statement ha» been made out from a Paper as to the financial arrangements of the Colony for the present year, which was laid by the Grovernor before the Council, and was republished from a Colonial newspaper in the ' Eeon(jmi8t ' of thi' 15th of Miiy, and from an aceo-ont which was prepared for me some time ago in the Colonial OlUce, from similar Pfqievs of former years. VOL. I. I 114 COLONIAL POLICY. The wholi! therefore of the gnsat relief whieh hus been given to the eomnierciul interests of Mauritius, lius luicn ohtaiiK'd without any drawback by tlie iinj)osi- tioji of new bui'(K;ns. This rt^lief lias also been granted witliont any detriment to the finances of the (Colony. It a[)})ears, from accounts hiid by the (io- veinor before tlie C/Ouncil, and recently received in this C'Ountry, that the revenue for IST)!, which had been estimated at £202,702, actually amounted to 1321,890, and the expenditure to £259,728, leaving a surplus (►f t() 1,002, th(^ surplus at the end of the year 1S50 having been £12,000. Such wtire the chief measm'es of the Government in the Mauritius during the five years juid a half of your Admiiiistration. The highe'st credit is due to Sir G. Anderson and Mr. lligginson for the energy and judgiMuent with which they successively managed the affairs of the Island, and performed the difficult task (intrusted to them of working out the policy we had determined to adopt. The results of that policy will be best shown l)y a despatch from the Governor, which I had the; satisfaction of layhig on the table of the House of Lords on the eve of oui* retirement from office. This dt;spat(!h I think it right to (piote at length ; and before doing so, I have only to observe that, in order duly to estimate the improvenumt which has taken place in the condition of the Colony, it should be r(anend)ered, that the dis- tress which only four years ago prevailed there, had produced its ordinary effect of political discontent, .1 '.., Tfn- MALRITIUS. 115 which was greatly agfjjravnted by the persevering ef- forts made iji this Coimtry to represent the nienibers of your Administration as enemies t he Colonies, on aeconnt of onr nonmu'rcial ])olicy. The eorres- pondcnce laid before l^u'liameiit affords ample evi- {\vA\cc. of the discontented and irritatc^d feehngs whicii prevailed in tlu^ Colony dnring tlic years 1847 and 18 18, — feehngs which are in striking contrast with those described as now existing amongst the inha- bitants in tlu; following d(;spatch : — " Copy of a Despatch from the Governor of Mauritius to Htr Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for the Colonies, with a Report on the State of the Rural Districts. " Mauritius, 14th October, 1851. " My Lord, " I beg leave to transmit herewith copies oi an address presented to me by the inhabitants of Flacq on my recent visit to that district, and of rtiy reply thercito*. "I have now completed a tour of the rnral districts, dnring whi(!h the favourjible impressions that I had been led to form, and to express to yonr Lordship, of the eondi- tioii, the progress, and the promise of this valuable, and, at the present period, most interesting dependency of the Crown, have been amply confirmed. " I found abroad a spirit of self-reliance, a conviction of the adequacy of our groA^ing resources, and a resolution to combat with vigour the difficulties still unsubdued, that to my view present unmistalvcable earnests of \dtimate success. 1 saw, in some qu{u*ters, luxuriant canes covci'ing lands re- deemed within a few years from the forest or the rock, now amply remunerating th(3 labour and capital bestowci upon * See Appendix (E) to this Volume. I '2 116 COI-OMAL POLrCY. them. 1 «aw in otluirs Huhstantial cdifu'eH risiiif; up, new uiid powrrful steftm-eiij,nne» iit work, and improved procewHes of nuumtiuturi', rewarding the cnterpriis*^ oftheir introihiecTH, and evcrvwiu're sym})toms of activity, enor^fy, and iiuhintry. I saw the ludiuii iminijrrant in the fiehl, working steadily and with good-will, and when at rest eheed'ul and contented in his camp. Ah it is by him and thnnif^li him tliat the Manntian IManter must rise or fall, to the ehameter of the relations subsisting between them the utmost importance ought, I conceive, to oe attached. So far lus I conhl judge — and I took j)ains to ascertain correctly — these relations are highly satisfactory. Omiplaints on (iither si(U' grow more rare, as the language, tlK; character, and the habits of the Indian becouu^ better imderstood ; mad from what 1 lieard and witnessed, 1 Ixilieve that he a.ul his employer are mutually pleased and satisfied, 'rhen; appeared no general scarcity of lal)our, jdthough in some; U;ss favoured localities it was represented that additional hands were re- quired. Wag(!s continue moderate, and our now oju'ii port generally keeps down the price of rice and other grain to a reasonabh* average. The nuukct however is not supplied with sufti(!icnt regularity, but it may be exj)ected that free competition will soon cure this defect. " 1 may perhaps l)e over-sanguine, but I witnessed so many significant symptoms of progress and improvement throughout the island, that I cannot resist the conviction that the fouiulation is now being laid of wealth and pro- sperity, more sta])le aiul enduring than ever couhl have been attained under the former speculative and artificial system of labour and of prices, which for a time largely enhanced profits, and ultimately left the Colony on the verge of bankruptcy and ruin. I will not dwell upon the painful sacrifices, the misery and suffering, that followed ; very few MAURITIUH. 117 esoaiMid uuhaniird, and nmny were (nijjuii'i^l in th. wn-rk I will rather turn to the j^hulsonie prosjKict tliat hua opeiui u|K)ii U8, elevating the hoptiH of the employers of frtn- labour, and ciieeriii}? them on to the momentous strufj^lc in which they are engaged, and of wliieh this little Island seems the predestincid battlc-lield. The issue may for a season vacillate, but the j,'round already won, and the re- sources available, fully developed and judiciously applied, form no lij^ht {guarantees of ultimate victory. The discom- fiture will prove a mi};hty (Migine, an incalculable impetus, to the extinction of slavery, and to the suppression of that accursed trathc. " 1 will not pretend to estimate the maximum produc- tion of sugar of which this fertile soil is capable ; that it at prestmt falls far short of that limit is unquestionable. By more skilful and economical husbandry, and the larger application of chemistry and improved mechanism to the manipulation of the cane, in both of which directions pro- gress is being made, there is no doubt that the amomit of production can be considerably increased j but for clearing forest lands, and reclaiming large tracts now lying stcTilc and unproductive, a large accession of capital and labour is required ; and that will assuredly follow the establishment of confidence iu the capabilities and resources of the Colony, which the present asj)ect of both agricultm-al and commercial affairs is, in my judgement, well calculated to promote. " Whilst I am enabled to rcy)ort thus favourably of our material prospects, I believe I am waiTanted in stating that progress has also been made in ameliorating the moral and social condition of the people, but much more, 1 apprehend, remains to be accomplished. The gi'cat lever, education, has much to contend against, from the heterogeneous ele- ■*;* bwomr dcni/niH of tlir wnl, to which rvery |)OHHihh' ciicou- iii),M«iin'iit is ^ivcii, phiiiUrs may he Kuid to ht* ciitirrly df- pcndont on t'orcij^ii hil)()ur lor the cidtivation of their estutefl. There in UHUully a church or c\m\H'[ within reach of tliesc Setth'mctitvs, ut which the jitteiuhuici' in, I uiuUsr- staiid, pHitty re^idur; hut I f»'ur that the opportunities for scHudar instruction are exeeedin}j;ly limited. Intermarriages hetween Indians and creok's are very rare, hut niori; fre- ([uerit now than formerly. The j^rc'at disparity hetween the sexes amouffst thi; former is an evil which 1 have frequently noticed, an(J wliieh is, I hope, in course of heinj^ niiti|i^ated. The liherality shown hy the h)eal (lovernnient, and the readiness with which they sanction the a(Ulitional expendi- ture involved in the atttinpts made to remedy this cUifect, are. 1 think, hij^hly credital)le to their foresight and philan- thropy. " 1 rejoice in helievinj? that all class(;s of the commu- nity over whom I have hccn called to preside are animated hy a spirit of loyalty and order; but the sentiments of res])eetful attachment and j^cnuine regard cjitertaincd to- wards the Sovereign's R,e|)resentative in the rural distrids were s conspicnous as they were highly gratifying to v\ itness. 1 w as cordially welcomed everywhere ; and the knowledge, both of men and things, directly accjuircd by p( isonal intercourse and observation, (tannot, I think, fail to be useful and profitabh;. My visits were gratefully and warmly ap})rcciatcd by tlu^ inhabitants, who looked upon them as the revival of an ancient and popidar custom, when relations between governors and governed stood n])on a more intinuite and less reserved footing. They feel grati- fied at the occasional presence of the chief of the (Colony, from rt'hich they also anticipate advantage to their districts, in the opportunity of having their local wants and wishes 120 COLONIAL POLICY. brougJit more initn(!(Uately under his notice. Tlicy Mere frciilv iuvit(?fl to make these known, and the reasonableness and justice of their demands generally enabled me to take measures tor acceding to them without diday and without dilhculty. I fomid no crying gricjvances to redress, no festering wounds to heal, no grave complaints to inquire into ; peace, harmony, and contentment ap[)earod to pre- vail. To preserve and improve these blessings will be my unremitting study ; and, possessing the confidence of the peo]ile and the continued support of yom' Lordship, I trust that my efforts will not prove; unavailing. " Some may pronounce the picture that I have attempted to draw too flattering ; but 1 assure your Lordship that no exaggeiation is intended. My only desire has been to de- scribe faithfully what came under my own obsenation, and to make known to your Lordship the conclusions which I ha\c ventured to deduce, in reference to the condition, both present and prospective, of the districts which I have recently visited. " 1 have, etc., "J. M. HiGGINSON." There are two other Sugar-growing Colonies in which the form of governnient is the same with tliat which exists in Mauritius, namely St. Lucia and Trinidad. Li both a similar course of })olicy has been pursued to that which I have already described as having been adopted in Mauritius; it is therefore unneces- sary that 1 shouhl advert to more than a few ])articu- lars in the correspondence to which their aflairs have given ris(?. With regard to St. Lucia it will be seen, on reference ST. LUCIA. 121 to the series of very able Kt;ports upon its coiulitioii which were made by the hite Lieutenant-Governor, Mr. Darling* (now Lieutenant- Governor of the Cape of Good Hope), that on his appointment at the end of the year 1847 he found the Colony in a state which was very far from satisfactory. The upper classes were divided by feuds and jealousies, which for some years had convulsed society, while the labouring po- pulation were not making the progress in civilization which might have been expected since the abolition of slavery. The means of promoting education were exceedingly defective ; considerably less than half the population were in the habit of attending any place of worship ; and, though serious crimes were rare, petty thefts and other minor offences were lamentably com- mon. Agriculture was in a very rude state, with little improvement apparently going on, and there existed neither municipal institutions of any kind, nor agri- cultural or other societies, calculated to promote the interchange of ideas and the intellectual improvement of the Colonists. The administration of justice was costly, and in many respects defective. It is of course impossible that a really satisfactory state of society can be substituted for one so much the reverse except by very slow degrees; and in so short a time as has elapsed since the close of 1847, all * See Blue Book Reports, presented in 1848, 1849, 1850, and 1851 ; and Lieutenant-Governor Darling'a Despatch to Colonel Reid, of the 2l8t of March, 1848. (House of Lords' Sessional Paper of 1848, No. 250, p. 348.) (^OliONIAL POLICY that can be expected is tliat a beginning of iniprovo- ment slioultl have been made, and that means slioiild have been created for carrying it progressivtily for- ward. Tiiis has, I think, certainly been accomplished. Party spirit does not run so high as formerly, owing mainly to the judi(uoiis and conciliatory conduct of the late Lieutenant-Governor, and in no shglit degree also, as I believe, to the course which was taken with reference to the unfortunate differences between a for- mer Lieutenant-Governor and the then Chief Justice. These differences, after greatly agitating the Colony, led to charges being brought against the Judge, which, instead of being decided by any more summary pro- cess, were referred for inquiry and adjudication to a Connnittee of the Privy Council, by whom counsel were heard both in support of the charges and in re{)ly to them. The Connnittee of the Privy Council ultimately recommended the remoyal of the Judge who had been accused, expressing ai the same time some disa])probation of the course taken by the predecessoi* cf Lieutenant-Governor Darling; and this decision, having been pronounced by a perfectly impartial tribunal, and after an inquiry of a judicial chai'acter, was not contested, as it certainly would have been, had it proceeded from any less weighty authority; and if practically put an end to a business of a very troublesome natiu'e*. I mention this circumstance, because it is an ex- * Tlii'se PaiKTS were laid at tlio time upon tlie table of tlii- Floust; ol' Coulmoll^<, ST. I.IJCIA. l'2'6 uniple oi' tliost; personal (juartcls between the officers of (Colonial Govern ineiits, niiieli it is so much the. tendency of these; small societies to create, and which add so materially to tlic labour and difficulty of adnnnistering the affairs of the Colonies. It illus- trates also the advantage of the arrangement to which I shall advert in a future Letter, by which the Secretary of State was enabled to obtain the assist- ance, on certain occasions, of a Committee of the Privy Council. The office of Chief Justice, having thus been ren- dered vacant, w^as not filled up by the appointment of any resident Judge ; but an arrangement was made, with the assent of the L(!gislature of Barbadoes, for appointing Sir Bouchier Clarke, the very able Chief Justice of that Colony, to the same office in St. Lucia, to which latter Colony ht^ now pays ])eriodical visits, for the purpc^e of presiding in the Court when cases of imjwrtance are brought before it, minor cases being disposed of by the resident Puisne J udge. The expense of the judicial establishment has thus been materially reduced, without depriving St. Lucia of the advantage of hiving her C'ourts of //ustice presided over by a lawyer of the highest disthiction, both for professional knowledge and for the general uprightness and excellence of his character. The economy of tiiis arrangement is the least of its re- connnendations ; its great advantage is that of })iaciiig the hnportant office of C'hief Justice in tlu; hands of a person not usually resident in the Islaiul, and thus 124 COLONIAL POLICY. removed from the influence of tliose locul animosities which so constantly arise in such small comrnunitic^s, and o]))»ose a great obstacle to the satisfactory admi- nistration of justice, by a jv ge who is himself a member of the society which is thus divided. The arrangements for the administration of justice have fiu'ther been improved by tht^ establishment of Trial l)y Jury in criminal cases, by some hnportant amend- ments in the laws relating to masters and servants, and by affording increased facilities for the recovery of debts, by less expensive processes than formerly. Trial by Jmy was established upon a system which has been for many years in successfid operation in Van Diemen's Land, and which I have omitted no opportunity of recommending for adoption elsewhere. The objections to requiring unanimity in a Jury are jjalpable and notorious ; but, on the other hand, the rule of deciding by a majo^'ity is op(;n to the obj(3ction, that the majority may overrule adverse opinions hastily and impatiently, and resort to the ready expedient of resolving every question by putting it at once to the vote. The plan which seems best adapted to obviate on the o. ^ hand the undue im- patience of a majority, and, on the other, the undue pertinacity of a minority, is that of verdicts by majorities lessening as the periods of deliberation lengthen. Thus, if the Jury consist of twelve (which however is a larger number than I would recommend) unanimity is required for the first two hours, unani- mity less by one for the second, less by iwo for the -»-ir^-fc if-^-r ST. LUCIA. 125 lue i>y lion [ich |nd) iiii- ItUe third, less l)y three for the fourth, less by four for the fifth ; and if there should then, at the end of ten hoiu-s of deliberation, be a dissentient minority of more than four out of twelve, a new Jury is to be impanelled. Amongst other improvements of a more general natiu-e whieh have been effected, the Lieutenant- Governor points out* that " the basis of an extended provision for the education of the people, and for disseminating useful agricultural knowledge, has been laid." Public works of nmch utility have been suc- cessfully completed ; reductions in the civil establish- ment have been made, without impairing its efficiency ; the objectionable export-duties formerly levied have been repealed, and the customs-duties generally low- ered without reducing the revenue, v»hich is amply sufficient to meet the expenditure ; the beginning of municipal institutions has been made, by the creation of a Town Council in Castries ; the charge of pauperism has been greatly reduced, by a careful revision of the claims for relief; and, lastly, about 1100 Negroes hberate I from captured slavers have been introduced into the Colony, and most gratifying reports have been received of their condition and prospects. Though the measures I have enumerated may not present any immediate and striking residts, they have, I believe, laid the foundation for a solid improvement in the condition of this Colony, one of the most highly gifted by nature in the British dominions. In the * Blue Book Et^ports for 1849. ■> a^ V. .« «aM ■rrtwwMPTPMSMr SK^fH^*^* .-■ 12G COLONIAL I'OLICY. meant inio it is satisfactury to find that in St. Lucia, wliero, by tlie caivfiil invc^stigatlnii of the Lieutenant- Governor, we liave more complete means than else- where of judginj.,' of the actual results of the compe- tition to which th(! British sugar-grower is now ex- posed, there is very strong evidence to show that the effects of our altered commercial policy have not been injurious to thv. Planters. Lieutenant-Governor Dar- ling, witli great pains, collected information which throws much light on tlie practical workhig of the recent change, and which will be found in his Reports upon the (Colony presented to Parliament in the years LSr)0 and 1S5L In the former of these Reports he states that "the fall in wages from an average of Is. 4rts, presented to Parliament in 1849. K 2 132 <()I.«>NIAI. I'ol.U \ . rjovcnior it'portcjl tlint, ii()t\villistiiMin<( D.IIOO.O'K) lbs. alum- the ave- rajjfi' of the niiu; |)r(!eedin«i; years, and iid'erior only to the export of one of those years, viz. 1H17. in whieli there Imd luien an extraordinary crop. 'l'her(!vi\al of this great hraneli of ('olonial inchistry natnrally led to an improvement in other respeets. Tlu! r(!venne for ls|.i) showed an inenase npon tiiat for the previous year of €:2r), 10(1, and jj^ave an exeess ahove the expenditure of €1 |.,Sfi5; the imports also inereased l)y no less a sum tlian t J 70,000, nearly eoniing up to the averages of the niiu; preeeding years, — tlu! value of the imports in ISIO having been JtliS 1 ,5():2, the average of the nine previous years being £500,000. This is a remarkable elumge u)r the better, to have taken plare in a single ytar in the state of atVairs in the Colony, and allords, as it appears to nie, a deeisivt' proof of the sojindness of the poliey vvhieh had been pursued with regard to it — a eonclusion whieh is eontirmed by the continu- ance and progressive increase of improvement up to the present time. From tlie two Annual Ue|)ortsj succe(Hling those which I have already (juoted, it appears that tht^ sugar * Blue Boole lioports, presented in 1850. Part II. j). 210. t It may be infi'rrett, though it is not eN])iv88ly mentioned that this statement im-hideM ctn-oa and coill't' a^ well as tut^ar I Dated l'Vl>ruary 10. ISJl. and IMay 18, ls52 134 COLONIAL POLICY. crop of 1850 was not a good one, but the exports of sugar and cocoa were larger both in quantity and vahie in 1851 than in the previous year, the crop of cocoa being considerably the largest ever raised in the Isl.'Hid. The revenue has continued steadily to advance, showing in each year a hirge surplus over the expenditure; so that the Governor has been enabled first to reduce, and for the present year to abolish altogether, the export duty on the principal articles of produce in the Colony. This tax hi the year 1849 produced £13,556, and had ranged in former years from £13,000 to £18,000 a-year; consequently, by its remission, the Planters have l)een materially relieved. This abolition of an im- post very injurious to commerctj has been effected, without arresting the progress of vjirious measures calculated to promote the advance of the Colony in civilization and j)rosperity, but involving no incon- siderable expenditure. Great inqirovements have been ett'ected, and are still going on, in the roads ; and arrangements have been made for increasing the facilities of intercom- munication aftbrded bv the Post-office, and for the better administration of justice, and the mainte- nance of order by the police. Tlie accomplishment of these most important objects, without an undue addition to the demands upon the general revenue, has been rendered practicable, principally, by a very valuable ordinance, called the Territorial Ordinance, which was passed by Lord Harris, and brought into TRINIUAU. 135 operation at the close of 1848. By this ordinance the Colony has been divided into wards, and pro- vision has been made; for the creation of municipal bodies, whenever the number of inhabitants capable of undertakhig the management of their own local concerns, and willing to do so, shall be sufficient for the purpose. In the meantime wardens have been appointed, for the performance of part of the duties which will lUtimately devolve upon elective municipal bodies, and rates have been levied and applied under the direction of these officers, for the construction and repair of the roads, and for objects of a similar local character. The average produce of these rates, for the last two years, has been about £19,000 ; and the Ordi- nance has been reported to be working exceedingly well, and to be likely to become more usefid as it h brought into more perfect operation. Already it has, I trust, been the means of averting a great danger. In his last annual report Lord Harris mentions that, when it came into operation, " small Settlements were in the act of formation in wild districts of the Island, which are totally incapable of supporting the commonest requirements of civihzed society. Tliese would have become the nest of the idle, the dissolute, and the criminal ; but I hope an eftective check has been administered." The check adverted to by Lord Harris is that created by the imposition of rates on land occupied in the manner he describes, together with the a|)])ointment of officers whose duty it is to 136 rOLONiAL POLICY. eiiforcu the laws, and more especially a law which was passed about three years ago, to facilitate the ejec- tion of s(pialters from land to which they have no legal right. These measures are ealculatiul to prove hi'^-lily conducive to the improvement of the Colony and the progress of the inhabitauts in civihzation, especially in cond)ination with the facilities which have lately be<'n atibrded for the acquisition by the working-classes of village allotments, in suitable si- tuations, where, under arrangements made by Lord Harris, they can now piu*chase small freeholds, on ten us atlbrding great encourageuiont to hidustry. It will be observed, that the establishment of a system of local rating, and the steps which have be(,'n taken to [)revent land from being appr()[)riated without being jjaid for, are in strict accordiuice with those views which I have endeavoured to explain in my last Li tter, as to the l)est mode of promoting the in- dustry of a population placed in such circumstances as that of Trinidad ; but 1 should be sorry to rej)re- .sent them as more than the first steps towards the adoption of a policy which I believe to be souiul, but which, not having been acted upon in proper tinu;, and when it might easily have been so, can now be only brought into operation by degrees, and with very great caution. That further measures in the same direction are urgently r('(|iiired is, T think, clearly shown by the re- markable account of the results of the census of Tri- nidad in 1 bo 1, contained in Lord Harris's last annual .■»*^i^i.»nrHi»» - TRINIDAD. 137 lU- liccs Wie- the but bi' /cry ail' re- iTi-i- liuml Report. In that Report, after giving some details with respect to the numbers of different classes of the po- pulation, he proceeds to state that, without reckoning children under ten years of a^e, there are " more than 1 0,000 persons, out of a population of less than 70,000, having no employment ; and of those, 8000 turn out to be inhabitants of Port of Spain. I think it neces- sary," he goes on to observe, " to call attention to this fact, because it must be renicmbert;d that in a connnu- nity such as this there are no idlers among the better classes ; so that a seventh of the whole population of the Colony, n(!arly a fourth of the adult population, and more than half of the total populati(jn of the chief town, are composed of persons in the lower ranks of life, and having no visible means of gaining an exist- ence.'" Lord Harris adds," It appears to me, that such a state of things requires very serious consideration, and urgently demands sonu; remedy," — an opinion which must connnand universal concurrence. 1 believi! the required remedy is to be sought in carrying forward cautiously and gradually, but at the same time decidedly, that course; of policy which has been entered upon with so nmch advantage. 1 am persuiuled that both the advancement in civilization of the lower classes of society, and the pros])erity of the Planters, would l)e ])romoted by acting, further than has yet been dt)ne, on the principle of providing by direct local rates for objects of real importance to the population, but which they are too ignorant, i" left to themselves, to care for. It is in the highest negree 138 COLONIAL POLICY. desirable to extend and improve the provision made for the edueation and religious instruction of the po- puhition, ami for giving reUef and medical nu\ to the destitute and to the sick ; and if funds for these im- portant objects were raised, as tliey easily might bo, by a direct inijjost from which even the idlest could not escape, in addition to the direct advantage to be gained from the expenditure of the money so levied, an hidirect but periiaps not ksss real advantage would arise from the effect of such an impost, in increasing tlic amount of exertion iiecessarv to obtain a mere animal existence, since this would also increase the supply of labour to the Planter. While the govermnent of Trinidad remains in the hands of Lord Harris, the utmost reliance may bt^ placed on his following u}) the policy he has so well begim ; and in looking forward to further measures of impvovement, it is a just subject for congratula- tion that, by what has already been accom])lished, the (•olony lijis been brought safely through the severe crisis it has had to pass, and tlnit there is no longer even the slightest pretence for apprehending that cessation of sugju' cultivation in this fertile Island, which four years ago was confidently predicted as the inevitable result of the commercial ])olicy adoptinl by Parliament. On the contrary, the only (piestion now is, as to the gn'ater or less degree of rapidity with which the Colony will advance in that career of improvtnneiit on which it has undoubtedly entered ; and the probability is that in the next few years TRINIDAD, 139 il- 1(3 iior as tinl tion lity of 3d; there will be a large increase in its produce. This will be promoted by the measiues now in progress, for procuring an additional supply of labour by im- migration. Trinidad has obtained a portion of the loan guaranteed by Parliament for the purpose of immigration, and by means of it a considerable num- ber of labourers will be introduced from India, some of whom have already arrived. There is reason to hope that this will be attended with far greater ad- vantage to the Colony than the former immigration from the same (piarter, as, by the law now in force, and which is founded on the same principle with the Mauritius Ordinance to which I have adverted above, most of the evils which were experienced in former years have, I trust, been guarded against, and provision has been made for obtaining the repayment from the immigrants, in the manner I have explained, of a large proportion at least of the expense incurred in bringing them from India. Steps have also been taken within the last two years for procming immigrants of a far more valuable description. I refer to the free black and coloured inhabitants of the United States. These people are regarded as an encumbrance, and their presence is considered a most serious evil in the States which they now inhabit, while there can be no doubt that mp"y of them woidd be the best possible settlers who could be introduced into Trinidad. Speaking i the English language, with habits of industry and of civilized life, and well adapted by their constitution 140 COLONIAI, POLICY. to the cliuintc, tliorc seems no reason to doubt the success of blark and colounul iuunigrants from the United States. Provided a propisr selection is made of the individuals to be brought, tlieir introduction could not fail to be of the highest value to the Co- lony, not only from the actual accession to its jiopu- lation which would thus be; obtaint;d, but from the example which they would afford to its pn^sent in- habitants. Such an addition to the (sxisting popu- lation of Trinidad would have a tendency to raise the whole connnunity in the scale of civilization, whereas there is })recisely the opposite tendency with respect to immigration from almost every other ([uarter, and this is no slight drawback to the advantage to be obtained from it. Last year an agent was sent from Trinidad to some of the Southern States of the American Union, for the purpose of incpiiring into the practicability of ob- taining immigrants of this description ; and the infor- mation collected by him was, in my opinion, far from (liscouiaging, though I fear this is not the view of the subject which litis been adopted by the leading ('olonists, without whose active su})port an experiment, which would be a most interesting one, cannot be tried with any prospect of success*. * E I'anuot liolj) here ex])re8sinj^ my 8ur})ri80 tliat the attention of none of our merchants and capitalist s has been cli routed to the Slave States of America a.s a source from which to obtain a supply of la- l)our, and to the ^^reat returns which by means of that labour might be itblaiiied ti'i>m the fertile lands of Triuidail and (iuiana, There i.H no doubt, 1 believe, tliat a large anxount of lirilish capital has TlllNTDAl). 141 of lave la- I will hero close what 1 rather tear may Ix; found a somewhat tedious acrouut of the progress of Trinidad (luring the last six yenrs, only a))ologizing for the length to which this part of my Lettcir has (jxtended, by observing that I have thought it advisal)le to enter boon (lircc'tly or indiri't-tly invosted in 8»igar cultivation in Cuba and Brazil, and it is to bo fonrod that some of that ('a]:)ital may liave been cmph>yod in tho purchase of slaves illegally imported from Africa. Tho natural adxantatjcs of tho nritiah Colonies T have men- tioned are, aa 1 believe, mucli superior — most certainly they arc not inferior— to ;Hose of either Cuba or Brazil, v\hik> they have an im- mense advantage over l)oth ni the perfect security they enjoy, and over Cuba at h^ast in the lightness of their taxation. This being the case, tho (piestion naturally suggests itself, might not a given sum of money be a]iplied to greater advantage in procuring labour from the Slave States of America to cultivate the rich soils of Trinidad and (luiana, than in purchasing slave-labour in foreign d(miinionsP Why should not the owner of an estate in imo of these Colonies hberate by purchase, and settle upon his property, a whole gang of slaves from some of tho worn-out tol)a(?eo or cotton plantations in Virguiia and Mainland, t.aking from them an engagement to repay out of their wages l)y instalments an amount sufficient to cover the price of their freedom, tho cost of their removal to the Colony, and a fair percent- age to moot the ri.sk of loss? Looking to tho great sacrifices and dangers willingly submitted to by many of the slaves in the ITnitcd "Uates to efllect their escape to Canada, it seems reasonable to con- clude that they would joyfully accept a proposal to obtain their free- dom and their removal to anot)\er part of the British dominions, of wliich tho climate is far better adapted to their constitution than that of Canada, and to which they might be con'-eyed without risk or hardship, in (a)mpany with their friends and relations. The ready concurrence of tho slaves in such an arrangement may therefore, I think, 1)0 reckoned upon, and in tho present state of feeling in tlio United States on the subject of slaver}' I believe that many of tho slave-owners, more especisdiy in the most nortlu^rn of the Slave States, would no loss gladly avail diomsolves of such a mode of relieving themselves from a descrijition of pn-perty which i' is daily becoming 142 COLON I A r. I'OLICV into these details, hcc^imse tliis Colony attbrds a more complete illustration than any oth(;r, both of the ditfi- (sulties which have had to be enconntered in our Sugar Colonies, and of the policy by which 1 believt; those ditHculties may ultimately be snrnjonnted. Jul^ 31, 1852. more difficult and nioro painful to theiu to retain. It might also be well worth uiquiry on the part of tho non-rcsidont owners of ^Vost Indian pro])orty, whether they might not derive far more advantage from their eatat(>8 than they now do (or arc ever likely to do under the prcieut flystera of management) by lotting them to experienced Anioriean planters, who might be induced to come over and occupy them, at the head of their slaveH, emanci])atcd for the purpose, on such terms an I liave suggested. Many American planters are known to have gone to Cuba, and I have no doubt they might with far more advantage go to a British Colony, taking their slaves with them, after giving them their freedom on condition of paying by instal- ments v^ hat they would fetch if sold. For the success of measures of this kind, all that seems to be necessary is that the liberated slaves should be treated with the utmost fairness and consideration, and that provision should be made, by laws to be i)assed by the Colonial Legislatures (if the existing laws are insuificient for tho purpose), for the easy recovery of the instalments due fror?^ ^^hese immigrants. The attention of the local Legislatures was po .le since called to the importance of this subject. I4:i LETTER IV. GUTANA. JAMAICA. BAKBADOES. aiul onial ,for rants. My dear Lord John, In this Lcitter 1 propose to treat of those Sugar Colonies over whieh tlie authority of tlie Crown is more or less restrieted by the institutions they pos- sess. The first of these, of vvliieh 1 have to notie(! the transactions, is British Guiana. It is true that British Guiana is inehuled amongst wlnit are called the Crown Colonies, as it is one of those which were aecjuired by conquest, and in which the (3rown therefore exei'ciscs the power of legislation by Order in Council ; but it stands in a different position from the other Crown Colonies, inasmuch as it possesses a Constitution, by which the ])Ower of the Crown is much more limited than in the Colonies to which I have hitherto referred, especially with regard to the imposition of taxes and the appropriation of the revenue. The Constitution v\'hich now exists in British Guiana is a somewhat complicated one ; but having been gradually moulded 141 COLONIAL POLICY into its present shape, to meet wants and diffieulties wliieli have from time to time arisen, I l)elieve it to be Car from misuitahle to the existinjj; stat<' of society, and with some modifications, wliich were in pro>j;ress when I ^Mve up the seals of the Colonial Departnuiif (and which, so far as I can jj^ather from the news- psipers, seem still likely i( be ])rocet'de(! with) will probably be as fijood a form of fi^overnnient as the peculiar circnmstanci^s of the Colony will admit of. It is not necessary for the objects 1 hav(» in view in this Letter, to pjive any detailed account of \\\v (Juiaiia Constitution ; it will bo sufficient to mention, that a body cidled the Court of I'olicy, in which the mmiber of official and unofficial mend)ers is ecjual, the (Jo- venior havinji; a casting vote, pos::';ssi!8 the general power of legislation, but without the right of levying taxes, or making appro])riations from the (>)lonial revenue*. These powers the nuiubers of the Court of Policy can oidy exercise when sitting in what is called " the Coml)ined Court," with certain persons who mv known as the " I'iiwuu'ial Representatives," and are, as their nami! implies, elected to the office they hold. Till \i\idy, however, the Financial Representatives were chosen by about 800 persons only, out of a po- pulation of 120,000, and were really not the represen- tatives of the people, but of the merchants, plantiirs, and absentee proprietors. In the Court of Policy, the Governor, by the official votes and his own cast- * This latter limitation is, in strictness, only in force durin;^ the routiiiuancc of tlu^ Civil List. GUIANA. 145 tcrs, licy, [•rtSt- ing vote, can always conmiand a luajority, though tliis is a power never exiiroiscd hut with groat rchietanee. In tli(! ('onibintui Court, on tlie contrary, the addition ol' th(! Financial lleprcscntatives h'aves iiiin without the power of carrying any measure, unless he can obtain tlu^ su})port of soinc^ at Icaist, of the ehictivcf members. Such being tlu; general nature of the Constitution of Guiana, I propose, in lulverting to its transactions, to confine myself almost entirely to giving a short account of tlie j)r()gresa and consequences ot the un- fortunate dift'erences lietween the Gt)V(Tiior and tlu; Cond)ined Court, which for some time interrupted the regular working of the Government. There has been much correspondcnice, during th(! last six years, with the GoviTuor cf Guiana, on the subjects of immi- gration and of the means to be employed for promo- tuig the industry of the population ; Imt the measures recommended on these heads, and partially adopted, have been so precisely the same in principle with those suggested to other Colonies, that in s[)eaking of Guiana 1 may omit any further notice of these im[)ortant questions, than a mere reference to the despatches which have been written upon them *. * The following are the most material of these Despatches, which will be found iu the Papers laid before Parliament : — Circular of Oc- tober 23, 1846, to Governors of West Indian Colonies. To Gover- nor Light, January 18, February 28, April 1, May 23, June 30, 1848. To Governor Barkly, June 1, June 16, July 31, September 30, De- cember 15, 1849 ; February 15 and 16, May 1, June 15, 1850 ; July 8, 1851. VOL. I. I- IK'» COLOMAI, I'OI.ICV. With rcpird lo tlw ilittcrcnci'H wliicli arose hotwcon tlu' Ciovennncut ol' (iiiiiiiiii and the Coinhiiiecl Court, what has ocnirrrd is as follows. Of the whole cxpeuditinr of the Coh)iiy, about one- seventh constitutes what is called the ('ivil List, on which are (^harj^ed tlu^ salaries of the Govtjrnor, the .Indies, and some of the other public servants. 'Hic amount of these various charp's is (Ietermin(;d by an ordinance, passed by tlu; ('(Mubined C'ourt, which is to continue in force until the 3 1st of DecendnT, l!S54; arul of course, until this law expires, none of these chftrhitely necessary for the welfare!, and even for the safetv, of the Colonists. The result answered my expectation ; and after al- lowing the usual collection of taxes to be suspended for nearly eleven months, the Combined Court, in the month of August, 1849, passed an ordinance (which was afterwards renewed) to nwi\o the tax ordinance of 1847, for three months, imtil some further arrange- uient coidd be made; and on the 1st of December following the Governor was enabled to report the final and satisfactory termination of the controversy relating to the Civil List, and the passing of all the usual financiarmeasures. The snccessful conclusion of this harassing affair was nuich pron^oted by the circumstance that a Com- mittee, appointed by the House of Connnons to hi- (juire into the subject, agreed to a report exjnx^ssing an opinion in favour of the binding character of the Civil List arrangement in Guiana ; but the result was in a far greater degree (hie to the firrniiess and judgement with I 'i 154 COLONIAL POLICr. which the affairs of the Colony were administered hy Mr. Harkly, who had been appointed Governor toward the J lose of the year 1848. It is ])robiible that, but for the remarkable skill and ability with which, on Ids assiiiiipticm of the Goveninient, that gentleman applied himself to the pettlrment of the niilbitunate diffeniices which he found * xistmg between nie Exe- cutivr' Goveriunen*; and the Combiao(! iJoiiVt> the ac- complishment of this important object would not have been obtaiiu d without much greater delay. Ear more serious injury to the Colony maul f.iso iiave re- sulted from this protrai ted strugglt, Ivitfoi the success with whif'li he endeavoured to diinini-'sh the demands u})on (he Government during the interruption of the levy of taxes, and to rendei- the very limited pecuniary resources at that time at his disposal available in carry- ing on the most essential brunches of the [)ublic service. But although the differences which put a stop, while they lasted, to the regular working of the govern- ment, were bi'ought to a close at an earlier period, and upon the whole with less detriment to the Colony, than might have been ex[)ected, their consequences have nevertheless been highly injurious to its interests. In the first place, the loss of revenue to the Colony by the interruption for above ten months of the ordi- nary taxes, is calculated by the (iovernor at u})wards of £15(),()0()*. Considering that the importation of * 7<')(),()()0 dollars. Soc Gitvernor BarklyV Despatch of Decem- ber 5, IHtJ). (House of Comnions Sessional Papers of 1850. No. 21. p. 251.) , y-? GHANA. 155 |)fc'em- lo. 21. goods usually liable to duties was eliecked for some tiuie before the aetual cessation of the power to eol- lect the duties, by the expectation that it would take place, and that while it lasted considerable stocks of these goods wert^ naturally accunuilated, which had to be consumed after the tax ordinance was revived, there seems reason to believe that the calculation of th*^ Governor, as to the loss to the revenue, must be rather below than above the truth. By this loss of revemie, a formidable deficiency was created ; aiul although the |)ermanent sources of income were sufficient to avert the actual bankruptcy of the Local Government, a debt had been incurred at the end of the year 1849, of £40,000, which the Governor says would have been (puulrupJed " if the Combined Court had not at length availed itself of its jjower to eco- nomize on a large scale, instead of persisting in its attempt to strike oft' a few thousand dollars from a Civil List to which the faith of the Legislature was pledged for a given time*." Nor did the connnunity derive, from the inter- ruption of the collection of the ordinary duties, that relief Avhich is usually conferred by a remission of taxation. A few individuals, who happened to have goods which (!ould be introducetl while the duties were suspended for a comparatively short and uncertain period, obtained the chief advantage from what was thus lost to the public, and no small pro- portion of it fell to the lot of the foreign holders * See Despatch above rilonrd to. f1 100 COLONIAL POLICY. of gin aii(i tobtiecH), the price of which was run up in th(^ markets of Surinam and 8t. Thomas by the sud- denness of the (U^mand. 'Iha Gfwernor states in liis despatcli, thiit thi; debt incurred (whicli it was fortu- nate for the (\)Iony was so small) would lu; paid by the former taxes, whicli had been re-established ; and hi' observes, tiiat this aUbrds a convincing proof of the elasticity of the Colony's resources, of the con- tinued })rosj)eiMty of the grt;at bidk of its inhabitauts, aiul that the leading proprietors were not justified by the state or prospects of the r(!venue in stop[)injj; the supplies, lie points out, that in doing so they had acted very unwisc^ly for their own pecuniary interests, since, by adopting that course, in addition to exciting ideas of insubordination in the minds of their labourers, shaking the credit of (everybody connected with the Colony, and aggravating the depreciation of property, they had also postponed for three years a reduction of taxation, which it was in their power to have effected inuuediately. In 1851 taxes were remitted to an amount not far short of £40,000, including the repeal of the Income ai\d Produce 'l\ix, and the reduction of shipj)ing charges and of the duties on imports. The material relicif which will thus be afforded to the trade and industry of the Colony, might have been obtained with equal facility in 1848, if the leadhig planters, who exercised a ))red()minating influence in the Combined Court, would in that year have consented to apply themselves to a calm consid(Tation of practicable and judicious Unancial reforms, instead of embarking in a r.UIANA. 157 (T ui a reckless siiugglo with the Executive Government, no- Tninally for an unjust rechu^tion of a few thousand (h)l]ars of annual expenditure, hut really for the reco- very of their lost monopoly. Hut the pecuniary loss which the Colony has in- curred hy this strjiggle, into which the Planters wen; so ill-advised as to he led hv those who ^•alled them- selves their friends, is hy no means the most serious part of the injury that has resulted from it. A much greater evil is the delay it has occasioned (I still hope only a delay,) in the accomplishment of many mea- sures of improvement of the most urgent necessity. I have, in a former Letter, adverted to the very un- satisfactory condition of the lahouring population of Guiana, and to the startling fact that the emanci- pated Negroes were re})orte(l in 184S to have rather gone back than advanced in civilization since the Abo- htion of Slavery, and I have ])ointed out the general character of the measures which I conceive to be necessary for tlu; correction of so great an evil. How- pressing is the need for such measures, will be seen on reference to the very able despatches of the Go- vernor* ; but in his despatch of the 2nd of February, 1S50, after expressing his "cordial concurrence" in my views, as to the policy which ought to be adoi)ted, he goes on to say, " If tht; fruit of my exertions yet remains to be developed, in the passing through the Colonial Legislatiu'e a series of measures calculated * See especially that of the 17th April, 1850, and that of the 21th September of the same year. I! 15S (!0M)NIAI. POI.fCY. to effect the t'oiv«roing objects, 1 niu eontident your Lor(lslii|) will luiikt^ allowntice for the political turmoil to be surmounted bet'on; the attention of elective members could be attracted to (juestioiis so mueli less excitiujJT, thou^di so umeh more useful, than those to which they had unhappily sutt'ered their attention to be diverted." It is ini])ossible not to recopjnizc the vididity of this excuse, for the Govc^-nor's having failed to make more rapid progress with the legislation whicii is re- quired for the ini[)roveinent of the Colony. I trust however that this legislation will now l)e proceeded with ; indeed, since the excitement of the political strnggle has subsided, the Court of Policy has been assiduously eng.jed in the consideration of business of an urgent kind, to which it had previously been impossible to attend, and S(;veral useful measuivs have been carried, calculated to pre))are the way for those larger and more important UKsasures which 1 bf'lieve to be necessary. Amongst those already car- rier! are ordinances for the encouragement of Immi- gration, foimded on the same principle as the Mau- ritius law, which I have already described ; a vfduable ordinance foi* the t^stablishment of Rural Constables, which is reported to be working very usefully* ; and, in conneeticm with this, a subsequent ordhiance for regidating the powers and duties of Justices of the Peace. To this list may be added the ordinances (which are perhaps the most important of the whole) * See Blue Book Report for 1850, p. 199. r.l lANA. I f)!) for ('ft('( ting the coinprelu'usive legal ivfoniis, of which Mr. Aiiiivldl, th<; hite Attonuy-Cjcneral (who now, I um happy to stic, has obtained the promotion he so well deserves, and has been appointed Cliief Justice), was the; author. Tliest; Ordinanciis do the greatest credit to the judgement and a])iHty of Mr. Arin(U'll, and will, I believe, ccmfer on Guiana the [jclvantage of a speedy, cheap, ami satisfactory administration of the law. Some chaiig{!S have also been ett'eeted, or are now in progress, in the (Constitution of the Colony. T have already mtmtioned, that the Financial Represen- tatives (who, with the Members of the Court of Policy, constitute the (!ombined Court, which has the control of the Colonial finances,) were formerly chosen by a body of electors not exceeding in all eight hundred in num1)er, and so com])osed as to give a virtual com- mand of the delations to a few of the leading bankers, merchants, and planters. In J 849 an ordinance was passed greatly extendhig tlie franchise, and a com- paratively large proportion of the population would now be entitled to take part in the election of Finan- cial Representatives, if they took sufficient interest in public afl'airs to claim their right to be registered as electors. Other changes are still under consideration. During the continuance of the dispute with the Com- bined Court, an agitation was raised in favour of the entire alteration of the present Constitution, and the substitution of one precisely similar to those which exist in the older West Indian Colonies, which possess UiO COLONIAL POLITY Representative Asscinhlics, i-XiivHing, in conjunct ion witli the Governor and Council, I'l tlic powers of legis- lation. The state of society in Ciuiuna, where there is an exlrcnicl) small j)roportion of Muropcans, the rcinainch r of tlic j)()[)ulati()ii hcing niadi" up of various ditlcn-nt races, for the most part little advanced in civilization and altogether deticicnt in the education and intelli- gence necessary for tlu; sid'c excrcisi' of political power, rendered such a change in this Colony in my opinion altogether inexpedient. Rut .some modifications of the existing Constitution seemed to be desirable ; I therefore, in the course of last year, communicated on the subject with several of the principal proprietors and merchants connected with the Colony, including some gentlemen who usually reside there, but were at that time in this Country. These gentlemen entered with me upon the consideration of the refornis it would be advisable to introduce, in a manner for which I had reason to feel deeply ind(;bted to them ; their views were frankly and tuUy explained to me, and they received in the most friendly and candid spirit the opinions wdiich I thought it right to express on their suggestions. The result was, that they agreed to resolutions recommending certain amendments in the Constitution of the Colony, which met with my entire concurrence ; and these resolutions having been offi- cially communicated to mv, I transmitted them to the Governor, with a view to their being submitted to the Court of Policy and carried into effect. I gather, from what has appeared in the news[)apers, that our oil I AN A. Mil retiriMuent from ofticcis not likL-ly to \vm\ to the abuii- (loiimcnt of these projected reforms, l)ut that they will still most prohiihly he jidopted. Ilaviiijx thus j^'iveM nil uecromit of our uieusures with regard to riruianii, I must, before taking leave of that Colony, say a few words as to tlu! ett'eets of the policy on which we aeti^d with regard to it, on its pros- pects and actual condition. It is of course impossible that so great an improvement should havi^ been effected in the state of society, and in the industrial condition of the Colony, as I believe niight hav(! been accom- plished, if thos(! interested in its welfare coidd have been persuaded at an earlier period, that W(; had tla^ same object in view with themselves, and could have been induced to support, in* at all events to abstjiin from thwarting, our measures; out still the policy which has been pursued has been by no means barren of advantage. Though laws have not yet been j)assed in Guiana doing all that is recpiired to alter the state of things to which the indisposition to tsxertion shown by the [)opulation may be attributed, the measures which I have mentioned as having been adopted in the Colony have had some effect in this direction ; and still more has been ])roduced by the change in this Country in our commercial policy. The wholesome stimulus of competition is beginning to tell on the labouring as well as the other classes in Guiana, in urging them to greater industry (which must be the foundation of all improvement), and in correcting those bad habits which the artificial enhancement of VOL. I. M f r i 162 COLONIAL POLICY. the value of their labour by the monopoly given to British sugar in the home market had so much con- tributed to create. The Governor, on the 18th of April, 1850, reported that, though "the money rate of wages was unaltered, the real price of labour, measured by quantity and cjuality, has fallen in a proportion approaching at least the decline in the value of sugar." I must add that there is some re- markable evidence, where it might have been little expected to be found, that labom* in Guiana is no longer so extravagantly dear as formerly, and is ac- tually fjir less expensive than it was during slavery. For the last two or three years a Committee of Offi- cers has been employed in inquiring into our naval and military estabhshmcnts abroad, for the purpose of reporting to the Treasury on the reductions of ex- pense which may be practicable. In their report upon Guiana the Committee recommend that it should be ascertained whetlicr the contract system of transport might not be adopted in that Colony, on the ground that " the contract rate for a cart, horse, and driver was £1. OS. 6d. a day in the time of slavery, and is now 8^. 4est adapted to tlic circumstances of this Colony. " The latter pi'inciple, as upplieti to t\w very different task of separating sugar from molasses, is not (juite so suc- cessful in all eases as was at first antici})ated ; but though requiring improvtMuent, before it can be made applicable to curing sugar boiled by the ordinary })roces8 in open pans, it is, as mentioned in the (^uisolidated Tables ((/. 2) rapidly su])erseding the pncnimatic pan as a subsidiary process where the cane-juice has been boiled 'in vacuo,' and may, 1 think, also pave the way for the extended use of (Jaddesden and Kvans's pan, or other cheaper substitutes for the vacuum, by which the juie(; is evaporated at so low a temi)erature as to give the sugar a grain which cannot be injured by the centrifugal maclune. " It is a favourable omen for the future prosperity oi' GUIANA. 165 act lan by la- rsc; their the com- ■ectcd con- ations orked ave to ' delay among rifugal olony. nt task o snc- jthongh )Ucahlc n open {C. 2) l)si(liary vacuo,' ed iise stitutes so low cannot Icrity oi" Hritisli liruiana, that so much interest should be taken in such improvements, at a moment wlien confidence is so far restored as to induce capitalists at home to take a less desponding view of its resources as a sugar-growing country, than they have done since it was first brought into competition with (Juba and Brazil. " I have, etc., " (Signed) Henry Barkly.^* " Govermtient House, 9tk January, 1852. "My Lord, " The comparative statements of produce exported froni this Colony during the qjuirter and the year ending 5th instant, which I have now the honour to enclose, jjrove that 1 was not more sanguine in the anticij)ations which I have throughout ex})ressed to your Lordship, ol a very consider- able increase in the Sugar-crop of 1851, over that of the two preceding years, than I was fairly entitled to be, — the actual excess amounting to 5682 hogsheads, or upwards of fifteen per cent. "That that excess is in some degree attiibutable to a favourable season, and to the consequent richness in saccha- rine matter of the cane-juice, is proved by the fact of there being an actual diminution b il of Rum and Molasses, — the products of the refuse in crystal] izalde liquor left; but it nevertheless cannot be questioned that the increased pro- duction of Sugar is miinly owing to an extension of cul- tivation, and to the introdnction of improvements both in agricidture and in the process of matuifacture, and that so far this increase is likely to prove permianent, " But for the very low ])rices current indeed in Great Britain, which will, 1 much fear, rinuler the 13,031 hogs- heads shipped in 1851 of less value than the 37,351 166 COLONIAL POLICY. shipped in 1850, I should have anticipated a prof^ressive augmentation of the exports of the Colony, until they were at least eciual to those previous to Emancipation; but I fear this event will at any rate be retarded^ until confidence in the al)ilityof oiu* Planters to withstand the increased com- petition, to which they are every day being subjected, can be restored. " Looking however to what has been accomplished in this Coh)ny since 1816, in rcdncing the cost of production, I can see no reason to despair of a very great fiu'ther reduc- tion being effected ultimately, although, I fervently trust, without the same quota of distress to be undergone in the transition''^. " 1 have, etc., (Signed) " Henry Barklv. "The Right Honoiu-able Earl Grey, etc." I have next to call your attention to that which, from the amount of its [)opulation, and from the ex- tent and richness in natural I'csoiu'ces of its territory, is entitled to bt; considered the most imj)ortant of our former Slave ('olonies. 1 refer of course to the magnificent island of Jjunaica. This Colony has for two centuries been in possession of a Representative (Constitution, and the Assenddy not oidy exercises the ordinary {uithority of a Legislative l)ody, but performs many of what are usually the functio!is of the Executive Gov(!rnnu;nt, the authority of the * Tables of the (juantitics of proiluce exported from tlie Colony, euelot*c(l ill the above despatch, are given iii the Appendix (F) to this Volimie. JAMAICA. 167 ssive were L tear cc in cora- [, can 111 this :iou, I reduc- trust, ill the LKLY, which, Ithe ex- rritory, tant ol" • to the lias for utative xcvcist's ly, but iiu'tious of the lio Colony, llix (F) to Crown being more restricted than elsewhere by vari- ous laws which have at different times been ])assetl and by usages which liave grown up. But the actual condition of Jamaica, I regret to say, is far from being such as to show that the possession of the powers of self-government atfords that complete security for the welfare of a conmmmty, and for the good ma- nagement of its affairs, which many persons seem to suppose. You are aware that the accounts which continue to reach this country describe Jamaica as labouring under the severest distress, nor do I belie\'e that there is any reason for imputing much, if any, ex- aggeration to these statements. The Colonists and owners of property in Jamaica are loud in their com[)laints, and ascribe all their losses and difficul- ties to Imperial Legislation. The abolition of the slave-trade and of slavery, and the recent changes hi our commercial polic}, have been pointed out by the Assembly* in various memorials and petitions to the Queen and to the two Houses of Parlia- * The following passages occur in the Memorial of the House of Assembly to the (iueeu, of the 18th of December, 184(5. "We, your Majesty's loyal subjects, the Assembly of Jamaica, by permission to approach your Majesty, humbly to remonstrate against the many wrongs which we have sustained by acts of the Imperial Parliament. .... The establishment of Slaveiy was not our act, but that of the parent Goverriment, the lands of Jamaica having been patented, by your royal ancestors on the speciid condition that they should be cultivated by slaves for the promotion of the national wealth ; and this policy was continued under sanction of British laws eipially saerod as those under which any otlu^r class of your Majesty's sub- 168 COLONIAL POLICY. !i: merit, us tlie grievances of wliicli th<;y have lind to coiu])liiin, and the causes of the ruin which they have experienced. 1 have (|Uotcd in a note beknv some remarkjiblc ])assages from one of the Memorials ad- di'esscd to the Queen by the Assembly, of which 1 regret tliat the great knigtli prevents my inserting tiie whole, l^his Memorial was voted in December, 1 840, when the alteration of the sugar-duties, by which sugar the produce of slave labour was admitted to the British market, had only be(ni enacted a very few months, and could have had no effect in produchig clie distress which is described in this document, in terms not less strong than those which have been jVcts lu'lil their property. Tt is mine ■essiiry for xis hero to enter into the histoiy of the trach* by whicli thu-e .siav(>8 «ere proeured ; it is enough to say that, after having been most vigo ously and profitably carried on for one hundred and fifty years by British ships, British mer- chants, and British capital, it was aboUshed by Act of ParHanieut in the year 1S07. This was the first check to the hUhei'to extending cultii'atian and prosperity of Jamaica. The advocates for tlie aboli- tion of the African slave-trade then most solemnly disclaimed all in- tention of seeking to interfere with the evi.«»ting state of slavery in the ( 'oloiues ; but scarcely had one object been accomplished, when agitation commenced with resp(>ct to the other. The firbt overt act of the Parliament effected by this riew agitation wa« in the year 1815, by the introduction of a Bill in the House of Conmions for re- gi.'itering the slaves, professedly to prevent their illegal introduction into the Colonies, but covertly to pave the way for stdisecpient eman- cipa* 'H. The next movement was in the year 1823, when Mr. Canning, th^n a Miraster of the Crown, introduced certain resolu- tions into the House of Commons, conceding to out-door pressure the interests of the Colonists and the princi])le of slave emancipa- tion." One remarkable sentence in this Memorial I have dis- tinguished by italics. See House of Commons Sessional Paper of 1847, No. 1()0. JAMAICA. 169 used at a later period. It dest.Tvea to be particularly observed, that in this Memorial, which contains an elaborate statement of the grievances of Jamaica, it is comi)lained that the abolition of the Slave-trade by Act of Parlianu'nt was the first check to the pros- perity of the C'olony, and that tlie various steps by which slavery was first mitigated, and ultimately com- pletely aboUshed, are insisted upon as the causes of the general ruin of the proprietors of the Island ; the fiscal changes which had lately taken place in this Country being only adverted to as likely to become a new soiu'ce of difficulty. T believe the view thus taken of the subject by the Assemblv to be so far r-idit, that the abolition of the Slave-trade was necessarily fatal to the kind of prosperity (such as it was)* which Jamaica formerly * T say " such aa it was," for the forraor prosperity of Jamaieawaa always of a veiy precarious kind, and eheijiiered by periods of severe distress. Even wliUe the British Colonies enjoyed not only the monopoly of our market, hut the unrestricted power of usinjj; slave- labour and earrj'ing on the slave-trade, the Phinters of Jamaica were frecpu'utly eonjp<;Iled to make urgent apphcatiuus to Parliament for relief ; and their business was so hazardous, that, in spite of the great gains of some seasons, there were few who realized money by it in a series of years. See tlie testimony to this effect of Bryan Edwards, in his ' History of the West Indies ;' Lord Derby's Speech in the House of Conunons, when moving, in 1833, the Kesolutions on which tlie Bill for the .ibolition of Slavery was fountlcd ; the lie- ports of Committees of the House of Commons of 1807 and 1832; the lleport of a Committee of the H()use of Assembly of Jamaica in 1804, and the Petition of tliat House to the Prince Regent in 1811. Some extra<-ts from these documents will be found in the Appendix (G) to this Vohunc. 170 (;0T,ONIAL POLICY. eiijoyod ; and this stop once tnkini, it bocainc, 1 am convinced, inipossibh; for the Ishmd to (iijoy durable prosperity, except by adopting an entirely diffijrent system, based, not upon slavery and commercial restrictions, but upim freedom, botli personal and commercial. I'he only wise course therefore for the Colonists to j)ursue, would have been to apply them- selves to the establishment of such a system, and of a new social organization, by the adoption of well-considered and judicious measures for effect- ing an inevitable change, with as little dist\U"bance and with as little tlelay as possible. 1 Unfortunately a verv difl'erent line of conduct has been followed by those who have possessed the chief influence among the Colonists; and the same determined resistance which was made to the abolition of the Slave-trade wiis, afterwards nuulc to the mitigation and the abolition of slavery, and to the alteration of oiu* commercial policy. These successive changes have been accomplished only after struggles highly injiu*ious to the welfare of i\\c Colony ; and thus for the last thirty years the relations between the Local Lc^gislature and the Goverament at home, under suc- cessive Administrations, have, with some brief int(;r- v[ds, continued to be on a very unsatisfactory footing. There has been httle of that harmonious co-ope- ration between these Authorities, without which it is imj)ossible that the affairs of the Island can be pro- perly and efficiently conducted. Diuing your Administration, no ctibrt that we JAMAICA. 171 Is for (Ocal suc- iiter- ing. ope- it is pro- we could make, without a])au(louiuf; the commercial [)olicy we thought it our duty to maintain, was omitted, for the purpose of establishing a good un- derstanding with the ('olonists and especially with the Assembly ; but our endeavours to effect this ob- ject were unsuccessful. Unhappily the Colonists were U^d to believe that nothing would be of any avail for the relief of their difficulties, except a restora- tion of some portion at least of their former com- mercial privileges ; and that this object was one that might be obtahied by the assistance of a powerful party at home, and of which the accomplishment might be promoted by embai"assing and thwarting as nmch as possible an Admhustration pledged to a j)olicy directly o[)posed to their \ iews. It would be unjust to blame the Colonists for hav- ing been induced to adopt this opinion, and the line of conduct to which it led, considering how nnich they were encouraged in doing so by persons of great in- fluence in this Country, and how natural it is for those who are sufft^ring from distress to listen to advice and suu-yjestions such as were addressed to the West Indians by their professed friends. But though it would be unfair to censiu'e the Assembly of Jamaica and the leading Colonists with any great severity, for the course they pursued, there can 1 think be no doubt that it has proved a most unfortunate one for their own interest. This is the only conclusion that can be drawn from the ftict, that while Jamaica enjoys advantages which I consider to be nuich superior, ami 172 COLONIVI. I'Ol.ICY. which (MTlaiiily arc not at nil cvciil.s interior, to tliosc of uny other Siijj^ar C/oloiiy, it alone continncs to exhibit no signs of any iniprov(!nient in it- condition; wliih.'in other important Colonies, ecpialiy (le[K;n(h;nt for their [)rosperity on the cultivation ot Niijjjar, then^ has been, as 1 have shown, n manifest abatement of the diffi- culties with which tliey Inive had to contend, and a (hiwning of brighter prospects for the future. Jamaica lias greatly the advaiitagt; of Trinidad and of Ciniana in the amount of her population, and still more in the comparatively advanced stage of civiliza- tion which that population has reached ; vvhili; of her natural fertility and resources, I am not aware that any but a very high opinion has ever been expressed; yet Guiana and Trinidad, without those extensive powers of seIf-governni(Mit, which it is the fashion to represent as jilone necessar} for the welfare of a ('olony, and which Jamaica possesses, have completely surmounted their financial ditficulties ; their revenue alriwly ex- ceeds their expenditure, notwithstanding large reduc- tions of taxation, and tlunr produ(;tion of sugar is rapidly increasing. In Jamaica, on the contrary, the state of the Colonial linances is getting from bad to worse ; and we are assured that, without some change, of which there is as yet no appearance, the cultivation of sugar cannot be much h)nger continued. There must have been serious errors in the management of the affairs of Jamaica, to account for so unfortunate a difference. Nor is it difficult to perceive what these errors havi^ JAMAICA. 17:^ 1 yet iwers ^scut and lilted ex- ;d ne- ar is , the id to uige, lit ion 'here nt (if late a have been. Althougli the need of will-eonaidered lepfisla- tion, to meet the wants of an entirel) new state of aoric^ty, was not less urgent in Janiaieii tlian in the other former Shive Colonies, and though Jamaica has far greater facilities than most of these Colonies for carrying into effect such mi;asures as are riujuired, the Statute Book of the Island for the last six years j)rc- sents nearly a blank, as regards laws calculated to ini' prove the coiifl of the population, and to raise thoui in the scale 'h/ation. And unfortunately tiie errors to l)e i (o the Legislature are not mereJy negative ; the n aiiagnnentof the finances, on whicli so much depends, has l)een most defective. Taxes have been reduciid without any pro])ortionate reduction of expemhture, which has been allowed habitually to ex- ceed the income ; and an increasing load of debt has thus been incurred, partly in the very objectionable form of issues of an inconvertible^ paper currency, under the name of " Island Cheques," partly in other ways. While this has been goinj; on, no attempt has been made to relieve the nnances and the industry of the Colony, either by the practice of a judicious and systematic economy, or by substituting less ob- jectionable taxes for the very impolitic and onerous ones, both general and parochial, which now exist. Yet, by well directed efforts of tliis kind, it is certain that much might have been done for the relief of the Co- lony and for the encouragement of productive industry. The mismanagement of the Colonial finances must in pai't at least be attributed to the mode in which IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) r^j^ ^ 1.0 I.I 11.25 m. 125 ISO 22 I us 120 0% ^ '-^ Photograiiiic Sciences Corporation m V <^ 33 WMT MAM STRHT WIMTII.N.Y. I4SM (716>t73-4S03 4R> ^ \ ^\^ framing measures to check or avert the pestilence, and the Governor was authorized to draw upon the Treasiu*y for £3000 to aiford assistance to the most distressed of the families reduced to destitution by the death of those on whom they depended for support. But it was felt by those with whom we had com- municated, as well as by ourselves, that the most serious result of the pestilence, and that with which it was most difficult to deal, was the diminution it had caused in the already scanty supply of labour avail- able in Jamaica, and it became matter of the most anxious consideration to us what steps could be taken to meet this evil. On mature deliberation we were of opinion that little could be done towards this end except by the Local Legislature, but that much was in its power, and that we ought to give to it all the assistance we could, in devising the measures best cal- culated to meet the exigency. A despatch, to be laid by tlie Governor before the Legislature, was accord- ingly prepared with as little delay and as much care JAMAICA. 193 as possible, explaining very fully the various measures which it ^ denied to me would be most likely to effect an improvement in the condition of the Colony. In the preparation of this despatch I availed mysfilf largely of the suggestions and information given to me by the gentlemen with whom I had been in com- munication, and they were put in possession of it before it was sent to the Governor. If I am not mis- taken, they concurred generally, if not entirely, in the advice thus given to the Legislature, and gave it their support by letters which they addressed to their friends in the Colony. I have abeady adverted to this despatch in what I have said of the Sugar Co- lonies generally, and it will be foimd at length in the Appendix*. Though the recommendations thus addressed to the Assembly were approved by a large proportion at least of the principal gentlemen in this country con- nected with Jamaica, I regret to say that hitherto no steps towards acting upon them have been taken in the Colony ; and it appears, from resolutions adopted by the Assembly in February last, and by a pamphlet called ' A Statement of Facts relative to the Island of Jamaica,' which was published in the month of June by three delegates from the Assembly who had been sent over, that the resident Colonists are still looking, not to what they can do for themselves, but to some assistance they hope to obtain from Parliament, for relief from their difficulties. See Appendix (C) to this Volume. VOL. I. 194 COLONIAL POLICY. This is griMitly to be Iftinciited, since the more care- fulJy the circunistances of Jainuica are considered, the more reason there will be found for beUeving, tliat whik; rarhament can do httle to improve its ])ros- pects, there are measiu-es which it is in the power of the Local Lcj^islature to adopt, and by which it might fairly be hopi^d, that its (Utficulties wouhl be con- quered and j)rosperity be ultimately restored to an Island which, in spite of its present distress, I regard as [)08sessing in great abundance all that is necessary for b 'coming at no distant j)eriod a rich and flourishing Colony. But in order that this result may be attained, it is absoluttily necessary that dependciiice for extra- neous assistance, should be exchanged for strenuous exertion on the pari of the Colonists and of the Co- lonial proprietors at home. There is no hope of im- provement while those whose interests are at stake continue to manifest only apathy and lu^glect of what is in their own power, while they are calling for aid from others. Nothing shows more strongly the want of energy on the part of the Colonists, than the absence of any decided efforts to ward off from the Island, in future, the disease by which it has lately suffered so seventy. The medical officer who was sent there, found that all the known causes of disease exist in Jamaica in great abundance, and that much might easily be done for their removal. But, though this has been shown very clearly, I do not learn that anything has yet been done toward carrying into effect the precau- tionary measures recommended by Dr. Milroy. It is >!.-i^W^l.JK»rC«bMAMblMrUn»'iMli'mOtsaiu..Muiiv«n BAKBA1)0£8. 195 liowcoi only fair to add that, considering liow hIow the towns of this Country have pfonerally ))een to avail themselves of the power given to them by Parlianujnt to adopt measures of sanatory iin})rovement, it is not perhaps surprising thai the inhabitants of Januiica should hav(! been equally dilatory in attending to the subject, notwithstanding the awful warning they have had in the recent visitation of cholera. I have entered at so nuich length into the transac- tions of some of the Sugar C(jlonies, that I must abstain from adverting to the others, except so far as co refer to the remarkable increase of the production of sugar in Barbadoes since 1846, which affords perhaps a more signal refutation, than even the facts 1 have mentioned with regard to Mauritius, of the predic- tions made in that and the following years as to the results which must, it was said, follow from the ad- mission of slave-grown sugar into our markets. In spite of these predictions, I find that the crops of sugar exported from Barbadoes in the three years up to 184G, and in the three last years, have been as follows* : — 1844 23,146 hhds. 1845 24,777 „ 1846 21,91^6 „ Average 23,306 1849 33,077 hlids. 1850 35,302 „ 1851 38,730 „ Average 35,703 This is an increase of production which may well excite surprise, and which clearly demonstrates that the production of sugar by free labour can be carried * See Blue-Book Report for 1862. O 2 ft 19G COLONIAL POLICY. on with success, in spite of the competition with slave- hibour to which it has been exposed. J^erhnps it may be said that Uarbadoes enjoys advjuitages in the great density of its population, whicli the other Sugar Colonies do not possess, and that therefore! what has been done in that Island, forms no criterion of what is possible in others. To a certain extent this is true ; but on the othtT hand I must (express my opinion, that the greater success of the Barbadoes Planters is not by any means exclu- sively due to the advantage they possess from the Colony Ixnng so populous ; 1 cannot but believe that it is in j)art at least attributable to tlu; fact, that they never resorted to those unwise means for the purpose of extorting from the Government a restoration of the former monopoly of the British sugar-grower to which the planters of .Jamaica had recoiu'se, and never either allowed the pubUc business to be interrupted, or ctjased cordially to co-operate with the able officers who have held the post of Governor in adopting such measur(!s as have been found necessary for promoting the welfare of the community. I must further observe, that the absence of any difficulty in carrying on the cultivation of sugar in Barbadoes, in consequence of the density of the po- pulation, affords another striking proof of the sound- ness of the views I have so fully stated in the earlier part of this Letter, as to the nature of the legislation which is required in the other Sugar-growing Colonies. If the free Negro is found to be so capable of exerting HAIIHADOKS. IU7 liirnst'lf when |)lu(;(;d in such circMunstuiu'eH us lit; is i» Barbudoes, uiul if t'XjU'rienre in that Inland cK'urly provcis that, whtsn i)oth planters and labourers arc compelled by the restricted area of tht; territory they occupy to concentrate their efforts within a space pro[)()rtioned to their capital and n\iinbers, they can successfully compete with slave-grown sugar, does it not follow that in the other Colonies, where Ihe popu- lation bears a very diti'erent proportion to the I'vtent of huul, it should l)e the ann of legislation as far as possible to correct the tenth'ucies thus created, and to prevent the bounty of nature from being abused, and becoming, instead of an advantage, only an encourage- ment to idleness and an obstacle to civilization ? August 14, 1852. P. 8. Since this Letter was written, I have, within these few days, been much gratifit;d by finding that my opinion as to the ability of the British Colonies to compete successfidly in tlu; growth of sugar with coun- tries in which the labour of slaves is still employed, has been confinncd by no less an authority than the present Chancellor of the Exchequer, the biographer of Lord G. Beiitinck. In Mr. Disraeli's speech on the Budget, on the 3rd of this month, 1 find the fol- lowing most remarkable passage : — " It may be said that these are merely figures " (he had just been com- paring the entries for home consumption of Foreign and British sugar for the first ten months of lb 51 and of 1852), " but I beg to observe that in this instance iUb lULONlAL IHJLICY. figures ((Uistitutc tin; cjwe. This is u fiut^stion of fil^urt's, iind the result of the ligiircs I liave (juoti'ti is, that there heing, in IH51. 4,12(5,000 cvvt. of Hri- tislj sugar against I,IH7,000 evvt. of foreign, in 1^52 there were 5.li7>^,000 ewt. of liritish against only 814,000 cut. of foreign. In other words, IJritish pro- duction has increased by 1,250,000 cwt. and foreign production has decreas(>d by about 000, 000 cwt. I may be calh'd a traitor — I may be called a renegade — but I want to know whether there is any gentle- man in this House, wherever he may sit, who would reconnnend a ditt'erential duty to prop up a prostrate industry which is actually conunanding the metropo- litan market*." '!1ie argument is conclusivt' ; but how nnich loss would iiave been saved tf» the unfortunati? West liulians, how nmch better would the state of Colo- nial industry have been at this moment, even than that which the Ohanc(^llor of tbe Exche(pier describes, if the party with which he is connected had for the four years preceiling February, 1852, taken a juster view of the prospects of the Colonial Planter ! Had they done so, the Colonists of Guiana and of Jamaica, instead of being encouraged to enter upon that unfortunate; struggle with the Government for the recovery of protection, which I have described, would no doubt have co-operated with us in effecting the many nmch-needed improvements which we were anxious to assist them in accomplishing ; and many an * See the report of Mr. Disraeli's speech in * The Times.' BAHUAUOEH. 199 unhappy Planter, who ha. 1,.,,, coinpolK-d to sell his proprrty lor onr-huir or onc-luorth of its r.al valu(. bcca.,8. the contuh.n... ol" |.:ngl,«h cap.falLsts in fhc po.s.sil,.Iity of his continiiiug his I.MNinoss vv.th advan. tage wan denfroycd, would haw .)l,tai,ud nsH^ninnc. thai would huvo c.uhhMl hi.u to surmount his ditfi- cultuis. VV.;11 may th. West Indians say, "Have us from our frinnds ! " iJtacmber 7, 1852. ,»•%<. 4W./j)jt H>j1 200 LETTER V. BRITISH NORTH AMERICA. — CANADA. My dear Lord John, I will HOW turn to those large and flourisliiiig pro- vinces which constitute the British territory in North America. Li the history of these provinces the last six years will form a memorable epoch, since within that period their system of government, which was previously hi a state of great doubt and uncertainty, may be said to have been estabhshed on what there is. good reason to hope may be a permanent footing, and the difficult and embarrassing questions which had arisen, as to the rules to be observed in conduct- ing their affairs, have received a solution in which all parties have practically acquiesced. This has not been accompUshed without discussions and controversies which, during their progress, were the source of much anxiety ; but we may congratulate ourselves upon having succeeded, before the breaking up of your Ad- ministration, in bringing all these various discussions CANADA. 201 linty, there )ting, ^liich iduct- ich all been k'Tsies I much upon ir Ad- Issions and controversies to a satisfactory termination, and upon having left these, the most important of the Co- lonial dependencies of the British Empue, in a state, not only far better than that which we found existing on our assumption of office, but such as to afford the most encouraging prospects for their future welfare and rapid progress, both in moral and material pro- sperity. A very slight sketch of the various transac- tions and events tlu-ough which this result has been attained is all that 1 can attempt. Without going back to occurrences of an earlier date, I would begin by observing, that a new era in the history of British North America may be said to have opened with the passing of the Act of 1840, for the union of the former Provinces of Upper and Lower Canada, and with the consequent re-establishment in the latter of constitutional government, of which the unhappy insmiections of 1837 and 1838 had neces- sarily occjisioned the temporary suspension. A simple return to the former system of constitutional govern- ment was impossible after these events. They had been the bitter fruit of defects and abuses in that system, which had been fully exposed in Lord Diu*- ham's well-known Report ; and its publication had naturally created a desire for the reform of the evils it pointed out, not only in Canada, but in the Lower Provinces, to whicli many of Lord Dm'ham's remarks were e({ually applicable. When oui' lamented friend Lord Sydenham (then Mr. Poulett Thomson) went to Canada as Governor- i- 202 COLONIAL POLICY. General, in the Autumn of 1839, there was much excitement on the question of estaljlishing what was called " Responsible Government;" while; the notions generally entertained as to what w'fis meant by these words, and as to the maimer in which such a Government was to be carritjd on, were exceedingly vague and ill-defined. You held at that time the office of Secretary of State for the Colonies, and made the first f»ttempt to give something like shape and consistency to these vague ideas, and to carry into effect the reform desired by the Colonists so far as this could be done with safety. In two des- patches addressed to Mr. l^ouh^tt Thomson, on the i4th and 16th of October, 1839, you pointed out the necessary distinctions between the Government of this Country and that of a Colony ; but at the same time you observed that, while you sjiw insuperable objec- tions to the adoption of the principle of the responsi- bilitv of the Local Government to the Assemblies in the manner in which it had been stated in the C'olo- nies, you saw none to the practical views of Colonial Government recommended by Lord Dm'ham, as you yom'sclf understood them; and you announced that for the future the princi})al offices of the Colonial Governments in North America woidd not be considered as being held by a temire eepiivalent to one during good l)ehaviour, l)ut that the holders would be liable to be called upoTi to retire whenever, from motives of pul)lic policy or for otlu'r reasons, this should be found expedient. You explained that .— >i**ftt-«n-.ii- CANADA. 203 this nile was to be ap})lic}ible without hmitation to persons appointed to tlie offices in t^uestion subse- quently to the date of your despatch, a; id to the existing holders of office so far as was clearly neces- sary for the public good; but at the sajne time with due regard to the fair expectations of individuals, to whom pecuniary compensation should be awarded when it might npj)ear unjust to tlispense with their services without such an indenmity*. Tliese instructions were written in apparent con- templation of the adoption of some such mode as that now estal)lished of carrying on tlie government of the North American Colonies; but up to July, 1846, the problem of bringing into satisfactory operation this system of administration had ctTtainly not been solved. In Canada, during the early part of Lord Sydenham's administration, the insurrection was too recent, and its effect in creating animosity and disaffection among one division of the population had been too great, to allow of the re-establishment of constitutional go-"^ vernment in the Lower Province, where the power of legislation had been entrusted by Parlianumt to a S})ecial ('(mncil. Even when the union was accom- plished, the stat(^ of the country was still such as to prevent the French Canadians from ac(|uiring their just wcught ui the House of Assend)ly elected for the first i'lU'liament of the IJniteil Provinces; and the cir- cumstances of the time, together with his own talents * Sec. for the two (le8])at('lio« ronhxininj? thoso inHtniclioiiH. thu lIouHf of CuininoU8 St'ssioual I'apor, No. «)2l of 1848, pp. 3-(?. 204 COLONIAL POLICV. for business, combined to give Lord Sydenham great influence over the Legishitm'e, and to render it neces- sary for hini to take upon himself a larger personal share of (he administration of affairs than would have fallen to him according to the strict theory of tie Constitution. In the then state of things, and of men's minds, it would have been impossible otherwise to carr} on the Govcrmuent ; and the power which was thus in fact assumed by Lord Sydenham, was wisely used in passing various measures calculated to promote the material welfare and improvement of the country. He endeavoured also to prepare the way, by a firm and just administration, which should allow the passions and animosities excited by previous events to subside, for the safe introduction of a more consti- tutional system of government. In this respect the policy of Lord Sydenham was highly successful, and it contributt'd greatly to facilitate the adoption of the liberal and enUghtened measures taken by his suc- cessor, Sir C. Bagot, during whose brief government a much nearer approach was made to the establish- ment of a really constitutiomd system ; but the death of Sir C. Bagot took place so soon, that the esta- blishment of such a system coidd be only imperfectly efi'ected by him, nor is it easy to judge whether, if he had lived, he would have been able to avoid tliost; dif- ficulties in which his successor, Lord Metcalfe, became involved. A dift'erence of opinir^n arose between Lord Met- CANADA 206 Ish- iath ^ta- 3tly he Idlf- 11 lie Let- oalfe and his Council upon a question relating to the distribution of patronage, into which it is neither necessary nor expedient that I should enter; it is sufficient to state, that this difference led to the re- tirement of the members of the Executive Council, who were supported by a majority of the Assembly. Eventually, though not without considerable delay, Lord Metcalfe was enabled to form another Council, for which, by means of a dissolution of the previous Parliament, he obtained the support of a new Assem- bly. But this was only accomplished by Lord Met- calfe's personal popularity and influence, which were employed to procure the return of members favourable to his })olicy : the effect of this was to place him in direct hostility with one of the great parties into which the Colony was divided. Though the diffi- culty of carrying on the Government was thus obviated for the moment, as the party into whose hands he had thrown himself possessed a small majority in the Assembly, this advantage was dearly purchased by the circumstance that the Parliamentary opposition was no longer directed merely against the advisers of the Governor, but agahist the Governor himself and the British Government, of which he was the organ. Hence, as it is the nature of all popular Assem- blies to undergo from time to time changes, by which the minority of one year becomes the majority of another, and as there could be no doubt that sooner or later the party with which Lord Metcalfe had quarrelled would recover its ascendency, there 'i 200 COLONIAL POLICY. was n cortain prospect of great future embarrassment from the state of tilings which had arisen. Nor was this all ; the (lovernor, by his rupture with one party, was placed to a far greater degrtjc than was desirable in the power of the other, by which he was supported, and lost the means of exercising his proper authority in checking any departure from moderation on the part of those by whose assistance he was compelled to carry on the Government. The danger of his posi- tion was fully understood by Lord Metcalfe, and it is apparent that he foresaw ditficidties in the future administration of the Colony, which he had not suc- ceeded in discovering any means of surmounting. When Lord Metcalfe was at length compelled to relinquish his post, by the frightful disease in spite of which he had continued to the last to discharge his public duties with heroic patience and resolution, Lord Cathcart succeeded him, first as Administrator of the Government in virtue of the military conunand which he held, and afterwards as Governor-General, to which office he was ai)pointed on the advice of Mr. Gladstone, shortly before the formation of your Administration. Lord Cathcart had, as it appeared, been appointed Governor-General in consequence of the tlm;atening state; of our rehitions with the United States, which rendered it desirable, at the time the appointment was made, that tlic chief civil and mili- tary authority in Canjida should be vested in the same hands. J^ut when we assumed the direction of affairs, the Oregon dispute had just been happily settled, and I CANADA. 207 the danger of an interruption of peace with the Uniti^d States had passed away. On the other Imnd, as re- gardt.'d tlie internal aflairs of (Janada, the position to which Lord Catheart sueeeedud, on assuming the Government, was ealeulated, as t have explaiiuid, to create much anxii'ty fin* the futuri;, and si^enied to re- (piire that tlie nianag(;ment of tliese aftairs sliouhl be entrusted to a person possessing an intimate know- ledge of the principles and practice of the Constitution of this Country, some exp(!rience of popidar assem- blies, and considerable familiarity with the j)olitieal questions of the day. These rpialiiications couUl not reasonably be expected from a military officer who, like jL^ord Catheart, had hitherto been almost entirely occu- pied by the duties of his pi'ofession, and had not been accustomed to take any active part in English politics. Accordingly it was my opinion, in which you and our colleagues agreed, that another Governor- General should be app'^inted, and after imich consideration it was determined that Lord I^^lgin shoidd be selected for this important post, lie was at that time personally altogether unknown to me; but he had conducted the government of Jamaica, whence he h.'ul just returned, with great ability and success, and had also during the very sh(>rt time he had sat hi the House of Ccmunons, given proof of no ordinary talents. The speech by which he had principally distuiguished himself in the House of Conmions was certainly not one to give him any claims up(ni us as a party, since it was made in seconding the amendment on the Address which led 208 COLONIAL POLICY. to the (lowiif'all of Lord Melbourno's Administration, in August, 1841 ; but as our object was not to nuike selection witli a view to party interests, but to entrust tlie nianageinent of the largest and most important of the i^ritish (Joloni(;s, in a season of great difficulty, to the ablest hands we could find, Lord Elgin was reconnnendueen for this appointment, in preference to any of our own party or personal frieruls. I cannot forbear remarking, that, as the Government of Canada is literally the only civil office in that Colony in the gift of the J Tome (jovernment, and is the greatest prize in the Colonial service, the manner in which it was on this occasion disposed of affords a proof of the injustice of the common allega- tions, that the Colonies are retained only for the sake of the patronage they aftbrd. As Lord Elgin, though appointed at an earlier period, did not leave this country to assume the (jrovernment of Canada until the month of January, 1847, I had the opportunity of conmumicating with him very fully previously to his departure, with respect to the line of conduct to be pursued by him, and the means to be adopted for the ])urpose of bringing into full and snccessful operation the system of constitutional go- vermiuvnt which it seenu'd to be the desire; of the inha- bitants of British Morth America to have established among tliem. He was thus, before he assumed the duties of his office, placed completely in possession of our views on the various questions which the introduc- tion of this systt ni of Government naturally raises. The lANADA, 200 uUy V. of be and go- iiha- dicd the m of duc- The best explanation 1 can give of these views, and of the [)rincip]es which have guick'd onr whole policy tov "d the North American Colonies, will be afforded by an extract from a despatch which I had occasion to address to Sir Jolui Harvey, the Liimtenant-Crovernor of Nova Scotia, on the 3rd of November, ] 84(3, in answer to an application from him for instrnctions as to the conrse he should adopt in circumstances of considerable ditti- culty in that Province. It had appeared, from Sir John liarvoy's report on the state of affairs in Novji Scotia on his assump- tion of the Government, that the Kxecutive Council was incomplete, that there was reason to doubt its being able to continue to conduct the affairs of the Province with advantage, and that he had been urged by the Members of the Opposition, with whom he had been in conmiunication, to dissolve the existing Assembly, in the belief that by so doing a new As- sembly would be elected, in which they would have a majority showing public opinion to be in their favour. With reference to this state of things, I transmitted to Sir John Harvey the following instructions, which, it will be observed, involve principles of general applica- tion to all ('Olonies having a similar form of govern- ment*. " I am of opinion that under all the circum- stances of the case, the best course for you to adopt is to call upon the Members of your present Exe- cutive Council to propose to you the names of the gentlemen whom they would recommer.d to supply * See House of Commons Sessional Paper, No. 621 of 1 848, p. 8. VOL. I. 1' 210 COI-ONIAI, POLICY. tlic vacmu'ics which I uiuhTstmul h) exist in \\\o |)ivs('iit Hoard. 11" they siiouhl Ix; siu'ccssful in suhinittiiijj; to you an arrangcMiuMit to wliich no vaUd objection arises, yon will of coiu'se continue to carry on the (iovennnent thr()n<];h them, so lon<; as it may Ix; possible to do so satisfactorily, and as they ])Ossess the necessary suj)|)ort from the Legislature. Shoidd the j)resent Conned tail in proposing to yon an arrangement which it woidd be [)ro|)er for you to accept, it would then be your natural course, in con- formity with the practice in analogous (rases in this ('oun.try, to apply to the opposite party; and shonid you be able, through their assistance, to form a sa- tisfactory (vouncil, there will be no inij)roj)riety in dissolving the Assembly npon their advice ; snch a ineasnre, under those circnmstances, being the only mode of esca{)ing from the difficulty which would otherwise exist, of carrying on the government of the Province npon the princijjles of the Constiiiuion. TIk; object with which I recommend to yon this course, is that of making it a])parent that any transfer which may take place of [)olitical power from the hands f f one party in the Province to those of an- other, is tlu; result, not of an act of yours, but of the wishes of the people themselves, as shown by i\w, difficulty experi(3nced by the retiring party in carrying on the government of the Province according to the forms of the Constitution. To this 1 attiich great importance; ; I have therefore to instruct you to ab- stain from changing your Executive Council until lA.NADA. iA it shall iM'come perfectly clear that they are unni). , with such fair support tVoiii yourself as they liav(; a right to expi'ct, to carry on the i^'overnineiit of the Province satisfactorily, and command the conridencc of th(! Legislatures " Of whatever l)arty your Comieil may l)e com- pos(;(l, it will he your duty to act strictly upon the principle you have yourself laid down, in tlie memo- randum delivcnM] to the gentlemen with whom you have conmiunidited,— that, namely, ' of not ich-ntifying yourself with any oiu; party,' l)ut, instead of this, ' making yourself both a mediator iuid a moderator between tlu^ intluential of all parties.' In giving therefore all fair and proper- sii])port to your Council for the time being, you will carefully avoid any acts which can possibly be supposed to im[)ly the slightest personal o])je(.'ti()n to their opponents, and also refuse to assent to any meas\n(!s which may be proposed to you by your Council which may appear to you to involv(5 an improper exercise of the authority of the Crown for party rjither than for public objects. In exercising however this [)Ower of refusing to sanction measures whicli may Ix; submitted to you by your Council, you nmst recollect that this power of opposing a check upon extreuKi measures proposed by the party for the time in the Government, depends entirely for its efficacy ui)on its being used s[)aringly and with the greatest possible discretion. A refusal to accept advice tendered to you by your Council is a legitimate ground for its Members to tender to you their resig- o f i 212 COLOSIAL POI.ICV. nntion, — a ronrsc they would tloiihl' ss ndopt, should i\wy ivv\ that t\\v s>d)j('(!t on which a iliHcrcuct' had arisen hctwcon you and thcnistlvcs was oiu' upon wliich pid)h(> opinion vvoidd ix' in their favour. Shouhl it prove to he so, concession to their views nuist sooner or lat«'r heconie inevitahh', siiwe it can- not he too (hstinctly acknowh'djjied that it is neither possible nor desirahle to carry on the p»verninent of any of the British Provinces in North America in opposition to the opinion of the inhahitants. " Clearly understanding, therefore, that refusiufi; to accede to the advi(!e of vour Council for th(5 time being, upon a point on which they consider it their (hity to insist, mtist lead to the (piestion at issue being brought ultimately un{h'r the decision of public opinion, you will carefully avoid aUowing any matter not of very grave conccjrn, or upon whic^h you cannot reasonably calculate u])on being in the end supported by that opinion, to b(; nuule the subject of such a difference. And if, luifortunately, such a difference should arise, you will take ecpial care mat its canst; and the grounds of your own decision are nuule clearly to appear in written documents capable of being publicly quoted. " The adoption of this princi])le of action by no means involves the necessity of a blind v)bedience to tlie wishes and opinions of the Members of your Comicil; on the contrary, I hav(; no doubt that, if they see clearly that your conduct is guided, not by personal favour to any particular men or party, but ('ANAPA. 21;i JV lit by a sincere jlesiri; to pnjinoto the public good, your objections to juiy mensiires proposed will have great weight with th(^ Council, or, shouM they prove un- reasonabh;, with the Assembly, or, in last resort, with the I'ublic. " Such arc he general principh^s upon wliich the (constitution granted to tlu^ North American (V)lonies render it necc^ssary that their (iovernment should be conduct(>d. It is however, I am well aware, far easier to lay (low n these general principles than to deternune in any pfirticular case what is that line of conduct which an adherence to them should prescribe. Tn this, your own judgement and a careful consideration of the circumstance's in which you are placed must be your guide ; and I have only, in c()n(;liision, to assure you that H t Majesty will always be anxious to put the most favourable ("onstructior. u[)on your conduct, in the discharge of the arduous duties imposed upon you by the high situation you hold in Iler service." The des])atch, froui which the above is an extract, was communicated to Lord Elgin jireviously to his proceeding to Canada ; and, in conformity with the principl(!s there laid down, it was his object, in as- suming the Gov( rnment of the Province, to withdraw from the position of depending for support on one party into which Lord Metcalfe had, by unfortunate circumstances, bi'cn brought. He was to act gene- rally upon the advice of his Executive Council, and to rt!ceive as MemlvTs of that body those persons who might be pointed out to hiin as entitled to be 214 COLONIAJ. I'OMCV. SO by their possessing the confidence of tlie Assembly, l^ut he was caixifully to avoid identifying himself with the [)iirty from the ranks of which the; actual Comicil was drawn, and to make it generally un- derstood that, if public opinion rijquired it, he was e(pially ready to accept their opi)onents as his ad- visers, nninfluenced by any personal preferences or objections. In adopting this rule of condnct, it was of peculiar importance to make it manifest that all i)ast con- tentions and the unhappy events of 1837 and 1838 were buried in^, complete oblivion ; and that all the inhabitants of Canada, who would for the future act <'is loyal subjects of the British Crown, would be re- garded with equal favoiu* by the Governor, without reference to their national origin or to the party to which they might belong. Upon this policy Lord Elgin has steadily acted, and, after passing through a crisis of great difficulty, it has been crowned with complete success. On his assumption of the Govern- ment he found the Provincial Administration in the hands of the party which had supported Lord Metcalfe ; and for the first Session, as the Members of this Admi- nistration were enabled, though with imu'h ditficulty, to mahitain their majority in the Assend)ly, they re- mained in offic(v, receiving from Lord Elgin all the con- stitutional support they could ask for, and every fa- cility for the attempts they thought it right to make to strengthen their posit on by a junction with some of the leaders of other parties. Thece attempts were >t v-Vinb'.>^A ^j^*.\ iiV'^-^-»mH-il»K.*'»~iJ'.''ii^^^K . CANADA. .:>i5 not successful, and at tlie close of the year 1847 the then Canadian Administration, finding that they could neither form a new and stronger combination of parties, nor reckon any longer upon even the bare majority they had previously had in the Assembly, applied to Lord Elgin for power to dissolve the Par- liament : no objection having been nuuUi on his part, the dissolution took place, and was followed l)y a general election, which gave a complete triumph to the party previously in opposition. When this result was ascertained. Lord Elgin gave to the Members of his Council the option of innnediately retiring, or of calling the Parliament together at once. They chose the latter course. The Parliament met, a vote was carried against the Administration, which retired, and a new one was formed from the ranks of their opponents, the Mend)ers of both parties concur- ring in expressing their sense of the perfect fairness and impartiality with which Lord Elgin had conducted himself throughout these transactions. With his new Council he acted in the same spirit as with their predecessors : without in the slightest degree commit- ting himself as their partisan, he freely gave them his confidence, and the assistance of his judgement ami experience in preparing measures for the benefit of the Province ; and without att{un[)ting by direct authority to prescribe to them the com'se which they should follow, he practically exercised a great and most useful influence on the conduct of aftaii's. The conse(pience of this was, that the French 216 COLONIAL POLICY. Canadians, and the Liberal party in the Western Division of the Province, |^seeing that their leaders and friends were admitted to their just share of power and influence, that no distrust of them was evinced by the Governor, and that the government really was to be carried on strictly in the spirit of the Consti- tution, without any preference being shown to men of any one party or national origin, became on their side reconciled to the Imperial authority which was thus exercised, and proved themselves worthy of the confidence which had been placed in them, by the loyalty and attachment they manifested to the Crown, So soon and so decidedly w^ere the healing eftects of this policy experienced, that, when the news of the French Revolution of February, 1848, reached the Province, it occasioned no distiu'bance or alarm. In the state of public feeling and ophiion which Lord Elgin found prevailing on his arrival in Canada, little . more than a year before, there can be no doubt that the intelligence of this starthng event would liave produced most formidable excitement, if not actual disturbance. Instead of this, there was the most perfect tranquillity and security*. All eftbrts * Tlie stiitf of the Provinc«i about this time is thus described in the presentment of the Grand Jury of Montreal, enchised in Lord Elgin's despateh of May 3. 1848 : — " Le Grand Jury ne peut s'em- pik'her de manifester le bonheur ([u\l cprouvc de voir le pays jouissaut d'une ])aix et d'une tranquillite profonde, tandis que les peupleH de la vieille Europe se trouvent engages dans les troubles ct le feu des revolutions. Cette paix dont jouit notre pays, (|u'il sait apprecier et qu'il saura maintenir, est due a la forme de cotre Gou- ('AN ADA. 217 to create opposition to t' e Government amongst the French Canadians utterly tailed; they heartily and steadily supported the Government, and took every opportunity to manifest, by addresses and resolutions, the strongest spirit of loyalty to the British Crown. The Liberal party in Upper Canada manifested a similar spirit, and dming the Irish movement in the Summer of 1848, the attempts of the American-Irish sympathizers to obtain support in Canada met with nothing but discouragement. If a different spirit had prevailed, and if the Euro- pean events of 1848, falling like a spark on a popula- tion disaffected to the Government, had provoked any 'corresponding movement in Canada, it is probable that disturbances there, even if slight hi the first instance, would have been followed by very disastrous conse- quences ; since it can hardly be doubted, from what has happened in other cases, that the Government of the United States, however sincerely it might have had the wish, would have warned the power, to resti^ain the law- less adventurers whom any outbreak in Canada would have attracted from all (juarters of the Union to take vernernont, et siirtout a la sagease, a I'liabilot^, et a la fermet^ des hoirtracs appelos par le Rt;prdsentaut de notre Souverain a le faire Ibnctioiiiier. Avee de tola hoimnos a la t«}te des aflaires, soiicieux c'omnic ils lo aont do8 iiitc^rc^ts dv Urns, sans distini'tion, Ic pays ue pout que proap(''rcr, ct jouir dc ct'ttc paix si nocesaaire au ddploie- n)ent do son industrie ot de son commoroe. Le Grand Jury est done porauado que cette paix, si neeeasaire au bonhour du pays, ne sera jamais troubloe ; lo Gouvernciuont ])ouvant compter aur la sjonpa- tliie et I'appui oorrlial ot ainooro de tons aos habitants.— ^Chambre du Grand Jury, Montreal, Avril 29, 1848." 4^ -^"-.- 218 COLON rAL rOMCY. part in it. In the insurrection of 1837 and 1888 the only serious danger arose from the " sympathizers" (as they vvcyre called) from the Tnited States ; and since that time tlie Mexican war had iulded largely both to the number aiid to the dangerous character of tlic cmss of men in these States whom the love of excitement and the hope of plunder are sure to gather togetiier in any part of North America where there may be a prospect of that irregidar warfare in which they delight. An insurrcjction in Canada would therefore most likely have involved us also in a war with the United States; and it is my conviction that the Country could hardly have escaped from these calamities, but for the j)olicy upon which, under our direction and with our sup- port. Lord Elgin so ably acted in tlu^ government of Canada. But although this policy was thus successful hi recon- ciling the alienated French Canadians to the Imperial Government, and in gaining the affections of the grv3at body of the people, it was not to be expected that it should not lead to some dissatisfaction on the part of those who had been accustomed to consider them- selves as entitled to the exclusive possession of the favour of the Govca'imient. However nec(!ssury it „as for the peace and welfare of the Colony that former events should be biu-ied in oblivion, and tliat all who would for the fuiure conduct themselves as faithful su-bjects of the Queen, should be rt^garded as [)ossess- ing e([Ujd claims on the favour of th(! Crown, it was impossible that this rule could be acted upon without CANADA, 219 tht the ifiil creating in'itation and discontent in those who saw in it an improper forgetfuhiess of their own services to the Crown durhig the insvirrection, and in supporting Lord Metcalfe as the Queen's Representative. By tlu! change of Aduiinistratiou which had taken place, the party long accustomed to ascendency, and to consider themselves as the party of the Enghsli Government, had seen the power and influence, which they had grown to regard as rightfully belonging to themselves, and which, by the support of the Home Government, they had been enabled, with a brief interval, to exercise for a long period, transferred to a party composed princii)ally of persons whom, on accoimt of their ckmocratic opinions or of their na- tional origin, they had been in the habit of regard- ing and rt^presenting as disloyal and as the natural enemies of the British Crown. It was natural that such a transfer of political power should create feelings of great displeasure and indig- nation in the minds of those from whom it was taken, and there was another circumstance which contri- buted to exasperate their -'■ feelings. The party which was thus deprived of power happened to include in its ranks a large proportion of those who were most deeply interested hi the trade of the Province, and 1848 and 1849 were yeiirs of great mercantile dis- tress in Canada, which was attributed, not altogether unjustly, to the recent change in the conuiiercial policy of this Coimtry. l^hus the same persons who felt most the transfer of political powt^r from one 2;20 rOLONIAL POLICY. party to the other, were those on whom the heavy pecuniary losses of a period of extreme comnu'vciai difficulty fell also with the greatest severity; hence it is not surprising that, as in the Mother-country political parties were at that time divided princiipally on the (piestion of free trade or protection, the irri- tation of the party in the (Colony which had been deprived of political power should have been greatly increased by the fact, that the commercial policy to which they attributed their losses was maintained by the Administration at home, undtT which they had been refused that active support against their poli- tical -ivals which had been given to them by Lord Metcalfe. This was the more strongly felt, because Canada had a real grievance to complain of : it had suffered severely from the want of steadiness and consistency in our ^pr--^ / i/L commercial policy. By the Canada Corn Act of 1843, in consideration of a duty of 3«. a (piarter having been imposed by the Provincial Legislatm*e on the importa- tion of foreign wheat, not only the wheat of Canada, but also its flour, which might be manufactured from American wheat, were admitted for c(msumption into this Country at a nominal duty. The effect of this enactment was obviously to give a large premium for the grinding of American wheat in Canada for the British market. The consequence was, that much of the available capital of the Province was laid out in making arrangements for carrying on the lucrative trade which was supposed to be thus opeiied to its i^'^i-aO CANADA. 221 merchants and millers. Tiut almost before these ar- rangements were fnlly rompleted, and the newly-built mills fairly at work, the Act of 1840 swept away the advantage conferred upon Canada in respect to the corn-trade with this l-ountry, and thus ])rought upon the Province a frightful amonnt of loss to individuals, and a great derangement of the (Colonial finances. These evils were naturally attribut(!d by the sutferers to the legislation of 1846, though in my o])ini(m they might more justly have been so to the short-sighted and imwise Act of 1843, of which many mend)ers of the House of (Commons (of whom I myself was one) predicted the consequences at the time it was passed, and therefore opposed it, on the ground that even then it was obvious that a general repeal of the existhig Corn-law coidd not long be withheld, so that the adoption of the partial measure recouuiiendcHl by the then Government nmst eventuidly })ring great losses upon Canada, by creating expectations which would certainly be disappointed. But whether the mistake was in passing the Act of 1843 or that of 1846, it is clear that (me or the otlier must have been grie- "^f £^^ '/ vously wrong • and there can be no doubt that the Pro- vince had been greatly injured by that inconstancy of purpose which had induced the Im])erial Legisla- ture, withi.i the short period of three years, to pass two Acts entirely opposed to each other in principle. It was only natiu-al that the sufferers by this rapid change of policy should condemn, not the original and imprudent grant of the privilege which had been COLONIAL l»OLir\ conco(l(Hl to tlic Colony, hut its iil)rii[)t luul iiiu*x[)0(;t(ul vvitluli'iivval. Im-oiii all those, causes tin; party opposed to the (^aiiadiaii Adiuhiisl ration \v(U'e disposed, when the Provineiiil Parliament met in the year 1849, to carry their opposition heyond tlu^ usual hounds of political hostility., and to direct it not only against the (iov(.'r- nor's advisers, hut against the (jovernor himself, and the Administration then existing in this country. With such a disposition, it was not likely that grounds for attack would be; wanting ; and they wer(^ soon found, in a Hill which was submitted by the CJovermuent to the Asscnd)ly, for making compensation to persons in Lower Canada who hatl suffered losses ui the r(;bellion. I am anxious to avoid, as far as possible, the risk of reviving the excitement on this sid)ject, wliicli at the time rose to a great height and led to very deplo- rable consequences; I will th(;refore give as brief an account as 1 can of transactions, some ex})lanatiou of which is indispensable in a review of Colonial affairs during the last six years. The Rebellion liosses Bill, as it was called, was brought forward in the l^rovincial Parhament in the Session of 18 19, by Lord Elgin's then advisers, for the purpos(! of completing what had already been done by their predecessors towards giving effect to the wish expressed by the Assembly in an Address to Lord Metcalfe, which had been voted so long since as the year 1845. The prayer of the Assembly in that Address was, " that His Excellency would he CANADA. 3plo- an was in pleased to cause [)r()j)er measures to be adopted, in order to ensure to tlie inhabitants of that portion of tliis Province, formerly Lower ('anada, inihMnnity for just losses by tliem sustaiiuid durinji; the rebellion of 1837 and 1838." It is *„ be observed that compen- sation for losses of this (leseri})tion had already been given in Upper Canada, and that, before this Address was voted, inider Ordinances passed in 183S and J 839 by the Special Coimeil (to which at that time the power of lejjislation in Lower Canada was en- trusted), the losses sustained by the loyal inhabitants of the latter l*i'ovinc(^ while supporting the Govern- ment hatl been ascertained and reported upon*. It was clearly therefore the intention of the Govern- ment, which had concurnid in the above Address, and of the Assembly, by which it had been voted unani- mously, to extend the indemnity b(^yond tht> limit as- signed to it by the Ordinances of the Special Council, and to give it not only to those who, when supporting the Government, had suft'ered losses from the rebels, but also to those whose property had been destroyed or injured by the troops or volunteers, where such destruction of property could b3 shown to have been wanton and unnecessary, which was held to be the meaning of the somewhat awkward expression "just losses," which occurs in the Address of the Assend)ly already quoted. * See Lord Elgin's Despatch of the 5th of May, 1819, in the " Further Papers relative to the Affairs of Canada." jjresented to bot'i Houses of Parliament, on the 25th of May, 1849. COl.OMAI. POLICY. In oonsrqucnoo of this Address, (JoniiuissioiUTs were appointed by Lord Metcalle, to incpiiri; into the claims of [)ersons in Lower Canachi whose; [)roj)erty hud heen liestroyed (hiring the rebeUion ; and the C^omniissioners, in reporting up(m tliese elaims, were; directed to (hs- tinguish the ciises of those who had joined in tiie n;- belhon, or had been aidhig or abetting therein. Upon incpiiring in what numner this chissitication was to be made, they were answered by Mr. Secretary Daly, nnder tlie anthority of the Governor in Council, in the follow- ing terms: — " In making out the classilication called for by y(MU" instructions of the 1 2th of Dect^mber last, it is not Mis ExcelUaicy's intention that you should b(! guided ])y any other description of evidenct; than that furnished by the sentences of the courts of law." fn entire accordance with the proceecUngs adopted dnring the earlier stages of these transactions, the JJill passed through tht; Provincial Parliament under the auspict^s of Lord Elgin's advisers, excluded abso- hitely from part ici])at ion in the indenmity fund only those persons whose guilt in the rebellion had been established by legal conviction or by their own con- fession ; halving it to the Commissioners, who were to be aj)pomte(l to carry out the Act, to determine, in cases which came before them, how far the destruction of property complained of had been wanton or unne- cessary. This was a duty obviously of the greatest (h licacy, for the faithfid and loyal discharge of which the best seciu*ity was aft'orded by the re-appointment as (commissioners of the same gentlemen who had CANADA. been iuuiuhI to tlmt office by Lord Metciilfe. 'I'he Rebellion Losses Jiill thererore luid its orij^in in an Address of the Assend)ly, wliieh was passed with the, eoncuiT(MK'e of Lord Metcalfe's ('onsei*vutiv(; Adminis- tration ; its |)rovisions w(M*e odoptcul from tlie Report of Connnissioni^rs appointed by that Administration in pnrsnance of the Address ; and after it beeanw^ law, its execution was contich'd by Lord KIgin's advisers to the same individuals, But all these circumstances were not sufHcient to prevent u violent outcry from being raised a}i;ainst the measure, as one of which the obiect was to reward and encourage rebels. \\\ the House; of Assembly, notwithstandujg a very determined resistance, the Bill passed l)y large majorities, by no means (;omposed exclusively of French ('anadians ; sinc(3 Lord l^llgin has shown, that in the final division of forty-seven to eighteen on the |)assing of tlu' Bill, seventeen Members from Upper Canada vottnl in its favour, and fourteen against it ; and of ten Members for Lower Canada of British descent, six supported, and only four opposed it*. In tht; Legislative Council the measure encountered much opposition, but it was the opposition out of doors which was of the most importance. l\\ diti'erent parts of the Province^ peti- tions were got up against the Bill, the great majority of which, though it was still in progress when they were prepared, were addressed, not to either branch of the Legislature, but to the Governor, and generally * See th ; since, if J)loo(l had been slied in the necessary suppression of acts of violence, this could not have failed to exasperate tlu^ animosities already excited, and still further to inflame one class of the population against another, lie was also in no small degree influenced by the reflection, that among those who wepc caiTied away by the excitement of the moment, some at least were worthy men, actuated by feelings of wouiuled |)rid(!, whicli were entitled to all possible consideration ; he ])referred tlu^refore to subnut in silence to all the imputations that were! directed against him, a^nd waited patiently until the excitement which had been created should subside. At the same time however he expressed liis opinion, in reporting these transactions to the (jloverimient at home, that the clamour and disturbances raised out of doors ought not to be allowed to prevail against the deli- berate decision of the Provincial Legislature, and that sid)mission to such dictation would render the go- vcrmnent of the Province by constitutional means impossible*. In this opinion we concurred, and we agreed with- * See Lord Elgin's Despati-h of llie IWHli of April, 1819, in the Papers presented to both Houses of Parliament in May, 1819. OOQ COLONIAL POLICY. out hesitation to advise Her Majesty to signify to Lord VAgiu Her undiminished coutideuce in his ability and judgenK!nt, and Her entire approbation of his conduct, whicli was done by my Despatch* of the 18th of May. Lord Elgin had remarked that, if he should be " unable to recover that position of dignified neutrality between contenchng parties whicli it had been his um-emitting study to mauitain," it might be for the interests of Her Majesty's service that he should be removed from his high office, to make way for <'i Governor less personally obnoxious to any section of Her Maj(^sty's subjects within the Province. In the despatch I have refernxl to, he was informed, in reply to his suggestion, that his relinquishment of his post vvovdd be regarded as a most serious loss to Her Majesty's service, and that no doubt was entertained that he would succeed in recovering his position of " digniiied neutrality." To this end his efforts were directed ; but their success was greatly hindered for some time by the manner in which the intelligence of the events which had taken place in Canada was received in this Coun- try. These events wen; made the subjec^t of discussion in both Houses of Parliament. In the House of Com- mons, after some incidental notice of the subj(?ct on previous occasions, it was more formally brought under consideration by Mr. Gladstone, on the 14th of June, when, on the motion for bringing up the Report of thci * See further I'upors i)rosc»te'l to Farliameut on the 25t,h of May, 1M49 CANADA 229 to iiity his the if he litied had lit he it he 3 way action . In led, m of his :o Her taiiied ion of their by the which Conn- ^ussion If Coni- iect on under June, of the; 25 til of Committee of Supply, he uiadi; a long speech of severe censure on the Colonial Government, which how- ever was not followed up by suhmitthig any distinct proposal to the House. IJut although he proposed nothing, after your reply to his speech, Mr. Herries, taking nearly the same line of argument as Mr. Glad- stone, but following it out to its natural conclusion, moved an Address to the Crown, praying that Her Majesty's assent to the Canadian Act might be with- held, mitil satisfactory assurances had been obtained, that no persons implicated in tlu; rebeUion woukl be allowed under its provisions to receive compensation for their losses. After two nights' debate, in the course of which Sir Robert Pee^ spoke strongly in defence of Lord Elgin's con(hict, and against the motion of Mr. Herries, it was rejected l)y a large majority. A few days later, resolutions condemning the pro- ceedings of the Canadian Government were moved in the House of Lords ])y Lord Brougham ; and, being supported by thi? whole strength of the Opposition, were only rejected, by the aid of proxies,by a majority of three, — of the Peers present, a majority having voted for them. When the intelligence of these discussions, and especially of tlie close division in the House of Lords, reached the Colony, it had natiu'ally the effect of keeping up the excitement which had prev iously been created. In the month of August the arrest of some of the persons accused of having been engaged in the 230 COLONIAL POLICY. riots in April, led to a fresh and serious riot in Montreal, when a violent attack was made by tht^ mob on the house of Mr. Lafontaine, in resisting which one man was shot, who afterwards died of his womids ; this, owing to the extreme forbearance of Lord Elgin and his advisers, was the only life lost throughout these unhappy disturbances. But the violence of the passions which had been excited was displayed, not merely by the riotous conduct of an ignorant mob, but by proceedings of a more really dangerous and objectionable character on the part of persons of superior education r^id station in hfe. In the coiu-se of the Autumn of 1849 there was got up in the Province a move- ment, somewhat formidable in the first histance, in favour of what was called the annexation of Canada to the United States. An address to the people of Canada, bearing a large number of signa- tures, and advocating this measure (the necessity of which was rested hi part on the withdrawal of the commercial privileges formerly granted to the Colony by the Mother-country), was printed and extensively circulated through the Province. Though it was the object of the Government, both in Canada and in this Country, to act with the utmost forbearance, in the conviction that the excitement would subside, and that those whose passions had for the moment betrayed them into very objectionable i)roceedings, were not really insensible to their duty as British subj(3cts ; it vviis still considered necessary clearly to CANADA. 231 show that this forbearance did not proceed from any disposition to yield to the intemperate opposition which had been offered to the constituted Authorities. One of the most important measures adopted with this view was the removal of the seat of Government fram Montreal. Soon after the riots in April, an address to the Governor had been carried in the As- sembly, praying that in consequence of these outrages, and of the destruction of the building in which the sittings of the Legislature had formerly been held, he would in future sununon the Provincial Parliament to meet alternately at Toronto and Quebec. When the intelligence reached this Country of the renewal of distiu^bfuices in Montreal in August, a de- spatch was addressed to Lord Elgin, pointing out that the e^ ■ tonce of such a spirit of insubordination in that ' . ^ndered it a very unlit place for the seat of the Provincial Government and for the meeting of the Legishiture *; and, oi^ the 1 8th of November, the Governor reported, in reply, that after fidl and anxious deliberation he had resolved, on the advice of his Council, to act on the reconnnendation of the xVssembly that the Legislature should sit alternately at Toronto and Quebec, and with that view to summon the Pro- vincial Parliament for the next session at Toronto f. The removal of the seat of Govermnent from Montreal, * See Papers rolatiiig to the reniovn of the seat of G-ovemmeut and to the annexation niovoniont i:i Canada, preaeuted to hotli ilouses of I^arliament , Aj>ril 15, 1850. t See the above Papers, p. ^^. 3i' 232 COLONIAL POLICY. I ! which was decided upon in this deliberate and un- impassioned manner, was calculated to give a useful lesson to the inhabitants, not only of that city but of the whole Province, as to the natural consequences of aces of violence and insubordination to those who were guilty of them. About the same time that this measure was decided upon, the Governor caused a circular letter to be addressed to all the persons holding commissions at the pleasure of the Crown, whose names had ap- peared amongst the signatures to the address to the ])eople of Canada reconmiending the annexation of the Province to the United States, with the view of ascertaining whether their names had been attached to that document with their own consent. Some of these letters were answered in the negative, some in the ailirmative, and others by denying the right of the Government to put the ipiestion, and declining to reply to it. Ivord Elgin * resolved, with the advice of the Executive Council, to remove from such offices as are held during the pleasure of the Crown, the gentlemen who admitted the genuineness of their sig- natiires, and those; who n.'fnsed to disavow them. In this course we thought it right to support him, and a despatch was addressed to him, signifying the Queen's approval of his having dismissed from Her service those who had signed the address, and Her Majesty's (.'omniiuids to resist to the utmost any at- temj)t that might be made to bring about a sej)ara- * See tlie above Pajiers, p. 10. CANADA. 233 I tion of Canada from the British dominions, to n)ark in the strongest inanner Her Majesty's displeasure with all those who might directly or indirectly encou- rage such a design, and to adopt legal proceedings against those whose conduct might, in the opinion of the law officers, afford grounds for doing so*. This policy was attended with complete success. From tiie first the Governor had received the decided and energetic support of the great majority of the inha- bitants of the Province ; addresses to the Queen and to the Governor were transmitted in great imndjcrs from all parts of the Province, condemning the riotous proceedings at Montreal, and expressing a strong de- terniinati(m to maintain the connection between the Colony and the Mother-country ; and by degrees both the excitement which had been created and the an- nexation movement died away, the authors of that movement having apparently, on cooler reflection, become ashamed of it. - Before we retired from office, the state of public feehng throughout the Province had become in the highest degree satisfactory. Thc^re are of course those party divisions which nuist be expected to exist ill all free governments ; but there has been a remark- able abatement of the former bitterness of party spirit, and still more so of the animosities arising from difference of national origin, while there is every indication that all parties are becoming daily more sensible of the advantages they derive from the form * See the above Papers, p. 23. (! ■■ J 234 COLONIAL POLICY. J it of their Government and fr.ni their connection with the British Empire. The arrungement by which the sent of Government and the sittings of the Legisia- tm*e were fixed alternately at Toronto and Quebec has contributed not a little towards removing the feelings of alienation from each other of the inhabitants of French and of British descent. The French Canadians have thus been brought into closer communication than formerly witti the inhabitants of the western division of the Province, and. an increase of nmtual esteem and respect, with the removal of many pre- judices by which they were formerly divided, have be.Mi the result of the two classes becoming b(3tter acquainted with each other. The improved state of feeling generally is however, no doubt, in a great measure to be attributed to the recovery of the commercial and industrial interests of the Province from the depression under which they laboured for a time. I shall almost immediately have to call your attention to the evidence which exists of the present prosperity of Canada ; but before doing so, it is fit that I should mention some of the other matters relating to this Colony, which during the last five years have occupied the attention of its Govern- ment and Legislature. • Within that period questions of much importance have recjuired and received consideration ; and notwith- standing the degree to which, during a part of the time, public attention was occupied and distr.'icted by party dissensions, useful legislation and measures of improve- CANADA. 235 lave ts of ment have by no means hvxm neglected. The Provhieial Pai lianient at an early piaiod availed itself of the power granted to it by the Act of 1840, to repeal the dif- ferential duties formerly imposed on imports from foreign countries by Imperial Legislation ; and Canada has now a tariff of duties levied for revenue only, and in such a manner as to interfere as little as j)ossibU; with the natural direction of capital and industry. It has also passed laws extending and improving the system of Municipal organization, which is now very complete in the western division of the Province, and is begin- ning to be brought into operation in the (\astern divi- sion also. The District Councils have l)een assisted in adopting elTective measm'es for improving their means of comnumication, both by ordinary ronds and by railroads : of the former many have already been made, and steps have been taken which there is every reason to believe will ensure the speedy construction of various important lines of railway. In the western division of the Province an admirable system of general Education has been brought, by recent im- provements, into complete and effective operation ; and measui'es are in progr^s for extending and improving in like manner the means of education in Eastern Canada. In the years 1847 and 1848, at the instance of the Local Government, we recommended to the Im- perial Parliament the repeal of c(^rtain parts of the Act of Union, which were considered by the inhabi- tants of Canada to involve an improper restriction of 230 COLONIAL POLICY. A tlie powtTS of the Provincial Lcgialature to deal with their own local aftairs. Accordingly, by the Act of the 10th and llth of Victoria, chap. 71, the provi- sions in the Act of Union relating to the Civil List of Canada were repealed, and Her Majesty was enabled to give her assent to a Provincial Act to snpply their place ; so that the whole exj)enditui'e of the Colony now takes place under the authority, not of Imperial, but of Provincial Legislation. In the fol- lowing year (by the Act of the llth and 12th of Vic- toria, chap. 5()) other clauses of the Act of L^nion, which require that the E^iglish language only should be used in instruments relating to the Legislative Council ..lid Assembly, were also repealed. These mea- sures were not of very great practical importance in themselves, but considerable consequence was at- tached to them by the inhabitants of Canada, as a proof of tilt; confidence of the Imperial Government and Parliament, and as removing the last traces of that distrust which the insurrection had necessarily left behind it, and which was evinced in the clauses of the Union Act now repealed. Laws have also been passtnl for the protection, both of the Province and of the immigrants themselves, from the evils which arose from the manner in which Emigration was formerly carried on. This subject is one of the highest importance, both to the Colony and to the Mother-country, and has occupied a very large share of public attention. In the year 1847, the arrival in the Colonics of large numbers (jf Irish ■■■ m a m-i ki m w^mtittummmtMmmitmM CANADA. 237 irily immigrants had been attended with great calamities. Tliese unhappy people, flying from famine^ flocked to every port that was open to them in North America. The passage to the British possessions being at that time considerably cheaper than that to the United States, the poorest and most destitute of the starving multitude made the former their destination. Neither the Imperial Passengers Act, then in force, nor the Colonial laws, were calculated to meet such an emer- gency. The regulations imposed ])y the former, as to the number of persons to be embarked in a given space, as to the acconnnodation'to be afforded, and the precautions to be taken on board emigrant- ships, though they had sutticed under ordinary cir- cumstances, proved altogether inadequate when such vast numbers of emigrants were striving to escape from starvation, many of them carrying with them the seeds of disease from the sufferings they had already undergone. The consequence was that a frightful fever broke out in the emigrant-ships, and at the quarantine stations where the emigrants were landed in the Colonies, and especially in the St. Law- rence ; and the mortality, which in former years had been only at the rate of about five in every thousand emigrants, was increased elevenfold, and there were no less than fifty-five deaths in the same number of passengers. The Colonial Government and the members of the medical and clerical professions made the most strenuous and laudable efforts for the relief of the 238 COLONIAL POLICY. crowds of miserable heinj^^s thrown uj)on their caro by the. arrivjil of the emignuit-sliips. Every arraugi^iuent, which tlie Hiuited lueans that were available rendered practicable, was made for the reception of the emi- jjrants, and for supplying their wants and relieving their sutterings. The Colonial (iovernnient incurred SI heavy expenditure in the measures adopted for this pur|)ose, while several of the medical men and clergy of different persuasions fell victims to their humane exertions, and died of tlie fever which they caught in attending to the emigrants, \\hos(; sutterings, in spite of all that could be*done for them, were of the most lieart-rending description . It was obviously necessary to take precautions against the recurrence of such calamities; accordingly, a tem- porary Act for the regidation of emigrant-ships to North America was passed by Parhament early in the; Session of is 48, to afford time for the full considera- tion of a permanent law, which has since been passed. An application was also made to l^arUament, to relieve the North American Colonies from the heavy expense incurred by them in the relief of emigrants, and a sum of no less than £140,000 was voted for that piu^pose. In Canada (and a similar course was adopted in the other North American Colonies) a local Act was passed, Tmnded on suggestions contained in a despatch which I adfbessed to Lord Elgin. The principal objects of this Act were to provide for the expenditure to be incurred by the Colony on account of emigration, by an increase of the emigration -tax already levied ; and at CANADA. 231) the sunu' time to make it tlu* interest of ovvmn's and masters of sliips to take all the j)reeaiitious in tlieir power against disease, by augn»enting the tiix in cases where there should In; sueh sickness on hoard ships as to ren(h;r it necessary to proh)ng their detention ill (juarsmtine. There wen; also other stringent regnla- tions, to me(!t the most serious of thc! evils which had arisen. These nuuisures were attet\ded with complete success. There lias Ixien no recurrence of the cala- mities of 181-7 ; and the seventy of the restrictions judiciously imposed by the Legislature in the first instance has been relaxed, as experience has shown that this might 8af(;ly be done, while at the same time effective arrangcnnent s have been made for the protection of ignorant emigrants from the heartless and cruel frauds to which, in New Yo^k, they are too often exposed. I cannot leave this subject of Emigration without reminding you that, in i\w midst of the alarm and distress of the Irish famine of 1847, we were most mgently pri^ssed to take measures for increasing the tide of emigration, by applyuig to Parliament for a grant of money to promote it ; and that it was with consi(hTable difficulty that we were able; to resist the very general wish that was expressed, that something of this kind shoidd Ixv attempted. We were how- ever so strongly convinced, that it would be utterly impossible for the Ooverument to interfere directly in transferring the distressed population of Ireland to the other side of the Atlantic, witliout doing far 240 rOI.OMAI, POLICY. iiioiv liarm tluin fjood, niul witlioiit pivin|j; riao to great jiIjuscs, tliiit wv steadily refused to engage in HUeli an undertaking We vvero j)ersnade(l that the efleet of any interl'erenre l>y the (iovernnient in the manner fhjsired, would Intve l)e(«n to paralyse the ex(U'- tions of in(hviduuls, by which alone so vast u move- nuMit of the population, as was re([uired and was in progress, couUl bo safely aeeoniplislnMl. llnd tl»e Govornnient undertaken the removal of the (hstresscd inhabitants of Ireland, it would have brought upon itself a responsibility of tlu' most for- midable kind, both us to the selection of those who shoidd be allowed to emigrate at the pid)lic expensi;, and the arrangcMutJUts to hv made for providing for them ou their arrival. If the most destitute and lu^lp- less liiul been taken as would iiave been re(|Uisite for the relief of Ireland, the evil inflicted on tlu; places to which they wen^ sent woidd have been so gnrat, that the United States would doubtless inuncdiately have availed themselves of their right as an hidcpendent Nation to take measures for their (jwn prot(!ction, and would have passed laws effectually to prevent a destitute nndtitude from being cast on their shor(\s. The Colonies would have claimed, on such ijTcsistible grounds of justice, a right to adopt sinular measures, that they could not have been refused permission to do so, without producing an alienation of their affec- tions, fatal to the (mthority of the British C'rown. As it was, there were great complaints as to the description of emigrants that went to the North CANADA. 241 Anuirionn Coloiiu's; uiid it was only by sliovviiig timt the (iovcnuiu'iit hiul ncitluT the power nor the rif^ht to interfere us to the selection of einijijrunts, that thesi; complaints wen; met* . If the emij^nints had hecrn sent out by the (Jovernment, it wouM also hav(^ b(M'n uni- versally felt that the (iovcrnuient couhl not possibly repudiate th*; responsibility of providiu}^ for them on their arrival in the Colonies , aiul the experience of what occurred in Ireland jluriuf; the famine but too clearly shows how readily tlu; nndtitudc! of destitute emigrants, who in tli(^ year 181.7 reaclKul th shores of America, would hav(^ thrown themselves upon the public, had this been possible. Nothing but th«^ pres- sure of absolute necessity would have compelled them to make the exertions and submit to the hardships through which they were in fact provided for. Nor should it be overlooked, that if destitute la- bourers arrive; in such a country as ('anada in greater numbers than can be absorbed by the existing de- mand for labour, they nnist be expos(?d to quite as much distress, and there will l)e as uuich diiticnlty in niaintport for 1852. p. 12. R 3 ^iA 244 COLONIAL POLICY. tlios<3 roiiiittances ni.idc by clumncls which admit of their being traced, and witliout reckoning the sums sent by private hands, or other means, of which it is known that tlie aggregate amount must be very large, thcmgh individually the sums so sent are usually small. The mon(>y thus transmitted from t\w United States and the British Colonies is chieHy for the pur- pose of assisting those to whom it Is sent to emigrate ; and it is now a common practice for several friends or relations in Ireland to club their means, so as to enable anadian [iroduce on cipial terms, Hence it is iiii[)o^"sib!e tlust the j)rice of corn in the Union can b(! kept for ?!i»y iengtli of time much higher than it is in Canada, and ih*> loss to the Canadian farmer, from being dej) rived ol" this additional market, must l»e com- ;mratively trilling. The injury to the United States themselves, from the restriction, is by no means so trifling. Since the com- pletion of the St. Lawi'cnce Canals, and the repeal of our Navigation Laws, Canada is becoming a formid- able rival to the U'nitea States, in the great trade car- rier' on in the export of flour to the various markets of the world which draw^ their supplies from the fertile lands of Westeri America. Of the two lines of com- munication between the great lakes and the sea, the one by the St. Lawrence to Quebec, the other by the Erie Canal to New York, the former possesses the great advantages of not recpiiring any trans-shipment of goods and produce between the most remote of the CANADA. 249 Western Lake ])orts and the sea, and also of admitting of the use of nuich larger vessels than can be employed in the Erie Canal. The consecjuer "e is that a great saving of time, and probably a saving of money also, can be effected by the use of this line in bringing pro- duce from the West to the port of shipment, and Hke- wisc hi sending the various goods required for consump- tion hi the interior from the seaport to the place of their Icstination. New York has a countervaihng advantage over Quebec and Montreal, in the lower rate of freight to the European and other principal markets of the world ; but since the repeal of the Navigation Laws, and the opening of the Canadian ports to the flags of all nations, this advantage has been greatly reduced, and there is reason to believe that the trade between the far West and the principal ports of the world will be most cheaply carried on through the St. Lawrence. This being the case, it is clear that a competition is just beguining, which promises to be a very severe one, on the part of the Canadian ports with New York, for the enormous trade which is already carried on, and is daily increasing, in the exchange of the surplus agricul- tural produce of the industrious settlers on the lands washed by the great American lakes, for the various supphes which they require. In this exciting competition it is obvious that the Canadian miller and merchant must be directly assisted by the maintenance, on the part of the United States, of restrictions on the import of Canadian wheat ; since, if these restrictions have any effect at I' M 250 COLONIAL 1»0LI(;Y. all, they must tond to keep the price of wheat in tlie Unit(;(l States at a hixisting holders for their lives the stipends to which they were then entitled. This Address was answered by a dt;spateh to Lord Elgin, wliich he was instructed to lay before both Houscis of the Provincial Par- liament, and in which lie was informed that it had a[)])(!ared to Her Majesty's Govenunent, on mature de- liberation, that the desire expressed by the Assembly ought to l)e acceded to, and that a reconunendation would be made to Parliament accordingly. He was told that, " in coming to this conclusion, Her Majesty's Government have been mainly influenced by the con- sideration, that, great as in their judgement would be the advantages which would result from leavuig undis- turbed the existing arrangement, by which a certain portion of the public lands of Canada are made avail- able for the purpose of creating a fund for the religious instruction of the inhabitants of the Province, still the question whether that arrangement is to be maintained is one so exclusively afFeciing the peoph; of Canada, that its decision ought not to be withdrawn from the CANADA. 255 l*n)viiu;ial IjCfj^islatun^ to wliicli it properly lujionpjs to rcguliiti^ all iimtt«rs ooiiccriiiiig the (loiiiestic interests of the Province;." It wouhl have heen inipossililc, in eonforniit}' with the princijjles whieli I havt; eneU'avoured in the; first of these Letters to e\phiin, as those on whieli onr whole (^)lonial Poliey was founded, to eonu; to any other d(^(;ision. It shows in my opinion the ac'vantage of acting on those principles, and of confining the exercise of the authority of tlu; lin[)erial (iov(;rnnient to cases really calling for it, that the local Legislature;, in this instance, was induced to abstain from attempt- ing to caiTy measures to wliich the Crown could not have l)een advised to assent, principally by the con- fidence entertained, that no attempt would be made; to over-ruh; the wishes of the PeopK; of ('anada in n matter of pnrely domestic interest, provided that their Representatives showed due respect for the honour of the Crown, and the authority of the Imperial Par- liament. Then; were not wanting in the Assendjly Mend)crs who urged that the vested interests of those actually in the receipt of incomes from the fiuul with which it was proposed to deal, should be disregarded and that, without waiting for the repeal of the Im- perial Act, the local Legislature should proceed at once to alter the arrangement, restuig on its autho- rity. Fortunately the Assembly listened to the more moderate counsels of those who iu*ged, that to give the Royal Assent to an Act depriving existing in- cumbents of their incomes, w^ould be regarded by the 250 COLONIAL POLICY. advisers of tlie Crown as inconsistent with its honour, and would therefore be refused ; and that to pass, without express authority for doing so, a Provincial Act for tlie purpose of altering the provisions of an Act of the Imperial Parhament, would be to assume for the local Legislature a power with which the Con- stitution does not invest it. Prom the tone of the debates which took place, it may be inferred, that this judicious advice would have been little likely to prevail in the Assembly, but for the reliance placed on the adherence of the Imperial Government to the principles which had of late been ol)scrved in the exercise of its authority in the Pro- vince. I must not omit to mention also that, in the discussions on this question, which had nuich excited the popular passions, the Prench Canadians, though the interests of the Protestant churches were at stake, were generally on the side of respecting vested inte- rests and the authority of the Imperial Parliament, — jui additiond proof of the good effects produced by treating them with confidence and kindness. I have only further to add upon this subject, that it had been our intention to have brought under the considera- tion of Parliament, in the Session of 1851, a Pill for carrying into effect what we had promised ; but we were prevented from doing so by the circumstance, that the attention of the House of Connnons was so loiig occupied by matters which could not be post- poned, that there was no opportunity of submitting to it the uitcnded Bill, until it was too late in the CANADA. 257 Session to proceed with the measure with any pro- spect of success : it was therefore postponed till the present year, and was to have bt;en brought forward in a few days, when the division took j)lace which led to the breaking up of your Adnnnistration. In practically recognizing, by the course we adopted on the various matters to which I have adverted, the claim of the Canadians to exercise the powers of self- government, we did not lose sight of the views I have stated in the preliminary part of this Letter as to the corresponding duties, which the exercise of the powers of self-government imposes upon the Co- lonial dependencies of the Empire, and to the pro - ] )riety of their relieving the Imperial Treasu ry from a part of the charges it has been subject to on their ac- count. The manner in which we proposed to act upon these views will be best explained by an extract from a Despatch which was addressed to Lord Elgin in the Spring of last yem*, in reply to one in which he had sent home an elaborate Minute, by his Exe- cutive Council, on the finances of the Colony. This Minute was foimded on certain reports, presented to the Assembly in its previous Session by a Com- mittee appointed to inquire into the public income and expenditure of the Province. Amongst other })ro- posals for saving expense, a reduction of the salary attached to th(^ office of Governor- General had been brought under ccmsideration ; and with reference to this suggestion we thought it advisable! to explain fully to Lord Elgin, for the infornuition of his Coimcil VOL. I. H 258 COTiONlAL POLICY. and of the Canadian Parliament, the changes which the altered state of their relations in other respects seemed to render expedient in the pecuniary arrangements between the Province and the Mother-country. The instructions sent to Lord Elgin upon this subject wtjre so important that I must quote them at length. They were as follows. "That portion of the Minute of your Executive Council which relates to the amount of the salary at present attached to the office of Governor- General, and your own remarks upon this important point, have attracted the more particidar attention of Her Majesty's Government. The present salary of that office does not appear to me to be unduly high ; on the contrary, believing it to be an object of the greatest importance to Canjida that the })ost of Governor- General should be filled by men of political experience and of the highest ability that can be found, I regret that the salary is not at present such as in general to afl'ord any temptation to those who iiave taken a lead in public affairs hi this Country, to al)andon tlieir prospects at home for the pur})ose of accepting tliis office. But I concur with your Lordship and with your Council in considc^'ing the amount of the salary as of fjir less importance, than that this amount, what- ever it may be, should be fixed, and shotdd cease to be the subject of perpetual discussion in the Province ; since such discussion, it is justly remarked by your Council in their Minute, is calculated to impair the digmty of the Queen's Representative, it might have CANADA 259 been hoped, that tlie maimer in vvhit^h the prt^sent salary of the Governor-Cjleneral was granted for Her Majesty's life by the; Provineial Legislature, by an Act of i^irliament freely and (Kdiberately passed for that ))iir})ose, Mould iiave had the (iflect of pcM'tnanently settling a ((uestion the agitation of which is attended Avith so nni(;h evil. " E\})('ri(>nce has however proved this liope to l)e unfounded; nor (^an I see the slightest reason for believing that, if the existing arrangement were to be departed from, and any ])ossible n'duction in the salary of the office assented to by Mer Majestv, the question would then be set at rest, or that a still further reduction would not be pro])osed as soon as it might suit the views of any political party to renew the discussion. " There is but one mode, that 1 am aware of, by which any further agitation of this question in the Province may be ett'ectually prevented, and that is, by making the salary of the (Jovernor- General a charge, not upon the Canadian, but upon the Britislv Trea- sury. This is an alteration which for manv rea. ons I have long regarded as advisable ; and it a[)pejirs to Her Mrjcsty's Government, that a fitting oct asion for proposing it is Jiow presented, in conse(pi(Mice of the desire manifested by tlie Canadian {'arliameni for a revision of the Civil List. But it is impossible that such an alteration can be recommended to Parliament, except as part of a general measure for placing the tiscnl reflations of the Mother-country and the Colony <4 -1 7 260 COLONIAL POLICY. on a footing adapted to the greatly altered cironm- stanccs of the presc^nt time, as compared to those under which tlie existing arrangement of those rela- tions has grown np. " Canada (in common with the other British pro- vinces in North America) now possesses in the most ample and conij)lete manner in \^liich it is possible that she should enjoy it, the advantage of seli'-govern- ment in all that relates to her internal affairs. It apj)ears to Her Majesty's Government that this advan- tage ought to carry with it corrc^sponding responsibi- lities, and that the time is now comt^ when the people of ('anada nmst b.5 called upon to take upon them- selves a larger share than they have hitherto done, of expenses which are incurred on this account, and for their advantage. Of these expenses, by far the heaviest charge which falls upon this Country is that incurred for the military i)rotection of tht; Province. Regauiing Canada as a most important and valuable part of the Em|)ire, and believing the maintenance of tlie coimec- tion between the Mother-country and the Colony to be of the highest advantage to both, it is far from being the vi*»w of Her Majesty's Government, that the general military power of the Empire ic not to be used in the ))rotection of this part of Her Majesty's domi- nions. But looking to the rapid progress which Canada is now making in wealth and poj)ulation, Jind to the pros))erity which she at this moment enjoys, it is the conviction of Her Majesty's Government that it is only due to the people of this Country, that they CANADA. 261 should now be relieved from n large proportion of the cliarge which has hitherto been imposed upon them, for the protection of a Colony, now well able to do much towards protecting itself. " In adopting this principle, 1 need hardly observe to you, that Her Majesty's Government would merely be reverting to the former Colonial policy of this Country. You are well aware, that up to the period of the war of the American Revolution, the tlu^n British Colonies which now form the United States, as well as the AVest Indian Colonies, were re(piired to take upon themselves the ])rincij)al share of the burden of their own protection, and even to contribute to the military operations undertaken to extend the Colonial possessions of the British Crown. The North Amt.'ri- can Colonies defended themselves almost entirely from the fierce Indian tribes, by which tiiese infant eom- nnmities were frecpiently imperilled, and furnished no inconsiderable [)roi)ortion of the force, by which the contest of British power with that of France wjis maintain<'d on the continent of America ; and the West Indian ('olonies did not, in proportion to their means, make hiss exertions. " H(^r Majesty's Government would have thought it right at an earlier period to n^vert to this former policy of the Empire, and to extend to Canada mea- sures of the same description with those which have alrciady been adopted as respects the Australian Colo- nies, "lad it not been that till latelv there were cir- cumstances connected with the commercial and general 203 COLONIAL POLICY. coiulition of Cannda, which seemed to render the tune iiiifavoiirabh^ tbi' effectin 204 COLONIAL I'OLKJY. (ortiiiinl posts of importance, pro))ably only Quebec ftiul Kin^^'ston. Tlu^ terms of amity upon whicii tliLs Country now is witli the United States, and the fortu- nate termination of all the ijuestions in dispute between the two nations, removtis, as I trust, ail risk of any attack upon ('anada froui the only power from which there could be any danger; and it appears to Jler Majesty's Government, that if the Provincial Militia is maintained upon a proper footing, so long as peace continues, enough would be done to provide for the security of the Pn)vince, by maintaining gai'risons of regular troops hi tin; two important posts I have mentioned. In the unfortunate, and 1 trust impro- bable, contingency of a war with the United States, it is obvious that both the Colony and the Mother- country would ])(! called upon to submit to great sacri- fices, and tu mak<' great exertions for their tlefence ; but 1 have no doubt that these would be cheerfully made by both, if the exigency should unhappily arise. " Upon the reduction of the British force in Canada to the garrisons of these fortiiied positions, it wouid become necessary that the warlike stores which are kept in the Cohjuy should be reduced, and that the bnrnicks and other liuildings which are no longer re- (pjired should be disposed of; but if the JWliament of Canada should be willing to undertake to ket'p up these barracks and buildings, in case of their being hereafter re{piired, there would be no objection on the part of Her Majesty's (iovernmeiit lo make them over CANADA. 265 to the provincial Authorities ; and if the maintenance of a British force at any of the posts now occupied shouhl be desired, for the j)re8ervati()n of internal se- curity, such a force would be readily supplii^d by Her Majesty's Government, if the actual cost thus incurred were provided for by the Province, " Another cliarge which Her Majesty's Government would also expect that the Province should take upon itself, as })art of the above arrangement, is that of maintaining the canals, now in charge of the Ordnance Department. You are aware, that these canals were executed at the sole expense of this Country, and at a very heavy cost, chiefly with a view to the military defence of the Province. Her Majesty's Government conceive, that the charge of maiutahiing them ought now to be undertaken by the Provhice, and 1 trust that no difficulty will arise on that head. With regard to the Indian Department, as by the arrangement lately made, the extinction of the charge (except so far as regards some payments for their lives to indivi- duals) is provided for within Ave years, no further steps are required to be taken. " In conclusion, I have now only to assure you that — while Her Majesty's Government consider that jus- tice to the people of this Country requires that Canada, which is now so well able to su})port whatever esta- blishments are necessary for her own defence and for her own advantage, should cease to occasion so heavy a charge as formerly to the British Treasury, and that it is a fittnig opportunity for introducing the change 260 COLONIAL Policy, when, in consequence of proceedings which have tiiivi n place in the Province, it becomes exju'dient to call upon l^uli.inicni to provide for the sahu'V of tlie (Jo- vcriior (jcneral — it must not for a nionient })c sup- posed, tliat these measures are contemphited under any id<'a that the connection between the M< iii.r- country and the Colony could be dissolved without great injury to both, or that there is any probability that it will be so. On the contrary, these measnres are regar(l(Ml as safe, because Her Maji!sty's (iovernnu'nt are persuaded that the great body of the people of Canadji are so fully satistied of the gi'cat bemlits they enjoy from the system of constitutional government, now hap})ily established in the Province under the au- thority of the British Crown, that it may properly be left to themselves to take their share of the burden of maintaining and defending an (jrdcr of things from which they reap so much advantage. Under this im- pression, and i'l ttie earnest hope and confident belief that Canada jntiy long continiu> to form an important nunnbor of th( British Empire, Her Majesty's Govern- ment have adopted tin; conclusions which I have now explained to you*." • Our retirement froni office took place before these instructions could be fully acted upon. The call upon Canada, to take upon hers(ilf a larger share than here- * See Despatch to Lord Elgin of the 14th of March, 1851, in the Papers relating to the Civil List and Military Expenditure in Canada, pn.'seuted to both Houses of Parliament by Couiuiaud, on the 8th of April, 1851. CANADA. 267 i*e these toforc of the charges iiKMirred »>ii her account, was iii- teiuh'd to 1)(; conph^d witli an appheation to Parliu- mciit, not only to provide for the suhiry of the (iif>- vernor-Cjeneral, hut also to give the assistance of tlie credit of tlie British Trensuiy towards th(5 ext^cu- tion of tlie projected hue of railway for connecting the Britisli Provinces in North America. Tlie final result of the coninuuiieatious ])ctvveen tlie several Provinces on this last subject was not received, until we had ct^ased to be the advisers the Crown. While this reinaiiied uncertain, v rp not in a position to bring the (piestion uik unsidera- tion of Parliament; 1 will thereiore say nothing further with respect to it, except that 1 learned with deep regret that the scheme for the execution of the projected railway, to v»^hich the thrcv Provinc(!s had Avith much difficulty been brought to agree, had not received the approbation of our successors. Without however waiting for the time when the whole of th(^ i)ropos(!d arrangement coidd be sub- mitted to rarlianient, we had already for some time been taking measures for largely reducing the expen- diture of this country in Canada. With this view a local corps of cavalry which had been employed was discontinued, and a further reduction of the regular force stationed in the Province, beyond that which we had previously made, was ordered m the beginning of this year, and has, I believe, since our retirement from office been carried into effect, steps having been at the same time taken to enroll and settle upon land, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 <" Ui 12.2 S lit ^" U u 1.4 11.6 ^^ (^ PhotograiM: Sciences Corporation ^ r<\- k V ^\ '"^ V 33 WBT MAM STRHT WIUTn,N.Y. UStO (7U)t7S-4S03 ^^i>^^ ^V' ^ 268 COLONIAL POLICY. ' t in such a manner that th(ur services may quickly be obtained when wanted, a considerable number of pen- sioners from the army. Plans previously under con- sideration for building barracks for the troops in Canada, and which, if I remember right, were to have cost not far short of a million of money, were aban- doned*. Instead of building new barracks at the expense of the Mother-country, the Provincial Govern- ment was called upon to provide accommodation for the troops which it appeared to that Government de- sirable to retain in other places than the fortified posts, and in this manner quarters were provided for a regi- ment at Montreal. The Provincial Government was also called upon to defray the expense of moving de- tachments of troops, when they were required in aid of the civil power. An arrangement was also made for immediately reducing, and altogether stopping at the end of five years, the expense of what is called the Indian Department in Canada, which had hitherto cost this Country between £13,000 and £14,000 a-year. I have not the means of ascertaining what is the total saving to the British Treasury thus effected, but it must amount to a very considerable sum. With regard to Canada, it only remains that I should sum up in a few words the results of the course of policy which I have described. In the pre- * lu the second Report (1849) of the Select Committee ou Army and Ordinance Expenditure, and in the Evidence given, much infor- mation will be found as to the expense which must have been in- curred in providing barracks for troops in Canada, had the former system of military defence been adhered to. CANADA. 269 ceding pages I have shown that, within the last few years, there has been a most gratifying improvement in the state of poHtical affairs and of pubhc feeUng in the Province ; that the affections of a large part of the population which had been alienated, have been regained; and that all classes now evince an ardent attachment to the British Crown, and to the institu- tions under which they live ; that the hateful animo- sities and rancour, created by civil war and differences of national origin, have almost disappeared ; and that the party divisions which still remain, are not greater than those which are to be found under other free Governments ; that a system of constitutional govern- ment, copied from our own, has been firmly established and is universally acquiesced in, while its principles are now generally understood and appreciated; and that the best evidence of the successful working of this system of government has been afforded by the passing of a variety of useful laws, all tending to pro- mote the welfare of the people and the progress of society. Nor has the improvement been less marked, or less rapid, in what relates to the material interests of the Province. The temporary difficulties occasioned by a sudden change in the commercial policy of the Em- pire having passed away, the removal of restrictions and regulations, by which the industry of the Province was hampered or diverted into artificial channels, has produced its natural effects, and the trade and agricul- ture of Canada have risen from their depression, to a prosperity both greater than that which they formerly M '= ■ f 270 COLONIAL POLICY. enjoyed, and more secure, since it does not depend upon any monopoly or partial advantages granted to them in the British market, but is the result of ex- ertion and enterprise called forth by the wholesome stimulus of competition. , The most striking evidence of the degree to which Canada is now prospering is afforded by the state of her finances and public credit. When we were ap- pointed to office, in July 1846, we found Canada in a situation of some financial difficulty, the large expen- diture occasioned by her great public works (though, I believe, wisely incurred) had for the moment pressed heavily on her resources, and a member of the Pro- vincial Administration (Mr. Cayley), who had come to England for the purpose of endeavouring to raise money to meet some pressing demands on the Colo- nial Treasury, experienced the greatest difficulty in dis- posing of the 6 per cent. Debentures of the Province, though the state of the English money-market was still by no means unfavourable ; and, if I remember right, no large amount of these Debentures could be sold even at a price somewhat below par. In the present year Mr. Hincks, wh'» now fills the office for- merly held by Mr. Cayley, . been in this country, and it was his duty, is it had been that of his predecessor, to raise moTiey for the Provincial Govern- ment ; but so greatly has its credit improved, that no difficidty whatever has been experienced in procuring all that was required, and the 6 per cent. I/cbfntures, CANADA. 271 which could not formerly be disposed of at par, have commanded a price of 115 to IIG*. The revenue, the income derived from the tolls on the canals, and the trade of the Province as shown by the amount of exports and imports, have all increased with extraordinary rapidityf, and the indications of * It appears, from tlio following Price-list of American Securities, which I have extracted from a recent newspaper, that the (..'edit of Cana«la now stands fully as high as that of her republican neigh- bours ; her iuferiority in this respect having, a very few years ago, been one of the main arguments used by those who contended that her connection with this Country was an obstacle to her prosperity. Redeemable. Prices. United States 5 per cent Bonds . . 18(55 . 95 to 98 United States 6 per cent. Bonds . . . 1862 United States per cent. Bonds . . . 1868 Ditto 6 per cent. Stock 1867-68 New York State 5 per Cents. . . 1858-60 Pennsylvania 5 per Cent. Stock . . . Ohio 6 per Cents 1870-75 Massachusetts 5 per Cent. St. Bonds . 1868 Maryland 5 per Cent. State Bonds . . Virginia ii per Cent. Bonds .... 1886 Kentucky 6 per Cents 1868 Tennessee 6 per Cents 1890 Canada 6 per cent. Bonds 187i t 1 subjotp som« statements showing the extent of th'! uicrease which ha/, taken place . — 103 ?i 1041 108^ 109 106i 1071 97 98 87 88 104 105-i 109 109,1 96i 97 991 100 99 100 98 99 115 116 Year. Oross Revenue CustoniB. 1846'422,215 1847|lll,<533 18481333,029 1849441,547 1850615.694 1851 737,439 Total Nett Revenue of Province, ~~'£7' 512.993 506.82(; 379,645 513,431 704,234 824,184 Gross Revenue Wellsnd Canal. £. 8. 27,410 1 30.549 17 29,0 party in the Statt; to another is followed by no changes in the holders of any but a few of the highest otficcs, political animosities are not in g(!neral carried to the same height, and do not so deeply agitate the whole frame of society, as in thos(3 countries where a dif- terent practice prevails. The system, with regard to the tenure of office, which has been found to work 80 well luTe, seems to be worthy of imitation in tlu; British American Colonies ; and the small popidation and limited revenut; of Nova Scotia, as well as the general occupation and social state of the community, are in my opinion additional reasons for abstaining, so far as regards that Province, from going further than can be avoided without giving up the principle NOVA MCOTIA. 277 of executive rcH()onsn)ilitv, in rrmkiu}^ the tvnurr of offices ill the pulilic stTvice (le|KMi(l('iit upon the result of party contests *." Since the vhite of the despatch troin which the aliove extru(;t is taken, the rule which it recoinniends as to the tenure by whicii ottices in tiie public service sliouhl hv. lield, has been recognized by all parties in tlu\se Colonies, as that which is to be observed. I may be permitted to remark, that until the reasons for ado|)ting this practice, and the limits within which it should b(; follovvcid, had been thus distinctly ox- plained, tluTe was a strong disposition amongst many of the Colonists to prefer a different 8ystt;m, and to follow rather the example of their neighbours in the United States than that of the Mother-coiuitry ; but for the last three or four years no such disposition has been shown ; the offices which arc to be considered political have been in general detennintid and limited to a very small number, and the ])ropriety of not removing the holders of other offices, except for mis- conduct, has bet!n received as an admitted principle of the Government. It is not, in my opinion, i^asy to over-estimate the advantages of the establishment in the Colonies of this rule, which I believe, in this Country, to Vic one of our chief securities against corruption in the administration of public affairs, and against that over-violence of party spirit which is the great danger of all free goverinnents. What I have * Sco Despatch to Sir Johu Harvoy of tho Hist of March. 1847, page 30, House of CommonB Sessional Paper, JSo. (521 of 1848. 27H v con- venient, if I wen^ to attempt to enter into them. Ihit there is one subject which, though hnmediately affect- ing only an individual Colony, involves principles of widt;r ap])licntion, and of so much importance that I cannot leave it unnoticed. In New Brunswick a (juestion, which has given occa- sion to much discussion, has been raised, as to whether the authority of the Crown can be exercis<'d with pro- priety in order to prevent the grant of bounties by the local Legislature, for the piu'posc of encouraging certain branches of industry. It was our opinion that the grant /^^ ^C^f a^ of such bounties ought not to be permitted, and an Act ^y^^' • , .. of the Legislative of New Brunswick granting a bounty for the cultivation of hemp having been sent over for continuation, the Lieutenant-Governor w»is informed 280 COLONIAL POLICY. that, as tlie Act whs of liiiiit(3d duration, and incon- venicncf niiglit rcsnit from its disallowan(;e to those who had undertaken the cultivation of hemp in tlie expectation of tin; bounty, Her Majesty would not be advised to disallow it ; but he was instructed to refusi' his assent to any Act having a similar object which might in futiu*e be passed. The House of Assembly, in April 1849, voted an Address to the Queen, in which they represented that this was a matter " purely local," on which " the Legislature of New Brunswick might safely be left to the free exercise of its discretion," and prayed that the instructions given to the Lieu- ten ant- Go vt^rnor might be reconsidered. We did not, after full delibt^ration, agree in this view of the sub- ject, nor regard the question as mereiy local. It has always been held to be one of the principal functions of the Imperial Legislature and Govennnent to determine what is to be the commercial policy of the k^t^ Z-^^/ ^^•/**^]m})irc at large^and to prescribe to the various Colo- ^ vSS e4utut2iu6 ^ iiIq] Legislatures such niles as are necessary for carry- ing that policy into effect. Thus, while the policy of what is called protection was adhered to, very severe and onerous restrictions were imposed on the commerce of the Colonies by the Navigation Laws, and by va- rious Acts of Parliament under which differential // / , , ,*'^'^''*^ about^; but it woidd materially interfere with the attain- ment of this happy result, if it should be observed by foreign countries that the former and narrower policy of endeavouring by bounties or restrictions to divert capital and industry to other than their natural chan- nels, was adopted with the assent of the Imperial Go- vernricnt in any part of the Queen's dominions. On these grounds we came to the decision, that the Lieutenant-Governor should be instructed to inform the Assembly that we were not prepared to advise Her Majesty to comply with the prayer of their Address by recalling the instructions he had received, and to point out that we had thought it the more necessary to come to this determination, because wc were persuaded that measures of the kind which had been proposed vvoidd be not only injurious to the Empire at large, but peculiarly so to New Jkunswick herself. The argument of tiie Assembly, that because capital was scarce in the Province, and its resources (comparatively littte developed, the granting of bounties was neces- sary, instead of supporting the conclusion drawn from it, uftbrded on the contrary a strong reason against their policy. Tlie more scarce (capital may be in any NBW BRUNSWICK. 283 against in an} country, the more obvious is the propriety of turn- ing it to the best account; while the effect, and in- (I. i the object of bounties is to cause capital to be withdrawn from those branches of industry to which, if left to itself, it would be applied as the most re- munerative, in order to be employed in pursuits which, witho\it such assistance, would not yield sufficient re- turns to induce individuals to follow them. The funds also from which alone bounties can be paid must be derived from taxes, which of course must in some shape or other fall upon the general industry of the community. Considerable dissatisfaction was manifested in New Brunswick at this decision, and in September, 1850, the Lieutenant-Governor reported that the prohibitio n of differential duties and boun ties by the Imperi al Government was regarded as a capricious interference ^'^/"^y with the right of the Colonists to re gulate their own taxation, and dispose of their own m oney for the pvu -- poses of internal improvem ent. In the despatch con- taining this report, the Lieutenant-Governor trans- mitted a Minute of his Executive Council iiitimating a strong wish that the Legislatiu-e of the Province should be allowed to impose differential duties on im- w^^^jr ^^, portations from the United States, to the extent of *^// those imposed by that country on importations from New Brunswick, in the belief that notliing would tend more speedily to bring about a liberal interchange of commodities than such a retahatory act as was con- templated. %<^ «x« ^/Ui' 84 COLONIAL POLICY. It thus clearly appeared that the (piestion as to whether bounties should be allowed was (as we had from the first regarded it) one of very gnmi impor- tance. It would have been necessary, in order to meet the wishes of the inhabitants of New Brunswiek, to withdraw not only the instructions to the Lieu- tenant-Governor of that Province, with respect to the grant of bounties, but also the more general instruc- tions contained in Lord Derby's circular of 1843, on t!ie subject of differential duties. The cpiestion, in short, was nothing less than whether the Imperial Go- vermnent (using the word government in its widest sense) should abandon the authority it had always exercised of regulating the conunercial policy of tlie whole Empire, and should permit every separate Colony to legislate without restriction on commercial subjects. We came to the conclusion that this change ought not to be acquiesced in ; that, for the reasons I have stated, tlie power of determining the general commercial policy of the Empire ought to be retained by Parliament, and that it was the duty of the responsible servants of the Crown to advise such an exercise of the Koyal autho- rity, as should be necessary to prevent the poli(;y which Parliament had deliberately adopted, from being coun- teracted by the measures of the local Legislatures. We were also satisfied that we had been right in considering the grant of l)ounties by the Colonial Le- gislatures, as one of those measures from which the sanction of the Crown ought to be withheld on this ground, since the attempt thus artificially to foster NEW BRUNSWICK. 385 particular branches of industry, at the expense of others, i» altogether inconsistent with the principles of that commercial poli(;y wliich has been sanctioned by Parliament. It also appeartul to us, that bounties were further objectionable, because they might be granted by one C'olony hi such a manner as to de- range and injure the trade of another ; indeed in neigh- bouring Colonies they could hardly be granted with- out having this eJQPect to a greatc^r or less extent. A despatch was addrcissed to Sir Edmund Head on the 1st of November, 1850*, explaining these views, and expresshig om* regret that the instructions lie had received should have created dissatisfaction, but de- clining to withdraw or modify them. The Assembly adhered to its views, and on the 28th of April, 1851, voted some strong resolutions in assertion of its right to pass measures of the kind objected to. These resolutions were voted at so late a period of the Provincial Session of 1851, that no decision upon the subject was required from us until that of the present year should be about to commence. There were also various circumstances, which made it expedient that the consideration of the question shoidd be deferred as long as possible, and it con- sequently remained undecided when the change of Administration took place, nor do I know what the determination of your Cabinet would have been. My * The Despatclies on this 8ul>jcct have not, I believe, been laid before Parliament, but they were communicated to the Local Legis- lature. 280 COLONIAL POLICY. own individual opinion is, that there was no reason for abandoning the view of the subject we had taken in the first instance, and that the right course for us to have followed, would have been to adhert? to the instructions originally given to the Lieutenant-Governor of New Brunswick, issuing similar instructions for their future guidance to the Governors of the other Colonies. This question was connected with another and very important one with respect to the adoption of more stringent measures to prevent foreign vessels, and especially those of the United States, from fishing within the limits of the fisheries to which British sub- jects have an exclusive right. There had long been a general, though far from a unanimous wish, on the part of the Colonists, that more eff'ectual means than have hitherto been employed should be made use of, to enforce the exclusive rights of fishing which belong to British subjects ; but no necessity for giving any fresh instructions on the subject had arisen previously to our retii'ement from office. When that event took place, the question had been brought uuder our con- sideration by the proceedings of the local Ijcgisla- tures ; but I know not to what conclusion we should have come uptm it. My own belief is that, while the right of this Country to exclude any but British subjects from fishing within a certain distance of the coasts of the British territory is beyond dispute, the enforcement of that right would not be calculated to promote the well-understood interests either of the Mother-country or of the Colonists. NEWFOUNDLAND. 287 Call. .^ K.'C^ The rights of private property in the mouths of rivers, and in other situations where the fisheries must, by their very nature, be appropriated by a Uniited number of individuals, ought of course to be protected, and respect for the general regulations, which are made for the preservation of the tislieries and the maintenance of order, ought also to be strictly enforced. But I am persuaded that, to prevent the ^/^^,^^^ fishermen of the? United States from pursuing their occupation within the limits reserved by treaty to British subjects, wiiere there is ample room for all, because the British fishermen fear the competition of their active rivals, is an error founded upon the old and narrow views of monopoly and commercial jea- lousy. The inhabitants of the Colonies, in their close proximity to the fishing-grounds, and from their being thus enabled to carry on the fishery from their own homes, possess advantages of which they can- not be deprived, and which will always secure to them as large a share of the fishery of their own coasts as their population and disposable capital will allow them to take. But there are other and more attractive occupations open to the Colonists, and the number of hands they can spare for the fisheries is very small in proportion to the apparently inexhaustible supply of fish on their shores. The two Houses of the Legis- lature of Pruice Edward's Island, in a joint petition to the Queen, in the year 1847, attribute the neglect of the fisheries " principally to the people employing themselves in the more congenial pursuits of agricul- 288 rOLONIAL POLICY. turc," and justly observe, that as a recent Census had sliovvn little more than a seventh of the total area of the Tslnnd to be in cultivation, it was improbjibl(! that there would be any material alteration in this respect (luring the present generation. In the same petition they point out that, in these circumstances, it is an advantage to the Colony that the fisheries they cannot carry on themselves should be carried on by the fishermen of the United States, who create a demand for the produce of the farmers, and give a general stimulus to the trade and industry of the Island. In the other Colonies, and particularly in Nova Scotia, the iiatun; of the country and the habits of the pop\i. lation do not lead to such a preference of agriculture to the prosecution of the fisheries; on the contrary, they contain a numerous body of hardy, enterprising, and successful fisheniien. But it has never been alleged, so far as I am aware, that the resort of fishermen from the United States to the shores of the Colonies interferes with the Colonial fishermen by depriving them of ample space for fishing. The only intt;r- ference on the part of the former, of which the latter complain, is their competition with them in disposing of their fish ; and I see no more advantage in pro- tecting fishermen from (competition than in protecting farmers, planters, or manufacturijrs from the same wholesome stimulus. I am aware that the desire on the part of the Co- lonists to exclude the fishermen of the I'nited States from a participation in their fishenes, arises in no NKWKOIJNDLANI). 289 inter- lattcr iposing n pro- octing same small degree from the circumstanee that the Govern- ment of the United States gives a bounty to its own fishermen, and at the same time imposes a heavy duty on the importation of fish taken and enred by those of other nntions. The maintenance of these regidations is considered to render it imjjossible for the British fishermen to meet their rivals on etjual terms, and thus to make it necessary for their protec- tion strictly to enforce the exclusive rights of fishing given to them by treaty. There can be no doubt that the present laws of the United States on this sulject are injurious to all parties, and therefore it would be very desirable to make an arrangement with that Government, by which oiu" fishennen should be placed on equal foot- ing in their markets with their own, in considera- tion of our consenting not to enforce our exclusive right to the coast-fisheries of the Colonies ; but if no such arrangement can be made, I do not see that it at all follows that we shoidd be taking a wise course for our own interest, in rigidly enforcing our rights of exclusion. On the contrary, I believe that, l)y per- mitting the United States fishermen to share with our own the fisheries of our coasts, without fiu'ther restric- tion than is necessary for the maintenance of order, we should soon practically render the regulations of the United States so onerous to themselves that they coidd not be persevered in. In their competition with each other, the fishermen of the United States would not confine themselves to fishing, but would VOL. 1. U 290 COLONIAL roLic;v. ])ur(!liusi! from tin; Hritisli fishcnucn fish to make u|> tlieir I'jirfijocs as soon as |)ossil)Io ; tlu; vessels also would often, though nominally belonging to tlic United Stat(!S, he really maimed and owned, in ])art at least, hy British sul)i((!ts, arul the general tnule of the Colonies would Ix; inereased (as the Legislature! of Prinec! Kdward's island has [)()inted out) by the de- mand of the United States fishermen for supplies. In tliese ditf'erent ways a large proportion of the l)ounty paid to encourage the tisheries by the United Stat(!s Govenunent would find its way into the ])ockets of the Colonists ; and fish, the |)roduce of British capital and labour, would be largely introchiced into those States as their own, and on the same advantageous terms. No doubt the fishery would l)e prineipall}' carried on nndvr the United States' iiag; but the wealth of which it would be the source, and the ma- ritime ))()pulation it would nurse up, would be found to a great extent to be really IJritish. This is by no means mere speculation. In the Bay of Fundy, that which 1 have described as likely to hajj])en is ah'eady taking place on a smaU scale ; and in a memorial addressed to the Lieutenant-Cjiovernor of Nova Scotia by the corporation and the representa- tives of tlu! city and county of Halifax, bearing so latt- a date as the 2nd of Septeud)er last, it is urged as an objection to the admission of American fishermen to the British fishing-grounds, that such an irregular trade would take place between the fishermen of the two nations, " to the great injury," as it is said. " of NKWFOl'NIH.ANI). 2J)1 Colonial traders, and loss to tlic piihlic rcvrimc." Tlu^st! npprchciuliMl cvIIh ihvrv is, I iKilic^vc, no real reason to fear ; w'lih; it is important to ol)S(>rv«r that this nunnorial against the pohry of adniittiii}^ tlu; Tishor- fncn of tlu; I 'nitcd IStatts to the Ihitish tishiiijr-gronnds contains what amounts to a distin(;t admission, that the bad conse(juen(.'es of that policy woidd cxtciul oidy to the Colonial traders and ciirers, while to tlu; Colonial fishermen it would (►])en a new market for the produce of their labour. This is j)recisely in accordaucj; with our expe- rience of what has occurred in a similar case; on our own coasts at home. Some twenty years ago repeated ap[)li(;ation8 were made; to me, as Meud)er for the county of Northumberland, by the fishermen of that county to press upon the Govcrmuent the ne- cessity of taking more effectual measures to prevent the alleged encroachments of the IVench fishing-boats, which annually come over for the herring-fishery on the cast coast of England and Scotland. I remember that, upon in(iuiring into the subject, I fourul that, although the cm'ers of fish might have some reason to apprehend injury to their trade from the visits of these foreign boats, to our fishermen they afl'orded, on the contrary, the great advantage of lui additional demand and competition for all the herrings they could catch. At first it was impossible to convince the Northund)erland tishermen that this would be the case, l)ut there soon ceased to be any doubt on the subject. Though I believe, by the laws of France, I 2 00> COLONIAL POLICY. the bounty given hy that country for tlu! euro of lu-r- r\\\\iH mw only be clainu'd for those vvhieli are sworn to have hjen cauglit by IVeneh subjects, thti I'n^ueh Ijoats t»n our coasts, finding they can procure thrir cargoes more speedily and more cheaply by purcliase. tlian by fishing for themselves, ceased in general ev(^n to take the trouble of shooting their nets*, and for several years past have been acknowledgcid by oiu* fislu^rinen to be their best customers. So notorious has this become, that in the pre- sent ycjar the French Government has sent an juined steamer to watch the proceedings of their own fishing- boats, and to enforce their obtahiing their herrings d(t/if/' /if/c with their own nets, instciud of buying them from the British fishermen. With this striking example before our eyes of the value of custom- house oaths, of the manner in which regulations for artificially forcing i trade are evaded, and of the absurd extent to which the interference of the Cio- verimient with the occupations of individuals must be carried, in order to have even a chance of preventing such evasions, it seems to me clear that the best way of defeating the unwise measures of the United States, with regard to the fisheries, would be simply to ab- * I liavp heard, though I cannot voucjh for the fact, that the master of one of these French boats was seen, after lie liad ohtained his car>(o hy purcliase, bxisily employed in wetting his nets and beat- ing a few holes in them with stones ; and being asked what he was doing, he answered, that he was making the nets look as if they had been used, that his application for the bounty might be passed b}' the Custom-house of his own Port. NKWrOllNUhAND, 2U8 stain from nttcmpting to control tlu' natural course of trade and industry, and to off'tT on the contrary v.\vry facility to the I'niti ' Stntcs tislicrnicn, tor resorting to the coasts of liritish Anicri(!a, and for carrying on nnrestricto suggestion of Sir (Jaspard Le Mar- chant, in the early part of 1 S47, of reservijig a portion of the available funds Hvr unforeseen exigencies, turned out to hav(! been highly necessary ; for, in the Autiunn of that year, the ])otato-crop was more extensively injured by blight than it had been in the previous senson, and the eftect of this calamity was much ag- gravated by a like failure of the crop having occurred in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward's Island, from the latter of which I'olonies Newfoundland had Ixuni ac- customed to draw a considerable part of the supplies of food it recpiin.'d. The distress in the Colony dur- ing the following winter was consequently very great, and its finances were in a condition which would liav(^ rendiTed it exceedingly difficult, from its own resourc(!s, to afford to the population the relief that was urgently re([uired ; but the money w^hich had been reserved, being a[)})lied with rigid ecvmomy and strict precautions against ai)use, was sufficient to meet the deficiency of its own means, and enabled the Cio- vernor to carry Newfoundland successfully through this trying and an?;ious season. But the efibrtsof Sir (laspard Le Marchant to im- prove the condition of the ( -oiony were by no ine.ins limited to the measures which it was in his power NEWFOUNDLAND. 301 I to carry into effect by his authority as Gover- nor ; he (mdeavoured to inspire both the Legislature and in(Uviduals with energy and enttn'prise; and, mainly owing to his judicious advice and encou- rat'enient, successful attempts have been made to in(;rense the resources of the Island, formerly, the climate of Newfoundland being su[)posed to be too severe for the growth of corn, none worth mentioning was grown there, and very few cattle were reared. Wheat, barley, and oats have now all been cultivated to some extent, and have been found to answer well, yielding abvmdant crops of very good (juality ; {uul the recent shows of sto(!k have aftbrdi'd gratifying evi- dence of the increased attention paid to thi^ rearing and fattening of cattle. This result has been brought about chiefly by the efforts of Sir (laspard Le Marchant ; he urged upon the inhabitants of Newfoundland the i!i)i)ortance of attempting the cultivation of corn ; and with the assistance of the Legislature and of the Agri- cultural Society of the Colony, he caused seed-corn and agricultural implements to be imported and distri- buted, especially in the minor Settlements commonly known by the name of the Outports, where the use of even the most ordinary implements was almost un- known. He himself hnj)orted from England cattle of imi)roved breeds, and ottered prizes for stock, which excited a useful emidation among the hdiabitants in rearing .'Uid feeding cattle, lie also procured the esta- blislnnent of two mills in tin; town of St. J(jlin's, none having previously existed in the Island. 302 rOLONIAL POLICY. \\y tiu'st! ami siinihir mcasiinis Agriciiltun^ us dis- tiiip;uisli('(l from the iiuto riuU; ciiltivntioii of pota- toes, was ostablislud as a branch of industry in tlic (Jolony, which was thus rendered less excUisively dependent tl;an formerly upon the fisheries and th(! cultivation of the potato, — resources which, however valuable, are too precarious to he relied upon alone. From the accounts laid before Parliament, which ext(;nd up to the beginning of the present year*, it appears tliat the distress undtsr which the Colony was labouring had passed away, and that it was then advancing towards a prosperity which bade fair to be both greater and more stable than that which it formerly enjoyed. But I am sorry to learn from tlui newspapers that the inhabitants, encouraged l)y two or three good seasons, have this year again trusted too nnich to their potatoes, which have suffered not loss than in former years, and it is to be feared that they will in consequence be much distressed. October 2, 1852. * Soo Sir Giispard Lo Mardiant's Despatch of April 12, 1S52, in tlu' Ainmal sorios of lU'ports oii the Coiouu'a presented to Parliament in the last Session. 3().S LETTER VII. AUSTRALFAN COLONIKS. HAI,K UF J-ANl).- EMJCJRATION. My DEAR Lord John, I now turn to a diff'ennjt and distant (juartcr of tlie globe, in wliicii, as in Nortli America, the Posses- sions of the British Crown are fast risinji; into a great nation. I refer to AnstraUa, in which the hxst six years have hkewise been niiu'ked by j'a})id progress and by important events. The snbjects rehiting to the Colonies in this part of the world, which chicifly occupied our attention diu'ing your Administration, were those of the constitution of theh" governments, the regulation under which land is disposed of, emi- gration, and transportation. Upon our accession to oifice, both the system of disposing of Crown hmds in these Colonitis, and tin; state of things with regard to the trans] jortation of offenders, required our immediate consideration. With regard to the C'rown lands, there had been foi- some time nmch discussion as to the propriety ol' maintaining the minimum pvic(; and the regulations 304 COLON I Al. POLICY R8 to tho 8ttl<^ of Imul wliicli hud hww t'stulilislicd by tlu; Act of PiirliiinuMit of IHI2, iwid ulso on tlio dniiiis of tlu5 porsons who, uiuh'r thc^ immr of s<|imt. tcrs, occupy very hirgi; tracts of huul for pastorid pur- poses, juid wlio had loudly dcnuuidcd to be allowed to hold this land undcT such conditions as woidd enable them to make im[)roveuieuts u))on it. The policy we adopted was that of adherin^^ to the prin- ciples of the Act of IS42, but at tin; same tune av- ceding, partially at least, to the wish of the pastoral occupiers of laiul for an improvement in their temire. Wv j)ro})osed, and carried through Parliam(>nt, during th(! short reniiiinder of the Session of 1 s4(), after our a[)j)ointm(uit to Ottice, a Bill, by vvhic!) the Crown was authorized to make regulations for granting leases of land for periods not exceeding fourteen years. Under the authority of this Act, Orders in Council were afterwards framed, by which the leashig of laml for pastoral occui)ation was pro^ ided for, on terms which depended on the situation and ch.'iracter of the land. The whole of the Crown lands in the ('olony of New South Wales were divided hito three classes, distin- guished from each other by being situated in what were termed the settled, luisettled, and intermeduiti; districts. In the first, land was only allowed to be hc^ld from year to year, as it was considered that it might be wanted withui a comparatively short ])eri()d for purchase. In the unsettled districts, where any such demand was for a long time; unlikt^ly to arise, the land was to be held for fourtecui years, and the lessee entitled, AUSTKAMA V •> if it should aftcrwtirds hv sold, to hv ro] <* the vr« le of iiuimmMiiciits he might Imvc iiuidtv In tlic uiwv- iiu'chatt^ districtH, the trriiis gniiitrd to (xicupicrs woij' of ihr clmnictor vvliicli the mmic given to these districts iniphes. Kegulations, ditlereut in form l)ut tlie same in principle, were also estahlished under tlie autliority of the Act of Parhument in South and Western Aus- traha*. 8ubject to the change made hy allowing land to he thus l(!t, we tliought it our duty steadily to resist the strenuous ettorts whicli were used to induce us to propose the repeal of the Laud Sah's Act, of IH 42, and to abandon the policy on which it is f()unde, in those of the Australian ('ol()ni(^s to vvliieh it applies. Tlie policy to which these reji;nlations are intended to ^ive ett'ect was tirst ado])ted hy Lord lii[)on, who, liein^ thi'ii Secretary of State for the (-olonies, promulgated at tlu; hcirinniiii' of 18.SI rules, wliieli substituted the system of ilisposin}^ of tlie (^^rown lands in N(!vv South Wales and V^in Diemen's Land by public sale, for the fornujr mode of doiufi^ so by grant. This change was made partly for the sake of raising funds for emigration to these (yolonies, l)ut far more with tlie view of ensur- ing the distribution of land to those by whom it is nuilly wanted, and preventing those abuses which ex|)(Ti(!nc(! liad proved to be; in8e|)arable from the system, of disposing of land by grant, in a territory which is mine course of being settled. Li spite of F.uingcnt regulations, and of honest and strenuous ef- forts, as I believe, on the part of the public servants in th(! Co'onies to enforce th(!se regulations, it was found practnally impossible in New South Wal(!s and Van Diemen's [jand, imder the former system, to prevent land from })eing aetpiired by jxTsons to whom either the means or the inclination to turn it to account weic wanting. Nor could the conditions under which land was granted, and whicli required that it should bu X :2 308 COLONIAL POLICY. improved, be eiiforeed. It is liardl}' iiecessiiry to point out, that this was an evil urgently reijiiiring eorree- tion, snice there is no sn(*h fatal obstacle to the pro- gress of a Colony, as havhig a large proj)ortion of its lands engrossed by persons who niakt; little use ol' the estates they have ac(piir(Hl By adopting the system of disposhig of land only by sale to the best bidder, or, where thei'e have been no bidders by auction, to the first who offers th(; mi- nimum price, this evil is in a great measure; got lic! of, shice few wall pay down money for land which they do not really intend to use. At the same time tlu; money received for land may be so laid out, that the bond Jidc settler may receive, in the increased vahie for occupation of the land he buys, full compeusatioii for the price he has been recpiired to pay for it. It is, in my opinion, an essential part of the j)olicy which ought to be pursued with regard to the alienation of land, that the proceeds of the land sales should be always so applied as to give this advantage to the purchaser. In the Australian Colonies, the application of the receipts from land, in the introduction of immigrants of the labouring class, has been in conformity with this principle ; there can be no doubt, that the value of the land which has been sold has been greatly increased by the supply of labour thus furnished to the purchasers. Land obtained by free grant, but without that supply, would have be(!n ac([uired by Settlers on terms far less really advantageous than AUSTHALIA. 309 wlmi they havo purchascul with money which has been }i|)])he(l to immigration. The sudstitutioii of piihhc s;i)e lor grants, as the mode of disposhig of the Crown laiuls, had tlie fiirth(?r object (which it has completely jittairied) of reheving the h^cal (joveriimcnt from impu- tations of favouritism, which were highly injurious to its character snul authority. The grants necessarily (liitcrt!d greatly in value, and every man who thouglit his own less good than his neighbour's, naturally im- puted the favour su])posed to have been shown to an- oihvY to impro])er partiality. There were also continual attempts to evadt^ the regulations, which the local Go- vernment incurred nuich hostility by resisting. Few comparatively as the settlers then were, the amount of correspondence, and the fre(|uency and bitterness of the complaints against the acts of the Colonial Au- thorities, in the administration of the Crown lands previously to the change of system in 1831, were so great as almost to exceed belief. Great as had been the evil of the former practice, of disposing of land by gniut, yet its abrogation Avas met by loud remonstrances on the part of those con- nected with Australia, whether resident there or in this Country ; and they almost unanimously joined in representing to Lord Ripon that tlu^ measurti would be ruinous to these Colonies. Notwithstanding these remonstrances, the change of system which had been determined upon was adhered to, and from this may fairly be dated the grcuit and almost marvellous advance which the Australian Colonies have made in popula- ;mo (OLOMAJ. POLICY. tion, in wealth, and in prosperity. The system which was ai1()j)re(l has ett(;etually answenul its j)nrp()se of ensuring a just and fair distrilnition of the Crown lands, to tliose most capable of turning them to ac- count ; and at the sanu; time it has afiorded the means of meeting, in some degree, the greatest want of the Colonies, hy providing a fund to meet the sending out a large mmilxT of free labourers Prior to this period, tlh-re was scarcely any emi- gration whatever of persons bc^longing to the work- ing classes to Anstraha ; and the supply of labour in New South Wjdes and Van Diemen's liand (tlu^ only British Colonies which then e.Kisted in that part of the world, except the intant settlement of Western Australia,) may be said to have; V)een exclusively fur- nished by convicts. 1 had the honour of serving as a member of the first Connnission, apj)ointed to pro- mote emigration, hi the year IS'Vl, with the Duke of Richmond, Sir Prajicis Haring, Sir Henry Ellis, and Mr. Hay ; and we found that at that time there were no vessels trading with Australia in vvhicli pas- sages could be obtanied at a price suitable to emi- grants of the working classes, "^riie cheapest [)assag(' that could then b(! procured cost, if my memory does not deceive me, from £35 to 1 40. ft was by means of this first Board of Emigration Commissioners, and the application of the small sum of .tl (),()()() derived froui the tir.iiiR is timch ft'lt in tlie Unitod Statoa, Itut it is )ip*c'atly checkt'd, and tlvp great iriconvonieiu'e ol' having large tracts of land engrossed by persons who do not improve them, and yet refuse to sell them unless at exorliitant prices, is prevented hy the system of local rates, which prevails universally in these States Tlie township rates and direct taxes imposed by the Htate, fall so heavily on land, which is lield without being improved in a district w hich is becommg settled, that it is forced into the market as it is wanted. Itifortunately the inhal)itant8 of the Australian Colonies have resolutely resisted the introduction of any system of local rating or ot direct taxation. AUSTRALIA. :ili) in the Colonics should lu; disposed of. Those lands (•oiistitiitc a vast estate, vvhieli has hiH^n ae(|uir(!d, and to which all the value it possesses has been given, hy the very Inv^v »'\pense which has hetin in- cnrnul by the Mother-country in estahlishiu}^, niaiu- taining, and protecting its C'olonies. 'i'his estate the Crown holds as trustees tor the henetit of all its sub- jects, not nieriily of tlu* few thousands who niay at this moment iidiabit a [)arlicular ('olony, but of the whole British people, whether resident at home or hi the ('o- loiiies ; and it is th«^ dutv of the siTvants of the Crown, and of Parliament, to tab; care tiiat the magniiiceut property thus held in trust foi' the good of the whole Kmpire, shall be wisely and ean^fully admhiistered with a view to that obj(;ct, and not iiuprovideiitly wasted, or sacrificcid to the ra[)acity of a few individuals. Jhit if the power of altering the regulations under which the (./I'own lands are disposed of, wei'e given too soon to every Colonial Legislature, nothing is more probabk^ than that the small society of a young Colony might think it for their interest to share among them, to the exclusion of thi; other hdiabitants of the Em[)ire, the lamls which properly belong to all ; and it is still more probable that, in such a Colony, a few rapacious speculators might have suflicient hiflucnce to carry changes, which woidd conduce to their persomxl gaui, imder the plausible but delusive pretence of promo- ting the interest of their fellow-colonists. No doubt t here is a stage in the progress of a Colony, when the power of regulating the disposal of the :\'2() COLONIAL I'OLICY. Crown laiuis may he sat'cly riitnist<'(l to a rcprrstMita- tivc liCgislaturc, and when iiiconvt'iiu'iir i- may result from wi(liliol(liiit< it. Peeiiliiir eireumstaiiees may also, ill somu eases, make it |)r(»|)er that tiiis should he doiic sooner than would in {,'eneral he desirahle ; hut I am persuaded that hitherto Parliament has acted wisely, in not ^ivinj^ tliis power to the Leyishitures of th<; Australian (Colonies. 1 will not |)ursue this hraneh of the suhject tJu'th(>r, although 1 havt! given only a very slight sketeh of the arguments in favour of maintaining the present price of land in these Colonies. Those who wish to enter inor*' deeply into the (juestion, will find it fully diseussed in tlui l^ipers relating to the occupation of Crown lands hi the Colonies, whicli have heen laid hefore I'arliameiit*. It is another matter of complaint connected with the L{iiul Sales Act, tliat the proceeds of these sales are not placed at the disposal of the local Legislature. 1 conceive that the principle for which 1 have c;on- tended, of regardhig the Crown lands as an estate in which the whole Empire is interested, justifies the Im- * Soo particularly Sir C. Fitzroyg Despatch of .Faimary 18, ISIS, onclositiK the Report, of a Committeo of the Legislative Council of New South Wales ; and the Despatch in reply, of Aujfust 11. IS IS, enclosinj^ the observations of the Euii^rration Commissioners on the above lleport. Papers presented by Command in IB-tS, pp. 65 aiul 123. A ftirther Report from a Committee of the he^slative (.\niii- cil in reply to the Eraijfratiou Commissioners, and their rejoinder, will be found enclosed in Sir C. Fitzroy's Despatch of Novend)er '», 1849, and mine, of August M. 1850, in the Papers presented to Par- liaineut in June uud Augiu^t 1850. Al STUAI-IA. {121 prrial Authorities in pnsciihjiin; tlic objects to which the money (Krivcd fVoni tiic suit- of these liiiuls shouhl he apphed ; and this principle, if I nni not inistiiken, is reeo«^nize(l in tiie I'nited States, wlicn-, I heheve, tiiat the n.'venne aeeiMiinpj from the sale of the pnhlie lands is ap|)roj)riated l)y Con^n-ess, and not hy the State Le^ishitnres. Ihit, as I have ah\'ady said, I heheve it to hv i^ood pohcy to ap])ly the ])roeeeds of Colonial lami in such a manner that tht; priei> may vir- tually ho, returned, hy tlu^ advantage's conferred upon them, to those purchasers who really occu|)y the land they liave l>o»ight Parliament has provided for this, so far as rejjjards half the j)r()duee of hnnl sales in tlu^ Colonies, to which the liand Sales Act applies, hy re(|uiring that so nnieh of the receipts should be ex- pended on the conveyance of iinniiersiii my next Letter, and they will be found iu the Appendix (I) to this Volume. Y 2 If ! 324 COLONIAL POLIC. tioii, and ])nsscs through a country capable for many hiiiuh't'd miles of supporting a large trade, its utility is at present destroyed by the Avant of any conunu- nieatiou with the sea. The Lieutenant-Governor ot South Australia some time ago })roposed that, to remedy this defect and render the river available for internal conununication, a simi of money should be applied from the land revenue in the improvement of a liarbour on the coast, called Port Elliot, and the establishment of a connuunication by a railway Ix'- tween the harbour so made and a point on the river, before it s})reads out into the shallow lake in which it terminates, and where it is navigable by steauKus. It was clear that, regarded nnirely as an investment of money, this W7is calcidated to be a very advanta- geous one, since the amount proposed to be expended was far short of what would certainly be receiv(-(l, from the enhanced value of the lands behmging to the Crown on tiie line of the railway and the I'iver ; it was a scheme also eminently calculated to promote th(^ general ])rosperity of the Colony. Yet to a mea- sm'c of this kind a strenuous opposition was raised in the Legislative Council, — an opposition unquestion- ably dictated by a narrow spirit of jc^alousy, on the part of the inhabitants of Adelaide, to what might prove a rival port to their own. 'J'his was before the Legislative Ccnmcil of South Australia possessed a representative chanicter ; but 1 believe that, since its Constitution has betni altered, tin; same spirit is likely to prevail in it not less strongly M AUSTRALIA. 325 than before, whiU; it undoubtedly possesses greater power to give weight to its wishes. As the expense of the projected improvement was to be defrayed from a source over which the Legislatiu'e has no control, its opposition could not arrest it, and uk asures for carry- ing it into execution were in progress w lien we retired from office. What happened on this matter seems to nie to afford a usefnl warnhig, as to tlu; expedi(!ney of entrusting the appropriation of the funds in question to a different authority from the local Legislature. In what I have said on the subject of the regula- tions for the disposal of land in the Australian Colo- nies, I have mentioned the large amount of money which has been derived from the land revenue of New South Wales, and applied to tlu^ introduction of im- migrants. On the gtjueral subject of emigration to Austraha I have to observe, that this service was carried on during your Administration u})on a very large scale and with great success. Wlien we came into office, we found that emigration to New South Wales had been suspended since 1844, because, owing to the falling off in the land sales which had succeeded the (Extravagant speculative piu'chases of a few years before, tlu^ fuiuls applicable to this service had been for a time exhausted. In South Australia, on the con- trary, the land revenue had alniady recovered from its depressed condition of two or three years before ; and by means of the funds thus available, a steady stream of emigration had been again directed to that Colony. On the 1st of January, 1847, the Governor 320 COLONIAL POLICY. of New South Wales reported that the debentures issued ou the credit of tlie laud revenue, to pay for the previous emigration, would be entirely discharged in the course of the year ; and he recommended that another sum of £100,000 should be raised for emi- gration, M Inch was assented to ; and the renewal of emigration to that Colony, including Victoria, (wliicli, as the Port Philip district, still formed ])art of New Sonth Wales,) was sanctioned on the 30th of August of the same year. From that time emigration to the AustraUan Colonies has been steadily earned on, as rapidly as the funds would permit ; and in five years, to the end of 1851, me Emigration Coimnissicners sent there, in ships chartered by them, nearly 00,000 emigrants*. It is unnecessriry for me to give any detailed ac- count of the maimer in which this large emigration has been carried on ; I b(^lieve it is not disputed tliat the senice has been admirably performed by the Emigration Commissioners, and the results afford the best evidence of its having been so, and of the ability and unremitting cu'c with which those gentlemen liave performed their duty. Of upwards of two hnn- * The numbers sent to each Colony have been as follows : — New South Wales . . 19.841 Victoria .... . 17,561 South Australia . 20,786 Van Diemen'n Land 871 Western Australia . 357 Total 69. U6 See Twelfth (general Report of the Kmij^rationCommissioners, p. 18. AUSTRALIA. 827 dred and thirty ships, in whicli those; emigrants were sent to the Colonies, only one was wrecked, and that almost within sight of the port of its destination, and happily without any loss of life ; the rate of niortahty on board the vessels has been singidarly low, and the complaints of misconduct on the part of the officers hi charge of them have also been very rare, esi)ecially when it is considered how difficult it must be to find a sufficient number of persons both willing to serve for the very moderate remuneration that can be allowtsd, and also duly qualified to discharge the exceedingly arduous duties of the surgeons, to whom the charge, not only of the health of the passengers, but of the maintenance of order on board emigrant shijjs, is entrusted. The selection of the emigrants is also shown, by the reports received of them after their arrival, to have been good*; though of coiu'se it is impossible that, in send- ing out such large numbers, the Connnissioners should be able to escape being sometimes imposed upon, and induced to give passages to persons who would be re- jected if their want of the requisite qualifications were known. This applies particularly to the single women ; of this class it is so difficult to obtahi emiijrants of a proper description, and also to guard against decep- tion as to their character, that, were not an increase of the female population in the Colonies so urgently required, it woidd probably have been better to send no single women. * See Appendix ^o. 28 to the Twelfth lli*port ofihoEnii^frution CommissioTiers. 328 COLON! AT< POT^ICY Rt'ferrin^ to tlio Anniuil Hcports of the Emigra- tion Coiniiiissioners, for a (U'tailcd acrount of tlu3 iiica- surt's a(loj)t{'(l with respect to Austrahaii ciuiji^ration, I think it will hv rigiit tliat 1 should oUcr a few gt'ncr;il observations on the ])rincij)les by Avhichour co\irse on this subject was guided. Y'ou are aware that thei'e havt! l)een few more popular subjects for attacks on tlu; Government, while we were entrusted with the duty of conducting it, than that afforded l)y describing in the most vivid colours the urgency of tlie want of labour in the Colonics on the one hand, and its suj)- [)osed redundancy in this Country on the other. Our incompctc^ncy, if not wilful and ])erverse determina- tion to reject measures we knew to be right, have been constantly represented as the sole reason why the al- leged surplus of labour and population at home was not remedied, and the prosperity of the Australian Colonies at the same tim(3 fissured, by transferring to them some of the industrious but starving multi- tudes, by whom ovu' streets and our workhouses were rc})resented to be crowded. 1 have no do»d)t that those who have hehl the sort of language to which 1 refer, and which is so often to be found in the colunms of newspa])crs, and in speeches at public meetings, sincerely believed what they were in the habit of saying ; and it is certain that the opinion is very generally lu^ld, both in this Country and in the Colonies, that, although it may possibly not be the fault of those bv whom the (iovernment has bticn ad- t.' ministered, that the transfer of a very large number of I i AUSTRALIA. 329 our labouring population to Anstrfilia lias not been (effected, yet that it is hi<^li1y dcsirablt; such a transfer should bo ac('oni|)lish('d, and that, if it were practicabhi, it ouj^ht to b(i iiiulcrtakcu by the (jovoruiiunt*. Hilt, generally as this o[)inion has been entertained, I believe it to be entirely erroneous. Instead of seeing any indication of an excess of population in this Coun- try, I observe on every side strong symptoms of the reverse. 1 know that in every county of England ([ might almost say hi the United Kingdom), laboiir and ca[)ital, to a far larger amount than an; available, might be laid out in the improvement of the land, so as to y'b^ld an ample return. In those; parts of the country Avith which I am myself actpiainted, I am certain that the draining alone, which is urgently re(|uired, would occupy for many years more haiuls than can be spai'ed h"om other woi'k ; and as the land becomes better drained, it will pay for higluu* cultivation, requiring the permanent employment of more labourers. In every other branch of national industry there is also an evi- dtmt and rapid increase in the; means of profitably em- ploying labour. No doubt the demand for labour is at this moment nmcli gn>ater than it was only a short time ba(;k, and it uuist be acbnitted that four or five years]'ago there; was nuich more appeanmce than at present of the market for labour being glutted ; and * 1 am ppoaking of what was tlio state of opinion on this subjoot a short time iiii^o -, already there appears to be a great ehanjje, and per- liaps tlie tendency is now rather towards an nnfounded a])i>reheu8ion of injiuy to the Country by an iin lue abstract ion of population. tim/t ■T ■ A ff ' ■ ' i> II. * i i i 1 330 ('OLOXIAL POLICY. even now there are probably |)nrticnlar places vviunv it, may be ditfieult to tind profitable eni])loyiuent for all the labourers wlio are seeking for it. But even duriiip; the times when industry was most dcjiressed, and our j)()pulation was suttering the grtuitest distress, it was [ think clear that the real difficulty arose, not from any deficiency in the field for employment, or any want of capital to nuike use of the resources which the country affords, but from circumstances (such as the deficiency in the crops of both potatoes and corn in 1S4(), and the re-action after the over-s[)ecnlation in railways), which hi.d derang«'d our social economy, and above all from injudicious laws, which prevented industry from flowing into its natural channels, and the effect of which could not be expected to cease immediately on their repeal. The present state of the Country affords the most conclusive evid(.'nce that tliis view of the subject was just; since, with the same field for employment as before, labour is notoriously so far from being re- dundant, that a want of hands is becc .. ■ r^^ a very g(;neral complaint among employers; a. ' may be; safelv asserted, that at this moment there is no etfi- cient and healthy labourer in this country who may not calculate on earning a comfortable subsistence by his industry, if he conducts himself well, and exerts liimself as he ought to find employment. If th(;re are particular parishes in which there is still an aj)- parent want <)1< to tilt' \voikl»ous(;s of this ('ouutrv as u sourco nliont'c an incn'jiscd suj)j)ly of lalxxn' iimy be obtained. It appears to me still more elear, tlmt it would have Ihumi hi<its in our labour- ing [)o|)nlation. Nor is this the oidy consideration on which grants of public money to pi'oniotc emigration to Anstralia (ex- cept in soinc^ very special (^ascs, and to a v(>ry small anicnnt) wouhl have been ohjectionable, even wlum the home market for labour was apparently the most over- stocked. It is obvious that such grants, drawn as they nnist be from taxes paid by the people of this Country, would only be justifiable if it coidd be clearly shown, that tlie advantage to those on whom tlu; charg(! nuist full would be fully ('(piivalent to tlu; cost incurred. And the greater the pressiu'e upon the Coimtry at tlie time when such grants an; asktnl for, the greater is tiie necessity of strictly ivdhering to this rule. ]}ut the only advantage (at all events tlie only direct and immediate advantage) which the Coinitry could gain by sending some of its ijdiabitants to Australia, would be that of relieving the; laboiu'-market from some of the hands suppos(^d to b(; suj)erHuous. Now a very slight calculation would suffice to show that the cost of the long voyage to Australia Mould be so great, in })ro[)ortion to the nuud)er of labourers who could be 8(!ut tliert\ that the relief to the labour- nuirket at home would bear no projjortion to the expense in- cmTed in such a scheme of emiji-ration. More than this, I have end{;avoured to show that there is not (and never has been) any real redundancy 'M\ [ COLONIAL POLICY. of labour in tliis Country ; coMS('(|iu!ntly it would lie ni()«t mistaken |)olicy to seek ri'liit' tVoni any tcin- porary dilKcultics wv may fxiu'ricncc, by artiticinlly |)i-oMi()tin*^ cMii^nition at tlio public cNpcnsc, instciul ol by removing any ol»staclcs to tiic natural exten- sion of the Held of emj)loyment at home. It nnist \)v borne in mind that active; and industrious labourers, by beinjj; sent to Australia, cease to beconu' contii- butors to the wealth ami levenui; of the Mother-coim- try. They will no doubt continue to be ccaitributors to th(^ wealth and greatness of the British Empire, and will help to increase the traih; of this Countiy by addinj^ U) the productive power t)f the Colony to which they go, and to its denumd for lU-itisb manufactures. Ihit if they remain at home, and find lure an adeipiate field for their industry, thev will still contribute to hicrease the wealth and trade of the Kmpire, with this further and material advantage, so far as the Mother- country is concerned, that they will also continue to be contributors to its revenue, and help to bear those heavy charges which former wars and the necessity of keeping u|) large cstablishnu'uts, entail upon the parent State, but of which no portion falls upon its Colonial dependencies. It is clear, that the more the popuhition and Avealth of the British Islaiuls in- crease, the lighter will become to their inhabitants the burden of our national debt, ami of the taxes to w hich it compels iis to submit. Hence (except when there is some s[)ecial object to be gained by it) to spend any ptu-t of the national income in stinudating tuiii- ArHTKAl.lA. m') gmtion, ia unjust to thosf who remain at home, since it is npplyinp money levied from tliem to an ol^ject not euieulated to relieve tiiem, l)ut nitlu-rto cheek timt natural increase of the wealth and population of the Country, to which alone \vv, can look tor real relief from owY burdens. For these reasons it appears to me that Parliament vvouhl not have heen justijied in granting, and that \\v, sliould have done wrong had we asked it to grant, money to carry on any largo measure of enugration to Australia. But in the absence of Parliamentary gi'ants, it is obvious that the Gov rninent has no means of sending out efnigrants to these CoUmies ])eyond those furnished by the funds whicli can i)e raistul in the (volonies themselves. Our duties, therefon with reference to Australiim emigration, were reduc d to en- couraging and assisting spontan(!ous er li^'ation as fm as we could, and applying the money availal)le for that purpose from Colonial sources in sending out emi- grants. In the last, we cousidered ourselves called upon to act as trustees for tlie Colonies, in wliieh cha- racter we had to take care that tlu; funds they supplied, shoiild be laid out for them to the best advantage. It was this simple principle of regarding the Go- vernment as a trustee, bouiiu crupulously to consult the interest of the Colonies in tlie ex[)enditure of the money tliiiy contributed, which regulated all the mea- sures adopted on the subject of emigration while they Avere un(h'r our direction. Mv instructions to the Commissioners who are immediately charged with this 330 COLONIAL J'OLICV. braiicli of the public service, were, that they shoiUd on no account deviate from this i)rinci[)le ; and it is only due to them to say that they entered most fnlly into it, and showed in my o})inion great judgement and ability in applying it. Gem-ral rules were drawn up, l)as(3d upon the advice and information atforded by the Colonial Authorities, deiining as strictly jmd as clearly as possible the classes of emigriuits who were to be considered eligible? for free passages, or rather to passages towards the cost of wliich only a small contribution is expected from the emigrant. In these rules, and in the amount of contribution retjuired from the emigrants, variations were mudc! from time to time according to varying circumstances at home and in the Colonies. The reports received from tho Co- lonies determined to what description of labonrt^i's a preference should he given, and to what extent. The complaints so frequently made in Parliament, of the exclusion froni the benefit of a ])assage in the Commissioners' ships, of [)ersons who would h;ive made excellent emigrants, because they did not come strictly within the rigid loiles laid down, may hit an- swered by observing that a pul)lic De[)artnient can only act on tixed rules ; that the rules of the Connni.s- sioners as to the emigrants to be taken are carefully framed on the advice of the Colonial Authorities re- sj)ecting the; description of emigrants most wanted at the time ; and though it may bc! true that some of the persons excluded by these rules would make excellent emigrants, still they have no right to complain that. AUSTRALIA. 337 ill the expenditure of Colonial money, a preference is given to those who in the ophiion of the Colonists will be most useful to them. When there is any difficulty in obtaining the re- quired number of eiuigrants of the most eligible class, the rules are relaxed, so as to extend the field of se- lection; and in the same maimer the amount of contribution required from emigrants is made to vary according to the demand for passages. Thus in the year 1848, when the check to railway enterprise and the generally depressed state of industry, by bringing a heavy pressure on the working classes, had greatly increased the number of applications for passages, the amount of deposit retpiired from emi- grants was increased, which of course tended both to limit the number of applications, and to make the funds at the disposal of the Commissioners go fur- ther. A year or two afterwards, when the revival of trade and industry at home diminished the (Uspo- sition of the working classes to emigrate, it became necessary again to I'educe the amount of deposit, in order to obtain tlie number of emigrants that was wanted ; th(^ Commissioners behig instructed to en- deavour alvvays so to fix the amount of deposit, as to maintain, as nearly as possible, an equahty between tile number of passages which the funds at their dis- j)osal would allow them to grant, and that of appli- cations made to them by eligible emigrants. 1 may further mention upon this subject that, in 1848, being persuaded that the difficulties of the V()],. I. z 838 COLUNlAl, POLICY Couiitry were merely temporary, and that the revival of its prosperity would cause a great al)at(!ment in the disposition to emigrate, I thought it advisable to sanction the anticipation, to an extent which under other circumstances 1 should have thought objec- tionable, of tlu; funds apphcable to emigration; and the ('onnnissioners were thus euc'dded to take advan- tage of an opportunity not apparently likely to recur, of obtaining a lar^c^ nimiber of the most eligible emi- grants on very favourable terms. The residt ])ro\('d the advantage of this course, for the revival of tlic demand for laboio" at home led, as I had foreseen, to a great diminution in the candidates for emigration ; and so marked was the efi'ect produced in this respect by the renewed prosperity of the Country, that u]) to the time of our leaving Oitice, notwithstanding that t!if^ discovery of gold in New South Wales had been known for some months, there was still nuich diffi- culty in tilling tlie (.'onnuissioncrs' ships. Since that time, it appears from the newspapers that the ahnost !narvel]()us accounts of the success of the gold-seckcrs in Victoria has produced an eager desire for emigra- tion, oi' which the Commissioners will no doubt have availed tliemselves, by again raising the (h'posit re- quired from emigrants, if they found it in their power to do so. J have said that, as a rule, the Conunissioners take only those emigrants who are of what is considered the most ehgible class ; but under certain circumstances, the payment of an additional proportion of the cost AUSTRALIA. 339 of their passage from some othei* som'ce, (thus ecori(3- iiiiziiig the Colonial fmids,) has been thought to render it advisable for the interest of the Colonists to ac- cept emigrants not l)elonging stri(;tly to the required classes. Thus after the French llevolution of February, 1848, a considerable body of English workmen and their famihes, who had been employed in the manufac- tories in the neighboiu'hood of Calais, were driven out of France. If they had been compelled to go to their native places in this Coimtry, in the then state of trade, they would have been t^xposed to nnich dis- tress ; while at the same time they wei'e represented as being a remarkably intelligent and industrious body of people, likely to prove a great acOjUisition to any of our Colonies to which they might be sent. But from having been employed in manufactures, they were less likely to be innnediately useful than agri- cultural laboiuers, and were not qualified according to the Conmiissioners' rules to be accepted as emi- grants. In these circumstances a departure from the ordinary practice was sanctioned, and in consideration of a part of the expense incmTcd being paid from anotlier source, passages to New South Wales in ships taken up on account of the (3olony were granted to these people by the Connnissioners. This arrange- ment was made, in concert with Lord Shaftesbury, who took much interest in the matter, and assisted in raising the subscription by wliich the means of making the payment required by the Commissioners were provided. I am l»a})py to say that tliese emi- z '2 340 COLONIAL POLICY. grants justified what was done for them, by their good conduct and industry in the Colony. It was furtlier regarded by us as the duty of the Government, to ado{)t ail the means in our power to promote spontaneous emigration to these Colonies. For while it appears to me, that, for the reason 1 have stated, it would not be just to the tax-])aycrs at hon 1 to apply money derived from their contribu- tions ii; ^he conveyance of large luunbers of emigrants to A istralia, yet there are advantages to be antici- pated from the extension of colonization in that part of the globe, which nuike it desirable to give eviTv encouragement to emigration thither, which can In) afforded, without any heavy demands on the pul)]ic purse. With that view measures Avere adopted, which are, I think, likely hereafter to lead to more impor- tant results than have yet followed from them. In my last Letter I mentioned the remarkable fact, that the greater part, if not the whole cost of the vast emigra- tion now going on to North America is provided for by remittances made by previous emigrants to the friends and relations thev have left behind, to enable them to join tluun in th(;ir new home. No such re- mittances wTre usually made from Austndia, appa- rently because there existed no simpU; and easy mode by which Settlers there could send money to their friends at home, or provide for their being brought to the Colony. As it is certaiidy easier for a labom- ing man to save money from his wag(^s in the Austra- lian Colonies, than either in Canada or in the United i I I ! i I ! I f AUSTKAI,) A. 341 States, tlicre seemed reason to anticipate that those who have gone to the former, woiikl not be less ready to assist thtur friends to follow them, if the means of doing so were easily within their n^ach, than those who have gone to the latt(!r are found to be. Aecord- ingly an arrangement was made, by wliieh p(>rsons in the Australian Colonies, wishing to ai)i)Iy money in assisting their friends to emigrate, are enabled to do so by paying, through the agency of the Post-office, into the Military Chest, the amount they intend to devote to this object, to which the sums so received are then applied by the Emigration Commissioners in this Country, to whom credit is given by the Treasury for the sums so paid into the Military Chest in the Colony. In this manner a perfectly simple and easy mode of remitting money for emigration is afforded to those who have already reached the Colonies ; and they can thus assist their friends at home in paying for the outfit of the voyage, and the deposit required by the Commissioners from candidates for emigration. With a similar object, it has also been provided that purchasers of ('rown lands in these Colonies, may n.iquire that a (H^rtaiii proportion of the price paid by them for land, shall be applied in giving passages to such persons at home as they may nominate, provided that those selected are diUy qualified, luider the (Com- missioners' rides, to be received as emigrants in their ships. To this was added a regidation, by which depositors in the savings-lianks are entitled to a 342 COLONIAL rOLIPY slif^lit inoreuse in tlie rate of interest on their deposits, upon tlieir a}jjre(;ing to receive re|)aynient ultimately in lanci T!ie amount of tlieir deposits would tlius become immediately a[>plical)le to emigrati(»n, while this regulation was calculated to assist the most in- (histrious and frugal labourers in acfpiiring land , uiul they were also Jillowed to nomiiiatc; emigrants (.^r fret^ passages on similar conditions will; :he piu-chas ts of land. The privilege granted U:< the Ijuier 'las al'.idy been lan^ely uuide use- of. so nruch so as to erent(> some Mpprelumsiou that it may be abused; but wuh the precautions that have been adopted, I ae>; no reasiin for uih asiness on this heail. I think it indeed ver. likely tiiat, if the di, ini to cmsgralv' to Australia should crotinue to be as great as it iias lately l)eeonie, owing to the accounts received from the gold-tields, land- purchasers may stipulate f«)r some payment from those whom they nuiy enabk to reach the Colony, by nominating them for passageti m the Commissioners' ships. But far from seeing any objection to such an arrangement, as a [)rivate one between the parties concerned, I think it wcmld he a very natm-al and jjrojier agretnnent for them to make ; and, so far as the pablic is coneern(!(l, it would clearly be only an advantage to the ('olony, since it would })r()niote the more rapid sale of the Crown lands, and a pi'oportion- ally increased rate of emigration. Such agreenu;nts, in fact, would virtually to a certain exti^nt accomplish what has always bec^n considered a very desirable object, that namely of enabling persons in thisCoimtry AUSTMALIA. ;i4;i who wish to einigmtc, to obtain tlie means of doing so, on the credit of their future earnings. Having adverted to this as an object which has been considered desirable, 1 am reminded tliat it has often been represented as a fault in the existing system of conducting emigration, that no attempt is made to recover from emigrants sent out by the Commis- sioners, a portion at least of the expense so incurred. It is obvious that, if this were done, a large addition ,/Ould be made to the funds applicable to emigra- tion, and it is contended that, if part of the cost of passages provided for emigrants were considered as a loan, they would have no difficulty in repaying it bv instalments from the high wages they can earn iu the Colonies. It is urged that such loans have often been made by jirivate individuals, and have al- most invariably been honestly repaid ; and a Society, which has attracted a good deal of public attention, has been formed by that energetic and benevolent lady Mrs. Chisholm, for conducting emigration upon this principle. I have no doubt of its being quite true that such loans made by private individuals have been generally paid ; it is, 1 think, w hat might have been expected; nor does it seem impossible that this Society may be equally successful in recovering the advances it may make, provided the emigrants it sends out are well selected, and that the services of trustworthy and efficient agents in the Colony can be secured. But the case would be very different if the advances ;ni (01<()MAI, POLICY were made from public money, uiul if the Colonial Government, instead of private individuals, or tlic agent of a private Society, were the creditor to whom repayment was to be made. It is unfortunately only too certain that debts to the Public are n^garded ni a very different light from private debts, and that a disposition to evade the payment of the former is shown by many, who would be ashamed not to pay what they owe to private creditors. But unless the advances were paid willingly, thi; diffien'ty and ex- pense would be so great, as to readier it impossible to recover money by petty instalments, from a nmltitude of persons scattered over so wide a territory as that of the Australian ("olonies. In fact, such was found to be the case when the experinumt was tried some twenty years ago. On the recommendation of the first Emigration Comniis- sioii, (which I have mentioned as having been aj)- pointed in 1831,) an attempt was made to supply the urgent want at that time existing in New South Wales of artisans of some of the more ordinary trades, by sending out a certain nund)er of men of this de- scription with their families, under an engagement to repay a part of the expense so in-Mirred. The wages then paid in New South Wales for such labour were so high, that these men could have had no difficulty in making these stipiUated payments had they desired it ; yet the Governor, Sir Richard Boiu'ke, reported that it was impossible to enforce the claims of the Government, and by his advice they were abandoned. AUSTUAI.IA. 345 Tlie great changes which liave since taken phice in tht5 Colony, only Umd to rentier the uttenij)t to recover (l('l)ts of this sort more hoptiless at the present day than it was then. I mention this circnmstance he- ctuise it is a {)revalent notion, that the Govern nunit has been cnlpably remiss in not taking measiu'es to recover from emigrants sent out at the expense of the Colonic,; some part of the cost of their passage ; and I believe that few persons are aware that the experi- ment was tried so long ago, and that it failed in the hands of so able a Governor as Sir Richard Bonrke. In my next Letters I will call your attention to the subject of Transportation, to the changes which have been made in the constitution of the Australian Colonies, and to their general condition. October 1st, 1852. APPENDIX API'KNDIX. IViU *fe.- fe H 2 M 12 OR M » W O o !k :s ?8 a ^ ^ ti~ *** ^ o ^ ^ •« ■« ^ W i C/3 H^ ^ !s ? ^ I .3 « 2 i^ 3 s-^^ ^ H WpqpQ 350 COLON I A l< POLICY H (M H W-H O.i =< s c c S o 5^5: sc 3^ 22 -1-1 OS -M s «' he 5 a<1 ;j^e„ "^e^ O B C :o tc^'Ccg s s •r- 1- ^. ^ = .2 3 -- u oi , o ^.2 ■ i ^ L -' C -*-' ^ ^ o 3 '/3 c r" t-a ~ -^ o- ^ &; fH sg oo .;i! . 5 t'^ac^'cs'^spi' SoflS-a M h-l t' s:?^ c3 cfl >— 3 fC c- Jl *>-l >^ WH ^A <. ^, ^ § s I m 55 w U 2 O WO o cc p C C u t C C O O 'J scad c p t ;. Ui »-< c VJ s_/ ' V w V ■■i' ♦i ,^ 4-1 «-> S 3 3 :i-5i-:i C CS 53 5^ «3 c 2 a c a ^ 3^-?* 5 a - « ~ »H a o 5 a r: ti -S 4^ ea Oi ^ -.^ -S ^ a 3 '^ S S 3 a a - ^ C EZ' {, ts •h O •i O O m; •wa^ c O C5 « J^§a ^. ^ o « t; t-> c3 '^j i^r -" *^ M '* • —4 «J,. ^^ ^^ ^ * "* a 3 a e3 o a ^ f/; h^ C C O a a a o r— "^^r^ .s^ c o ■ <- - '•-1 03 0) APPENDIX. 351 a S 50 J H U^ -tei> r* b-3 r;-^ -*- ■^ fc -=1 4-1 X) s OCA; - 3 1^ »H tH << <( «-< P^3 i^ 8 2 -•«; h- , .*. 3 • c . w a c o ■^ r' rM ^ ^ ^ h c o o E r3 s a c- ;h t' b ;j^ ^ .^ il Qj ii > S3 CO-' ^<5 03 C eS f* K '- ■c-t ^ w H M O Oi <1 M U o O Oh O (B on ►J O M >• M 00 o eS O o g o O 53 4» cq O u o e o O M M O o I H i'i . w o o m o > O 'A C c 6 'S Pi ^ o a o o O o o o C/2 D 1 *- .a I?! t3 O o (1 .1 O H ,y . 2 K^ , I — I c 5, '^ a o ^ o ♦^ * i -^ e o o S3 83 PQ-g O '^ o c 4; o o 0^5 o o "E ■3 k— I O -a +-- ■« -"S ci =1.2 fid "j ■3 ^ •E o t; o a. d o c o d o o o I .3 O) S ^ eS O o 1i <^ o o c § • t' H-l— . i-' u o o P a c o O a O y^>A >^ h >H •r/3 r/: . *- ^-J t- %. e^o C '■" IK 01 v* sj c: c "= ^ 5 ^ A 1 1: ■ > ^ O X • '^ "^ ^ a3 — X s "= •i-j o ^ 73 w a^ ^ 4/ w a.-:^ c 5* ^ !* -= K CJ 3 • •^ SS' 2 £ 2 2 c'S a ?,* ^3 o 00 ■ eS sj a> u 4) 4; 03 t Si S w O — J -3 •5o o-c .«3 O P O r; S 2 § -I, 4> -•- n.a 3i5 O rK fc. o o 4; O O O CO (r. C •7: P p S c e 6h '^ § P ?: p 41 o o .p ea p P 4i -fxi,c g-r; •X. ^ C H c;:i o C- so 4j N p -♦— P< TO Oi P or 35:2 COLONIAL POLICY. 5 o as o (2 > o O »-> o a. .a t£ -5 (1 a; « o d »-> o > e s t- ' r:^' o {► O O I H w o M " O IK W H o o (J o t- I — I P3 2 *- — ''_-'=! — *- a.s t: O t- -- -^ C ?3 f^ ^ K-* <^ I— I I Ik o :^. Cm O * c 'St GO cb .is -C/3 «*- r- -1 o a S2 ■^P^ i_-^ ^^ c = "^ ill O ■'- (<•. I— 1 pqcq do WW 2 o f— J 5 W >- t t c c o cap u ^ t^ « . 5 5 o o 6 W a o a '■^ .5 o 1 '2 O « -. IK ^^ s(. . |_H P -^ =: s "^ -* .a o ;; c a a 5- -* a S3 ? 'J Q P3 i_i 'elH .-► M I 5 i ■ t; a 1^ APPENDIX. 85:i B. C()]ni of a Despatch from, Earl Grey to Governor Sir C. A. Fitzroy. " Du'wniny-stri'et, Nuiwmbcr 2i, 18|.(> "Sir, " 1 have the hononr to inform you that in ronsoqiKnioc of the information recently reccnved from New Zealand, Hor Majesty's Servants liav(> detenniniMl that an increase of tlie military force now in that C'olony should be effected with the least possibk; deh'iy, With that view, I have to iiistruet you to make immediate arrangements, in (concert with the otficer eommandiufj; the troops in New South Wales, for scndiiifi; the whole of the disposable force; now serving; there to Wellinfjton, with the utmost practicahle despatch. It will, 1 calculate, be in your |)ow(;r, without danger, to send at least 9()() men for this service, still retaining a small force at Sydney, which, under the present circumstances of New South Wales, is all that I consider iii(lisi)ensable. New South Wales may bc^ regarded as being perfectly safe, for the present at least, from any attack from a foreign enemy; there are no riti\e tribes capable of engaging in serious hostilities with the ('olonists ; and th(! Ccniviet establishment is now reduced so low. while so irrcat an increase has taken ivlnce in the numbcrfs of the free po])ulation, that there is no ',mg(*r the nec(!ssity which some years Jigo existed for main^aiiiing a considerable mili- tary force to guard against the risk of an attempt to rise on the part of the eonvioi^. UndtT tlu!se circumstanees thcn> is no part of HerMajest/s dominions in which therci is less occasion for a large body of trtJ0j)s. Ac(!ordingly f lind that, with the eveeption of those at Sydney, the \0L. 1 A 354 COLONTAJ, POTJCY. troops now sorviiifif in New South Wales arc l)roken up nu,, small (Ictiu'limcnts, and obviously portbrmiuf? duties nioic unalofjous to those of a poliee corj)s than of a part of Ihi Majesty's rep;ular army. Hut these ar(! duties whieli tli( heavy demands upon the services of the British army dd not admit that it should be called ujxjn any lonj^er to un- dertake. Her Majesty's confidential Servants will considcv it their duty to take care that the naval and military forcis shall afford clliei(;nt j)rotection from the attacks of uiiv foreifjn eiu'my to so important a part of her {h)minions as New South Wales; but for the maintenance of intciiuti order and tran(|nillitv it is only reasonable that the Colo- nists should themselves be called uj)on to provide, by tlir formati(ni of an a(le([uate force of I'olice, or, if neeessarv, of militia. You will brin^ this sid)ject under the inuuo- diate ccnisideration of the lje. 1817 "SiK, " I have {() iU'knowlcdgc the receipt of your Despattli, No. l(K), of the 8()th April la«t, with its enclosures, rv[ior^ APPENDIX, .'355 iii^I the IKltli i/;r-r lit. IS 17 in{? tho stops proposed to be takou l)y the liieutenaut- »jj: the foree iu New Zealand, and by the reduetion of that in New Hontli Wales, and also poiiitiuf; out the dilHculty which exists irj organisiinji; an etUcieiit poliee c^orps for the last-nam(!d colony. " Although the force which you ])ropose to retain in New South Wales is somewhat larj^er in amount than 1 hav(! directed you to keep there, it is not my intention to withhold my approval from this arran; early measures to iiu'rciis(> tlic Police, so as to hi; prepared for tlie further rer hand, in the event of their eitluT Icaviiip; the service volnntarily or heiii^f disndssed for misconduct before the expiration of the sti- pulated ])eri(Kl, they should be made subject to a penulty e([nal to the probal)lc cost of their conveyance to the Colony, for the recovery of which striufjent and snnnnarv ()owers should be given to tin; Governor by the Ad autho- rizing the moasui'C. " I have, etc. " (^ifl-ucd) (JiiKv." X Al'l'KNDiV. 357 Copy of " J)(',y)(itr/i from Ear/ Grey to Goiurnor Sir a. A. Filz roy. J hncniiif) -street, Mitrch 4, 1848. Sir, "■ 1 liiivc to }i(;ku()wl('(l;;(* tlio rcocipt of your Dosputch, No. n><») of the JiOth Au^Mist last, with the coju' tluTt'iti en- closcil of a ivport from tlie Conirnutuliufi; ]{oyal I'^.n^iru^or Ni'w South Wales, rehitiui' to the (Icfoiiccs of I'ort III Jackson. " I I'ainiot coiiu.'ide in the opinion which you iiifortu me cxiists in New South Wales, that the eireiimstanec that Halifax and Qnehe(! Iiave hceti fortified at the (!ost of this conntrv, atfords a ])reee(lent ft)r an ap[)H(!ation hciuji;; made to I'ailiainent for a vote for the proteeticni of Sydney. The situation of those phices, by whicli they are so much more ex|)Osected to bear also a jiart of the heavy cliar(es which ought now to be reipiirt'd from the C-oloiiists is that of providing any additional means of hieal defence which may be reiinired. I can therefore hold out no ex- piotatiou whatevc! tt) the Legislativt^ Council of New South 358 (•()I.(>NIAI, I'Ol.K'Y, VVjilos, tliiit llcr Majesty's (fovoriiniont will Ik* jiIjIc td render any assistance towards the erection of the workh wliieli liave l)eeii sn^j>;ested at Sydney, unless they tliiiik proper to vote the recpiisite funds for tlieir construction, and, on that condition, iler Majesty's (Jovennnent will he happy to direct the Boaid of Ordnance to appoint olliccrs to pla: and cx, No ^2, Mihtary, 1 iiistnu'ted yon to maVr inimo, but that, for the nuiintenaiuie of internal order and traiuiuillity, it vvaw only njasoiiuhU; that tlu^ ('olo- iiints shoidd themsclvi's he ealled upon to provide, hy the formation of an ade(iuate force of poliee, or, if tuieessary, of militia. I instructed y(m to brinjj: thif*^p^ect under the inuuediate consideration of the Le;jrislativ(> Council, and Milder no eircumstance to onsider yourself authorizcid to tlclav scndiufj; to Ne\\ ' daud the force I had named. " In my Despatch . . lt)i March 18-tH, No. 11, Mili- tarv, 1 instructed yoi^ n the Ije^ <^ y^ <^*v ^"^ 6^ 33 WIST MAIN STIHT WItSTIi.N.Y. 145M (716)I73-4S03 '^ ,ly occasioned in the island by cliolera, and praying that 1I(m- Majesty will order all captured Africans to be sent to Jamaica, and will adopt such other measures for the speedy and adequate supply of free emigrants from Africa, as Her Majesty's Ministers may deem most advisable. I have also received your subsequent Despatch of IGth December, No. 96, transmitting a similar memorial from the Legislative Council of Jamaica. I liave not failed to lay both these memorials before Her Majesty, and Her Majesty has been pleased to receive them very graciously. " In former despatches I have already expressed to you the great concern with which Her Majesty's Servants re- ceived intelligence of the very severe calamity l)y which Jamaica has been visited, and I dii'ccted you to adopt such measures as appeared to be immediately practicable for mitigating the sufferings it must have occasioned. But 1 concur with the two branches of the Colonial Legislature, in believing that the aggravation of the scarcity of labour 30S COLONIAL POLICY. previously existing iii Jamaica, by the loss of so lar}j;(! a number of labourers by the disease which has ravaged the island, is likely to prove one of the most serious consc quenccs of the calamity, unless prompt m(;asun!s are taken to avert the evil. 1 have always been of o|)inion that the labouring, no less than the proprietary classes in Januiicu, are deeply interested in the success of the great brandies of industry which are carried on there, because, unless the production of its staple articles of ex])()rt can be (jontinucd with advantage, the most civilized of the iidiabitant of tiu; islaiul would have no inducement to reside in it, while their dej)arture could not fail greatly to retard, if not to arn^st, the progress of improvement in that part of the population which has so recently emerged from slavery and barbarism. Hence it is my most anxious wish to co-operate with the Colonial Legislature (to which the power and duty of adopting measures to meet the emergency mainly belong) in the endeavour to obviate the new difficulties with whicii the planters of Jamaica arc now threatened, and by which the prospect of improvement in their condition, which 1 had hoped was beginning to appear, has been again ol)- scured. " I have thought it right, upon a subject so deeply affect- ing the welfare of Jamaica, to communicate with some of the gentlemen resident in this country who arc most largely interested in the Colony, and I have derived much assist- ance li-om the information and suggestions I have received from them, in considering the measures it would be advi- sable to adopt. The most important of their suggestion!^ are embodied in a memorandum addressed to the Spiniker of the House of Assembly, which will be transmitted to Jamaica by the present mail, and of which, and of the letter in which it was communicated to me, I enclose copies API'KNDIX. 369 for your information. The suggestions of the gentlemen who have signed this menioranthun are wt^ll deserving of the consideration of the Assemhly : and in the lioi)e of giving some further assistance to the liCgislature in dealing witli a subject of so much diflicnlty and urgency, I will proceed to state my views on these proposals, and on those of the Legislature, as well as on some others which have occurred to myself, or have l)ecn suggested to rac from other quarters. In doing so, I may repeat obscnations already addressed to yourself, or to the governors of other C'olonies in the West Indies, in despatches of which you arc in possession; but, at the risk of such repetition, 1 think it will be convenient that 1 shoidd state in a con- nected form the conclusions as to the means which should be resorted to for sup])lying the existing deficiency of la- bour in Jamaica, to which I have been led, by a close and anxious study of the working of the various plans, which diunng the last few years have been tried for a similar object in different Colonics. " Though I am far from believing (for reasons which I shall have occasion to state in a subsequent part of this despatch) that immigration is the only practicable mode of increasing the available supply of labour in Jamaica, it is undoubtedly the first and most obvious resource which 8U4rgests itself. I do not doubt the expediency of adopting a: ■ practicable means for the introduction of a large number of immigrants of a suitable description into the Colony. With this view, it is the prayer of the Assembly in their memorial to Her Majesty, that all Negroes liberated from slavery by Her Majesty's cruizcrs shoidd be sent to Jamaica, and that such measures as may l)e considered most advisable should be adopted for obtaining free emigrants from the coast of Africa. With regard to the Negroes found on board slave-ships cap- VOL. 1. In imwm* f y^' ff ^:'f' .S7() COLONIAL roMCY, . I ;i lured hy Nor Majesty's eruiz(T», I have to olwerve that already all those who, without improper eoustraint, (;aii he iudueed to j;o to the West India (Colonies arc sent to these Colonics free of cxi)eiise to them by Her Majesty's Govern- ment ; the number therefore to be sent to Januiiea mnU\ only be increased by deprivinj? seme of the other C'olonies of the share of this advanta{?e which they now enjoy; and considering that in these Colonies the want of labour is not less urgent than in Jamaica, though they have hitherto been sj)ared from the disease which has visited tliat Island, tliis is a course which Her Majesty's Government eouhl not with propriety adopt. With rcspe(!t to the introduction of free emigrants from Africa, I concur with the Assenddy in think- ing that it wouhl be highly beneficial if it could be accom- [jlished ; but you Jire awar(^ that every endeavour which luw hitherto been made to procure free emigrants from Africa has failed ; and a reiK)rt which has very recently reached me of the last attempt, which was made only a few mouths ago, to obtain emigrants from the Kroo Coast, is not va\- couraging as to the prospect which exists of greater success attending any further experiments of the same kind. " In the memorandum transmitted to me by Mr. Mac- gregor it is suggested that an endeavour should be made to induce the free black inhabitants of some of the United States to settle in Jamaica. I have already, in my circular despatch of the I6th of October last, called your attention to the subject ; and since that despatch was written I have obtained further information, which tends to confirm the opinion that there is a reasonable prospect that, if proper arrangements were adopted for the pur|)Ose, a large; nund)cr of immigrants might be obtained from among the colom'cd and black inhabitants of the United States and of Canada. I need hardly observe that there is no immigration which n *r^..' APPKNDIX. :i7l would l)c attciuled with 80 iiiaiiy mlvantagcf* a« that ol' th(! clasH of pcrHoiiH now advorttJd to. These; |H'0|>k! are in j^crncral trained labourers, aeeuxtonuHl to the iisimes of civi- lized society, and Hpi.'akinj? the lanf^uafj;c of the Colony in which it is proposed that they should settle ; it is obvious therefore how much more useful t\wy would be than a nnuih larger number of the rude inhabitants of Africa, or even than the natives of India or of China. The distance also from which these immigrants would have to be brought is inconsiderable, so that their introduction would not be attended with heavy expense, and there is reason to believe that their removal is earnestly desired by the communiti(;8 of which they now form a part, and in which their pre- sence in the actual state of society is a source of discom- fort both to themselves and to others. " The question then arises, What are the steps which it would be advisable to adopt in order to set on foot an ex- tensive immigration of persons of this description fi'om the continent of America V and after much consideration, I am led to believe that the best course which can be adopted is that of endeavouring to enlist private enterprise in the undertaking. I am of opinion that the exertions of in- dividuals would Ix? more likely to be successful than any public agency which could be made use of in obtaining im- migrants well suited to the wants of the Colony, provided proper facilities were afforded to those who stand in need of labour to procure labourers for themselves wherever they can be found. " But to encourage the cftbrts of individuals to obtain labour for themselves, it would be necessary to make some arrangement for securing to those who incur the trouble and expense of introducing labourers the advantage they have a right to expect from doing so. It is probably with 2 B 2 372 (Ol.ONUl. I'DhlCY. this view tluit the ^nitltMiUMi who have signed the nuMiio- runduni tninsiuitti'd to mc by Mr. Macj;rcj?or have snjf- j^cstcd, that contracts for thnn; years should he U'pilizcd in .latnaica, as thcv have hc'cn in sonur otlicr Colonics. Von have already Imvii infonned that iltlie Ijefj;islaturc»)f'.)ainai('ii should think fit to piiss a law for this purpose, I should not consider it necessary to advise Her Majesty to withhold her sanction from it ; hut in repeating that I am prepared to abstain from objecting to such le{2cislation, I must also repeat the expression of my stronjj opinion as to tin; ex- trcmc impolicy of eiu'ojiraj^iuf? eontracjtw of this descrip- tion. It is obvious that the only advanta^je which can re- sult to the employers from haviu}^; their labourers bound to them by etmtracts for three years, is that of obtaininj,' the labour of those who are so bound on better terms than they could ex|)cct to pjet the same auiount of labour from jjcrsons under no enji^af?emcnt. This advantajje may be exju'cted to arise more from the rcf^ularity with which labour can be commanded, than from the rate of waji;e8 to be paid to the persons so cnj^aged ; still the return for the exptmse incurnMl in the introduction of lalwnrcrs is looked for in some form or other, from the right to their service for a certain tinu;. No doubt at first sight the scheme apjKJars sufficiently plau- sible; but the cxi)crimcnt has been repeatedly tried, and eon- tracts of this kiml have invariably disappointed thos(^ who have entered into them. More than twenty years ago, when the want of labour in New South Wales was exceedingly urgent, some gentlemen having property in that Colony en- gaged labourcTs in this Country, and sent them out undcT (contracts to work for them for a term which had been agreed upon. One of the persons by whom this experiment was tried, and who hiul been most sanguine as to its success, descrilKid to me its utter failure; nor were the causes of AI'I'KNDIX. .S7.S that i'uiliin^ (liiliciilt to iimlcrstiiiKl. It ix a truth t(M) o\u vioiw to cscajM' the; nioHt ordinary ()l)Mr who is not subject to the stem compulsion of slavery, eannot be impelled to real exertion except by making it his interest to exert himself. In this Country, which for suceeshful industry nuiy justly (rlaim to sttuid at the head of all the nations of the world, it is well known that the employers of labour find if expedient to bring self-interest to bear as directly as possible on the labourers, aiul that piece-work, whenever it is practicable, is gi'eatly preferred to day labour ; though, in the state of the demand and supply of labour which exists here, the power of discharging an idle labourer gives great authority to the master in enforcing exertion on the part of labourers engaged by the day. I must add, that the state of feeling created by the existence of slavery iti tlie United States V ' 374 COT.ONIAL rOLICY. would, I believe, render the most eligible emigrants who might be obtained there, peculiarly averse to entering into contracts for labour for three years. " I have entered thus fully into the objections which, in my judgement, render it incxi)cdient to attempt to bind by long engagements immigrants who may be induced to resort to the British Colonies, because I entertain a strong con- viction that such an attempt would be certain to IcjkI to the failure of any plan of immigration of which it formed a part, while at the same time the legitimate object which is aimed at by such engagements is capable of being at- tained by other means which are not liable to the same objection. Nothing can be more reasonable than that those who incur the trouble and expense of introducing lal)ourers into Colonies where labour is in great demand, and consecjuently bears a high value, shouM be repaid out of the earnings of the labourers so introduced; and 1 should strongly recommend to the Legislature of Jamaica that every facility which can |)08sibly be given by law should be aftbrded for making and enforcing contracts founded on this principle. For this purpose, I am of opinion that a law should be passed, rendering valid in the Colony engagements entered into by immigrants before their embarkation, to repay by instalments such a sum of money as may be agreed upon between them and the j)ersons by whom they are conveyed to the Colony. It would probably be convenient that such engagements shoidd be in the form of simple notes of hand, jjromising to pay the sum agreed upon by certain weekly instalments, and that they should be witnessed by the master of the vessel in which the immigrants are embarked, and pro- bably also by some public authority at the port of embar- kation. If that port is a ft)reign one, the British consul APPENDIX. 375 woiild probably be tbe best person to perform this duty. It would also, I think, be advisable to provide that when, on the arrival in Jamaica of a ship conveying immigrants embarked upon these terms, none of them should be per- mitted to land until they had bi;en identified before the immigration agent, or some officer acting under liim, as the persons who had signed or affixed their marks to the engagements })reviously witnessed by the master of the vessel, and a certificate to this effect shoidd then be added to the engagement. Without some such provision as this, it would probably be difficult, after the departure of the vessel, to prove the signature of the immigrant, so as to enforce his promise to repay the cost of his passage. It would further be necessary to provide that every immi- grant introduced under such a contract should be bound to give notice to the person with whom he had entered into it, or to the immigration agent, through the police, where he intended to reside, and that till his debt was dis- charged he should be liable to the penalties attached to fraud if he should, without previous notice to the same parties, go more than five or ten miles fi'om the place where he had signified his intention to reside. " Great care would be necessary in framing an enact- ment of this kind, so that on the one hand it might be effectual for its purpose, and on the other it might not press with undue severity on the immigrants, so as to dis- courage the immigration of the coloured people from the United States and from Canada. This «las8 would not fail speedily to learn from the first immigrants what treat- ment they had experienced in the Colony; and nothing would be so impolitic as to allow this treatment to give just ground for complaint, since this would infallibly put a stop to an inujiigration, which is calcidated to be so 370 COLON TAT, POLICY. highly beneficial to th(> Colony, and which, if properly encouraged, is, I believe, capable of l)eing established on a very large scale. 1 have oidy to add, on this point, that the objection 1 have lu-ged to h)ng contracts for labour would iu)t apply to contra<;ts entered into with iuiniigrants thus bound to repay the cost of their introduction into tlu' Colony, to give them employment at the full wages o\' the Colony, but with a power reserved to the immigrant of cancelling the engagement at his pleasure, on giving a month's notice of his desire to do so. An assurance of employment on such terms might be necessary to induce the labourer to emigrate; and if the wages agreed upon were such as to make his beuig discharged a punishment instead of an advantage, a power might be; reserved to the master, in the case of misconduct or idleness on the i)art of the Piuigrant, to cancel, before a magistrate, this part of the agreement, leaving in Ml force the engagement tt) repay the debt contracted by the immigrant. " I am of opinion, that the passing of a simple law of this kind, by enabling proprietors to make arrangements for themselves, and to engage labourers wherever they might be found, whether on the continent of America, in some of the southern countries of Europe, or in China, would aftbrd the best means of supplying the present defi- ciency of labour. But I sboiUd see no objection to com- bining a law of this kind with the adoption of the recom- mendation of the gentlemen whose memorandum 1 have sent you, by taking measures also for the introduction of labourers at the public expense. If this is done, it appears to me that it would be advisable to pass a law placing such immigrants under regidations similar to those which have been for some ti'^Ks in force with much success in Mauri- tius, and which have lately been adopted also in Trinidad APPENDIX. 377 and Guiana. Or, what would perhaps be still simpler, the amount :uHanced from the Colonial Treasury to cover the cost oi roducing these immigrants might be made a debt, recoverable from tliem in the same manner as similui- debts would be recoverable by individuals under the law 1 have suggested. In this case the immigration agent, on behalf of the public, should make the advance, and should have the same power as a private creditor, of recovering the amount by instalments from the inmiigrant. " But I have already observed, that I do not consider im- migration as by any means the only source from which an uicrcase in the supply of available labour may be obtained in Jamaica. Every account which has reached me of tlit^ {ictual state of society in the Island, tends to conhrm my impression that the laws and arrangements now m force are not calcidated to call forth the energies of the existing po- pulation, and that, if proper inducements to exertion were held out to them, they might, without being at all over- tasked, be made to perform much more useful labour than at present. I am unwilling to touch upon topics calculated to revive the memory of controversies now happily for- gotten ; but at the same time, in order more clearly to ex- plain my views as to the policy which ought now to be adopted, I hope I may without ofi'ence observe, that expe- rience has confirmed the opinion which I expressed at the time, that it was a great and unfortunate error, when slavery was abolished, not to place the emancipated population under regidations calculated to impose upon them the ne- cessity of greater exertion, and at the same time to provide for various objects necessary for their real welfare, but the importance of which it was not likely that they would be able to luulerstand. " It was not sufficiently understood at the time, that as 378 COLONIAL POLICY. I (hiring slavery the greater part of the food consumed bv the Negroes was derived from their provision-gromids, and the value of the supplies they received from their masters was trifling, compared to that of the labour they performed, the eftcct of suddenly releasing them from the obligation oi" performing gratuitous labour, was to leave them without any adequate motive to work for wages for more than a small portion of their time. By devoting a comparatively small part of the week to hired labour, and working as be- fore in their provision-grounds, they were able to live nmch better than they had ever been accustomed to do, and this being the ease, their conduct would have been milike that of men in any other country of the world, if they had con- tinued to exert themselves as formerly. In this Country, when an unexpected demand for some particular article occasions a sudden and great increase in the wages of any one description of workmen, it is generally found that, in the first instance, the men do not work as long and as hard as Ixjfore, but take out a part of the greater value of their labour in the enjoyment of more leisure ; in like manner, the Negroes of Jamaica naturally availed themselves of being suddenly made masters of the whole returns of their labour, to indulge largely in the luxury of idleness. They did so, indeed, to a less extent than might have been anti- cipated, as they adopted for a time habits of profuse ex- pense, which could only be met by labour ; but still the immediate and very great falling oft* in the produce of tlie Island, notii^'ithstanding the economy of labour which was introduced when it became dearer, proves to how great an extent the amount of work done by them was diminished. " Hut it certainly was not calculated to promote the real welfare of the emancipated population, that they should be allowed thus largely to indulge in idleness. To men, wluit- APPENDIX. 370 ever may be their colour, their country, or their rank, idle- ness is ever a source of corruption, and T fear it is not to be doubted that the Negroes liave been no exception to tlic rule, and that their advancement in civilization and morality, in the seventeen years which have nearly elapsed since slavery was abolished, have been by no means equal to that which might have been expected, had they been placed in circumstances which would have imposed upon them the necessity of greater industry ; nor can it be doubted that they might have been called upon to submit to a greater amount of labour for objects of the utmost importance to themselves. Though their mere animal in- stincts led tliera to work sufficiently to obtain the means of gratifying their rude desires, and for the supply of their immediate physical Mants, there are other wants of human nature no less real, which they were incapable of under- standing, and for which therefore they made no provision. Education, religious instruction, and the procuring ol' medicjd advice for themselves and for their children, were unfortunately neglected. It is true they did subscribe what ui)on the whole amounted to considerable sums, for the support of chapels and schools; but the information which has been obtained on the state of education in the Island, proves beyond all doubt that, notmthstanding tlie assistance rendered by this comitry, the provision which has been made for education and for religious instruction, has fallen far short of the wants of the population. The deficiencies with regard to medical aid have not been less striking : during slavery medical aid had been furnished at the charge of the master, and the emancipated slaves did not understand the necessity of pajdng for such assistance for themselves and for their children ; and to this, and to their bad management of their children during sickness, and 380 COLONIAL POLICY. the consequently largo proportion of deaths during infaucv, it is, I believe, to ])e attributed that tiie population of ,Ia- maica has not, since the abolition of slavery, increased with tlie rapidity which might have been expected, in a coun- try where all the necessaries of life are in such extreme abundance. " Hence it appears to me greatly to be regretted, that on the abolition of slavery the emancipated population wciv not required to make some small weekly payment for the the support of schools, of churches and chapels, and of public dispensaries and hospitals. ^'>uch institutions would have greatly contributed to their civilization and moral improvement ; and tlie necessity of earning in each w eek the means of making the required payment, would have been a wholesome stimulus to industry, and woidd have supplied that motive for labour which was unhappily wanting. It is not, however, for the mere purpose of expressing regret for the past, that I have referred to the error which was in my judgement committed at the period of emancipation ; my object is rather to point out, that if these views are just, it may not yet be too late to adopt, partially at least, the policy which ought then to have been acted upon. It is true that the difficulty of doing so is greatly increased. At that time the weekly payment which I have suggested might have been required from the emancipated slaves, would have been a substitute for the galling yoke of slavery, and it would therefore have been gladly and cheerftdly submitted to, while at the pre- sent moment it would be felt as a new burden unjustly imposed on a particular class, and could not therefore be safely required in its simplest form. But it deserves to be considered by the Assembly, whether the present moment is not favourable to the adoption of measures founded upon the principle which 1 have endeavoured to explain. I M APPENDIX. 381 "The recent calamity has naturally called public at- tention to the great deficiency which exists in the means (){ supplying medical assistance to the population of Ja- maica ; it seems therefore to be a good opportunity of re- viving the consiileration of a measure (suggested, but not adopted, on a former occasion) for establishing parochial hospitals and dispensaries. 1 am persuaded that such in- stitutions would be found highly useful ; and the expense of maintaining them, as they would be established mainly for the benefit of the labouring classes, might, with great propriety, be defrayed by a rate upon houses ; the amount levied upon each house being made to depend up{m the number of its habitual inmates. In public hospitals and dispensaries thus maintained, every rate-payer should be entitled to obtain gratuitous treatment in sickness for himself and his family, thus rendering the arrangement, in effect, equivalent to the establishment by law of medical clubs, such as those which exist in many English parishes, with the single but important difference, that in Jamaica it would be legally obligatory on every inhabitant of the parish to contribute to the institution. For this difference there would be ample ground in the fact that experience has too fatally proved, that the provision made voluntarily for the treatment of the sick in Jamaica is lamentably de- ficient. The benefit to be derived from such institutions as I have mentioned would be much in(;reased, if the pro- posed hospitals were combined with the parochial work- houses, which would be put upon a proi)er footing for afford- ing relief in eases of destitution, on the system noAv adoptcnl in well-regulated workhouses in this Country. In Jamaica, where the demand for labour is so great, and a subsistence so easily obtained, it is scarcely possible that any but the sick or the infirm can suffer from want, if they are vriliing 382 COLONIAL P0L1C;Y. to exert thcmaclvcs for tlieir own supimrt, and real distross will jfonenilly l)c found to proceed from sickness. Still it will be impossible to enforce, with due strictness, laws ajjainst vaj!;rancy, uidess the means exist of offenng relief in well-regulated workluMises, to those who ])rofess, how- ever untruly, that they are driven to vagrancy by (listr(>ss. Hence the obvious advantages of combining in one esta- blishment the hospital and the workhouse, in which vdk'\' is given both to real and pretended distress. " The want of schools has been no less clearly esta- blished than the deficiency of the existing arrangements i'or the medical treatment of the sick. This absence of any proper pronsion for the education of the rising generation is an evil of a very serious kind ; and when it is considered that, by the existing constitution of Jamaica, the actpiisi- tion of political \x)wer is no less open to the negro than to the white man, and that in a few years the former race, from their great numerical superiority, can hardly fail to l)ceome possessed of a predominating influence, it cainiot be doubted that to the future welfare of the comnmnitv it is of the greatest importance that those who must possess this pow(;r should be prepared by education for its exercis(\ Effective schools ought therefore, in my judgement, to he established tluroughout the Island ; and the expense of doiiifr so is one which might, with the strictest justice, be pro- vided for by such a rate upon houses as 1 have already de- scribed. I should not recommend that any attempt should be made to require the population to send their children to the schools to be thus established ; it would be sufficient that all the inliabitants of the several parishes should l)e called upon to pay their share for the maintenance of effec- tive schools, v/ith the privilege of sending their children to them without any additional payment, if they thought APPENDIX. 383 proper to do so. I need hardly observe that the system of nuiintainiii^ schools by rates has existed in Massaehusetts and some other states of the American Union sinec their first settlement, and has Ikjcii attended with tlie liest results. I am aware tliat, in establishing; such a system in Jamaica, much difficulty woidd arise frt)m relijiious differences ; l)ut this difficulty has been successfully contended with in Canada, where, without neglectiu}? religious instruction, the children of parents of various persuasions are educated together ; and when the need of some improved system of education is so urgent as it has been proved to be in Jamaica, 1 should hope that the members of all the diffcrrmt religious com- munities which exist in the Island would concur in not allowing their differences to stand in the way of that im- provement. I cannot leave this part of the subject without adding, that I conceive education to be of great importance to the industrial prosperity of Jamaica, since jigi'icidtural improvement can hardly be carried on with spirit and effect except by means of instructed and intelligent labourers. " In proposing that the expense of providing medical as- sistance and education for the po})ulation of Jamaica shoultl be met by a rate imposed upon houses, according to the number of their inmates, I have had in view both the jus- tice, considering the parposes for which the money is re- (luired, of this mode oi levying it, and also the advantage to be derived from it by its being calculated to stimulatfi the labouring classes to industry. I have not, however, forgot the observations in your Despatches of the 20th and 21st of October 18't8, on the discontent and irritation which you state to have been produced by the system of parochial as- sessments, pressing heavily, and in galling manner, on the occu])ier8 of small tenements and holdings of land. I am well aware of the great danger which might result from 384 COLONIAI, I'OMCY. roiiHiiig fcelhigH of tlii.s kind in uii ignorant nnil excitable }M)|)uluti()n ; they ought not thoreforo to 1m' suhjoctisd to a now burden of the kind I have suggested, without takiiij; care tliat it is botli light in amount, and eoUeeted in the manner least onerous to those by whom it is paid, and aiiso that the utmost pains should he taken in exjdaining that this payment is made for objects in which they are deeply interested. Ilinice the penalties for default of payment should be as moderate as possible, not exceeding two days of forced labour for every shilling left unpaid ; and the ma- gistrates and special Justices should be instructed earcfully to explain to the people the advantages they would receive in return for the payment demanded from them before the period fix(;d for its collection. It would likewise be most desirable that whih* this new demand is made upim the population, they should at the same time be relieved, if possible, from some of the most o))jcctionable of the pre- sent taxes. 1 woidd more especially recommend a revision of the duties upon ordinary articles of ft)od, such as flour, butter, and cheese. The duties ujwn these and upon other articles of a similar kind, I shotdd consider it highly expe- dient to abolish or to reduce, if the state of the revenue should render it piacticable to do so. It is I think impos- sible to doubt that duties of this kind must have a ten- d(3ncy very injurious to the great staple branches of Colo- nial industry. While the sugar and coffee planters are suffering so much from a deficiency of labour, it is obvious that in levying the revenue required for the public service the utmost pains should ])e taken to avoid every tax which has a tendency to divert labour fnmi these occupations. IJut taxes upon imported provisions have this tendency in the highest degree; by raising the price of such provisions they must necessarily incrca.se the (Mnisumjjtion of provi- APPENDIX. aso sions grown in tlio Colony, and therefore tlic deniiuul for the prochiec raised hy the Ne^^ro in Ins own }?ronnd, thus artificially increa8in}jf the profit to be (h^rived from this de- scription of lalmur, and at the Manu> time nuiking an e((\ially artificial rcdnetion in the aracnntt of food which can he piircha«ed by the wages earned in the cane-fiehl. Thus these duties are dinsctly cahitdated to discourage the hi- hourer from working for hire, and to huid him to preic r working in his own provision-ground. It is liardly luces.. sary to observe, tliat in the actual state of society in .la- iTiaica, it would 1x5 desirable that wliatever revciuu^ is rccpiired shouhl be raised by taxes having precis'^ly the opposite effect. " For these reasons I consider it to be of great imi)ort- ancc that the duties in question should be reduced, if they cannot be entirely abolished. T am not ignorant that the present state of the Colonial finances opposes considerable difficidty in the way of the reduction of any taxes. But from the information contained in your Despatches of the 9th and 22nd of December 1849, I am led to believe that bv a more exact collection of existing taxes, and particu- larly the land-tax, and by revertnig to the former practice of the Colony, and leaving certain local charges to be de- frayed by parochial instead of by general taxes, the defi- ciency which wii all pasture land, anotluT on land ^ruwin^ cancN, and another on provision f^roinulH, takin;; as the busiw of the calcMlation tin' avcraj^e value of tiio n^tura derived iroin the laud by thoMi several inudeu of occupation. ** I am persuaded that tlu- various measures I Ijave suji;- {|fcst(Hl would tend, by their eond)iue iw 388 COLONIAL POLICY. expenditure of parochial and other local rates is entrusted should be considered, and if necessary improved in such a manner as to give the lower class of ratepayers some share in the management of their own affairs, and the proceedir.gs of these local bodies should be subjected to the supervision of some superior authority, and their accounts to an inde- pendent audit. Lastly, if the existing law against vagrancy is insufficient to check that oftence, its faults should be cor- rected, and it should be considered whether the rechietions which have been made in the police have not been carri(!d too far, bearing in mind that there can be no such sliort- sighted and injudicious economy as that, which would refuse the ncccssfiiy outLay for maintaining the police in a state of complete ctKciency, for the preservation of order and the enforcement of the law, without which industry can never flourish. " In conclusion, I have to desire that you will lay before the Assembly a copy of this despatch, with ray assurance that in making the various suggestions which I have now offered for their consideration, it is far from my wish to dictate to them what measures to adopt, on which it is their duty and their right to d(rterraine according to their own judgement. My only object has been to afi'ord tlicni any assistance in my power in considering what are the legislative measures best calculated to promote the welfare of all classes of the iidiabitjints of Jamaica, and to enable tliein to turn to account th*^ great natural advantages of this magnificent island. The i)resent api)ears to be an im- portant crisis in the history of the colony, and its future prosperity will mainly depend upon the jiulgement with which the measures now to be taken are adapted to its real wauts. It is incumbent therefore upon the Legislature to which the dcstiuics of Jamaica are mainly entrusted, well I ) APPENDIX. 389 and maturely to consider the course which should now he adopted ; and I have thought it my duty to lay heforc tlu^ra somewhat fully my own views as to the policy which ought to be pursued, because these views are founded on an exi)e- rience now extending over a very considerable immber of years, and on a careful study of the state of society both in Jamaica and in other colonies from a period antecedent to the abolition of slavery, with a close observation of the various changes which that measure and others c()nsc(jucnt upon it have produced. I entertain a firm conviction that whatever errors I may have fallen into as to the practical measures I have suggested, the principles on which these suggestions rest are sound, and 1 therefore confidently re- commend them to the consideration of the Assembly, with the earnest desire that that body, with the assistance of the other branches of the Legislature, may succeed in adopting such measures as may enable Jamaica to rise from her pre- sent difficulties to that prosperity to which I believe she is capable of attaining. " I have, etc. " (Signed) Grey.'' entrusted, well 390 COLONIAL POLICY. X ..... 11 CO i-< C (M <-H »C «0 rH 91 CO 05 l^ iM iM IM (N CO OJ SB >o X ^ C5 rH OJ T}l lO «C X OS l>. g CO" -m' (M" r-T CO CO' (M* os" lo' ,-*r "M* S o>J »» «o 00 QO <» »n ?C i-H 00 05 'T 05 U5 i Ol ■. i>i t>. t>. x" |i 1© C5 © ^M »0 'C »>. S8 OS 'M lO ?0 6 © CO lO 00 l^ CO ^ i-t t^ O r-H ©__ lO CO \n OS l-H 3 II a ^ t^ ^ oo" tj" rf tC CX«OQCl^Qn5aO »0 t'" 00 OS CO 05, O r-T F-T (N" CC' CO*" 00 t-c CO CO »o (N of CO **:! oa (M (M ^ Q «0 Q 05 (M lO rH CD GO 00 O «0^ C •^ « 2 "S ^. 00 CO 00 fM OO O lO l>. i>. -s S '-S on S M -^ 00 CO »0 rH lO (M' 1-H oi »o' ^ PH Ph O'^OJO'HO^ *, r r, ». ^ •■ ». n X q I— 1 CO •«*■>* CO Ifl U3 lO U3 1(5 »o >o' -H 05 (M S CO X 00 SO CO "f CO C i-i X 1 »0 t- 05 C CO X CO (M 8 t^ P^ 03 t>. U5 •^ CO X -H X. C5 O^ o J fH f-H I— ( 1— ( '-J3 •c »; m u U5 CO OS W »0 CO i-l t^ OS CO X Q --I l>- OS lO CO CO ^- C X l>. ■^ lO CO C lO CD f— ' X Cm O CO X iq CO h-t a OS l-~ CO Q iM Q --I cd' 'M' rH X 2 X 0-1 Cw CO 00 >T) CO CD C X lO — r -M CO X S3 ■73 *■ t-^ tC t>r x"" X 8 g 5> Ol CO CO w Oi rH o 1^ :c CO X l^ X CO CO >o o 1—1 o cc (N (M 'M 5^ >H 8 X c5 .t >o ID «o »^ l>. kO ! >o ^ lO o OI 1— 1 CO X o CO »o •o lO lO d CO -f CO X o «o o CO •M .a lO "M «- (M ■^ 'M CO 05 vX >0 ^ lO •o CO 5 I— t ,— ( 1— 1 1— 1 l-t »c lO CO OS T— ( CO TTI CO •M 3S Oi T? o Ci 1— 1 lO X CO I-H X CO (M ^ t^ X 05 o fH 1—1 iH ) r-* t-~ OJ CO X ) 00 lO '.C --I X ) O M X^ »0 CO r p4 '^ 'M' r-5' x' ) to X 0-1 ;c CO I "1 — . ''I '■^. '■^^ I CO CO CO (N CO . 00 Cl C r-* 01 ? "f T? lO lO >0 : X X X X X H I— ( I— ( 1— ( I— I rH D 3J ^ !n 3 *^ CO i '5 r; be O; <; r-( sc OQ O M H ao !«i O O » O w M O P » on H i "S 00 fl 1 - . .. Aggregate the Entrie for Home Consumptio 27,974 ©0,091 45,137 83,644 *5.856 79.653 O '■^ X t- X 'i^ OS cr i>. rH ■05 "*■ CO lO ri< rM lO c. »0 X X O: Ci X 'Ti (M -: 1-H -# lO O •^ <0 CO C CO «o >o CO (£1 . lO >o i-H r-\ rH rH «« on U . act. 25.785 89,593 45,044 49,060 85,792 23,232 X 05 rH (M Total Produce British Possessio r- IN CO 1^ rH CO t^ Co" CO 't ^, "^l CO lO' O CO O 0:1^ t>. ■»f rH CO__ O rH 00 Oi^ 1-. ^T ^j' *^ ^^ ^T ^^ «0 C rH »0 U5 co' 00 ■^ X CO ■^ *^ 1-^ I--. ^ t- Ol rH ^ ^ t^ OJ Ir^ CO tM CO i ^ i^ >o 0; _• CO C 05 »0 -^ CC X 05 t- 5i (>1 05 »0 CO «0 t>. C (5^ "-H CO CO C5 "^ C O 05 (N ■^ 1^ O J>. 05 (M 10 (N I'- »0 Q rH rH CO X CO 5>) C 0^ -J3 _^ CO' X «5 ^ X rH IN rH -^ X 1-^ 00 c S «0 rH t>. O"! (M «p •O 1—' '* CO CO -O ^ C I?! (M X !M rH C X C5 CO CO Ph l5 X lO rp I--. X Ch OS X 05 M ^ rH r-t .a •c 03 n 01 (M CM iM 00 »0 X 05 C' iM ^ X r-^ r-{ 10 X •<* a X rfi rH OS rH ^S ^. 1^ CO >0 rH U5 T« rH ,-1 rH t^ 1— 1 a CO X rH c CO Ci S t^ -^ (M OS 1^ CO CO t^ 10 X LO 8 ;3 CO OS C 05 CO ■^ MS t>. X X CO 05 C5 rH CO >0 (N (N W (N »! N (N (M CO (N CO A oo-B £1 CO 2 »0 CO t--. ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^P ^^^ ^^^ X 05 rH ;M ■r^ T* to >o to fe^ 00 X X X X 00 X 00 1—^ 1—^ XXX r^ f^ r^ l^ gate of ar and asses — lasses g con- ed into in ^, "^ "Z ^ T^ c8 ^ 1-. -H es ?5 rH tt be « < 392 COLONIAL POLICY. Ac't'oxmt of Duty Ileceived in the United Kingdom on Sugar and Melasses. Years ending Jidy 5. Aggregate Receipts of Duty on Sugar and Melasses. Of British Possessions. Foreign. Total. 1842 £. 5,476,987 5.176,631 5,253,687 4,955,221 3,514,354 3,326,947 3,522,288 3,430,527 3,371,976 2,793.894 3,077,561 £. 8,026 1,665 319 4^,777 70,335 1,336,615 877,378 993,407 699,969 1,343,624 1,276,042 £. 6,485,013 5,178,296 5,254,(X)6 4,995,998 3,584,689 4,6()3,562 4,399,666 4,423,934 4,071,945 4,137,518 4,353,603 1843 1844 1845 1846 1847 1848 1849 1850 1851 1852 Purliamentarj' Paper 296, 1852. Ibid. 97, 1852. " To his Excelkncy James Macaulay Higgimon, Esquire, C. B., Governor of the Island of Mauritius and its Dependencies, etc. " We, the midersigned inhabitants of Flacq, beg leave respectfully to approach your Excellency, to ofler a heart- felt \vek;ome upon the occasion of this your first visit to our District. "It is many years since the inhabitants of the country APPENDIX. 893 ft on Sugar and 1 Sugar and Total. £. 6,485,013 5,178,29(> 5,254,fX)() 4,995,<.)98 3,584,(;89 4,G()3,502 4,399.t;«6 4,423,934 4,071,945 4,137,518 4,353,603 1852. nson, Esquire, ritius and its icq, l)eg leave oftcr a heart- st visit to our »f the country Districts of the Island, have enjoyed the satisfaction of receiving among them the representative of their Sove- reign ; we therefore feel the more grateful to your Ex- cellency for having now revived the practice of Sir Robert Parqnhar and Sir Lowry Cole, your former much respected predecessors, and afforded us the opportunity of expressing our feeling of loyalty and attachment to our most gracious Queen, and of freely communicating to you personally om- wants and wishes, miembarrassed by the shackh^s of official formality, which are too apt to give rise to misunderstanding and distrust. " We hail this as the dawn of a new era of confidence and of frankness in the intercourse between the Mauritians and their Governor; and if the Colonists find reason to be grateful for the benefits that never fail to attend a wise Administration, your Excellency will, on the other hand, enjoy the satisfaction and the glory inseparable from the successful exercise of your exalted functions. To attain this result one of the most important Prelimi- naries is, to be well acquainted with the field of action and with the population to be dealt with ; and we flatter ourselves that when your Excellency comes to know us well, you will, as we have reason to think was the case with your late honourable Predecessor, acknowledge that no body of people can be more easy of government than the Colonists of Mauritius. " Sensitively alive perhaps to the appearance of slight, and prompt to resent injustice and calumny, they are easily won by the smallest approach to kindness, and arc ever ready to bless the hand extended for their relief, and the heart that sympathizes with their sorrows, or inte- rests itself in their welfare. Slow to claim even their just rights, you will have observed that when forced to make 394 COLONIAL POIilCY. known tlicir wants^ their endeavour has always been to afford information to, but never in any way to obstruct the measures of those in authoritv. » " A^niniated with such feelings, the inhabitants of Fhic(i seize the occasion of your presence among ns to bririfj to yonr Excellency's notice some observations calcMdatcul to assist your inquiries, and to make you acquainted witli tlu! more immediate wants of the District. "The question of Municipal Institutions has so recentlv engaged your Excellency's attention, that it is unnecessary for us now to do more than recall it to ycnir recollection. We may say the same with respect to establishments for charitable and educational purposes, with which we feci sure you will find the District sufficiently enlightened to be entrusted ; th(; cordiality and union which you will find reigning among all classes of its inluibitants aftbrd a powerful pl(!dg(! for the punctual exercise of such rights. " The mere statement of the fatit that our District con- tains twentv thousand iidiabitants, and extends over a surface of upwards of a hundred square miles, is enough to satisfy your Excellency of the utter insufficiency of the ])olicc guard allotted to it, amounting to oidy thirteen or fourteen men, notwithstanding all the zeal and activity of the single officer jdaeed in charge of it. " It will be sufficient also to nienticm the public roads, of which, extensive as is the district, only the main one receives the regular attention of the civil engineer ; tlio others are left to the care of the adjacent proprietors, and absorb considerable sums of money, as well for the repairs to make them passabh;, as for making good the damage and destruction of cJirriages, carts, and draught animals, caused by the dilapidatcnl state of the public ways. For want of pra^iticable means of communication numy fertile APPENDIX. 395 tracts of land lie unproductive, as under j)rescnt circum- stances they arc utterly inaccessible. " The Ordinance respecting the (establishment of a Dis- trict Magistracy has probably already received the appro- bation of Her Majesty, and may be expected ere long to be put in execution. Our confideniee in your Excellencv's wisdom and discernment relieves us from any apprehen- sions on the subject of the selection of persons fully qua- hfied for such responsible and important offices; but we beg respectfully to suggest the desirableness of the choice of some central spot for the new Magistrate's Court, where also might be fixed the offices of the other public servants of the District, "There also it is essential to establish a prison, with somewhat more eft'ectual arrangements for the security and healtb of the prisoners than are to be found in tlie build- ing at present temporarily used for that purpose. " In approaching the subject of Indian immigration — perhaps the most important and vital of all to the inha- bitants of this Colony — we hasten to express our grateful sense of the efforts your Excellency has unceasingly made for the promotion of this great object. Your endeavours, successful we would fain hope, to place this question in its true light before the Home and the Indian Govern- ments, — your readiness to sanction the introduction of an increased number of labourers, when called for by the wants of the Colony, — your promptitude in taking mea- sim's to alleviate the mischief caused by the culpal)le ')etraj'al of his duties (to use no stronger expression) by our agent at Calcutta, and by the siu'reptitious competi- tion in the Madras territory of a foreign Colony, — and the wise instructions you have issued to the stipendiaiy magistrates with a view to ensure the most effi^etive labour 390 COLONIAL POLICY. Avitli the least possible employment of coercion, deniaud our v.armest acknowledgments. " Your Excellency lias expressed your opinion, that vlien an ininiifj:rant has* violatcfl his contract of service by inexcusable desertions, instead of resorting to the iiiipto- (Itable penalty of imprisonment, it is preferable to coni]U'l him, after the expiration of his contract, to replucc tiic labour be has illegally withheld from his master. We eutircly concur with your Excellency on this point ; l)iit v/e beg leave to suggest that it would be furthcM'niore ni;- cessary, so as to allow no miscoTistruction to go abroad, as to the true intent of your instructions, to inform the stipendiary magistrates that the jKnudty of imprisonment is not to be absolutely refrained from, although it be deenujd not to produce as wholesome an eftect in the above case as the obligation of completing the fu" ex- tent of labour due. Recourse to measures of conipid- sion certainly is a i)ainful necessity ; but since it is a ne- cessity recognized inseparable from the administration of labour, imprisonment as a penalty should not be entirely suppressed, and would be rightly resorted to in such an instance, as when the delinquent refuses to return to his master to replace the time of his desertions. This course, however, of requiring the immigrant to complete the full time of his contract, and perform the labour he owes to its full extent, as your Excellency has wisely advised, we consider to be the most desirable and salutary, whenever the employer has not indemnified liimself according to the law. " And we venture also to suggest that it be part of the instructions to stipendiary magistrates to encourage as much possible engagements for three years. No measure is better calculated than this, for creating among the immigrants ^ I APPENDIX. 397 settled and orderly hiihits, and to lead ultiiTiately to the os- tablishnicut of a resident peasantry. Tlu^n; is little variety in the different distriets and estates, either in the labour or in the wages and other ailovvanees offered to th nrni- grants, and it cannot Im^ doubted that it woidd be greatly to the advantage of these people to bi; spared the loss of time, and the interruption of their habits and oecjupations, attendant on annual changes of their eniployijrs and re- sidences. Tf the Indians are to be regar(h>d as so far iu a state of pupilage as to be int(;rdieted from forming eon- tracts without the sanction of a magistrate; acting as their guanban and prot(;ctor, that officer, it seems to us, should he empowered to advise, and as much as in him lies to encoiu'age, a system so deci(hMlly advantageous to them. Your Ikcellency's recommendation to this effect will, we are persuaded be attended with very beneficial results. " We beg yoiir Exctdkmey not to consider these re- marks as reflecting even in the most distant numncT on the conduct of the public functionaries of our District, the uprightness of Avliose intcintions it is far from our tnean- ing to impeach ; but we consider it to be our duty, even towards them, to draw your Excellency's attention to mea- sures that re{piire to be explained and understood ere they can effect all the beneticial residts they are intended for. " These observations, we tnist, will be favourably re- ceived by your Excellency, although it needed not imr voice to awak(!n you to the extreme importance of the question of immigration. A country whose wealth, nay, whose veiy existence, depends upon agriculture, would in- deed be lost, if left without a labouring population. We are now, and for the last five years have been, engaged in a struggle with slave-owning and slave-trading Colonics, 3U8 (COLONIAL POLICY. and, with tho blessiii}^ of Providence, may yet lje victt). rious in tin; strife ; but for tliis we muHt have lubonrera, and that at a moderate expense. At present, with an insuf- Hcieney for the hind aetnally nnder cnltivation, and sur- rounded with extensive tracts of country calling only for the fertilizinj? hand of man, how can we hope to obtain such sulficiency of lai)oiir ? It is for your Excelhnioy to r(\store us that calm and security without which our best cHbrts must be unsuccessful. " Your Excellency, as did your worthy predecessor, has rendered justice to the humanity with wbich our ialjourers are treated, and we hope that the nu)re you see of us the more you will be confirmed in this opinion, and convinced of our earnest desire still further to ameliorate? the lot of those so indispensably necessary to our own welf ire. Con- tinue th{;n to represent the truth ; and when the ( louds of error and ])reju(lice are dispelh^l, as they nmst be by such testimony as your Excellency's, the governments both of the metropolis and of India will no longer hesitate to throw op(m to their subjects free access to those moral and physical advantages so liberally oiicrcd to India by this Colony. " We now conclude ; and if we do not apologize for the length of our Address, it is because we are well assured of your Excellency's willingness and desire to learn all that interests us. It only remains for us to repeat our hearty welcome, and to assure you that we are, with great njspect, your Excellency's most obedient and humble ser- vants. "(Here follow the signatures.)" APPENDIX. Hia Exce/lena/s Ucjibj. " 1 riMjucst, GcntleiTKMi, that you will acwpt my warmest thatikw for this cordial and gcnuroiw vveU-omt' which you have j?iveii nic to Flac(i. " My visit has been (hiferred loii^rcr than T had iu- t(!U{hul ; it e(mi])lete» my tour of the rural districts, from which I have derived much personal ^^ratification, and the niost favourabhi impressions of the loyalty and j^ood-fcel- ing that animate all classes of the community. " My object has been to sec ami to judge for niyself; to ascertain the real wants and wishes of the inhabitants, in order that the measures of the Goveriunent nuiy harmo- nize with tlie voice of the people. The expression of your opinions, and tlic information which you have allbrded me on the several important topics of local interest noticed in your Address, will conduce to this end ; and you nuiy rest assured that your suggestions shall have my anxious and attentive considc^ration. " It is very gratifying to me to learn, that the mea- sures which have been adopted to secure a moi'c adc(juate and regular supply of lalx)ur have met with your approval. In the absence of a native ])opulation to cultivate our soil, our attention should be directed, not only to obtain- ing a sufficiency of labour for our immediate wants, but also to the more valuable and permanent beiu^fits to be gained by inducing the natives of India, who now come here, and carry their earnings back after a few years, to settle in the Colony ; and from my own experience; of both countries, 1 can affirm that by adopting this as tlunr future home, they Avill, with their own common industry, improve their social and physical condition unmeasurably beyond what th(!y can ever hope to attain in their own. 400 COr.ONIAL POI.K Y " I bcnr willing; trstimony to the kind and just treat- tiiciit rcccivtul l>y tho iinmij^^raiitH at the liandM of tluii- ('iii|)h)vers, of which I have rcaMoii to l)elievo they are themselves fully sensible. "They are a tr;u'tahle and well-disposed people; and the satisfaetion with their eondnet whicdi 1 have heard }i;eMerally expressed by the Planters^ implies that tlu'v aro mutually wtdl-pleased witb each other. I know no coun- try in the world iji which the jM)sition of the ajifrieultu- ral labourer is superior to that of the Indian imnii;;iaiit here, and very few indeed in whicli the sanu; (Ujjree of comfort and independence is enjoyed by him. " The erroneous impressions of tlie character of our ini- mi^jration system, that previotisly existed \h)i\i in India and in Hurope, have;, I trust, b(!en removed, and the nu- exceptionable footing; on wliicli it now stands, promises greater pernninencc and security for tliose advaniancs which are nn(|uestionably conferred on the inhai)ifants of both countries, by the laboiu* and capital that are iuter- chanfj;cd. " The crisis of the wverc 8tru}j;j,de in which you have been engaged has, 1 confidently believe, been overcome, and that you will now reap the fruits of that eneigy, industry, aiul enterprise which enabled you to maintain it; and having accepted the uew conditions imposed umoii agricidturc both here and in the Mother-country, you arc wisely seeking, in more skilful husbandry and imjiroved processes of manufacture, compensation for that protection which has, 1 believe, irrcvoeabl; passed away. " Favoured by a soil of surpassing fertility, and a most genial climate, as well jis by her geographical jjosition, ]\Iauritius, with hands equal to her resources for produc- tively employing them, and with judgement and economy Al'PKNDFX. 101 III the (liHpoaition of thrir luhoiii', mnst move onward, mid need not icar comiuaition witli otlur producers, vvh(;tlier kIuvc or th'o. "I e»tciiri it no ordiimry privilcfro to ho pt- rary and E.ssequibo Exported from tliiw port, the production of Ber- bioe .... Total .... Exported from the port ot New Amstenlam, Berbice, i)roduce of Ber- bico .... Total Exports for quarter 1850. Exported from thi.hanccry to foreclose, although, when he has obtained a decree, he hesitates to enforce it, because he must himself become prt>prietor of the planta- tions t)f wliicli, from fatal experience, he knows the cori- seciuenccs. No one will advance money to relieve those whose debts approach half the value of their j)roperty, nor even lend moderate sums without a judgement in ejectment and release of eiTors, that, at a moment's notice, he may take out a wrii of possession, and enter on the plantation of his unfortunate debtor. Sheriff's otticers and collectors of internal taxes arc everyAvherc oftcring for sale the pro- perty of individuals who have seen better days, and now must view their effects purchased for half their real \ ahie, and less than half their original cost. Far from having the reversion expected, the creditor is often not satisfied. AH kind of credit is at end. If litigation in the Courts of Common Law is diminished, it is not from increased ability to jKirform contracts, but from confidence having ceased, and no man parting with property, but for an immcfUatc APPENDIX 409 payment of tlic consideration. A faitiiful detail woiUd have the appearance of friji^litful caricature." The above extract was ([uoted by Lord Derby, in his speech in the House of Counnons, on moving tlic resolu- tions for th(^ Abolition of Slavery, on the 1 kh of May, 1833. — See the * Mirror of Parliament' tor that year, vol. ii. p. J 773. H. Copy of a Despatch from Earl drey to Governor the Right Hon. Sir C. E. Grey. " Downing -.street, October 11, 1848. " Sill, " I received your despatch. No. 75, of the 19th Auj^ust, with copies of the Votea of the House of Assembly of Ja- maica from the 4th to the IGth Au^nist, to which it refers. " It is satisfactory to mc to find that you take the same view as myself as respects the (,'apability of Jamaica to yield a revenue adequate to its wauts. I liave never doubted that an island so ridi in natural resources, and possessing a considerable popidation, which I ha^e nc reason to be- lieve to be indisposed to industry, must be able to raise such an amoiuit of revenue as would be reipiii^d to meet the expenses of its Civil Government, provided proper means were adopted for this |)urpose, and for that of en- couraging industry and of stimulating tlie inhabitants to exertion. It rests however entirely with the Assembly to cous.'dcr what are the proper measures to be adopted with this view ; and considering how vitally the interests of their constituents arc; coucenicd in their deliberations on this subject, 1 cannot doubt that they will earnestly api)ly if 4i0 (OliONlAL I'OLIOY. tlirmscilvo.s to the taKsk of dcvisintf such mcaHiiros as niav appear to tliciii best suited to the present eouditiou of the Colony. " With reference however to your observatiotis that ' ller Majesty's Ciovernment ought to be prepared towards tlic end of this year to say in what manner the k)cul Go- vermeiit of the IsUuid is to be carried ot\, in the event of the usual annual supplies for 18 M) being refused,' 1 think it right at oiuie and distinctly to inform you, that this is a responsibility which Jler Majesty's Goverimient cannot accept. The Constitution of Jamaica has placed in t]n> hands of the representatives of its inhabitants, the exclu- sivc power and duty of raising in the Colony such an annual income as is necessary for the support of the vari- ous public establishments they have judged proper to bo maintained for the benefit of the Island; and if those re- presentatives will no longer provide the means of kccpiii<34S«V.-«^>lr»*o^ >,wnJ«-f,a<> .4.}:TKiibrtr>»^d"*Mr^Kk>v^T«'»a»fMiaebir»--f£B'iit>i.i^«ik^>«k_4«'. API' KM) IX. 411 tlicnous measures whicli should prevent their heiiifj; main- tained; but fus they are kept up exehisi\:'ly for the benefit of tlic inhabitants of Jamuiea, it is for the Assembly by which those inhabitants are represented, to \vei{j;h the loss which might be sustained by failing to provide an adcnpiate revenue for their s\v^.,.urt, against tlie ditlieulties which may exist in imposing the taxes rcfpiired for this jjurpose. The Governor's oavu duty, and that of Jlcr Majesty's (jo- vernraent, is confined to doing what lies in them towards preventing an increase of the (existing diilienlties, by re- fusing to assent to any ill-considered and imprudent mea- sures of legislation. I therefore entirely a])provc of the intention which you have expressed in your despatch, of refusing your assent to any Acts which may be tendered to you for afibrding assistance to the Planters' Bank, in the mode which you mention as having hcen suggested. The measures alluded to would plainly be most objection- able, and I am at loss myself to discover finy mode in which such assistance could b(^ give, which would not be open to great objection, though I shall of course reserve my judgement upon tliis point until 1 know what measures may finally be considered achisable by the Legislature. " 1 have, etc., " (Signed) Grey." Vof/y of a Despatch from. Earl Grey to Governor tlie Right Hon. Sir C. E. Grey. " Downin(fstreet, April 16, 1849. " Sir, " I have received and laid before the Queen your De- spatches, Nos, 21, 24, and 25, the first dated the 19th Fe- bruary, with a Postscript of the 2l8t February, enclosing i I '2 (XH.ONIAI. I'OI.U'V. tlic votes of the Assembly from flic 2ii(l to tlio 17tli of Fcbrunr}', witli othrr (lociimcuts ; the othcfH cncloHiiij; Mc m(»rials to tlio (liiccii from tlic Couiu-il mul from the Cliicf Justice, the Viee-Clumeellor, and tlieJudf^esof the Supreme Court, which have reference to the course takcni i)y tlie As- s(Mnl)ly in refusiii}; to ])ass hills for tlie renewal or imposi- tion of taxes sullicient tt) provith^ for tlie ordinary expcu- iheir best assistance. I'or tin* rest, of eonrse it will not be pos- sible for yon or for ller Majesty's servants to rej:;ard vitli ' inditfoninee the ^reat publie niiseliief and individual dis- tress which mnst result from the proceedinfjs of the As. sembly ; on the contrary, wo cannot Init feci deep concern at the injury inflicted npon the credit and upon the jx^'ina- iKsnt interests of the Island, and sincere sympathy with the present suHcrers ; but the Constitntion of tlie Island, as by law established, not callitij? npon ns, or indeed permittini? lis, to take any part in these; matters, wo arc at least re- lieved from the anxiety which would attend a more ex- tended authority and more active duties. " It appears, however, from yo\ir later Despatches that there exists on the part of a considerable mmiber of the inhabitants of Jamaica, a stronpj desire for some chanf^c in the system on which the Oovcrnment of that Colony is at present conducted, with tlu; view of secnring a bettor admi- nistration of its aflairs, and pnttin^ an end to those nnfor- tnnate diflerences which now threaten snch serious iiijury both to pnbli(; and private interests. It is satisfactory to me to find that this desire has been awakened ; lor w Idle it is impossible to consider the actnal condition of the Colony, and the general (conduct of its ])ublic affairs for the last few years as bearing? upon that condition, without coniin<>: to the conclusion that a reform in the system of administration AIM'FADIX. 4 1 :. administration irt tirgpntly roquiml, it in at thf same time evident that it is only l)y tlu» inhabitants tlu'inscKcH, that hikIi a rdorm can he arconipliMhi'd. The institutions iuul the hnv» of Jamaica have invested its iidiahitiuits with snch aniph- powers in all that relates to its intenud (iovernnH«nt, that any improvement in that (iovernment irnist be niundv their own work, thonjfh 1 need hardly assnre you of the cMirnest desire of Her Majesty's (iovernment to idlbrd tluMn tlnnr best assistance and eo-operation in any attempts they may make to clliK^t it. " The only specific suggestions wliieh I can find to have been made for ehan};es iti the existing' arran^iements are, fir8t, those rehitin^ totlie Lej^isUitiveConneil; and secondly, that tlu^ system of (lovenunent now established in Canada should be introduced into Jamaica. As to the first I must remark, that while I am not aware of any {jood reason fin* objectinp; to such an enlarf^emcut of the Legislative Comicil as has been described as desirable by yourself, it does not appear to me that such a measure would have any tendency to remove the difficulties whicli have arisen in the Admi- nistration of the Colony ; since these arc not in any depjrce attributable to the conduct of the Council, that Board haviufif done no more than its duty iu vejectin'^ the Re- trenchment Bill whicb was tendered to it for its aceei)tauce; at the same time apparently showing every disjmsition to concur in any general plan of economical reform involving a just measure of retrenchment, which might have been tendered to it. The same C(jusideration apjilies with far greater force as an objection to the demand of the Asscm- bly for a change not only in the mimber but in the constitu- tion of the Legislative Council, as it has existed for nearly two hmicb'cd years. It is altogether impossible for Her Majesty^s Government to entertain a demand of this kind, brought forward upon such grounds. 416 f OLOMAL POLICY, "The proposal to assimilate the system of administration in Jamaiea to that whifih is now established in Canada is of a very diffc^nmt character, and it is one which, if not in all respects free from objection, has yet so much to recom- mend it that if it were the general desire of the people of Jamaica that siich a change should be introduced, Ilcr Majesty's (xovemment would not be disposed to withhold their consent to its being so. I am not certain, however, that those who have originated this proposal arc aware that its adoption W(mld involve the surrender by the Assem- bly of much of that j)ower which in the process of time it has acquired, but which, by the theory of the Constitu- tion, ought rather to belong to the Executive Govenimcnt than to the Legislature. In Jamaiea the Memlxirs of the Asserablv, under the name of Commissioners of Accounts, have practically taken upon themselves those duties with respect to the administration of the public expenditure, which in (Canada arc^ entrusted to responsible Members of the Executive Government. In Canada, no vote of public money can be made by the Assembly except on the recom- mendation of the Governor ; in Jamaiea, the Assembly is altogether free from any such control. In Canada, again, provision has been made by tho creation of a permanent Revenue for the payment of a considerable Civil List ; in Jamaica the Assembly has made the greater part of the Revenue dependent upon taxes only imjjosed for a year at a time, and of late for even a shorter jicriod. " I am far from being of opinion, that, judging of the two systems of administration by their practical residts, that of Jamaica is to be preferred; on the contrary, in expressing my belief, in an earlier part of this Despatch, of the necessity for a reform in the administration of Ja- maica, it was the management of its finances which 1 had APPENDIX. 417 principally in view, and which, I am compelled to observe, appears to me to have been exceedingly defective, mainlv in ccmsequence of the retention by the Asscmblv, in its own hands, of powers little suited to any pojiular body. A careful review of the information wliich you have now transmitted to me, and of that previously to be found in the records of this office, leaves no doubt in my mind, that the financial difficulties with which Jamaica has lum to struggle have been greatly aggravated, if not occasioned, by the Avant of a steady and persevering adherence to a system of judicious aiul well considered economy. 1 find that a debt has been incurred, which though not perhaps very large in amount compai'ed with the natui'al resources of the Island, yet bears a high rate of interest, the charge for which is a heavy item in the annual expenditure. I find also that recourse has been had to the expedient of meeting a part of that expenditui'C by the issue of what are called Island Cheques, which constitute in fact an inconvertible paper currency, now considerably depreciated, and which acts most unfavourably on the general trade of the Colony, and must necessarily subject the Colonial Treasury to a heavy loss in the collection of the revenue. I find like^vise that while debt, in its most burdensome form, has thus been accumulated, little has been done to prevent the ex- penditm'e exceeding the revenue. Within a few years Acts have been passed by the Colonial Legislature, by which very large adilitions haA e been made to the ]ud)lic establishments, and this increase, which vas j)robably ciUled for l)y the exi- gencies of the public service, has not been met by tlu; adop- tion of efficient means to ensure the punctual collection of the taxes, to enforce a strict audit cf the public accounts, and to maintain a proper cheek npo.i the ineuri'ing of new expenses without due inquiry, and a real and proved neces- voi.. I. 2 R 418 COLONIAL POLICY. sity. What you have stated to nie, as to the large ai'vcars of taxes still iiucoUeeted, the circumstances under wliicli tlic deficiency in tlu5 accounts of the late Rcceivcr-CJenciul took place, (which remains, I believe, still unsatisfied,) and the nature of many of the charges annually voted by the Assembly, without the recommendation of any responsibl(> authority, afford conclusive evidence, how little true eco- nomy has bet^n studied m the financial administration of the Colony. It is also, I think, liardly less clear that this faulty administration of the colonial finances is mainly to b(^ attributed to the absence, under the system which has been adopted, of any effective responsibility bearing upon individuals for the errors which have been committed. " Hence, if in order to secure a better administration of their afl'airs, aiul especially of their finances, the people of Jamaica slu)uld think proper by their representatives either in this, or in a newly elected Assembly, to ask Her Ma- jesty's sanction for the adoption of a similar mode of con- ducting the Goyernment of the Colony to that which now exists in Canada, I am not aware that any obstacle, which might not easily be overcome, would stand in the way of a compliance with their wishes. The only legislative mea- sures which would be ne^'cssary for this purpose, would bo such as the Colonial Legislatures would have full authority to ])ass, and woiUd consist maiidy of acts to rcpcuil the various laws heretofore passed, for vesting in the Assembly, or in its members in i\\v. character of Commissioners ol" Account, some of the anomalous powers they now j)osscss, and to create; and provide salaries for the offices to be held by r(ss])onsible public servants, by whose assistance th(> Go- vernor would have to coiuluct the afl'airs t)f the Island. " (\)nsidering the great natural advantages possessed by Jamaica, and the amount of its population, I (tannot doul)! APPENDIX. U9 that if by this, or by any other means, a steady perseverance ill a well-considered and consij^tent system of financial policy could be secured, great relief might be afforded to the industry of the Colony hi the difficulties with which it has now to struggle. But for this purpose it is especially necessary that all the measures of the Lc^gislaturc should be governed by a calm and deliberate; consideration of the real wants and interests of the Island, and that tht;sc mea- surers should not be liable to frequent changes adopted upon slight grounds. T need hardly remind yoii that some of the salaries which it has lately been proposed to reduce by no less than one-third of their amount, were only a few years ago secured, by Acts passed appai'cntly after fidl deliberation, to the holders of offices which were at that time created, and that some of these offices were accepted by gentlemen at a considerable sacrifice of the incomes they then enjoyed from other sources, solely from a con- ideration of the security they believed they should possess tor the official salaries thus granted to them. Whether the Legislature at that time acted wisely in creating these; offices, and in assignuig to their holders the remuneration which was determined upon, it is not necessary for me to inquire : for be this as it may, it is obvious that in additiem to the injustice of the sweeping reduction of these salaries which hiis been proposed, that measure is utterly incon- sistent with tha. true economy which consists in obtain- ing for the public the best possible service at a moderate cost. If it shall once be known that the Legislature of Ja- maica cannot be depended upon for maintaining the sala- ries which it has secured, by Acts deliberately passed, to the holders of (certain offices, it is certain that these offices will no longer be accepted by men of superior qualifications, at the same moderate salaries which would suffice if their permanence were not exposed to hazard. I, •> f i 420 COLONIAL P01.ICY. " 111 the same manner there can ]}e littU^ douht that the charfj:e of the debt might be diminished, and the in(;,)iivc- nieiicc arising from the circulation of inconvertible Island Cheques might be got rid of on moderate terms, if the cre- dit of the Colony were improved, by providing, as in this Country, a permanent revenue (;qual to the fixed charges upon it, instead of leaving the public creditor almost en- tirely dc})cndent upon annual taxes, the renewal of which may be interrupted by any such ditferences between the l)ranclics of the Legislature as those which have now oc- curred. " I have thus indicated (studiously avoiding all details) the general character of the measures by which it is in the l)ower of the Legislature of Jamaica to promote the welfare of its inhabitants and alleviate the pressure of the difficulties with which tliev have now to contend. The cordial con- curnnice of yours(;lf, of the Council, and of Her Majesty's Government in measures of this description is not doubt- fid ; and if the people of Jamaica desire their adoption, they can have no difficulty in causing their wishes to be attended to by their llepresciitatives. It rests, therefore, Avith the people themselves to determine what course is to be fol- lowed, since it will be their ovnx interests which will mainly suffer from any error which may be committed by their Representatives, as I trust they Avill distinctly understand when you shall again call together the Legislature. I iiave no doubt, from your past conduct, that you will judge rightly when the proper time is come ftn* doing so, and also as to whether or not it may be right, previously, to dissolve the present for the ])urpose of causing a new Assembly to be elected. 13ut with reference to the next meeting of the Legislature, whenever it may take i)lace, I think it indis- pensable to direct that the clause of the Royal Instructions, APl'ENUiX. 421 aitted \v; their forbidding you to give your assent to any laws enacted for a less term than one year, unless to meet some special and unforeseen emergency, shall be in future strictly adhered to. This is a clause of very old date in the Royal Instruc- tions to the Gov(;rnors of Jamaica and of other ('olonies, founded on strong grounds of permanent policy ; and al- though 1 am not surprised that you should have thought a deviation from it expedient, under the difficult circum- stances in wliich you were placed, and though 1 am far from disapproving of your having done so, 1 am satisfied that for the future a steady adherence to it will be the course best calculated to promote the public interests. The result of the concession you have made u])on this point is the clearest proof that it ought not to be repeated, and you will cause it to be distinctly understood by the Legislature that Her Majesty has left you no discretion upon this head, but has commanded you strictly to adhere to the letter of the Ir.structions which have for so long a time been given to all the Governors of Jamaica, as to the duration of any Acts which they are at liberty to accept. " And although I am equally aware of the cogeiu;y of the motives which induced you to assent to the Import Duties Bill, notwithstanding the Clauses of Appropriation attached to it, I have to instruct you not in futMrc to admit of any innovation on the regular and constitutional practice of keeping lleveuuc and Appro])riation Bdls separate from each other ; assuming that to have been, as I understand 10 be the case, a practice as fully established in Jamaica as it has been in this country, and in tlic other Colonics whose Constitutions have been modelled on our own. It is a practicv- which cannot be departed from without danger. " I have received Her Majesty's commands to cause COLONIAL POLICY. (copies of the DcHpatchcs before me to be presented in botli Houses of Parliament. " I have, etc., " Governor Sir C. E. Grey, (Signed) Orby." •*e/f. etc. etc." I. At the Court at Buckhufham Palace, the \st day of May, 18 19. Present, The Queen's Most Eircellent Majesty in Council. Whereas there was this day read at the Board a Report of the Right Honourable The Lords of the Committee of Council, appointed for the consideration of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Plantations, dated the 4th day of April last, in the words following, viz : — " Your Majesty having been pleased by your Order in Council of the 31st January last, to refer unto this Com- mittee copies of a correspondence between Earl Grey, one of Your Majesty's principal Secretaries of State, and Sir Charles Fitzroy and the other Governors of Your Majesty's Australian Settlements, on the subject of the introduction to Parliament, in the ensuing session, of a Bill for the better government of those Coh)nie8, to consider the same, and report to Your Majesty our opinion as to the steps which it would be advisable for Your Majesty to tjilce on the subject of tlu; said correspondence, " In obeilicnce to Your Maj(!sty's Ciramands we have taken into consideration the subject so referred to us, and humbly submit to Your Majesty the following Report of the conclusions which we have adopted. A1'1'EN1)]\, 423 " In order to render intelli^nblo the {^rounds on which our opinions on this subject proceed, we nuist briefly advert to the distinctions between the practice! which has been ob- served during the present century, and the practice which was obser\jd in earlier times, respecting the establisliment of systems of civil government in the colonial dependencies of the British Crown. "In tliose ancient possessions of Your Majesty's royal predecessors, whicli at present form so large a part of the United States of America, and in all the otlicr British Colonies (whether acquired by the occupation of vacant territories or by cessions from foreign powers), there pre- vailed until the commencement of the nineteenth century the almost invariable usage of establishing u local legis- lature insisting of three estates — that is, of a Coycrnor appointed by the Sovereign, of a Council nominated by the Sov(vrcign, and of an Assembly elected by the people. Al- though in some cases other schemes of colonial jtolity had been at first established, yet those schemes had all, with one execptic»n, progressively heen brought, before the end of the eighteenth century, into conformity with this gene- ral type or model. The Colonies of Ceylon, Trinidad, and Guiana, do not form exceptions, for although concpiercd, they had not been ceded before the bcgiiniing of the present (jcntury. Nor is Newfoundland an exception, because it vvMs in those times regarded and governed as a mere fishing station, and not as a colony. Neither can Malta and Gi- braltar be referred to as exccptioi\s, bcause thiiy were re- garded not as colonies, but as mei'c military fortresses, and were governed by military laws. The only real exception was in the ease of Sierra Leone, which at the era in ques- tion was governed by an incorporated company. " Further, these colonial constitutions were all (except 424 COLONIAL POLICY. ill tlio Cauadas) created oy letters patent luitler the (jroat Seal either of England or of Great Britain, and those let- ters patent were issned in the exereisc of jui un(iue8tionu])k« and undisputed prerogative of the Crown, Hut in Lowcm- and IJi.per Canada, the three estates of Governor, ('ouneil, and Assembly, were established, not by the Crown, but by the express authority of Parliament. This deviation from the general usage was unavoidable, because it was judgcul right to impart to the Roman Catholic population of tiic Canadas privileges which in the year 1791 the Crown could not have lawfully conferred on them. There is also reason to believe that the settlement of the Canadian Constitution, not by a grant from the Crown merely, but in virtue of u positive statute, was regaided by the American loyalists jus an important guarantee for the secure enjoyment of tlicii political franchises. " But during the nineteenth century the British ('rown has ac([uircd, by conquest and cession from foreign states, three transatlantic Colonies, one Colony in Southern Africa, and four Colonies to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope. During the same period the British Crown luus ac- quired, by the occupation of vacant territories, two Colo- nies on the western coast of Afi'ica, three in New Holland, one in Van Diemen's Land, one in New Zeala^u d ou(! in the Falkland Islands. In no one of these sixv .. Colo- nies has the old colonial polity of a Governor, Council, and Assembly been introduced. In no one of them (exc(!]»t New South Wales) has any electoral franchise been granted to the colonists, or any share in the local legislation to their representatives. " In all these conquered Colonics, the ancient system of intertial government remains such as it was at the times ol" the res])ective conquests, excepting that by letters patent AITKNinx. 425 jislatiou to tluur iHuler the (xreat Seal, a Governor and a Council appointed hy the Crown have in each of them been authorized to make local laws. In Guiana, indeed, no such letters patent have been issued, because the ancient Dutch legislature still retains in that Colony its ancient forms and powers. " In all the Colonies acquired during the nineteenth cen- tury by the occupation of vacant territories, the same sys- tem of internal legislation by a Governor am' a Council appointed by the Crown has been introduced by the autho- rity of Parliament. " In Colonies so acquired, the Royal prerogative was competent oidy to the establishment of systems of civil government, of which a Legislature, composed in part at least of the representatives of the people, formed a eoni- poneut part. To dispense even for awhile with such a Le- gislature, Pai'liamentary aid M'as re()uisite. But in sane- tioning that departure from the general type or mod(;l of the earlier colonial Constitutions, it has been the practice of Parliament to recognize the ancient principle, and to record the pui'j)Ose of resuming the former constitutional practice st) soon as the causes should have ceased to ope- rate, which in each particular ease had forbidden the im- mediate observance of it. Nor has the pledge thus re- peatedly given been forgotten. It lias been redeemed in New Soutli Wales, except so far as relates to the combina- tion which has taken place there of the Council and As- sembly into one Legislative House or Chamber. It has been redeemed with regard to New Zealand, altliough pe- culiar circumstances have required a temporary })ostpone- meut of the operation in that Colony of the Act passed by Parliament for establishing in it a Representative Legis- hiture. "We are of opinion that the time has not yet arrived 4'2C> COLONIAL I'OLICY. for conferring this I'ranchixo on the CoU)nists of Westoni Australiu, hecauso they are unahh; to fulfil the eonditionon wliieh alone, as it appeaPH to us, such a grant ouglit to be made; the condition, that is, of sustaining the expciisc of their own civil government ])y nujans of the local nneuiie, which would he placed under the direction and control of their representatives. Whenever the Settlers in VVcstcrn Australia shall be willing and ahU; to perform this condi- tion, they ought, we apprehend, to he admitted to the full enjoyment of the corresponding franchises, but not till then. " The Colonies of South Australia and Van Dieincn's Land, being on the other hand at once willing and able to [)rovide by local resources for the [)ublic expenditure of each, or at least for so much of that cxpenuiture as is in- curred with a view to colonial and local objects, tlkC time luia in our judgement arrived when Parliament may properly be recommended to institute in each of those Colonics a legislature in which the representatives of the pcojjlc at large should enjoy and exercise their constitutional autho- rity. " In submitting to Your Majesty thiw advice, we arc only repeating an opinion so familiar and so generally adopted by all persons conversant with the government of the liri- tish Colonies, that it woidd seem superfluous to support it by argument or explanaticm. The introduction of this constitutional princi[)le into every dependency of the Hritisli C^rown is a general rule sanctioned by a common and clear assent. The exccj)tion to that rule arises only when it can be shown that the observance of it would induce evils still more considerable than those which it would obviate and correct. ^Ve arc aware of no reason for appn^hending that such a preponderance of evil would follow on the intro- AIM'KNDIX. 427 sts of Wcstoiii lie coiiditioiioii lit ouglit to l)C- the expense of ^ local revenue, jiiul control of VTH in Western [U'ux this eondi- itted to the full 's, but not till Van Dienien's in{^ and able to expenditure of uiture as is iu- )l)jeets, tlkC time int may properly ;ho8e Colonies a )f the peoj)le at itutional autlio- m vice, we are oidv [incrally adopted ncnt of the liri- lous to support xluction of this cv of the British ninion and clear )nly when it can induce evils still iild obviate and prehcndinfjf that \ on the intro- (luetion of such a change in South Australia and Van Diemcn's Laiul. The contrary antictipation appears to ])c entertained by all those who possess the best means and the greatest powers of foreseeing tlic probable results of such a measure. We therefore recommend that, during the present session of Parliament, a Hill should be intro- duced for securing to the rei)rescntatives of the people of South Australia and Van Diemen's Land, respectively, their due share in the legislature of each of those Colonies. " We apprehend however that it would be found highly inconvenient to consider this question as it regards those two settlements, withoiit at the same time adverting to tlu; cttects with which such a change in them must be followed in the whole range of the Australian Colonies. " New Holland is at present divided between the three governments of New £ov.th Wales, South Australia, and Western Australia. The most cursory inspection of the maps and charts of those regions will sutticiently show, that as they shall become more populous and more exten- sively settled, it will be necessary to divide them into a greater number of distinct Colonics. "But confining our immediate attention to the case of New South Wales, we observe that the cities of Sydney and of Melbourne, lying at a great distance from each other, form the respective capitals of districts of great extent, separated from each other by diversities of climate and by some corresponding (Utt'erences in their natural resources, and in the agricul- tural and commercial pursuits followed in each of them. The inhabitants of the southern districts have long and earnestly solicited that Melbourne should be made the seat and centre of a Colonial Government separated from that of Sydney ; and so decided has this wish become of late, that on the recent general election of members of the 428 COLONIAL POLICY. Loj^islaturo of New South AValcis collectively, the iulia- bittmts of the southern district huvu virtually and in eilrct refused to make any such choice. The reluctance whuh vvum at first 80 luiturally entertained at Sydney to the pntijoscd innovation, appears to luivi; ^radusdly but etfettually yielded to the progress of knowledge; and reasoning on tht; subject. The Governor and the Executive Cojuicil, the existiii«' frraciously pU'iiscd to couhT the luuur of Victoria. In Ibrincr tiincH Your Majesty's royal auccstors or prede- cessors ])erniitted a »irnilar use of their luiiues to desi<,'uate proviiieew ou the North Anu'rieau eoutiinMit. Niuturiiifr to presume that it will bo Your Majesty's plcasiu-e to Ibllow those precedents ou the present oeeasiou, \\v shall take the liberty in the secpud of this Hcport to use the name of Victoria to describe the same province ; atul the nauu; of NcAv South Wales to describe the northern province of the •,'rcat territory to whicli, collectively, the lattiT of tbosr appellations fit present belongs. "The line of demarcation between >. cw South Wales and Victoria wonhl coincide with the existing; boundary be- tAvcen tlic two districts into which, for c Ttain purposes, tlic C'olony is already divided. It would commence a Cape How, pursue a straip;ht line to tlic nearest sourci of the River Murray, and follow the course of thi.- river as far as the boundary which now divides N(;w Seuth Wah^s from South Australia. " In each of the two proposed provinces of New South Wales and Victoria, wo apprehend that provision oufjht now to be made by Parliament for creating a Legislature, in whicli the representatives of the people should exc-roise their constitutional authority and influence. We do not advise that resort should be had for these purposes to the ancient aiul unaided prerogatives of '^^^^^r Majesty's Crown, because it is not competent to Yo;;.; Majesty, in the ex- ercise of that prerogative, to supersede the Constitutions which Parliament has already oMablished in the Australian Colonies. Parliamentary intervention is therefore indis- pensable. " If we were approaching the present (juestion irnder 430 COLONIAL POLICY. circumstances which left to us the unfettered exercise of our own judgement as to tlie nature of the Legislature to be established in New South Wales, Victoria, South Aus- tralia, and Van Diemen's Land, we should advise that Par- liament should be moved to recur to the ancient constitu- tional usage by establishing in each a (rovemor, a Council, and an Assembly. For we think it desirable that the ])o. litical institutions of the British Colonies should thus l)o brought into the nearest possible analogy to the Consti- tution of the United Kingdom. We also think it wise to adhere as closely as possible to our ancient maxims of go- vernment on this svibject, and to the precedents in which those maxims have been embodied. The experience! of centuries has ascertained the value and the practicul effi- ciency of that system of Colonial polity to which those maxims and precedents afford their sanction. In the ab- sence of some very clear and urgent reason for breaking up the ancient uniformity of design in the government of the Colonial dependencies of the Crown, it would seem un wise to depart from that unifo mity. And fiu'ther, the whole bodv of constitutional law which determines the rights and the duties of the diflerent branches of the an- cient Colonial governments having, with the lapse of time, been gradually ascertained and firmly established, we must regret any innovation which tends to deprive the Austra- lian Colonies of the great advantiige of possessing such a code so defined and so maturely considered. " But great as is the weight that we attach tothcse con- siderations, the circumstances mider which we actually ap - proach the question are such as to constrain us, however reluctantly, to ado])t the opinion that the proposed Act of Parliament should provide for the establishment in ea eh of the four Australian (^olonies of a single; House of Ijcgis - APPENDIX. 431 laturc only ; one-third of the members of which should be i\ominated by Your Majesty, and the remaining two-tliirds elected by the Colonists. " For sueh is in point of fact the system which now pre- vails throughout the territories which will compose the two provinces of New South Wales and Victoria. It was the pleasure of Parliament, in the year 1842, to establish that system. Custom appears to have attached the Colonists to it. Public opinion in New South Wales would appear to be decidedly opposed to an alteration, in this respect, of the existing Constitution of the Colony by the authority of 'Parliament. " Of this fact the most conclusive proof is to be found in the petitions recently presented to Your Majesty and to Parliament, from a large body of the Colonists, praying that no change may be made, without the consent of the uihabitants at large, in the constitution and form which the local Legislature has already received from Parliament. In the absence of any counter-petitions we think it rea- sonable to conclude that sueh is the deliberate judgement of the great body of the settlers in New South Wales and Victoria, and we are of opinion that it would be unwise and unjustifiable to force; such a change upon them. All that in our judgement can be reasonably done, is to leave to the legislatures, now to be established, the power of amending their own Constitutions, by resolving either of these single Houses of Legislature into two Houses. The weight which is justly due to the arguments in favour of that measure will, we trust, not be without its proper in- fluence on both the electoral and the elected bodies. " But even if the state of public opinion in New South Wales were less distinctly ascertained, the adopti(m of the course which in itself we regard as the most wise, wouhl be 432 COLONIAL POLICY. forbidden by the pledge into which Your Majesty's Exc- eutive Government have already entered on the aubjoct. Proceeding, as we apprehend, in the same view which wc have ourselves taken of the wishes and judgement of tlic inliabitants at large, and anticipating, as we believe, our own view of the impropriety of any direct encounter with that opinion on the present subject, Your Majesty's Secre- tary of State having the department of the Colonies, in a Despatch of the 21st Ju^y last, informed the Governor of New South Wales, and through him the existing Legisla- ture aiul the Colonists at large, that this was not such a ' ref'^rm as it was at all incumbent on the Legislatm'e at home, to press on an unwilling or even on an indifferent people.' The language of this Despatch (in the wisdom of which we entirely concur) will of course be regarded by Your iSIajesty as implying an engagement, to which it is necessary strictly to adhere. " The considerations to which wc have thus adverted in favour of thus establishing a single House of Legislature in each of the two proposed provinces of New South Wales and Victoria, may perhaps appear ap})lieablc to those pro- vinces o'lly. For neither in Australia nor in Van Diemen's Land has Parliament introduced any such Constitution ; nor has Your Majesty's Executive Govcnmient entered into any pledge on the subject to either of those Colonies ; nor have any petitions been received ascertaining what is the state of public opinion in either of them on the ques- tion whether the Legislative Houses should be combined into one Chamber or sc^parated into two. But we cannot from iiiese considerations conclude that a real fn^edom re- mains to Your Majesty and to Parliament of selecting that which may appear on aljstract grounds and on general principles to be the wiser coui-sc. We apprehend that the APPENDIX. 433 inconvenience of settling the forms of government simul- taneously in Colonies so closely adjacent and so intimately connectiul with each other, Mith any diversity in regard to a principle so fundamental as this, is a mu(!h inon; for- niidahle inconvenience than any wliicli coidd follow, from maintaining a strict uniformity in that respect. /Vs there- fore, for the reasons which we have idr(!udy assigned, it appears necessary to constitute a single House of Legisla- ture only, hoth in Ncnv S(nith Wides and \ ictoria, we aic of opinion that the same system must prevail in regard to South Australia and Yan Diemen's Land. "Vsc reeomnunul therefore that the ])ro])osed y\et of Parhament should provide for convoking in each of the four Colonies a Legislature comprising two estates only, that is, a Governor and a single Mouse*, composetl of nomi- nees of the Crown and of the representatives of the p(>oi)le jointly. We also think that in South Australia and \ an Diemen's Land, as in New South Wales and Victoria, the Legislatui'cs now to be established ought to have the power of amending their own Constitutions, by resolving intluM* of these single Houses of Legislature into two Houses. \\'hat- cver the residt mav l)e in either of the four Colonies, Your Majesty will thus at least have the satisfaction of knowing that free .scope had been given for the influence of pubhc opini(m in them all ; and that this constitutional question has been finally adjusted in each, in accordance Avith that opinion. " For the same reason we think it desirable that the Le- gislatures now to be created slioidd be entrusted Avith the power of making any other anunuUnents in their omu Con- stitution which time and experience may show to be requi- site. We arc aware of no sutlieient cause for withholding this power, and we believ(! that the want of it in the other VOL. 1. '2 V 434 COLONIAL POLICY. British Colonics has often been productive of serious in- convenience. " On the other hand we do not think it right that a sub- ordinate Legislature shoidd hav(; the power of enlarging or altering any of the constitutional franchises conferred on it by Parliament, without either the express or the inij)Ued assent of the Queen, Lords, and Commons of the United Kingdom, ^^-^e should object to such an unrestrained per- mission, not fo^" technical or legal reasons merely, but on broaiii and d)f u-ntial groimds. Changes in the Constitu- tion of any Colony may be productive of consequences ex- tending far beyond the limits of the place itself. They may affect the interests of other British settlements adja- cent or remote. They may be injurious to the less power- fid classes of the local society They may be prejudiciid to Your Majesty's subjects in this country, or they may invade the rights of Your Majesty's Crown. We think therefore that no Act of any Australian Ijegislature which shall in any manner enlarge, retrench, or alter the Con- stitution of that Legislature of its rights and privileges, or which shall be in any respect at variance with the Act of Parliament or other instruments under which the Legisla- ture is constituted, ought to be of any vahdity until it had been expressly confinncd and finally enacted by Your Ma- jesty in Council. And we aie further of opinion that it shoidd not be lawful to make any Order in Council so con- firming any such Act, until it had been laid before each House of Parliament for at least thirty days. " Such ])eing the general views we entertain as to the creation of the proposed Australian Legislatures, it seems necessary to advert, however briefly, to the subordinate and auxiliary enactments requisite for giving eifect to that de- sign. We shall however indicate the principal topics of APPENDIX. 435 3»f serious in- this class to which it will he ticocssary to advert, without entering into any minute examination of the particular course which it would he desirahle to follow in regard to each of them. " The Statute-hook abounds in recent ])reccdcnts of such enactments. They mW especially he found in the Acts estahlishing the existing Legislature of New South Wales, and in the recent Act for estahlishing a Legislature in New Zeidand. The main ohjects of them are th(; division of each Colony into convenient electoral districts ; the deter- mniing who shall he qualified to vote and to he elected j the settling whatever relates to the registration of votes, the conduct of elections, and the making returns ; the as- certaining all the ndes to be observed respecnng the no- mination of such of the mcrabers as are not to he elected ; the defining the powers of the Governor as to the accept- ance or rejection of bills ; the defining the powers of Your Majesty with regard to the confirmation or disallowance of any such bills j and the securing to the Executive Govern- ment of each Colony the initiation of all money votes. It would be easy to eidarge this catalogue of subordinate topics demanding attention in framing the projiosed Act of Parliament, but, for the reason already mentioned, we ap- prehend that it would be a needless addition to the length of this Report. " We should think it prudent, if we thought it practica- ble, to confine the proposed Act to those provisions which are necessary for constituting Legislatures in the four Co- lonies in question, and for enabling those TiCgislatures to perform the duties to which they will be called. For we contemplate with great reluctance any departvu-e from the general principle which leaves to the local Legislature of every Colony the creation of other local institutions, and 2 V -^ 43G COLONIAL POLICY. thxi enact Jiicnt of any laws which are to have their operation within tlsc Ux'ul limits of the Colony. But there are cir- cumstances M !iieh seem to render unavoidahle some (U;. \ iation from that principle in the case of the Australian Cohniies. " Thus throughout New South Wales tlu re arc at jirc- sent existing (at least in point of kw) jMunicipal < orporti- tions called iJistriet Councils. In poira ot iact, and tor every practical purpose, these bodies may be rogsnvlcd ;w extinct. Nevertheless, theiv legal rightn founded on .in Act of Parliameiii . might at any time l)e called into action. It becomes thertf(vic inevitable that Parliiment shoidd, in some form or other, dispose of the claims of those IkhUcs to corporate powers and privileges. "The most obvious course is tliat of a sj?nple repeal of !!((i \nnc\\ of the existing statute as relates to the District Councils, )(»aving the local Legislatures to deal with the subject afterwards at their discretion. The objection to this method of proceeding is, that it would not really be the mere removal from the British Statute-book of a series of ineffectual enactments. It would be regarded, and not unreasonably regarded, in these Colonics, as a significant intimati(m of the judgement of Parlianumt, that local muni- cipal corporations might safely be dispensed with in their system of government. We think that it would be highly inexpedient to afford any countenance to such an opini(m. " Wv. are of opinion that the existence in Australia of muuicipal bodies in a state of efficieuey is scarcely less nee(?ssary to the public welfare, than the existence there of repres(;ntative Legislatures. A large part of the benefit to be derived from such Legislatures, seems to us to depend on the simultaneous establishment and co-existence of incor- porated municipalities. It is the only practicable scciu-ity APPENDIV. VM a^'ainst the danger of undue centraliziition It is the only security for tlu' vigilant and ljal)itual attention l)y the hieal Legi«hiture to the interests of the more remote h)ealit,ies. It is hy such hodies alone that in those seeludcd so(!i(t'ation8 which raij^ht be created, with the ]nHuniary means of discharging the functions belonging to them, without the imposition of rates, as it was held that the authority of the Crown did lujt extend to empowering corporations created by it to levy rates, the pra(!tice of granting charters fell into disuse, and many of our largest towns experienced much inconvenience from being without any adequate local organization. To meet this difiiculty, Parliament, in refonning the ancient corporations, invested the Crown, in the year 1835, with the powc^r of granting charters, by which the corporations so created shouUl be authorized to levy rates for local purposes. " Charters of incorporation have in this coiuitry, it is true, been confined to the towns; but, without charters, the nu'al districts have possessed from the earliest times an organization enabling them to manage their own local affairs with but little interference on the part either of the Crown or of the Legislature, except for the purj)Ose of from time to time; extending or regulating the exercise of tiie powers of their local authorities. "The parish vestries, from very ancient times, have exer- cised th(; power of levying rates for the repair ol" churches, to which was afterwards added the relief of the poor. T\\g magistrates, also, who may be regarded as the virtual representatives of the counties, have been empowered by Acts of Parliament, passed at various times, to levy county rates for the purpose of building bridges, gaols, lunatic APPENDIX. 439 itcd should be asylums, and court-houses ; also for tho custody of i)ri- souors, for maiiitainiuf? a |»olii;c, and for various other pur- poses of U)cal interest. It has always been liehl tliut this system of local government has been one of the main ele- ments of our national greatness and of the stability of tho British Coiistitutiou. " In Australia it seems imjjossible, from its peculiar cir- cumstances, to create so (iomplex a system of local or{>aniza- tiou as tliat which prevails in this ('ountry ; in their present state of progress, inconvenience oidy could result from attempting to create in these Colonics, ])arishes, poor-law unions, and corporate towns, with their distinct powers; the same localities bein^, for different puqioses, under the jurisdiction of two or three different local authorities. Uut we are of opinion that it would be both praeticalile and desirable that so extensive a territory slumld be divided into districts, each possessing some body of a representa- tive character, constituted in some simple manner, to w hich should be entrusted all the powers of local adniinistrati(m which are required. Such a body ought to possess the ])ower of levying rates, but we would recommend that the exercise of this power should not be made imperative, and that the provision of the existing Act of Parliament, which renders it necessary that half the expense of the police in each district should be thus levied, should be repealed. The Colonial Legislature ought, we think, to have full power to pass laws, making any regulations it may think fit as to the mode of assessing and levying rates ; also for making any alterations which may be found necessary iii the constitution and in* the duties assigned to thi^se muni- cipal bodies. We recommend that the provisions we have now described should be made applicable to Van Dieraen's Land and South Australia, as well to the provinces into 440 COl.ONIAL POLICY. which Now Sotith Whiles will be divided, imd shoidd like- wise he extended to VN Csteru Australia, whenever that settlement may be capable of reeeivinia; a representative legislatnrc. '• It may however be questioned, and with preat apparent reason, w liether tiiere exists, or is likely to arise in any of thesi' Colonies, a disposition to brinj; into action the dor- numt powers of tin; existing; munieii)alities, or to solicit the grant of any !iew ]K)wers of that nature. It is at least cer- tain, that there has hitherto been a stronj? (Hsinelination in the rural districts of N(!w South Wales to assume the |)ri- vilejfcs and to Jindertake the responsibilities of sii(!h incor- porations, and that reluctance may of ciuirse be found in- snperable hereafter. If so, we should rej^ard it as a con- clusive obj(!etion to the project of reviviii}^ the old or of creathig new nmnicipalitics. Neither Your Majesty nor Parliament would desire to force unwelcome duties on the Austvalmn Colonists untk^ tl'e name of franchises. If such duties are not undertaken with alacrity, and jjcrformcd with zeal, and ccmtrollcd hy public vigilance, and rewarded by public applause, they would be uiulertaken to no good purpose, and would be Ik tter (h'clined. " But the acknowledged want of alacrity and zeal in this service in the municipal corporations already established, has been publicly and generally ascribed to a cause which we are dis})osed to regard as rc^mediable. In order to the effective execution of ^hc powers of these bodies, it would be necessaiy to raise large local rates, aud to devote a large part of the produce of them to an expenditure unfruitful of any considerable or immediate julva^tagc to the ratepayers. If, for cxanjple, a road or a drain should be formed through a district inij)erfectly settled, by the produce of rates levied on the ])r(!sent settlers, that outlay would confer (m the uu- Al'l'KMUX. 411 (ifrantcd lands, in ])r()|)()rti()n to tlicir r\t(M»t, a hnicfif i'(|Uiil fo that uliicli the scttKul lands would dc rm- IVunj it, Kxcii- tiially, indci'd, tlutsc' unj. nmtrd lunds would l)rH«)ld at nnccM (Mduuu'iHl by this apphi ation of the local rates, and the gnu'ral territorial rcvrnuo of the cohmy would to thr sarui; extent be enhanced ; but the ratepayers of tlu; district would reeeive no peculiar beiu^tit exceptinj; that of the luore rapid increas(^ of settlement in th(>ir inunediate vicinitv\ IN'rsons hvinj^ in a new country, to whom tlu- conmiand of capital is of sneh nrj^ent importance, can never be e\pectt;d to Hud in such reintjte, uncertain, and iiuipprecial)le beuetits as these, a motive str()n«,' enoufih to induce them to iuii)ose on themselves rates to which the wild laiuls could coutrihuto nothing. "To remove this very reasonable objection, we would observe that one-half of the tci-ritorial rcvcmu' of the Anstralian Colonies is at ])resent appro^jriated by Act of Parliament to the cost of introducing eniigrants. The re- raaining half, subject to a deduction of certain enumerated charges, has btien placed by Parliament at the disposal of the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury for the public service of the respective Colonies. We recomminid that of the territorial revenue realized in each district, the ])ro- portion thus left muler their Ijordships' control, should be placed by them at the disposal of the District Councils for objects of local concern, n^serving only such a perccn- tage as might be necessary for any purposes of general interest which ought to be charged upon this fund. We should further pro])<)8e that the sums so nlaced at the dis- posal of the District Councils should be ajiplicable exclu- sively to piddic works within their respective districts. We also think that no such work, if etti'cted at the expense or by the aitl of tlu; laud-fund, should be undertaken without 442 COLONIAL POLICY. ii previous report on its prolxiblo a«lvantaf?cs, and i» provioui^ ostinmto of its cost by olHcial jtersous duly (|u;i.litii A to pro- parr sui'li reports aiul estimates. Furtlier, wo v, ii d lulvi^i) that iio Hueh work slioidd be actually undertaken without the previous Haiu;tiou of the (lovernor in Couiu;il, founded on the proposed estimates and reports. Finally, w(; think that the projjer otHcers of each District (.'ouneil should render, annually, accounts of the jjranl of the lust preeed- iuf^ year, which accounts should be luiblished for ^enerul infornuition. No additional grant ought to be nuule to any such body so long as any sucli account was in arrear. " It appears to us that by dedicating to these purposes that part of the land-fund wluch Parliament has left at the disposal of the Crown, many important ends woidd he answered. The Executive Government in this Country would be relieved of a responsibility which is as needless as it is invidious. A powerful motive would l>e called into action for the acceptance and employment of the proposed cor[X)ratc franchises. The great principle of devoting the land-fund to tlie utmost possible extent to the improven)ent of the land would be observed. The manual labourers introduced into the Colony by the one-half of that fund woidd not more directly contribute to the improvement of the territory than the remaining portion would contribute to that end by the creation of roads, drains, and other similar works. The price of all ungranted lands in the district would be enhanced by such works, aiul of that increased price the Colony would receive the benefit in an augmented emigration fund, while the particidar district would also receive a particular benefit from it in an aug- mented dividend of the part of the finul which we proi)osc to dedicate to these services. It would operate as an in- ducement to purchase waste lauds to bond fide settlers, as APIMCNDIX. 44a every mch purchaser would, tlir<>unld cease to avail tlui district q» it heeame more uud nion independent of all r«!souree8 hut its own. Thus District Councds wouUl he rescued fnmi the necessity of contracting' debts in the infancy of the settlement of their district, when the hniders of tlic money would demand a very hi'^h rate of interest, and siieli loans would be necessary only in districts wealthy enouf^h to be able to make them on moderate terms. " As however the pn)])()se(l application of this fuiul must he continffcnt on the acceptance or non- acceptance ])y the districts t)f the pro[)Osed (Charters, we apprehend that until that eontiuf^eney shall be determined by the e\ent, it will he [iremature to ratify by the authority ol' Parliament the eouti!m})lated dedication of the fund to these pur|)oses. Nor is there any present necessity for the intervention of Parliament, as under the existing law Your Majesty pos- sesses the power of directing this appropriation of the funds hi question. *' Among the appropriations of the public revenues of New South Wales by Pai-liameut, is that of a sum of m if 1 1 444 COLONIAL POLICY. .€30^000 per aimmn for the support of public worslii]), it hv'ux^ however referred to Your Majesty to ap})ortiou that fuud betwecni the diftereut (-hristiaii ('hureh(!s aniou}i;st wliieh the (/(donists are (hvided. Your Majesty has already detenniued that this siini shall he (Hstribiited betvveeu the C'hurchea of Kugh'.nd, of Scotlaud, and of Rome, and the Weslevau Society. To each of those bodies has been as- sif^ned an income bearinj; to the entire income the pro- portion which, accordinj;- to the census of the year 1811, the number of the members of each of those bodies bore to the collective number of the members of all of them, 'fhe census of 18 l(i has however shown such a ehanj^e in theses numerical proportions, or such an inaccuracy in the census of 1841, as reniUrs the division of the fund somewhat nion; favourable to the Church of I'^ngland than, accordiu}^ to the strict principle of that division, it ought to be. " We are of opinion that; the ])ro])osed Lefj;islatiircs ouji^ht not to ])ossess the nnresti'ieted pt)wer of altering:; the existin|Lif arranjicmcMits. The vested rij^hts which individual cler«i;vmen hold under the New South Wales Constitutional A(!t, ou<;ht, we apprehend, to be nuuntained inviolate. And in the abseivce of ^ery weijfhty reasons, clearly aud fully established, it would, we think, be inexpedient to de- prive any one of the four Churches in (piestion of any part of tin; temjtoral support to which it is at present entitled umh'r that statute. The existing? arran<:;ement however, which ap])ears to have contemplated a perit)dieal revision of the number of the mend)ers of each Church, and a con- scfpu'ut I'cadjustment from time to tinu! of their respective dividends, is in this respect opim to much objection, and the effect of a(h)ptin«^ that principle would iiu'vitably be to bring discredit on the efforts nuule by those (^hurches for the diffusion of tlu; opinions peculiar to and charaeterisi ic ^^j^^i-iv ■, Al'PENDlX. 445 of each of tlicra. Such efforts would be asovi1)c(l, however unjustly, to other motives thau the disinterested desire for the propagation of truth, or of su])pose(l truth, anrl a spirit of competition and rivahy Avould he (.xeited, which everv devout member of each of those Churches would earnestly deprecate. " We slundd therefore propose to s(;eure to (>ach of th(^ four Churches, not for a definite, but for an indefinite period, that sliarc of the conmion fund which has been assi-nied to it und(!r the existiu}:; aiTai\{rem(nit. If at any future time the local Lepslature of eithcT irrovince shoidd see fit to endow any other Church than those four, or to auj^nu'i^t the endowment of any one of the four, any siu^h new or aufrmented endowment ou^ht, we aj)prehend, to be made by an additional charj^c on the revenue of the province, and not by a deduction from the revenue of any one of the four endowed Churches. Whatever finctnations nuiy occur in the comparative numbers of the members of those Churches, the steady and ra])id increase of the po])ulation of the Aus- tralian Colonies reiulers it eminently improl)abh' that the absolute wants of any on(> of those Churches will ever be less than they are at prcsoit, or that the existinji; endow- ment of any one of them will ever be found to be excessive. " In giving this ])ermanent character to the existing ap- portionnuMit, it seems however necessaiy to guard against om> error which has already been ])rought to light. That apportionment was founded on the census of 1811. But there is reason to conclude t'lat the sid)scquent c(;nsu8 of 1H4() was not only taken with much greater care, but Mas drawn up with much greater accuracy, and aflbrds a much safer basis on which to erect a scduniu! of indefinite dura- tion. We subjoin a schedule showing the results of the census of 18 UJ, as far as respects the nunuu'ical proportion hi: 446 COLONIAL POLICY. between the adherents of i\ui different Churehes. From that schedule it will appear that the present apportionnieiit of the fund for the support of public Avorship is less fa- vonrable to the other endowed Churches, as compared to tlie Church of England, than according to the ciiisiis of IHtfi it ouglit to be. In pursuance of the principle already stated, we propose thsit Parliament should be recommended to redress that inequality, not by a deduction from tin; share of the latter, but by an additicmal charge ou the public revenue. Such a charge would not be of great amount, and wouhl not raise the whole appropriation for public worshiyj to the same proportion to the existing re- sources of New South Wales, as that which subsisted he- tween the former approi)riation for that service, and the resources of the Colony at the time when it was made. " In distributing between New South Wales and Victoria the total amount of the proposed annual charge for puhjic worship, we apprehend that in pursuance of the principle of respecting, as far as possible, all vested interests and existing arrangements, the census of 1846 should be taktMi as the guide to be followed. W^e then^fore propose that the proportion of the grant for each of tlu; four ('hnrchcs to be charged on the revenue of each province respectivc^lv, should be determnied by the comparative numbers of the members of these Churches in the two districts at the time the census was made. We add, in an Appendix to this Ileport, a schedule, showing the amount which, following this rule, would be charged on the revenues of both pro- vinces in favour of the several (^hiu'ches. " With regard to Van Dieraen's Land and South Aus- tralia, in neither of which Colonies has any Parlianuiitary provisi(m been made for the support of public worship, we conceive that it will be sufficient that L*ariiament should APPENDIX. 447 now provide that the proposed Act shall not in anv man- ner interfere with the operation of the laws existing on that subject in either of those Colonics; hut that those hiws shall continue in force as fidly as if no such Act had been passsed. "Passiuj^ to the subject of a Civil List, we have to observe that tlie very large proportion of the revenue of New South Wales, at present withdrawn from the control of the Legislature by the permanent apiirojiriation of Par- liament, has been a continual subject of complaint and remonstrance in the Colony since the passmg of the Con- stitutional Act of 1842 ; and we cannot conceal our o})ivdo]i that these complaints are not without some fomidation.. It appears to us hardly consistent with the full adoption of the principles of Representative Government, that as to a large part of the public expenditiu'e of the Colony, the Legislature should be deprived of all authority ; nor does there appear to us to be any real occasion for impos- ing a restriction upon the powers of that body which numi- fests so much jealousy as to the manner in which those powers may be exercised. The expenditure thus provided for is all incurred for services in which the Colonists alone are interested. The Colonists themselves are mainly con- cerned in the proper and efficient performance of those ser- vices; and it appears to us that ihty ought to possess, through their representatives, the power of making such changes fnmi time to time in the public estaldishments as circumstances may require. But while we are of o])inion that there is no sufficient reason for refusing to the Legis- latures of the Colonies a control over the whole of their cx])cnditure, we also think that great inconvenience and very serious evils might be expected to arise from leavuig the whole of the public establishments to be providcjd for 448 C()L(3MAL l»OI,ICy. I)y annual voto. In this country Your Majesty's Civil List is settled upon Your Majesty for life, and, in addiliou to this, Parliament has thought fit to provide, by a pcuMna- uant charge on the (.onsolidated Fund, for a very cousi- derahle part of the estahlishnieuts kept up for tlie pui)li( service, ineluiliug the whole; of those of a judicial characrcM-, leaving to hv, defrayed hy annual votes those charges oiils which luive been regartUuJ as j-ccpiiriug the more frei[\u'iit revision of the TiCgislature. The rciusons which have ni- dueed the British Parliament in this numner to withdraw various heads of expenditure from annnal discussion, iiiid to make [trovisiini for them in a nunmer which can only be alt(n*ed by an Act of the whole Legislature, apply, as \\v apprcihcr.d, with miu'h in(;reased forcn; in favoiu* of ado])t- ing a similar ]»olicy in the (Colonies. It is not be denied that in these smaller societies party s])irit is apt to run still higher than amongst ourselves, and that cpiestions re- specting the remuneration of p»d)lis which it I for by annual nj^ however to l)l)ropriatiou by )nld remain for Your Majesty to determine what instructions slioidd be given to tlie governors of these (Clonics, as to their assent- ing on behalf of the Crown to any laws which might be tendered to them by the Legislatures, for repealing or alter- ing any of the charges created by Parliament on the reve- nues of the respective Colonies. We conceive that it might be advisable by such instructions to restrain the Governors from assenting to Acts making any alterations in the sala- ries of their own offices, or of those of the Judges and some others of the public servants, unless these Acts contained clauses suspending their operation until they should be confirmed by Ycur Majesty's immediate authority. It ap- pears to us that this course ought to be adopted, because we consider that the salaries of the principal officers of the Colonial Governments ought not to be changed without Your Majesty's direct concurrence ; and because the present holders of some of the offices of lower rank have received their appointments under circumstances which give them a strong claim to the protection which would be thus af- forded to them. Men who have abandoned other pros- pects for the purpose of accepting Colonial empluymcnt, wh^ch they had reason to expect \vould be permanent, and who have since faithfully discharged their duties, must be regarded as having claims which rest upon the grounds of public faith, and on contracts which on their side have hitherto been strictly fulfilled, to retain their present sala- ries, so long as they shall conduct themselves properly, or to receive adequate compensation for their loss. We doubt not that such claims would be respected by the local Le^gis- latures, whatever reductions they might see fit to make in other cases : but we think that Your Majesty ought to se- cure them even from the risk of a hasty and ill-eonsidered decision to their prtijudice, occasioned by some temporary VOL. I. 2 a J ■ I 450 COLONIAL I'OLICV excitement ; siibjeet to those qualitieiitioiis, we are ofopinioii that complete control over the Colonial expenditnre ouj'ht to he given to the respective liCgi.shitnres. "There yet remains a (question of considcu'ahlc (lilliculty. By far the larger ])art of the revenue of the Australian Colonics is derived from duties on cnstcnns. liut if, when Victoria shall have been sejiarated from New South Wales, each jjrovinee shall be authorized to impose duties accord- ing to its own wants, it is scarcely possible but that in pro- cess of time ditlenmccs should arise betwi>en the rates of duty imposed njjon the same articles in the one and in the other of them. There is already such a ditrcrence ui the tariffs of South Australia and New South Wales ; and al- though, until of late, this has neen productive of little in- convenience, vet with the increas(^ of settlers on either side of the imaginary line dividing them, it will become more and more serious. The division of New South Wales into two Colonics wonhl further aggravate this inconvenience, if the change shoidd lead to the introduction of three; en- tirely distinct turitfs, and to the conse(iuent nec(;ssity for imposing restrictions and securities on the impcn't and ex- port of goods between them. So gn^at indeed \voidd be the evil, and such the obstruction of the inter-colonial trade, and so great the check to the devclopmcnit of tlu- rfsoin'ces of each of these; Colonies, that it seems to us neccHKary that there should be one taritt" common to thcMu all, so that goods might be carried from the one into the otli(.'r with the same absolute frccilom as between any two adjacent t'ount" s in England. " We are further of opinion that the same tai'iff should be establislied in Van Diemen's Laud also, because the in- tercourse l)etwcen that Island and tlu; neighbouring Colo- nies in Xew liollaiul has risen to a great importance and APPENDIX. 451 extent, and luis an oljvions tcndeucjy to ineroase. Vet fiscal regnlations on eitlier side of'thc iutrrveniu},' strait must of necessity elieek, and nii<,dit perhui)H to a great extent destroy, that beneficial trade. " If the duties were uniform, it is obvious that there iiced be no restrictions -whatever imjjosed upon the importer ex- port of goods l)etween the respective Coh)nies, and no motive for imi)orting into one goods lial)U> to (hity, wliich Mere (U^sthied for consumption in another ; and it m.av safely b(< eah'uhated tluit eacli would receive the proportion of rcve- Tuie to which it would be justly (nititled, or, at iill (>veuts, tliat there wouhl be no departure from tliis to an extent of any ])raetieal importance. " Hence it seems to us that a uniformity in the rate of duties shoukl l)e secured. " For this purpose we re(!()mmend that a unifona tariti" sliould be established by the authority of Parliament, biit that it sliouhl not take effect imtil twehe months had elapsed from the promidgation in tlie several Colonics of the pro])Osed Act of Parliament. That interval would aflbrd time for making any linancial arrangements which the ccntcm plated change might rccpiire in any of tliem ; and by adopting the existing Tariff of New South Wales (with some modifications to ada])t it to existing circum- stances) as the General Tariff for Australia, we apprehend that there would be no risk of imposing ujjon the iidiabitants of these Colonies a table of fluties unsnited to their actual wants. We should not however be prepared to offer this recommcTulation, unless we proposed at the same time to provide for making any alteration in this general tariff, which time and ex])ericnce may dictate, and this we think can only be done by creating some authority comjietent to act for all those Colonies jointly. o , . •) ». w ~ '^^Ln 452 COLONIAL POLICY. " For thistpurposc wo propose that one of the Governors of tlic Australian Colonies tthould always hold from Your Majesty a commission constituting him the Governor- General of Australia. Wc think that he should be au- thorized to convene a body to be called the General As- sembly of Australia, at any time and at any place within Your Majesty's Australian dominions which he might sec lit to appoint for the jnirposc. But we are of opinion that the first convocation of that body should he postponed until the Governor-General shoidd have received from two or more of the Australian Legislatures addresses recpujst- ing him to exercise that power. " We recommend that the General Assembly sliovdd consist of the Governor-General and of a single House, to be called the House of Delegates, The House of Dele- gates should be composed of not less than twenty, nor of more than thirty members. They should he elected by the Legislatures of the difterent Australian Colonu^s. Wc subjoin a schedule explanatory of the composition of this body, that is, of the total number of delegates, and of the proportions in which each Colony should contribute to that number. " We think that Your Majesty should be authorized to establish provisionally, and in the first instance, all tiie rules necessary for the election cf the delegates, and for the conduct of the business of the General Assembly, but that it should be competent to that body to supersede any such rules, and to substitute others, which substituted rules should not, however, take effect until they had received Your Majesty's sanction. *' We propose that the General Assembly should also have the power of making laws for the alteration of the number of delegates, or for the improvement in any other APPENDIX. 453 respect of its own Constitution. Rut we tliink that no such law sliould come into operation until it had actually been confirmed by Your Majesty. " We propose to limit the ranf,'e of the Irf^islative autho- rity of the General Asseml)ly to the ten topics which we proceed to enumerate. These arc : — " 1. The imposition of Duties on Imports and Exports. " 2. The Conveyance of Letters. " 3. The formation of Roads, Canals, or Railwaj's, tra- versing any two or more of such colonies. " 4. The erection and maintenance of Reaccms and Li"-ht- houses. " 5. The Imposition of Dues or other Charges on Ship- ping in every Port or Harbour. '* 6. The establishment of a General Supreme Court, to be a court of original jurisdiction, or a court of a )peal for any of the inferior courts of the separate provinces " 7. The detcTTiiining of the extent of the jurisdiction and the forms and manner of proceeding of such Supreme Court. " 8. The regnlation of Weights and Measures. " 9. The enactment of laws aft'ecting all the Colonies represented in the General Assembly on any subject not specifically mentioned in the preceding list, but on which the General Assembly should be desired to legislate by addresses for that purpose presented to them from the Legislatures of all those Colonies. " 10. The appropriation to any of the preceding objects of such sums as may be necessary, by an equal percentage from the revenue received in all the Australian Colonics, in virtue of any enactments of the General Assembly of Australia. " Bv these means we apprehend that many iuiportant 454 COLONIAL I'OLICY objects would bo iicPOTnpbshrd which would otherwise he imuttuinab'e ; and by the (jimliticiitioiis which wc liavc pro- [toscd, cHcctiial security wouhl, wc think, he taken .ii^ainst the otherwise danj^er of cstablisliin^ a central Lej^islalure in oj)))ositiou to the wish(;s of the si'paratc Jj(^j!;islatnri'.s, or in such a niauner as to in(hicc collisions of annority between them. Th(^ ])roccedinj^s also of the Lcfjislative Ooniieil ilin^ ar- rangement). the snni now enjoyed In the diurch Of Ktigiand. according to the Onsn« of 1841. X 2 3 £ .V. d. Jt £ iriiiircliof Kri^land^ 1, «« y 17,581 2 1 15,715 17,581 Rome . If* 8,510 14 (5 t>,333 10.411 Scotland :M3() !> 11 3,(i31, 4,ofi(; Wesleyaua . . ._ In th divid( New 771 13 3 1,31(5 1,472 .33.500 Total . . 25t,'Jl»8 (» 2{),ltU8 AI'l'KMUV. 155 i otherwise be I we have pro- taken .'i^iiiiisL iief^ishiiure in ishitures, or in »ority b(!tweou ;ive Ooiiiieil (il >])()8e(l ehan^cs lu! ueeessitv ol the Australian N) of SuiUi^ wliicli, nccordiiif; to tlic Census ol' 18 1(1, will (or- rc'w])()nil witli tho flinn now I'MJovcd l)y the ('tiurcji of En^laml. accortliu;^ to the Onsus of 1841. £ 17,581 3 10,411 4 4,0(5(5 6 1,472 H 33.5(50 Distrihidivn of I In- ^,nii.s i„ (\,ln,„„ W l„f „;■,■„. AV/r < „//, HaUs (p,^eHe>,t S>,,L, DiHirirl) ,nul rirh.na (^„r,rnt I'.rt VhiVio l)i)i(nrl), iirnmUnij to Hir ('rt,.sii.i of \HU\. ChurcJi of lliit'land Home . ,, Scotiaiicl Wi'sUyaua . . . Total Nctt South \Val.-,s. Victoria. f 2.7tli» l.(!S|, l.o^7 2'J(5 Total. £ 14.812 8.757 2,!)7',t 1 i-t; i' 17.581 10.111 kOCti 1.172 « 5,83(5 3:{.:)tio Ccnsim o/'1841 uinl 18 111. iijton which Iht ahitvn ('(lU'iilaHotis ura full II Jed . Church of KuKliiiul :~ Syihu-y District . . . Port Pldlii) DJHtrict . Chtircli of Rouu': — Sydiu'y District . . . Tort I'liilip District Chiu'di o Scotlaiul -. — Sydney District . . . Port Philip District Wesleyans : — Sythiey District . . . Port Philip District . 1841. ! 18 1(). (57.537 (•.,190 73,727 35,(590 13,153 3.23(5 79.810 11.921 94,731 5(5.2(52 21,909 7,935 33.2 19 2, 111 47,187 9,075 11.009 2.1 \i 1(5.053 5.85(5 2,58B (550 (5.338 1,597 •^ ^^«o. ^^^^ ^ ^ - IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) Is /. // 4?^ >,^ ^^^ ^ 1^ 1.0 I.I mi < us ^ m ^ tiS, 12.0 Uil |L25 1 U 3^6 *i 6" ^ <,% "^ A /. PhotDgrafto Sciences Corporation ;\ ^r 33 WBT MAM STRUT wnSTM,N.Y. MSM (7I«)I73-4S03 ^ ^\ ^^ c\ \ i - 1 i 1 ' { ' 456 COLONIAL POLICY. SCHEDULE 2. Composition qfthe House qf Delegates. Each Colony to send two members, and each to send one addi- tional member for every 16,000 of the population, according to the latest census before the convening of the House. On the present population the numbers would be as follows : — New South Wales Victoria Van Diemen's Land (deducting con- victs) , South Australia Population by last Census. 155,000 33,000 46.000 31,000 Number of Members. 12 4 5 4 25 " Her Majesty having taken the siaid Report, together with the Schedules thereunto annexed, into consideration, was pleased, by and with the advice of Her Privy Council, to approve thereof. (Signed) W. L. Bathurst." n Copy of a Despatch from Earl Grey to Governor Sir C. A. Fitzroy. " Downing -street, August 30, 1850. " Sir, " The Act for the better Government of Her Majesty's Australian Colonies having at length received the Royal assent, it is with much satisfaction that I have now the honour of transmitting it to you. It was my earnest de- sire to have been enabled to do so at an earlier period ; but the delay which has occurred in finally enacting tliis measure APPENDIX. 457 le as follows : — Bathurst." to Governor August 30, 1850. has been attended with this advantage, that it has given room for the thorough and repeated discussion of its pro- visions, both in Parliament and by the various organs of public opinion in the Colonies. These protracted discus- sions, and the detailed Report of the Committee of Her Majesty's Privy Council, of which you are already in pos- session, and of which the recommendations have been closely followed in this Act, must have rendered both its principle and its details so well known to yourself and the public, that it is necessary for me, on the present occasion, to do little more than advert to some of the changes which the measure underwent during its progress through Parlia- ment. " These changes, with one or two exceptions only, which I will presently notice, involve no departure from the fun- damental principle of the measure, which is that of main- taining the existing Constitution of New South Wales, with as little alteration as possible, in the separate Colonies into which it is now about to be divided, and extending that Constitution to the other Colonies to which represen- tative Constitutions are, imder this Act, to be granted. " The reasons which induced Her Majesty's Government to take this course in the first instance, and to adhere to it notwithstanding the objections which were urged against it in Parliament, have been fully stated in the report already alluded to, and in the debates which took place during the progress of this measure. We were of opinion that changes in an existing Colonial Constitution ought not to be made, without very strong reason, by the Legis- lature of the Mother-country. The supreme power with which the British Constitution invests that Legislature ought, in our judgement, to be thus exercised only when called for by a case of clear and urgent necessity, or of - f 458 COLONIAL POLICY. great abuse, or by an authentic exprc3siou of the wislics of the community to be affected by the change. The proj)er authorities to introduce those gradual improvements wliich are really likely to be safe and profitable are those which may be brought into action by the natural development of the Colonial community itself. You are aware that, except in a very few cases which have occurred within the last century, the various forms of government established in the British Colonies have not been determined by Par- liament, but have been settled by the Crown, in concert with the inhabitants of the Colonies, and that any altera- tions and amendments of the Constitution originally adopted have been effected from time to time as they have been re- quired by the same authority. " On full examination of the subject before them, Her Majesty's Government could find no evidence of any ne- cessity, or of any abuse, which would, in their opinion, have justified a departure, with regard to New South Wales, from this principle of our early Colonial policy, by having recourse to the authority of Parliament in order to effect in the Constitution of that Colony a change which has not been demanded by its inhabitants. We were by no means insensible to the force of the arguments com- monly adduced against legislation by a single Chamber. But, on the other hand, we were acquainted with tb*^ ^^ecu- liar difficulties which, in the Australian Colonies, )re- sent impede the attendance of members from Jidtant dis- tricts, and render it unadvisable to adopt for their legisla- ture a Constitution which would have incre.ised the number of persons required for the satisfactory transaction of busi- ness. We could not discover in the record of the pro- ceedings of t'lie existing Legislature any reiisons for sup- posing that it had substantially failed in its duty to its Al'i'ENDIX. 459 'e aware that, constituents, or had worked in a manner disadvantaireous to their interests and the progress of the community. Tlie evidence in our possession seemed to lead to very difl'erent conclusions ; and above all, we had no reason whate\ er to believe that the community were dissatisfied with the pre- sent Constitution of the Colony, nor any means of judging in what manner, if that Constitution were to be altered, it could be so with advantage and in accordaiiee with the wishes of the inhabitants. Though we were aware that in New South Wales, as elbewhere, there undoubtedly existed differences of opinion as to the best means of constituting a Legislature, yet we did not find, in the numerous peti- tions which the subject of this Act has elicited, any ex- pressions whatever of discontent with that now established, or any prayer except for its substantial maintenance. " But while thus maintaining the existing Constitution of New South Wales, Her Majesty's Government wcj'c, as I have stated, anxious to give to the Legislature the full- est power, consistent with safety, of amending that Con- stitution, and of modifying from time to time, without the intervention of Parliament, the political arrangements which may be suitable to existing circumstances, but m liich are likely to require adaptation to the changes which must take place in so rapidly advancing a society. The neces- sary powers for this purpose are given by Section 32 of the Act. You will observe that they extend, among other things, to the formation of two Chambers, of which one or both may be elective. The only restriction, in short, on the general power of alteration appears to be this, that, if the present single Chamber is retained, the proportion of elective and non-elective members cannot be varied, nor can the manner of appointment of the non-elective mem- bers be interfered with. The power of the existing Lcgis- 460 COLONIAL POLICY. lature, of effecting minor alterations in the arrangements for the election of members of the first Legislative Councils of New South Wales and Victoria, is defined by Section 1 1 . The control of Her Majesty's Government and of Parlia- ment over the more extensive changes which may be here- after made in the Constitution is provided for by the 32nd Section, which enacts that these changes shall only be ef- fected by reserved bills. " On the important subject of the use which may be made of these powers, it would be premature now to ad- dress you in detail. In my own opinion (strengthened un- doubtedly by the general consent of the various petitions and addresses which have reached me in their expression of confidence in the existing Legislature), it would be most advisable to abide for a time by the Constitution as it now stands. I think that there will probably be more danger from the over-eagerness of some to make use of the power of change now placed in their hands, than from the reluc- tance of others to venture on untried experiments. I think, moreover, that the progress of most of the Australian Colonies is so rapid, and the changes both in the general frame of society and its component parts so continual, that any attempt to establish a more elaborate form of Legis- lature, if too hastily entered upon, is likely to be found defective in some unforeseen particular ; so that another Legislature might probably find it necessary to commence the work of change anew, and that there would thus be danger of the institutions of the country becoming the sub- ject of a succession of experiments, injurious to the public interest by the excitement they would he calculated to keep up, and by their tendency to divert public attention from measures of a more practical kind. " These are the views which my observation of public APPENDIX. 461 affairs^ and especially of the course of events in Europe of late years, would lead me to impress on you , they are those of one deeply anxious for the continuance of that advance in material and moral prosperity, of which tlie Australian Colonies have on the whole exhibited so strik- ing an example, but like all general views, they must be received subject to the exigencies of times and events. " I have only to add, in reference to this part of the subject, that, under the definition of * reserved bills,* given in Section 33, you will observe that you retain the poMcr of refusing your consent to all bills, and are in no case under the necessity of reserving them for the signification of the Queen's pleasure, if you think them clearly inadmis- sible, and that they ought therefore to be at once rejected. " The most important deviations from the general prin- ciple of leaving the existing Constitution unaltered are to be found in Section 4, which was introduced in the progress of the bill through the House of Lords. It was strongly urged on Parliament that the existing franchise was ori- ginally fixed on too high a scale, and that, from changes in the money value and distribution of property, it had be- come even more restricted than was contemplated. There existed, moreover, no legal means for the admission to the franchise of persons holding pasture licenses, or of persons residing beyond the boundaries of location. It is true that by this bill, as originally framed, the new Legislatures, after the division of the Colony, would have possessed the power of lowering the franchise, and of admitting these voters ; but it was felt that leaving these changes to be effected by the exercise of this power must cause some delay in the redress of what was clearly shown by petitions and other representations to be felt as a practical grievance. If; moreover, the same franchise was to be fixed for the 'firr TfT^ Iff i III ■ |I'M 1 1 4G2 COLON I A li POLICY. several Colonics at the outset (and any other conrse would have been manifestly inconvenient), it was tho>i}.?ht objec- tionable to establish one reeogni/i^d as too hijjfh. ** You are therefore empowered, under Section 3, Avith the assistance of the existinj? Legislative Council of the whoU^ Colony, to form new electoral divisions for l)oth New South Wales and Victoria, admitting such districts as yon think proper, without regard to the 'boundaries of loca- tion.' And the first elc(!tion in each Colony will take place under the new franchise provided by Section 4. " T will next direct your attention to the clauses of the Act which relate to the jwwer of the Ijegislature as to the imj)osition of taxes and the appropriation of public money. " The expenses of collecting the Ke venue >rill be defrayed, as hitherto, out of the gross Revenue, and the charges in- curred on this account will, for the ])resent, continue to be audited as they now are in the manner which has been directed by the Commissioners of the Treasury, uiuler Act 7 and 8 Vict., c. 72. But in my Circular Despatch of the 8th instant, I have informed you that the management of the establishment of customs is henceforth to be placed under the Local Government, and the Lords of the Trea- sury concur with me in the desire that the Local Legishi- ture should have the fullest information respecting the de- tails of the charges on the gross Revenue for the cost of collection. I enclose, for your information and guidance, the copy of a letter from tlie Treasury on this 8ubjc{;t. " The effect of Sections 13, 17, and 18, is to give the Legislature a considerably increased control over that part of the Colonial expenditure now charged on what is called the Civil List. The Legislatures will have the power to alter, by Acts passed for that purjiosc, all or any of the sums spe(!ifie(l in the schedules. In the ease oi' these APPKNDIX. 403 altoratioim afloctinp; the salary of the (lovernor, or the np- jn'opriatioii for |)ul)lic worship, it is nupiircd by tlic present Act of Parliament that the C()h)nial Aets shouhl he reserved for tlic sipufication of Her Majesty's [jleasnre. " In tlie former Act there was a jM)wer f^iven to the (rovcrnor, by the 3Htli Section, of varyinj; the snm appro- priated to the pur])oses of Seliechde II, and the saviiifrs ac- cruing from such alteration were exempted from the con- trol of the Lej^islativc Conncil. This hitter proviso has been omitted in the present Act, as tluM'c a])i)ear(>d to be no sufficient reason why the ordinary powc.-r of the Lcf^is- lativc body shoidd not extend to thest; particular saviuj^s. "This extension of the authority of the Legislature has been rendered expedient in the view of Her Majesty's Government, by the evidence of the hitherto snc(;essful pro- gress of Constitutional Government. The maimer in which die p(;ople of New South Wales have hitherto excrciised the powers they possessed through th'ur Representatives seemed fully to justify the grant of the enlarged power which will now be entrusted to them in relation to their financial affairs ; but it has been deemed right by Parliament, in order the more completely to maintain the independence of the Judges of the Supreme Court, to provide that no diminution of judicial salaries by Colonial enactments shall affect Judges appointed previously to the passing of such enactment. "All other salaries, except those of the Governor and Judges, are placed by Parliament under the ordinary con- trol of the Legislatiu'c. With regard to the mode of exer- cising this control, you will however observe that reductions of fixed establishments, or of any expenditure provided for by permanent laws, can only be effected by Acts of the Legislatures, which of cour.se require the assent of the 404 COLONIAL POLICY. Crown, signified by yourself, and confirmed by Her Miycsty; but I wish you distinctly to understand that there is no desire on the part of Iler Majesty's Oovcnunent to prevent prospective reductions of charges which, in the opinion of the Colonists, will safely admit of being diminished. The intcri^ts of existing office-holders must be protected, because they accepted those offices with expectations which cannot justly be disappointed. But, subject to these interests, there is no objection to the Legislature fixing whatever scale of emoluments they may think fit for public servants to be hereafter appointed. I should, for my own part, con. sidcr it highly injudicious to reduce the salary of an office sa as to render it no longer an object of ambition to men of ability and of respectable station. But this is a matter in which the interests of the Colonists only are involved, as they will be the sufferers from any failure to provide ade- quate remuneratiou for those by whom the public service is carried on ; the determination, therefore, of what is suf- ficient must be left to the Legislatures, with whom will rest the responsibility for the judicious exercise of the power. " I consider it, however, absolutely essential that, what- ever may be the rate of payment, the salaries of all the principal officers of the Government should, for the reasons stated in the Report of the Committee of the Privy Council, be permanently granted ; that is, not voted from year to year, but provided for in the same manner as charges on the Consolidated Fund in this country by Acts, and there- fore only susceptible of alteration by Acts of the Legis- lature passed in the ordinary manner, with the consent of the Crown. You will therefore understand that you are not at liberty to give the assent of the Crown to any Act which may be passed reducing the salaries of those who are I » APPENDIX. 405 Hor Majesty; there is no lilt to prevent he opinion of nished. The 3cted, because which cannot esc interests, ing whatever ublic servants »wn part, con- y of an office )itiou to men lis is a matter re involved, as provide ade- public service if what is suf- th whom will cercise of the lal that, what- •iea of all the or the reasons [*rivy Council, from year to as charges on ;s, and there- if the Legis- ic consent of that you are to any Act ;hosc who are now in the public service, or rcTidcriuff drprndcuton uuniial votes any of the charges now [iroNidcd t'or by pcinumcnt appropriations. Any Acts of tliis sort you will rcsrrve for the signification of Jler MajeMty's ph-asurc, iiiiU'ss you con- sider them so manifestly objectionublc as to cull for tlunr rejection. Subje(!t to this restrictioti you arc autliorizcd to exercise your own judgement in giving «)r withbolding your assent from Acts for the reduction of the fixed charirtJs on the Colonial Kcvcnue. " With reganl to the liaud licvcnnc, 1 am aware that much jealousy has existed of its being ap])ro])riat('d, as it hitherto has been, by the Authority of the C^rown, aiul it is therefore necessary that I should explain that thoiigh the Act of Parliament which 1 now transmit to you makes no alteration in the existing law upon the subject, Hor Majesty's Govenmient have no desire to exercise any con- trol over the appropriation of this Reveime beyond that wliich is necessary in order to ensure its being expended on the objects to which it is legitimately applicable, and in a manner consistent with justice towards those from whom it is raised. But this Revenue is of a verv different character from that which is raised by taxation ; and my views witli regard to it will be best explained by the enclosed copy of a Despatch which I have lately had occasion to address to the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land. The principles there stated are, with very slight modification, applicable to New South Wales. The most important diflferences between the two Colonies are — first, that in New South Wales the expenditure of half the income de- rived from the sale of land on emigration, as required by the Land Sales Act, is, in the absence of any other source from which a sufficient supply of labour could be o])taincd, an appropriation of this fimd which tends directly to in- VOIi. I. 2 H 4()0 COLON! A I. POLICY. crcttHC the value of tlic Innd from tlu; sale of uliidi it is dt'i-ivod ; aiul, secondly, that in \an Diiinen's Land there 18 no lon^jfer occasion for any expenditiin; on account of the ahorif^inul natives, while in New South ^Valcs tlu; cost of the Ix'st arranf^cnients which eau he made for tiu-ir ])rotec- tion and civilization ought to he regarded as a charge prior to all others on the Uevemic derived from the appropriation of the lands of which they were the original iuhahitants. After ])ro\i(ling for this charge and those incurred on ac- count of sur>eys and the cost of eollc(!tion, such propor- tion of the Revenue derived from the sale or leasing of the Crown lands as is not reijuired for emigration, ought, as far as possihle, to he applied in Local Improvements in tlu; district in w hieh it arises ; and I propose comnmnieating with the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury on the steps which should he adopted in order to carry these views into effect. " The provisions of the Act respecting District Councils, which an; closely connected with the suhjeet to which I have just adverted, appear to require no further explana- tion, as they are in exact conformity with the detailed re- commendations of the Report of the Committee of Privy Council. " The effect of Sections 27 and 31 is to give the several Legislatures tliat full power, which is understood to have been hitherto curtailed by the restrictions of various Acts of I'arliament, to impose such customs-duties as they may think fitj provided only that they are not of a differential kind, and do not contravene certain other regulations of minor importmice. ' " The provisions of Section 29 were introduced on account of doubts which appeared to exist, whether a Supreme Court could be established in the new Colony of Victoria API'KNniX. 407 without contravcMing tlio ciiuotmcjits of former Htiitiitrs, and wlu'thor full lilxTty to luiikc altcriitious iu tlu; exist iu« Supreuu; Courts would, uitliout these iMovisions, liuve l)eeu vested iu the lie^jislntures of the altered ('(.louv of New South Wales and of Van Diemen's Laud. The elleet of ilio clause is, that complete freidoni of action iu tfiis respect is left to the several liCfjislaturcs, and that the Lef^'islature of Victoria may cither continues for tin- present the judicial arran^rcmcnt now iu force, or proceed forthwith to catahlish a new one The Ixnmdary between New South Wales and Victoria is the same with that now existrnj' hctutsen the Svduev and Port IMiilip districts. The mode by which any alteration is to be ett'cctcd is pointed out in Section liO. In the case of one Lej^islature only pctitioninjj, tlu; Privy Council can- not take sucli a petition into consideration until six mouths after notice of the petition has reached the Legislature which lias not petitioned : a provision which apj)cars to afford ample opportunity for any counter petition. "The provisions of Sections 3t and 35 were introduced on consideration of the peculiar circumstances of that large and important portion of the Colony which litis to the northward, particularly in the direction of Moreton Bay. Tlie centre of tlie peopled part of that district is as far from Sy(hiey as Melbourne itself; and it is impossible not to foresee that the same inconveniences which have led to the separation of Victoria from New South Wales, may at no distant time be felt in the north. It has been thouj^ht, therefore, expedient that the Crown should possess the power of forminf? a new Colony or Colonies so as to include Moreton Bay, and of communicatiufif representative insti- tutions to the inhabitants of any district so divided from New South Wales. But this power is only to be exercised f I 468 COLONIAL POLICY. on petition from the householders of the territory alfected by the arrangement. Her Majesty's Government can have no interest in promoting the formation of any such new Colony, and the clauses adverted to merely secure the means of carrying into execution the distinct wish of the inhabitants themselves. " The clauses giving power for the establishment under certain circumstances of a General Assembly for two or more of the Colonies were omitted from the biU in its pro- gress through the House of Lords. This omission was not assented to by Her Majesty's Government in consequence of any change of opinion as to the importance of the sug- gestions on this point which are contained in the Report of the Committee of the Privy Comicil. But it was found on examination that the clauses in question were liable to practical objections, to obviate which it would have been necessary to introduce amendments entering into details of Legislation which there were no means of satisfactorily ar- ranging mthout farther communication with the Colonies. "Her Majesty's Government have been the less reluctant to abandon for the present this portion of the measure which they proposed, inasmuch as even in New South Wales it appeared, as far as they could collect the opinion which prevails on the subject, not to be regarded as of im- mediate importance, while in the other Colonies objections had been expressed to the creation of any such authority. " I am not, however, the less persuaded that the want of some such central authority to regulate matters of common importance to the Australian Colonies will be felt, and probably at a very early period ; but when this want is so felt, it will of itself suggest the means by which it may be met. The several Legislatures will, it is true, be unable at once to give the necessary authority to a General As- APPENDIX. 469 sembly, because the Legislative power of each is confined of necessity within its territorial limits ; but if two or more of these Legislatures should find that there are objects of common interest for which it is exi)edient to create such an authority, they m\\ have it in their power, if they can settle the terms of an arruiigement for the purpose, to pass Acts for giving efifect to it, with clauses suspending their operation until Parliament shall have supplied the autho- rity that is wanting. By such Acts the extent and objects of the powers which they are prepared to delegate to such a body might be defined and limited with jn-ccision, and there can be little doubt that Parliament, when applied to in order to give effect to an arrangement so agreed upon, would readily consent to do so. " In framing the Schedules to this Act, some difficulty was necessarily experienced from the imperfection of the materials at the command of Her Majesty's Government for ascertaining distinctly the dirision of the existing ap- propriaticms between the services of New South Wales and Port Philip. We had no wish to increase the sum reserved by way of Ci\al List, but Ave felt that it was above all desirable that no existing interest should be sacrificed, or placed in a less secure position than at present. This cir- cumstance, and the inevitable increase in the estabUshment of Victoria on being raised to a separate Government, have produced an augmentation of nearly £12,000 on the whole amount of the charge for the fixed establishment. But if you find on examination that the amount required for any particular services, and charged on the Civil List, has been unnecessarily added to in the process of framing these Schedules, so that there is a surplus at your command con- sistently with justice to existing interests, the Act provides the means of making a reduction accordingly. v.*Mto'M jti^-UIM|J. .< . . -j 470 COLONIAL POLICY. ^11 " I have now gone through all the observations which appear to he requisite in order to fully explain to you the details of the measure which has just received the sanction of Parliament, and which it will be your duty to take the necessary steps for bring-ing into operation at as early a period as may be practicable. 1 have only in conclusion to assure you that in j&'araing this measiu'e and recommending it to Parliament, Her Majesty's Government have had no other object in view but that of establishing in the Austra- lian Colonies a system of government founded on the same principles of well-regulated freedom, under which the in- habitants of this country have enjoyed so large a measure of security and of prosperity, and under which the British Empire has risen to so high a pitch of greatness and of power. It is my earnest and confident hope that by this Act of Parliament, the fbandation is laid upon which insti- tutions may gradually be raised, worthy of the great nation of British origin whicli seems destined rapidly to rise up in the Southern hemisphere, and to spread our race and our language, and cariy the power of the British Crown over the whole of the vast territory of Australia. " I have, etc., « Sir a A. Fitzroy, (Signed) Grey." "etc., etc" Enclosure, Earl Grey to Sir IVilliam Denisnn. " Downing -street, July 27, 1850. "Sir, " In my Despatch on the general subject of the finances of Van Diemen's Land, I have tho.aght it right to reserve for separate consideration the general principles by which AVPENDIX. 471 sli Crown over the application of the Land Fund is to be governed. The question is one of so rr '* importance that 1 am anxious that my views upon it ^ >M be thoroughly understood. I will accordingly proceed i«ow to explain them. The money derived from sales of land I regard not as constituting a part of the Revenue of the Colony, in the proper sense of the word, since these receipts do not periodically reciu-, but arise from the permanent alienation of part of the public property, and ought therefore to be dealt with as capital to be invested in the accomplishment of objects of permanent public benefit. The proper object also of disposing of land by sale instead of by free grant, according to my Aiew of the subject, is that of regulating the distribution of the Crown Lands among those who will turn them to the best account, not that of realizing a large sura of money for ge- neral purposes. Experience has demonstrated that when a Colony is in progress of settlement, if land is disposed of either by free grants or by sales at a low price, no precau- tions can prevent its being engrossed by persons who acquire possession of it, not with a view to its occupation and improvement, but on the speculation of deriving a profit from its increase in value as the Colony advances in wealth and population. In the meantime, land thus left unimproved, is a great obstacle to the general progress of the Colony, and the settlement of emigrants is checked and discouraged by the high price they are compelled to pay for land to the speculators by whom it has been bought up. This evil is guarded against by selling land at a price too high to allow of its being acquired with any expectation of profit by persons who mean to let it lie idle. Uut as the object of imposing such a price is to ensure the gradual distribution of land to settlers as it is wanted, it has always been my opinion that the sums received for it should be ! : I ' i ' ii^^ 472 COLONIAL POLICY. applied in such a manner as to add to the value of the land to purchasers who mean really to occupy and improve it. The popular objections to the comparatively high price which has for some years been required for the Crown Lands in the Australian Colonies would in my judgement be well founded, and it would be highly impolitic to with- draw from settlers so much of their available capital, if this money were not in fact restored to them by its being applied in such a manner as to increase the value of the land they acquire. With this view, in the other Australian Colonies, half the sums so received are by law devoted to the intro- duction of emigrants, by which a supply of labour is ob- tained, and a value is given to the land which it would not otherwise possess. In Van Diemen's Land it is not neces- sarr, as there is an abundant supply of labour from another source, to apply any of the receipts from the sale of land directly to this purpose ; but upon the same principle they ought to be applied to public works, such as roads, bridges, and buildings, which will conduce to the profitable occu- pation of the lands alienated. The Committee of Privy Council on the proposed Constitutions of the Australian Colonies has advised, that whenever local bodies are consti- tuted representing the inhabitants of the diflerent districts, the application of half the Land Fund to objects of this kind should take place under their superintendence. I am strongly impressed with the importance of adopting this recommendation, and I should anxiously desire to see the establishmciit of such mmiicipal bodies at the earliest pos- sible period ; and whenever they are established, it would be highly expedient that the expenditure of a portion of the Land Fund, in the manner I have described, should take place under their direction, subject to the approval of the Lieutenant-Governor. In the meantime this application APPENDIX. 473 of the money should take place under the directions of the Government, since, if it were placed at the disposal of the Legislature, it is almost certain that due regard v;ould not be shown to the interests of the inhabitants of the remoter districts, whence it is principally derived, who are too few to have much influence in that body. In Van Diemen's Land, in consequence of the absence of any considerable demands for emigration, a larger proportion of the Fimd ought probably to be applied locally than in the other Colonies ; still a certain proportion of it ought, I think, to be retained for purposes of a similar character, but of more general advantage, — such as improvements of the great lines of communication, and of the principal harbours, — by which the general trade of the Colony may be benefited. These instructions must, however, be regarded as subject to those contained in another Despatch which I have this day addressed to you, and in which I have informed you that instalments of ^£5000 annually, in payment of the Colonial Debt to this country, must constitute a first charge on the Land Revenue. " I have, etc., " Sir W. Denison, (Signed) Grey." " etc., etc" END OF VOLUME 1. JOHir BDWABD TATLOB, PMKTBB, LirtLB «V«BN 8TBBBT, LIMCOIN'S INK HBI-DS-