7
*No. 3.
6
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.-CONVICTS.
the opinion has been expressed by yourself, as well as by preceding Governors of the Cape, that there existed no objection on the part of the inhabitants to the employment of convicts there so long as they were kept in custody. I have to refer you to Sir Peregrine Maitland's Despatches of the 10th* and 23rd* of September, 1846, and to your own of the 8th of May, 1848,† in which you suggested that no fewer than 600 convicts should be sent to the colony, to he employed in the construction of a breakwater.
5. It is true that in these Despatches the ultimate removal of the convicts from the Cape was contemplated; but there is nothing in the order for sending military convicts for punishment to the Cape, which prevents their being also removed when their sentences approach completion. Indeed on referring to my Despatch of the 10th of September, you will perceive that their removal before the termination of their punishment was what was originally intended; and if the object of your Despatch of the 12th of June had been to claim, on the part of the colonists, that this should be the course pursued, there would have been no difficulty in complying with it. In the mean time no inconve nience could possibly arise from receiving and retaining them in custody in the convict establishment at the Cape. By the Report which I have just received on the convict establishment of the colony (in your Despatch, No. 1679, of the 6th of September last), it appears that it is quite equal to receiving for punish- ment the moderate number of military convicts likely to be sent under the
orders now in force.
6. You will perceive from the enclosed return, which I have obtained from the Adjutant-General's Office, that the number to be so sent in the year would not, according to the average of the last five years, exceed 25,
I have not, therefore, thought it necessary to revoke the instructions which have been given, for sending soldiers sentenced for military offences to transportation to the Cape from certain stations. But an arrangement will be made on which you shall receive further instructions hereafter, for removing these men when they become entitled to their release from punishment, to some other place; and I have also to authorize you, if you should find that there is likely to be oppo- sition to the reception of military convicts, even on these terms, to forward to this country any who may arrive at the Cape.
7. Though such opposition would be entirely inconsistent with all that has till now been said on the part of the colonists, and though it would be no less unreasonable that they should expect the protection of the British army, and refuse to afford the smallest assistance towards an arrangement which has in view the maintenance of the discipline of that army, Her Majesty's Govern ment do not think that the object of disposing of so small a number of convicts is of sufficient importance to make it worth while to insist on the point. Lieut.-General Sir II. G. Smith, Bart.,
I have, &c., (Signed) GREY.
&e.
&c.
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE.-CONVICTS.
No. 5.
(No. 410.) Copy of a DESPATCH from Earl GREY to Governor Sir H. G. SMITH, Bart.,
SIR,
G.C.B.
Downing-street, December 5, 1849.
1. I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your Despatch, No. 185, of the 30th of September last, reporting the arrival of the "Neptune" with the convicts shipped in that vessel at Bermuda. This Despatch, with the able Minute of the Executive Council which it encloses, affords an explana- tion, which I am happy to inform you has appeared to Her Majesty's Govern- ment to be satisfactory, as to the reasons by which you were guided in the decision to which you came respecting the disposal of this party of convicts; and I have to signify to you Her Majesty's approval of the course which you felt it necessary to adopt. It is gratifying to me to be able to convey to you this announcement, for I am very sensible of the trying and anxious nature of the position in which, by the violent proceedings adopted at the Cape, you have found yourself placed.
2. I have also to express my approval of the manner in which, in your published communication to the Chairman of the Public Meeting held at Cape Town, you pointed out to the colonists the dangerous tendency of the course on which they had entered, and the objectionable nature of the principles which it involved.
3. Her Majesty's Government have learned with great regret the decease of Mr. Deas, the surgeon-superintendent of the convicts in the "Neptune." It is indeed to be deplored, that after having won the confidence and gratitude of the unfortunate mên entrusted to his care, and also earned the approval of your inspecting officer for the manner in which he brought them out, this meri- torious officer should, almost at the moment of arrival, have fallen a victim to the feelings of pain and surprise occasioned by the refusal of the inhabitants of the Cape to allow his people the refreshments indispensable to the preservation of their health.
I have, &c.,
Lieut.-General Sir H. G. Smith, Bart..
&c.
&c.
&c.
+
(Signed)
GREY.
Encl. in No. 4
&c.
Enclosure in No. 4.
RETURN of the Number of European Soldiers belonging to Her Majesty's Army who have been Transported in each of the last Five Years from the East Indies, the Mauritius, Ceylon, and Hong Kong, specifying, Transported.
so far as practicable, the place to which they were
Number of Men Transported
STATIONS.
Total.
In
in
In
Iu
IN15
140
IN 17
4,48
East Indies
28
15
17
49
13
122
Mauritius
5
.5
Ceylon
Hãng Kung
I
1
Tutal
34
15
17
49
13
128
Nore. There are no records in the Adjutau-Cheneral's Offee which furaish the information required, as to the places to which these then were transporter!.
Adjutant-General's Office,
October 30, 1849.
(Signed) J. MACDONALD,
Adjutant-General.
• Pages 16 and 17 of House of Commons' Papers.-Cape. Transportation, No. 217, 1849.
+ Ibid., page 19.
Ibid., page. 8.
$ See Papers clative to the Employment, on Roats, of Colonial Convicts at the Cape, about to be printed for Parliament,
• Page
7
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C.O.
Reference :-
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