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NEW SOUTⱭI WALES.

Encl. in No. 6.

2 sheep

400 L'amie. 4. Hanies.

4

DESPATCHES RELATIVE TO THE RECEPTION

of-leave, I may repeat that the plan, according to which convicts have recently been sent to New South Wales, is now being carried into effect in strict con- formity with that which was sanctioned by the Legislative Council in the month of April, 1848. It is possible that a change of opinion may since have taken place in that body and in the colony, and it may be gathered from some of the reports you have enclosed from the superintendent of Port Phillip, that, to some extent at least, such is the case, and that since Her Majesty's Government have poured in such large supplies of free labour, the very same persons who once had been advocates for the measure of introducing convicts are now among its opponents. But it is obvious, that even were it certain that this change of opinion were general, it could not reasonably be made matter of complaint against Her Majesty's Government that they had acted in conformity with the wishes previously expressed by the Legislature, nor should I be jus- tified in assuming, in opposition to the recorded vote of that body, (the only one which, upon such contested questions, I can regard as speaking the sentiments of the whole community,) that the colonists are no longer desirous of receiving convicts upon the conditions on which the address of the 7th of April, 1848, declares that they will be acceptable. It would be the less proper to do so, because it is obvious that this is a question upon which very opposite views are entertained in different parts of the colony and by different classes of its in- habitants. Nearly at the same time with your report of the public proceedings in that part of the colony, I received from several proprietors of flocks at Moreton Bay an earnest request, embodied in a petition of which I enclose a copy, that they might have the benefit of a supply of convicts properly selected, to satisfy the want of labour which is urgently felt in that district.

14. For these reasons, until the recorded vote of the Legislative Council in favour of sending convicts to the colony on certain conditions shall have been recalled by an equally formal proceeding. Her Majesty's Government are not prepared to abandon the measure, but as it appears, as well from the petition to which I have just adverted as from the proceedings in an opposite sense at Sydney and Port Phillip, that convicts are much more needed, and will be far more wil- lingly received, at Moreton Bay than in the other districts of the colony, for the present, at least, those that are sent to the colony will be directed to that quarter. A ship will accordingly be despatched almost immediately to that destination with convicts who will be carefully chosen for good conduct since their sentences, and they will be followed by an equal number of free emi- grants.

15. In conclusion, I have only to add, that whenever I may receive your report of the further deliberations of the Legislative Council on this important subject, the views finally adopted by that body will not fail to receive theearly and serious attention of Her Majesty's Government.

Sir C. A. FitzRoy.,

&c.

MY LORD,

&c.

Enclosure in No. 6.

I have, &c., (Signed)

GREY.

Rickmansworth, September 24, 1849. We, the undersigned magistrates and stockholders in the district of Moreton Bay, New South Wales, now on a visić to England for a short time, are induced to address your Lordship, in the hope that you will be pleased to authorise the introduction and continuous supply of "exiles" into that district, and we trust that you Will the more readily attend to this suggestion as we are aware that the Mount Stuart Elphinstone" sailed for that port in the month of last May with a ship-load of that description of labour.

We are not ignorant that objections have been raised in different quarters, and indeed in some of the Australian colonies, on this important subject, but our experience, gained by a long residence in the neighbourhood of a penal settlement, teaching us that even under such disad van'ages, the system has generally worked well, whether we consider the amount of reformation or the benefit derived by the employers of labour; and we may add, that many of our most trustworthy and useful servants have been originally convicts.

We would not have made this request without having well considered the subject, and without feeling confident that we are expressing the sentiments of the majority of the stockholders in our district, and we would respectfully point out to your Lordship that our stake is considerable, (calling your attention to the note annexed to this letter) that we reside with our families on our sheep stations, and that our own establishments alone require the services of 250 men.

OF CONVICTS IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

5

We are given to understand, on inquiry at the Office of Her Majesty's Emigration Commis- missioners in Park-street, that it is not their intention, for the present at all events, to dispatch emigrant ships to any other ports in the Australian colonies, save to Sydney, Port Phillip, and Adriaide; consequently no labour will reach Moreton Bay direct from the mother-country, and we shall be compelled, at a considerable risk and expense, to 'orward the newly-arrived emi- grants to that distant part of the colony.

Our latest advices from Moreton Bay, up to the end of April, inform us that labour is as scarce as ever, and wages almost as high, shepherds at that date receiving from 227. to 257. per annum, with the usual weekly ration. Our distance from Sydney (600 miles) may operate as one reason for such continuous high wages, but on the other hand, we cannot forget that our grazing capabilities are of unlimited extent, every day producing fresh outlets, and conse- quently absorbing fresh labour, so much so, that his Excellency Sir Charles FitzRoy has during the last year deemed it expedient to make three new appointments as Commissioners of Crown Lands to the north, west, and north-west of Moreton Bay.

We beg leave most respectfully to remind your Lordship, that the townships in and around Brisbane depend, in a great measure, upon the "squatters" for their support; that the in- crease of our sheep and cattle during the last eight years has been without a parallel, but unless some permanent arrangement be adopted, so as to render the supply of labour less pre- carious and less intermittent, our flocks and herds must considerably deteriorate in quantity and value.

Pastoral pursuits necessarily involve a scattered population; we would, therefore, humbly suggest, that for this very reason a favourable opportunity presents itself of sending out men who bave undergone the probationary system here, to a district where, owing to its enormous extent, they would be dispersed shortly after their arrival, instead of being congregated together in a town.

We, therefore, trust that your Lordship will be pleased to authorise the departure of two ships, containing from 250 to 300 "exiles" in each ship, to sail in the months of April and October in each year, to arrive in August and February, at a time when a fresh supply of labour is essentially requisite for carrying on our grazing operations.

Requesting your Lordship's early consideration of the foregoing representations,

We, have, &c., (Signed) ARTHUR HODGSON, J. P.

Henry Hughes, J.P. FRED. W. BIGGE, J. P. WALTER D. Leslie, J. P.

The Right Hon. Earl Grey,

&c.

&c. Sce.

(No. 174.)

No. 7.

GEO. R. E. FAIRHOLME, J. P. EVAN MACKENZIE, Bart., also for COLIN JOHN Wonengh, J. P.

COPY of a DESPATCH from Earl GREY to Governor Sir C. A. FITZROY. Downing-street, November 16, 1849.

SIR,

I HAVE the honour to acknowledge your Despatch No. 111, of the 1st of June last, accompanied by an Address to the Queen from the Legislative Council declining to accede to the proposal which had been made for renewing the intro- duction of convicts into the colony, and respectfully protesting against the adoption of any measure by which the colony would be converted into a penal settlement.

2. I have to acquaint you that I have duly laid this Address before Her Majesty, who was pleased to receive the same very graciously.

NEW SOUTH WALKS.

#2,000 Sleep. But Cattl S1 Hors. $4,000 Sheep. 1,000 Cattle, 20 Hones

15,000 Sheep, 400 Head

of Cattle, 170 Harms. 17,000 Sleep,

2,500 Cattle, 300 Horari 7,000 Sheep, 500 Cattle. 20 Horses. 18,000 Sheep, 700 Cattle,

100Hares

No. 7.

3. I send you. by this opportunity, a Despatch bearing date the 10th of this No. 173, to Nov. month, which was prepared, though not yet sent off, when the present intelligence from you arrived. I still think it right to forward it, as affording the shortest and clearest explanation I can give you of the views which were entertained by Her Majesty's Government previously to the receipt of the Address from the Legislative Council, and which led to the engagement of a ship for the conveyance of convicts to Moreton Bay.

4. In this Despatch I have had occasion to point out that owing to the aid granted by Parliament for free emigration, the convicts recently sent from this country have, in point of fact, beeen going to New South Wales, in exact con- formity with the arrangement which was approved of by the Legislative Council in their Address to you of the 7th of April, 1848.* But finding, from their present Address, that the views of the Council have been changed, and that they no longer

Page 39 of Papers relative to Convict Discipline, presen ed to both Houses of Parliament, by Com- mand. February 1849.

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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

TELEC.O.

885

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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