CO885(1-2) — Page 574

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indeed, that in such colonies the labour of con victs could be made more valuable than in this country, but hitherto experience has not con- firmed that expectation; it is no doubt true that this is partly owing to great mismanage- ment, but even if the labour of convicts in the colonies could be made as productive as the most sanguine could expect, still, even in a pecuniary point of view, this advantage would be far more than neutralized by the great cost of sending them out, and by the very much greater expense of providing for their effective superintendence and management in the colonies than at home.

4. But a more serious objection to the inflic tion of penal labour in the colonies is, that it is

thus withdrawn from the immediate controul of

the Government, and there is not the opportu- nity there ought to be of watching the effect of

the system adopted, and of immediately cor- recting any faults which may be shown by its working. Considering how little perfect are the best systems of prison discipline hitherto adopted, this seems to me a most important consideration. No one can suppose that the horrors which have at length been brought to light as existing in Van Diemen's Land and Norfolk Island, could have so long continued, if those convicts who have been sent there had been employed at home.

5. It is not merely the want of the immediate controul and inspection of what is going on, by the Government, which obstructs the effective infliction of penal labour in distant colonies; this effect is produced in a still greater degree by the impossibility, in such colonies, of obtain- ing a suflicient command of the services of effective officers and agents. If, in Van Die- men's Land, a chaplain, a superintendent, or even an overseer dies, or has to be dismissed for misconduct, the vacant situation can seldom be satisfactorily filled without sending home for a person to be appointed, involving great delay and expense. While, however well selected may be the persons composing the

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establishment for the management of convicts,

past experience does not warrant the hope that, living in a small colonial society, they will not be divided by personal and party feuds, greatly impairing their efficiency.

6. The formation of a great convict establish- ment in a colony is accompanied by this inevita- ble evil, that as the periods for which the con- victs are sentenced expire, much inconvenience must arise. If they remain in the colony, the evils formerly experienced to so great an extent in New South Wales must be incurred, and a society will grow up in which there is a great disproportion of the sexes, and a powerful class

of what used to be termed "emancipists." On the other hand, if an attempt is made to remove them, immense expense and great difficulties

are incurred.

7. Hence I think that so much of the punish- ment of convicts as consists of penal labour should be indicted at home; possibly it might

be so to a certain extent at Bermuda or Gibraltar, though, as a permanent system, I should prefer having them all kept at home. I believe that, with good arrangements, there would be no difficulty in finding means of ren- dering their labour valuable, without interfering with the employment of any part of the popula- tion of the country; and as one of the first means of doing this, I would suggest their being employed in building the prisons or peniten- tiaries which the adoption of this policy would render necessary.

8. By carrying this part of the punishment of convicts into effect at home, an opportunity would be obtained of trying various methods of penal discipline with all the advantages afforded by a command of the services of the best officers that could be found, and also by the power of closely watching the effect of such experiments, and of at once interfering to correct any defects which might be found in the practical working of the plans so tried.

9. With this advantage, I would strongly recommend that another trial should be made

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O.885

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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