CO885(1-2) — Page 580

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

C.O.

Reference :-

• 885

2 PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

Lords' Paper, No. 40 of 1846, p. 58.

Ibid. p. 63.

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"the less manly-those who can least appreciate a high moral in their rulers-are not so won, and by their offences purpose give a colour to misrepresentation, yet even they are in a manner thus controlled, and the total amount of offence is much less with "many opportunities than it used to be with few. Of this the police "records are the most satisfactory proof. As regards the English pri "soners, on the other hand, who have been under a somewhat modified

discipline,-not mine,-not what I desired, but merely as near “approach to it as in the circumstances I could make, the effect is only less satisfactory because more might originally have been expected from them, and the contrast is thus less obvious. But their offences are in "the main insignificant compared with the old lists against others; and if they are less good than I could have wished, and undoubtedly they are so, "on the other hand they are much less evil than their long association with "the refuse of the old colonies might have warranted the expectation of. "They are weak under the treatment they have experienced; but very few "are deliberately wicked; and this alone in all circumstances is, 1 contend, great success. Of the actual issue of my experiment then, I maintain that "there is no reasonable doubt; it only wants a more extended and a more "consistent application."

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On the same day Sir G. Gipps transmitted a letter from the Commis- sariat Officer at Norfolk Island, describing Captain Maconochie's system as one of wasteful extravagance; and also a letter from the Commanding Engineer at Sydney, reporting that it would be impossible to carry out his expense both plans in regard to prisons, &c., without great additional present and prospective. In a further despatch of the same date Sir G. Gipps reported in the following terms, his opinion as to the results of Captain Maconochie's scheme, after an experience of two and a-half years, viz, :----

"The men are all (or nearly all) personally attached to Captain "Maconochie. He has much influence over them, and they greatly desire "to please him, though some will occasionally turn him into ridicule; "and in their communications to their old associates in this colony, they "not unfrequently complain, that the least deserving men are most in his "confidence.

"Punishment is rare on the island, and hardly ever severe. Attempts "are frequently made to produce striking effects on even the worst men, by "unexpected acts of leniency, forgiveness, or confidence, calculated to "awaken and call into play the good feeling implanted in them by nature, "but which may long have lain dormant; and such attempts are not unfrequently successful. Petty crimes, however, abound, and perhaps "are even on the increase. Acts of overt or combined violence seldom "occur; and heinous acts of atrocity, such as the unprovoked infliction "on each other of bodily injuries, are less frequent than they formerly

Unnatural offences it is to be feared are on the increase. "The labour of the prisoners is turned less to account than it "was under the management of former Commandants; consequently the produce of the island is falling off, and the expense of supplying it with "provisions from Sydney rapidly increasing. There is reason to fear, too, "that the timber and firewood of the island (articles of the highest import- “ance) are diminishing; and the waste of these latter may be expected to "become more rapid, now that the holders of tickets of leave are allowed to "disperse themselves about the island.

"were.

"Task work is generally introduced, but the tasks apparently are light.

If

Depredations on the growing crops and other property of Govern- "ment are more general than they formerly were, and will probably increase' "in proportion as the live-stock increases, which ticket-holders are allowed "to have of their own, the feeding of their stock being one of the chief "inducements which they have to commit such depredations.

"Finally, the prisoners on the new establishment are quiet and "respectful in their demeanour, but idle and listless; those on the old, or

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"doubly-convicted establishment, uneasy and scheming. No apprehension "is entertained either by Captain Maconochie or Colonel Hulme (the mili- "tary Commandant), of a serious outbreak by either class, and no feelings "of fellowship seem to exist between the soldiers and the convicts."

The conclusion to which Sir G. Gipps came was, that the time had arrived for bringing Captain Maconochie's experiment to a termination; that accordingly at the completion of its third year in the following March, all the new prisoners should be removed to Van Diemen's Land with tickets of leave, leaving Her Majesty's Government to decide what should be done with the "old hands," who would remain to the number of about 1000. At the same time, while expressing an opinion that the scheme had not been so successful as represented by Captain Maconochic, Sir G. Gipps admitted the difficulties with which Captain Maconochie had had to contend, not only from the circumstances of Norfolk Island, but from the extreme dislike and contempt for his system, entertained and expressed by all parties in New South Wales.

In March 1843, Sir G. Gipps proceeded to Norfolk Island, and in the following month reported the results of his observation, transmitting at April 1, 1843, the same time a further report from Captain Maconochie. Sir G. Gipps Lords' Paper, No. reported generally, that good order prevailed throughout the island, and 40 of 1846, p. 137. that the demeanour of the prisoners was respectful and quiet. In regard to the "new hands," he expressed a doubt whether there had been any moral improvement. Unnatural crime had much increased among them, and gambling was prevalent. In regard to the old hands he observed, "of "his management I can speak with almost unqualified approbation, that is "to say, since they were separated from the others. These men had "suffered, and suffered severely, before Captain Maconochie assumed the management of them, and their minds had consequently been brought to "a state in which the manifestation of kindness on the part of their ruler, "was likely to make the best impression upon them. Great and merciful as "have been the ameliorations introduced into their condition, I could not perceive, either from personal observation or the reports of others, that they had led to evil consequences at all to be put in comparison with the "benefits which they have produced." Sir G. Gipps added that they worked harder than the new hands, were less addicted to unnatural crime, and cleaner in their habits. He observed that in reality Captain Maconochie had never attempted to bring his entire theory into practice in Norfolk Island; that the only part of it which had been fairly tried was the "mutual responsibility" doctrine, which had failed, and that notwith- standing Captain Maconochie's disapprobation of vindictive inflictions, it had been found necessary to revert to the lash and chains as punishments. Sir G. Gipps represented Captain Maconochie as a man too sanguine in his temperament, and too fond of striking, and somewhat theatrical, effects, to be well suited for the management of prisoners; and added, that the Mark system would be inapplicable, except in a limited establishment on a small scale.

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This was Sir G. Gipps' last report on the subject. Before it was written, indeed before the despatches above referred to, of August 1842, had been received,-the question as to the continuance of Captain Maconochie's experiment had been set at rest, by Lord Stanley's' des- patch to the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land, of 25th November, 1842. But before referring to that despatch, it will be necessary to return to what had been passing in Van Diemen's Land during Captain Maconochie's experiments in Norfolk Island.

From the Report of the Committee of the House of Commons, it may be seen what was the condition of the transported convict in Van Diemen's Land, up to the close of 1836. The Assignment system was then in force, and whatever its advantages or disadvantages, there is no reason to doubt that they were fully developed in Van Diemen's Land.

In the beginning of 1837, Sir J. Franklin reached the colony, and

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