The Present Picture of New South Wales (1811) by David Dickinson Mann

D >> David Dickinson Mann >> The Present Picture of New South Wales (1811)

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Complaints having been made by the government of the expenses
of the colony, which have accumulated, rather than diminished,
with the increasing growth of the settlement, I shall first enter
into a statement of the causes of this augmented expense, part of
which, as I shall hope to demonstrate with clearness, has arisen
out of the nature of things, and the other part may be attributed
to various causes.

1st, As to the retarded progress of public buildings, and the
diminution in the labour of the convicts.--This decrease in the
quantity of labour performed, is to be attributed to the natural
falling-off in the strength of the convicts employed in
government labour, from deaths, desertions, and their becoming
free. Those who were first sent to the colony, and had been
originally transported for seven and fourteen years had served
their times, the former in 1793, and the latter in 1800; numbers
had been released from their servitude on account of their
exemplary behaviour, or of services done to the colony; and all
who became settlers being allowed one, two, or more convicts to
assist in the cultivation of the tracts assigned to them, the
reduction in those who laboured for the crown must necessarily
have been very considerable, and must still continue in an
increasing degree, owing to the great numbers of free settlers
who have been allowed to go out from England, many of whom have
only been a great expense to government, and an hindrance to the
settlement. From a correct estimation taken in the year 1800, it
was ascertained that three-fourths of the convicts employed in
the service of government at the close of 1792, had been
subsequently discharged. From that period to the year 1800, 1259
new male convicts arrived, effective and non-effective, a number
which was insufficient to fill up the deficiencies occasioned by
those who had obtained their liberations in consequence of having
completed their terms of servitude, and the emancipations which
had taken place, the number of which together amounted to 1264,
without including the deaths, casualties, and escapes, which may
be taken at an equal number; nor were there more employed by the
crown than 710 when Governor King was succeeded in the command of
the colony (although a great many had arrived between those
periods), including the vast number allowed to officers,
settlers, and others, and but few of the remainder were either
mechanics or persons adapted to the improvement of the colony;
therefore from these causes it must be evident to every rational
mind, that the progress of the colony towards perfection and
prosperity has, in fact, been as rapid as could be expected,
considering the circumstances of the settlement; and an opinion
of a contrary nature must have been grounded upon an exaggerated
estimate of the means which existed, and an entire ignorance of
the due proportion which they have borne to the labour required
at their hands.

2dly, As to the expenditure of the stores which were forwarded
to the colony, in the interval which elapsed from the departure
of Governor Phillip, in December, 1792, to the arrival of
Governor Hunter, in September, 1795.--It has been subsequently
ascertained, that in this lapse of two years and three-quarters,
a sufficiency of stores had been received to supply the real
wants of the settlement for a period nearly thrice as long;
whereas the whole was expended, and the store-houses were found
empty at the arrival of the latter governor from England. In
consequence of the profusion which had thus been practised,
although it might at that time be deemed needful, his excellency
Governor Hunter was reduced to the necessity of purchasing new
stores at an expensive market, where every advantage was taken of
the necessity which had induced the demand, and the most
exorbitant prices were charged for each article. I have
understood from very good authority, that two pounds were paid
for a pair of men's shoes, and thirty shillings for women's;
tobacco was forty shillings per lb.; soap twelve shillings, and
sugar eight shillings; a beaver hat and a coarse jacket, fetched
five pounds each, and every other article in an equal proportion.
A great deal of time was also lost in endeavouring to make
implements of husbandry, mechanical tools, and other requisites
of a similar description. The reduced state of the colony at this
period was also rendered still more deplorable, by the neglect of
the government in England to comply with the urgent requisitions
of Governor Hunter for such supplies as were necessary. The
exhaustion of the stores of clothing and beds and blankets,
assisted to fill the hospital with patients, and rendered the
purchase of these articles absolutely indispensable at any price,
and on any terms on which they might be procured. I feel myself
inclined to suppose, that the backwardness which displayed itself
at this time in the government to dispatch the stores which were
demanded, arose from a conviction that the supplies which had
been previously sent in such abundance were sufficiently ample
for all the immediate wants of the colony, and, consequently,
that the pressure of necessity could not be so great as was
represented; for it was not to be expected that those officers
who administered the government of the colony, on the arrival of
their successors, would depict the situation of the settlement,
and the state of the stores, in any other than a favourable
light, particularly to his Majesty's ministers at home; a line of
conduct which tended considerably to enhance the mischiefs which
had been already showered upon the inhabitants, by the perhaps
too liberal distribution which had been displayed in the issuing
of the various necessaries during their administration.

3dly, As to the custom of allowing to settlers a certain
number of convicts, for years, to assist in the tillage, and
continuing to victual those servants out of the public stores.--I
am clearly of opinion, that much evil has arisen from the
unrestrained issue of this indulgence. The original object of
this grant was, to enable the young farmer to clear the tract
which was assigned to him, and to bring it into a condition which
would enable it to produce a maintenance for its possessor; then
he was required to take the convicts which he thought it
necessary to retain, entirely off the public stores, and to
victual and clothe them at his own cost. The abuse of this
indulgence, however, has arisen from the extension of its
advantages to an unlimitted term; so that the farmer is
interested in retarding the efforts which he might otherwise be
induced to make for the improvement of his land, in order to save
himself from the burden of supporting his servants; and thus a
spirit of indolence is promoted, and the original intention of
the measure is totally perverted. The continuance of this
pernicious system, previous to the administration of Governor
Hunter, had induced the settlers to look upon it as a right,
rather than an indulgence. Numbers of useful mechanics, whose
services might have been turned to advantage, in the exercise of
their different professions for the public benefit, were thus
given to those who cultivated lands, until their term was
expired; and no sooner did they recover their freedom, than they
quitted the service of government for more lucrative employments;
the consequence was, artificers at a high price were to be hired
by the governor, to build those store-houses which might have
been erected before, and to repair the towns of Parramatta and
Toongabbee, which were falling into ruins, on account of the
necessary repairs having been neglected at a proper season: This
was a new expense entailed upon government, and many thousands
were expended, which foresight and prudent policy might have
saved.

A 4th cause of superfluous expense to the crown, was to be
found in the employment of the convicts to perform the public
service by task-work, which was completed by nine or ten o'clock
in the morning, and thus left the hands free to assist in the
cultivation of those tracts of land which had been granted to
different descriptions of persons. Thus was the government labour
protracted in a most shameful degree; the labour of little more
than a week requiring the lapse of a month to complete it; and
thus, also, several were induced, by their attention to their
individual interests, to neglect the service of the colony. The
consequence of this innovation was, the rapid clearing and
cultivation of such persons' estates, and the erection of
comfortable residences and the acquisition of further
accommodations, which they must otherwise have waited some time
to obtain; while the buildings which were required to be raised
for the security of the stores, and for other purposes of equal
necessity, were greatly retarded. I am confident also that this
conduct tended to relax the discipline which ought to have been
rigidly preserved amongst the convicts, and produced a general
carelessness of the general interest; and it was not without some
difficulty that Governor Hunter succeeded in the adoption of a
contrary line of behaviour. Habits of dissipation and indolence
resulted from this pernicious mode of bartering the public for
individual interest, which had taken such deep root, as to render
their complete eradication matter of the most extreme difficulty:
The encroachments on the hours of labour for the crown has,
however, been done away by Governor Hunter, and a a more regular
system has been adopted in the allowance of convicts and other
indulgences to settlers, etc. by order of the Secretary of
State, since his excellency's departure.

The custom of imprisoning for debt those persons who are
employed in the public service, constitutes the 5th article of
notice; and this practice had been carried to such a pitch, that
dealers would readily give credit to convicts, or any servants of
the crown, under the idea that they might sue the debtors for the
amount, and imprison them, or obtain the benefit of their labour
until the debt was liquidated. The necessities of the convicts
frequently compelled them to seek for credit, and thus to throw
themselves into the power of those iniquitous designers. In
consequence of the prevalence of this practice many of the
convicts were immured continually, and thus the public was
deprived of their services; since they preferred remaining
indolently in confinement to making those complaints to the
governor, which would have led to their release, and reinstation
in their former situations of labour. Governor Hunter no sooner
made himself acquainted with the mischievous extent to which this
conduct was carried, than he published an order, in which he
prohibited every person in trade from "crediting the
servants of the crown, under the plea of their being at liberty
to imprison their persons; if such credit was given, it was to be
understood as being done at the risk of the creditor, on the good
faith he entertained of the integrity of the persons he so
entrusted, but that the public should not be deprived of the
labour of its servants for the partial accommodation of
individuals." This order was dated the 4th of October, 1798,
three years after the return of Governor Hunter to the
administration of his high and responsible office; and the
regulation was justified by the situation of the colony, and the
abuses which had sprung out of the custom. After the publication
of this order, however, I saw many persons committed to prison
for debt, whose situation, as convicts, exempted them from
incarceration; but this apparent breach of the regulation was
entirely attributable to the ignorance of the court which had
thus decided, that the person against whom their warrant was
directed, was at the time a bond-servant, and, consequently,
within the reach of this clause. Whenever a commitment of this
description came to the governor's knowledge (which was always
the case in a few days, when the report of the prisoners for debt
was delivered to him), the delinquent was immediately enlarged,
since his confinement was illegal, as contrary to the order which
had been published on the subject.

Another cause of expense, comprising the 6th in this
enumeration, arose out of the number of orphan children in the
settlement, who were allowed full ration and clothing at the
charge of government. This evil has, however, experienced a very
natural reduction, from the judicious measures adopted by
Governor Hunter, who laid the foundation of a fund for the
benefit of these orphans; the consequence of which has been, the
completion of a school for the education and maintenance of
female children of that description, and which is now supported
by various imposts upon merchandize, and other taxations or fines
for certain offences against the general orders. The children
embraced by this charity are not simply the offspring of deceased
parents, but such other children, also, as have been left
unprovided for, by the desertion of those whose duty it was to
foster them, or from the circumstance of their being found to be
worthless and profligate characters, or by their having betrayed
a carelessness and indifference as to the moral improvement of
their children; where such a disposition displayed itself, the
offspring were taken from them, and their subsequent progress was
made the care of this institution, which provided for their
support and improvement; and I am happy to say, that there is
every appearance of a great good arising from this foundation, by
rescuing from infamy and shame, and bringing up to a life of
virtue and industry, a number of fine young girls, whom it is
earnestly hoped will strive to repay the paternal care that has
been taken of them in their juvenile days, by a strict adherence
to every pure inclination as they rise in age, and a grateful
remembrance of those from whom their happiness has sprung.

7thly, The establishment of a most injurious monopoly amongst
the inhabitants of the settlement, which has tended to the ruin
of fair trade.--The commencement of this baleful system is traced
back to the administration of Governor Phillip, at which time I
was not in the settlement. In a very scarce period, when all
classes were labouring under every kind of privation, the
officers prayed leave of the governor to charter the ship
Britannia for the Cape of Good Hope, to bring back cattle and
other articles on their account, for which speculation a
considerable sum was subscribed, in equal shares. The governor
assented to the proposition, in consequence of the peculiar state
of the colony at that time; but scarcely had the Britannia sailed
upon her voyage, when the governor, having received leave of
absence, left the settlement, and the government immediately
changed its form, from a naval to a military system. In
consequence of this variation, permission was readily obtained
for the disposal of the cargo thus imported on its arrival, and
after its passing through the hands of the importers, the chief
part of the merchandize produced from 1000L. to
2000L. per cent. to the private retailer. These
extraordinary advantages could but be attended with evil and
destructive consequences to the settlement at large; nor does the
system of monopoly, which was so early introduced in the colony,
cease to spread its baleful influence; by which means the
settlers, who were deserving of the most marked encouragement and
indulgence, still remain in far less affluent circumstances than
they otherwise might have been. This topic deserves serious
attention, and the mild hand of legislative authority, to check
its further pernicious effects.

Having spoken thus on the subject of monopoly, which I shall
at a future period fully establish, and which has occasioned the
sacrifice of the public, to individual interest, I shall proceed
to advert, 8thly, to the loss which the government has sustained
in the dereliction of some of its most valuable servants, who
have been allured, by the rapid fortunes made by several
individuals, to quit the service of the public, and to embark in
traffic. The inferior officers of the settlement, and the
non-commissioned officers and privates of the regiment, have been
infected with the itch for dealing; and many of the settlers
themselves have either disposed of their farms or deserted them,
to obtain the means or the leisure to devote themselves to a
species of dealing which never failed to turn to good account.
Many who had also served their terms of transportation, instead
of remaining to aid the public service, withdrew themselves from
the stores, and turned their thoughts to trade. The consequence
of this universal inclination to one object, and that of such an
evil nature, being chiefly confined to the sale of spirits, soon
became obvious in the desertion of those farms which had been
previously tilled with so much advantage, and in the neglect of
all duties, whether of a public or private nature. The immense
profits made by this pursuit served as a new stimulus to its
continuance: One dealer was known to have cleared twelve hundred
pounds sterling in four weeks, and chiefly by the sale of
spirits; and an inhabitant of the lowest order, who commenced
dealing with five pounds, has been known to realize five hundred
pounds in the course of six months. It must naturally be
inferred, that the most base imposition must have been practised
to render this business so extremely lucrative, and the article
itself must have been diluted away to excessive weakness; but
while the temptation remained so strong, it is not to be wondered
at that such numbers of persons, in a colony of this or any other
description, should be found to quit every other object for a
free and full pursuit of one so full of attraction. Many of the
convicts soon acquired property in this way, and some of those
who had been in that unfortunate situation, by their good conduct
are now considered as respectable characters, and are in
possession of horses, carriages, and servants, with a sufficiency
to secure their independence during the remainder of their lives.
The military have also made considerable wealth by the same
course, and the consequence was the instilment into every bosom
of a consciousness of independence, which was fatal to that
strict subordination which ought to be maintained and enforced.
Non-commissioned officers were the principal actors in this
department, and being connected by the ties of common interest,
they formed a combination which interfered with the middle class
of inhabitants, since they could get on board any vessels on
account of their rank, which gave them the privilege of doing so,
without being under the necessity of obtaining a written pass for
that purpose. The principle of allowing a servant to enter into
traffic, is fraught with the most serious mischief; since he is
not only led to neglect the duties he has undertaken to perform,
but gradually becomes independent in his feelings and opinions,
and substitutes insolence of conduct for the respect which ought
to mark his behaviour. The value of an article also becomes
greatly enhanced to the consumer, when it is permitted to pass
through so many hands, each individual of whom must place upon it
a profit which he deems adequate to his labour or his ingenuity.
Allowing liberty to a prisoner to pursue this kind of avocation
is productive of another evil; it leads him, by gradual steps,
from becoming careless of his proper duty, to the assumption of a
degree of importance and independence which induces him to place
himself above his master, and thus controverts the natural and
necessary distinctions of society. This traffic has also
originated numerous frauds of a pecuniary description, amongst
which may be mentioned, as the most notorious, the custom of
indorsing notes of hand over to persons, without receiving any
consideration for the same, and thus making them the plaintiffs
in the suits which they were permitted to institute. From all
these practices it has resulted, that numerous settlers have been
induced to neglect or quit their farms, which, with industrious
management, were competent to the supply of all their necessary
wants, and thus to diminish the means of procuring subsistence
for the colony; and they have become dissatisfied with a country,
which is capable of being made the most lovely and prolific in
the world. Amongst the inhabitants, also, was introduced the vice
of gaming--a natural consequence of the astonishing increase of
wealth in men of little principle and no economy; drunkenness was
the ready way to this crime, and so addicted were many of every
class of society to it, that they scrupled not, after losing the
property which they possessed, to stake that which they did not
possess. Some persons, however, either favoured by fortune, or
possessing more prudence than their unfortunate companions,
contrived to retain the property they had gained, and by applying
it to traffic are now in a state of affluence of which few
persons can form an accurate conception.

The 9th item of expense is to be found in the provisions and
spirits issued to parties on command; a custom which has been
esteemed proper and necessary in cases where such parties have
been employed in particular services for the public benefit, and
in no other cases have they been issued during the
administrations of governors Phillip and Hunter. These services
were of various descriptions, parties being frequently detached
in pursuit of those who had absconded, either into the woods, or
had carried off boats, and endeavoured to escape over the ocean;
others were oftentimes employed in excursions into the interior,
to obtain a more perfect and comprehensive acquaintance with the
nature and productions of the country; others again were sent, at
times, to reconnoitre the herds of wild cattle, to remark their
progress, and see that no attempts were made to destroy such an
useful resource; the inspection of the various settlements also
occupied some detachments; small divisions were dispatched to
cruize and survey the coast; and the crews of colonial vessels,
which were engaged in going to and from the Hawkesbury, as well
as to the more distant settlements, were in the habit of
receiving these extra supplies, as they had no other means of
increasing their common allowance, when such augmentation was
necessary: Certain customary rations were also given to the
settlers while they were employed in making and repairing the
different roads which led to the settlements, and at which
periods they received allowances in proportion to the number of
days during which their services were required. It had also been
usual to give one pint of spirits weekly to each of the clerks
employed in the offices of the governor, secretary, commissary,
and judge advocate; a similar portion was also issued to the
constables of the crown and the overseers; and also to such
constables of districts as were chosen out of the inhabitants who
were not prisoners, and who, with their families, were victualled
from the public stores; but some of these have been subsequently
done away with, being considered by Governor King as a
superfluous addition to the already excessive expenses of the
colony. There are also many other occasional duties, the persons
employed in which would be entitled to the extra allowances, from
a sense of their indispensable necessity, since it is
sufficiently evident that men who are called upon and expected to
perform services of more than common exertion, must receive
additional means of increasing their physical strength, and of
enabling them to execute the task assigned to them.

A 10th cause of loss to the crown, and of the expenses of the
colony, resulted from the abuses formerly practised in the
medical department of the colony; amongst which it was customary
to screen the convalescent labourers in the Hospital, and to
employ them for individual benefit, so that the patients were
thus kept under the hands of medical men longer than was
requisite for the establishment of their health: An imposition of
this nature called for immediate steps on the part of the
governor, but unfortunately his excellency Governor Hunter did
not receive information of this iniquitous practice until he had
delivered up his executive power and was embarked, or otherwise
he expressed his determination to have put a stop to the
disgraceful proceeding; it has, however, subsequently been done
away with. At one time, it was ascertained, there were forty or
fifty convicts who were thus kept in the Hospital, and were
employed by a medical man in the furtherance of his private
interests, and such other occupations as he marked out for them,
to the loss of eleven pounds five shillings a day to the crown.
Such a circumstance as this, from a quarter so totally
unexpected, afforded an additional proof of the general
disposition which prevailed amongst almost every class of society
to push their individual interests, to the detriment of the
public service; and, instead of giving their full assistance to
promote the prosperity of the colony, to retard its progress, and
make its necessities the source of their profit.

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