Читать книгу Early Australian History. Convict Life in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land - Charles White - Страница 11

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WEAK ADMINISTRATOR—STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY—EMIGRANTS VERSUS CONVICTS—RELIEF IN STAR-GAZING—MILITARYISM AGAIN RAMPANT—REVIVAL OF MONOPOLY—IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES—TRIAL BY JURY—FIRST CHIEF JUSTICE—LIBERTY OF THE PRESS—REACHING AFTER SELF-GOVERNMENT—FIRST CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL—FLUCTUATING MARKETS—A FINANCIAL CRISIS—GREAT DISTRESS—PROTECTION TO CABBAGE STALKS—DINING WITH EMANCIPISTS—AN INTERREGNUM—"GOVERNOR" STEWART—THE TRUE STORY OF HIS LAND GRANT.

Governor Brisbane succeeded Macquarie, and entered upon his duties on 1st December, 1821. He was eminently unfitted for his position, for although a soldier he was weak and vacilating, and too much given to transferring to others the duties which he himself should have performed. At this time the struggle for supremacy between the different classes was at its height, and it required the vigorous brain and strong determination of a powerful, courageous man to guide the affairs of State, between the unscrupulous grasping of the disappointed military, the forceful demands of the wealthy emancipists for the restitution of legal and other rights, and the clamoring of the free settlers of the humbler class—retired soldiers and sailors and emigrants—who, although generally taking sides with the emancipists against the 'pure merinos,' as the official aristocrats were called, were not unmindful of the claims of 'Number One.' Brisbane neither had the courage nor the tact to manage matters properly. He was tossed hither and thither between the contending forces, and in order to escape from the clamour he made himself a retreat at Parramatta, where he established an observatory and devoted himself to the pursuit of scientific studies, seeking rest from the turmoil and strife of active official life in the quiet contemplation of the stars. Events did not stand still, however, and during his administration several important changes took place. The old monopolising and domineering spirit, which had been checked by Macquarie, broke out stronger than ever, and militaryism re-asserted itself, the Governor having practically to stand aside while officials help themselves and each other to place and power, and divided the land in great slices between them.

Concerning this matter one writer says:—"The little clique of exclusives appear to have regarded themselves as the only persons whose claims to grants of land, to convict labour, or to social recognition by the Governor, ought to be considered for a moment. Already many of them were possessed of enormous landed properties; their farms were cultivated by prison labour, their houses built by prison labour, there furniture made by prison labour, and all their servants were prisoners. There was a constantly increasing commissariat expenditure on account of convict management and for the supply of convict food and necessaries; and a large part of this expenditure went into the pockets of the more wealthy settlers, in payment for maize, wheat, beef, and other food grown, and articles of clothing made, by the labour of the very class on whose account the expenditure was incurred. In fact, the Government gave the land, supplied the labour to cultivate it, and then purchased the produce. It was barely possible for persons with such singular advantages to escape becoming wealthy.. .. .. When again in possession of the reins of power (during Brisbane's rule) all the influence that they could exercise in their recovered position was fully taken advantage of, and this, bearing in mind what has been stated respecting the wealthy land-grasping emancipists (one well-known Sydney grog-seller being possessed of over 20,000 acres of freehold land, purchased from grantees for a few gallons of rum), will afford an insight into the circumstances under which a comparatively small number of colonists were enabled to acquire estates which, whether regarded in reference to their wants or to their means of turning them to useful account, were enormous in extent; and, being the pick in point of soil and situation of the whole country, were of vast prospective value."

It must be remembered that at this time the land to the westward was open and available; and that large slices of that territory should be seized by these insatiable sharks was a very natural circumstance. And it was also a very natural circumstance that the communal interests created in years following in that territory should suffer through the locking-up of the land so easily 'grabbed.'

Among the most important events during Governor Brisbane's term of office were the following:—The institution of a Legislative Council; the establishment of trial by jury; the formal acknowledgment of the liberty of the press; important discoveries of new country; and the steady inflow of immigration from the mother country.

The publication of Commissioner Bigg's report had, as already stated, awakened the public of Great Britain to the fact that the far-off South Land furnished a splendid field for enterprise, and towards the latter part of Macquarie's administration a tide of emigration set in which was at full flow when Brisbane arrived, and it continued with steadily increasing volume during the whole period of his government. As it was chiefly persons who could afford employment to convicts who were desired by the Government, the Home authorities held out grants of land to those only who could produce certificates of their possessing capital of at least £500, and consequently the greater number who came were possessed of means to enter at once upon the work of development. Concerning these, Dr. Lang says:—"Some of them had been gentleman farmers, others were the sons of respectable land-holders in the mother country; some of them had been unfortunate in mercantile speculations, and others had just saved the remains of a property which they found daily diminishing at home, to form the nucleus of a better fortune abroad; some were actuated by a spirit of adventure, while others had been impelled to emigrate by the pressure of the times. These emigrants, according as each preferred a particular locality, settled, for the most part, either in the agricultural and pastoral country adjoining the Cowpastures, or on the open plains of Bathurst, beyond the Blue Mountains, along the thickly-wooded banks of the Hunter and its two tributary river, or in what was then called the New Country, or the district of Argyle. The general extent of their grants was from 500 to 2,000 acres. Rations from the King's stores were at first allowed to each settler, and a certain number of convict servants apportioned according to the extent of his grant, for the term of six months after he had taken possession of his land; and he was also allowed a certain number of cattle from the Government herds, as a loan to be repaid in kind in seven years; but, in consequence of the number of emigrants rapidly increasing, these indulgences were afterwards discontinued." Thus it was that a superior class of settlers—many of them with the requisite knowledge and energy to make the new soil smile its loudest in fruitfulness—were located in the opening districts west, south and north of the populated centre.

Four very important discoveries inland were made during Brisbane's administration. In 1823 the Maneroo Plains were explored by Captain Currie, R.N. In the same year Mr. Oxley, Surveyor-General, explored Moreton Bay and discovered the Brisbane River, leading to the fine semi-tropical country of Queensland. In the year following Hovel and Hume made their overland journey to Port Phillip; and in 1825 Mr. Allan Cunningham discovered Pandora's Pass, affording the only practicable road from the Upper Hunter to the pastoral uplands of Liverpool Plains. The full importance of these discoveries was not seen until 'after many days,' but they were neither more nor less than the opening of the most important doors leading from the smaller to the greater.

The Imperial Act under which civil juries were first impanelled in New South Wales was 4th Geo. IV., cap. 96, and Mr. Francis Forbes was appointed thereunder first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. That gentleman arrived in Sydney in March, 1824, but soon after his arrival found that the Act and Charter contained no authority whatever for impanelling civil juries in criminal cases, and only in civil actions where both parties to the suit were agreed that such a course should be adopted. The Act was to continue in force four years, and under its authority crimes and misdemeanours were to be prosecuted by information in the name of his Majesty's Attorney-General, and tried by the Chief Justice and a jury of seven commissioned officers of his Majesty's sea or land forces; while all civil cases were to be tried by the Chief Justice and two magistrates, sitting as assessors, unless, as before stated, both parties to the suit agreed to have a jury, in which case the trial was to be before the Chief Justice and a jury of twelve civilians. In the interests of all parties Chief Justice Forbes extended the principle to the lower court, and civil jurors sat in Courts of Quarter Sessions, although the magistrates offered strong objection—so hard is it for mortals to renounce arbitrary power when once they have experienced the pleasure of its exercise.

There was a long and bitter struggle, extending over a considerable period, between the different sections of the community—the 'exclusivists' fighting for the retention of power and the judge fighting with the people for the first instalment of constitutional liberty. In this struggle the exclusive few, who wished to retain power over the liberty and property of their fellows, were eventually successful, and in 1828 there was a return to the old system of military juries in Courts of Quarter Sessions as well as in the Supreme Court, a system which existed until the principle of self-government began to operate in the colony.

The year 1824 was also rendered remarkable by liberty of the press being conceded, and the publication of the Australian, the first colonial newspaper independent of Government aid, published by Mr. Wentworth and Dr. Wardell. The Monitor was also shortly afterwards established, Mr. E. S. Hall being editor and proprietor. "Both these newspapers," says Bennet, "were conducted with far more than average ability, and their editorial columns presented a marked contrast to the fulsome flattery of Government officials, and the inane twaddle on other matters, which characterised their older rival, the Sydney Gazette." Concerning the press it may now be said 'the little one has become a thousand!'

During this period, also, the first step towards that large share of self-government which Australia now enjoys was taken. On 11th August, 1824, there appeared in the Sydney Gazette, a proclamation announcing that his Majesty had been pleased to institute a Legislative Council for New South Wales. The first members of this Council consisted exclusively of Government officers, and were only six in number, namely:—William Stewart, Lieutenant-Governor; Francis Forbes, Chief Justice; Frederick Goulburn, Colonial Secretary; James Bowman, Principal Colonial Surgeon; and John Oxley, Surveyor-General. Subsequently Mr. John Macarthur, of Camden, was added to the list. The first session of the new Council was a very short one, and only one Act of a single clause was passed—an Act to legalise promissory notes and bills of exchange made payable in Spanish dollars, which were then the ordinary currency of the colony.

Governor Brisbane was peculiarly unfortunate in his financial measures, but in this matter, as in others, he appears to have been simply the means of giving effect to the schemes of interested parties in power. It had been usual under previous governors to purchase the surplus grain from farmers at the current prices of the day. The Government was almost the only purchaser, and to the Government the agriculturists looked for a certain share of their profits, the only cash received by the smaller settlers during the year being from the commissariat. The Government needed the provisions to feed the large number of 'children' born to the heritage across the water. But Brisbane adopted the contract system and invited tenders for the quantity required at the lowest price. The small farmers, unused to calculate the effects of open competition, rushed forward to the Government stores with such eagerness that the price of wheat speedily fell from 10/- and 7/6 per bushel to 3/9 per bushel; and the colonists, reading over-production between the lines of low prices, proceeded to feed their pigs with the grain they had grown. But as the season advanced it was discovered that the harvest, so far from being plentiful, was deficient; wheat rose to as high as £1 4s per bushel, and those who had sold cheap had to re-purchase at a high figure to secure food, and a crisis set in. To make matters worse the Commissary-General and the Colonial Secretary induced the Governor to suddenly change the circulating medium from sterling to colonial currency, with the immediate result of raising the pound sterling twenty-five per cent. above the pound currency, and upsetting commercial relationships all round, the small settlers, who had contracted debts upon the old lines, being the chief sufferers. The colony was threatened with famine, and for a time the greatest distress prevailed, the Government being put to the greatest straits in seeking to secure a sufficiency of supplies. So pressing was the need that a proclamation was issued prohibiting the rooting up of cabbage-stalks!

It was no wonder, under these circumstance, that Brisbane should become unpopular, and orders came from England for him to be 'relieved,' at the close of the fourth year of his government, he having served from December 1821 to December 1825. Before he left he sought to please and benefit the emancipists by sitting down with a company of them to dinner—an act of grace which the 'pure merinos' resented with characteristic warmth. To eat out of the same dish with 'branded cattle' would have been as hurtful to them as contact with an alien of the lowest type would be to a Mussulman.