05 - Present Picture of New South Wales by David Dickinson Mann

At the age of 23, David Dickenson Mann was convicted of forgery, narrowly escaping the gallows and instead being transported to New South Wales in 1799. Just three years later, he received a full pardon and quickly found himself in the secretarys office of the colonial government. However, his fortunes shifted when he fell afoul of Governor William Bligh, leading him to prepare for a return to England. In a twist of fate, by 1808 he was back in favor with the rebel government that had overthrown Bligh. His work, The Present Picture of New South Wales, dedicated to the newly arrived Governor John Hunter, offers an insightful and detailed account of the colonys development. It features a brief history, an A-Z encyclopedia of its political and economic progress, and Manns own visionary ideas for the future of New South Wales. After returning to England in 1809, he published his book in 1811, sadly passing away the same year. - Summary by Phil Benson

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:01):
Part two of Chapter four of The Present Picture of
New South Wales eighteen hundred eleven by D. Ed Man.
This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. To facilitate
the rise of New South Wales to a state of
consequence and independence, its interests must be entrusted to a

(00:21):
governor who has no private or mercenary views, and will
seek after nothing but the welfare of the colony, who
will thoroughly support the trust and honor reposed in him
as the representative of our most gracious Sovereign, Who will
not treat nor suffer others to treat the officers serving
under him with indignity, who will not study the rapid

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rise of one man and the sudden downfall of another,
but will administer and cause justice to be administered impartially
to all descriptions of persons, and only show his favor
to those whose conduct is such as to merit his
distinguished notice. Under such a man, the industrious settlers should
receive the most liberal encouragement to induce them to pay

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every attention to the cultivation of their lands and to
the rearing of stock. And I am of opinion that
when the price of grain has been reduced under ten
shillings per bushel for wheat, five shillings for maize and barley,
and four shillings and sixpence for oats. The grower has
very frequently been a loser without admitting that in the
course of the season there have been any flood, blight,

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insect or rust to injure the growing crops. I speak
this from the general knowledge I have of the country,
having taken every settlers and other muster there for a
number of years, and from the concurrent opinions of several
of the first and most independent farmers throughout the settlement.
Nor can any man who is acquainted with the exorbitant

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wages demanded by every class of labourers who are not
prisoners assigned by the Crown to their employers in that
part of the world, and the great difficulties attending the
various occupations he has to encounter before his grain can
be brought to the market judge. Otherwise, the government store
should also be open at all times to receive the grain,

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which would not only enable the Commissary to send the
requisite supplies to the dependent settlements, but would also afford
a powerful security against the fatal and frequent losses which
are occasioned by the floods so destructive to property of
every description, but more particularly to the grain. And it
would also set aside the necessity of issuing short allowance

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to those prisoners who are necessarily supported by the Crown,
by which means government labor is sometimes retarded in consequence
of the reduction of the hours of work in proportion
to the diminution in the weekly ration. If government were
also to decline farming, it would excite a greater degree
of perseverance in the settlers, and would, in my opinion,

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eventually disburden the Crown of a very considerable expense, as
those employed in agriculture on the government account are generally
that description of persons who only care how little they work,
and are equally as indifferent as to the manner in
which their labor is performed. Besides which very few of
these individuals are at all acquainted with the art of husbandry,

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particularly that system which ought to be adopted in a colony,
the climate, soil, and produce of which are so essentially
different to those of the mother country. And those few,
as soon as they have attained a knowledge of the
regular method necessary there to be pursued, are generally taken
away by some cause or other, or claim their freedom
from the original term of their transportation being expired, so

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that little better than a succession of new hands have
to perform a task of which the chief parts are
totally ignorant. By the opening of the stores and the
prevention of the losses before mentioned, the South seamen and
other vessels touching at Port Jackson might at all times
receive ample supplies of such refreshments as they stood in

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need of, in exchange for articles more serviceable to the
inhabitants than any recompense of a pecuniary nature, and indeed
absolutely necessary to the comfort and prosperity of the colony.
In case of a war in these seas or in
any part of India, this settlement would prove a very
desirable depot and place of rendezvous. Soldiers and seamen would

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at all times be healthy without great fatigue, free from
scorbutic complaints so prevalent after a long voyage, and would
not suffer from a change of climate, which too frequently
brings on dysentery or other fatal diseases. These circumstances would
naturally render them more fit to enter a field of battle,
and better qualified in every respect to endure the wearisome,

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fatigues and dangers of war. Several ships which have touched
at the settlement under the pressure of necessity, have been
denied the requisitions which they have made for bread and
other provisions. And although the local circumstances of the colony
rendered that denial absolutely necessary. Yet had the settler been
garried by any means against loss, or could he have

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received any sufficient security for his grain, every ship which
had been in need, as well as everyone touching there
in future, would have been, and might be amply provided for.
The influx of American vessels and ships from the East
Indies has recently suffered a very considerable diminution. The former,
at one period nearly supplied the colony with articles of

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almost every description at very reasonable prices, But from some
cause or other, vessels from the United States seldom now
arrive at the settlement with merchandise for sale. The Indian
vessels have also ceased to arrive in the same numbers
as formerly, and the supplies have consequently fallen off materially,
which naturally injures all descriptions of persons, not only by

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preventing an immediate intercourse between those countries, but also by
lessening very considerably the consumption of stock, grain, et cetera,
so that the settler implanting his land has now no
other views than to raise a sufficiency of grain for
the consumption of his own family and the liquidation of
his debts. He has no longer a stimulus to labour.

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He calculates that the time and toil are wasted, which
are spent in raising an article for which he has
no vent. His industrious disposition is consequently cramped, His present
exertions are without hope of reward, and his prospects are
divested of the supporting promise of future comfort or competence.
Such a system as this evidently and rapidly tends to ruin.

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These symptoms are the obvious marks of a diseased economy.
And if decay appears in the present and ripe state
of the country, with what propriety, with what hope? On
what grounds can the mind calculate upon future prosperity. The
vessels of neutral powers ought to be encouraged, in my opinion,
to trade to the settlement. They would serve the colony.

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By giving encouragement to the settlers, they would once again
be a beneficial competition. There would be a channel for
the carrying off of the surplus produce of the country,
and industry might again look forward with joyous expectation to
the harvest of its toil. These vessels might be laden
back with spermaceti or other oils, seal, skins, coals, ship, timber, fustic,

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or any other articles the produce of the settlements and
the southern seas, and thus a traffic might be established
and carried on with reciprocal benefit, and the independence of
New South Wales must be greatly aided. In consequence of
these beneficial regulations. It may perhaps be argued that the
indiscriminate admission of the trade of neutral vessels might tend

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to injure the British ships trading to this colony. But
such a consequence, I think may easily be averted, since
the governor has power to prevent those ships from selling
any such articles as he may deem it expedient to prohibit,
and no injury could consequently be sustained. While it would
hold out the necessity of selling the European goods at
a reasonable rate, or the wants of the colony might

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be supplied from another market. The arrival of neutral ships
with the merchandise would also tend to prevent the two
frequent monopolies which take place in this quarter, of the
nature of which and their mischievous effects upon the general
prosperity of the colony. I have spoken in a former
part of the chapter, and I feel a great regret
that circumstances at this moment prevent me from enlarging upon

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so destructive a subject, and exposing the very root of
so pernicious an evil which has latterly been fostered by
those whom nothing more than suspicion could ever have attached to.
But by recent events, and I am anxious that a
full exposition of the plans which had been adopted to
facilitate the rapid rise of a mercenary and powerful few

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to the serious injury and almost inevitable downfall of the country,
will be held up to the public view of every
impartial man, by which means the grand promoters of so
nefarious a practice will bring down upon their own heads
that disgrace, dishonor, and infamy which their vile projects had
formed for others to bear the burthen of. It has

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been truly said that by means of those ships, a
great quantity of spirits have been introduced into the settlement
of Port Jackson, and on this plea the prohibition of
their sails, it is said, has taken place, but which
I do not strictly believe. However, the landing of those
noxious cargoes might easily be prevented, or they might be

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suffered to be brought on shore and lodged in one
of His Majesty's storehouses under a bond, so that whenever
the vessel was about to sail from the port, she
might receive it again, having some trusty and vigilant person
placed on board to see that no smuggling transactions were
carried on, and where he should be ordered to remain
until the ship quits the heads. By these means, which

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would be no expense to the Crown, the dry goods,
et cetera, which had been brought to the market might
be readily disposed of, without any risk being in heard
of the introduction of too much of that maddening liquor
generally brought by these vessels, to be distributed among the
inhabitants of the colony. It must be obvious to every
man of reason that the early days of a colony

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require as much attention and assistance as human infancy, and
that a course of improper and unskillful treatment at the
outset must undoubtedly lay the foundation of future imbecility and
ultimate destruction. Much evil has already been done in the settlement,
but it is not yet too late to apply the remedy.
The malady which threatens the existence of the colony has

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not yet attained to an incurable height, and if the
proper measures are adopted, prosperity and happiness may yet be
seen where adversity and apprehension are at present discovered, and
the seeds of a new and powerful nation may not
be doomed to perish before they have scarcely broken the
ground which was intended for the scene of their growth
and expansion. I shall, however, without far digression, endeavor to

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point out other means of improving the settlement than such
as relate to its agriculture. The establishment of a post
office for the receipt of all letters and parcels for
private individuals, and for the dispatch of those which are
transmitted from the colony, would be productive of essential service
to the general interests, and could be entrusted to some

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person of respectability whose remuneration might arise from a certain
tax or postage. Such an institution would prevent a number
of letters from being lost, delivered to wrong persons, or
illegally obtained by such for the purpose of sending to
the friends of the person for whom they were intended,
with a view to obtain money or other property. It

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has frequently occurred that boxes et cetera have been gained
under false pretensions from on board ships which had arrived
in the port, and the contents of which have been
worth a very considerable value. The persons guilty of this crime,
by some means obtain the information as to the packages
which are on board, and then personate or cause some

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of their connections to personate those to whom the packages
are addressed, on which they obtain the property by only
signing a receipt to the officer on board. An office
of this description would effectually prevent the recurrence of such
fraudulent practices, and would give a security for the regular
delivery or transmission, as well as the security of the letters, etc.

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Which were entrusted to its care, an oath might be
administered to the superintendent. The unfit clothing sent out for
the convicts has been a subject of sincere complaint as
being dispatched without any regard to quality or comforts. I
am therefore of the opinion that it would be highly

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expedient to send out a considerable portion of wearing apparel unmade,
so that there would be an absolute saving of the
cost of making, for the wearers would feel much greater
satisfaction action from being allowed to receive it in the
peace that they might suit it to their respective wants,
as well as consult their own comforts. Those who might

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have less leisure than their fellow prisoners could have their
clothing made by the tailors of the different settlements, while
the others would be happy to make their own. If
this plan were to be carried into execution, he might
be necessary to find a person properly qualified to take
the superintendence of this mechanical department, and such an one
might readily be found in the mother country, whose disposition,

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owing to adverse circumstances, might lead him to accept this
situation in the colony. Thus, a proper quantity of work
would be completed, and economy would be much promoted. The
indiscriminate distribution of the clothing sent over is also another
evil which requires a remedy, and this might easily be

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provided by supplying the prisoners only with such articles as
were necessary to them, since those who had received superfluous
garments have been in the habit of resorting with them
to gaming or sell them, being unable to apply them
to any purpose of wear, as their scanty make will
not allow of a change. This, however, would not be
the case if the clothing was given to them unmade,

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since every man would find himself enable to turn it
to some beneficial purpose. The clothing has materially fallen off
in point of quality and suitableness for the climate of
late years. But the evil complained of, would, in my opinions,
cease to exist if articles similar to those originally distributed
in the time of Governor Philip, of which I have

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seen several suits, were now to be issued annually. Many
of the females, indeed, are the slaves of vanity and pride,
and being in the custom of cohabiting with persons in
affluent circumstances, never appear in the dress originally given them
by the Crown. From such as these the issue is
now withheld, and they are struck off the victualling list.

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The consequence of these regulations would be the obtainment of
more comfortable clothing to the convicts, and a considerable diminution
in the sick list, which has been filled as much
from this as for many other cause. And a degree
of content and carefulness would be instilled into the minds
of the prisoners in lieu of the negligence, slovenliness, and
discontent which have recently prevailed amongst them. On that account,

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a very considerable saving in the expenses of the colony
would be affected by the consolidation of the two officers
of shipowner and contractor into one, and the undertaking to
land all stores which are liable to injury in the
colony in a perfect state at his own risk. For
it is a notorious fact, as I have often had
occasion to observe in an official capacity, that vast quantities

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of clothing, stores and provisions are landed out of every
vessel which arrives in the port in such a damaged
state as to be actually unserviceable. The necessary consequence of
which very often is the total loss of the articles
to government. Nor has it unfrequently happened that boxes containing
stores have been broke open on the passage, and articles

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of various descriptions thereby have been purloined to a very
great amount. He cannot be doubted that there are many
shipowners who would not scruple to enter into an engagement
of the kind to which I have alluded by sending
out his own vessels, and might undertake to convey the
stores safely at a very reduced expense. The saving which

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would thus be effected is surely sufficient to justify the experiment,
Since the security of the articles, which are in general
the most damaged, might be easily guarded by the adoption
of a few measures of prudent precaution and by a
careful attention during the voyage. A considerable advantage might also
accrue to the merchant from employing his vessels in the

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southern whale fishery, and a strong probability would exist of
his procuring freights from India for his ships on account
of the East India Company. The adoption of this plan
seems to be practical, and there cannot be a reasonable
doubt entertained of its superiority over every other. In point
of economy. A commissioner or agent might be appointed for

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the purposes of inspecting the stores and various articles sent
to New South Wales, whose duty it would be to
see the articles shipped correctly, and thus to prevent those
omissions which are daily in the habit of occurring, and
which are of more consequences than may, at first glance
be imagined. This person might also be beneficially employed in

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comparing the stores shipped with the receipts of the masters,
so as to preclude all possibility of practices which are
inconsistent with the welfare of the government, but which are
too common and can only be prevented by the adoption
of such a measure as the one which I now propose.
Whenever the Governor of the colony should send over a requisition,

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this agent ought immediately to be furnished with an extract
from his Excellency's Curry respondence, so that by these means
the requisition would not be liable to neglect, and much
trouble would be spared to the Public Office, whose province
it had previously been to attend. To this department, the
reduction of expense which would result from this appointment would

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be much more than adequate to the increased expense incurred
by the appointment and remuneration of a gentleman of probity
and respectability to this office. The method of conveying convicts
from England is so very inhuman that some better and
more benevolent measure ought to be adopted. The lives of

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these unfortunate victims of depravity ought surely to be regarded
with as much care as those of any other class
of His Majesty's subjects. The countrary of this, has, however,
been too frequently the case, and some of the masters
of the transports who have been entrusted with these captives
have treated them with such uniform rigor that numbers have

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perished through the intensity of their suffer rings. This want
of care is to be attributed to the former custom
of contracting for the transport of the convicts at so
much per head, so that the master has no interest
in the preservation of those entrusted to his care. This evil, too,
might also be remedied by the contract being made only

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for the number which might be landed in New South Wales,
and by which means the owner of the transport would
study to preserve the life of each individual with the
most studious attention, since the loss of a single life
would be a diminution of his profit, and there could
no longer be a danger of the unhappy prisoners being
suffered to perish from any negligence or severity. In addition

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to this, the surgeon and the master might receive a
reward for each person whom they delivered in good order,
if their humanity was such as to require a pecuniary stimulus.
I believe this has been tried in some instances, at
least report are so stated, and if so, the of
being sufficient evidence gained of the superiority of the method

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over that which was formally adopted, it might not be
a bad plan to try if some of the superfluous
frigates in the service might not be converted into good transports,
For there could be no doubt that in vessels of
this description the accommodations which might be afforded to the
convicts would much exceed those of the common transport ships,

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and the prisoners would of course be sooner fit for
duty and less liable to the attacks of disease. Out
of several ships that have arrived, not two thirds of
the number of convicts originally put on board have reached
their place of destination. And this mortality, it is feared,
must have been occasioned by the embezzlement of the provisions
and stores which were intended for the use of the captives.

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It is also much to be feared that an undue
degree of severity has oftentimes been exercised towards the convicts
under the pretense of some attempts to mutiny and effect
their escape. And such methods of throwing censure upon the
innocent to excuse wantonness and cruelty cannot be too severely reprehended.
If reprehension be all that can be inflicted upon the

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perpetrators of such diabolical deeds. The treatment has been directly
reversed where a King's officer has been placed on board
the transport, who evinced an unshaken resolution to perform his duty.
The convicts which came out on board the Royal Admiral
Captain Bond met with a treatment and arrived in a

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condition which reflected the highest honor on the humanity and
prudence of her esteemed commander, and might properly be held
forth as a model and an example to the masters
of all transports, who may in future be employed in
the service. Every attention was paid to their cleanliness. In particular,
care was taken to provide them with the most wholesome provisions,

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and their masses were so varied as to prevent any
dislike arising from repetitions with too much frequency. On the
slightest appearance of indisposition, some nourishing broths, wine, et cetera
were constantly ordered twice a day. They were mastered on deck,
and the ship was completely fumigated. The whole arrived in

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the most excellent health and spirits imaginable. If every master
had displayed a similar good conduct, there would have been
no ground for the present complaint, nor any room for
the remedy which I suggest in the preceding part of
this article. A number of gentlemen of small fortunes might
be appointed, whose characters will bear the strictest investigation, and

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whose talents are adequate to the task, to go over
to the colony as justices of the peace, in order
that the general welfare and individual security of the colony
should be promoted to these persons. Many indulgences might be granted,
and a respectable salary ought to be attached to the office,
so as to enable them to support that degree of

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respectability and dignity which their situation suation requires, so as
to make their interest totally unconnected with those pursuits which
have led so many to sacrifice their principles and to
neglect their duty for the sake of pursuing the search
after independence. The incorruptibility which ought to characterize the conduct

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of a magistrate should be so fortified by every prudent
precaution that it may, at no time, however remote, be
in danger of agitation. Nor would it be prudent, in
another point of view, to permit these gentlemen to mingle
in occupations which must have an evident tendency to distract
their attention from those arduous tasks which they would be

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called upon to fulfill in a country where criminals must
naturally abound. Numbers of persons are doubtless to be found
in Great Britain who would gladly accept these appointments, whose
educations have taught them to look above situations to which
unforeseen and unavoidable calamity may have reduced them men who
have preserved their principles and dias integrity and shaken by

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the attacks of adversity, and who consequently must be eminently
qualified to fill such officers as those which I have
here suggested. The example which these persons would hold out
to the rest of the settlement could not fail of
producing very beneficial effects upon the moral conduct of those
who copy the models of their superiors, and would also

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be of service in assisting to create a society of
power and independence, which might operate as a check upon
the influence of all other descriptions of persons. As instances
of the irregularities that have been practiced by some of
those in magisterial capacities, I need repeat none others than
that I have known men without trial to be sentenced

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to transportation by a single magistrate as his own barrack,
and freemen, after having been acquitted by a court of
criminal judicature, to be banished to one or other of
the dependent settlements. And I have heard a magistrate tell
a prisoner who is then being exact for a capital offense,
and had some things found upon him which were supposed
to have been stolen, and for which he would not

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account that were he not going to be hanged so
soon he the magistrate would be damned if he would
not make him safe, and whence he got them. Nor
do I believe it less true that records of an
examination wherein a respectable young man was innocently engaged have
been destroyed by that same magistrate, before whom the depositions

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were taken. These and numerous other cases which I could enumerate,
cannot admit of a doubt but that such a regulation
must tend greatly to the preservation of the liberty of
the subjects, the property of all classes of the inhabitants,
and the general interest and security of the colony at large.
I should also strongly advise that nine or ten of

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the principal officers of government should be authorized to act
in the capacity of council, to whom the governor could
resort in all periods of difficulty and delicacy for advice
how to shape his conduct, by which means he would not,
in any future instance be left wholly dependent upon his
own judgment. The good effects of this arrangement must soon

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be evident, since the issuing of an order of Council
would not fail to carry with it much additional weight
to that which would be attached to an act of
the Governor alone, and would tend to the speedy suppression
of any appearance of insubordination, and discourage those who should
incline so to act as to originate a spirit of
dissatisfaction in the Settlement to a want of this council.

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It may not be too much to attribute the present
unsettled state of the colony, and the maturation of a
faction which has perverted the streams of justice, and which
has impeded the growth of opulence throughout the settlement, merely
to enrich a select party at the expense of the
general welfare, and consequently to spread vice and ruin through
a land whose prosperity has never become their care, although

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it was a solemn pledge of their life to support
and cherish it to the very utmost of their ability.
In addition to this council, composed of the chief officers
of the Government, I consider it essentially requisite that a
barrister should be appointed as a councilor to the Governor
at all times when his Excellency is referred to in

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matter of doubtful disputation, which must oftentimes occur in the colony,
and which frequently reduces him to an unpleasant dilemma. Aided
by a legal adviser, however, his judgment must be strengthened,
and his decision would be more weighty without creating in
his breast those uneasy sensations which must arise under different circumstances.

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In the present confirmation of the government, the governor has
no legal adviser to have recourse to when an appeal
is made to his decision, which is not rarely the
case except the judge advocate, and this officer, having previously
given his opinion in the court below, cannot of course,
be again consulted on the same subject. In consequence of

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this default of advice, the governor must give his own opinion,
which may or may not be in conformity with the
laws of the mother country, just as it may happen,
and according to the knowledge he may possess of the
principles and practice of jurisprudence, which is seldom very deep
in persons whose inclinations are so opposite to this kind
of study, as the officers of the navy and army,

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from whom the governors of the Colony have hitherto been
selected the councilor could be selected from those who might
be induced to listen to such a proposal as may
place before them a certain liberal competence with the opportunity
of rising to independence in a sphere where the number
of competitors would be so low as to render final
success less precarious. It is needless to expatiate more amply

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upon the benefits which must accrue from an appointment of
this nature, which would impose but a trifling additional burden
on the Crown. Since it is extremely possible that a
barrister might be obtained for the salary of one hundred
and fifty pound per annum, which, together with the victualling
of himself and his family and servants from the public
stores and residents in the colony rent free, added to

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the other customary indulgences given to persons from whose services
utility is expected to be derived, would not make his
situation worth less than five hundred pounds per annum. A
temptation which must possess and wait in the minds of
those who meet with inadequate encouragement. In England, the Legislative

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Code of the Colony requires a careful revision, since the
numerous residents who have arrived in the settlement, and their
increasing respectability and opulence, render such a measure necessary. That
system which would suit the original establishment, composed only of
two classes, the officers of government and the convicts, will
scarcely be expected to adapt itself to the wants and

(29:54):
wishes of a community advanced in civilization. In the former case,
the principal object was to punish delinquency, In the latter,
to secure property and ensure the safety of that wealth
which now began to show itself in the multiplication of
luxuries and the augmentation of individual splendor. The present system

(30:15):
is so liable to abuse, and has given just occasion
for so many complaints on the part of those traders
who visit the colony in great numbers, as well as
of the more respectable classes of the inhabitants themselves, that
it has become highly expedient to substitute in its place
one which shall be incorruptible, and which, from its own importance,

(30:35):
may command a greater degree of respect. At the head
of this court ought to be placed a chief justice, who,
by the respectability of his salary, should be effectually placed
above the reach of every motive of an improper or
injurious nature. And in order to lighten this expense to
the Crown, certain court fees might be established which would

(30:57):
materially assist to swell the amount of the remuneration which
ought to be attached to this high office, so as
to render it worthy the notice of men who are
fitted by habit and education to execute its duties in
a correct and honorable manner. The rent of the residence
appointed to this gentleman ought to be taken from his shoulders,

(31:18):
and the public stores should find provisions for himself, his family,
and his servants, together with fuel and candles. The wages
of a limited number of domestics might also be paid
by government, and thus he would be exonerated from so
many burthens of a pecuniary nature, that a salary which might,
at the first glance seem inadequate to the trust reposed, would,

(31:41):
on considering every circumstance, appear less exceptionable and more equal
to the dignity which would externally be attached to the office.
It is almost superfluous to mention that the utmost care
should be taken in the choice of a proper person
to fill this situation, since his character, his conduct, in
his general habits ought to be such as to render him,

(32:03):
like Caesar's wife, not only free from suspicion, but free
from the suspicion of being suspected. With a person of
this description to superintend the court of judicature, they could
no longer exist causes to fear the introduction of party
motives and malicious prejudices to contaminate the stream of justice.

(32:24):
A strict impartiality would direct every decision, and those who
were doomed to meet with disappointment in their views while
they writhed under its decision, would not be able to
impeach its integrity if it were found necessary to adopt
any further measures to preserve their honour unsullid. The rendering
their situations limited might probably produce a good effect, and

(32:46):
a pension might be allowed to them on their return
to England if they were able to produce certificates from
the governors and lieutenant governors who had held command in
the colony during their residence attesting the incorruptibility their conduct
and the zeal which they had displayed in the due
execution of their duty. A farm might also be allowed

(33:07):
to the individual placed in this important office, if it
were thought expedient, under certain restrictions which should prevent him
from abstracting his attention from his official duties at periods
when his professional avocations might require his presence in the
service of the public. A salary of five hundred pound
per annum with the addition of these indulgences would be

(33:29):
equal to one thousand, two hundred pounds a year. An
alteration in the judicial code appears also to be necessary,
or at least highly expedient. In the criminal court, the judge,
advocate and six naval and military officers are at present
empowered to decide and try delinquents. And although I believe

(33:52):
that their opinions on verdicts have latterly been almost unanimous,
yet I cannot but call to recollection a period when
pain to relate, the navel and the military were too frequently,
if not generally, opposite in their determinations. Nor is this
the least part of the evil, For evidence is on
record of persons having been bribed or controlled by one

(34:14):
or more of the members of the court, then sitting
in judgment to accuse their industrious neighbour upon oath of
crimes which he had never committed, in order to lay
aground for the ruin of the unfortunate individual, merely because
his industry and prosperity in trade were objects of envy.
If such a system is not suppressed, it is not

(34:35):
possible for the human mind to calculate upon the termination
of the mischiefs which may ensue from it. It is
not possible for humanity to look upon the probable consequences
without emotions of horror and dismay. To prevent, therefore, the
recurrence of any circumstance so flagrant and unjust, it is
absolutely necessary to take some measures to render the criminal

(34:58):
and civil courts free from every kind of prejudice. For
what argument can justify the committal of the existence or
the fortunes of individuals to the mercy or the caprice
of men who are blinded by prejudice. Prejudice and party
must be fatal to the progress of justice. And, as

(35:18):
the preceding remarks to nothing more than the details of
facts which are notorious to every individual who has lived
long in the colony, there is no occasion for my
saying much in addition to prove that a necessity does
exist for some change in the judicial code of the settlement,
and it is much to be wished and desired that
by that change the power may be vested in honest

(35:40):
and incorruptible hands, which may be held out equally to
punish the guilty and to protect the oppressed, to curb
the insolence of pride and foster humble merit, and finally,
to render New South Wales an exact copy from that
fine picture of freedom and justice which is represented in
the mother country. That the trial by jury should be

(36:03):
introduced into the colony has long been a desideratum amongst
the best informed inhabitants of the colony, since its effects
could not be otherwise than beneficial where such universal iniquity prevails,
and where even in the courts of law many enter
with impure motives and unclean hands, since the greater part

(36:24):
of the community are more or less implicated in the
notorious and impoverishing impositions which are continually practiced amongst all classes.
When I say that this blessing has been desired by
the well informed, I must also be understood to mean
the well intentioned only for its establishment in the settlement
would unavoidably prove fatal to that ruinous traffic from which

(36:46):
several of the superior classes have derived their opulence and consequence.
And it is not therefore to be expected that such
as these would wish to behold the approach of that scourge,
which would remove from them the power of extend universal
evil for the promotion of their individual good. By these persons,
the admission of the trial by jury is sincerely and

(37:09):
ardently deprecated, while it is wished for with equal fervency
by others, and particularly those oppressed inhabitants, whose miseries and
necessities have been the means of increasing the wealth and
hardening the feelings of those who have so long pursued
the destructive system of monopoly. It would not have been
practicable to introduce the trial by jury at the commencement

(37:32):
of the settlement, since there were none but convicts and
a few free persons who were paid and supported by
the Crown. But the case is now materially altered, and
the great influx of free, independent and respectable inhabitants which
the later years of the colony have witnessed, not only
render such a measure practicable and prudent, but loudly call

(37:53):
for it as a step rendered indispensable to the welfare
of the community. Numbers have also served their terms of transportation,
or have been made objects of royal bounty on account
of their signal good conduct, and have thus swelled the
numbers of free residents, so that there could be no
difficulty in making out a list of durers sufficient for

(38:14):
every purpose, even if the assizes were ordered to be
held monthly, which is a more frequent occurrence than in
the mother country. Objections may be started to the propriety
of receiving those who have been convicted and have suffered
the sentence of the law as jurers. But if this
description of persons are worthy to be received as evidence

(38:36):
at all in a court of justice, then there are
instances sufficient on record to prove this to have been
the case. And where this evidence of persons so objected
to and prescribed has been the sole means of the
conviction to death of the accused, surely it could afford
no room for cavil that a jury should in part
be composed of persons whose conduct during the term of

(38:59):
their punishment has been such as to give general satisfaction,
and who have proved by their conduct, that they have
reformed their dispositions, corrected their principles, and are likely to
become useful and consequently valuable members of society, and none
others should be admitted on the list. Besides even allowing

(39:19):
this objection to have some weight, will reason and policy
justify the carrying of this principle to such a length
as to exclude from this privileged those free settlers who
have been guilty of no crime and have suffered no punishment.
Shall these, in return for their voluntary exile from their
native land to promote the interest of the colony, lose

(39:40):
the benefit of this inestimable distinction, which operates as a
security to the freedom of Englishmen, and renders it so
far superior to the boasted independence of any other nation
in the world. If it were thought in expedient to
admit twelve Duras in consequence of the limited population of
the settlement, eight might be allowed in the first instance,

(40:01):
and the rest could be added when circumstances would permit,
so that the principle of the system would be established,
and these could be instructed in the laws of the
land from the bench. In each of the settlements, there
are a great many persons competent to fill the office
of juras, and it is to be hoped that no
longer interval will be suffered to elapse without the colony

(40:22):
being permitted to participate in those inestimable privileges which render
the mother country the envy of the world. The admission
of the bankrupt laws into the colony would tend still
more to the perfecting of the system of jurisprudence, and
appears to be a very desirable object of solicitude. For

(40:43):
want of some legal system of this kind, many families
have been reduced to the lowest extremes of misery and want,
the heads being immured in prison without the ability to
liquidate the claims of their unfeeling creditors or to provide
support for their perishing families. The necessary consequence was the
individuals fell to the charge of the government, since they

(41:06):
must not be suffered to starve. The obduracy of the
creditors may be assigned as the sole cause of this wretchedness,
For although in such circumstances the unfortunate debtor had been
willing to relinquish all his possessions, to surrender his land,
his cattle, his stock, and everything else of which he
could boast of the possession nothing short of payment in

(41:27):
money could satisfy, and it ill fated was doomed to
experience the accumulated horrors of personal suffering, in addition to
that which must arise from the idea that his sorrows
extended themselves with equal or superior bitterness to those who
were dear to him. Such occurrences as these have tended
to multiply considerably the expenses of the government, who have

(41:50):
frequently found it necessary to extend their assistance to the
whole of the unfortunate debtors family to preserve them from
actual destruction, and who could not by any authority which
was vested in them, compelled the hard hearted and inhuman
creditor to accede to the only proposal which it was
in the ability of the prisoner to offer. The introduction

(42:10):
of the bankrupt laws could not fail to afford an
effectual relief to persons reduced to this unfortunate condition, and
must be productive of much future benefit. In consequence of
the continual augmentation of the trade of the settlement and
the increasing numbers of the dealers, circumstances of themselves, which
must carry it to every rational mind, the strong necessity

(42:32):
which exists for the adoption and introduction of some legal
code assimilated as much as possible to the bankrupt laws
of the mother country, if it should be considered imprudent
to copy precisely after this exquisite model, the encouragement of
a few barristers to go over to the settlement who
have not met with success adequate to their wishes in

(42:55):
the mother country, but who are notwithstanding, persons of unimpeached
moral character. For nothing could be more impolitic in any
case than to import persons of doubtful characters into a
colony of this description, and whose legal knowledge would be
amply sufficient for every purpose. In New South Wales, such
an importation would be attended with very great advantages to

(43:17):
the inhabitants, For the want of such persons has in
numerous instances been very severely felt by those who have
had occasion to come into the courts of law. Many
instances have occurred within my observation, where the persons accused might,
by the assistance of a counsel who possessed the ability
to penetrate the motives and intentions of the prosecutor have

(43:40):
escaped the punishment which has been compelled to endure. Evidence
is frequently misstated and misrepresented in the courts, and this,
owing to the great ignorance of numbers who are brought
forward as witnesses, is a circumstance of no rare occurrence,
the questions being taken down in writing, and in the
attempt to give them some grammatical connection, ideas being frequently

(44:04):
perverted and taken directly opposite to their original meaning, without
any intention whatever to enter into a misstatement. Now it
must be sufficiently obvious that the allowing of counsel would
tend to do away this evil, since he would himself
be in the habit of taking notes of the evidence,
and would thus not only be able to detect any misrepresentation,

(44:26):
but would convey satisfaction to the mind of the prisoner
himself and convince the spectators, who, by the bye frequently
retire under very different impressions, that the accused has at
least been treated throughout with fairness. It cannot be necessary
to enter into reasoning to prove that this misstatement of
evidence is an evil which calls for redress. And I

(44:48):
think the reader will concur with me in opinion that
no better plan can be devised than the introduction of
counsel into the courts, who might keep a vigilant watch
over the progress of the trial, and not only ensure
the correct statement of the various depositions, but be ready
to take immediate advantage of any circumstances which might arise
of a favorable complexion to the person accused, by which

(45:12):
means many prisoners might be rescued from the punishment which,
from a want of legal aid, they have been compelled
to submit to in the answers of witnesses, I have
myself heard of no being substituted for yes. And what
guarantee can there be for the obtainment of justice where
a possibility exists of the occurrence of such mistakes, mistakes

(45:35):
on which the existence of a fellow creature might hinge.
If then the criminal court needs so strongly the introduction
of counsel. The court of civil judicature is equally in
want of similar aid, where subjects of the most complicated
nature are frequently brought for decision, and where the difficulty
of deciding correctly is almost, if not totally insuperable. Considerable

(46:00):
sums here depend upon the issue of a question of
the nature of which no one present is qualified to judge,
and an appeal from the decision which ensues is frequently
made to the governor, who is thus left singlely to
decide what has caused so much difficulty to a whole court.
The utility, nay the necessity, then, of a professional assistant

(46:22):
in these cases, must surely be evident to everyone, and
without such aid it is not possible that justice can
be impartially administered. The ignorance of many suitors, even men
of great opulence and respectability, is so deplorable that they
cannot make you comprehend their own case when called upon
to state their grievance. But the possibility of having their

(46:45):
cause pleaded by a counselor would not only save the
court itself a serious loss of time and a considerable
degree of perplexity, but must surely lead to a more
correct decision in cases of difficulty. By these means, the
disc which now universally displays itself in the person who
has lost the cause would be completely done away, and

(47:06):
he could no longer attribute his defeat to the partiality
of the judges, when he should have experienced the full
benefit which he might derive from a communication with and
the able aid of a legal adviser. If two, three
or more barristers could be induced to depart for the
colony merely as private settlers, receiving from government a free passage,

(47:28):
victualing from the stores for themselves, families and servants, and
every other indulgence which is usually granted to settlers, there
could be no doubt that they would soon find their
endeavors successful, and the allowance of government, with the emoluments
which they would derive from their practice, which might safely
be calculated at two hundred pounds or three hundred pounds

(47:49):
per annum, having a farm allowed them to cultivate, would
render their situations not only comfortable, but eminently respectable, and
their introduction would be attended with them no extraordinary expense
to the government beyond what is generally allowed to settle
us in the colony. To encourage gentlemen of education and
ability to make this attempt, it might not be an

(48:11):
improper extension of liberality to allow them a free passage
back to England. If upon a fair and sufficient trial,
it should be discovered that the speculation which induced them
to embark for the colony should not turn out productive
enough to reward them for their exertion, and to offer
them that genteel support to which they would be entitled

(48:32):
on account of the superiority of their situation and according
with the habits of their former life. In the trial
of civil causes, it hard, and to latterly been the
custom of the court to insert in writing only the
amount of the debts sought to be recovered, the damages
which have been awarded, the names of the plaintiff and defendant,

(48:54):
and the adjudication of the court. But in the opinion
of many persons of consequence and Respectablas in the colony,
it is absolutely requisite to cause all the viva votcha
evidence which is given in all civil cases, to be
taken down in writing. The following reasons are given for
this alteration in the former custom, and their full weight

(49:15):
has been allowed to them. Whenever I have heard an
opinion given upon the subject. It occurs very frequently that
appeals are made from the decision of the civil court
to the governor, And in consequence of the evidence which
has been given before the court not being taken down,
the witness has an opportunity of correcting, enlarging, or otherwise

(49:36):
altering his depositions so as to make his own case
appear in a very different point of view to that
which it bore in the former instance. And thus a
temptation is held out to perjury, which is too strong
for the weak morality of many in the colony to resist,
and the current of public justice may, by this method
be completely turned out of its proper channel, and the

(49:59):
decision of the the civil court is at all times
liable to be disputed and reversed. No writ of court
is issued for less than ten pounds, so that the
necessity of taking down the evidence in a suit instituted
for a sum beneath that amount does not appear to
be so strikingly obvious, Although an appeal may be made
to the governor from the civil court for any sun

(50:22):
even less than ten pounds, but this is not very
often done, although some instances have occurred in my recollection.
Whether sum sued for exceeds three hundred pounds, a court
of appeal may be demanded, and if the plaintiff is
dissatisfied with the decision of the governor, he has the
right of appealing to the King in Council. And here

(50:44):
the necessity of taking down the evidence brought before the
court becomes still more strong, since the character of the
court itself may be involved in the issue of the
legal decision. Suits to this amount are not now very rare,
but they may be expected to become much more frequent
in the thriving state of the colony. The affixing a

(51:06):
greater degree of respectability to the office of Chief Constable
at Sydney, and the attachments of a salary to the
situation from the Crown, would be a desirable measure, since
on this officer depends in a great measure the peace,
the internal security, and good order of the colony. And
it is therefore worthy of consideration whether the trust inferior

(51:27):
in importance to scarcely any in the settlement ought not
to be reposed in a person of some respectability, and who,
by the receipt of an adequate remuneration, might be enabled
to devote his time and attention to the duties of
his office. To this situation, so much responsibility is attached,
and from it, so much good is expected, that the

(51:49):
person who fills it ought to be enabled to preserve
a respectable appearance, and to embrace the comforts of life,
without being permitted to have recourse to traffic or other
pursuits which might contaminate his principles or render him less
zealous in his exertions for the good order of the colony.
The benefit which must arise from the conscientious discharge of

(52:10):
the duties of this office is much more than can
be imagined at first sight. And the evils, on the
other hand, which flow from its male execution, are in
an opposite extremely baleful and calculated, more to promote excesses
and tumults than to repress them. That prisoners who are
transported for life are in general indifferent to their future

(52:32):
fate and careless of their conduct is a fact well
known to all persons who have resided in the settlement,
and it therefore becomes a naturally interesting question by what
means these convicts may be brought to discharge their duties
with more readiness, and to follow a course of life
more fraught with happiness to themselves and more satisfactory to

(52:53):
those who are placed near them. The best method, which
suggests itself to me, is that of employing prisoners for
life life on government labour for a limited time only
had the expiration of which period they should be made
free of the country, and, in case their conduct had
been such as to merit approbation, should be allowed to
become settlers with the usual indulgences, and thus have the

(53:16):
means once again placed before them of raising themselves to
a respectable rank in society in that country to which
they had been banished. Those on the other hand, who
are found to be dissolute and abandoned characters, when their
term of labour had expired, might be made free also,
but instead of being allowed to become settlers and to

(53:36):
receive indulgences, they might be taken off the stores and
be compelled to labour for their daily bread. Such an
amelioration of the punishment of those unhappy delinquents who have
incurred this heavy vengeance of the laws of their country,
would induce numbers to look forward into futurity with the
satisfaction which they had not possessed previously, arising out of

(53:59):
the distant hope of becoming opulent and respectable, and of
making the renewal in the decline of their existence of
those prospects which in their earlier years had been eluded
and destroyed by their vices, and this idea would not
fail to stimulate them to a conduct more laudable and
calculated to accelerate the accomplishment of their wishes. It may

(54:21):
be brought against this measure as an argument that it
would reduce the extent of the power of government to
grant pardons to deserving convicts, and that governments would thus
lose the advantage which was derived from the labour of
those prisoners. But to the former objection, it may be replied,
the certainty of an alleviation and of the advantages which

(54:41):
would attend a meritorious conduct during the specified period of punishment,
would prove a powerful incentive to the convicts, and would
tend to produce more good members of society and useful
settlers than could be expected unless some reward was to
be the certain result of meritorious conduct. Without this stimulus,

(55:02):
there might be, as there has been, some good characters
to reward, but their numbers would be comparatively insignificant. To
the latter objection, it will only be necessary to say
that if government loses the labour of these convicts, it
also disburdens itself of the weight of supporting them, and
of providing them clothing, etc. Against the perpetual imprisonment of convicts,

(55:28):
the following reasons may be brought forward. The restlessness and
indifference which generally pervaded the conduct of delinquents of this description, who,
seeing no termination to their captivity, lose the inclination to
labour if they ever possessed it, and become indolent and
careless as to the colour of their future fate. The

(55:49):
impossibility of any governor, however diligent and compassionate, being enabled
to discover all the meritorious convicts of this description who
might be entitled to their liberation pursuance of the present system,
since he could not possibly at any time keep an
eye upon the whole scattered as they are through the
settlements and in the employer of various persons. Many deserving prisoners,

(56:13):
having never been in the service of an officer, have
none to recommend them, and remain consequently unnoticed, although they
may be more meritorious than even some who are emancipated.
And the numerous desertions which take place amongst those convicts
who have no prospect of amelioration in view, and who
are therefore indifferent what becomes of them, placing upon a

(56:35):
level the dangers of destruction and the prospect of toiling
away existence without the hope of freedom or of happiness
to the close of their days. Such a conduct as
this is truly not to be wondered at, when the
behavior of some criminals at the bar of their country
is recalled to mind, where they have declined that mercy
which has been extended to them, and preferred death to

(56:57):
a perpetual banishment from that society which which they had injured.
If any of the liberated convicts should afterwards attempt to
make their escape from the colony, they might be returned
to the public labor, or be sentenced to such other
punishment as may be thought adequate to the importance of
their offense. What the consequence of the amelioration of the

(57:18):
rigor of punishment would be may easily be imagined. Instead
of continually murmuring at the gloomy prospect before them, of
displaying indifference to the future of beholding before them no
limitation of their slavery, nothing but misery, toil, and death.
Instead of these cheerless contemplations, they would begin to display

(57:39):
a degree of contentedness with the situation to which their
delinquency had reduced them, and their progress would be marked
by utility to the government and to the community, instead
of being checkered by continual efforts to elude the vigilance
of their overseers and to escape from a scene of
uniform hardships unillumined by a single ray of hope. The

(58:01):
best interests of the colony would be greatly forwarded if
government were to select some clergymen of unequivocal piety and
zeal to inculcate religious and moral principles. For this purpose,
they should be chosen of unblemished character, whose respectability and
exemplary conduct would assist to give weight to the doctrines

(58:22):
which flow from their lips. Much good cannot be derived
from the efforts of men who are chiefly engaged in
farming and traffic, and who will sell a bottle of
spirits or oblige some of those very persons with it
to whom they have just before been preaching the duty
of temperance, and whose learning and appearance are better adapted
to less important avocations than fulfilling the sacred functions it

(58:46):
is intended they should perform. The future prosperity of the
settlement also greatly depends upon the manner in which the
rising generation are instructed. The education of youth is at
present much neglected through the want of four or five
schoolmasters of sufficient capacity. There cannot be a doubt that

(59:07):
persons qualified for this profession would meet with very liberal encouragement,
as the children are numerous, and there are but few
parents who cannot afford to educate their offspring respectably. The
want of some able superintendence in different branches of business
is at present much felt, since such individuals might be

(59:27):
usefully employed in training up youth to the pursuits of industry,
by which means the commission of crimes would be rendered
less frequent, and the dispositions of children would receive a
proper bias. An arrangement of this nature would also remove
the severe inconvenience occasioned by the extreme scarcity of able
mechanics throughout the colony. It will be immediately admitted by

(59:52):
every unprejudiced mind that the salaries of the deputy commissaries
should be increased when the circumstances under which they are
placed I duly considered. They have now only five shillings
a day, a sum so totally inadequate to the services
they perform as to excite surprise in all who witness
the extent of the trust reposed in them. This daily

(01:00:14):
pay is barely sufficient to purchase a dinner in the colony,
as they are obliged to appear in every respect as gentlemen,
and the necessary consequence is that they are compelled to
enter into other occupations unless they have a better source
of income than their salaries, in order to meet their
own unavoidable expenditure and to maintain, as is generally the

(01:00:36):
case there a wife and large family. The impolicy of
giving small salaries must be obvious when it is considered
that individuals who are thus sparingly rewarded for their labour
abstract from their official duties some portion of that attention
which ought to be wholly devoted to them. A different

(01:00:56):
arrangement with respect to the grants and leases of land
would also be productive of beneficial consequences. Whenever any of
those deeds have been made under the hand and seal
of the governor or of the colonial seal, they ought
to be considered as secure to the grantee or les
see their heirs, et cetera, and under no pretense whatever

(01:01:17):
except a failure in the fulfillment of the conditions expressed therein,
or the governor or any succeeding governor, to retain the
power of taking that land away. The existence of such
a power, indeed, is upon its surface arbitrary, and in
its effect totally destructive of the spirit of improvement. For
there scarcely exists a man who would bestow his whole

(01:01:40):
exertions and property in increasing the value of the buildings
and land which he holds by such an uncertain tenure
in the midst of his expectations, just as he has
impoverished himself with the hope of reaping a future recompense,
he may, by the sudden whims or caprice of an individual,
be deprived at once of the means of gaining future subsistence,

(01:02:02):
and plundered of everything which he may have done with
a view to his own benefit and the bettering of
the estate. It is surely unwise to leave a power, which,
it is to be hoped, is without authority of this description,
in the hands of any man, however exalted his character
and however conspicuous his love of justice. The whole of

(01:02:24):
the contingent expenses which would result from these improvements might
be paid by duties laid on importations, exportations, et cetera,
which are at present by no means inconsiderable, but might
be greatly increased to the mutual advantage of the colonists
and the government. To expatiate largely on the benefits which

(01:02:45):
would result from the establishment of a free trade is
altogether superfluous to men whose minds can embrace the increased
stimulus which would be given to industry, the influx of
wealth and population, the improvements in agriculture, commerce, and the
arts and sciences, and the rapid advancement of the best
interests of the colony, which must result from such a measure.

(01:03:09):
The strong necessity for some considerable alteration in the internal
arrangement and policy of the colony to various parts of
which I have drawn the reader's attention, can but be
apparent to all unprejudiced persons who have but a superficial
knowledge of the settlements. The suggestions I have now presumed
to offer to the public as my opinion for means

(01:03:30):
of improvement I beg to state, are as unbiased as
my statements are faithful, and which are the results of
some reflection founded upon the experience of a long and
I should hope an unimpeachable residence in the fulfillment of
some important duties, thereby obtaining more than common means of observation.

(01:03:51):
With these assurances, I have to trust that due credit
will be given to my intentions, which had their principle
stimulus from an anxious wish that the mother country should
receive every possible benefit in the adoption of so promising
and highly interesting a part of the uncivilized globe to
its fostering care. End of the Present Picture of New

(01:04:14):
South Wales eighteen hundred and eleven by D. D. Mann,
read by Phil Benson,