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CHAPTER XIX.
1. Governor Franklin.—Sir John Franklin,
the great Arctic explorer, arrived in 1837 to assume the Governorship of
Tasmania. He had been a midshipman, under Flinders, during the survey of the
Australian coasts, and for many years had been engaged in the British Navy in
the cause of science. He now expected to enjoy, as Governor of a small colony,
that ease and retirement which he had so laboriously earned. But his hopes were
doomed to disappointment. Although his bluff and hearty manner secured to him
the good-will of the people, yet censures on his administration were both
frequent and severe; for during his rule commenced that astonishing decline of
the colony which continued, with scarcely any interruption, for nearly thirty
years.
2. Flood of Convicts.—After the cessation of transportation to New South Wales, in
1840, hopes were entertained that Tasmania would likewise cease to be a penal
settlement; and, under this impression, great numbers of immigrants arrived in
the colony. But, ere long, it became known that Tasmania was not only to continue,
as before, a receptacle for British felons, but was, in fact, to be made the
only convict settlement, and was destined to receive the full stream of
criminals, that had formerly been distributed over several colonies. The result
was immediately disastrous to the free settlers, for convict labour could be
obtained at very little cost, and wages therefore fell to a rate so miserable
that free labourers, not being able to earn enough for the support of their
families, were forced to leave the island. Thus, in 1844, whilst the arrival of
energetic and hard-working immigrants was adding greatly to the prosperity of
the other colonies, Tasmania was losing its free population, and was sinking
more and more into the degraded position of a mere convict station.
Lord Stanley, the British Colonial Secretary, in 1842, proposed a new
plan for the treatment of convicts, according to which they were to pass
through various stages, from a condition of absolute confinement to one of
comparative freedom; and, again, instead of being all collected into one town,
it was arranged that they should be scattered throughout the colony in small
gangs. By this system it was intended that the prisoners should pass through
several periods of probation before they were set at liberty; and it was,
therefore, called the Probation Scheme. The great objection to it was that the
men could scarcely be superintended with due precaution when they were
scattered in so many separate groups, and many of them escaped, either to the
bush or to the adjacent colonies.
3. Franklin’s Difficulties.—The feelings of personal respect with which the people of
Van Diemen’s Land regarded Sir John Franklin were greatly increased by the
amiable and high-spirited character of his wife. Lady Franklin possessed, in
her own right, a large private fortune, which she employed in the most generous
and kindly manner; her counsel and her wealth were ever ready to promote
prosperity and alleviate sufferings. And yet, in spite of all this personal
esteem, the experience of the new Governor among the colonists was far from
being agreeable.
Before the arrival of Sir John Franklin, two nephews of Governor Arthur
had been raised to very high positions. One of them, Mr. Montagu, was the Chief
Secretary. During his uncle’s government he had contrived to appropriate to
himself so great a share of power that Franklin, on assuming office, was forced
to occupy quite a secondary position. By some of the colonists the Governor was
blamed for permitting the arbitrary acts of the Chief Secretary; while, on the
other hand, he was bitterly denounced as an intermeddler by the numerous
friends of the ambitious Montagu, who, himself, lost no opportunity of bringing
the Governor’s authority into contempt. At length Montagu went so far as to write
him a letter containing—amid biting-sarcasm and mock courtesy—a statement
equivalent to a charge of falsehood. In consequence of this he was dismissed;
but Sir John Franklin, who considered Montagu to be a man of ability,
magnanimously gave him a letter to Lord Stanley, recommending him for
employment in some other important position. This letter, being conveyed to
Lord Stanley, was adduced by Montagu as a confession from the Governor of the
superior ability and special fitness of the Chief Secretary for his post. Lord
Stanley ordered his salary to be paid from the date of his dismissal; and
Franklin, shortly after this insult to his authority, suddenly found himself
superseded by Sir Eardley Wilmot, without having received the previous notice
which, as a matter of courtesy, he might have expected. In 1843 he returned to
England, followed by the regrets of nearly all the Tasmanians.
Two years afterwards he sailed with the ships Erebus and Terror to
search for a passage into the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic regions of North
America. He entered the ice-bound regions of the north, and for many years no
intelligence regarding his fate could be obtained. Lady Franklin prosecuted the
search with a wife’s devotion, long after others had given up hope; and, at
last, the discovery of some papers and ruined huts proved that the whole party
had perished in those frozen wastes.
4. Governor Wilmot.—Sir Eardley Wilmot had
gained distinction as a debater in the British Parliament. Like Governors Bligh
and Gipps, in New South Wales, Wilmot found that to govern at the same time a
convict population and a colony of free settlers was a most ungrateful task. A
large proportion of the convicts, after being liberated, renewed their former
courses: police had to be employed to watch them, judges and courts appointed
to try them, gaols built to receive them, and provisions supplied to maintain
them. If a prisoner was arrested and again convicted for a crime committed in
Tasmania, then the colony was obliged to bear all the expense of supporting
him, and amid so large a population of criminals these expenses became
intolerably burdensome. It is true that colonists had to some extent a
compensating advantage in receiving, free of charge, a plentiful supply of
convict labour for their public works. But when Lord Stanley ordered that they
should in future pay for all such labour received, they loudly complained of
their grievances. “Was it not enough,” they asked, “to send out the felons of
Great Britain to become Tasmanian bushrangers, without forcing the free
settlers to feed and clothe them throughout their lives, after the completion
of their original sentences?” To all such remonstrances Lord Stanley’s answer
was that Tasmania had always been a convict colony; and that the free settlers
had no right to expect that their interests would be specially consulted in the
management of its affairs. Sir Eardley Wilmot found it impossible to obtain the
large sums required for the maintenance of the necessary police and gaols, and
he proposed to the Legislative Council to borrow money for this purpose. Those
of the Council who were Government officials were afraid to vote in opposition
to the wishes of the Governor, who, therefore, had a majority at his command.
But the other members, six in number, denounced the proposed scheme as
injurious to the colony; and when they found that the Governor was determined
to carry it out, they all resigned their seats. For this action they were
honoured with the title of the “Patriotic Six”.
About this time Mr. Gladstone succeeded Lord Stanley in England as the
Secretary of State for the Colonies; and as he had shortly afterwards to
complain that, in reporting on these and other important matters, Sir Eardley
had sent home vague statements for the purpose of deceiving the Imperial
authorities, the Governor was recalled. But he was destined never to leave the
scene of his troubles; for, two or three months after his recall, he became ill
and died in the colony.
5. Denison and the Transportation Question.—On the arrival of the next Governor, Sir William Denison, in 1847, the
Queen reinstated the “Patriotic Six”; and the colonists, encouraged by this
concession, vigorously set to work to obtain their two great desires—namely,
government by elective parliaments, and the abolition of transportation. It was
found that, between the years 1846 and 1850, more than 25,000 convicts had been
brought into Tasmania; free immigration had ceased, and the number of convicts
in the colony was nearly double the number of free men. In all parts of the
world, if it became known that a man had come from Tasmania, he was looked upon
with the utmost distrust and suspicion, and was shunned as contaminated. On
behalf of the colonists, a gentleman named MʻLachlan went to London for the purpose of laying
before Mr. Gladstone the grievances under which they suffered; at the same
time, within the colony, Mr. Pitcairn strenuously exerted himself to prepare
petitions against transportation, and to forward them to the Imperial
authorities. These representations were favourably entertained, and, in a short
time, Sir W. Denison received orders to inquire whether it was the unanimous
desire of the people of Tasmania that transportation should cease entirely. The
question was put to all the magistrates of the colony, who submitted it to the
people in public meetings. The discussion was warm, and party feeling ran high.
There were some who had been benefited by the trade and the English subsidies
which convicts brought to the colony, and there were others who desired, at all
hazards, to retain the cheap labour of the liberated convicts. These exerted
themselves to maintain the system of transportation; but the great body of the people were determined on its abolition, and the
answer returned by every meeting expressed the same unhesitating
sentiment—Transportation ought to be abolished entirely. Accordingly, it was
not long before the Tasmanians were informed by the Governor that
transportation should, in a short time, be discontinued. But Earl Grey was now
preparing another scheme for the treatment of convicts: they were to be kept
for a time in English prisons; after they had served a part of their sentence,
if they had been well conducted, the British Government would take them out to
the colonies and land them there as free men, so as to give them a chance of
starting an honourable career in a new country. It was a scheme of kind
intention for the reformation of criminals that were not utterly bad, while the
English Government would keep all the worst prisoners at home under lock and
key. But the colonies had no desire to receive even the better half of the
prisoners. They were afraid that cunning criminals would sham a great deal of
reformation in order to be set free, and would then revert to their former ways
whenever they were let loose in the colonies. But Earl Grey was resolved to
give the criminal a fair chance. Ships filled with convicts were sent out to
the various colonies, but the prisoners were not allowed to land. In 1849 the
Randolph appeared at Port Phillip Heads; but the people of Melbourne forbade
the captain to enter. He paid no attention to the order, and sailed up the bay
to Williamstown. But when he was preparing to land the convicts, he perceived
among the colonists signs of resistance so stern and resolute that he was glad
to take the advice of Mr. Latrobe and sail for Sydney. But in Sydney also the
arrival of the convicts was viewed with the most intense disgust. The
inhabitants held a meeting on the Circular Quay, in which they protested very
vigorously against the renewal of transportation to New South Wales. West
Australia alone accepted its share of the convicts; and we have seen how the
reputation of that colony suffered in consequence.
6. The Anti-Transportation League.—The
vigorous protest of the other colonies had procured their immunity from this
evil in its direct form; but many of the “ticket-of-leave men” found their way
to Victoria and New South Wales, which were, therefore, all the more inclined
to assist Tasmania in likewise throwing off the burden. A grand
Anti-Transportation League was formed in 1851; and the inhabitants of all the
colonies banded themselves together to induce the Home Government to emancipate
Tasmania. Immediately after this, the discovery of gold greatly assisted the
efforts of the league, because the British Government perceived that prisoners
could never be confined in Tasmania, when, by escaping from the colony, and
mixing with the crowds on the goldfields, they might not only escape notice but
also make their fortunes; and there was now reason to suppose that banishment
to Australia would be rather sought than shunned by the thieves and criminals
of England.
7. End of Transportation.—In
1850 Tasmania, like the other colonies, received its Legislative Council; and
when the people proceeded to elect their share of the members, no candidate had
the slightest hope of success who was not an adherent of the
Anti-Transportation League. After this new and unmistakable expression of
opinion, the English authorities no longer hesitated, and the new Secretary of
State, the Duke of Newcastle, directed that, from the year 1853, transportation
to Tasmania should cease.
Up to this time the island had been called Van Diemen’s Land. But the
name was now so intimately associated with ideas of crime and villainy, that it
was gladly abandoned by the colonists, who adopted, from the name of its
discoverer, the present title of the colony.
Sir Henry Young, formerly Governor of South Australia, was appointed to
Tasmania in 1855, and held office till 1861. During this period responsible
government was introduced. When the Legislative Council undertook the task of
drawing up the new Constitution, it was arranged that the nominee element,
which had now become extremely distasteful, should be entirely abolished, and
that both of the legislative bodies should be elected by the people.
After Sir Henry Young, the next three Governors were Colonel Browne, Mr.
Du Cane, and Mr. Weld—all men of ability, and very popular among the Tasmanians.
After the initiation of responsible government in 1856, various reforms were
introduced. By a very liberal Land Act of 1863, inducements were offered to
industrious men to become farmers in the colony. For the purpose of opening up
the country by means of railways, great facilities were given to companies who
undertook to construct lines through the country districts; and active search
was made for gold and other metals. But, in spite of these reforms, the
population was steadily decreasing, owing to the attractions of the
gold-producing colonies. No great amount of land was occupied for farming
purposes, and even the squatters on the island were contented with smaller runs
than those in the other colonies. They reared stock on the English system, and
their domains were sheep-farms rather than stations. Indeed, the whole of
Tasmania wore rather the quiet aspect of rural England than the bustling
appearance of an Australian colony. But the efforts to throw off the taint of
convictism were crowned with marked success; and, from being a gaol for the
worst of criminals, Tasmania has become one of the most moral and respectable
of the colonies.
Of late years Tasmania has made great advances. Her population has risen
to about 150,000, and her resources have been enormously increased by the rapid
development of her mineral enterprise. Tin mines of great value are now widely
spread over the west of the island, and gold mines of promising appearance are
giving employment to many persons who formerly could find little to do. There
is room for a very great further development of the resources of Tasmania; but
the colony is now on the right track, and her future is certain to be
prosperous.
The Tasmanian natives were of a different type from those of Australia,
having more of the negro in them. They were even ruder
and less advanced in their habits, although not without qualities of simplicity
and good-humour that were attractive. When white men first landed in their
island there were about 7,000 of them roving through the forest and living upon
opossums. But by the year 1869 all were gone but a man and three women. In that
year, the man died, and one by one the women disappeared, till at last with the
death of Truganina in 1877 the race became extinct.
CHAPTER XX.
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