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CHAPTER VI.
1. Governor Macquarie.—In 1808 the English Government held an
inquiry as to the circumstances which had caused the expulsion of Governor
Bligh; and though they cashiered Major Johnstone, and indeed ordered the whole
of the New South Wales Corps to be disbanded, yet, as it was clear that Bligh
had been himself very much to blame, they yielded to the wishes of the settlers
in so far as to appoint a new Governor in his place, and therefore despatched
Major-General Macquarie to take the position. He was directed to reinstate
Bligh for a period of twenty-four hours, in order to indicate that the
authorities in England would not suffer the colonists to dictate to them in
these matters; but that they reserved completely to themselves the right to
appoint and dismiss the Governors. However, as Bligh had by this time gone to
Tasmania, Macquarie was forced to content himself, on his arrival, with merely
proclaiming what had been his instructions.
In the early days of the colonies their
destinies were, to a great extent, moulded by the Governors who had charge of
them. Whether for good or for evil, the influence of the Governor was decisive;
and it was, therefore, a matter of great good fortune to Sydney that, during
the long administration of Governor Lachlan Macquarie, this influence was
almost wholly on the side of good. Not that Macquarie had no faults. He was a
man full of vanity and self-conceit; a man who, instead of sober despatches to
his superiors in England, wrote flowery accounts of himself and his wonderful
doings; a man who, in his egoism, affixed the names of himself and of his
family to nearly every place discovered in the colony during his term of
office. Yet, apart from this weakness, Macquarie may be characterised as an
exemplary man and an admirable Governor. He devoted himself heartily to his
work; his chief thought for twelve years was how to improve the state of the
little colony, and how to raise the degraded men who had been sent thither. An
ardent feeling of philanthropy gave a kindly tone to his restless activity.
Once every year he made a complete tour of the settled portions of the colony,
to observe their condition and discover what improvements were needed. He
taught the farmers to build for themselves neat houses, in place of the rude
huts they had previously been content with; he encouraged them to improve their
system of farming, sometimes with advice, sometimes with money, but more often
with loans from the Government stores. He built churches and schools; he took
the warmest interest in the progress of religion and of education; and
neglected nothing that could serve to elevate the moral tone of the little
community. Certainly, no community has ever been in greater need of elevation.
The fact that the British Government thought it necessary to send out 1,100
soldiers to keep order among a population of only 10,000 indicates very plainly
what was the character of these people, and almost justifies the sweeping
assertion of Macquarie, that the colony consisted of those “who had been
transported, and those who ought to have been”. Yet Macquarie uniformly showed
a kindly disposition towards the convicts; he settled great numbers of them as
free men on little farms of their own; and if they did not succeed as well as
they might have done, it was not for want of advice and assistance from the
Governor.
2. Road over the Blue Mountains. The most important result of Macquarie’s
activity was the opening up of new country. He had quite a passion for
road-making; and though, on his arrival in the colony, he found only forty-five
miles of what were little better than bush tracks, yet, when he left, there
were over three hundred miles of excellent and substantial roads spreading in
all directions from Sydney. He marked out towns—such as Windsor, Richmond, and
Castlereagh—in suitable places; then, by making roads to them, he encouraged
the freed convicts to leave Sydney and form little communities inland. But his
greatest achievement in the way of road-making was the highway across the Blue
Mountains. This range had for years presented an insurmountable barrier. Many
persons—including the intrepid Bass—had attempted to cross it, but in vain; the
only one who succeeded even in penetrating far into that wild and rugged
country was a gentleman called Caley, who stopped at the edge of an enormous
precipice, where he could see no way of descending. But in 1813 three
gentlemen—named Wentworth, Lawson, and Blaxland—succeeded in crossing. After
laboriously piercing through the dense timber which covers some of the ranges,
they traversed a wild and desolate country, sometimes crawling along naked
precipices, sometimes fighting their way through wild ravines, but at length
emerging on the beautiful plains to the west. On their return they found that
by keeping constantly on the crest of a long spur, the road could be made much
easier, and Governor Macquarie, stimulated by their report, sent Surveyor Evans
to examine the pass. His opinion was favourable, and Macquarie lost no time in
commencing to construct a road over the mountains. The difficulties in his way
were immense; for fifty miles the course lay through the most rugged country,
where yawning chasms had to be bridged, and oftentimes the solid rock had to be
cut away. Yet, in less than fifteen months, a good carriage highway stretched
from Sydney across the mountains; and the Governor was able to take Mrs.
Macquarie on a trip to the fine pasture lands beyond, where he founded a town
and named it Bathurst, after Lord Bathurst, the Secretary of State. This was a
measure of great importance to the colony, for the country between the
mountains and the sea was too limited and too much subject to droughts to
maintain the two hundred and fifty thousand sheep which the prosperous colony
now possessed. Many squatters took their flocks along the road to Bathurst, and
settled down in the spacious pasture lands of the Macquarie and Lachlan Rivers.
3. Governor Brisbane.—In 1821 Governor Macquarie left for England,
much regretted by the colonists. The only serious mistake of his policy had
been that he had quietly discouraged the introduction of free settlers,
“because,” as he said, “the colony is intended for convicts, and free settlers
have no business here”. His successor—Sir Thomas Brisbane—and, afterwards, Sir
Ralph Darling—adopted a more liberal policy, and offered every inducement to
free immigrants to make their homes in the colony. It was never found possible,
however, to obtain many of that class which has been so successful in America,
consisting of men who, having with difficulty gathered sufficient money for
their passages, landed in their adopted country without means and with no
resources beyond the cheerful labour of themselves and of their families, yet
settled down in the deep, untrodden forests, and there made for themselves
happy and prosperous homes. This was not the class of immigrants who arrived in
New South Wales during the times of Brisbane and Darling. For in 1818 free
passages to Australia had been abolished, and the voyage was so long and so
expensive that a poor man could scarcely hope to accomplish it. Hence, those
who arrived in Sydney were generally young men of good education, who brought
with them a few hundred pounds, and not only were willing to labour themselves,
but were able to employ the labour of others. In America, the “squatter” was a
man who farmed a small piece of land. In Australia, he was one who bought a
flock of sheep and carried them out to the pasture lands, where, as they
increased from year to year, he grew rich with the annual produce of their
wool. Sir Thomas Brisbane was pleased with the advent of men of this class: he
gave them grants of land and assigned to them as many convicts as they were
able to employ. Very speedily the fine lands of the colony were covered with
flocks and herds; and the applications for convicts became so numerous that, at
one time, two thousand more were demanded than could be supplied. Hence began
an important change in the colony. The costly Government farms were, one after
another, broken up, and the convicts assigned to the squatters. Then the
unremunerative public works were abandoned; for many of these had been begun
only for the purpose of occupying the prisoners. All this tended for good; as
the convicts, when thus scattered, were much more manageable, and much more
likely to reform, than when gathered in large and corrupting crowds. In
Macquarie’s time, not one convict in ten could be usefully employed; seven or
eight years after, there was not a convict in the colony whose services would
not be eagerly sought for at a good price by the squatters.
This important change took place under
Governors Brisbane and Darling, and was in a great measure due to those
Governors; yet, strange to say, neither of them was ever popular. Brisbane, who
entered upon office in 1821, was a fine old soldier, a thorough gentleman,
honourable and upright in all his ways. Yet it could not be doubted that he was
out of his proper sphere when conducting the affairs of a young colony, and in
1825 the British Government found it necessary to recall him.
4. Governor Darling.—He was succeeded by Sir Ralph Darling, who
was also a soldier, but was, at the same time, a man well adapted for business.
Yet he, too, failed to give satisfaction. He was precise and methodical, and
his habits were painfully careful, exhibiting that sort of diligence which
takes infinite trouble and anxiety over details, to the neglect of larger and
more important matters. His administration lasted six years, from 1825 to 1831.
During this period an association was formed in England, consisting of
merchants and members of Parliament, who subscribed a capital of one million
pounds, and received from Government a grant of one million acres in New South
Wales. They called themselves the Australian Agricultural Company, and proposed
to improve and cultivate the waste lands of Australia, to import sheep and
cattle for squatting purposes, to open up mines for coal and metals, and, in
general, to avail themselves of the vast resources of the colony. Sir Edward
Parry, the famous Polar navigator, was sent out as manager. The servants and employés of the association formed quite a flourishing colony on the Liverpool Plains,
at the head of the Darling River; and though, at first, it caused some
confusion in the financial state of New South Wales, yet, in the end, it proved
of great benefit to the whole colony.
5. The Legislative Council.—In 1824 a small Executive Council had been
formed to consult with Governor Brisbane on colonial matters. In 1829 this was
enlarged and became the Legislative Council, consisting of fifteen members, who
had power to make laws for the colony. But as their proceedings were strictly
secret, and could be completely reversed by the Governor whenever he chose,
they formed but a very imperfect substitute for a truly legislative body. Yet
this Council was of some service to the colony: one of its first acts was to
introduce the English jury system, in place of arbitrary trials by Government
officials.
6. The Newspaper War.—Governor Darling was never popular. During
the greater part of his period of office intrigues were continually on foot to
obtain his recall; and from this state of feeling there arose what has been
called the newspaper war, which lasted for four years with great violence. The
first Australian newspaper had been established in 1803 by a convict named
Howe. It was in a great measure supported by the patronage of the Government,
and the Governors always exercised the right of forbidding the insertion of
what they disliked. Hence this paper, the Sydney Gazette, was considered
to be the Government organ, and, accordingly, its opinions of the Governors and
their acts were greatly distrusted. But, during the time of Brisbane, an
independent newspaper, the Australian, was established by Mr. Wentworth
and Dr. Wardell. A second of the same kind soon followed, and was called the Monitor.
These papers found it to their advantage, during the unpopularity of Darling,
to criticise severely the acts of that Governor, who was defended by the Gazette with intemperate zeal. This altercation had lasted for some time, when, in the
third year of Darling’s administration, a very small event was sufficient to
set the whole colony in an uproar.
A dissipated soldier named Sudds persuaded
his companion, Thompson, that their prospects were not hopeful so long as they
remained soldiers; but that, if they became convicts, they had a fair chance of
growing rich and prosperous. Accordingly, they entered a shop and stole a piece
of cloth. They were tried, convicted, and sentenced to be transported to
Tasmania for seven years. This was what they wished; but Governor Darling,
having heard of the scheme they were so successfully carrying out, took it upon
himself to alter the course of the law, and directed them to be chained
together with heavy spiked collars of iron about their necks, and to be set to
labour on the roads. Sudds was suffering from liver disease; he sank beneath
the severity of his punishment, and in a few days he died—while Thompson, about
the same time, became insane. This was an excellent opportunity for the
opposition papers, which immediately attacked the Governor for what they called
his illegal interference and his brutality. The Gazette filled its
columns with the most fulsome flattery in his defence, and Darling himself was
so imprudent as to mingle in the dispute, and to do what he could to annoy the
editors of the two hostile papers. Very soon the whole colony was divided into
two great classes—the one needlessly extolling the Governor, the other
denouncing him as the most cowardly and brutal of men. For four years this
abusive warfare lasted, till at length the opponents of Darling won the day;
and in 1831 he was recalled by the English Government.
7. Governor Bourke.—Sir Richard Bourke, who succeeded him, was
the most able and the most popular of all the Sydney Governors. He had the
talent and energy of Macquarie; but he had, in addition, a frank and hearty
manner, which insensibly won the hearts of the colonists, who, for years after
his departure, used to talk affectionately of him as the “good old Governor
Bourke”. During his term of office the colony continued in a sober way to make
steady progress. In 1833 its population numbered 60,000, of whom 36,000 were
free persons. Every year there arrived three thousand fresh convicts; but as an
equal number of free immigrants also arrived, the colony was benefited by its
annual increase of population.
St. Andrew’s Cathedral,
Sydney.
8. The Land Question.—Governor Bourke, on his landing, found that
much discontent existed with reference to what was called the Land Question. It
was understood that any one who applied for land to the Government, and showed
that he would make a good use of it, would receive a suitable area as a free
grant. But many abuses crept in under this system. In theory, all men had an
equal right to obtain the land they required; but, in practice, it was seldom
possible for one who had no friends among the officials at Sydney to obtain a
grant. An immigrant had often to wait for months, and see his application
unheeded; while, meantime, a few favoured individuals were calling day by day
at the Land Office, and receiving grant after grant of the choicest parts of
the colony. Governor Bourke, under instructions from the English Parliament,
made a new arrangement. There were to be no more free grants. In the settled
districts all land was to be put up for auction; if less than five shillings an
acre was offered, it was not to be sold; when the offers rose above that price,
it was to be given to the highest bidder. This was regarded as a very fair
arrangement; and, as a large sum of money was annually received from the sale
of land, the Government was able to resume the practice, discontinued in 1818,
of assisting poor people to emigrate from Europe to the colony.
9. The Squatters.—Beyond the surveyed districts the land was
occupied by squatters, who settled down where they pleased, but had no legal
right to their “runs,” as they were called. With regard to these lands new
regulations were urgently required; for the squatters, who were liable to be
turned off at a moment’s notice, felt themselves in a very precarious position.
Besides, as their sheep increased rapidly, and the flocks of neighbouring
squatters interfered with one another, violent feuds sprang up, and were
carried on with much bitterness. To put an end to these evils Governor Bourke
ordered the squatters to apply for the land they required. He promised to have
boundaries marked out; but gave notice that he would, in future, charge a rent
in proportion to the number of sheep the land could support. In return, he
would secure to each squatter the peaceable occupation of his run until the
time came when it should be required for sale. This regulation did much to
secure the stability of squatting interests in New South Wales.
After ruling well and wisely for six years,
Governor Bourke retired in the year 1837, amid the sincere regrets of the whole
colony.
CHAPTER VII.
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