transport, general orders are issued for the returns of the number of men wanted, with the land held in cultivation by each settler. The trade, age, character, and capacity of the convicts are, as far as possible, investigated; the artificers are in general reserved for the service of Government, and as many of the others as may be wanted. Persons who have been in a higher situation of life have tickets of leave given to them, by which they have liberty to provide for themselves, and are exempt from all compulsory labour; similar tickets are given to men unused to active employment, as goldsmiths and others; the remainder are distributed amongst the settlers as servants and labourers. The convicts in the service of Government are divided into gangs, every gang has an overseer, and every two or three gangs a superintendant; these are frequently chosen from amongst those convicts who best conduct themselves. They work from six in the morning till three in the afternoon, and the remainder of the day is allowed them, to be spent either in amusement or profitable labour for themselves. They are clothed, fed, and for the most part lodged by Government; and though in the early periods of the colony, inconvenience and distress may have arisen from the irregularity of supply from this country, latterly the food and clothing have been good, and generally speaking in sufficient abundance. Should the convicts misconduct themselves at their work, the superintendents have no power of inflicting punishment, but are for that purpose obliged to take them

before a magistrate; the sitting magistrate of the week at Sydney may order a punishment of twentyfive lashes; a regular bench, which consists, at least, of three, may order as many as three hundred and in the distant parts of the colony, a single magistrate has the same power with the bench at Sydney; but a heavy punishment is not executed without the previous approbation of the Governor. Another mode of correction, and that which your Committee would recommend to be preferred, in as many cases as possible, is to sentence the culprit to work for a certain number of days in the gaol gang: he is here obliged to labour at some public work in irons, from six in the morning to six at night, and no hours are allowed to him for profit or amusement. The convicts distributed amongst the settlers are clothed, supported, and lodged by them; they work either by the task or for the same number of hours as the Government convicts; and when their set labour is finished, are allowed to work on their own account. The master has no power over them of corporal punishment, and this can only be inflicted by the interference of a magistrate; even if the master be a magistrate himself, he can order no punishment to his own servant, but must have recourse to another magistrate. If the servant feels himself ill used by his master, he bas power of complaining to a magi strate, who will, if the complaint be well founded, deprive the master of his servant. It is so much the interest of the settlers to keep their servants in good health, and to attend to their conduct, that

your

your committee have heard no evidence but in commendation of their treatment, and of its effects upon their morals and comfort. Indeed it is most manifest that where two or three convicts are domiciled in a family, removed from their former companions, and forced into habits of industry and regularity, the chance of reformation must be infinitely greater than when they are worked in gangs, living with each other amidst all the inducements to vice which such a town as Sydney must afford to them; and such, by all the evidence, appears to be the effect of this system of distributing them amongst the settlers. Nor is it to be lost sight of, that in the service of settlers they are likely to acquire some knowledge of farming; and that if, from con victs, they become well-behaved and industriouss ervants, a further possibility is opened to them of becoming prosperous and respectable settlers. On these grounds your committee recommend as much as possible their distribution as servants and labourers to individuals; and they have observed with much satisfaction, that such appears to be the system at present pursued by Governor Mac quarie nor will such an arrangement materially increase the expense to Government, or impede the progress of its works. It is to be found in the evidence of Mr. Commissary Palmer, that the expense of each convict in the service of Government was about 401. a year, and that a free labourer at Sydney could be hired for 701. but, that he would do nearly twice as much work. Mr. Campbell states the annual expense of a VOL. LV.

convict at 301.; but in the other point he agrees with Mr. Palmer. Some of the benefits of this system must be lost where too many convicts are given to one master, and in some instances forty have been put under the control of a single settler; but from the extent of some of the farms, such a distribution appears to be unavoidable. In the distribution of female convicts great abuses have formerly prevailed; they were indiscriminately given to such of the inhabitants as demanded them, and were in ge→ neral received rather as prostitutes than as servants; and so far from being induced to reform themselves, the disgraceful manner in which they were disposed of operated as an encouragement to general depravity of manners. Upon the arrival of Governor Bligh twothirds of the children annually born within the colony were illegitimate. Marriages have latterly become more frequent, consequently prostitution is stated to have been less prevalent; and Governor Macquarie is directing his endeavours, under orders from the Govern ment here, "to keep the female convicts separate till they can properly be distributed among the inhabitants, in such manner as they may best derive the advantages of industry and good character." He further states in his dispatch, dated April 30, 1810, that the situation of the colony requires that as many male convicts as possible should be sent thither, the prosperity of the country depending on their numbers; whilst, on the contrary, female convicts are as great a drawback as the others are beneficial. To this observation your committee feel they cannot accede:

they are aware that the women sent out are of the most abandoned description, and that in many instances they are likely to whet and to encourage the vices of the men, whilst but a small proportion will make any step towards reformation; but yet, with all their vices, such women as these were the mothers of a great part of the inhabitants now existing in the colony, and from this stock only can a reasonable hope be held out of rapid increase to the population; upon which increase, here, as in all infant colonies, its growing prosperity in great measure depends. Let it be remembered too, how much misery and vice are likely to prevail in a society in which the women bear no proportion to the men; in the colony at present, the number of men compared to that of women, is as two to one; to this, in great measure, the prevalence of prostitution is reasonably to be attributed; but increase that proportion, and the temptation to abandoned vices will also be increased, and the hopes of establishing feelings of decency and morality amongst the lower classes will be still farther removed.

The supply of women to the colony must, however, be materially diminished by the proposed system of employing convicts in penitentiary houses; and your committee think this an additional reason for affording increased facilities to the wives of male convicts, who may wish to accompany or follow their husbands to New South Wales. This permission is now seldom granted, and that only to the wives of men transported for life or for fourteen years. It is, however, the most

eligible way of providing the colony with women, and one which may with very great advantage be much extended.

At the expiration of the time to which the convicts have been sentenced, their freedom is at once obtained, and they are at liberty either to return to this country, or to settle in New South Wales; should the latter be their choice, a grant is made to the unmarried of forty acres of land, and to the married of something more for the wife and each child: tools and stock (which they are not allowed to alienate) are also given to them, and for eighteen months they are victualled from the Government stores. In this manner they have an opportunity of establishing themselves in independence, and by proper conduct to regain a respectable place in society; and such instances, your committee are glad to learn, are not unfre quent. They also see with satisfaction, that Governor Macquarie adopts it as a principle, that longtried good conduct should lead a man back to that rank in society which he had forfeited, and do away, in as far as the case will admit, all retrospect of former bad conduct;" this appears to him to be the greatest" inducement that can be held out towards the reformation of the manners of the inhabitants." In these principles your committee cordially concur, and are the more anxious to express their opinion, as under a former Governor, transports, whatever their conduct might be, were in no instance permitted to hold places of trust and confidence, or even to come to the Government House; those advantages being, in his opi

nion, not to be expected until after generations.

The same advantages as are allowed to convicts having served their time, are given to those who have been pardoned or emancipated by the Governor; and your committee do not wish to dismiss the subject without making some observations upon the power possessed by him of granting to convicts either the entire or partial remission of their sentence, or tickets of leave, by which they are altogether relieved from its severity. They do not see any necessity for the Governor's possessing a power to grant these absolute or conditional pardons; it is a power liable to great abuse, and which appears to have been at times very much abused. It is in evidence, that in some years one hundred and fifty pardons have been granted; that pardons have been granted to convicts immediately upon their arrival, without reference to their characters or merits; and it appears rather to have at times been made an instrument to gain popularity, than the means of rewarding exemplary conduct by a well-deserved extension of his Majesty's mercy. Your committee therefore suggest, that no pardon whatever, real or conditional, be granted but through the Secretary of State. This may create a delay perhaps of a year, in obtaining the pardon of any convict, but that inconvenience will not be great, for by granting to him a ticket of leave, the convict will in the mean time be entirely relieved from the pressure of his Bentence. Upon the subject of tickets of leave, your committee feel that the power of granting

them ought to remain in full force with the Governor; but it is a power which they would wish to see sparingly and cautiously made use of; and with this view they recommend that an annual return be made to the Secretary of State's office, of the number of tickets of leave issued in the year, with a statement of the grounds upon which each was granted.

No difficulty appears to exist amongst the major part of the men who do not wish to remain in the colony, of finding means to return to this country. All but the aged and infirm easily find employment on board the ships visiting New South Wales, and are allowed to work their passage home; but such facility is not afforded to the women: they have no possible method of leaving the colony but by prostituting themselves on board the ships whose masters may chuse to receive them. They who are sent to New South Wales, that their former habits may be relinquished, cannot obtain a return to this country, but by relapsing into that mode of life, which with many has been the first cause of all their crimes and misfortunes. To those who shrink from these means, or are unable even thus to obtain a passage for themselves, transportation for seven years is converted into a banishment for life, and the just and humane provisions of the law, by which different periods of transportation are apportioned to different degrees of crime, are rendered entirely null: to see this defect in the punishment remedied, is the anxious wish of your committee; and they trust that means may be devised to facilitate the return of such women 2 M 2

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