The History of Tasmania Volume I Part 20

This act was framed in virtue of an order of council by the king in 1830. It provided that in criminal prosecutions where the governor, or any inferior officer, civil or military, could be interested in the result of a trial, a jury taken from the special jury list should try the issue.[195]

To Arthur the colonists were not indebted: the secretary of state had, long before, announced the determination of the government in favour of the measure. It was not carried out until nearly four years after its authorisation. The removal from the colony of the stigma of military juries, was delayed until 1840, when the trial of crimes and misdemeanours was entrusted to the hands of the inhabitants, and the grand bulwark of public and private freedom raised in Tasmania.

The convictions for perjury were not numerous: the whole system partook of the unsoundness of its elements, and the inhabitants were indebted for their safety to those principles of humanity, which, in the absence of interest and pa.s.sion, regulated the measures of the government, and restrained its agents from atrocious conspiracies.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 190: Signed by C. Swanston, T. Anstey, J. Kerr, C. M'Lachlan, R. Willis, W. A. Bethune.]

[Footnote 191: Letter produced by Mr. Kelsy, of the Colonial office.]

[Footnote 192: Twelve months imprisonment, 200 fine, and sureties in 500 for two years.]

[Footnote 193: _Par. Pap._ 1837.

6th Geo. iv. c. 5, disqualified a person to serve convicted of any capital offence, except free pardoned.

7th & 8th Geo. iv. c. 28. sec. 13, gave to a conditional pardon under the sign manual the same effect as great seal.

In cases not capital, service had the effect of free pardon: 9th Geo.

iv. c. 32. sec. 3.

All the laws of England were adopted by the Act of 1828: thus the disqualification for jurors, in cases capital, was taken away.

Judge Forbes stated, that in civil issues the juries had some difficulty in comprehending the distinction between law and fact: _ad questionem facti respondent juratores, ad questionem legis judices_.]

[Footnote 194: The original Simon Stukely was a quaker, who went to Turkey with an intention of converting the Grand Turk: he narrowly escaped decapitation, by the interposition of the English amba.s.sador. He was afterwards confined in an asylum: in answer to inquiries how he came there, he replied--"I said the world was mad, and the world said I was mad; and they out-voted me."]

[Footnote 195: Pa.s.sed, 5th November, 1834.]

SECTION XVI.

The _True Colonist_ newspaper was published daily during 1835: the editor, Mr. Gilbert Robertson, filled its columns with strictures on government, and in a style which might be termed heroic, if inspired by truth. The rashness of his imputations was never surpa.s.sed. He heaped on the governor, and the members of his administration, charges of misdemeanour and felony. One day he denounced them at the police-office, and the next printed his accusations _verbatim_. He libelled the governor (whom he accused of altering a deed after its enrolment) in a paper, headed "a fearful discovery;" and declared him not less deserving than others of a capital conviction. Robertson charged an overseer of Arthur with feloniously receiving hay for the governor's use, and with his connivance. His nephews, Captains Forster and Montagu, were each accused of a felonious appropriation of property belonging to the crown.

For these imputations, Robertson suffered fine and imprisonment;[196] in part remitted by the clemency of Arthur. Such charges were a buckler to the governor against the current scandal of the time. They were transmitted to the colonial-office: they destroyed the moral weight of the press, and cast suspicion on just complaints, yet emanating from a community which tolerated such extravagance.

It is not to be inferred that the opponents of Arthur's government, generally sanctioned these excesses. The violence of periodical writings resulted partly from the paucity of topics, and was mainly a necessity of trade. The limited field of discussion huddled all disputes into a squabble. The writers could not forget the names of their antagonists: they espoused with vehement zeal the trivial quarrels of this or that functionary; officers, who were dismissed, supplied anecdotes of those left behind, which were worked up in every form. The want of ideas and information would have withdrawn many writers from the combat, had they not possessed CAPITALS, exclamations (!!!!), and dashes--officered by epithets of horror, as an army of reserve. These attempts to impart energy to weakness, and terror to insignificance, gave to the articles of many old newspapers the aspect of auction bills, rather than political disquisitions.

The reader of a better era may fancy this description shaded; but the writer, in preparing this work, has explored many a volume, and shudders at the memory of his toils: he would not a.s.sign them to his worst enemy.

Such were not all: there were writers on either side, whose opposition was discriminating, and who enlightened the understanding without debasing the taste. The press was the more licentious, because nothing else was free; but it raised a barrier against official corruption. Men of integrity were annoyed, but rarely injured. It intimidated the corrupt, and protected the oppressed. Considered in detail it was often detestable; but it prevented mischief more serious and lasting.

These contentions embittered colonial life: they were daily renewed. The topics they embraced were rarely interesting beyond the moment: they filled the ephemeral publications of the day, and they now lie entombed in those repositories of the literary dead.

From 1831 to the termination of Arthur's government, the circulation of newspapers prodigiously increased: the improvement of the postal establishment facilitated their spread. Settlers, who delighted in their controversies, or dreaded their censure, subscribed to them all. With a few honorable exceptions they rivalled each other in recklessness of statement and roughness of diction. No lover of truth will accept their testimony, or transmit their praises. They were often what they were denominated by the chief justice--"a moral guillotine."

The spirit of contention was promoted by the peculiar fabric of society.

The great majority of the colonists were below the period of human life, when the temper becomes cautious and the pa.s.sions calm. Its narrow sphere magnified their temporary importance. Every man might claim, or forfeit benefits the government could bestow, and thus mult.i.tudes had personal grievances, or unsatisfied expectations. The hostilities of the day were almost invariably a.s.sociated with some sense of individual wrong. A grant of land desired by one, was given to another; a valuable servant was denied on some public pretence, and then a.s.signed to a favored applicant. One found his mercantile tenders always rejected, while another, by some unintelligible process, engrossed the custom of the crown. A youthful stranger was invested with the honors of a justice, when colonists of long standing were left undistinguished. The infractions of rule involved one master in public disgrace; another, was a licensed transgressor. Such was the complaint, which might be easily ill.u.s.trated by examples; but they are such as a knowledge of mankind will amply explain, and are inevitable when the form of government is arbitrary, and where its functions enter into all the details of private life.

This was felt towards the close of Arthur's administration, and many, not p.r.o.ne to party strife, were anxious for its termination. The meetings to pet.i.tion were more frequent, and a.s.sumed a more general character. As the causes of dissension became better understood, the patronage of the governor ceased to be considerable, and no colonist was a lover of unprofitable despotism. These sentiments prevailed in both penal colonies.

A "political a.s.sociation" was formed in Van Diemen's Land: a standing council was organised, under the auspices of certain leading politicians, who discussed the measures deemed necessary to amend their social and political condition. Mr. Thomas Horne, the secretary of this body, opened a correspondence with the governor, and endeavoured to direct his attention to its complaints. Arthur declined recognising his credentials, without an express sanction from the crown. The a.s.sociation, however, carried on its debates. The council deliberated in public: the members were a.s.sembled in the body of the hall, and spectators were admitted to the gallery. Their proceedings were reported in the newspapers, but with party coloring. By Dr. Ross they were turned into bitter ridicule: his remarks were retorted with cruelty and insult. A storm collected around him he could not disperse, and he laid down his pen soon after, with expressions of ill-concealed anguish.[197]

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 196: "I charge Mr. Fitzpatrick, late overseer of the government farm, with stealing or embezzling a quant.i.ty of hay, the property of the crown; and one John Compton, the overseer of Colonel Arthur's farm at the Marsh, with receiving the hay. I also charge Mr.

Davidson, late superintendent of the government garden, with embezzling, and Captain Forster with receiving, four Norfolk Island pines, value 20, the property of the crown. I have another distinct charge against Captain Forster, and one against Captain Montagu, for stealing or receiving certain building materials, the property of the crown."--_True Colonist_, Feb 26, 1835.]

SECTION XVII.

The recall of Arthur, long antic.i.p.ated by his enemies, at length arrived. Some months before, he had been informed by the secretary of state, that "having continued him in his government for the unusual period of twelve years, the crown intended to name his successor." On the recommendation of Mr. Huskisson, the duration of an ordinary government was limited to six years: special reasons withdrew Van Diemen's Land from the operation of this rule.

The ministerial changes at the seat of empire left Arthur's influence unimpaired. The variations of national policy rarely reached his sphere.

Unwelcome orders he managed to modify or evade. The difficult nature of his duties, the distance of his government from supervision, and the weakness of the free population, enabled him to a.s.sume and maintain for many years a discretion all but unlimited. The state of the colony on his arrival has been already noticed. The measures he adopted to coerce and control the convict population, and to subdue the aborigines, will be found in the second volume of this History. He repressed the outrages of the lawless, and restored comparative tranquillity. Under his auspices the chief town, which he found consisting of a few frail dwellings, a.s.sumed the aspect of a commercial city. Many, he received in chains, were established in social happiness: many immigrants, who arrived with slender resources, had risen to opulence.

A series of forty-seven statistical tables, prepared by the colonial secretary, his nephew, exhibit a progress then almost unexampled. In 1836, the revenue had increased from 16,866 to 106,639; the imports from 62,000 to 583,646; the exports from 14,500 to 320,679; mills from 5 to 47; colonial vessels from 1 to 71; churches from 4 to 18: the population had risen from 12,000 to 40,000; and every branch of public and private enterprise exhibited the same general aspect.

It would be absurd to ascribe to Arthur even the main credit of these results: they were the effect of that spirit of industry which ever characterises the native of Great Britain, and which nothing can wholly extinguish. Nor was this prosperity without alloy. The unproductive improvement encouraged, was sometimes unhealthy. The settlers were deeply involved: the valuation of property was raised beyond reasonable calculation. The pleasing delusion was cherished by the members of the government, whose official and private interests concurred to dupe them.

Happy were they who sold. Arthur left many who, acquiring his favour by the extent of their outlay, and the vigour of their enterprise, were laden with debts from which they never recovered, and a prey to perpetual solicitude.

The great demand for sheep and cattle, created by the establishment of new colonies, gave a temporary respite: flocks were sold at 2 per head, and were purchased in large quant.i.ties. These ameliorations were only transient, and the wide regions open to adventure lessened the worth of those properties which had been valued by the farms of Great Britain, not the unpeopled wilds of New Holland.

A just estimate of Arthur's administration, must include all the peculiarities of his position, and the complicated interests he held in trust, whether they relate to the imperial government, the free, or the bond. The measures best for the colony were not always compatible with the design of its establishment. Nor must we forget that, in surveying the past we have lights which rarely attend the present; that much which experience may amend, it is not possible for wisdom to foresee.

The primary object of the crown in colonising this island, was accepted by this governor as the chief aim of his policy. The settlement of free men he considered but subsidiary to the control and reform of the transported offender: their claims, their duties, and their political rights were, in his view, determined by their peculiar position. They were auxiliaries hired by royal bounties, to co-operate with the great machinery of punishment and reformation. As the representative of the crown, he stood off from the colonists in their sympathies and ultimate views. Employed not to build up a free community of Englishmen, but to hold in check the criminality of an empire, with him the settlement was an inst.i.tution requisite to the effective execution of penal laws. Such he found it: such he desired to mould its growth, _and to prolong its destination_. Thus, except in the capacity of employers, he regretted the arrival of free men, and warned the ministers of the crown, that by their encouragement of emigration, they were destroying the value of bond labor, the dependence of the settlers, and the adaptation of the island for the purposes of a prison.

Thus, in his official correspondence with colonists on subjects of a political nature, Arthur always avowed hostility to liberal ideas, and scoffed at their solicitude for the common rights of English people.

While the opposition could avail, he resisted the liberty of the press, trial by jury, and open discussion of legislative measures. His remarks were often in a tone austere and reproving; nor did he think himself obliged to preserve that dignified complaisance which softens the differences of political life. The settlers were expected to stay at home, to keep their servants in custody, to denounce their infractions of penal rule, and as the "materials of prison discipline," (so they were denominated) to carry out a judicial sentence. They knew, before they came, they must sacrifice British rights, and with the political or social influence of transportation, beyond their own fences, they had no concern.

As an officer of the army, the profession of Arthur was not unfavorable to the main purpose he avowed: the process he conducted was, of necessity, harsh and imperative. In the selection of instruments, he preferred military men: they were without colonial scruples, and when the government was unconcerned, perhaps, without partiality. They were deficient in legal knowledge, and as magistrates sometimes overlooked the material facts; but they despised the reproaches of the press, and the censures of civilians.

In the course of his administration, Arthur had most places at his temporary disposal: he filled them, wherever possible, with his friends; and he left his nephews in the highest appointments within their professional capacity. Arthur drew out a minute detail of official subordination: the duties prescribed for his officers were defined with labored exactness, and the reins of control met in his hands. Everything was referred to himself, and his instructions were definite, and generally irrevocable. Many persons appointed by the crown were dismissed, or thrown off, by his contrivance. Accident placed many offices in his provisional gift. Baxter, a judge elect; Gellibrand, an attorney-general; Ferreday, a sheriff; Thomas, a treasurer; Burnett, a colonial secretary; O'Ferrall, a collector of customs; and many in lower station, relinquished or lost their appointments, by the determination of his inflexible and unflinching will. The forfeiture was sometimes obviously just; but it was a maxim of his government to fill the departments with persons who knew no patronage except his own. Among them were candidates for the same gifts, who looked for fortunes beyond the limits of their duties: they cultivated farms; became compet.i.tors for prisoner labor; and speculators in commerce. The supreme court and the newspapers were often occupied by their recriminations: sometimes they exchanged challenges, and sometimes writs. The colonists in opposition saw, not without some gratification, dissensions which seemed to weaken the common enemy; and the press was often enriched by the malice of official pens. Many were, however, too wise to quarrel: their quiet industry enabled them to combine their public and private employments, without scandal, and with success. They were, indeed, accused of peculation; but specific charges were generally reb.u.t.ted, and can now only be noticed as a rumour, and dismissed as detraction.

The officers trained under Arthur acquired his tact, and imbibed his spirit: the least deemed himself something superior to the richest trader, or the most enterprising colonist. The sub-divisions among themselves were minute and rigorously enforced. They were, however, subject to vicissitudes. Those who lost their appointments furnished the material of libels: reported the peculations and duplicity of their late colleagues, and often became distinguished for their patriotism.

The patronage permitted to Arthur was enormous: to a large extent he was the almoner of the crown. Thus disaffection became highly penal: a quarrel with a magistrate, or a friendly intercourse with persons under a ban, exposed the delinquent to serious pecuniary loss. These considerations were avowed.[198] The dread of injury made the timid servile, and corrupted private intercourse. A secret influence pervaded every rank: society was embittered by suspicions and the dread of denunciation; and had not the growth of population decreased the comparative power of the government, or had its original plan been perpetuated, it must have formed a community of slanderers and slaves.

The intentions of the governor, however just, could not save him from the falsehood of spies, and thus the perpetration of wrong. It was early announced that opponents would be "crushed." The extent of the "crus.h.i.+ng system" was greatly exaggerated, and even the course of good government was commonly ascribed by the sufferer to official enmity and avarice.

The industry of Colonel Arthur was constant: his attention to the details of his government, and his perseverance as a despatch writer were universally admitted: a large proportion of his time he spent in his office, and toiled with an a.s.siduity which would have been fatal to ordinary men. It was commonly stated that he was not very accessible; but he willingly heard those whose education and habits qualified them to suggest. Persons of every rank were admitted to an audience on a slight pretence. He was quick in estimating the characters and capacities of all who approached him.

The executive council was useful to Arthur, without obstructing his measures. When he resolved on a project, he would nominate a board, and obtain its sanction. When his private views were opposed to his instructions he affected impartiality, and seemed to yield rather than to guide. These artifices were well understood; but the colony often approved the object, and admired the ingenuity of its execution. A new colonial minister, in the hurry of his office, gladly surrendered to the governor's judgment a question often beyond his comprehension, and which to resist it was necessary to understand. Thus it was ordered to execute public works by contract instead of the gangs; to levy a tax on convict labor; to retain men seven years in chains. Boards, or commissions, which gave him the aspect of a mediator or judge, advised him to postpone and quash the disagreeable order or restriction. Thus during his government his influence was paramount, and inferior functionaries were satellites who obeyed his impulse, or were driven from their spheres.

The chief justice alone could pretend to independence: by his seat in both councils he possessed a voice in the enactment and administration of the laws--a subject of continual suspicion and complaint, and really dangerous whenever the government was a party. The chief justice ultimately resigned his seat in the executive council (1835). The secretary of state had declared in parliament that legislative and executive offices were incompatible with the proper functions of a judge.