THE HOBART TOWN MAGAZINE. VOL. III.] JULY, 1834. [No. 17. A FEW WORDS ON THE PRESENT STATE OF THINGS. There has occurred in the public mind, what the French call a movement, which will work its way in the Colony, either for good or evil, without the intervention of anything like a medium. Matters have now arrived at such a height of hazardous-nay-perilous progression, that they cannot stand still and stagnate :-onwards they must go,-involving in their impetuous and overwhelming course,like a deep mountain-lake, bursting suddenly and swiftly from its banks-every obstacle opposed to their progress. And what has produced this restless and convulsive state of things? Not one cause, most assuredly, but many,—and those, various; and if we must speak our mind-which we are in duty bound to do, honestly and candidly-we do say, that the people themselves, by divers strange and absurd acts of conduct, have brought upon their own heads the evils, under which they are now suffering so severely. There is implanted in the breasts of the inhabitants of this Colony a strange predilection for discord and contention; and, until the late memorable public meeting on the Jury Question, unanimity, in such proceedings, was as rare as it was requisite. To this pernicious spirit of discord and disturbance may we attribute many of the disasters, under the weight of which, we are now bowed down; for if the people had united heart and hand in one grand and leading cause of general amelioration, we should be now in a state, very different to, and far more beneficial, than, that which we are compelled to endure. And to what has our folly and heedlessness brought us? To a very pretty situation, indeed! The trading interest of the Colony,-as " he who runs may read,"-is bottomed on a false and fickle foundation; the resources of the Colony are all but 2 G VOL. III, NO, XVII, dried up, and withered, while, to augment individual misery and individual privation, every necessary of life is dear, scarce, and by no means super-excellent. When we used to read, in former times, of the blessings and benefits to be derived from emigrating to these happy shores, our hearts were gladdened with the news, and the restless and the roving rejoiced greatly at the bliss, which awaited them in this Utopian paradise. Some, it is true, found all their fondest and most sanguine expectations amply realized, while others were most woefully disappointed. But why were they disappointed? We will see. That the accredited agents of the British Government circulated information tending grievously to mislead the heedless, as regarded the presumed and probable benefit of emigrating to this Colony, is well known, and that they did so through ignorance, is to be presumed. Encouraged,-nay, almost sanctioned, by this careless and unwary policy, a number of unprincipled and greedy persons set on foot a system of kidnapping-(for it was nothing else) which has deluded, if not ruined, many an industrious, but credulous individual. Gain being the object of these unprincipled men, their avaricious cupidity was excited by the tempting descriptions which were promulgated, touching this distant land of milk and honey; and, enhancing the benefits to be derived by the emigrant, by the propagation of the most wicked falsehoods, they speedily established a lucrative trade, by transporting passengers to this place and to Sydney. To increase still more the profits of these people, the commuted pension scheme was adopted by the Government; and how that has operated need not be mentioned: we have daily. nay, hourly, proofs of its "untoward" results. If, then, we consider the general description of persons, who have, for the last five or six years, emigrated hither, we need not feel surprised, that they should feel disappointed, neither need we experience much amazement, at the present state of the Colony. On a trial for libel, which took place about a twelvemonth ago in the Supreme Court of this town, an intelligent witness deposed, that, in his opinion, every person who came to this country, came hither as an adventurer :" and he exhibited great knowledge of his fellow-colonists, as well as of human nature, by such an opinion. Because, who, in his sound and sober senses, would leave old England," and risk a long, a very long voyage, exposing to the same risk his wife and family, and, oftentimes, considerable property, if he were not actuated by an adventurous spirit, and the hope of ameliorating his condition? Which of us, let us ask, would, as it were, "put a girdle round the world," unless he expected to catch something in the enclosure? It is absolute nonsense to deny the fact. And, what, then, has been the result of all this "adventurous" emigration? We need not go far to find an answer. It is too true a fact, that many of the persons who have emigrated to these shores, have so emigrated, without possessing any adequate means of improvement, on their arrival. They come hither, poor in pocket-poor in resources-and as poor, many of them, at least-in intellect and energy. Expecting to find, in this El Dorado of the southern hemisphere, all their bright anticipations realized, and to emerge, by a single stride, as it were, from a state of want and poverty to actual competence, they discovered, when it was too late, their disappointment and their destitution. The small stock of energy which they possessed, is now completely destroyed, and, bewailing their folly, they serve only to swell the crowd of the discontented and repining, and to add to the number of those deluded creatures, who have so much reason to curse the cupidity of their deceivers. That this is not an over-charged description of the majority of emigrants, with which the Colony has, of late, been encumbered, every candid person must admit; and is it not plain to see, then, that the influx of so much unprofitable, as well as unproductive material, must very much affect the well-being of the country? For, how different a state should we now be in, if, instead of these destructive shoals of pauper emigrants, men of capital and intelligence had so largely increased our free population! That this has not been the case is our own fault, and we have nobody but ourselves to blame. If, instead of quarrelling, like angry curs, about a bone, and bothering ourselves with political absurdities, we had unanimously resolved to pursue the best means of improving and advancing the most beneficial interests of our adopted country, we might, by eliciting new resources from, or throwing the same into-the Colony-have rivalled Sydney in prosperity and affluence. In the miserable state that England has been in, many, very many respectable persons would have come hither, as many have gone to Sydney and elsewhere, if they could have been assured, that the Colony was a fit and proper place for their reception. But, it may be urged, this we would have done, but the Government would not let us. We deny this, at once and decidedly; because it is well known, that the Government, even for its own sake, would,―as, in many instances, it has done,-encourage that course, which is best calculated to advance the Colony; for, bound up as it is with the interests and welfare of the governed, it would naturally adopt those measures, which were best adapted to the common weal. But neither this, nor any other Government, possesses the virtue of infallibility; and the share which its measures may have had in producing the evils, which have fallen upon us, must have been caused by an error of judgment, and not by a wilful perversion of it. For, after all, what especial act has this Government-of itself-ever done, tending to induce the present state of things? By what measure, or series of measures, has it brought us into our present forlorn situation? We defy its bitterest enemies to point out a single fact, which can implicate the Local Government, as the cause of our distress. We do not say this, for the mere sake of eulogizing or defending individuals, whose public conduct, as far as this point is concerned, require neither; but we do so, in order to point out the real cause, with a view to a true and real remedy. No one can suspect us of any political bias: we speak our mind openly on either side, pointing out errors, where errors exist, inflicting censure, where it is required, and, on the same strict principle of candour and impartiality, dispensing praise, when it is deserved. Our object is general utility, at a time, when, Heaven knows, the united energy of all should be exerted and put forth for the public welfare. These are not times, we repeat, when men should be divided: unanimity should be the watch-word and guiding-star of every man, that really wishes well to his adopted country: and this unanimity, instead of being wasted in squabbles with the Government, should be directed and exerted towards our own moral and physical improvement, and towards the attainment of those rights, which, as free people, we are entitled to hold and to enjoy. The state of parties, however, as now existing, almost forbids a hope of this desirable consummation. Men's minds are fearfully shaken, and a series of events, treading closely upon the heels of each other, have served to inflame them to a pitch of excitement, never before equalled here. If, in the direction of these events, our rulers have exercised a power beyond their authority, the people would be fully justified in objecting to it: but should we not first ascertain this fact? Should we not calmly, dispassionately, buf firmly and resolutely examine into the matter, and find how far, it at all, our rights have been invaded, or our privileges infringed— always recollecting, that the Government, under which we have voluntarily placed ourselves, is the mere agent, as it were, of a higher power, and, consequently, amenable to that power for all its acts and deeds? But while thus amenable, we must remember, also, that in its operation, it is materially controlled, and, in fact, directed by the superior power in question, which, unfortunately for us, possesses a most convenient ignorance of nearly every thing connected with us. It is this ignorance-perverse as it is pernicious, which we have declared over and over again, is the cause of the curious anomalies, which constitute the laws, by which we are governed; and so long as we are considered the keepers of convicts, so long shall we be ruled accordingly. Knowing this, and knowing, also, that there is but one right way of obtaining a remedy, is it not strange that we should be so infatuated with personal politics, as to waste and fritter away, in trumpery disputes, those energies, which ought to be directed, and which might be very easily directed with success, to the attainment of all that we require? Besides, if we consider the effects which this want of union-this carping and snarling and quarrelling-has upon our best interests, in the eyes of the Home Government, we shall find another inducement, and that a very strong one, for the most cordial co-operation. What must our rulers at home think of us, when they are pestered by every vessel that leaves this port for England, with |