the colonial empire, whose population was nearly one hundred millions; to two-fifths of the exports to the North American colonies; to three-sevenths of the exports to India; they were nearly equal to the exports to the West Indian colonies, both insular and continental; and were four times as great as those to the Mauritius. And, lastly, I must state, as a proof of the wealth of these colonies, that in the immediate vicinity of Sydney the value of land is from 100l. to 1,000l. an acre; and in Sydney itself it has been sold at the rate of 10,000l. an acre.

I wish to direct the attention of the House to the facts I have just stated, in order to impress the House with the importance of the subject which I am now about to discuss; namely, the causes which threaten the industry of these colonies and the necessity of adopting the principles of my honourable friend, in order to provide them with the supply of labour requisite to maintain them in their present state.

I have already remarked that the rapid progress of these colonies is to be attributed, not to the circumstance that the Government has furnished the settlers with land free of expense, but that it has provided them with the combinable labour which renders that land productive, and which consists in convict slaves, transported at the cost of this country; and in addition to this, that the Government has created an excellent market in the form of convict, military, and civil establishments, paid for out of the British estimates. Since the commencement of the two colonies, the Government has granted away nearly seven millions of acres,

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only a trifling portion of which, and that during the last three or four years, has been paid for. About 110,000 convicts have been transported, most of whom have been assigned as labourers; at the present moment there are probably between 30,000 and 40,000 convicts in private service. The amount of British funds expended upon these colonies since 1786 was estimated by the Transportation Committee to have been at least eight millions of pounds sterling; the sum defrayed out of the public purse for these colonies in 1837 was 461,000l., having increased from 354,000/. in 1831. These were the elements of the wealth of the penal colonies; namely, land well adapted to the growth of wool and other produce; a steady market at hand; and a constant and abundant supply of labour. As long as a sufficient supply of labour can be obtained, so long will these colonies prosper; and this brings me to the consideration of the present state of the Australian colonies, and to the deficiency of the supply of labour which exists at present and will augment, unless means be taken of providing those colonies with labour from other sources than from the gaols of this country, which have of late become inadequate.

During the earlier period of these colonies the supply of convict labour exceeded the demand, and the Government granted various indulgences to the settlers, who would take convicts under their charg At a subsequent period the supply of convict only equalled the demand; then there w culty in disposing of convicts, an system of confiding the punishm the discretion of private ind

assignment system) acquired its full extension. At present the supply of convict labour is much less than the demand; and the competition for labourers is very great. New South Wales, especially, is suffering from this cause. The flocks of sheep, from the want of shepherds, are twice the size they ought to be; numbers of sheep perish for want of care; and many proprietors, I have been informed, have been obliged to destroy their lambs. It was estimated last year that no less than ten thousand labourers were required for that colony alone. Every arrival of late from New South Wales has brought complaints of the want of labour. The diminution in the general and in the land revenue last year may in some degree be attributed to this cause, the effects of which will every year become more striking, unless vigorous measures be adopted to remove the disproportion now existing between the demand for and the supply of labour.

That disproportion is the result of a variety of causes; first, of the great increase of capital to which I have already referred, and which has occasioned a great increase in the demand for labour, in order to render that capital productive.

Secondly, the deficiency of labour may be partly attributed to the manner in which the Australian colonies have been peopled; namely, chiefly by convicts, with a very unequal proportion of the two sexes. Population has, in consequence, increased very slowly; as the convicts, who die, rarely leave behind them children to supply their places. The fresh importations of convicts does little more than fill up the void occasioned by deaths, and by the secession of convicts from the class of labourers.

Thus the transportation of convicts does not actually afford any additional supply of labour to the settlers in New South Wales, nor enable them to extend their field of production, in proportion to the extension of their capital.

Thirdly, the employment of criminals as labourers has made various descriptions of labour discreditable for persons who have not been convicted. The free emigrants, who of late years have arrived in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land, are therefore disinclined to adopt occupations similar to those performed by convicts; they are unwilling to labour in company, and thus to confound themselves with criminals under punishment. Precisely the same feelings act upon free persons in the penal colonies as operate upon the white population in the Southern States of America, and which make it disgraceful for a white man, and cause him to be stigmatised as a mean white, if he consent to work in those kinds of industry which are the usual employments of the black race.

And, lastly, this disinclination to labour for another is strengthened in the Australian colonies by the facility with which land can be obtained. For the price of the land is so low that any person, who has obtained a small sum of money, can set up for himself; and even the mere emigrant labourer can in a short time, by the savings from his high wages, become the independent proprietor of a small plot of land.

These are the main causes of the disproportion between the supply of and the demand for labour in New South Wales. In Van Diemen's Land the same causes do not operate to the same extent,

because the territory of that colony is comparatively limited, and most of the fertile land is already occupied. In Van Diemen's Land, therefore, the yearly importation of convicts from this country is nearly sufficient for the labour market of that colony. In New South Wales this is not the case. If, however, that source of labour be cut off, without new channels of supply being opened, the want of labour would be most intensely felt in both colonies.

Now I feel convinced that no Government can long permit the existence of the present system of transportation. The employment of convicts as slaves (that is the assignment system) has been condemned by every authority, as a most unequal and improper punishment. It was allowed, even by those most interested in the economical prosperity of the penal colonies, to be the source of innumerable and incalculable moral evils; and to have produced communities as depraved as they are wealthy; in both respects without parallel in the world. Its discontinuance has been recommended by the noble lord the member for Stroud and by the late Secretary of State for the Colonies.1 Orders have been transmitted to the Governors of these colonies to the effect that no more convicts shall be assigned to settlers. Whether or not convicts should continue to be sent to these colonies to be punished in gaols or penitentiaries is, (though in itself a question of great importance), one that I will not now discuss. I shall call the attention of the House to this subject on a future, and I trust early, occasion, when I shall bring under the consideration of the House the report and resolutions 1 Lord Normanby.