IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // i^ r succumb to poverty and degradation, and the relief from such pressure of growing population as might cramp the spirit of freedom at home. We are indebted to these three groups of colonies for having refused to submit to any in- ferior terms of citizenship than such as habitually belong to our nation. They have each severally illustrated the repugnance of their race to the im- position of inferiority. The American provinces have stoutly vindicated a right to responsibility of government. The Aus- tralians have thrown off indignantly the stigma of their origin in transportation, redeeming the nobi- lity of colonization from the servile duty of national scavengers ; and South Africa lent to English spirit the fulcrum of a Dutch back to resist the requisition of similar service from the mother-country. By struggles like these our colonial policy has righted itself. I will now show how far this revival has pro- ceeded in each of our colonies proper, taking them in turn as I have roughly grouped them. ( 19 ) GROUP 1— NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. L— CANADA. Op the North American colonies, Canada must first be considered. We had only recently conquered this territory from France, when we lost our earlier colonies to- gether with the colonial policy on which they had thriven and grown to quick maturity. Our first proclamation of civil and religious liberty to the Canadians did not commend itself to French ideas, and in 1774 (the year in which another Act was passed for closing the port of Boston) the Quebec Bill established in this province the laws and customs of France. The success of our first colonists in vindicating their rights against the unconstitutional demands of the mother-country, left feelings of resentment in the breast of the Imperial Government, which also involved our new colonies in a reactionary policy. Lord Durham, in his celebrated Eeport of 1839, observes (p. 25) that " from this period the " colonial policy of this country appears to have " undergone a complete change. To prevent the c 2 20 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. " further dismemberment of !:he Empire became " the primary object of our statesmen, and an " especial anxiety was exhibited to adopt every " expedient which appeared calculated to prevent " the remaining North American colonies from " following the example of successful revolt." We sought to prevent further evil resulting from our first tampering with colonial rights by tampering with them still more, and to check the irritation of wounded freedom by impounding freedom alto- gether. Every kind of restrictive device was resorted to for trammelling colonial govern 'iient, and the very life and essence of successful English colonization was for a time suppressed. British provinces became the scene of a strange experi- ment, that of governing English subjects in America from an Office in London, and submit- ting distant dependencies to a subordinate Agency of a metropolitan Bureau, working through the intrigues of a narrow clique on the spot. The English settlers in Canada soon protested against such treatment as this, and called loudly for more self-government and for the English Constitu- tion; and Pitt, by the Act of 1791 (31 Geo. III., 31), divided the growing territory into an Upper and Lower Province, by way of preventing collision between the two incongruous races. The Act then gave them both elected Houses of Assembly, and it was inserted as an amendment that the Legislative Council should be made by Crown nominations for tlj E ;ame L an ivery ivent from We a our )ering ion of L alto- e was nment, Snglisli British experi- 3cts in submit- Agency igli tlie CANADA/ LIBRARY. ^•*^i: life, in order to imitate as nearly as^pbssiWe the constitution of the English Parliament. The division of races was prouably a mistake, but we surely saw some good effects from this emancipating spirit — this step from domineering towards fraternizing with the colonies — in the brilliant achievements and loyal spirit exhibited by Canada during our troubles in 1812. But from the day on which that step was taken, up to the date of Lord Grey's administra- tion, there was a continual struggle on the part of our colonists for the completion vi constitutional rights, by the subjection of the Executive to the Legislature, which is commonly called responsible government. A series of intrigues, " family compacts," and last resorts of bureaucracy, caused a corresponding sei les of rebellions ; and concessions alternated with fresh demands until the claim was fully satisfied. We lingered in our half-recovered policy at an enormous cost to this country, and with great in- jury to our new colonial growth. The Government, trusting to the support of its official party on the spot, still continued to dictate the details of administration from a distance which put out of its sight the wants and interests of the colonists themselves. Lord Durham described the general state of things as that of a chronic collision between the Executive and Representative bodies in all the 22 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 'J M North American colonies. " In each and every " province the Representatives were in hostility " to the policy of the Government, and the admi- " nistration of public affairs was permanently in " the hands of a Ministry not in harmony with " the popular branch of the Legislature " (Report, 1839, pp. 27-8). English taxes were lavished on the means of quieting and demoralizing the spirit of the colonists. It was argued that the cessation of such vexa- tion would be the cessation of all colonial connexion. Lord Durham alone affirmed the opposite and true opinion, guided as he was by the enlightened view" of Edward Gribbon Wakefield and Charles Buller, that cessation from such interference would be the starting-point from which a natural, free, and vigorous attachment would spring up between the colony and mother-country. Lord Grey commences his observations on Canada (Letter Y .) by remarking that " a new era " in the history of British North America opened " with the passing of the Act of 1840 for the union " of the divided provinces of Upper and Lower " Canada, and with the consequent re-establishment " in the latter of constitutional government, of " which the insurrections of 1837-8 had occasioned " the temporary suspension." He rightly attributes that rebellion to defects in the Constitution; but those defects were rather in the working of the CANADA. 23 Constitution than in its letter. The Act of Union was directly intended to merge the quarrels of races, which provincial division had aggravated, and to enlarge the area of government, so as to swamp the petty parties and intrigues which infected it. What Lord Grey says was vaguely sought for, and that which he says his friends first gave definite meaning to — namely, responsible government — might have been established just as well by instructions under the old Constitution as under this Act. It is, however, clear that what Lord Grey meant by responsible government, under whatever Act established, would have been no remedy against collision between the Executive and the Assembly. If nothing more had been achieved by the Colony and by the progress of events than what he intended, rebellion would have continued as constantly as ever. What was really wanted, and clearly under- stood bv those who felt the want, was that the Government should be carried on in harmony with the Eepresentative Legislature already established, and by means of those in whom the Legislature had confidence. The effect of giving representative institutions with this responsibility withheld was, as Gibbon Wakefield described it, much like that of lighting a fire in a room with the chimney closed. But Lord Grey refers to a well-known despatch from Lord Russell, who was Colonial Secretary at the 24 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 'l I time of the Union, to Lord Sydenham, October 1839, and calls it " the first attempt to give some- " thing like shape and consistency to the vague idea " of responsible government ; " and certainly the definition so given is conclusive against his claim to any credit for the concession of the thing itself. In a colony, in substance says Lord Eussell, Councillors give advice to a Governor who io possibly receiving contrary instructions from the Sovereign whom he represents. The Governor's way out of the dilemma is by an exercise of discre- tion, only ignoring the responsibility of his Council to the Assembly when the honour of the Crown absolutely requires him to do so — that is whenever he thinks fit. But such an exercise of discretion amounts simply to the subjecl^ion of the Legisla- ture to the Executive in his own person; or, in other words, to the exact converse of responsible government. All Colonial Legislatures must, no doubt, as I have already said, be ultimately sub- ject to the Central Legislature, but no represen- tative Legislature in the Empire is subject to the Crown one iota further than as the Crown is a constituent part of the Central Legislature, or so far as by its representative it has the prerogative of veto on local legislation. Beyond this the Crown can only exercise its very powerful influence, but has no legal controL^ The position, therefore, of a Colonial Governor as imv.gined by Lord Russell, in perpetual dilemma, CANADA. 25 in sible no sub- esen- o the is a or so rative rown but with one eye fixed on his ismployers at home, and the other squinting at his Assembly, is an impos- sible fiction ; and I really believe that Lord Grey had no more idea of responsible government before his eyes when he adopted this description than is compatible with M. Eouher's view of the French Emperor's Government, which he lately described as unreservedly responsible, meaning that it was ready to bear the blame for whatever went wrong. It is true that Colonial Governors, however dependent their Ministers may be on the confi- dence of local representative bodies, are likely enough themselves to keep an eye on the policy of the Home Government, and trim their own course with it. So far as exerting their influence goes, this may be right, and conducive to Imperial unity ; but it should never amount to their acting separately from their Mmisters, nor to actual collision with the Assemblies. In case of need there is the immediate veto on local legislation for Governors to fall back upon ; there are, also, many Colonial Acts which the Crown has afterwards the opportunity of refusing to confirm, or which the Imperial Parliament can override in the interests of the whole Empire. But what, after all, is the meaning of the word " Imperial ? " The phrase has come to be used convertibly with " English," as if everything in which the honour or interests of the metropolis of the Empire are concerned, should l)e undertaken 26 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. i I l\ solely by the metropolis, free of cost to the rest of the Empire. If, for instance, it can be shown that the integrity of the Empire requires that troops should be quartered in Canada, it is main- tained that England ought to furnish both the troops, and the whole cost of their transport there, and their equipment, barracks, and even carriage from post to post within the colony, for its defence, treating the function of supremacy as that of ren- dering a tributary service to all dependencies in every general requirement. But to resume — Lord Grey's version of the phrase "responsible government" even improved upon Lord Eussell's definition. He explains Lord Durham's views, which he says Lord Eussell adopted, to mean that for the future Ministers in North America should not hold office on tenure equivalent to during good behaviour ^ but " be " called upon to retire whenever from motives of ** public policy, or other reasons, it should be found " expedient " — ^that is, according to the judgment of the Governor. He confesses that this mode of " giving shape to the vague idea of responsible " government " was never accepted by Canada. " Up to July 1846 the problem of bringing into " satisfactory operation this system of administra- " tion had certainly not been solved " (p. 203, vol. i.). The insurrection was too recent for the French Canadians to have " acquired their just " weight in the united Assembly ; " and Lord CANADA. 27 Sydenham's personal talents had such overriding sway that constitutional government could not fully establish itself. Lord Sydenham, however, introduced many useful measures, and especially local self-govern- ment by District Councils. Sir Charles Bagot's brief administration seemed to Lord Grey " a much nearer approach to the " establishment of a really constitutional system," but his death left his work imperfect. Lord Metcalfe became involved in difficulties with his Council on a question relating to the dis- tribution of patronage. " His Ministers," says Lord G-rey, " retired, supported by a majority of the " Assembly." Could the continued absence of English constitutional principles from Canadian government be more strikingly described ? Lord Metcalfe set up another Ministry; with which, by means of a dissolution in 1844, he brought the Legislature into harmony, triumphing over the principle of responsibility through the use of its own forms. This could only have been accomplished through Lord Metcalfe's great per- sonal popularity, and, as Mr. Montgomery Martin observes, his influence was on this occasion most vigorously employed to procure the return of members favourable to his policy. Lord Metcalfe stated in his speech to his accommodating Parlia- ment, that " while he recognized the just power " and privilege of the people to influence their 28 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. Ill !'■ li !^ El. m " rulers, he reserved to himself the selection of the " Executive." The exact reverse is the maxim of the constitution — the Crown exercises its influence aside, while the Legislature controls directly the choice of the Executive. The Governor's speech reminds one rather of Strafford's advice to King Charles, " By no means to abolish Parliaments, as " a well-governed Parliament was the best instru- " ment for managing a people." A Parliament was looked upon by Strafford as a mere instrument of the prerogative (Hallam, * Const. Hist.' 3rd edit., ii. 73). "The effect," says Lord G-rey of this ma- noeuvre (vol. i. 205), "was to direct Parliamen- " tary opposition against the Governor personally, " and the British Government of which he was " the organ." Nevertheless, we must allow that in Lord Metcalfe's time great advance was made towards the establishment of the independence of the Canadian Legislature. In 1843, Parliament admitted Canadian wheat and flour free of duty, on condition that Canada should impose a 35. duty on imports from the United States. But, three years after, we adopted free trade generally, and so broke down the privi- leged trade which our first differential measure had set up in Canada. Upon this, Canada, using the powers given by the Imperial Act of 1846 (9, 10 Vic, 94) for enabling colonies to repeal customs' duties, repealed her own differential duties, so as CANADA. 29 to let all foreign imports come in to her as freely as English. Tlie United States, however, did not reciprocate her liberality ; and Canada, smarting under their competition with her in the English corn market, met their duties on her exports to them by a process of retaliation, and in the spirit of revenge. From this retrograde and sui- cidal policy we induced her to desist; and so, as the sequel proved, gave a happy instance of the compatibility of beneficial influence over a colony exerted by the English Government, with perfect freedom of colonial action. Lord Cathcart, as Commander of the Forces, acted as Governor on Lord Metcalfe's retirement, in 1846 : and, a rupture threatening with the United States, Mr. Gladstone, then Colonial Secre- tary, thought fit to make him actual Governor- General ; though, as Lord Grey remarks, knowing little as a soldier of civil government, but it being desirable at such a moment that the civil and military chiefship should be in one. Later in the same year Lord Grey came into office, and soon after replaced Lord Cathcart by Lord Elgin, to whom he gave instructions similar to some which he had first given to Sir John Harvey, and which he quotes at full length, as " completely embodying his views." Sir John Harvey, on assuming the Lieutenant- Governorship of Nova Scotia, had several vacancies in his Council to fill up. He at once deserted the 30 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. existing Ministry ; and the Opposition, with whom he put himself in communication^ urged him to dissolve the Assembly which they could not com- mand, in hopes that the next might put them in the ascendant. The despatch instructs him that he ought first to have let the Ministers try to set themselves up; and, not till they had failed, to have applied to the opposite party, who were equally at fault with the Assembly; and only as a last resort to have dissolved an impracticable Parliament. But it was added that he was by no means to yield a blind obedience to any Ministry, He might always take his own line so long as his Ministers could not appeal successfully to public opinion against him. "Whenever he felt it his duty so to oppose his Ministers, he was directed to make the issue clear between them, assured that his known views must carry weight with the Assembly ; or, if not with them, certainly with the public at large. This scheme of separate action between the Governor and his Council, shows how little contem- porary constitutional principles in England were kept pace with in Canada. By the constitution the Governor and his Ministers should, at least, be in official accord. If he personally desires a different policy from theirs, he must not attempt to enforce it without changing or converting them; and he must be able to carry the Assembly with him, or change them also. But if the Assembly agree witl^ CANADA. $1 him, they will change his Ministry for him. Lord Grey*s views require a subservient Legislature. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that the Cana- dian Parliament gained ground under Lord Elgin's administration. In 1847 the Act of Union was relaxed so far as to give them entire control over the Civil List (10, 11 Yic, 71). The Post-Office, and, in 1850, other Departments, which used to be considered Imperial reserves, were also handed over to them. The Lower Canada Eebellion Losses Indemnity Bill, however, most strongly illustrated the im- proved constitutional position which the Viceroy now assumed, and how much parliamentary and local government was becoming established in Canada. It raised a great debate in the House of Commons, in which even Mr. Gladstone, condemn- ing it, argued that it affected Imperial honour, and should not have been allowed to come under colonial discussion till the Governor had first taken instructions from home. Lord Russell replied that the Governor had exercised a discretion which rightly belonged to him — ^that he was the right judge of what questions ought to be referred home — and that in this case his judgment had been good. The question really was a struggle between parties, in which, happily, neither the Governor nor the English Government now took either side ; and, therefore, loudly as the Opposition cried I^tn * J! m| .5 III 32 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. for dissolution, or for a reference home, the vote was rightly allowed to pass ; and the claims of representative government, at this early crisis, were upheld by the Governor at the risk of his life. It was a somewhat similar question that was similarly decided without hesitation lately in Parliament, where a proposed compensation for rebellxon losses in the Jamaica insurrection was discussed. The question was relegated at once, irrespectively of party, to the Local Legislature, though a Crown Legislature, as wholly their affair. The excitement occasioned by the Rebellion Losses Compensation Bill, of 1848, was prolonged by discussions on the removal of the seat of government from Montreal, lately substituted for Kingston, and the scene of riot, to Quebec and Toronto alternately ; in which party spirit ran so high that even men in office weie found signing an address for annexation to the United States, and were justly dismissed from their offices, as any English Minister would now deserve to be who presumed to moot such a question. In 1853, two Acts were passed for reforming the Constitution : the first, by the vote of two- thirds of the Legislature, raising the number of Representatives from 84 to 130, so as to :3-adjust their proportion to the increased population; and the second, extending the elective franchise. The same year, the Act of the 16, 17 Yic, 21, was passed by the Imperial Parliament, which re- CANADA. 33 3 vote ims of 5, were e. at was ely in on for )ii was t once, slature, r affair, ebellion olonged seat of uted for ibec and t ran so rning an ,tes, and as any be who jforming of two- imber of -adjust ion; and pe. Yic, 21, rhich re- signed to the Canadian Legislature the disposal of their Clergy reserves — perhaps the most distinct and simple recognition, that this Country could make, of the right of the Colony to deal with their own institutions, and with their own revenue to which the Crown had already given up the pioceeds of its land-sales. The Imperial Act made this recognition — but it did nothing more, though it is now being dis-* torted into a precedent for the disendowment of the Irish Church. The slightest reference to the debate on its second reading will suffice to show, first, that the land-revenue, originally reserved to balance Roman Catholic endowments by a provision for Protestant clergy in 1791, a^nd afterwards more generally distributed for various religious worship, was no particular Church endowment; the dis- tribution of the proceeds of sale among several denominations under the Act of 1840 being itself frequently changed, and equality of treatment rather than special provision being throughout the principle ; and, secondly, that the result of the Act was no disendowment, but rather the reverse — the large portion of the fund already realized being for the first time invested securely, under the powers of the Colonial Act of 1854, for each religious denomination ; and the remainder only, being considered more than was wanted for religious purposes, being handed over to tlie municipalities. So liberal an allowance was expressly made for , I I I 34 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. vested interests as to afford ample permanent provision, without diminishing life incomes. The events of Lord Elgin's government were summed ap by himself in his last Blue Book, which, I know, he very carefully prepared as a record of his principal achievements. He had much the same opinion of his countrymen as Cicero had of the Romans, who asked him, on his return from Sicily, how things were going on in Egypt ; upon which he resolved never to take distant service again, saying, "The people have " quick eyes, but short ears." T^rd Elgin took pride in the adoption of re- ciprocal free trade with the United States by Canada in his time ;. which formed, indeed, a new era in its commercial history, so thoroughly that the progress of trade was scarcely affected by the subsequent fate of the Treaty. The concessions then made by Canada to the United States, which lasted for ten years, till 1864 — those, namely, of free reports of natural products, inshore fisheries chiefly of mackerel and herring, and the opening of the St. Lawrence and its canals — proved in themselves advantageous to the Canadians, irre- spectively of the counter-concessions of the United States to them. The value of Canadian commerce with the United States rose in the first year from eight millions of dollars to twenty-two millions, and, as I shall show by-and-by, even the termi- nation of the Treaty but slightly checked the spirit f ] i • CANADA. 35 lanent b were Book, d as a le liad □aen as lim, on oing on to take pie have Dn of re- tates by }d, a new rhly that ,d by the )iicessions ;es, wbicli .amely, of fisheries |e opening »roved in ^ians, irre- ihe United commerce year from [o millions, the termi- the spirit of trade elicited in Canada, though it more seri- ously injured the American Protectionists, who closed the Treaty in a moment of pique. In one year aftei the close of the Reciprocity Treaty the Canadian trade, even with the United States' duties weighing on it, recovered its elasticity. During Lord Elgin's Governorship the Irish famine occurred, and the consequent exodus to America, accompanied with frightful mortality, which, however, led to improved regulations of passenger traffic, and of quarantine. Unfortu- nately, special schemes of systematic and con- centrated colonization were then devised. The principle of concentrating new settlements Lord Elgin wisely condemned, p^^ferring in this, as in all cases, freedom of dispersion of new-comers amongst those already settled ; and much of the prejudice which sprung up against Grovernment colonization, and an increased poll-tax on immi- grants, and the present Canadian dread of pauper consignments, may be traced to these fanciful schemes for organized emigration. Canadian Railways and other national improve- ments were greatly extended in Lord Elgin's time ; but he chiefly plumed himself on his develop- ment of National Education, especially in Upper Canada. The system, though begun so far back as 1816, was put on a new footing, under the able superintendence of Dr. Ryerson just before his arrival, and was greatly promoted by himself. It D 2 §51 li Mj' .' I i' i! If' H ■■M I'- , I J ■ ■ ! •I; \l 36 NORTH AMERICAN" PROVINCES. is now a model of denominational co-operation for countries where there is no Established Church, the Roman Catholics alone separating themselves from it. Lord Elgin enforced Lord Sydenham's first appeal to the spirit of self-defence, and during his Governorship dispensed with three-fourths of the English troops quartered in Canada, reducing their total strength from 7000 to 1800, and the cost to England of those which remained. When he ar- rived, even the commissariat imports sent out at the cost of England were charged with duties which went into the Colonial Treasury. When he left, contributions weie being made by Canada for the widows and orphans of English soldiers killed in the Crimea, large colonial votes were annually passed for Canadian militia, and the an- nual expenditure for repairing the canals which we had made in Canada was no longer charged on the English Treasury, nor the Governor-Greneral's salary. . ' But my review is chiefly of political history ; and, as to his administration, Lord Elgin affirmed that he had fully given effect to Lord Durham's constitutional principles. The monopoly of office by one little clique, and the irresponsibility of Ministers to the Assembly, had been abandoned. He declared that he had frankly accepted as his advisers men who possessed the confidence of the Legislature ; but, he added, " on the understanding CANADA. 37 *^ that they would enjoy his support and favour *^ only so long as they continued to merit them " by fidelity to the Crown and devotion to the " interests of the province." Responsible govern- ment, therefore, in Canada was still under cover of the will of the Crown, and was not yet realized in its full sense. Lord Elgin's excuse for this shortcoming, of which he was perfectly conscious, was that the results of louj^ antagonism between the Executive and the popular branch of the Legis- lature, and struggles on such exciting questions as those of the abolition of Clergy reserves, and of seignorial tenures, and of feudal rights and duties in the lower Province, had altogether rendered a more rapid withdrawal of Government influence impossible without incurring danger from too violently irritating the old Parties whose power was ill process of suppression ; but he asserted that by the time when he retired the Governor had become little more than the connecting-link between the mother-country and the colony. If he meant that by that time his office merely represented the Constitutional Sovereignty of the British Empire in Canada, he had the right idea, which certainly had been prescribed to him, in view; but practi- cally in the course of his government he frequently acted more like a superior power, overriding his !M^inisters, than as simply the occupant of the neutral position of the English Crown, amenable to Parliament through his Ministry. i* ' ,i I V 1 i I '"i i} 38 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. Late in 1854, Sir Edmund Head succeeded Lord Elgin; and a remarkable proof is given of the rapid cessation, at this time, of Imperial inter- ference with colonial affairs, in the difficulty of obtaining any information, even in the library of the House of Commons, of legislative proceed- ings in Canada. There is nothing, except the actual Journals sent by the Canadian Legislature, giving any account whatever of them. The Blue Books give no details ; the communications of official cor- respondence are meagre. In fact, Canada has told us nothing, and England has not cared to know : each has been minding its own affairs, and what was once called our salutary negligence of each other has returned. Probably our united interests have been all the better cemented for the absti- nence from meddling. At this period, also, Lord Grey's notes cease ; and I am left to continue as I can his narrative of Canadian events to the present date. Sir E. Head, one of the most accomplished and sensible of our public men, conducted the govern- ment of Canada, from the year 1854 to 1861, with the most sedulous attention to its material and constitutional interests. The first institution of the Volunteer force — the opening of the Grand Trunk Eailway — the Ocean Steam Communication with Liverpool — the improvement of Prison Dis- cipline — the increased efficiency of the Civil Service by a system of examinations — the complete com- ! i) CANADA. 39 Lord r the inter- ty of brary 3ceed- actual riving Books al Cor- as told know : i what jf each nterests e absti- o, Lord me as I present hed and govern- 61, with rial and ution of e Grand mication son Dis- 1 Service lete com- mutation of seignorial tenures in Lower Canada — the revision and codification of the Statutes — ^were all features of his six years of administration. Perhaps the Tariff Bill of Mr. Gait, and the new constitution of the Legislative Council by election instead of nomination, which reform expe- rience has reversed, are the two exceptional mis- takes made during his administration. Only one political crisis occurred in his t^me, and that was when, in 1858, the Legislature, having resolved that the Queen should select their seat of Government out of the five rival cities which contended for the prize, and Her Majesty decided upon Ottawa, Mr. Brown defeated the Macdonald-Cartier Conservatives on the question of accepting her decision, Mr. Brown came into office ; but, within forty-eight hours, was defeated on the motion of issuing writs for his colleagues* re- election. He demanded a dissolution, which Sir E, Head refused on the ground that a general elec- tion had only just taken place ; and the Cartier Ministry returned to office after a double proof of the responsibility of the Government to the Assembly. In Sir E. Head's time, the 100th Regiment of our Line was raised in Canada, the first colonial contribution to the British Army, but paid by England; serving in various quarters, though chiefly recruited in Canada. Lord Monck succeeded to the Governor-General- 40 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCEW. '■ \ I i I' i' t ! k H'h ii i 1 ship in 1861, and soon after, the *' Trent " affair called public attention to the defenceless condition of Canada. The Volunteer Militia force was found to be in a most unsatisfactory state. Col. Lyons was sent out from England to assist in its re-organization. The Militia Bill, consequently adopted by the Cartier Ministry, was thrown out, and the Ministry resigned, and was succeeded by that of J. S. Macdonald. During Mr. Macdonald's administration, a new Act for the organization of the militia was passed, the principal feature of which was the establishment of military schools, connected with regiments of the line quartered in Canada, for the training of officers for the Canadian Militia. These schools are still in efficient operation. A number of officers sufficient for an army of 80,000 men have passed through them and received certificates of com- petency. The active Yolunteer Militia, armed, uni- formly clothed, and tolerably well drilled, amount at this time to about 35,000 men. The arms are almost all lent by England, the sole exception being a few breech-loaders. The " sedentary '* militia are now fully officered, but neither armed nor drilled. The warlike aspect of affairs at this time led us hastily to increase the number of English troops in Canada, till they reached a total strength of 17,000, mostly lodged in permanent barracks, which are Imperial property. f CANADA. 41 In consequence of raids made by the Confe- derate party into the United States from Canada, which, however, were effectually suppressed by Lord Monck, who called out his volunteers with a promptitude affording valuable testimony of good faith to his neighbours, notice was given by the United States' Government that the Treaty of 1817, limiting the number and size of armed vessels to be kept on the great lakes by the two powers, should be abrogated. This notice was afterwards withdrawn, and the Treaty remains ; though, with tacit consent, relaxed in its observance by both parties : the United States having placed many "revenue armed vessels " on the lakes, and we having, during the Fenian alarms, kept small gunboats, some in the pay of England, and some of Canada, at various points of threatened invasion. In the year 1865, a deputation of four Canadian Ministers, Messrs. Macdonald, Cartier, Brown, and Gralt, were sent to confer with the Imperial Govern-^ ment on the subject of provincial defence, amongst other important subjects to which I shall imme- diately refer. Colonel Jervcis had just made his report on the requisite fortification of four prin* cipal points for the complete defence of the Pro- vinces from any possible invasion. We undertook to strengthen Quebec by earthworks at Point Levi on the south bank of the St. Lawrence, on the understanding that the Provincial Government 42 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. - I ' r 11^ would undertake the rest. It will be seen, however, by Mr. Cardwell's record of his final understand- ing with the Deputies, to which record three of his principal colleagues were parties, that expectation was held out that that colonial undertaking should be assisted by the requisite funds being Imperially guaranteed, and that the armament of Montreal should be fiirnished by E igland. The fortifications on the south or right bank of the St. Lawrence, opposite Quebec, we have nearly completed, but additions to the old works on the city side are required, without which Quebec may be still considered an open town. Canada is now offering to spend 1,000,000^. in fortifying Montreal and other places, on condition of our guarantee to a loan to that amount. The necessity and wisdom of the whole scheme of Canadian fortification has been disputed. Mr, Lowe has argued in the House of Commons that such a frontier is indefensible, especially against the available numbers of the only possible attackers close to it, by such inferior numbers of defenders relying for their main support on a Power 3000 miles of ocean distant on their flank. Mr. Bright assures us that the Eepublic of his affections is never likely to attack ; but we know that he would not be sorry if, trusting to this assurance, all our Provinces became annexed. The possibility of raids across the border, at all events, recent experience has proved to us; and i -If CANADA. 48 the rising power of British North America should hardly repose in unarmed confidence on the eternal peacefulness of its somewhat lively neighbour. Posts of strength at accessible places along the frontier would be a security against raids, and suf- ficient guard for stores and supplies ; and, in case of serious invasion, they would retain a hold during the continuance of the invasion, which we may fairly reckon, both from the civilization and the interests of the invaders, would not be a process of devastation. But as long as we keep troops of our own in North America, themselves an incentive to attack, we must surely have one stronghold for them to fall back upon in case of need. Whenever they can all be withdrawn, we may gladly make a present to our colonies of the works we have been at the expense of making for them. The Duke of Buckingham has the merit of greatly reducing their numbers immediately upon Fenian threats subsiding; so much so, that the present Government dare not carry out their special policy of reduction by much further decrease now. It is obvious that the withdrawal of our troops from any colonies should be gradual, if only to give time and means for the organization of local forces. In 1866, Fenian marauders actually crossed the frontier, but were repulsed by the volunteers, and Acts were then passed for better protection against any future aggression u NORTH AMERIOAN PROVINCES. )! u I The connexion of Halifa?^ with Quebec by a secure colonial railway, as now proposed along the line of the St. Lawrence, will materially improve the means of Canadian defence, and increase the power of England to aid colonial action on any emergency. There is no reason why Canada should not imdertake her own naval as well as military defence. Perhaps the chief advantage to England in her North American connexion is the great nursery of seamen along those shores. It is really a pity that such materials for naval power should not be made available ; and I am not so cosmopo- litan as to feel indifferent whether they fnrnish to the United States more valuable seamanship than all they have at present, or whether they give a transatlantic wing to the British Navy. Canada already ranks fourth amongst the states of the world in respect to the shipping belonging to her, if indeed she does not come third in the list, before France. The subject of colonial naval as well as mili- tary defence will require a separate chapter, in which I will show how Mr. Cardwell's excellent Colonial Navy Act (28 Yic, 14) was intended by the Duke of Buckingham to be largely supple- mented. Suffice it now to ask, with reference to Canada only, why the British Empire should forego its strength in that quarter of the globe in the vain idea of undertaking to furnish means CANADA. 45 from this island to relieve the colonies of defensive duties for which they are pre-eminently fitted? Moreover, the latest inventions in naval warfare render it impossible that the most eflfective means of war should be furnished across 3000 intervening miles of stormy ocean. It is, therefore, of the first importance that we should assist and encourage our North American fellow-countrymen to establish dockyards and to build ships of war for them- selves. The Richelieu river-exit, and Mississquoi bay at the head of Lake Champlain are ours; and, though the naval defeat we suffered on that lake in 1813 is a bad omen, it would be wiser to have the means of building gunboats or placing stores there than to have to ask leave of the United States to send them there if wanted. Kingston might be made a place of safety for naval stores or for coaling, or for harbouring such vessels as we may have on the lake. Lord Monck had to deal with the termination of the Reciprocity Treaty in 1864, when the United States exercised the right, reserved by both parties, of closing it after ten years. Those who rejected reciprocity have been the chief sufferers from its cessation. Lord Monck instituted a com- mission from all the Provinces to negotiate with the West Indies — ^both British and Spanish — and with Brazil, and retrieved the immediate check to trade by opening new markets; while a licence- fee was imposed on the fisheries, so light as just to 46 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. I assert the right, yet to cause no diminution of that branch of indp^try. Even trade with the States soon revived, though clogged with duties ; and a Bill has already passed the House of Eepresenta- tives to renew reciprocity. The intercolonial railway, and negotiation with the Hudson Bay Company were two other objects to promote which the official Delegates of 1864-5 camo to England. But the Confederation of the Provinces was the chief subject of interest, and its successful accomplishment is the chief feature of Lord Monck's career. Little was done in the way of legislation, ex- cept with regard to colonial defence, in the early years of Lord Monck's administration, owing to the equal balance of contending political parties. The laws relating to bankruptcy were amended, and others passed for promoting fisheries and agriculture. But the balance of parties amounted to a dead-lock between the Upper Canadian Re- formers, and the Lower Canadian Conservatives; and Lord Monck was the first Governor-Gnneral to hold a perfactly neutral constitutional-monarchical attitude towards contending parties. He so calmly confronted them, without fear or favour, that a coalition took place, between the Brown Reformers and Car^iV/' Conservatives,, on the policy of a federal union. Parties were satisfied by the mutually re- dressive stipulation that the different States, the Maritime, Quebec, and Ontario, should be repre- \ CANADA. 47 sented equally in the Upper House, and according to population in the Lower, in the Federal Consti- tution. The maritime Provinces were also becoming aware that the advantages which larger nationality would give them would exceed the profits of a petty individual autonomy. Sir Edmund Head had first announced from the Canadian vice-throne in 1858 Confederation as a Ministerial policy. In 1864, Representatives of all the maritime Provinces met in consultation at Charlottetown ; and, Canadians afterwards joining them, a meeting of Representatives from all the British North American Provinces took place at Quebec, where resolutions for a general Union were drafted, which Lord Russell's Ministry first received, and Lord Derby's finally and completely adopted and passed through the Imperial Parlia- ment — ^the two Provinces of Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland only, for the time, holding themselves aloof. The Act of Union simply embodied in an Im- perial enactment the provincial resolutions passed at Quebec; and empowered the Queen by pro- clamation to declare Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick one Dominion, with provisions for admitting all the rest of the Queen's possessions in North America into the Union, on her receiving addresses to that effect from the Legislatures. The constitution of the Dominion of Canada^ . I 1! ]' t) I' H !■ w.i I 48 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. as tlie whole Confederation was called, was made to imitate as closely as possible that of the old Coun- try. The framers seem to have shrunk from the islig-htest unnecessary deviation from that cherished model, especially in the direction of that of the neighbouring Republic. The Senate was agajn made to consist of mem- bers nominated for life by the Crown, — ^the experi- ment in election to the Upper House having on trial been condemned, as failir^g to give the second Chamber sufficient weight for revision of the acts of the Popular Assembly. The Lower House was called the House of Com- mons, and was constituted on a joint principle of representation both of localities and numbers — specified areas being equally represented, but the number of representatives in each Pro^ ince being decennially readjusted to their comparative popu- lations. The scope of legislation by the Dominion Par- liament is unlimited, except so far as it trenches on Provincial matters on one hand, or is repugnant to Act of Parliament on the oti er, and subject to a reference home ; and the Grovernor-General has a veto on all legislation, both that of the Dominion and Provinces. The Provincial Legislatures of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick keep their former constitu- tions; but, of the again separated Canadas (now palled Ontario and Quebec), the former has only CANADA. 49 one Chamber of Legislature wholly elected, the latter an elected Assembly, and a Council nominated for life. To these Provincial Legislatures (ulti- mately to be little more than Municipal Councils), local matters only are specifically referred in the Act, but amongst them is included their own reform. Some subjects aio expressly designated for the Dominion Legislature only, and a few for both concurrently. The several interests of the two Canadas are very carefully adjusted in the provisions and terms of the Act, and the debts of all the Provinces are equitably apportioned. Federation was necessarily the form which the Union took, at least in the first instance ; both on account of its proceeding from provincial compro- mise and mutual concessions, and for avoiding need- less disturbance of local attachments and inveterate habits (such as Lower Canadian laws and institu- tions), and because the Imperial Legislature acted externally, so to speak, to the transaction, having not to institute the arrangement, but only to ratify and confirm the colonial compact. But solid legislative union, which would much more effectually contri- bute to the strength, unity, and economy which were the chief objects of the Confederation, may very probably become the spontaneous result of growing experience, and developed intercommuni- cation. This would complete what is now the most essen tial distinction between the Canadian and E !!i l\ r, I f I I 50 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. the States* constitutions, namely, the monarchical unity of the former government, in contrast with the republican fraternity of the latter. In the Canadian Constitution, all subjects of legislation not expressly given to the local Legislatures belong to the general Legislature ; whereas in the Republic all matters not specified by the Constitu- tion as within the province of Congress fall to the separate States. The Canadian Constitution is, indeed, not made a whit more monarchical than before. Nor can it ever be otherwise than a very democratic monarchy; but, following its English model as well as it can in America, it will find central unity essential to its strength. The probable effects of the Union in creating national strength, and developing the self-adminis- trative habits and statesmanship of our fellow- subjects in America, were generally recognized and well pointed out in the introductory debates of both Houses of Parliament, especially by Lord Carnarvon in the one, and Mr. Cardwell in the other; and the simplification of our foreign rela- tions in connexion with these numerous Provinces is a great collateral advantage to all parties concerned. The three Provinces already united seem, in their several interests, almost naturally comple- mentary to each other. The wheat-bearing West, the manufacturing Centre, and the Eastern contri- bution of mines, fisheries, and outlet to the world. '■fS i CANADA. 51 rcliical at with In the islation slatures s in the onstitu- 11 to the ition is, ;al than a a very Enghsh will find creating -adminis- p fellow- icognized dehates by Lord In in the >ign rela- •rovinces [\ parties seem, in comple- |ing West, rn contri- the world. make up together a nationality capable of assuming self-sustained action, and less tempting to the aggression of those who might not scruple to take advantage of imperfect equipment. Lord Carnarvon, the able, accomplished, and high-minded Minister by whose hands this great measure was first presented to the Imperial Parlia- ment, most effectually rebutted all possible objec- tions that could be conjured up either out of local jealousies raised in the detail of the process, or from the wild cosmopolitan theories of certain Imperial politicians ; showing that not only for the Provinces themselves, but in the interests of the commerce of nations, it would be a strange infatuation if Parliament interposed any needless delay to the voluntary proposition of the Colonial Representatives. There are some who would keep colonies weak in order to secure their continued dependence ; as if any relation of dependence could be worth maintaining at the cost of their prosperity. There are others who, from their admiration of repub- lican government, or a fatalistic theory of its western destiny, have prejudged all North America to inevitable annexation with the States. Both these classes of political heretics are vexed by the progress of this Confederation. But all who think that in political measures the interests and inclinations of the people concerned are the first consideration; and those who prefer, when they E 2 «f '"f I. 'i M II ■ I, 52 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. have the choice, the aggrandizement of their own country to that of others, and who think that a relation of dependence rather weakens than strengthens national connexion, rejoice that our North American compatriots agreed to propose to the Imperial Parliament, and that the Imperial Parliament deliberately consented, so to widen the basis of transatlantic England. Disunion endangered the liberties, embarrassed the industry, and stunted the growth of those several Provinces. Under single and more com- prehensive administration, conducted by their own best men called out by the occasion, their affairs and their resources will be directed with far greater vigour and security. A combined revenue will command greater credit, while adding to itself by greater economy. The first achievement of the Dominion will be the completion of the intercolonial railway, sup- plying a backbone to the new frame-work, and uniting every limb for corporate action, giving perpetual intercourse to a commerce which has hitherto languished on the intermittent channel of the St. Lawrence. Mr. Bright may stigmatise as a " germ of malady " every part of the new Con- stitution which differs from the American model (Debate, February 19, 1867); but Lord Carnarvon, with more patriotic spirit, said, "We are in this mea- " sure setting the crown to the free institutions " which we have given to British North America." ^il CANADA. 58 eir own nk that LS than hat our propose Imperial iden the barrassed of those lore com- their own eir affairs 'ar greater d greater economy. )n will he [way, sup- ork, and ,n, giving rhich has channel of gmatise as new Con- lican model larnarvon, linthismea- linstitutions America." A great step, however, is yet wanting to the completion of the work. The Dominion of Ctmada must undertake its self-defence. Mr. Bright fairly asked, " Is this new State to be raised up, and get " everything done for it ? Are they to be inde- " pendent in every respect, except the choice of " their Governor, and yet not pay for their own " defence ? Better," said he, " throw in the com- " plement of independence, and cut this last link " of connexion. Every one knows that the popu- " lation of Canada is, family for family, in a much " better position as regards comforts than the great " bulk of the population of this country." Mr. Grladstone said well, in giving evidence before a Departmental Committee on Colonial Military Defences, in 1859 (Ans. 3781), "No com- " munity which is not primarily charged with the " ordinary business of its own defences, is really, " or can be, in the full sense of the word, a free " community. The privileges of freedom and the " burdens of freedom are absolutely associated " together \ and to bear the burdens is as neces- " sary as to enjoy the privileges, in order to form " that character which is the first security of free- " dom itself." The Confederation will probably not long fall short of its full requirements. "Whatever critics may say of it, at any rate a high spirit is evinced, adequate to the position assumed. A rising na- tional spirit is proved by the ambition of extension. Si! ?! 54 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. and not short of the Pacific is the limit to which the Dominion aspires to stretch itself from the Atlantic. Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are already joined with Cai ^da. Prince Edward Island is, we now hear, anticipated by New- foundland in petitioning for association. The annexation of the Hudson's Bay territory is under lipe negotiation, and British Columbia offers its final contribution m advance, while, however dangorous may be the rash declamation and elec- tioneering recklessness of the neighbouring people, their Grovernment havo the sense to recognize their own best interests in the speediest development ct' occupation and industry on their borders, come from what quarter it may. II.— NOVA SCOTIA. Of Nova Scotia Lord Grey says little, only making a passing allusion, apropos to its mention, to his decision in the case of that Colony on the general question of vested interests in civil offices. Lord Grey rightly condemns the practice of the United States in treating holders of civil officer-., non-political as well as political, as having no vested interest whatever in their employments, but always liable to absolute dismissal. Such a prm- ciple, as he says, leads to corruption in the admi- nistration, inferior service, and violence of party- ^■ Mi NOVA SCOTIA. 55 spirit. He expresses a wish to go as far as possible in the contrary direction, short of trenching on the principle of executive responsibility. He suc- ceeded in leading the North American colonies away from their disposition towards the States' system, to adopt our own practice instead ; that, namely, of compensation to those who are removed, without misconduct, from any non-political offices. The pensions and retiring-allowances of officers in Her Majesty's civil service generally are regu- lated by the Superannuation Acts, the last of which is the 22 Vic, 26, 1859. I will proceed to make a brief sketch of the recent history of Nova Scotia. The same struggle took place in this Province as in the Canadas for responsible government, and for the overthrow of the narrow clique into which the governing power had collected itself. Lord Durham's recommendation the Nova Sco- tians had, in fact, been the first to take up, namely, the escape from all the evils of little governments, and narrow principles of government, by a more or less complete union of Provinces, At the period of the union of the two Canadas, 1840, considerable changes were made in the Nova Scotia Constitution under Lord Sydenham, who temporarily assumed their government for that purpose. Not that Lord Sydenham entertained the idea, any more than his employers at home, that any of the Provinces were yet prepared for 56 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. the full enjoyment of responsible government. His language to the Governor of Nova Scotia, Lord Falkland, was not encouraging to the aspi- rants to British citizenship. "It is the misfor- " tune," said he, " of all popular governments in " colonies that the people are made legislators '* before they have the intelligence or education " to know how to set about their work." The amount of change conceded was as follows : — Cer- tain additions were made from the popular party to the Legislative Council, and a larger number were taken from the Legislature into the Executive Council, and the tenure of the higher offices was no longer to be for life. But all these reforms totally failed to satisfy even the old loyalists of Nova Scotia. The progress of events had left but one escape for all the British North American Provinces from being one by one absorbed into the neigh- bouring States, and that was the confederation of all their various elements of nationality into an aggregate Power of sufficient size to stand by itself, to govern itself on large principles, and to be able to defend itself. For many years various modes and degrees of provincial union were discussed among them, and proposed to the Imperial Govern- ment. In 1854 the Nova Scotian Legislature passed a general resolution, moved by Mr. Howe and Mr. Johnston, the leaders on each side, in favour of the " union of British Provinces," and in 1862 they unanimously voted that a "union of all, or NOVA SCOTIA. ftT " of the maritime provinces at least," was desir- able, and they proposed the conference which shortly after took place. In the elections of 1863, when of course every topic of controversy was certain to be btirred, this question unchallenged made no appearance as one of them. There were, naturally, jealousies exhibited, on the part of the smaller Provinces, of the larger influence of Canada, when the actual terms of confederation came under discussion. Such jealousies well-nigh stifled the process of the original union of the thirteen "States;" and probably nothing less than the genius and influence of Washington could have overcome them. The Quebec Resolutions, how- ever, came to England as the united voice of the Representatives of three Provinces, and were so accepted. Nova Scotia, however, soon after the Resolu- tions had been passed into an Imperial Act, sent Delegates from a freshly-elected Assembly to ask for a Commission of Inquiry from this country to re-open the whole question. The House of Com- mons refused its assent to such an interference and unsettlement, and their judgment seems now to have commended itself to the reflection of the Nova Scotians. Mr. Howe, the exponent of the dis- sentients, has taken office in the Dominion Govern- ment, and has nevertheless been re-elected in Nova Scotia; and the Duke of Buckingham's advice, that every liberal consideration of Nova I i!i 58 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. Scotian interests should be taken in the new arrangements, has been satisfactorily attended to. The Province, it seems, will now contribute will- ingly their seaboard and harbour to the future Dominion, assured of their interests on the other hand being fairly and liberally secured to them by the United Parliament. ni.— NEW BRUNSWICK. To New Brunswick Lord Grey makes only incidental reference, by discussing, in connexion with it, the important question whether the Sove- reign should disallow all colonial legislation in the way of giving bounties to promote particular trades, or generally in the way of any protective or restrictive tendency on commerce, as being contrary to imperial policy. The imposition of differential duties was first officially prohibited to colonial legislatures by a circular letter issued by Lord Derby in 1843 ; and bounties on any special branches of industry are, as protecti' e duties, equally inconsistent with the policy so laid down. The particular bounty on which discussion was raised, between Lord Grey and the New Bruns- wick Legislature, was one for promoting the culti- vation of hemp. The enactment for that purpose being temporary was allowed to pass; but the general piinciple was asserted that all commercial 'v.,l NEW BRUNSWICK. 59 legislation must be considered as an imperial and not provincial concern, and must therefore conform to the general policy. One is rather reminded of the King of Babylon consigning all his nations to perdition, first for worshipping one way, and then if they worshipped the other way, by this demand on the colonies, who had first submitted to our "commercial" system, instantly to conform with our adoption of free-trade; but Lord Grey puts the somewhat peremptory demand in its most naked form, saying that " as while we adhered to the " policy of protection we imposed some onerous " restrictions on the commerce of the colonies, so, " now we have abandoned our artificial system, "we do not abdicate the power or duty of regu- " lating alike the commercial policy of the whole " empire." (Vol. i., p. 281.) Fortunately, overruling circumstances are of themselves widening the commercial policy of North America. The gradual confederation of our pro- vinces will at once extinguish all inter-provincial tariffs, and the indirectly protective policy by which Canada raises its revenue must eventually give way to the generally free-trade interests of the maritime provinces now associated with her, while the probable revival of reciprocity with the United States will first balance, and ultimately set free the commerce of that quarter of the world, forcing even the last barrier maintained bv the model republic — the citadel of protection. 60 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. I I ' Uf i i ill The refusal of the Sovereign to sanction colonial differential legislation is certainly as much called for in the interests of consistent as of free com- mercial regulations throughout the empire. It is, however, hardly compatible with the concession of perfect self-government to our chief colonies that the Sovereign should summarily veto the resolu- tions of their Eepresentative Assemblies in matters of finance in order to reduce them always at once, and backwards and forwards, to the shifting model of the central standard. One would think such a process of control, at least, required in every case Imperial Legislation, and that the Sovereign alone should not so override by simple veto colo- nial financial legislation, even though for a time it may turn the tables of the old colonial system upon the mother-country. This may be a crucial test of what rfir Cornewall Lewis calls the distinc- tion between co-ordinate and sub-ordinate govern- ment; yet, granting the ultimately subordinate character of even representative colonial govern- ments, and that general imperial interests should not be sacrificed by a separate policy of any colony running in parallel and distinct rivalry to them, I cannot conceive that the prerogative can safely control the subject's purse anywhere under English constitutional government ; and in a scattered empire like the British, uniform fiscal principles must be matter of persuasion and interest, not of central dictation. PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 61 Prom 1784, when New Brunswick was sepa- rated from Nova Scotia, and had a like constitu- tion given to it by charter — ^that is, a nominated Council and elected Assembly, to which the Exe- cutive was afterwards recognized as responsible — until the Confederation scheme, nothing of a poli- tical nature worth present notice occurred in the Province. The Quebec Eesolutions, presented to a newly- elected Assembly, were at first rejected by them. But in the very next session this vote of rejection was reversed. More mature consideration seems to have led the New Brunswickers with remark- able unanimity to the opinion that their small community would thrive much better contributing its sea-ports and timber-wealth to a great Do- minion, and opening its recesses, not yet half explored, to become the thoroughfare, instead of presenting them as an obstruction, to the west- ward commerce of the world. IV.— PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. Prince Edward Island still holds herself aloof from the union of British North American pro- vinces ; but she has made it clear that she does so only bidding for advantageous terms. It was at one time considered possible that the proposed grant of 800,000 dollars would induce the Island 62 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. I i Ml to join the Dominion, but the insecurity of the promise, and the progress of events, have hitherto prevented that offer being accepted by the Legis- lature. The object for which money is wanted, and which at present engrosses attention, is the buying out of the remaining absentee proprietors of the land ; on terms, of coarse, as easy as can be got. Prince Edward Island is one of the trophies of our earlier and more vigorous colonial policy ; when colonies, instead of being defended at the cost of English blood and money, themselves con- quered fresh territory for the Crown. It was taken in 1758 by New England forces, and soon after surveyed, and granted out on quit-rents, but the grants were made chiefly to officers who had serv(3d during the Seven Years' War, and on somewhat impracticable conditions of settlement. In 1770 the government was separated from that of Nova Scotia, and in 1773 a Legislative Assembly was constituted, to which the Executive has since been distinctly recognized as responsible. The separate Government was granted in accord- ance vith the petition of the principal proprietors, and on the understanding that the expense of it should be defrayed from the quit-rents. These quit- rents, however, varying from two to six shillings per hundred acres, and estimated at 3000/. pei" annum, were not paid up ; and about tht, year 1777 the civil expenditure of the Government, PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 63 unsupported by local revenue, became dependent on grants from the Imperial Parliament. The defence of the Island was at the same time organ- ized by the Duke of Kent, the Father of the Queen, and from him the Province took its present name. The arrears of quit-rents were afterwards reco- vered gradually, on a liberal scale of commutation in proportion to the extent to which the proprie- tors, who were mostly purchasers from the original grantees, had fulfilled the conditions of settlement. Those who failed to pay even these commutations forfeited their land to the Crown ; but the Crown refused to sanction a proposed Court of Escheats for general resumption of forfeited property, assenting only to the imposition of a land-tax, which proved a beneficial spur to more profitable settlement. About 40,000 acres were, however, escheated ; and the agitation for a Court of Escheats lasted till very recently, having hardly subsided when the present able G-overnor, George Dundas, assumed the government in 1859. The absentee purchasers had leased the lands to tenants for 999 years, at about one shilling per acre; and the lessees, being the residents on the land, and constituting the Representative Legis- lat^ire, are naturally eager to make themselves the actual landowners. I'hey passed several Bills to bring this object about : one called " A Bill for settling doubts as to Titles;" another "The Tenants' Compensation ^^itsmmsmmmrnKmsamsum I |i ! ill »: m 64 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. Bill;" another "For imposing a tax on the rent- roll of proprietors," none of which have been confirmed by the Queen. An Act was passed, in 1864, commonly called " The Fifteen Years' Purchase Bill," which is in operation, but it only compels sales, at the rate of purchase so indicated, in the case of lands of such proprietors as have agreed to its provisions. Under a special Act, passed in 1853, the heirs of Sir Samuel Cunard sold, in 1866, 212,000 acres, at five shillings an acre, to the Government ; who have resold them to the occupiers for a gradual payment. The whole extent yet acquired by the G-overn- ment is 400,000 acres. Occupiers have, in various ways, chiefly by squatting, gained the fee-simple of 470,000 acres besides ; and about 425,000 acres still remain in the possession chiefly of non-resi- dents. The Legislature has passed several Acts autho- rizing loans, altogether amounting to 200,000/., to be raised for the purchase of land, on the condi- tion that the price is not to exceed five shillings an acre; and in 1868 they authorized 7000/. to be raised without this condition. The Islanders complain that, the grants having been made originally for the Imperial service, and on a vicious principle, no aid is given from the English Treasury to enable them to buy them up. But the grants were made by the common Sove- PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. 65 reign for services in a war of common interest, and, however unwise, were within the right of the Crown, and honestly made; and John Bull now declines to be the sole paymaster for every mistake made in the government of the empire. No doubt the absentee proprietary is a great disadvantage to the Island, and should be as speedily got rid of as can be equitabJ/ managed : but that is in the power, as well as interest, of the Islanders — who will, no doubt, soon effect it for themselves — ^and it is not the duty of English tax-payers to do it for them. It may be worth while for the Dominion to expedite a step which would advance so much the progress of the Con- federation. Meanwhile the Province has made this alien- ation, as they call it, of their lands the ground for an exceptional claim upon the Imperial Grovern- ment to the continued payment of their Governor's salary from the English Treasury, when almost all other colonies are paying their own ; asserting that when representative government was conceded to them, the Crown, in handing over its revenues to the Colony, undertook to perpetuate this charge upon England. There can be no doubt that the Imperial Parliament will, at the next vacancy, refuse to allow this charge to remain any longer on their estimates ; and the probable result will be that the government of the island will be placed under the Governor-General of Canada, by which F ■ : ii i'.f I II 66 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. means the incorporation of Prince Edward Island with the Confederation, if still unconsummated, will take effect indirectly, without any conditions at all. With this Colony there has been recent corre- spondence on a topic which Lord G-rey discusses in reference to New Brunswick, namely, the rights of fishery. British rights to exclusive fishery within a certain distance of their shores were scarcely worth contending for. They would, in fact, have only restricted a trade of unbounded extent, and in which the British were sure always to possess a local advantage, however much the trade might be extended. In 1847 Prince Edward Island liberally admitted this fact, and attributed the decrease of the number of their fishermen at that time, not to any competition, but to the greater attraction which agriculture was offering, and they encouraged tho United States to occupy the vacant employment, which they considered capable of unlimited remu- neration ; and now the island fisheries are mainly carried on with United States' capital. The Reci- procity Treaty thoroughly opened those seas, and during what we may hope to be its temporary rupture, an easy licence-fee has almost nominally maintained the right of exclusion. But the bounty given by the United States to its own fishermen, and the duty they impose on fish imported by others, are felt by the Province as NEWFOUNDLAND. e7 a real grievance. We can only hope that in time these self-inflicted taxes may prove so irksome, that the American people at large will not long consent to such profitless partnership on the part of their Government with one of their trades. The Islanders memorialized their Legislature in 1867 to retaliate by counter-bounties, but the Legisla- ture wisely took no notice of the proposal. The Islanders would readily give the United States* fishermen unrestricted use of the waters round their coasts, if the United States would in return admit their agricultural produce duty free. In 1868 the American House of Representa- tives deputed a Committee to negotiate a tr jalj of reciprocal free-trade with this single Lieutenant- Governorship, irrespectively of its fellow provinces or the mother-country, and regardless of their own incapacity to treat. The appointment and mission of such a committee by one of the legislative bodies of a foreign country is only worth mentioning as a record of the necessity for having men of tact and judgment to govern provinces in such a neighbourhood. v.— NEWFOUNDLAND. This Province, as Lord Grey observes, was looked upon at first merely as an out-station for fishing, and a nursery for the boldest sailors, and P 2 68 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. B- 1 ~ rl was not till very recently at all treated as a colony. Settlement grew up there in spite of actual efforts to prevent it, and the powers of government were exercised by officers in command of ships on the station. During Lord Qrey'p im'nistratlon representa- tive government, v bf'?l> i ^d been given only shortly before and suspcndtl ^uo restored — ^but only par- tially and reluctantly — the rig it not being conceded as fully to Newfoundland as to the other British North American provinces till the year 1855. There are rights reserved to France in this Island by the three Treaties of Utrecht, Yer- sailles, and Paris, suited to the old state of things there, but by which our colonists are now most injuriously affected, being practically prohibited from the use, and improvement, and even ordinary government of a large and indefinite tract of the country called the French Shore. The present relations of the French and English in those parts is such that the English can keep French fishermen out of the best part of the fishery, abundant as the trade is for all; and the French can keep English fishermen from the necessary equipments of the trade on the French shore, if not also from fishing in adjacent waters, besides the more valuable speculations in the wealth that shore contains. The French have a right to make the English remove whatever is meant by Jixed estahlishments, ^^ etablissemens sedentaires^^ from I i NEWFOUNDLAND. 69 a considerable frontage to the aea, of unspecified cl pth inland ; ana by ihe uncertain limits both of tenure and authority, agricultur-^ and mining are r. upended, and ju t even can capital find requidite «oourity by any regular magisterial jurisdiction being establiohed. On the other hand, the English exclude the French from the most lucrative exer- cise of the fishing trade, which alone gives them an interest in their shore-rights, except so far as, assisted by Grovernment bounties and protective duties, they may carry on a languid artificial trade in curing, for export, fish which they catch along their shore, or buy of the English fishermen. The habits of both nations as settlers, and the practice of the trade, and the nature of the govern- ment of Newfoundland, have entirely changed since the terms of the Treaties leading to these embar- rassments were agreed upon. Yet it is difficult to get the contending parties to agree to, and New- foundland to be satisfied with, the compromise which one would think most obvious and condu- cive to the interests of all concerned, namely, that France should have the free right of fishing, such as we conceded with advantage to ourselves and the United States in the Eeciprocity Treaty of 1854, and that England should have the full use, for every purpose, and especially for means of government, of the disputed territory in common with the rest of the island. A Convention in 1857, and a mixed Commis- 1* H I! 70 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. Bion of French and English in 1859, and a signed Convention in Paris, in 1860, which only broke down eventually by disputes as to the right con- veyed by one word, ** requises,*' and the Fishery Commission of 1866, have all as yet failed to settle the question. The present state of controversy was very fully and clearly explained by Lord Carnarvon in the House of Lords, in answer to a question from Lord Houghton (see Hansard, May 22, 1868). The Colonial Legislature is now urging a renewal of negotiation, which it is to be hoped the two Principals may soon settle definitely between them- selves. In 1867, the Newfoundland Legislature passed a Fishery Act, the provisions of which involved some differential duties to which the Board of Trade objected. In reply to these objections, it was stated that the French G-overnment gave bounties to their fishermen, and excluded colonial fish from their ports, and had induced the Spanish Govern- ment to favour their imports of fish, by differen- tial duties against the colonists ; to counteract all which disadvantages the Newfoundland fishermen required some sort of differential tariff on their side. The proposal was to admit, free of duty, fresh fish landed by any vessels for consumption, and fish brought in for exportation in Newfound- land fishing-vessels; but that fish brought in for exportation by any other vessels, British or foreign, should be taxed. The object was to retaliate on c ^h NEWFOUNDLAND. 71 the French trade in cured fish brought for tranship- ment to foreign ports, and to get an equal access to the Spanish market. On our remonstrance against such a resort to fiscal warfare, the Act was amended, and purged of its differential duties ; and now all kinds of fish will bear an uniform duty of 1 dollar 32 cents per cwt. If the proposed Act had been sanctioned, very awkward questions might have been raised by colonial legislation between the mother-country and foreigners having " fp.voured nations " treaties with her. The amendment is another instance like that of the Canadiai' tariff, of the useful influ- ence this country may exercise over perfectly free colonial legislation. Lord Grey strikingly describes the pauperizing effects of a gift made by this country to Newfound- land, in 1846-7, in relief of losses by fire, hurricane, and potato failure; and the general deterioration of the people by their dependence on one kind of occupation, and their habit of always leaning on the English Government for assistance. It has been lately stated officially, that, though much has since been done to increase the resources of the Island, one-fifth of the public revenue is now absorbed in poor relief. The upset price of land is only two shillings an acre, and mineral wealth is everywhere showing itself. New copper-mines have drawn together a flourishing settlement, named " Notre Dame," just li i, 'f I ' 1 U-'u 72 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. outside the disputed limits of the " French Shore." The Atlantic Cable throws out a new channel of busier intercourse between Newfoundland and the commercial world ; while a political lull seems waiting on Confederation. Resolutions are already passed that the address of the Legislature to the Queen, which is the first step towards admission to the Union, and in this case no doubt conclusive, should be presented ; and this Review may proceed upon the assumption of a speedily-completed eastern basis of the union, from which the further steps which Confederation must take in its path of progress towards the Pacific, will speedily follow. VI.— HUDSON'S BAY TERRITORY. From Canada to the "Rocky Mountains there is no regular government, though the ownership of a large portion of that great tract of country is claimed by a trading Company, under a Charter which includes, with whatever rights, at all events the responsibility of government to whatever ex- tent the increasing prevalence of mankind over the occupation by wild animals may call for govern- ment; and that question is rapidly coming to a crisis, at least in the neighbourhood of the 49th parallel of latitude, which forms generally the Treaty frontier, but no practical boundary to the American people. HUDSON 8 BAT TERRITORY. 78 No only is the new Confederation of Canada evincing its vitality by eager aspirations for its o.'n extension to the full limits of British power in that quarter of the globe, which implies its connexion with British Columbia and the Pacific Ocean through this intervening territory ; but the already commencing lateral overflow of population from the States, especially Minnesota, upon it, and the northern discoveries of gold, make it clear that the loose tenure of such an enormous region by a fur-trading Company, under a very indefinite, though indisputable, Charter of the days of Charles II., cannot endure the test of impending trial. The Company's territorial rights are decided, by a succession of Law Officers' opinions, to be past dispute at such a distance of time from their hazy origin ; but the Charter, in distinct terms, connects with the rights entrusted by the Sovereign (who is the ultimate Owner still) the duties of govern- ment, which, with the opening survey and neces- sary preparation of the territory as it comes into human occupation, must, as all experience proves, absorb more than the whole possible revenue from the sale of the lab 1. The late Mr. Ellice and his colleagues sold in 1863 all the right8 of the Company to a new Proprietary, who are naturally anxious, in the face of such coming liabilities, to secure their outlay ; and, if possible, still to retain a share in I i^ I <% ? i S.ii,/,, i 1*1 ill ' ■ ii \ j ra i ^H| f MH| 1 fl^H 1 If 1 Hi 1 C 1. 74 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. future enterprise, relieved by Canada of the charge of government. Sir Edmund Head was made Chairman of the new Company; and at the same time a great tele- graphic communication with British Columbia be- came a leading project connected with its enterprise. Under the provisions of the Union Act, imme- diately after its passing, early iu i868, the Cana- dian Legislature made the stipulated joint address to the Crown for the annei:ation of the Hudson's Bay territory ; and a brief sketch of recent events is necessary to elucidate the negotiations which led the niatter up to this point. In 1849, the House of Commons addressed the Crown for an inquiry into the Company's claims, as to trude and territory, under the Charter of 1670. The Company, being conferred with, de- clined to refer the question themselves to the Judicial Committee of Council, and asserted, through their G-overnor, Sir J. Pelly, that they had invariably exercised all requisite powers of government — the Canadian Courts having also concurrent jurisdiction. Sir J. Jervis and Sir S. Romilly then also affirmed their rights. In 1857, Canada formally laid claim to much of the territory, and the Law Officers advised that, though the Crown could not fairly contest the Company's Charter or proprietorship, yet the Company could not be allowed to establish mono- poly of government or of trade. HUDSON S BAT TERRITORf. 7ft The subject was then referred to a Select Com- mittee of the House of Commons, which recom- mended that Canada should be enabled to annex the Red River district for settlement, and that Vancouver's Island should be made a separate colony, and that the exclusive trading licence might be renewed over such parts as were not wanted for settlement. Lord Taunton, as Colonial Secretary, offered these terms, and a reference of the question of boundary to the Committee of Council. Canada would not proceed to negotiation without the re- cognition of its liberty to dispute the validity of the Company's Charter before the Privy Council; and Lord Lytton, succeeding to the Office in 1858, let the trading licence drop, but offered to intro- duce a Bill enabling the Crown to take from time to time such portions of the Territory as might be required for settlement, and to test the validity of the Charter by a ^^ Scire facias'' This offer the Duke of Newcastle repeated on his accession to office in 1859, but it was declined by the Company. In 1863, the new Proprietary, above mentioned, made a series of suggestions, through Sir Edmund Head, to the Government, to the general effect that the Territory should be divided between the Company and the Crown, and that the Company should construct the great western thoroughfare and telegraph, the Crown paying them a third of I I4i ■i 1 1 i ^ ■ 1 : ;, I i .,-.j» t- 76 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. future revenue from precious metals, and a price for such land as might be wanted for military use. In 1864, the Duke of Newcastle offered counter- proposals, namely, that the Company should sur- render the Territory to the Crown; receive a shilling for every acre sold during fifty years, tiU the amount reached 150,000/., and a fourth of gold revenue during the same time till it amounted to 100,000/. ; and an adjacent square mile for every linear mile of road and telegraph constructed. The Company accepted the Duke's terms, conditionally on his taking off the limit of time of fifty years, or the substituting 1,000,000/. for the 250,000/. offered; but these conditions were declined by Mr. Cardwell. A distinguished Canadian Minister, Mr. Brown, then delegated to England on this subject, disputed altogether the rights and the enormous claims of the Company ; and called on the Imperial Govern- ment to extinguish them, and to let Canada under- take the government of the country. In the spring of 1865, a larger delegation of Ministers from Canada, already referred to (p. 41), were associated with Mr. Brown, to confer with II. M. Government upon this and other subjects; and Mr. Cardwell's record of the result states that the Delegates undertook, if th'^ Territory was made over to Canada, to negotiate with the Company, if assisted by Imperial guarantee, to raise the re- quisite funds for compensation. The' Delegates added a strong deprecation of HUDSON S BAT TERRITORY. 77 the formation of a Crown colony in the Hudson's Bay territory, which the Red River settlers had prayed for as a preparatory step to their being embraced in the Canadian scheme. Early in 1866, Sir E. Head informed the Secre- tary of State that certain Anglo-American capi- talists had oflFered to buy the available part of the Company's Territory to make a settlement upon it under an American form of government. Mr. Card- well replied, that the subject must be altogether postponed till the completion of negotiations which were pending ; but he forwarded the information to the Canadian Government, who acknowledged the urgency of an arrangement, but advised that it should be deferred till the Confederate Govern- ment, so certainly about to be constituted, could take the proceedings into their hands. In the be- ginning of 1867, Lord Carnarvon gave this answer to the Company, and told them that, though they were free to consult their own interests, it would be advisable for them not to anticipate or embar- rass the progress of Confederation. The Union Act then passed, and the new Do- minion Legislature made the formal Address, above mentioned, upon receiving which the Queen is em- powered by the Act to annex the Territory. They, however, asked simply for the government leaving the Company to make good their proprietary rights as they best .night defend them in the Canadian Courts. To this submission of their rights to a 1^ I II .' I : !' 1 78 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. hostile jurisdiction the Company demurred; and, as it was decided to be fair that their reasonable satisfaction should be secured prior to the Queen's assent being given to the Canadian Address, the Duke of Buckingham immediately conferred with them, and proposed the basis of the Duke of New- castle's last proposals for a renewal of terms of agreement. Long discussions were additionally protracted by the unfortunate sudden death of Sir Edmund Head. Lord Kimberley succeeded to the G-overnorship of the Company ; and, at the Duke's request, the Canadian Government sent Sir George Cartier and Mr. Macdougal, representing each side of local politics, though both in the present Coali- tion Ministry, to present themselves in readiness for negotiation. The serious illness of Mr. Mac- dougal, and the change of our Government at home, further delayed proceedings; and only at the moment of my writing (March, 1869) is Lord Granville, as Colonial Secretary, arranging with Sir StaflFord Northcote, who succeeded Lord Kim- berley as Governor of the Company, terms for the transference of the Hudson Bay Territory to the Dominion of Canada, together with the govern- ment first surrendered back to the Queen. The Company will receive a sum of 300,000/. in com- pensation, retaining of course their stations and t»ade, and a right to a twentieth part of future settl^v^n.^nt? in the fertile belt, and a guarantee a;.^ain8T f*nj exceptional taxation. HUDSON S BAY TERRITORY. 79 The extent of the entire territory of Rupert's Land and the North-West is roughly estimated at 4,000,000 square miles, greater than the whole of Europe ; but the belt between the American fron- tier and the North Saskatchewan, about 1000 miles long and 300 wide, is the only portion of im- mediate interest in prospect of settlement or of mining operations. To a part even of this the Hudson Bay Company lay no claim any more than to the North-West territory ; as even the vague terms of their Charter — interpreted by them to mean the watershed into Hudson's Bay — do not include it. Through this belt a route for com- merce and emigration is of the first consider- ation, and telegraphic and postal communication must be completed. A settlement of Indian titles, and an adequate police and judicial organization, have to be arranged, and survey made. The Com- pany's present governors will become chief agents at trading posts, and principal magistrates. The Company's system both of a Grovernor-in-Chief of Rupert's Land, Governors and Councils of Dis- tricts, Sheriffs, and Magistrates, has placed many able and experienced men ready on the spot for the constitution of more complete and regular government ; while of course their possession of the trade, and reserves of land, must continue to give the Company for some time a practical monopoly, and a large influence over a population including so many of their own dependents. 80 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. li ; f i1 il ip. ' ; ' .:;ij| SenoTis complications, however, have already arisen from disputes between Americans and In- dians traversing the border. The Act of 1 & 2 Geo. ly., extends to the Hudson's Bay Territory a possible external Canadian jurisdiction, given by the 43 Geo. III. But more organized authority on the spot is urgently needed. Questions of extra- dition are to be settled by the terms of the Treaty of Washington, 1842 ; and by the Act 6 & 7 Vic, 76, 1843, which gives effect to the provisions of that treaty. The exact line of boundary against the province of Quebec depends on interpretation of the Act of 14 Geo. III.; but, as Mr. EUice sensibly said, it would cost more to litigate this point than, giving Canada all the government, to indemnify the Company without settling the point at all. The Dominion will probably treat their new acquisition much as Congress treats a new terri- tory, and a certain period of subordinate govern- ment must be passed through in preparation for co-ordinate provincial confederation ; tliough it is to be hoped that no new provincial governments will be set up as anything more than mere municipal administrations, unobstructive to the ultimate fusion of the whole vast region under one Vice-monarchy, the centre of continental unity. Bl^TTISH COLUMBIA. 81 Vn.— BRITISH COLUMBIA. The last of the Queen's possessions in the North American group, both in date arid position, is British Columbia, now including Vancouver's Island : of too recent history to come within Lord Grey's review. My first official act in the Colonial Department, 1866, was to ask Parliament to authorize the Queen by proclamation to unite both these Governments under the least popular form of the two, against all my cherished sentiments on the subject. The cause I must relate. In 1838 the Hudson's Bay Company obtained a licence of exclusive trade for twenty-one j( us over all of North America, which lies north and west of the United States, not within British pro- vinces or other territory. In 1842 they sent Sir James Douglas on an exploring expedition west- ward, and in 1846 formally announced to the Colonial Office that they had explored and occupied Vancouver's Island, and applied for its possession, selecting for their port and capital Victoria, on its south-east coast, far up the straits of Fuca which divide the Island from the state of Washington, and through the disputed mid-chann;^! of which the international boundary runs. The Island had been first slightly occupied by some London merchants in 1778, and takes its name from Captain Vancouver, Tv^ho sailed round Q 82 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. I it in 1792, and fixed his station on it at Nootka- Sound, where a Spanish commandant, for a time, disputed his right. The harbour of Esquimalt, two miles nearer the sea than Victoria, and clear of the disputed islet of St. Juan, is considered by many a more available harbour for a great entrepot to the commerce of that part of the world ; and there is no rival Pacific port nearer to these two than San Francisco, 700 miles to the south. At Esquimalt it has been proposed that a naval dockyard should be constructed at English expense ; but the idea of this country maintaining any considerable naval power in such a quarter appears chimerical, how- ever desirable a good packet-station and ordinary docks for ship-building and repairs may be, or whatever reasons may recommend the existence of a great free-port where nature seems to indicate ultimately a certain centre of commerce. In IS 49 the Crown granted by letters-patent the Island of Vancouver and its royalties in free- socage to the Hudson's Bay Company ; on specified conditions of settlement, and with a reserved power of resumption after ten years. In 1851 Sir James Douglas, as Governor for the Hudson's Bay Company, reported great dis- coveries of gold on the mainland which was then called New Caledonia, about the Eraser River, which attracted so large an influx of speculators from California, that it was decided that the Queen must revoke the Company's exclusive-trade licence, BRITISH COLUMBIA. 83 resume Vancouver's Ipland, and establish regular government in both island and mainland. In 1858, when Lord Lytton was the Colonial Secretary of State in Lord Derby's second Ministry, the 21, 22 Vict., 99, enabled the Queen to appoint, by Order in Council, a Governor over the latter under tne name of British Columbia, having New Westmin- ster for its capital ; and temporarily to make laws for it, which were to be laid before Parliament; and the same Governor, namely Sir James Douglas, was appointed over Vancouver's Island, and Vic- toria was fixed to be his residence. In the Island a representative constitution was at once freely established, consisting of a nomi- nated Legislative Council, and an elected House of Assembly. The only stipulation with them was that they should make a fixed charge on their revenue for the civil list, the Crown-lands being placed at their disposal. But to British Columbia, somewhat later, only a Legislative Council was per- mitted, which consisted of five officials, five magis- trates, and five members selected in some sort of communication with the inhabitants (excepting Chinese and Indians), by a quasi-electoral process. The local disposal of Crown lands and revenue was, however, entrusted to this body, subject to dis- allowance of their acts by the Crown. In 1863 the complaints of the British Colum- bians against the distant location of the seat of joint government at Victoria induced the Duke of New- G 2 !i I i^' \ I , :i' 84 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. castle, then Colonial Secretary, " very reluctantly, *^ and solely in deference to feelings so strongly " expressed," to make separate seats of government at Victoria and New Westminster ; and the Act 26, 27 Yict., 83, was passed defining the boundaries of British Columbia, and placing its government at New Westminster. The very next year Sir James Douglas reported that the Vancouver's Island Assembly, resenting the duplicated cost of govern- ment, had refused the stipulated civil list. They said that not only did the double official staff overburden their revenue, but that the separation of government created a mischievous rivalry of policy between their freedom of port and trade, and the system of revenue-duties in British Columbia. No doubt the gold of British Columbia also had its attractions in the eyes of the Islanders. In 1865 Sir Arthur Kennedy, then the Governor of Vancouver's Island, reported to Mr. Cardwell, the Colonial Secretary, that his Assembly had passed a resolution, by the votes of eleven to four, praying for actual union with British Columbia, and deprecating any delay as fatal to their com- merce. They even contemplated the resignation of their free port as a necessary part of the scheme — the more readily as their exigencies had already led them to trench upon its freedom. It was clear that the " London " of the united colony could not levy duties against its "Liverpool" BRITISH COLUMBIA. 86 without embarrassing the general revenue, and probably spending half of it in repressing smug- gling. An uniform policy was, moreover, required for the control of the migratory Indians, passing constantly from one to the other; and, though a considerable opposition to union was maintained by the " free-port " party, yet the preponderating feeling increased so rapidly in its favour, that another and stronger petition soon came from the Assembly for a speedy decision; not, as before, with any stipulation for the union being under representative government, but "under any con- " stitution on which the Imperial Government " might decide." Sir F. Seymour, the Governor of British Columbia, meanwhile had written from New Westminster, stating that his Legislative Council protested against the proposed union. They thought that under the joint governorship their interests had been sacrificed to those of the capital — Victoria — and that the chief part of the united revenue, raised in British Columbia, had been spent in Vancouver's Island. The Governor himself, however, advised the union as necessary for ease- ment of the revenue, and uniformity of policy, and for amalgamation of the supreme judiciary, which had become highly desirable ; and the sole question soon clearly was dimply whether to spread the representative constitution of Van- IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) iill 1.0 1.1 Ml |£ bi I^C 6" FhotograiJiic Sciences CarpoFBtion 23 VAST MAM kTRHT VVIMTn,N.Y. 14SM (71«)l7a-4S03 ^^^V^ V^^ ^^^ 4^^ > ^ .^^ II -I I ' .*;li 1 IJ" I' 't II ^i 86 NORTH -AMERICAN PROVINCES. bouver's Island over both, or to reduce both to the form of goverinrient existing in British Co- lumbia. " 'This question, after much discussion, seemed to be settled by the discouraging experience of the Islanders, of the working of their representative Assismbly, for which their peculiar population, though fitter than that on the mainland, as yet offered no satisfactory materials. British Columbia clearly was not ripe for repre- sentative government in the sense in which an ordinary English community of settlers anywhere is ripe for it at once. There were vast numbers of aliens who would be excluded from the suffrage, and who came to stay but a short while, few real settlers, and fewer who could devote themselves to the public service at the capital. At length, in March, 1866, certain merchants and miners of British Columbia petitioned for the Union, assigning as their reason the necessity of united revenue, and reduced cost of government. Upon this Lord Carnarvon, on the 30th October, 1866, informed the Colonies that Parliament would immediately be asked to complete their union; and an Act (29, 30 Vict., 67) was passed en- abling the Queen by her proclamation to unite them, and extending the Executive and Legislative Constitution in British Columbia to Vancouver's Island, adding eight councillors for the Island to the fifteen already forming the Council. The laws BRITISH COLUMBIA. 87 of each country were to remain in force till altered, but the customs' laws of British Columbia were to extend to the Island. The Duke of Newcastle bad foreseen, in 1863, that the desire for two seats of Government arose from a mere passing jealousy, which would give way to the more permanent reasons for consolidation. Perhaps no two territories lie together in the whole world more remarkably necessary to each other, and capable of making up, with their adjuncts in prospect, so rich an entirety by their various and universal contributions to the common wealth. When one also considers that the line of communi- cation with them both from the older world lies through the fertile belt of the Saskatchewan, and across the Eocky Mountains by the easiest gradients, at the Vermillion and the Jasper-House passes, debouching on the Pacific in a great natural harbourage, equal to the San Francisco terminus of the parallel western thoroughfare through the United States; and that double telegraphic com- munication already connects New Westminster with England eastward, and with the north and south extremities of America, we cannot doubt the folly of parcelling out the first plot of such future great- ness to meet the petty jealousies of temporary trading competition. There has been a coquetting between the dis- contented spirits in Vancouver's Island, and even high officials in the United States, about the pur- 88 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. 'I 'fi chase or annexation of the island by the American Go-vernment. Annexation is also the habitual talk of the roving American speculators who make up the passing population of British Colombia. The American Government has, however, alienated the more settled Colonists by narrow commercial jealousy. Their discriminating duties now so bar its neighbourhood, that British Columbia finds its nearest market for timber in Australia. But the Americans have held out tempting offers to deser- tion from the British flag in many ways, while it is hinted to the Colony that, as a State or Terri- tory, it would have every kind of assistance from Congress in the development of its resources. It is true that it has its postal communication, even with England, provided through American agency by New York and San Francisco; its population is chiefly American ; and the very conflicts of the Indians with American enterprise in the Sitka territory purchased from Bussia embarrass our intervening government. Our great facility of Crown-lands sales, and the right of British subjects to pre-emptive acquisitions, to be optionally com- pleted by payment after survey at a dollar an acre, tempts the eager grasp of the keen citizens of the Republic, who spare not even Indian re- serves in the selection of their irregular squatting. At the same time the most perfect courtesy pre- vails in the intercourse of the two GovernmentSj and we have recently allowed freely every means BRITISH COLUMBIA. 89 of communication, both of troops and eupplies, through our territory to Sitka. Canada is, however, just as desirous of com- pleting her dominion as the States are of extending theirs, and England will no doubt do everything in her power to favour the scheme of national enterprise in preference to that of foreign aggres- sion. Probably Imperial England cannot, and should not, offer to British Columbia even the amount of assistance in her first establishment which the Congress of America would offer her as a Territory. Even the sending out, in 1858, a body of Eoyal Engineers, partly to assist in de- fending the country, and partly to spare the Colony the task of survey, has led to disputes about their expenses, which strongly illustrate the ill effects as weU as thanklessness of such assistance. The Admiralty have recently agreed to survey the coast; but that is a service which the Colony clearly could not do for itself. On the other hand, the colonial police have shown adequate efficiency for the vindication of the law, and magisterial authority has been successfully maintained, even, with so small a force, in the riotous gold fields 500 miles away from the Capital. The roving hordes of gold-sweepers and shallow diggers are being suc- ceeded by capitalist settlers, who mine deeply, and set up costly machinery and quartz-mills, and agri- culture thrives in the consequently safer market. The calendar of violent crime is sensibly diminish^ 90 NORTH AMERICAN PROVINCES. :», ■y. m ■ l> I '111 1 " h -I lint H ■*- r <;..;:,: ing; the illicit trade in spirits with Indians has been checked; and the disputes about the site of the Capital are settled by the final c^ioe of New Westminster. The only difficulty remaining in the way of prosperous advance is the still unsettled interna- tional dispute about the ownership of St. Juan, on which side of the mid-channel boundary that islet lies. It has been occupied by a joint garrison pending the dispute ever since the commence- ment of the civil war. Neither taxes nor laws meanwhile are there in force. In 1861, Lord Lyons was instructed to draft terms for a convention for agreement on the construction of the Treaty of Washington of 1846. There is also a Commission of both Nations appointed to settle certain pos- sessory claims of the Hudson Bay Company in these quarters. We may hope that amicable arbi- tration will soon decide both the international and private question ; and the united Colony will rapidly prosper, when these last disputes have ceased, and when the attention of more settled inhabitants may be concentrated on the development of its enormous wealth, and the opening of its thoroughfare east and west. ■ '.'''i ( 91 ) GROUP 2.— AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. The second group of colonies possessed of repre- sentative government is the Australasian, which, if we adopt de Brosses's nomenclature, we may take as comprising Australia and New Zealand. The English settlements in the vast island-con- tinent of Australia originated in a search for some new depositary for criminals, when the indepen- dence of America shut up the previous outlets for national sewerage, and occasioned a dangerous accumulation of refuse population in our gaols and hulks at home. Lord Grey devotes three letters (YIL, VIII., and IX.) to subjects all then chiefly important in their connexion with Australia, namely, transport- ation, emigration, and colonial government. Happily I need say little about transportation^ except to congratulate this empire that it no longer vitiates its most essential enterprise, and myself that I had some share in putting an end to it. Lord Grey*s letter on the subject, in fact, is little more than a record of the successive shifts through which the system staggered on to its 92 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. V ■>^ 'M ' i- T:: ~\: ■ inevitable conclusion. It is now a bygone subject, due only to the limbo of national regrets. Its chief legacy (for the working gangs at Gibraltar are no more remains of it than those at Portland) is the obligation which still rests on us, from Lord Grey's last attempt to make it acceptable by sending out an emigrant for every convict, to continue further consignments of free emigrants to Western Aus- tralia, till we balance the account. Another relic, indeed, I fear there exists, in the traces of moral injury to the infancy of these oflfspring nations, from which South Australia alone wholly escaped. We have, moreover, a heavy fine still to pay, in the shape of continued contributions to the prisons, police, and asylums which we have so helped to necessitate and occupy. The costliness of this rough riddance of responsibility, the folly of mixing banishment with outward settlement, the attractive romance thrown over crime, and the degradation of the enterprise of emigration on the high estima- tion of which this island absolutely depends for continued prosperity, altogether make up an aggre- gate of suicidal policy with which we can scarcely conceive any other political blunder capable of comparison. The final break-down of the whole system of transportation was naturally followed by a reform of our prison discipline, and of criminal treatment. Having to grapple, as we always ought, with the evil consequences of our own default, we. began AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 93 to study the prevention of crime ; and the institu- tion of Reformatories, and of Discharged Prisoners* Aid Societies, and an increased interest generally in popular education, have resulted from our Government heing for the first time confronted with the Nemesis of neglected duties and unjust laws. More rational criminal discipline will follow when the Legislature feels no longer embarrassed by the consciousness of its own default, and believes that it may cease paying its debt of education to the poor in the form and place of punish- ment. Long imprisonment of masses of the people feeding on the industry of honest people, in the vain undertaking to reform in gaols those whose criminal habits have grown out of the want of school, will give place to the shorter castigations which are suited to appeal to the fears of the much smaller number, whom unsuccessful education proves incapable of better motives. On the kindred subject of emigration — ^the true as contrasted with the false mode of outward settlement — I shall also say little here, reserving it for a chapter to itself in the third part of my review. Lord Grey's seventh letter connects it specially with Australia, in reference to which the discussion about the right disposal of waste lands was rife at the time in which he wrote. Mr. Merivale says (Lecture XIV.), " Slaves and " convicts being out of the question, the only " means of supplying labour was by free emigra- MM .1 if Jli* 1 i4 \ ■; I 94 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. *^ tion, and European immigrant labourers oould ** only be retained as labourers by circumstances '^ checking their passing at once into the position ** of landholders/' This was more easy to be done in Australia, where land is poor and wages high. Mr. Wakefield demonstrated that a revenue derived from land sales, at a sufficient and uni- form price, was the most obvious means of procuring the requisite labour, and keeping it long enough to be of service. The system of free grants was abandoned, except of sites for public purposes. Discussion confined itself solely to the question, what was the sufficient price, and whether it should be uniform, or tested by auction from a minimum upset figure. The land-price was, in fact, a labour-tax on purchasers, by which all might equally benefit, and be equally supplied with emigrant labourers. It prevented speculators grasping land which they did not mean to occupy, furnished a fund for surveys, served to check the labouring class from too quickly becoming landholders, and, lastly, it promoted concentration of settlement. The " sufficient price *' was a mere matter of calculation of what was wanted for emigration, and no index of a market value of the land. Lord G-rey adopted the principle of the Act of 1842, which made the lands alienable only by sale, and fixjBd at IL per acre the minimum upset price AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 95 for sale by auction, and stipulated that the gross proceeds should be applied to the public service of the colony, and one-half always to emigration. He maintained that the fiind raised by sales of Crown lands was properly at Imperial disposal — as a matter of Imperial interest, but in trust for the benefit of the colony — and that so only it would be saved from jobbing. But he admits that at a certain stage of progress the disposal of waste lands may be safely handed over to representative colonial legislatures. An Act in 1846 gave power of leasing Crown lands for fourteen years, and so inducing occupiers to invest capital in lands merely occupied; and in 1847 a distinction was drawn, by Order in Council, between settled^ intermediate, and unsettled lands, regulating sales by a more proportionate tariff of prices. Great and learned was the controversy on the subject of land-sale among such writers as Gibbon Wakefield, Colonel Torrens, Poulett Scrope, Mr. Elliot, and others ; and the Hudson Bay Company might have sooner modified their demands, had they studied it; as it never occurred to any one of the disputants that a revenue could be raised from the first sale of waste lands more than sufficient to supply immigrant labour, and the opening cost of surveys and roads — the returns being expected afterwards to arise out of profits from capital so attracted to the country. By the use of the land fund, immigration was 96 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. ^'l!i largely stimulated ; but the discovery of gold in 1850, and the commencing cessation of transporta- tion, gave an impetus and removed a barrier, so as doubly to cause a tide of population to come in, overwhelming all the previous channels, and chang- ing every plan of Australian colonization. As to the correlative English consideration of the providing by emigration for a redundant population, it seems to me an incomplete question taken in this single view. The excess of supply over demand can be rectified in two ways, and the statesman's business is to give every facility for self-adjustment. His object should be to offer the freest vent to population at all times, and to permit no needless barrier to stand in the way of the free expansion of a nation, to liberate from pressure of poverty those who have not room at home, but have health and strength to occupy fresh space, and supply themselves with the earth's abundant bounty ; as well as on the other hand to stimulate to the utmost the demand for labour at home. All the Australian colonies, except Western Australia (where the Crown still retains its right) have, by the 18, 19 Yic. 56, 1855, power now to dispose of their waste lands, and have modified the regulations of. sale, reserving the upset price for auction, but allowing a mode of deposit for pre- emption, which may be completed, if desired, after three years' occupation. They have made a further AUSTRj^LASIAN COLONIES. 97 classificatiou of lands into tounif suburban^ rural^ and mineral. In each colony, Acts have been passed on the subject, making somewhat different regulations. Victoria, South Australia, Queens- land, and some provinces of New Zealand, are the only colonies which now vote grants for assisting emigration to them from England. But Lord Grey's ninth letter, on constitutional changes in Australia, is more properly the subject of my review. He begins with the Act of 1850 (13, 14 Vict., 50) for the Ijetter government of the Australian Colonies. This was the first step in the way of enfranchising Australian govern- ments from the swaddling clothes of the debased period of our policy, during which they had all been born; and, as Lord Grey observes, the Act was very fully, and warmly debated in both Houses of Parliament. The object of the Act was stated on its introduction by Lord John Russell to be "to train these Colonies into a capacity to " govern themselves," and English statesmen were scarcely ready then even to train them to such presumption. In 1842 New South Wales had received a Constitution, by the 5, 6 Vict., 76, somewhat widening its first merely official government, of the hybrid form, a cross between autocracy and repre- sentation, meant to breed something purer, but evincing a mulish recalcitrancy and unproductive- ness. It consisted of a Legislative Council of thirty- ^8 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 'h six members, one-third of them being nominated by the Governor, and two-thirds elected by the people. To this stage of advancing freedom of govern- ment to which New South Wales had arrived, the Act of 1850 proposed to admit Van Diemen's Land, and South Australia, and a new colony to be called Victoria which Lord Grey cut out of New South Wales; and to invite West Aus- tralia to accede so soon as it could pay its own expenses. Power was given to all to reform themselves. Lord Grey says that he at first intended to carry reform further at once, and to give all these Colonies, including New South Wales itself, a double Chamber of Legislature and larger development of constitution ; but he was deterred by the opposition of the colonists — aii opposition which attached only to the particular constitution of their Upper House which he had proposed. He also expresses regret at the failure of the provision made in the Act of 1842 for creating municipalities, which were intended to serve as intermediate electoral bodies between the people and the Legislature, and which he would have liked to establish generally. On so important a measure as this Lord Grey resorted to the Board of Trade for advice. The Committee of Privy Council for Trade and Fo- reign Plantations had originally contained within itself the germ of the present Colonial Office, when colonies were self-governed, and commercial matters AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 99 alone were referred home. But when colonial self-government ceased, the Office of occasional reference became the head-quarters of general government ; and, though the Colonial Office had sprung out of it, and significantly connected itself with that of War, so that Lord Derby wittily described it as the Office at war with all the colonies. Lord Grey on this occasion made it revert to its original connexion, recruiting, how- ever, the power of the Board of Trade for the unwonted function of advice on constitution-mak- ing, by adding Lord Campbell, Sir James Stephen, and Sir Edward Ryan to its ordinary members. The Report which resulted was circulated through all the colonies, and, by the statement that in the ancient possessions of Her Majesty's Pre- decessors, now the United States, and in all other " colonies there prevailed until the nineteenth cen- " tury a Legislature of three estates, the Sovereign, ** a nominated Council, and an elected Assembly," misled them, in their approaching self-reforms, to treat the Sovereign as one of the Estates of her own realm. Parliament, indeed, is stated in the Report, to have taken upon itself to establish these three Estates in Canada ; but it is added that up to that period in the nineteenth century neither the Crown nor Parliament had introduced the old colonial policy in any of sixteen new possessions, nor had any one of them, except New South Wales, had any electoral franchise granted to H 2 a it 100 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. \ , ^i" "f it. But in those colonies which had been acquired by occupation, a Legislature composed, in part at least, of representatives of the people, had been considered a matter of right, such as could only be dispensed with for a while, and that by Parliamentary sanction; and that the dormant right to such a Legislature was from the first recognized, and promised so soon as causes tem- porarily forbidding it should cease. This pledge the Board considered to have been redeemed in 1842 with New South Wales, except so far as the combination of the Council and Assembly in one falls short of it ; and the Board's final recom- mendation was that the other Australian Colonies should have governments in conformity with this type, giving them, however, the power to amend their own constitution wir '^he assent of Parlia- ment. Such was the advio r* th** Board of Trade. Lord Grey, in humouridj^ the colonists with this mixed form of government, which they were supposed to desire, became so enamoured with it himself that he dilates on the advantages of a single chamber of legislature for all colonies, com- prising the popular element and its required check in one — so difficult he thought it to create in colonies a substitute for the House of Lords. Mr. Lowe is in search of means of making the House of Lords itself a more effective check on our impulsive House of Commons, and he might gain a hint from Lord Grey's following panegyric on AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 101 the eflfects of a senate when coupled with its twin Estate in joint Legislature. " Considerable " advantage arises from the presence in the Legis- ** lature of a certain proportion of members who " do not owe their seats to popular election, but " being only one-third of the body can never pre- " vent the passing of measures which are strongly " supported by public opinion, but only secure " their being fully discussed, and not passed with- " out previous consideration of any objections to " what may be the mistaken demands of an excited " and ill-informed popular feeling. Able and up- " upright men may fail to be elected from the ** very qualities which make them desirable." Pos- sibly the unelected House of Lords might be found to work in this way more eflfectively inside the excitable House of Commons. But Lord Grey provided still further check to immature legisla- tion, by empowering the Governor (I suppose as his own third estate) to return Bills for re-con- sideration with any amendments of his own. Such was the training step towards self- government which redeemed the pledge for consti- tutional rights to New South Wales in 1842, and was extended to the other Australian Colonies, except "West Australia, by the Act of 1850. With every wish to give them at once their full constitutional franchise, it seemed that all Lord Grey could give, and possibly all he thought desirable for them, was this partly-elected Council, I I & ' 102 •AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. with powers of self-reform — ^powers which an Act of 1855 now confers generally on representative legislatures in all colonies. The New South Wales Legislative Council remonstrated against the Constitution Act as still retaining in the hands of the Crown the control of waste lands, customs, and civil list, and the veto on their local legislation. They considered that the high land-price, which the Crown insisted on, diverted immigration from them. Yet the half of this land-sale fund, which was reserved by the Crown for their immigration, was largely supple- mented by Imperial grants, and the other half was also devoted to colonial purposes. In 1852 Sir John Pakington, as Colonial Secre- tary, circulated through all the Australian colonies a despatch offering to repeal the Land Sales Act, so as to give up altogether on the part of the Crown the control of this important branch of colonial revenue, on condition that they would establish for themselves constitutions, under the powers given them by the Act of 1850, on the Canadian basis, •only appropriating permanently a civil list suffi- cient for their government. I.— NEW SOUTH WALES. The original government of Botany Bay was suited to the idea of a transmarine prison establish- ment; and a vice-admiral and judge, with their NEW SOUTH WALES. 103 necessary suites, completed the executive and legislative requirements of the settlement, and the tribunals decided on verdicts of a military jury. In 1823 a Council was added to the constitu- tion of government. We have already noticed the reform of 1842, and the powers of further amendment given by the Act of 1850, which, under Sir John Pakington's encouragement, were exercised in New South Wales in 1853. The Legislature was then divided into two Chambers, namely a Legislative Council, of twenty-one mem- bers, nominated by the Governor, but not less thaii four-fifths always being unofficial ; and an elected Assembly of fifty-four members. Both Chambers were of quinquennial duration. The electoral franchise was given to all men, of age, unconvicted of crime, and having paid up their rates. The revenue was charged with a Civil List, including a public worship fund, amounting to 64,000/. a-year, conditionally on the Crown-lands being surrendered to colonial disposal, which was done; and power was also conceded to the colonial Legislature to impose whatever Customs* duties it pleased, provided only that thsy were in no way diflferential. Some clauses in this provincial Constitution Bill, proposing to limit the authority and veto- power of the Crown, were disallowed as ultra vires. In 1855, full power was given to complete this 104 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. m ■j ■-'*■ , 1 -i -.1 it ' 1 '. ; ;■; .'- ' '; '\ * * I <:.' ^■'i !-i::; ■ ■ :! • ; ^- ' i r •fl^V i 1 ■' , ' 1 ■4 r ' ' 1 , . ; ' i 1 . ; ■. ' ! 1. i" 1 • i- 1 i' i Constitution as amended, by the Imperial Act, 18, 19 Vic. 54; and the 66th chapter of the same session finally gave up the waste-lands on the part of the Crown. In 1859, an Electoral Act was passed by the New South Wales Legislature in substitution of former Acts, adopting the ballot-box to expedite the process of polling their manhood suffrage, and dividing the newly-discovered gold-fields into fresh electoral districts. The discovery of gold, and silver, and copper, but chiefly the attractive wealth of the most pre- cious metalj opened a new era in Australian history, gave the coup de grdce to transportation, and broke the last possible link of home control. Nothing now remains to be effected but the gradual comple- tion of self-government in its department of self- defence, and the aggregation of provincial power, to make available the full local resources both of wealth and vigour. The establishment of a Mint at Sydney, making sovereigns which are legal tender throughout the British empire, and treated as Imperial coin, was a most significant concession from English royalty, and an augury of the world-wide destiny of the empire* Various kinds of federal action between the different colonies of Australia had already begun to be talked of when the present Lord Taunton was Secretary of State, and with English instinct NEW SOUTH WALES. 105 the principle will probably be adopted in instal- ments, as need may dictate. The local institution of volunteer forces, both land and naval, has slowly germinated under the superincumbent weight of English garrisons. Ee- gular returns of their strength begin to appear in the Blue Books of New South Wales from 1864. The last Blue Book sent from Sydney in 1868 by Sir John Young (whom, in right disregard of political party, the Duke of Buckingham promoted to the command of the new Canadian Dominion) gives a most graphic and satisfactory account of the progress of the Colony. Products, increasing both in amount and in kinds {e,g, wine, olive-oil, silk, and glass, cotton alone ceasing, and gold somewhat declii mg), large exports of meat, reducing the amount of former waste of flocks of sheep boiled down to tallow, from that of 44,000 head in one year to 2900 the next, and the loud demand for men, evince the vigorous expansion of the empire in that quarter. The Providence, which meant variety of climate to create commerce and industry among mankind, invites us here to mutual enterprise ; by the con- trast of squalid crowds penned up in our filthy alleys, praying for food; with kindred settlers wasting food, and praying for men in these wide outskirts of empire. The whale and seal fisheries are diminishing in the South Pacific, though favoured by exemption 106 AUSTBALASIAN COLONIES. H g m MM from port-dues at Sydney, and Hobarton, and in New Zealand. The attraction of the gold-field has made labour more scarce and costly for agriculture in New South Wales, and for a time has actually depre- ciated property, and, by Mr. Dilke's account, made this wheat-growing country a yearly importer of half-a-million pounds worth of wheat. Commercial panics and bad seasons have increased difficulties. But the great political struggle going on between the party desirous to open up the land for occu- pation, and the old squatting monopolists trying to hold their position, has chiefly checked agri- cultural immigration — the labourers having now the ascendant influence, which they blindly use for their protection from competition. These, we may hope, are only evanescent causes of temporary obstruction to a prevailing course of progress. Norfolk Island, 800 miles distant, now the paradise of a philanthropical settlement of her- metically preserved Pitcairn-islanders, descendants of the mutineers of the * Bounty' of 1798, once the hell of hells of the transportation system, was separated from Yan Diemen's Land in 1856, and is now put under the care of the Governor of New South Wales, and is beginning to be opened to the commerce of the world. Being much nearer to New Zealand, it is a question whether it might not be better annexed to that Government. l-iJMlL. VICTORIA. 107 n.— VICTORIA. The portion of New South Wales which lies south of the River Murray, formerly called Australia Felix, was made a separate District in 1838, for a population attracted by its fresh pasture- grounds and cooler climate, and was established as a distinct Colony by the Constitution Act of 1850. The name Victoria was substituted for Port Phillip, not only as an expression of loyalty to the Queen^ but to obliterate painful recollections connected with the name of the excellent naval Officer, who discharged the disagreeable and difficult task of taking out the first batch of convicts to Australia and governing them. The Act of 1850, as has been stated, gave Victoria the contemporary form of government of New South Wales, but with power of self- amendment. In the following year occurred the discovery of gold near the capital of Melbourne, and soon after in other places, which revolutionized all plans of colonization; and drew such a tide of immigration on the scene from every quarter, as even to this day to have drained the neighbouring country of its requisite supply of labourers. The gold raised in Victoria, now less plentifully than at first, amounts altogether already to the value of 150,000,000^. sterling. By a Colonial Act in 1854, confirmed by the 108 AUSTRALASIAX COLONIES. •I ' ■'! i -^{^ '^ .:\\ J :,;?! Imperial Act 18, 19 Vic, 55, the Legislature exer- cised the powers of reforming itself, which were given by the Act of 1850; and substituted for itself a Council of thirty members, elected for six provinces, one member retiring every two years; and an Assembly of seventy-five repre- sentatives of forty-nine electoral districts. Both Houses were constituted by election, but both electors and elected were at first required to possess a considerable property qualification, a stipula- tion, however, which in respect to the Assembly was abolished by a Provincial Act in 1857 ; and the ilssembly is now elected by manhood suffrage for a term of three years, and by ballot. The same condition was coupled with this Constitution Act as in the Act of New South "Wales, namely, that the Waste-Lands Act should be repealed, and that the entire control and disposal of land should be given up by the Crown. The Colony has anticipated, as seems likely to be a frequent occurrence, an improvement we are only now debating; namely, the substitution of written nominations of candidates for elections, for the useless clamour attending their public pre- sentation to the people. Sir Charles Hotham was the first Governor under the new constitution, and during his brief career, cut short by death in 1855, he did niudi to launch the free government into constitutional exercise, and to inaugurate many useful institu- VICTORIA. 109 tions. He especially established municipalities for local administration. In his last despatch, reflecting chiefly on evils concomitant with the advantages of gold discovery — the violence which culminated in the Ballarat riots, the difficulties of raising revenue by exacting license-fees for getting gold, the scourge of Chinese immigration as then conducted, the sensitive dread lest convicts should get into the Colony amongst the rush for gold — he sums up the list of embarrassments, through which the Constitution had had to be launched, in this touching way : — " I found a revenue nearly " two millions deficient, the Colony undergoing a " severe commercial crisis, the questions relating *^ to the disposal of waste lands unsettled, the " people ready to go any lengths in resisting " the admission of any who had ever been con- ** victs, discontent in the gold-field, and large pub- " lie meetings of unemployed labourers pressing " hard upon the Government to make provision " for them." It was in the autumn of the year when Sir C. Hotham died, 1865, that the Imperial Act 18, 19 Vic, 65, confirmed the Colonial Constitution Act, accepting all its conditions. That Act stands amongst our statutes between the 54th, which similarly confirms the Constitution of New South Wales, and the 56th, which repeals the Waste Lands Act, surrendering the control of the Crown, no AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. fj I : m r 4 and lie sooner was it received than Victoria was in a fever of electioneering. The new Legislature was summoned by the new Governor, Sir H. Barkly, in November, 1866. The great influence of the labour-class, result- ing from manhood suffrage, was soon displayed by vigorous opposition to further immigration. Crowds, loitering in towns, standing out for the highest wages, exhibited a people pursuing nar- row interests, and incapable of larger views. But freedom works out its own correction, however roughly, better than the wisest dictation. Many rose gradually from labour into the class of the smaller capitalists, who in 1865 passed the Act for facilitating acquisition of land against the squatter monopolists, and as eagerly promoted as they had formerly opposed immigration. So com- menced the agrarian struggle which has recently tested, but no doubt strengthened, the framework of the constitution. A series of rapid Ministerial changes illustrated the new life of self-government, and evinced the trial of new powers working their way to their permanent adjustment. Twelve Ministries suc- ceeded each other within four years. O'Shanessy and the squatting aristocracy pitted the power of the Council against that of the democratic leaders of the Assembly — ^Nicholson, Yerdon, Huntly, and McCuUoch — ^whose cry was facility of land pur- l! VICTORIA. Ill chase, protection to native industry, and reductionB in the civil service. The protectionist Customs Bill became the champ de bataille, and early in 1865 the Assembly attempted to force it through the Council, by including it in the Appropriation Bill which the Council could not alter. The Council, however, boldly threw out Supply Bill and all, and in De- cember the Legislature was again dissolved. The Governor, Sir C. Darling, then raised means to carry on the government by fictitious actions under the " Crown Remedies " Act, which course was condemned ; and ultimately his relations with his own Executive Council became such as, by his own admission, necessitated his relinquishment of any attempt to p^overn in concert with them. Ultimately the Tariff Bill was passed. Then came a fresh struggle, on the Assembly attempting to testify their sympathy with Sir Charles Darling by a vote of 20,000/. as a parting present to him, or to Lady Darling by way of evading the regulation forbidding presents to Governors. The Legislative Council rejected the Appro- priation Bill in which this vote was concealed. Sir Henry Manners Sutton, who had succeeded to the government, simply allowed the initiation of the vote by his Ministers, who had the undoubted confidence of the Assembly and of the people. The Regulations, which prohibited a Governor i] if' '«,, (1 -I' ' ii SI ^ -£ .'! ~JP< >1M i ■ .5 i ail 112 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. from accepting a present, were powerless to prevent Sir 0. Darling's acceptance of this vote, as he had renounced the service, and so put himself out of reach of penalty. The struggle lasted during 1867 and most of 1868, through a series of ministerial and consti- tutional crises, trying, but never violating the organization of the Government. At length Sir 0. Darling, repudiating altogether the acceptance of any such grant, was allowed to withdraw his renunciation of the service, and so the struggle ended, leaving the combatants perhaps firmer in their places for having ascertained the limits of their strength, and the ex-Grovernor still open to receive the benefits to which his long and valuable services to the Crown fairly entitle him. The Secretary of State was blamed by some for not ha\'ing prevented the G-ovemor from allowing this vote even to be submitted to the Legislature. The critics said that the vote was repugnant to the Queen's regulations, and therefore the Queen's Representative ought not to have let his Ministers initiate its discussion in the Colonial Parliament. But, to say nothing of the regulation having be- come incapable of enforcement by Sir C. Darling's putting himself out of reach of the penalty, or of the merely ministerial nature of such initiation of discussion, the vote was recommended by a Ministry having the overwhelming support of the represen- tative body and of the colonists generally; and VICTORIA. 113 irent had It of Bt of •nsti- the the refusal of the Governor to let his Ministers suhmit the vote to discussion would have been im- mediately followed by an Address to himself com- pelling them to submit it, or by the resignation of a Ministry whom he could not possibly have replaced. The first point in the process of legislation at which the Grovernor could have constitutionally interposed was after the Bill, which he formally initiated, had passed both Houses ; when he might have exercised the Queen's prerogative, by a veto on its completion. If he had in the first instance thrust the Queen between himself and his respon- sible Ministers, and forbidden them to let the Legislature even debate a vote of their own money which they desired, he would have turned the dispute, which was constitutionally raised be- tween the two Chambers expressly established to check each other, into a fatal contest between the Colony and the Sovereign. In the debate of the Lords on the subject, May 8, 1868, Lord Grey took the view that, unless the Crown could so enforce upon a colony a depart- mental regulation of the service, it would be better to affect no authority in the Colony at all ; but the Lord Chancellor, Lord Cairns, made it clear that this view merely evinced an imperfect appreciation of constitutional principles as applied to a colony. A far more agreeable Victorian event was the mission of Mr. Verdon to England to offer a naval contribution to Her Majesty's service. I 114 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. Mr. Cardwell deserves lasting honour as the author of the Colonial Naval Defence Act, 28 Vic, 14, which empowers any colony to maintain vessels of war and seamen under Her Majesty's command. As the first-fruits of this Act Victoria offered a fifth part of an outlay, in her naval equipment, of 125,000^., the constant maintenance of a vessel and its armament, the creation of a naval reserve, the establishment of a training-ship, and the construc- tion of a graving-dock. The Colony had already spent 1,000,000^. on local defences, besides paying the Australian con- tribution of 40/. per soldier, and 70/. artillery-capi- tation; and had furnished a colonial government steamer, and kept up a naval volunteer brigade of 300 strong. This falls short of the pristine self-defence of our colonies ; but is a great step in recovery from the nadir of public spirit to which they had descended. There were indeed disagreeable traces of past pauperization in the arguments adduced by Victoria for tiie largest share of the cost of her defence being still charged on English taxation; such as "that in Colonial commerce " most of the shipping belonged to Englishmen," which, if anything, rather proved that the part- nership required to be equalized the other way. But it is some advance for one Colony to have arrived at the idea of any partnership in its naval defence. VICTORIA. 115 Materials for the ship * Cerberus,' an armour- plated monitor, were furnished from English dock- yards to be put together at Melbourne, but the ship is now being constructed in this country, and H.M.S. * Nelson,' a wooden line-of-battle ship, has been sent out as a present. The military strength finally agreed upon, to be kept on the Australian rate, was five companies of infantry, and the Colony desired all the Royal Artillery to be withdrawn. Some Royal Engineers have been sent out to plan shore-batteries for the defence of Port Phillip. This smallest in area, but largest in spirit, of all Australian colonies, has taken the lead in ad- vances towards federal action. The resolutions passed at a Melbourne conference, relating to dis- tant postal service, have brought almost to an agreement the rivalry about route. Intercolonial extradition and reciprocal free-trade have also been promctf d by the liberal policy of Victoria, while the narrower policy of New South Wales in favour of intercolonial duties, and proposing only to free the transit of the river Murray, incurred the con- demnation of the Board of Trade. We must not, however, be too impatient for federal concert among settlements still fringing only two-thirds of this gigantic territory, at such enormous distances from each other. Every development of their individual freedom in self-government tends to elucidate their common I 2 hi ■ i 116 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. interests, and even througli the sieve of jealousy to cull the materials of general co-operation, which some congressional executive may one day under- take out of reach of the local barriers to general policy. in.— SOUTH AUSTRALIA. This Colony was, in 1836, started upon a theory advocated by Edward Gibbon Wakefield, or, as he said himself, on his theory spoilt by Lord Grey. Its main idea was self-support, and a supply of labour obtained by means of a revenue raised by land-sales at a sufficient price. An impartial control over this revenue capitalized by anti- cipatory loans, was proposed to be secured by a Commission sitting in London (one member only residing in Australia), and independent of the Governor and his Council on the spot. This Australian " Board of Control " produced in South Australia the same mischief of double government which were before exhibited in India. It grew, in 1840, into the present general Colonial Land and Emigration Commission; and Parliament, having helped the South Australian scheme out of diffi- culties, which did not so much spring from its theory as from extravagance, mismanagement, and this double government, left the Colony very much to local administration, with which it has propor- tionately thriven. 1 ?■« SOUTH AUBTRALIA. 117 in English convicts were, by express stipulation, excluded from ever being sent to this country. Labourers are brought out from England at the expense of the Colony, selected by their own Agent in London. In 1851, the gold discoveries in Victoria quick- ened the commencing desertion of South Australia, but the outrush was wisely not discouraged or impeded by the Provincial Government, but rather tempted by every inducement to take the character of outward enterprise for fresh wealth, which might return and enrich the temporarily deserted home. By the Constitution Act of 1850, which offered the Australian colonies in lieu of their Legislative Councils the more representative form of govern- ment of New South Wales, South Australia assumed a Legislative Council one-third nominated by the Crown, but with full powers of self-reform, subject only to the Queen's confirmation. In exertion of these powers, and invited by Sir John Pakington's circular of 1852, already men- tioned, a Provincial Act was passed in 1854, and assented to by Order in Council the same year, which divided the Legislature into two Chambers — a Legislative Council of twelve nominees for life, being natural subjects, and thirty years of age; and a House of Assembly of thirty-six members, elected for three years, by constituencies with very considerable property qualifications. No sooner, however, was this Act passed, than 118 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. •li ) '> '■^:- ■1 "r'.l I \i ' 'i\ desires were expressed for its reconsideration, and the Crown was addressed to suspend its confirma- tion; and in 1856 an amended Act was substi- tuted, in which the chief novelties were the adoption of the principle of election instead of nomination in the constitution of the Council, the increase of its number to eighteen, one-third retiring every four years, and the addition of three years' residence to the qualifications of its members. The qualifications for the Assembly were then left unaltered, namely, a 50^. freehold, 20/. household, or 251. occupation tenure ; while the electoral fran- chise was simply that of natural born, or naturalized manhood, qualified only by three years' residence. A subsequent Act (No. 20 of 1861) has rendered anyone so capable of voting eligible to the Assembly. The trade of South Australia is steadily rising, and has doubled in the last eight years. The boundaries of the Colony were extended north- ward, by Letters Patent, in 1863, and the north territory exploration has just been completed by Captain Cadell ; and, by a resolution of the Legis- tive Assembly, that territory is to be immediately surveyed. rlii TASMANIA. 119 IV.— TASMANIA. This beautiful island, with more congenial climate for our race than exists in any other part of Australia, and perhaps with greater capabilities of all kinds for colonization, took, by Order in Council, in 1855, the name of its original Dutch dis- coverer, Tasman, in order to wipe out the odious and damaging transportation-stigma which, though removed from New South Wales in 1841, con- tinued to brand Yan Diemen's Land till 1853. There are still thousands of our old convicts in Tasmania, and of their progeny both of blood and caste. We contribute to the cost of the prisons and police of the country on their ac- count ; and much of the stagnation of its industry is traced to the evil effects of employers having so long relied on such a supply of forced labour, equivalent to a species of slavery. (See Dilke's *G-reater Britain,' II., 97.) It is difficult to say whether the mother-country, the convicts, or the colonies, were the party most injured by a system which boasted of relieving all three from burdens and liabilities. Separated from New South Wales in 1829, but under a continued form of official government which had been constituted in 1825, this Colony was in 1850 included in the provisions of the Australian Constitution Act, and empowered, in common with the others already mentioned, to 120 111' i -11 ;• '-r m AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. adopt the form of Legislature of New South Wales, consisting of a single Chamber one-third nomi- nated by the Crown, with powers of self-reform. These powers were exercised in passing the Pro- vincial Act of 1855, which set up the existing Parliament of Tasmania, consisting of a Legis- lative Council of fiftean members, elected by a property-qualified constituency, having only a birth, age, and residence qualification themselves; and a House of Assembly having the same qua- lification excepting the twelvemonths' residence, elected for five years by a lower suifrage. The elections are conducted by a ballot said to be really secret ; but the constituencies are restricted to a higher class than in any other Australian colony. The general condition of this Colony is not so thriving as when, in its earlier days, it took the lead in enterprise, established whale and seal fisheries, and occupied what has become the sister Colony of Victoria. Immigration and settlement proceed with a slacker pace, and commerce fills not the great harbours, but is declining, and the public debt is IJ million sterling, or four times the yearly revenue. It is, however, creditable to the spirit of the Colony, and a lamentable reflection on what mischief we have done, that, much as labourers are wanted, they join with the sister colonies in barring any further influx of convicts, and in begging us to send away from them our remaining convicts, confined though they are TASMANIA. 121 within Tasman's peninsula, to the solo remaining applicant West Australia, and so to rid them both of our criminals, and of all our concomitant inter- ference with their local institutions. The amount of unpaid labour, which our con- victs once supplied them with, no doubt gave an artificial stimulus for a time to production, and the large body of troops sent to guard our convicts increased the colonial imports for consumption ; but social mischiefs soon outweighed all such advan- tages, and were admitted by Lord Grey, in the debate on the Act of 1850, to have become so frightful that he was forced to apply his favourite remedy of dilution to the evils of his cherished system of transportation, and, by introducing free immigrants and settlements of military pensioners, to compensate the infliction. A junction of the Government of this Colony with that of Victoria has been mooted, as if some such economy of government and enlargement of interests would be beneficial to a community which has been so stunted in its growth and vitiated by original maltreatment. The Colony, naturally more intent on retrieval than on progress, declines at present following the example of Victoria, as it was at first inclined to do, in naval undertakings ; proposes to decrease its militia ; asks for no more artillery trainers, and is for lowering the Governor's salary, which, how- ever, it has not been permitted to do. ii*'\i ;'■ 'IS i% $i 122 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. By the last accounts the revenue is more pros- perous, and public works are increasing; for instance, a railway is being made from Launceston to Hobarton, and a cable laid under Bass's Straits to "Victoria. Education is more largely provided for, and an Act has been passed granting 15,000/. a-year, to make up the loss of our contributions, for religious worship, many clergy having been hitherto paid by us as chaplains to our convicts, or as missionaries. "We have commuted these charges for 100,000/. Tasmania also passed an Act to promote inter- colonial free-trade, falling in with the Victorian lead towards Australian federal action; but the Act, not fulfilling our requisition of unreserved abstinence from differential legislation, has been disallowed. Advances are being made towards the establishment of a Customs union, and uni- form tariff, which the Queen has expressed her readiness to sanction, and even encourage. v.— QUEENSLAND. The Colony of Queensland was separated from New South Wales by an Order in Council in 1859, and has a territory assigned to it which is more than half as large again as Hindostan. Stretching from the 10th to the 26th degree of south latitude, and of course subject to many varieties of warmth of climate, from that of the tropics to a temperature m •\ \-: QUEENSLAND. 123 in the higher levels perfectly congenial with Eng- lish constitutions, this territory is capable of very various uses and productions. Cotton, sugar, and tobacco can be cultivated in parts, and gold, cop- per, and coal are increasingly found. Sir George Bowen, who was the first Governor, and who has only just been succeeded by Colonel Blackall on his promotion to New Zealand, is a man of such high public spirit, energy, and intelligence that he has kept the Colony always in active interest about its public questions, and this country in full information of its proceedings. The Legislature was at once made to comprise two Houses — a Council of twenty members, nomi- nated by the Governor for life, and an Assembly of thirty-two members, elected by ballot for five years, in twenty-two districts. The ballot was adopted by a local " Electoral Act " in 1859, the year of the Colony's foundation. The qualification of electors, at first taken from the New South Wales Act of 1854, has been modified by the Queensland Act of 1866, but retains the somewhat high property standard. A ministerial crisis occurred in 1866 on the question of issuing inconvertible paper currency as legal tender, in a scheme for raising 1,000,000/. to meet monetary difficulties; which proposition Sir G. Bowen firmly resisted as contrary to his instructions, and indeed to the spirit of Imperial legislation, which from the first adopted Adam ,!;. •; 124 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. Smith's arguments against colonial paper-money being permitted as legal tender. The Macalister Ministry went out on this question, and v/as succeeded by that of Mr. Her- bert, who is now in the Board of Trade ; and who met the immediate emergency by substituting the smallest possible number of exchequer bills for the condemned greenbacks ; and a G-overnment bank of issue has since been established. Some of the colonists petitioned for Sir G. Bowen's recall on the ground of this exercise of power, and what they called his unconstitutional inducement of a change of ministry, but he soon outlived the popular resentment against this neces- sary check upon their proceedings by the legitimate exercise of the prerogative. The chief danger of the democratic spirit of colonial constitutional freedom, is not that it chafes too violently against the barriers placed against it, so much as that it is always making sacrifices to local popularity in dispensing public resom ,..3. Political strife is subsiding in Queensland under a current of golden prosperity, though just at this moment somewhat abated. The influx of gold seekers has raised the population since 1859 from 23,000 to more than 100,000 ; so as to have occa- sioned a necessity to increase and redistribute seats in the Assembly. The revenue trebled itself in Sir G-. Bowen's time, and at its present amount of 800,000/. pre- QUEENSLAND. 125 sents a considerable surplus over expenditure. Ministerial crises and coalitions have borne wit- ness to the political vitality of the Colony, though the duration of one administration for six years is quoted as a case of official longevity unprece- dented in Australia. The wealthier people begin to settle down in security, and build themselves houses and churches. That class are now in the sunshine of power, Mac- kenzie, the Prime Minister, being a leader of the squatting interest. Immigration is spiritedly invited — all eligible immigrants, arriving at their own cost, being offered land-orders freely on arrival. South Sea Islanders have been brought to Queensland in large numbers, and though the system has been accused of cruelty, and murders have taken place in revenge of, what has been erroneously confused with it, the Fiji kidnapping, it appears that as complete precautions have been taken by the Colonial Government against any abuse of the system as can be taken, and as com- plete as have been taken by us in the regulation of the Coolie emigration from India to the West Indies. We keep only one company of infantry in Queensland, the colonists contributing the Aus- tralian capitation-rate of 40/. per man. The Admiralty have withdrawn some marines who were employed in unsuitable work, as guards 126 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. , ! ■I ' !'■ ■ I ■^ :;; I ;1il| ;!| against natives, a sort of service much better per- formed by police. The Aborigines are supposed to number about 15,000. There are artillery volunteers already tolerably well organized in Queensland; and the Colony has certainly dis- tinguished itself in the degree in which it has undertaken its own defence against natives. A new settlement was some years ago made near Cape York, where a good harbour of refuge and a water-police have been established. It is a singular instance of the prevalent idea that it is the Englishman's business to supply his colonial fellow- subjects at any rate with every sort of aquatic defences, that we have been asked by these spirited Queenslanders to forego their military contribution for a time in consideration of the cost they have incurred in the establishment of the Cape York water-police, which they consider they altogether went out of their way to undertake. The cotton grov/n in this country was lately pronounced by Manchester judges to be the best in the world; and when we consider the variety of productions within its limits, and that on tlie other hand its people are consuming per head 2 2 /.-worth of English manufactures yearly — more than any other of our customers — we cannot too highly value its connexion with us. Queensland manifests, what recent philosophers have not per- ceived, that colonial self-dependence is rather the life than the death of mother-country connexion. ji* ' WEST AUSTRALIA. 127 VI.— WEST AUSTRALIA. Edward Gibbon Wakefield, in describing his South Australian scheme (*Art of Colonization,' Letter IX.), says that it grew out of the proceed- ings of the British Government in settling Swan Kiver, or West Australia, and from his perception of the Titter inadequacy of the means then employed. The two schemes may be contrasted as repre- senting the most opposite ideas of colonization — the one that of a settlement of self-governed citizens, the other an out-station of government police. In 1829 Captain Stirling brought out the first settlers, of the most unfit kind, whom he and other officers were instructed to take care of, while they themselves were to be repaid in land. Without survey, or even money, they lived on barter of such things as they could produce, or were supplied with by Government, till in 1840 abandonment was contemplated ; but the idea was changed to a scheme for furnishing the place with labourers, in the shape of English convicts. The total population even now does not exceed 22,000 in number, having amounted to 6000 in 1850. The Government has consisted of a very nume- rous and costly official staff, paid for by England both in point of salaries and the whole cost of 128 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. h ill ' i Wk < I ' establishments. By Orders in Council, from time to time, the Legislative Council has been variously constituted. In the Australian Constitution Act of 1850, almost in irony, the settlement was offered a wider form of government whenever it would pay its own expenses; but transportation having now ceased — the last batch of imperial refuse, chiefly Fenian convicts, having been sent out in 1867 — and nothing but remaining establishments, two- thirds of the Governor's salary, 13,000/. of police expenses, and llOOZ. for convict chaplains, being now paid for by England, the Legislative Council has had the number of its non-official members equalized t^ "".hat of officials, and has to that extent been submitted to popular election. Of course it must take time for this Colony to get out of its servile habits, and notions bred by Government uses. They have asked us to make Camden Harbour for them, to which undertaking we have refused to contribute more than the convict labour ; and they grumble at this supply of white slavery being no more recruited. We liberally construe all our payments for Western Australia that will bear such construction as made on account of military protection, which we still consent to supply ; and •'ve inflict on ourselves the cost of pensioners, and have offered to furnish volunteers with guns. We have pro- NEW ZEALAND. 129 irbour lefused ; and being Its for luction Iwhich let on )ffered pro- mised to assist in surveying the coast. The boun- daries of the Colony have been extended, and exploring expeditions have been instituted at our expense. We shall i^ow see whether Mr. Weld, whose political services in New Zealand have just been acknowledged by his appointment to rule this Colony — a rare instance of a colonial politician being advanced to a governorship — can wipe out its associations with original mismanagement and convict service, and raise it to a level with the settlement with which Mr. Wakefield first con- trasted it, or with a similarly free community in New Zealand, in founding which Mr. Weld and I had both a share, of which we both are proud. VII. -NEW ZEALAND. The last of the Australasian group (a nomen- clature I resort to as authoritative and intelligible, in spite of criticism) are the New Zealand Islands, first made a distinct colony from New South Wales by letters-patent in 1840, under the autho- rity or the statute 3, 4 Yic, 62, and now including several Provinces under the common government of one General Assembly at Wellington, which site has lieen preferred to the old garrison-capital, originally fixed at Auckland as separating the more hostile Waikato tribes, from the northern neutral or more friendly natives. 1^ ■C 1 ■I M '^, ,> :' 130 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. Lord G-rey commences his account of this Colony (Letter X.) with the history of the native wars of 1844-5, and the recall of the Governor by Lord Derby, who summoned in his place Sir George Grey, from South Australia, to restore order; a task which appeared to have been suc- cessfully achieved in the north when Lord Grey came into office. A long despatch from the new Governor (dated July, 1849) is quoted by Lord Grey as containing the best description of the policy and events of that penod ; which was a period of struggling settlement, partly conducted by a Company, and of native wars, and of autocratic government supported by English soldiers and sailors. The quoted despatch describes the scattered colonists as unable to cope with the concentrated and well-armed natives, but the latter as evinc- ing an inclination to civilization. The policy, therefore, was to be conciliatory, with a view to the amalgamation of the races. The helplessness of these colonists as compared with our early American settlers is accounted for by the supe- riority of the Maories to the Indians, and the irregularity of their own mode of settlement. One need only cast one*s eye over the p -ges of Gra- hame's * History of the Uiiited States ' to see how little this assertion is borne out by the facts, and that the real cause of the comparative helplessness of our New Zealand compatriots has been the NEW ZEALAND. 131 this itive rnor > Sir istore suc- Grey dated lining )f that sment, native ted 1 y attered itrated evinc- undertaking of their guardianship by the Depart- ments of Colonies and War in London. Land being the great topic of dispute, Sir G-. Grey proposed the resumption by the Crown of the pre-emptive right, which had been abandoned ; the establishment of Magistrates' courts to adjudi- cate ; the enlistment of natives, if possible, in the police and in public works; while hospitals, savings' banks, schools, and missionaries, besides pensions to friendly chiefs, were all to be sup- plied by a renovated revenue, largely supplemented by the bountiful mother-country. This country was called upon to double tbe number of its troops in New Zealand, raising the force from 1100 to 2500; and 500 discharged sol- diers from our army were to do the double duty of pensioner-settlers, that is, under the name of New Zealand Fencibles, th^^y were to farm or fight as required. 1 am told that this institution, on the ingenuity of which Lord Grey lays great stress, has left no trace but the few families they have reared. Of the i::genious double duty, the settling has been of the most inferior kind, and the mili- tary service nothing at all. The whole scheme of native improvement remains in stunted forms o* exotic culture, without growth or fruit. As to the British army, so shunted at the antipodes while we were hiring mercenaries to do our military duty at home, we had the mortification to hear the New Zealand Prime Minister, Mr. Fitzgerald, give K 2 m 132 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. evidence before a Departmental Committee on the subject of Colonial Defences, in 1859, that "the " Queen's army hung like an incubus on the ** colonists, doing little itself, and preventing any* " one else doing anything." For the large share of the civil expenditure borne by England Sir George satisfied Lord Grey that sufficient cause was shown in the large number of natives who required peculiar civilization and management. " It was " therefore absolutely necessary that a considerable " amount of expenditure in excess of local revenue " must be borne by the British Parliament in order " to provide for the formation of establishments " which are absolutely requisite for the assertion " of British supremacy, pacification of turbulent " natives," &c. As to both kinds of expenditure, •military and civil, " strong confidence is expressed " that, if the grants were freely given, the Colonial ^** demands on the Imperial treasury would soon " diminish ; " contrary to the general rule that crescit amor nummi, prcecipue alieni. The demand, says Lord Grey, upon the libe- rality of Parliament was a heavy one, especially for roads, the construction of which the Duke of Wellington had advised strongly, as the first object was to afford easy means of communication, and facilities for the march of troops and artillery ; but he asserts that the result proved not only the wisv)m but the economy of this expenditure, as the votes for our colonists' civil service for several M NEW ZEALAND. 133 years diminished (Letter X., p. 152) — implying that our normal office in relation to colonies is to fight and pay for them. It seems to me wonderful that these under- takings on behalf of the colonists were actually considered preparatory steps to their assuming the management of their own affairs. Lord Grey was considering all the while the establishment of representative institutions in the Colony. He allows that the form of government, up to that time existing, had been a failure, but he attributes the failure to a series of mistakes made by the local authorities. The chief objection to giving New Zealand a representative legislature was, in his view, the allowing colonists to legislate for the natives around them ; though this objection, he* thought, might be removed by assigning districts in which native laws and customs should be main- tained. So eager was Lord Grey to introduce repre- sentative government, that he seems to have got an Act over-hastily passed late in 1846 (9, 10 Yic, 103) to save the first session after his advent to office. This Act empowered the Queen to esta- blish municipalities, and to divide the islands into provinces, each to be governed by a Legislative Council nominated by the Governor, and a House of Assembly elected by the municipalities; and to erect a General Assembly of Legislature for the whole Colony. The Queen was also empowered to !?5I 134 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. r'::i/ ll iir; ' ' '■ ■ il '1 -x ! > ! J '■'• ", i: ; •- -j ik 1 appropriate provincial revenue for a civil list, and to set apart districts for native laws. A charter was forthwith sent out ; but, the Governor con- demning the constitution, as unfairly excluding the natives from general representation, another Act was passed 1849, 11 Vic, 5, to suspend it for five years, and to reconstitute the old Council, with power to construct Provincial Legislatures by itself. . By the time Lord Grey left office, the Governor had reported that Provincial Legislatures were established, and all things were ready ; and Sir John Pakington, as Colonial Secretary in Lord Derby's first Administration, 1852, passed the Constitution Act, 15, 16 Vic, 86, which finally enfranchised the local government, in all respects except that of native control, which was still reserved to the Queen. A General Assembly was constituted, consist- ing of a Legislative Council of ten nominees for life ; and a House of Representatives, of not more than forty-two, elected for five years. Six Provinces, Auckland, New Plymouth, Wellington, Nelson, Canterbury, and Otago were established, each to be governed by a Superinten- dent, and Provincial Council of nine members, both elected for four years. Certain subjects arc excluded from the Provin- cial Legislature ; and the General Legislature over- rides all, and has power to reform itself, and may NEW ZEALAND. 135 constitute other Provinces, and regulate the sales of waste lands. The Governor has the power of final assent to all Bills, except such as he reserves for the Queen's pleasure ; but the Queen can disallow, within two years, those he has assented to. By the Royal instructions which accompanied this Act, the Executive Council was reappointed, which by a later despatch, in 1854, was expressly recognized as responsible to, and removable by, the General Legislature, which held its first session in that year. This measure, with all its errors and complica- tions, was a great step in recovery of our old colonial policy ; but perhaps its chief contribution to the re-establishment of constitutional views was Mr. Gladstone's speech on its second reading (May 21, 1852), from which I will quote some extracts. He said, "We have not yet arrived in our legis- " lation at a just and normal relation between a " colony and the mother-country — a relation which " has been developed in former times. We think " of a colony as something which has its centre of " life in an Executive Government. We think of " the establishment of a colony as fiomething which " is to take effect by legislative em ctments, and by " the funds of the people of England. This admi- " nistrative establishment is the root and trunk " around which by degrees a population is to grow, " and, according to our modern unhappy phrase, " to be trained for freedom, and to which, in course 136 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. 4 ••h ;Mi' n u u it u n u « (( a u u a a 4( it u a it « it a a ii it it of time, some modicum of free institutions is to be granted. " We have proceeded on principles fundamen- tally wrong; and the Acts for the purpose of raising, by slow and reluctant degrees, the struc- ture of freedom in colonies have not been so much recognitions of a right principle, as modi- fications, qualifications, aua restraints imposed on a wrong principle. Our ancestors, 200 years ago, when they proceeded to found colonies, did not do it by coming down to this House with an estimate prepared, and asking so many thousands a-year for a governor, a judge, an assistant- judge, a colonial secretary, and a large apparatus of minor officers. They collected together a body of freemen, destined to found a free state in another hemisphere upon principles of free- dom analogous to our own, which should grow up by a principle of increase intrinsic to itself. It was not on artificial support from home that these institutions leaned; and the conse- quence was that they advanced with a rapidity which, considering the undeveloped state of com- munication and of commerce at that time, was little less than miraculous. You never heard of pecuniary charges brought against this country for their maintenance ; on the contrary, you found them ready to assist you in your foreign wars, and, instead of' being called on to send regiments to maintain the domestic police of NEW ZEALAND. 137 3ign send of those colonies, or against savage tribes on their borders, they held it as a grievance if you attempted to impose on them your little standing armies. Departing from that scheme of policy in later days, you have implanted a principle, if not of absolute, yet of comparative feebleness in your distant settlements. You have brought on yourselves enormous expense, and, by depriving them of the fulness of political freedom, you have deprived them of the greatest attraction which they could possibly hold out to the best part of your population to emigrate. ** The system which Burke studied when he warned Parliament against the destructive conse- quences of attempting to establish administrative power over distant dependencies — that sound colonial policy — reached its climax in what I may call Tory times. In 1662, the Charter of Rhode Island was granted, the most remarkable of all for its enlarged and liberal spirit. At this day it is considered monstrous that colonies should have free local jurisdiction even for local pur- poses." So much for general principles. As to the detail of the New Zealand Constitution Act^ I can- not do better than continue quoting Mr. Glad- stone's criticism, agreeing as I do with his general approval of the measure, which indeed was based on a draft I drew up under the guidance of Gibbon "Wakefield. t-V- : 138 AUSTEALASIAN COLONIES. J ■■ ■* ';' » :i I . t ' -I. i .:, It i '-V I * ^ I Mt I ■ ''■1 Condemning the Queen's reserve of native pro- tection, Mr. Gladstone said, " Instead of telling the " colony to look for no help from us unless they " maintained the principles of justice, we foolishly " told them not to meddle with the relations be- " tween themselves and the natives — that that was " a matter for Parliament." The sequel has shown how England's vicarious humanity and officious care ends only in increasing warfare and confusion, for which the colonists absolve themselves from all responsibility ; blaming us for all that goes wrong, and expecting us to pay for the blunders intro- duced into the management of their affairs. A feature in the Constitution chiefly debated was the number, dignity, and conflicting functions of the Provincial Legislatures. Sir W. Molesworth contended for the Central Legislature being charged with the government of the whole Colony, leaving municipal government alone at the several seats of provincial settlement. Mr. Gladstone, on the con- trary, thought it " a mistake to say that a large amount of population was required to constitute a self-governing political society." There cer- tainly was a surplusage, if not a conflict, of govern- ment in the triple series of councils, municipal, provincial, and general. But the time probably had not then arrived for amalgamating general legis- lature into one body, especially at the awkwardly situated metropolis of Auckland, which, under an erroneous policy, had been originally selected as a u u i NEW ZEALAND. 139 eort of Imperial Head-quarters for the control of the natives. The tendency of colonial opinion is now strongly setting in for centralization. The New Zealand Hexarchy soon began to look out for an Egbert, not to conquer, but cement an union of government, and for an Alfred to turn the Local Superintendents into Chief Magistrates of Divi- sions. There is, however, a strong party still ready to argue that the Southern, or Middle, Island has none but a sentimental interest in Northern wars ; much as Scotland might tell England it was a gift, if she contributed anything to defend her shores from the invasion they were chiefly ex- posed to. The clause in the Bill which only restrains the Provinces from certain subjects of legislation, resembles the United States' Constitution more than our late North American Union Act, which, spe- cifying provincial subjects, leaves all else to the Central Legislature, only specially indicating a few samples of its most exclusive concerns. Experience seems to have taught us the necessity of giving the greatest possible strength to the centre of unity, and to avoid debatable ground of double legislature ; but from both schemes Dovming Street disappears, and true principles of self-government must have greatly recovered themselves since, a few years earlier, the erection of a lighthouse in Cook's Straits was delayed during two years of continued shipwrecks, while the Minister of the . t h.- 1 ;l^ 1 ■' ; ■ 5 'i; :;;«: M m. I'll! ' 140 AUSTRALASIA! W COLONIES. Interior, in London, was making up his mind. The New Zealand Downing Street was at least removed from London to Auckland, and every Province was allowed to do far more for itself than Auckland could before. Mr. Gladstone's remark that the Bill " first " enabled a Colonial Legislature to pass Bills with- " out being sulyject to a veto at home," was so far justified, that the freedom of Provincial legislation, was subjected only to the Governor, and never to be referred home ; but no difference was made in the freedom generally of Colonial Acts. The sections 55 to 59, on this point, are similar to those in the New South "Wales Government Act, 5, 6 Yic, 76, and in the Canada Act, 3, 4 Vic, 31. The regulation respecting suspending Acts for the Queen's confirmation, and reserving Acts for the Q'leen's assent, no longer specifies a category of subjects which may be so dealt with, but refers each Governor to his own instructions. Mr. Glad- stone objected to the length of time during which the Queen retained power to disallow a Bill to which the Governor has assented, and this objection has been partially removed. The concession of control over Crown-lands to the Colonists Mr. Gladstone approvingly con- trasted with the deliberate refusal by Parliament of the same concession to New South Wales only two years before. Mr. Gladstone highly commended the gift to the r.;,! NEW ZEALAND. 141 Colony of large powers of altering its own Consti- tution, subject only to reference home for confir- mation of amendments — powers whicli have since (1855) been given generally to all colonies having representative legislatures. The nomination for life of Members of the Upper House of Legislature was objected to by Mr. Gladstone, who preferred for a colony the United States' mode of electing a Senate by the State Legislatures, which plan Lord Grey had intended for New Zealand in his Bill of 1846. It is, how- ever, to be observed that the example of Canada, which was chiefly adduced in support of this view, has since turned against it. Canada, having first got the construction of its Upper House changed from that of nomination to election, has on further experience decided, and voted on the decision, that more weight attaches to appoint- ments for life in the constitution of a body which is intended to revise popular legislation, even in a new country. Lord Aberdeen's Ministry, in 1854, had to send out the first instructions under the new Consti- tution; and the responsibility of the Colonial Ministry to the Legislature, elected as the As- sembly was by almost universal feuifrage, was fully enunciated in them. The Governor, Sir George Grey, however, was too much of Lord Grey's opinion on colonial policy to carry out this gift of constitutional government 142 AUSTRALASIAN C0J0NIE8. con amove; and, I must add, too conscious of powers and of a will to be useful, to be eager to abdicate authority. He had himself at first drafted a different Constitution, with a Legislative Council one-third nominated, and without empowering the colonists either to regulate their land-sales or civil list, or to vary their Constitution. He soon got into controversy with his Supreme Court about the treatment of waste lands; and though his plans for civilizing the natives were high-minded, yet the attempt to mediate between them and the colonists on the part of the Crown, especially on matters of title and rights connected «\'ith the land, only led to the inevitable confusion of double government. The reserve to the Crown, by the 73rd section of the Constitution Act, of the protectorship of native laws and lands, fortunately proved inope- rative for want of funds or machinery to carry it into effect. The Constitution, however, had scarcely been proclaimed, when Sir George Grey was promoted to the Cape. His successor. Colonel Gore Browne, whose government from 1854 to 1861 was also animated by the most generous feelings towards the natives, failed to keep the peace. He an- nounced his intention to keep inviolate the native land-rights, of which he was the sole adminis- trator, under instructions from England. In 1859, a disputed sale of land — the Waitara NEW ZEALAND. 143 block, over which, though the owner, Teira or Taylor, had accepted what he considered its value, yet William King, the Chief of the tribe, claimed seignory, and imposed his veto of sale — led to a conflict with natives. The case was one of Icesa majestas in the eyes of the Chief, and brought to test the claims of the " Laud League *' formed by the natives in 1848 to prevent any further sales of land, and the pretensions of the " King move- ment," whereby, ignoring the paternal government, benefits, and pensions of the Queen, the natives asserted their own government still, as if in the absence of any other. The volunteers aided by some blue-jackets from one of the Queen's ships stationed near, came off victors in this conflict. Colonel Grore Browne may have erred in con- cluding the transaction of sale with Teira indi- vidually — though he acted on the advice of the Land Commissioner, Maclean, who also did his best to set any error right — and the afiair ended in a change of Ministry from that of Stafford to that of Fox, the lerder of the party which asserted peace to be their programme (August, 1861) ; and the Governor, who had attached war to an ultimatum of submission under oath of allegiance, was superseded by the return of Sir George Grey, October, 1861. General Cameron, having been sent to take command of the forces on General Pratt's departure, desired to attack the 1. -tl lji» i V 1 f-- li ? ^. . .V: hV,.: •m fl!-.. 144 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. head-quarters of the native king, but the new Governor restrained him. In 1860, the Duke of Newcastle, as Colonial Secretary, introduced a Bill to constitute a Native Council; and at the same time a similar measure was sent home for approval from the Colonial Legislature. In introducing his Bill, the Duke still main- toined the impossibility of leaving the natives to the \::!nder mercies of the local government, or of assimilating the laws for both races; on the ground that the colonists and natives were antago- nists requiring the intervention of an impartial arbitrator, the care and cost of which mediation England should undertake (Debate, July 3rd, 1860). Grovernor Grrey threw himself gallantly into this work of mediation, parading his " responsible Advisers " before him, while they carefully kept clear the distinction between themselves and the Grovernor, who, " as Imperial Native Adminis- trator, was spending more than a million a year for the English Government, and must therefore " consider himself their agent." . Sir George Grey set on foot a Native Commis- sion, and established nafcive villages and councils. His distinctive idea seems to have been rather to introduce English institutions amongst the "natives as an alterative, than to make use of theirs. He in- duced the Home Government to contribute, besides ; their military expenditure in New Zealand, a special (( (( NEW ZKALAND. 145 this isible kept year refore imis- mcils. ler to itives [ein- lesides Ipecial grant for native improvement; on the ground that it would he better for English tax-payers to give this peaceful benevolence than spend tens of thousands yearly in war. The third course, of doing neither, was kept still out of sight. The recent dis- turbances had been made the ground for increasing the Queen's troops in New Zealand to 7000 ; besides the naval aid, and contributions to the expenses of local volunteers, and military pensioners. The discovery of gold about this time, though it disturbed regular industry, yet, generally in- creasing both population and capital in the Colony, seemed to John Bull a reason against his bearing so much of its burdens. The provincial view, however, was that, as it drew men away from the scene and service of the war, and caused the militia training to be neglected, the Colonists were so much the more under the necessity of English guar- dianship. The Duke of Newcastle wrote at this time perhaps a too galling reproach, for certainly the whole adult male population of Taranaki had been compelled to turn out in its own defence for the last two years; but a slight step was now gained in the right direction, for the Colony under- took to pay, for five years, the acknowledgment of 5^. per head on the Queen's troops employed in their service; on the condition, however, that we were to remit the capitation fund so raised, up to the amount of 50,000/. a-year, to them, to be expended on native improvement. L 'I ' rS m I 146 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. :r; US:,..:.;^!' The larger views arrived at by the Select Committee of the House of Commons, on colonial military expenditure., were not yet generally entertained ; and the Duko of Newcastle announced the Imperial policy still to be "that colonists in " general should only pay for the maintenance of " their police, and should be spared the task of " defending themselves against foreigners and " formidable tribes on their borders ; but that no " fixed rules could be laid down on the subject, " as some colonies were poorer than others " (Debate, 1861), so that a colony was now plainly invited to claim support from our guardianship informd pauperis. Sir George Grey's "Native Districts Regulation Act" gave him power, and a tribunal, to settle disputes about land-titles; but it was difficult to get the recalcitrant natives either to sell, or to utilize their lands, or in case of dispute to come to the Governor's Courts, or, if they did, to accus- tom the colonial magistrates to recognize judicially their claims. By way of enlisting the natives in public works contributing to his plans, Sir George undertook the completion of a road from Auckland to Waikato. In 1862 the Fox Ministry were defeated in at- tempting to maintain this system of separate native guardianship, and Messrs. Domett and Bell took officCj, Mr. Weld holding aloof for the time, appa- rently fearing to embarrass what he considered NEW ZEALAND. 147 In at- ^ative took lappa- Idered the Governor's dictatorship without being able to supersede it by the completion of self-government. But while Sir George Grey was still insisting on the necessity of his control of native affairs, the Duke of Newcastle, in a despatch of May, 1862, at length acknowledged that the attempt to ad- minister them by separate Imperial Government had proved a failure — " a shadow of responsibility " without any beneficial exercise of power." But then, he added, " if this responsibility is abandoned, *' the English troops must be withdrawn, and the ** Colony, following its own policy with the na- " tives, must be considered as able, as they would " be responsible, to maintain it by their own " now greatly superior numbers." In 1862 an Imperial Act (26, 27 Tie, 48) em- powered the New Zealand Legislature to repeal the 73rd section of the Constitution Act ; by which re- peal the General Assembly were enabled to assume full power over the natives, and incurred full re- sponsibility for the exercise of that power. Lord Grey, in the debate on the second reading of the Bill (* Hansard,' June 24, 1862), enforcing the argument that as long as the Imperial Legislature retained responsibility they must retainp ower in their hands, added that he thought we ought to retain both, and not to shake off the responsibility from ourselves of protecting the natives from other- wise inevitable extermination by the colonists. The fact is, the best guarantee for justice and L 2 i 148 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIKS. peace is the full responsibility for the consequences of disturbance resting on those immediately con- cerned. To relieve the colonists of tiiis responsi- bility, and let them revel in dist "banco — aggra- vated by our aid, and to be settled at our cost — is a policy which unites all the mischief possible to all the three parties interested. The interference of England must always have a disturl)ing effect in so distant a country as I^ew Zealand, as is well proved by the fict that in this very debate no two speakers advised the same policy ; but in transfer- ring the control of policy, it was clearly necessary to transfer at the same time the penalty of impolicy ; otherwise we should be only giving a premium on disturbance. In 1863 fresh disturbances broke out at Tara- naki. Sir George Grey had gone there, and both retaken a block of land at Tataraimaka, the pur- chasers of which had been ousted during the late war, and at the same time surrendered, as an invalid purchase, the Waitara block, which had been the cause of war. These proceedings pleased the Missionaries, but alienated native Allies; and were considered by the Colonists, in mode at least, of doubtful tactics. War ensued, and General Cameron invaded the Maori district of Waikato with a force of English regulars and colonial militia. Volunteers were also tempted from Australia by offers of co ifis'- cated land. hi: til NEW ZEALAND. 149 an had iased and lleast, lathe ^glish were The war expenditure of the Colonists at this time was estimated at 120,000/. a-month, and that of England, in their aid, at more than twice as much. They afterwards voted grants in relief of those of themselves who had suffered losses by the outbreak, and asked England to contribute to that fund also. The Duke of Newcastle, however, now laid down definitively, in a despatch to Sir G-eorge Grrey, dated February 26, 1863, what were to be considered the respective obligations of the mother- country and the colony in such matters. He said that generally " the cost of all war should be borne " by those for whose benefit it is carried on. This " duty of the governed does not depend on the " nature of their government, New Zealand had *' not been governed in the interest of inhabitants " of the United Kingdom." The Colonial Legislature meanwhile took their own line, and passed both a " Confiscation " and a " Suppression of Rebellion " Act, and talked of raising a loan of three millions, to cover debt already incurred — itself to be recovered by the sale of confiscated lands. Of this loan the Imperial Parliament offered (27, 28 Tie, 82, 1864) to guarantee one milliouj on condition that the Colony's debt to England ox half-a-million should be repaid out of it, and that in future the Austra- lian rate of payment should be made for every regiment sent to them from England, save one in im I'. r't;J m 11 M' 150 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. i . 'il ': t" ■.. , ./ :^ '|i. 1 it -' ! ill r i ' '|li M^ .9 «■ Mi,l *i''^ 1 ^ , J 1 PI 1 ^1 w \ ■ ■■■! ' . ^ i4 ■ in j . ' r ' ' i ■ ' «>i i ■ .'" 1 1 ^tI t" ' I'i '■■{ '.,. ■; U ■ L JlLx which might remain so long as 50,000?. a-year was voted for native civilization ; but this offer the colonists declined. A despatch from Mr. Cardwell, requiring a modification of the confiscation plan, raised ques- tions of relations between the Governor, and his Advisers, and the Commander of the Forces, and doubts as to the colonial use of the English troops, which were now expressly ordered to be kept to Imperial service solely, while their presence was made the ground for controlling colonial policy; and under Mr. Weld's new Ministry (October, 1864), the General Assembly passed a resolution that, rather than have their policy controlled any longer by the Imperial Government, they would prepare for the earliest departure of the very last regiment. Mr. Weld insisted on the necessity of confisca- tion of rebel lands, so far as was necessary to fulfil engagements made ; and in hopes, though faint, of finding legitimate means thereby of paying off the debt of three millions. Single government and self-defence were the programme of his Ministry (see * Notes on New Zealand Affairs,' by Weld, p. 25). His opposition to a proposed division of the Colony, and his desire for the removal of the seat of government from Auckland to Wellington, were both part of the same self-contained policy. General Cameron seems to have induced the NhW ZEALAND. 161 the the ew tion jsire rom the the G-overnor to renew war about the rebels' strong- hold at Tauranga, and yet his movements about Taranaki amounted to a refusal practically to accept the task on the Governor's consent; and having actually declmed to attack a certain Weraroa Pah — of which the Governor then proceeded suc- cessfully, with a body of Provincials, to take pos- session — he waa allowed to resign; and General Chute took command of the troops. There was now a perfect conflict of opinion among the local authorities, not only about the necessity of a greater use of colonial forces, and the disposal of the Queen's troops, but as to the best mode of gaining the submission of the natives, and the treatment of prisoners. Mr. Cardwell's despatch, in 1864, had con- demned the confiscation of native lands, and in- sisted on a modified scheme of " voluntary cession,'* on the adoption of which the Whitaker Ministry had split with the Governor ; and Weld, who suc- ceeded them, now had to resign. The actual measure on which he was defeated was a Stamp Duty, meant to raise revenue for defence of the Colony ; and the necessity of self-defence was the ground he chose to fall on. Mr. Stafford succeeded, October, 1866 ; and he said that, without pressing for the full control of policy, including, what was a part of that assump- tion, the removal of the English troops, he hoped to adopt practically the principle of self-reliance '■ : •'S ii'm hMl 152 AUHTUAI^HIAN COLONIKS. ¥ I \ |i :l« ! •• ^i-ai by means of economy and abstinence, so as to incur no engagements wliich he could not meet. General Chute, by brilliant successes at first, restored the respect, if not the goodwill, of the natives. But the reluctance of the Governor to part with the control of British troops led to mis- understandings again. Meanwhile orders from home came in more peremptory form, that as the Colony declined retaining the troops on the Aus- tralian rate of contribution towards their pay, the troops must come home; and in July, 1866, the Royal Engineers were embarked for England. A newly-elected Parliament defeated Mr. Staf- ford, but supported a coalition Ministry, one part of which hankered after the retained support of England. Mr. Card well's last despatch, almost the last he wrote before he left the Office, June, 1866, enclosed a letter to the War Office requesting direct instructions to be sent to General Chute to embark every regiment but one — including artillery, trans- port corps, and commissariat corps — as soon as he could obtain transports for them. The one regi- ment left was to be retained only on, what seems to me, the ridiculous condition that we should be satisfied that the Colony continued to vote at least 60,000/. a-year for native improvement. The pre- sence of our regiment was no inducement to the vote, but probably an obstruction to the voting a great deal more for that purpose. liord Carnarvon N£W ZEALAND. 153 further enforced these instructions by making them absolutely binding on the General, even without any orders from the Governor; and he abstained from disallowing the Confiscation Act of 1863 (which had already been so far modified as only to empower the Native Land Court to examine who were guilty of rebellion, and sell some^of their lands for the cost of the war, reserving the rest for native public purposes) expressly on the ground that the withdrawal of the troops had left all local policy in the hands of the local Government. The General Assembly, however, passed another Act, with such unduly wide indemnity for all engaged in suppressing insurrection, that Lord Carnarvon thought it necessary to disallow it; but it was afterwards passed with restrictions. Now came the settlement of mutual claims between the mother-country and the colony. The winding up of accounts was rendered intricate by the gradual and indistinct process through which Imperial protective policy had been abandoned. Commissary-General Jones, the Officer in charge of the Treasury chest, sent, from New Zealand, his estimate of the claims of the Imperial ^Govern- ment on the Colony. They consisted of charges for use of ships, roadwork, &c., and amounted to 1,304,763/., exclusive of 272,321/. arrears of capi- tation-rate for troops and pay of Fencibles. Major Richardson, on the part of the Colony, set up a couuter-cliiim for every sort of expense Wt\ f'!;t 154 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. ■ !» l which the Colony had incurred for Imperial troops — from wharfage, transport charges, barrack rent, rewards for capturing deserters, down to postage — amounting to 906,850/. ; besides stating that a debt of 3,000,000/., at which amount they estimated their own war expenditure, was chiefly owing to Imperial mismanagement, and that John Bull ought not only to pay for blunders of the Queen's Govern- ment at home, but for those made in colonies also while under its control. He, however, admitted the justice of the Imperial claims up to the amount of 759,621/., leaving a balance against England of 147,229/. Early in 1868 the New Zealand Finance Minister, Mr. Fitzherbert, arrived for the purpose of conferring with the Imperial Government on the settlement of these mutual claims. He was instructed also to carry out the provisions of two Acts just passed by the Colony — the Public Eevenue Act, and Loans Consolidation Act — ^by which they hoped to simplify and ease their debt ; and to establish a Mint, and to negotiate on the subject of future colonial defence. Nothing could more thoroughly illustrate the rottenness of the relations hitherto subsisting between England and New Zealand than the diffi- culty, or rather impossibility, of bringing the accounts between them to any rational or definite test. So irregular, shifting, and indistinct was the miscalled understanding between the two NEW ZEALAND. 155 parties, SO unreal the conditions of every arrange- ment, that the more the scrutiny the more hope- less was the confusion. The Colony considered the whole war expen- diture due to mistaken Imperial policy, and there- fore that they had nothing to do with it, except to endure the incidental losses in which they had been themselves involved by it. Not an item of expense for any soldier brought from England for their service — fighting, wounded, or prisoner in their cause — did they think should be paid for by them ; still less would they dream of any share in naval expenditure, which in its very nature was supposed to belong to Imperial Government. English Ministers, on the other hand, however they might recognize the want of success of their policy, felt that they had done their best, and honestly, in a government for which they had been made responsible, and that they could not reason- ably ask the House of Commons to vote more aid to New Zealand from English taxes than they had already too largely given. Fortunately the Duke of Buckingham at once took a high and liberal view of the question, be- coming his position. He at once entered with Mr. Pltzherbert into a minute investigation of the whole account on both sides. The Treasury took their proper part, as an acute and business-like Ministry of Finance, regardless of all collateral or sentimental considerations. Mr. Fitzherbert exe- I (I I'M Mi m w 1 ' il 11' iif; 156 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. cuted his instructions in the fairest and ablest manner, and in the spirit of a high-minded gentle- man. After months of discussion and elaborate scrutiny, and after turning every item of account over a hundred times, with a patience and a perti- nacity of investigation peculiar to the Duke, and after exhausting all the negotiation which was necessary to gain any footing at all for final treatment, and which thoroughly proved the in- solubility of the proposed problem from the want of any known quantities to make a basis for calcu- lation ; it became clear that a clean sweep of the whole account was the only practicable conclusion. There was the additional reason for letting bygones be bygones, that a new era was setting in for the future. The Colonists were taking their part in the empire on equal terms, of freedom and self-sustenance, with their fellow-subjects at home. A new Governor, Sir George Bowen, had gone out — Sir George Grey's time having expired — and it was desirable that he should open the new order of things with a good will. Would that the Colonial Ministry had ap- preciated and entered into the generous feelings which animated both the Secretary of State and their own Negotiator, and accepted the quittance of claims in the spirit in which it was given. On the contrary, they took the " settlement as a con- " siderable sacrifice " on their part, and grumbled " that there had not been more scrutiny." I am NEW ZEALAND. 157 indebted to them for this last warning of the thanklessness as well as unhealthiness of national patronage. The new Governor opened his career by a tour among the natives, including the Hauhau fanatics, who received him well. He made himself master of the " native " question by personal investigation, in company with Mr Richmond, the Minister for Native Affairs ; and even mastered the Maori lan- guage. He described the hostile tribes as rapidly deteriorating, their chief having resumed his heathen name Tawhiao, and having drawn a pale round his followers, threatening death to any intruders. His idea was, that if the colonists would bide their time and keep carefully on the defen- sive, the natives might " outlive rebellion," and see better times — ^a happy expression to my mind, and indicative of the wiser policy of local re-^ sponsibility. He thinks the Maories likely gradu- ally to mingle with the Colonists in their habits of life, if not put permanently under a separate juris- diction. The Native Land Court is already draw- ing, and accustoming them, to English notions of property. One Chief, Taipari, has let his land on lease to English tenants; and made liberal gifts for churches, hospitals, an J cemeteries. The discovery of gold at Auckland, Hokitiki, and Otago — 50,000 ounces having come thence to England last year, and ore to the value of 160,000^. in all — must lead there, as it has every- # i In t m n 158 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. it" where, to great if not violent changes from the old condition of things. An unhappy affair has lit up, however, once more the lingering embers of mischief from our past policy. We now see the paralyzing effects of national dependence, the helplessness at first even of brave colonists who have been looking to the red-coats of England to do their fighting for them, and the strange graft of skill upon barbarous fanaticism which natives acquire who have been played with by dilettante philanthropists in distant unconcerned authority. Some Maori prisoners escaped from confine- ment in Chatham Island cleverly, and with such order as not to injure one of their guards though possessing themselves of their weapons. The Colo- nists attempted carelessly to recapture them, and got worsted. Of such an opportunity the Hauhau fanatics took immediate advantage to rekindle war. A panic and retreat ensued, which has only just been partially, though most gallantly, retrieved with the help of friendly natives. What was worse, a horrible massacre took place at Poverty Bay — ^the Tauranga quarter — which, however, has been avenged by condign punishment of the savage murderers. So soon will self-defence learn to follow on self-government, and exceed in efficiency the more elaborate equipment of extraneous aid ! Mr. Fox states in his account of *The War in New Zealand' (Smith and Elder, 1866), that the NEW ZEALAND. 159 total number of natives by the census of 1858 was 31,667 males, and 24,303 females; but that we never had 2000 men in arms against us. In the campaign of 1865, at Wanganni and Taranaki, there were not more than 700 fighting natives against 4500 of the Queen's troops, 800 military settlers, 60 irregular cavalry, 100 bushrangers, and 1000 friendly natives. The European popu- lation, in the Northern Island alone, numbers about 80,000, and in all the islands 250,000 The natives of the Middle Island were nearly de- stroyed by wars with the northern natives before the Europeans came; and generally the natives nearest the European Settlements are the most friendly to them. (Weld's *New Zealand Affairs,* p. 53.) I firmly believe that now that these Colonists have complete control over their own affairs, they will be far more careful of the natives, and better and more cheaply able to defend themselves — there will be less war, and more civilization. Naval self-defence is still wanting, and local ship- building for that purpose. Mr. Fitzherbert asks for assistance towards the protection of harbours, and indicates larger views in the distance, involv- ing Australasian federation for the defence of the sea. This idea falls in with the Duke of Bucking- ham's suggestion, to which I have already alluded, of extending and suppleraenting Mr. Cardwell's Colonial Naval Defence Act, by local squadrons .ii fii i !'i'' » % I I 1 . all t ^'Jl: 160 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIES. supported by the colonies under Imperial command. If our naval estimates are taken at 10,000,000/., it may be roughly stated that ships and muni- tions, or what may be called the machinery of war, consume 2,000,000/. out of that amount, the annual current consumption taking the remaining 8,000,000/. If the mother-country were even to continue undertaking the whole machinery, and the colonies took their share in the annual cost of the general protection or insurance of British com- merce all over the world, it would be a step in the way of giving the colonies a sense of sharing in national responsibility, it would remove some of the impossible functions which England now assumes to herself of universal protection, and, supposing the whole force not greatly enlarged, it would save the Imperial Exchequer some quarter of a million annually, which, spent in the way of exempting others from their proper liabilities, is now worse than thrown away. This, however, is A large question, which I propose to deal with more carefully by itself in a later chapter. But I see no reason why shipbuilding yards should not be at once established in these distant stations to which some kinds of war-vessels could not be sent. The old arguments — that England involves the colonies in wars, and never is involved herself in war by their independent action; and that the Crown is not the arbiter of war for both alike, with no check but tiiat, which is practically open ii , ■ 1 NEW ZEALAND. 161 to the use of both, of withholding the supplies — could only have any force while England sup- pressed colonial self-government, and while colonial supplies for war could not be withheld, because none were rendered. The interest to be secured by naval power is, of course, equal between the partners in the commerce secured — and the rotten plea for colonial exemption that the ships are chiefly English, is only an admission that the sole insurer has had undue costs hitherto thrown upon him. England sends 5,000,000/. worth of goods yearly to New Zealand in return for wool and gold. The whole Australasian trade is valued at 60,000,000/., of which half is with Great Britain. If the carr ersj are the English, that is no reason for their being the sole insurers. Mr. Weld makes some interesting practical re- flections, in the pamphlet from which I have made quotations, on his own constitutional experience in New Zealand. He has there observed the growth of influence of the Upper House of Legis- lature (p. 62), and thinks that nomination of dis- tinguished men as officials for life, is the best constitution generally for the Upper House in colonies. The constituency of the New Zealand Lower House of 5/. householders, is as low as it can be; but he thinks not lower than it must be there. The fault of the constitution is, that too much government ia distributed to the Provinces, M i I'i fill $» 1 t- 1 i 162 AUSTRALASIAN COLONIKS. iiiml ! t.i now so easily oommunicating with each other ; and that the revenue which they spend is collected by the General G-overnment, whence comes systematic local jobbing in the appropriation of supplies, and corresponding central weakness in maintaining general interests. This def>^Ciive system, however, ..neir "Publi"^ PeT« "e <.:" is mepat as .\ step towards remedying" Hoping as I do th^b the 1-eneial Legislature will gradually absorb the government of these Islands, restricting provincial legislatures to simply municipal functions, I say nothing in the way of separate provincial review, as it would be matter of ceasing interest; much as I should delight to dwell on the history of Canterbury in the founding of which Province on the true colonizing principle of a "homing-oflf" of complete English society, supplied with all the requirements of civilized life, and capable of all the functions of citizenship, I had a share in company with my best friends, chiefly Lord Lyttelton, and the actual oskist John Robert G-odley, than whom no one did more, in the words of his epitaph, "oequales ad majorum praecepta " revocare, quibus colonise non tam regendae sunt " quam creandae." ! ■ !< i(. ( 163 ) SOUTi: AFRICA. There remain to be considered, of Colonial Repre- sentative Governments, the two in South Africa — the Cape, and Natal. The latter has only a single Chamber of Legislature partly elected, and has therefore no better claim to be considered in my first class than many of the West India Islands, which I have placed amongst Crown Colonies. But there is this difference between them, that Natal is evidently on its road to full Representative G-overnment, either alone or as part of a general South African administration, whereas the West India Islands, from their peculiar condition, seem tending rather the other and retrograde way. Neither of these South African Governments are considered " responsible " to their respective legislatures, which means r^at the Governor may refuse to yield to the adverse will of the legislature, though representative of the people. But to how small an extent the remaining servility of the colonists from past patronage may enable the executive to have the best of such a struggle, the Cape itself has given warning. To use again Gibbon Wakefield's simile, the question is how M 2 I III || ?|;: ii ■' 1 164 SOUTH AFRICA. long a fire in a room without a chimney may he tolerable, and that partly depends on the strength of the fire. hti :■ s ,:;'■ I.— THE CAPE. In the first place let me observe how striking an instance the history of the Cape has afforded of the uselessness of colonial garrisons sent to such places from the mother-country. On two occasions, before and after the peace of Amiens, the British fleet had only to make its appearance off Cape Town, and down went the flag of the old, costly, and proud Dutch garrison. The possession of all such stations rests, in war, with the power which has command of the sea. Defence against mere piratical attacks the inhabitants can make for themselves. Since the Cape was finally ceded in 1815, it has been chiefly known to us by a succession of Kafir wars. No foreign attack has been made, and our soldiers have been engaged only with savages. The Dutch, who originally dispossessed the Hotten- tots and made slaves of them, had come in contact with the Kafir tribes during the latter half of the eighteenth century; and, by a successful "com- mando'' in 1780, had made the Great Fish River their frontier. The Boers settling along the eastern boundary, kept up a perpetual guerilla warfare with the Kafirs; and the English Government received scanty submission from them. THE CAPE. 165 In 1817 our recognition of an Amakosa Chief, Gaika, as head of Kafirland, gave offence to the Chief paramount, and to the other tribes ; whence a second Kafir war ensued, which extended our bounds to the river Keiskamma ; and we sent out 6000 emigrants to occupy what we called " the " neutral territory " between the Great Fish River and Keiskamma. In 1828 Gaika's Son, Macomo, was pushed still farther off; and the "Kat River Settlement" of Hottentots was established as a buffer against the Kafir tribes. This led to a 'general rising, which tried Sir Benjamin D'Urbanv* strength by a third and more serious Kafir war in 1834. Sir Harry Smith with 3000 British troops scattered English blood and money over the disputed frontier during a whole year; but the treaty which he at last obtained, for further cession of territory up to the Kei, was repudiated by the Secretary of State Lord Glenelg. The Governor was recalled in a fit of conscientious horror of the war, and economical scruples against incurring greater expenditure. The Dutch Boers, already irritated by the applica- tion to them of our great Act of Slave Emancipa- tion in 1834, became exasperated by this, to their mind, additional infatuation ; and they emigrated en masse at an enormous sacrifice, to get out of our reach, beyond the Orange River, and there esta- blished a Republican Government. Lord Grey begins his letter on the Cape (12th) i.,i 166 SOUTH Al'UlICA. with reference to the next, or fourth, Kafir war which was raging at the period of his accession to office. He relieved the somewhat aged Governor, Sir Peregrine Maitland, and sent out a distinguished East Indian officer, Sir Henry Pottinger, with a special Imperial authority, as "High Commissioner" over the Kafrarian border, with more troops. Sir Henry made prisoners of the chiefs Sandilli and Pato, and ended the war ; himself returning, as he had stipulated, to India, and being made Governor of Madras; and the same year, 1847, Sir Harry Smith returning to the Cape as Governor, with the Special High Commissionership added to his functions, re-established British rule over all the country between the rivers Kei and Keiskamma, called British Kafraria, and treated it as a sort of Imperial advanced guard, sheltering the Cape Colony from Kafir incursion. Its actual annexa- tion to the Colony was avoided, and all further treaty-making was ordered to cease as futile. The tribes within this territory were to be " dispossessed of their independence, " and yet the " chiefs' authority was to be supported as far as *' possible." Kafirs were to be enlisted into the Com- missioner's service, who would also serve as host- ages; and under cover of this equivocal Imperial protection, it was hoped that English missionaries might spread the soft influences of religion and the arts of civilized life ; and that, under a sense of security, trade would quickly spring up. A sort THE CAPK. 167 1 and nse of ^. sort of vigil ( '" self-government was even here to be observed, though little realized in any part of the entire Colony. The Kafirs were to be suf- ficiently taxed " to stimulate their industry," and to serve as a call upon them to sustain their own administration, which was to be too simple to cost them much. In 1849 Lord Grrey infuriated the Cape Colonists by attempting to send some Irish political convicts to them, Australia having closed its ports against such importations. He offered to send the convicts' wives and children, and a Mezentian partnership of free emigrants, with them, so as to expiate the offence by innocent sacrifice; but the poison arrived before the antidote, and English spiiit and Dutch resolution united in its successful rejection ; cujua pars fu% and I retain with pride some grateful records of it. The Kafirs had been so far beaten in the fourth war that a temporary lull gave a first appearance of success; but in less than three years, 1850, another Kafir war " dashed these hopes to the ground." Sir Harry Smith formally proclaimed the deposi- tion of the chief Sandilli, and appointed an English magistrate to be chief in his stead; and having subdued the Kafraric.n outbreak, he took upon himself to proclaim the Queen's sovereignty over the Dutch settlers beyond the Orange. He received the contradictory instructions that our policy was to be ** non-extension ; " but that "so much autho- ! li ■,.'!«■ 168 SOUTn AFRICA. " rity might be exercised on the part of the Queen " beyond the Orange as would enable the natives " and farmers to manage their own affairs." The rude Boers rejected the proffered assistance to manage their concerns, and it required " a rapid " march and sharp skirmish," not to gain their submission, but to drive them stil? farther away from us, beyond the Yaal. Their President, Pretorius, after a defeat at Boem-Plats, established the Trans-Yaal Republic, still nearer the Equator. In 1852 they were formally released from any allegiance to the Queen ; and in 1853 it was resolved to abandon the Orange River territory also to the Dutch, a resolution which I stood up alone to resirt in the House of Commons, and which is now regretted by both the parties concerned. The successful resistance to the attempted convict importation stimulated the desire of the Cape colonists for representative government ; and Ijord Grey, making every apology for having acquiesced in what he thought so dangerous an experiment, resorted again to the advice of the Board of Trade with the same assessors whom he had united with them for the preparation of Australian constitutions. Sir George Napier, as Governor, in 1841, had supported the first petition from the Cape for representative government, saying that ** to the " want of the people's participation in the manage- ** ment of their own affairs, their ignorance and THE CAPE. 169 " discontent were chiefly to be ascribed." Tlie difficulties which were asserted to stand in the way were the sparseness of the population, which was almost all collected in Cape Town, the distance of the Eastern settlement, and the diversity of races. The wish of the Colony was, however, soon so strongly expressed, that Sir Harry Smith found himself obliged, without waiting for instructions, to commit the Imperial Government to consent ; and the only question remaining was how to carry that wish out. It was effected by Letters Patent in 1850. The Eeport of Lord Grey's Committee of Trade, including a draft constitution, was sent out, and the muT iv^ipalities were employed as electoral bodies to elect a Constituent Council, by which two Ordi- nances were passed, which were confirmed by Order in Council in 1853. It is remarkable that consti- tuent functions should not have been considered beyond the scope of the local wisdom which had been thought incapable of ordinary legislation. To recapitulate the history in more detail — the government of the Colony, which had been origi- nally under Dutch landroosts, had been first com- mitted by the English to a military governor. In 1835 an Executive Council was formed, and a Legislative Council of six official and six unofficial members; and the Colony was divided into a western and eastern province. By the Letters Patent of 1850, under the powers of which the Governor set up a Council with con- i|! \-li i.M' I] 111 111 i, ,'t ■ -, i ! I : 170 SOUTH AFRICA. 'II ' I '^ 1 1 (' ■■ II )■ V !■ i^: m If l|1 if : 11 stituent powers, two elective Chambers of Legisla- ture were established — a Legislative Council and a House of Assembly — the one consisting of fifteen members and the Chief Justice, the other of forty- six members under a President. The electors were required to possess a property qualification. The members of the Executive were not empowered to vote in either House. Lord G-rey seems to have thought that the triumph of the Colony over his convict scheme, and this throwing of the reins of government on their stijff necks were the chief causes of a renewal of Kafir war in 1854; because, says he, "the Kafirs " supposed the Government could no longer com- "mand the hearty support and services of the " Colony." This seems a remarkable admission — that the colonial policy was such that a colony could be supposed so alienated from its government as to be ready to use its first emancipated powers against it, or at least to refuse to use them for it, even at its own imminent hazard. Certainly the war was very costly to us in blood and in money, if not in honour ; and the desertions to the enemy from the Cape Mounted Rifles, and the revolt of the Hotten- tots, and the increasing unfriendliness of the tribes and Orange farmers betrayed a rotten state of things; while the protracted difficulties of the campaign showed how much more our policy had trained enemies than attached allies. The Orange River Sovereignty had become a WS'''' was in the jten- •ibes I of the had THE CAPE. 171 more and more perplexing undertaking since the first establishment of a " British Resident." Two Assistant-Commissioners had been appointed to act under Sir Harry Smith in his office of High Com- missioner. The contrast of such a process with the old mode of extension of our first American settlements is a fair gauge of the comparative policies pursued in the two periods. Lord Grey speculates (p. 248) on the possibility of our having from the very first adopted a policy of restricting South African settlement to the port of Cape Town ; and he attributes to the fact of our mission of settlers in 1819, the sense of liability felt by the British Government to continue the work which they had so undertaken. The district of Albany we then peopled by our unemployed work- men. At an expense indeed to us of more than 120,000/., they were there planted out in the neighbourhood of predatory tribes, to whom their hard-earned property became a constant and ii re- sistible attraction ; and Lord Grey thinks that an obligation thereby rested on this country perma- nently to protect them. Such was the chivalrous theory of Lord Grey, even while stating that the 5000 settlers we sent out at such expense had in- creased to 34,000, and that their property already amounted to fc^ir millions and a half sterling. " No doubt," says Lord Grey (vol. ii., p. 251), " they ought to be called upon to exert themselves ft 1 ', ^H i :f| \m I -w :l ■ il 172 SOUTH AFRICA. '^ii '.. u u " for their own defence, and ought not to be allowed " to extend indefinitely the area over which they spread with the expectation of being guarded by us ; but within the territory which was occupied " by the Crown they cannot, without disgrace to " this country, be refused military protection." Fvor my part, I should never suppose it possible to prevent an English colony from spreading over any desirable country fairly open to their occupation, or that our having helped them first to settle in- curred any obligation to paralyze by our protection their powers of self-defence ; nor do I agree with Lord G-rey that Providence has placed the means, and therefore responsibility, in our hands of pre- venting the fearful consequences of leaving settlers and Kafirs to struggle for the possession of the soil ; but, on the contrary, I believe that Providence attaches a better check to inhumanity in the full sense of the responsibility being felt by those who are immediately implicated in its consequences (vol. ii., 254). Lord Grey had left office two years (1854) when his friends carried out by Letters Patent the aban- donment of the Orange River Sovereignty above related against which he had himself protested. In reply to the arguments I ventured to offer in the House of Commons against the legality of such a prt^c'-ps ihii precedents of Tobago and Minorca were add iced, both of which were ceded at the P'li'CVj oi V tii^aDley by the CVown, which still held THE CAPE. 173 rhen )an- )Ove jted. |r in Isuch iorca the Iheld them by virtue of cession. It seems still true to me that entire abandonment differed from cession to another power, and the solitary act of alienation from an arrangement for other possession by treaty. There was also a question whether the Crown, in assuming the Orange River Sovereignty, had not exercised powers given expressly by an Act (that of 1836, "to exercise magisterial jurisdiction beyond " the limits of the Cape Colony ") which therefore could only be abdicated by authority of an Act, and whether the Letters Patent of 1850 above referred to did not at least offer to concede a constitution so far as to oust the Crown from any further sole authority. Thers was, more- over, a further question as to the Crown's power of divesting subjects of their allegiance. As to the general policy of abandonment, it was charac- teristically asserted " to be simply a home affair, " and that the Cape need not even be consulted " (see Debate, May 9, 1854). But as things were fast tending towards leaving the Cape both to govern and defend itself, it seemed to me that we were bound to hand over to the new trustees in good order the engagements we had formerly assumed to ourselves. We are still retaining the frontier in our hands, and I call special attention to our proceedings at the period of this abandon- ment of territory, because there is now a growing conviction and general desire on all sides that we should re- unite in some way, either by annexation ;■ i I. /*- 23 VnST MAM STRHT WnSTIR.N.Y. MSM (71«)t7a-4S03 6^ o A* .* ^ r*'/^^ ^ 4^ 180 SOUTH AFRICA. l! -f Boers and the Basutos has led that tribe to petition earnestly and persistently to be allowed to place itself and its country under the sovereignty of the Queen, who, whatever be the government, or no- government, throughout South Africa, is practi- cally looked up to by all as an over-riding tutelary deity, and last appeal against wrong. Mr. Card- well had suggested establishing an agency under the British Q-overnment in Basutoland in prefer- ence to actual annexation. But this seemed a repetition of the kind of commissionership which we had sought to get rid of. Natal had recently asked the Commissioner for help to get larger compensation for stolen cattle from the Basutos, meaning that we should fight and pay for the operation. The Basutos desired English protection from both Dutch and Natalians, but on the condi- tion of their retaining the chieftainship of the aged Moshesh, and of his sons after him. The Duke of Buckingham wisely decided that the only feasible settlement of all conflicting interests was the colonial annexation which had been prayed for, on fair terms for all. The Q-overnor was, in accordance with his own recommendation, authorized to negotiate for the annexation of the territory of the Basutos to Natal, if that Colony would undertake its government, and if the Basutos agreed to submit to such taxation as Would be required for its government. The Orange River Dutch would necessarily be %, THE CAPE. 181 Ition, the |)lony the as The a party to the arrangement, as a settlement of boundary with the restless tribe was an essential part, of it. Natal would cease to be isolated from the rest of the British dominions ; and the Basutos would be, as it were, bound over to keep the peace, and become the recognized subjects of the most powerful and respected sovereignty in that quarter of the world. The Governor found him- self compelled to act more summarily than was con- templated in this scheme, or than his instructions authorized. He instantly moved up to the spot with some local police, and entered on negotiations which will probably end in an arrangement to the satisfaction of all parties concerned, and in the permanent interests of peace. The Dutch at first refused teims, unless the Basutos would make heavy compensation in land for their plunder ; and sent delegates to England to defend their claim, car- I'ying on meanwhile a vengefiil devastation of Basuto crops which precipitated our intervention. But our remonstrance with President Brand, and the Governor's negotiations assisted by the Lieu- tenant-Governor of Natal with the Volksraad, at their capital, Thaba, seem now leading to rea- sonable accommodation both as to boundary, border occupation, and annexation of defined tribal terri- tory to the Cape. Probably Basutoland will at first be placed under the Cape Governor, in his capacity as High Commissioner, with a simple form of government for itself. Ir! f: ! n 111 w, m M- 1, i ■fl:'. :V :' * I ■ t ; ■ cl .1 182 SOUTH AFRICA. A general desire is expressed at this moment among the Dutch to he reunited in some way to the British Government; and it seems the prevalent opinion that all South Africa which is hahitahle hy Europeans should come under one powerful and enlightened central supremacy, under which great material improvement of the country and develop- ment of commerce might take place. The Duke of Buckingham openly expressed to the delegates ahove mentioned his opinion that, if the Orange State really desires to renew a connexion with the Queen's sovereignty, no discouragement would be thrown in the way. Mr. Oardwell had said in 1865 that, though the Queen had no wish to enlarge her dominions in South Africa unless it became necessary, the necessity might arise. Both the Free States are at this moment in a most disorganized condition. The Cape wine trade, which suffered as much deterioration as the spirit of the Colony under our protective system, fell prostrate when we first removed our support ; but is now learning to walk by itself, as a new cres^ture, with a vigour and a virtue which it never knew before ; as I hope the Colony will when the gradual removal of our troops has become complete, and when their government rests not on the Governor's management, able as Sir Philip Wodehouse has shown himself, but on the responsibility of their own representatives. The discovery of gold, and silver, and diamonds THE CAPE. 183 of considerable value is now adding to prospects of greater wealth for the Colony. The Transvaal Republic, athirst for gold and naturally desirous of access to the sea, has pro- claimed an extension of its territory both eastward and westward, and Sir Philip Wodehouse refusing to recognize the proclamation has a commission in contemplation to inquire into their proceed- ings. Their proposed extension eastward towards Delagoa is under cover of a grant to an English private speculator of the name of M*Oorkindale, through whom they hope to gain English consent and capital. A field for producing cotton, flax, and wheat for the English market is the prospect held out to tempt our enterprise, but under what sovereignty the territory should be assumed is a clearly preliminary question. The attempt to shut out a spirited people like the Dutch from maritime outlet, or commerce of any kind, is certainly as untenable as undesirable. Probably the remaining Kafirland must inevit- ably follow Basutoland in absorption into English government. Under whatever European rule this native territory may come, we seem mainly bound to see that every kind of slavery and slave-trade shall be prohibited. Treaties to that effect must not be made waste paper by kidnapping, or the colourable slavery called apprenticeship, or by various means evaded or violated as our present treaties with the Dutch constantly are. The 184 SOUTH AFRICA. Transvaal Dutch seem now to be carrying on a horrible traffic in the children of natives whom they kill in commandoSf which if proved will be taken as an utter abrogation of their convention with us. The constitution of the Cape, no doubt, should be completed, whenever the Colony undertakes its own entire support and defence ; that is to say, the Ministers should vote as well as sit in the Legis- lature, and be responsible to it. If, as it seems, the Colonists wish to combine their two elected Chambers of Legislature into one, let them learn wisdom by their own experience. The proposed removal of the seat of government eastward, as resolved upon lately by the Legislative Council by a bare majority of one, but rejected by the Assembly, cannot be favoured by England, but will probably be less and less desired by any colonists, in proportion as improved communica- tion yearly diminishes all reasons for it; though a federation of districts under local governments may, very possibly, become ultimately the best arrangement for the whole of South Africa. '¥\ II.— NATAL. Natal, a strip of bnd 200 miles long and 100 wide, between the mountains and the sea, is a Lieutenant-Governorship, with a single chamber of JjCgislature partly elected. It was mainly settled. NATAL. 185 dlOO is a ber of jttled, after an original attempt by the Dutcli East India Company, as an offset from the Cape, in one of the escapes made by the Dutch from English interfer- ence with their slavery. It still retains the Boman Dutch law as the basis of its legislation. Lord Grey expresses satisfaction with its extraordinary self- support of its civil administration, which, within six years of his accession to office, had been chiefly supported by advances from the Cape treasury, and by contributions from our military chest in addi- tion to our military expenditure in disastrous warfare during the first establishment of the settlement. Natal has, certainly, cost the Imperial treasury, except in war, less than any recent settlement ; and now, though with deficient revenue and in debt, throws only its military expenditure upon us, contributing to that also 4000/. a-year in the shape of colonial allowances. Lord G-rey takes just credit for his attempt to raise a larger local revenue in Natal by direct taxation on the Kafir-huts; and his despatch on the subject to Sir Harry Smith, given in his Appendix, is full of interest and philosophy. But I fear his hopes of civilizing influences proceeding from taxation have not been realized, though the natives have certainly advanced in civilization. Perpetual conflicts with the neighbouring swarms of natives, kept in constant irritation by the Bo 3rs on the other side of them, has led to an association of farmers in British Kafraria now part of the V( I !!*-•• 01J I !l 1 tti 186 SOUTH AFRICA. Colony, under the title of a "Mutual Protec- tion Society," apparently with the intention of shooting down the depredators on their property. Relations have rather levelled down than up. A member of this society took the opportunity of an investigation going on before the resident magistrate to attack the absent defendant's kraal. Trials indeed have became a farce, as juries can only be got out of the Plaintiffs* Association, except by a very distant change of venue. Two great reforms are needed for Natal. First, in the constitution of its Legislature ; and secondly, in its land-laws. The hybrid constitution of transition-times, which was conceived only in the idea of training colonists for self-government — Crown-government, with embryo representative institutions in the womb — here, as everywhere else, fails to satisfy or control the people, excites an appetite without even preparing for its satisfection, and provokes opposition without a vent for its action short of revolution. Better relations with the natives can- not be expected while the Colony is so kept in childhood. There may be circumstances in which a diversity of races prevent free and equal citizen- ship ; but a constitution offering freedom by such a process of gradual development, according to their growth in numbers, has never realized its intention though often succumbed to a necessity of violent reform. NATAL. 187 It may be argued that a population of 18,000 Europeans, 6000 Coolies, and 170,000 Zulu Kafirs, is incapable of representative institutions. No doubt the Europeans must practically be the rulers ; but the reasons which lead from somewhat similar cir- cumstances to an inference against the possibility of such institutions in an Asiatic Colony like Ceylon, do not apply to Natal, from the different relation to the Government assumed by pastoral and more or less wandering Arab tribes, more like Indians, from that of the Cingalese inhabitants of an Asiatic coun- try. As Lord Grey observes, "Very few indeed of " these people belong to tribes which inhabited the " territory now included in the Colony of Natal " even fifty years ago " (II., 268). It is possible the present race may gradually settle down into a class of labourers, and may some day take their part in a civilized community. At present the Lieutenant-Governor is in fact paramount Chief over the natives, who controls them through means of a diplomatic Agent. They are still allowed their own laws and customs if not repugnant to humanity, but they are being gradually brought under the laws of the Colony. The Natal Legislature consists of four official members and twelve elected. It cannot conform to the Ceylon idea of a mere Council of advice ; and if allowed to take its part in self-government, it must have more popular forms, irre^^pective of the incapacity of the tribes which make up the chief r 188 80UTH AFRICA. lii' ■!»«fl Ul\' ■i''\ EV4 numbers of the population to share in the admi- nistration. Natal is divided into Counties ; and by an Act of 1864 every County has an elected council for local affairs, and the Towns have municipal self- government. On the subject of land-grants, and immigration, and taxation for the purpose of settlement, much improved legislation has lately taken place, and more is under discussion. Dr. Mann holds an immigration agency for Natal in Adelphi Terrace. The large tracts which were at first improvidently granted out on nominal quit-rents are being gradually converted into smaller freeholds. Certain free grants of moderate extent are made to emigrants coming out with incomes of 50/. or capital of 600/. Leases also are offered of mineral lands. In consequence of these improvements, emigration is increasing to Natal. i-V ( 189 ) CONCLUSION OF PART I. Thus much I have to say in review of our colo- nial policy, so far as it relates to representative governments. My object has been to show how the views taken generally in Lord Grey's time have been reversed by an irresistible tendency towards a restoration of our earlier policy, which suffered a violent revolution in America, but has now revived with greater vigour, suited to present times. It seems that, on the principles of natural repro- duction, it is impossible that English Colonies should thrive without English freedom, and without that which is essential to it, self-administration. So sensitive is our Constitution to any usurpation of the Executive over the Legislature, that English custom restrains the Sovereign from any interfer- ence with measures depending before the people's representatives; the theory being that no advice is to be preferred to that of the National Council. The results of colonial revolution had brought our statesmen to conceive that in superintending, on the part of the Crown, colonial affairs, they were to treat the representatives of our fellow-countrymen, too distant to meet in Westminster, as altogether ■ hi ! fa Tfl '■IV I iHHKig i ■■H;| ' iiH" ffii '■■' '4 193 «^. ■ i ..-1; '9S H' ■';k\i ' flt ii m jma. 190 CONCLUSION OP PART I. incompetent to manage their own affairs, and not entitled to conduct public business in any way which they disapprove. Yet, even if this country bred Solons for its Ministers, it is nevertheless true of free commu- nities as of individuals, that they must earn, not take, experience. Even if our Colonies pass laws for themselves which seem unwise to us, or hurtiiil to ourselves, so that they infringe not the common- weal, it cannot be helped. This freedom is neces- sary for the exercise of their constitutional powers. The alternative is that they should cease to be Englishmen. Subordinate governments must indeed submit ultimately to a supreme assertion of general inte- rests rarely exercised ; but this subordination must not be at the sacrifice of the ordinary constitution, but is solely conceded, for the sake of its integrity, to extreme Imperial necessity. Those who think colonial independence the fore- runner of separation I ask to consider the necessity of independence to a living connexion, and whether dependence must not be rather the surest process through decay to severance. Life denied its natural element seeks for it elsewhere. The lan- guid life which draws its sustenance from exotic nurture loses the very nature of the native source it sprang from, and ultimately degenerates, droops, or absolutely expires. The kindred life of nations maintains itself by community of active energy, CONCLUSION OP PART I. 191 capacity of partnership, identity of interest and enterprise, united tendencies, and congenial rela- tions with the common origin. After all, colonial independence is no matter of option, or of gift, but must be a growth. Our Colonies are rapidly ac- quiring it in the sense of self-sustenance ; and, in exact proportion, are losing it in the sense of dis- connexion. Colonial connexion, when equal rights of citi- zenship are withheld, relies solely on mercenary calculations of individual interest, and on the balance of any profits from patronage over the expense of independence. The patron country may get some return for supporting dependencies, in their servile submission to its policy. But self- sustaining Colonies are connected by a living link. The connexion with them is an active partnership. England has the advantage of a territorial exten- sion, liberating, not taxing her resources ; and the Colonies have the credit and goodwill of England's trade and name. This is an union not likely to dissolve itself, but daily accumulating pledges for its continuance, strengthening itself, and excluding instead of inviting foreign aggression. When the first rush of population came on the gold-fields of Australia, probably the British Crown would have hardly retained the subjection of the Colony, but for its calculation of pecuniary advantage in our connexion. The healthier feel- ings of loyalty and hearty attachment are now 1 i ■ :. I t«!' 192 CONCLUSION OP PART I. rapidly gaining ground on the long start given to lower sentiments. True, the vigour of freely-governed English Colonies is likely to draw new national character from the new scenes and circumstances in which it has to develop itself. On the other hand, the prac- tice of colonization, in Mr. Wakefield's words, "has " reacted with momentous consequences on old ** countries." It has created a new form of demo- cracy, and has reflected political changes on aris- tocratic Europe. It is an interesting study to observe how many political problems our colonists are working out for us, as it were in vaeuOf which we dare not test amongst the delicate associations of old arrangements. No less interesting is the spe- culation, which Mr. Goldwin Smith is said to be now intent upon in America, as to what will be the national character of our race, mingled with other European varieties, when coloured by the novel elements of nationality, on the largest scale, which it meets with in the wider limits of the New Wo.ld. li ^^K A r*i ' HI irif- iH| Ih^ : i)i. ifc ( 193 ) PAKT II -*9»- "We have now discussed the first class of Colonies, which are possessed of representative government, and proceed to consider those which, in the rough classification which I have adopted for the sake of p(implicity in so cursory a review, may be taken as more or less under the government of the Crown. Dependencies of this second order are not, like American Territories^ on their way to a normal state of self-government, but, for the most part, are neces- sarily remaining under an inferior condition of limited freedom, owing to a large proportion of the population consisting of inferior races, or from other causes of incapacity of equal citizenship. As English Colonies proper claim, like those of the ancient Greeks, a general equality of consti- tutional rights with the parent State, under a com- mon head, so these of a secondary order are more like the Roman Provinces, which were placed under the superintendence of a Praetor, whose authority extended over all civil and military affairs ; for the cost of which, however, the Romans took care to levy a public revenue on the spot, o 194 CROWN COLONIES. while we tax the people at home, under the name of Mother Country. Towards such dependencies the Secretary of State may assume a more dictatorial tone, though practically his dictation can amount to little more than suggestions or censure. The Governor, with the advice of a Council placed about him, must always be the best judge of local questions, and must be left very much to his o^m discretion, even in matters involving Imperial interests. The Minister at home can seldom interfere usefully in government at such a distance that his orders must generally come in upon the chapter of events succeeding that to which they relate. In these, as well as in other Colonies, the Imperial Parliament in partnership with the Crown retf m ultimate, though rarely if ever exercised, con+, ' ,7e. general affairs. The Governor is in all caees simply the representative of the Crown, but with no further check on his proceedings in a Crown Colony than the fear of dismissal, the advice of his Council, and the free expression of public opinion which prevails throughout all the British dominions. The Crown rules through him, may sanc- tion or disallow his measures, may prescribe measures to him, but generally restricts itself to the silent but powerful influence of supremacy, receiving reports of all transactions and expendi- ture wbich by gross mismanagement might ulti- mately implicate the Home Government in some CROWN COLONIES. 195 lame y oi ough more with must , and even The lefully orders events lese, as lament bimate, general )ly the "urther y than ouncil, which inions. sanc- escrihe self to emacy, pendi- t ulti- n some degree of equitable responsibility. The advantage to England of such dependencies, which are now beginning to pay more of their own expenses, consists in their assistance to commerce, encou- ragement of enterprise, or in furthering and ex- tending Imperial interests throughout the world. Such possessions the Sovereign of Great Britain holds for special purposes, and may, if these objects cease to exist, abandon, cede, or exchange at any time, only fulfilling engagements made, and se- curing interests created. They are not extensions of empire, like national settlements which, if we only abstain from crushing them by protection, and allow them to act as partners with ourselves, will retain a connexion of nationality with us for ever; i-hey are merely occupations for use, and may be alienated without any national severance. As we left our first subject in South Africa, let us begin the second in the West of the same quarter of the globe. 2 Itl ( 196 ) WEST AFRICA. m The West African Stations, for they can scarcely be called Colonies at all, originated in enterprises of trade. English companies, from the time of Queen Elizabeth, established operations under their pestilential climate for trading in slaves and gold. Wilberforce turned these settlements to the opposite purpose of putting down the slave- trade, hoping to develop at the same time civiliza- tion and commerce. Lord Grey takes a highly coloured view of their commercial importance (vol. ii., 269). The commerce of England with West Africa is certainly of considerable value ; though at the Gambia the trade is chiefly French, and on the Gold Coast is retrograding ; but the question is whether our settlements have done as much to pro- mote as they have to disturb that commerce. The evidence collected by the West African Committee of 1865, of which I was Chairman, tends to show that our commerce on that coast has thriven better where we have established no settlement, as, for instance, at the Niger ; and seems to indicate as the cause of this fact the greater care which is taken by our merchants to keep on good terms with the WEST AFRICA. 197 IS, for las the 1 taken th the natives when they have no English force to back their quarrels, and the less inducement to internal quarrels amongst the natives when there is no great Power near on whose alliance to speculate. The Rev. Mr. Gollmer also gave evidence (Ans. 5927) to the effect that the missionary work throve better and more securely near Lagos before we set up a Grovernment there; and that the mission on the Niger, where we have only a Consul, is the most suc- cessful. But Lord Grey, with the highest motives on his own part, is always looking to the establish- ment and direct interference of English government as our only means of spreading civilization. In his opinion, even civilized English communities in distant settlements require the care of the Home Government, both to train them in the conduct of their affairs, and to curb their unruly passions; much more, therefore, must such supervision be required in partibus injidelium. I fear our success in West Africa has not been encouraging either to expectations of so civilizing barbarous tribes, or promoting our own colonial progress. Even our penitential plans for national redress of our injury to West Africa by suppressing the trade in slaves which we first set up, have been ill-directed. The effort, money, health, life, and mind wasted in attempting locally to staunch the supply of slaves, would probably have been better devoted to suppressing ah extra the de- mand for them. A wall of English corpses round 198 WEST AFRICA. : : i •>:■ ? is soon as possible." Our Government has not taken any action at the Niger except to institute the first exploring expeditions. We have placed a Consul at Biafra, in which neighbourhood the Cameron Mountains, according to Captain Burton, offer a habitable Olympus, whence European deities might still pre- side over African destinies. The Consul at Biafra has to settle disputes betwesn supercargoes and natives in the Oil Rivers, and between the mer- chants themselves ; and to guard the freedom of commerce. He at one time stopped a Liverpool association from setting up an exclusive trade with the native king. Bonny, and prevented exclusive privileges being given by the same king to France. Whether he can be as useful and influential when the squadron is withdrawn remains to be proved. But there seems to be some confusiion in the indefinite distinction between a government and a consulship in West Africa. The Colonial Office receives no reports from the Consul at Biafra, nor from the Administrator of Lagos when acting as Consul of Benin. Even an attack on our merchants on the Niger, which took place lately, was not reported to the Colonial, but to the Foreign Office, which treats with the natives in these parts as foreign powers. It would be better if one or the other Department of State undertook the whole of our correspondence with this country. 214 WEST AFRICA. i I;' ^1 i ! J: ill J:* I ■i ■«: i it • gS; 4 m li Lord Grey says, apparently of West Africa generally, though with more immediate reference specially to the G-old Coast (vol. ii., 286), that "the ** true policy is to keep constantly in sight the ** formation of a regular government on the Euro- " pean model, and the establishment of a civilized " polity, taking care that each successive step shall ** appear to the people themselves the natural " mode of providing for some want. It is thus," he adds, "that our own institutions have grown up." I do not think any guardian angel has so trained England in principles of government ; and I am quite sure that no miracle can set up the European model in West Africa. I rather agree with the resolutions of the Committee of 1865, " that the object of our policy should be to en- " courage in the natives the exercise of those " qualities which may render it possible for us to " transfer to them the administration of all their " governments, with a view to our ultimate with- " drawal," which I understand to mean that we should get out of the scrape in which we have involved ourselves, as speedily as we honourably can, leaviiig the tribes in a fair way of being able to hold their own and govern themselves, securing, of course, complete respect, on our depar- ture, to the claims of the few merchants and agents who have established themselves amongst them. After Dr. Madden had been sent out in 1841 to report on the West African Government, and CONCENTRATION. 215 particularly on alleged connivance by members of Council with the slave-trade, a Committee of the House of Commons adopted his view that the dis- tances between the Settlements rendered a sepa- ration of government expedient. The improvements in locomotion and commu- nication now, however, make concentration more desirable, and the Committee of 1865 recommended that the reasons for the disintegration of West African government in 1842 having ceased, a central Government over all the Settlements should be re-established at Sierra Leone, both for the sake of economy and greater efficiency. The recommendation of the Committee was immediately carried out by Mr. Cardwell. A com- mission and instructions, dated February 1866, revoked former commissions, and constituted one Government, of the four West African Stations, at Sierra Leone. At each Station a Legislative Council was established, empowered to pass ordi- nances subject to the veto of the Governor. At Sierra Leone an Executive Council also was esta- blished to advise and assist the Governor, who is furnished with a steamer for the purpose of visit- ing annually, the whole of his command. At the minor Stations Administrators are placed who are instructed to act only in communication with him, and under his general orders. The few troops required, which are all West Indian, and number about 1100, are to be concen- m ii ■h, [! 'I t \ I mvi^ m I 216 WEST AFRICA. 'l-m trated at Sierra Leone, I hope in healthier bar- racks, and police alone are to keep the peace at the other Stations. Detachments from the central garrison are to be sent out as required, as they lately have been to Cape Coast ; and a gun-boat is placed on the Gambia. This concentration of government has already led to its improved efficiency. By an Ordinance of 1866 a Supreme Court of Appeal has been established for all British West Africa, and the Civil and Criminal Courts have been placed on a larger and sounder footing. This was done under the powers of the Falkland Islands Act of 1843, which empowers the Queen to consti- tute courts of justice on the African coasts, and to delegate her judicial uathority as she pleases by commission. The charge on account of all our West African government still falling on English taxpayers, amounts now only to 3300^. a-year, distributed as it is wanted among the four different Stations. The excess of their aggregate expenditure over all the revenues is charged on our estimates. At this moment, for instance, Gambia's surplus makes up the Gold Coast deficiency. The West African squadron, the cost of which used to be roundly estimated at 1,000,000/. a-year, is happily about to be removed; its work is achieved, though after frightful sacrifice i.»f the lives of gallant men — a sacrifice only recently diminished by a WITHDRAWAL. 217 system of speedier reliefs — now to be altogether stopped by our otherwise arriving at the great object of the efforts which have been so persever- ingly and honourably made for the suppression of the slave-trade. As to this country occupying West African ter- ritory for the purpose of extending legitimate trade, it is worth while recalling Mr. Cobden's words on the subject in a speech in Committee of Supply in 1850, on a vote proposed of 25,000/. to defray the charge of these civil establishments, and for the purchase of Lord Grey's Danish forts. He was a man who combined rigid economical views with a generous sentiment of patriotism. His words were to this effect — The national obligation to the interests of trade is to remove obstacles, but not to purchase land for its promotion. Manchester and Liverpool petition for new cotton-fields, but we must not spend national taxes to prosecute local projects. We have long possessed available territory enough for opening any extent of cotton- field without Government doing anything to open it, nor is it the business of Government to acquire territory for such purposes. Nor indeed is it the way to extend civilization and Christianity to attempt educating savages over the white man's grave. We cannot take up Stations without ex- tending territory, and involving ourselves in end- less and fruitless obligations. We are told that if we occupy territory enough we may secure a revenue 1 1 I? ■? Vl '1-1 1' 218 WEST AFRICA. for its maintenance, but the result is generally more of outgoings than of income. Onr mer- chants should have every facility to engage them- selves in foreign trade and speculation, but the purpose of Government in acquiring territory, whether for suppressing slave-trade or for opening other trade, must be frustrated if only by the in- completeness of such an undertaking. Existing governments will be disturbed without being re- placed by any effectual substitute. Slaves get out, trade is smuggled, and barbarism survives, for all we expend in lives and taxes to establish what must prove after all an ineffectual administration of English power in West African country. These views seem to me wise, which I have most unworthily, though I hope fairly, epitomised. Our Indian empire offers no encouragement to attempt a similar intervention in West Africa, nor are we prepared to carry out such a project. If, then, neither the stoppage of slave export, which is better effected by the suppression of the demand, nor the civilization of savages, for which Government is the worst agent, nor the extension of commerce, which should rather seek out its own extension — if none of these objects justify the holding and inevitable extension of territory on these fatal shores, we may accept the judgment of the West African Committee, that every available opportunity should be t'^.ken for honourably with- drawing from them. ( 210 ) WEST INDIES. )ort, the lich Ision )wn the on It of [able rith- Thr West Indian Colonies come next in review. I have placed them roughly in the category of Crown Colonies, which most of them are, and more are becoming, though many of them have partially representative, but not responsible, government. Even in these the elective principle is chiefly in- troduced into hybrid legislative councils, partly elected and partly nominated by the Crown, and very few have an independtat popular assembly. To take a circuit of them in geographical order, which happens also to coincide nearly with their chronological course of connexion with us, we will consider in turn Jamaica, with its subaltern governments of Honduras and Turk's Islands, the Bahamas, the Leeward and Windward Islands, Trinidad, and Guiana ; and first I will summarily review them all. Jamaica, having for two centuries enjoyed a representative constitution, has recently volun- teered to discard it. In an interesting pamphlet just published, on * Jamaica under its New Form of Government,' it is said : " Nothing is so credit- ■n Ft ?v>« 220 WEST INDIES. ^h ml III m " able to the late House of Assembly as the fact " that it had a hand in its own extinction," and, quoting Mr. Eyre, " it sacrificed itself on the altar " of patriotism." " It was regretted only by a " few sentimental enthusiasts, who would rather " see a caricature of representative government " than no sign of it at all." We were extending the political franchise at home when our fellow- subjects in Jamaica recognized the absence of proper materials there, and even the withdrawal, owing to late events, of the most capable men they had. "We may hope that in the case of Jamaica the recession from free government is but a step back by which to recover it more securely, as the requisite means may accrue. The government of the Turk's and Caicos islands, subordinate to the Governor of Jamaica, has for the present become more popular than that of its superior, having a Legislative Council only partly nominated by the Crown, and the rest freely elected by all taxpayers who can read and write. The government of Honduras, also subordinate to that of Jamaica, was somewhat liberalized by an Act in 1853, which gave the Legislative As- sembly eighteen elected, and left only three nomi- nated meiabers. The Bahamas retain their old representative Assembly. All the Leeward Islands have, within the last few years, reformed their legislatures, which used l^lt u WEST INDIES. 221 to consist either of two Chaml)ers of which one was wholly elected, or, as in the case of Dominica, and, after 1854, in the Virgin Islands, of one Chamber in which the majority were elected. Antigua, Nevis, St.Kitts, and Dominica (see p. 290) have constituted their Legislative Council of two equal divisions — one half elected, the other half ex-officio, or nominated — while Montserrat and the Yirgin Islands have framed their Councils entirely of official or nominated members, and the Crown has in every case a casting vote through the President, who is either the administrator of the Government, or a member of the Legislature appointed by him. Of the Windward Islands, Barbados, Tobago, and G-renada have each of them one of two Cham- bers wholly representative; but St. "Vincent in 1867 substituted for its two Chambers a mixed Council of twelve members, only half of whom are elected, the Crown which nominates the rest having the casting vote; and St. Lucia is an un- mitigated Crown Colony. Trinidad is a Crown Colony; and Guiana is nominally such, though the power of the Governor is really limited by a partly elected "Court of Policy," which, whenever it exercises the power of the purse, receives an addition of financial repre- sentatives in " Combined Court." It is the unanimous policy of this country now to group these numerous little colonies under 222 WEST INDIES. i>< fewer governments, by which means their admi- nistration will be both economized and made more efficient. These islands, acquired from time to time, were originally put on separate establishments as nests of patronage, from which large sinecure salaries were long received in England, while numerous ill-paid and inferior officials executed badly the duties which one-third of their number of a higher stamp would have better performed. The great abuse of granting Patent offices, to be held by men who, living in England, received at one time as much as 30,000/. a-year from Ja- maica alone for duties performed by deputy, has been long suppressed. The last sinecure of the kind has expired. It is also right to observe that the abuse of multiplied offices was partly excusable by the extreme difficulty of communication when steam was unavailable between stations to wind- ward and leeward of each other, with the wind almost always blowing the same way, and the harbours only on one s'ue of the islands. Consolidation of government will cure some of the worst remaining defects of an over-officered administration, which, amongst other reasons, have driven these colonists to renounce the advantages of the English constitution, but the difficulties will still stand in the way of self-government which arise from the large numbers of an inferior race, and the baneful effects of slavery. The conduct WEST INDIES. 223 I il le of kered lave tages will l^hicli [•ace, Iduct of affairs on a larger scale will probably get into better hands; and a higher class of local states- men, and a more thriving condition of citizenship will spring up, which may in time produce suitable materials for representative government. The United States journalists constantly hold out to the British West Indians, as an inducement to annexation, glowing promises of economy of government, an influx of vigoroup white popula- tion, and a speedy acquisition of the complete management of their own affairs. Probably, while the coloured race constitute a large proportion of the population, the nearest possible approach to self-government will be little more than that of an oligarchy; and we must remember that when Ja- maica first possessed representative Institutions, the negroes were slaves. Lord G-rey's second Letter relates generally to " the Sugar Colonies." The imperial adoption of free-trade had produced a recent crisis in their history. The application of the new commercial principle to their protected staple occurred, in 1846 and 1848, during his administration. The abolition of all fiscal privilege to their productions, and of all preference of free-grown to slave- grown sugar, caused a colonial struggle which Lord Grrey accuses the Protectionist leaders in Parliament of fomenting. Negro emancipation had been defectively car- rrad out. Its enactment passed through a long !'! m 224 WEST INDIES. parliamentary conflict, which impeded some pro- visions, and carried others to extremes. The West Indian distress which followed- upon free-trade was, in Lord Grey's opinion, not so much owing to the withdrawal of protection from sugar, as to defects in the measures for emanci- pating slaves. These various measures he thinks, offered the negroes no fresh motives to industry when coercion was gone. Lord Grey's favourite stimulus of direct taxation was not applied when the whip was removed. The fact is that the gradual change from slavery to freedom through apprenticeship was recklessly cut short under the impulse of a noble passion stirred by opposition into something like fanaticism. Lord Grey goes too far in saying that no pro- vision was made for education and religion, for we charged our Consolidated Fund with an annual tribute of 23,000/. for "West Indian schools and clergy, from which we only last year relieved ourselves. We avowedly promoted also immigration ; but with such needless and mischievous restrictions, under a fastidious dread of reviving slave-trade, as to incur responsibility for frustrating instead of promoting the main chance of a prosperous trans- ition from slavery into the freedom which we were inaugurating. While suddenly depriving the planters of slaves, we needlessly barred the influx of free WEST IXDIES. 225 labour, a full supply of which was a necessary complement to emancipation. The slaves, let loose on the luxury of far niente, easily supplied their own few wants, and their intermittent and ca- pricious service ruined the critical culture of the sugar almost as much as a total default of labour. In Jamaica many of them took to cultivating little plots of ground for themselves. In Barbados, where thick population left no room for land-allotments to emancipated negroes, and the labouring class must wholly depend on labour, there has been less distress, and estates continue to pay a good return to their owners, who from their better circumstances did not receive so much as those in Jamaica of the compensation grant at the period of slave emancipation. To supply the general want of labourers after emr.ncipation only a few liberated Africans were at first obtained. More recently, however, a regular supply of Coolies from India and China has been made the subject of both legislation and convention. In 1866 an attempt was made to regulate emigration from China by a convention, which was assented to by Prince Kung, but de- murred to by the Grovernments of England and France on the point of a costly stipulation for a back passage at the end of five years, or a heavy bounty in lieu if the emigrant re-indentured him- self. This was thought too burdensome to the planters. The negotiation is still open, but while Q *• ) \m ■: \ 'r. (; Hmm mi I--.. u 226 WEST INDIES. the Chinese Government decline to modify the con- vention, or to return to the old regulations, emi- gration stands still. Our Consul at Canton re- commends a perfectly free emigration, without any conditions, and certainly prior to 1867 upwards of 15,000 Chinese had gone to Trinidad and Guiana on the old system, with no such stipulation, and were perfectly satisfied with their treatment. In India an Act was passed, in 1864, consoli- dating seventeen Acts passed since 1839, to regu- late the emigration of Indian Coolies. A Protector of Emigrants is stationed at each of the Presidencies, and a system of recruiting, licensing, and shipping has been carefully established with every possible safeguard. The emigration is chiefly from Madras, and to Mauritius, Guiana, and Trinidad. Wher- ever the Coolies are taken, they find laws and regu- lations made expressly for their protection, and agents appointed to visit them. The improved physical and moral condition of the imported labourers, and the number of them who have laid by money, gone home with it, and come out again with friends to earn more, are proofs that we have found in this enterprise a reciprocal remedy for the double want of employment in one quarter of the world, and of labourers in another. Those who allow a blind fear of repeating the old iniquity of slave trade to stand in the way of such real redress of its past mh hief, are impeding, instead of pruard- ing, one of the natural adjustments of the world's ! ! JAMAICA. 227 economy. To avoid relapsing into an old injustice, they would be still more unjust another way ; they would keep Coolies starving in India on wages of a penny a-day, and place an embargo on the de- mand for their labour elsewhere — having stopped a wrong service they would now obstruct the right — with the heedless cant of vicarious philanthropy. We have lately facilitated the remittance of savings by Coolies to their homes by establishing a money-order system for their especial benefit between India and the West Indies. We have also done our utmost to maintain a fair proportion of women amongst the emigrants; and conse- quently it is likely that many will settle in their adopted country, though it seems that antipathies of race may long hinder their complete absorp- tion into such new communities. But I reserve the general subject of emigration for a later chapter. I proceed to consider each of the West Indian Colonies in the order in which I have alreadv referred to them. ^ii 'I JAMAICA. Jamaica, the chief and of late the most deeply interesting of our West Indian Colonies, possessed a representative constitution for two centuries, from the time of its gift by Charles II., after the first military occupation by Cromwell, till it was voluntarily surrendered back to the Crown in Q 2 I-'jM 228 WEST INDIES. :iWi, m r yVih : ^tl 18G6. What was called popular government was practically an oligarchy of planters over a popula- tion of slaves, and the islanders were never happy under it, neither the dominant nor the helot class ; and when Lord Grey expresses regret that this sad mixture of ruin and oppression showed that " the possession of the powers of self-government " affords incomplete security for the welfare of a " community" (vol. i., p. 167), he is simply playing with the term " self-government." Cromwell's popular scheme of administration, which Charles II. carried out, was in theory liheral, and prac- ticallv so to those whom it included, but it was self-government only to the few and wealthy. Even to them the limits of freedom were narrow. They soon had a constitutional struggle with the Imperial Parliament which, treating their self- government as subject to superior orders and secondary to English interests, imposed a duty of 4 1 per cent, on their commerce for their local requirements, and regulated the commerce itself avowedly for the advantage of England. In a very different spirit from that which recognized self-government contemporaneously in the New England Colonies, they were bidden to develop the wealth of their country for the benefit of English trade, and Companies were chartered, and, soon after, the Assiento contract was made ex- pressly to furnish them with slaves to carry out this purpose as rapidly as possible. JAMAICA. 229 Then began a horrible state of society. Maroon wars and slave insurrections were put down by the planters with gibbet, fire, and lash, supported by our regular troops, and aided by bloodhounds ; and scores of Acts of the A ssembly record a profuse expenditure incurred in continual suppression of rebellion. Many of the planters fell into habits of licence and gambling, ending in bankruptcy, which led to increased absenteeism of the more respectable class; and government being left in the hands of agents and overseers, caused still more social and administrative confusion. According to the Eeport of a Committee of the House of Commons, in 1807, things constantly grew worse after the Maroon War of 1798. About that time philanthropists in England, making every effort for the abolition of slavery, were sending out missionaries, chiefly of the Baptist and other dissenting sects, whose influence among the negroes was resented by the planters ; and Wilberforce, in advancing his great work, was in perpetual conflict with the local authorities, and incessantly violating their theoretic constitution. He inducec'. the Impe- rial Parliament to pass overriding Acts, such as that for registering slaves, and to disallow local Acts, till the ferment of irritation boiled over. Discussing one of these Bills, in 1815, Romilly said, " A great deal has been gained by this debate. " It is important to put an end to the notion 230 WEST INDIES. (( couraged " entertained by the planters that their legishiture can regulate their own internal concerns." Of course the Parliamentary interference en- local insurrection. A frightful slave encounter took place in 1831. In 1833 the labours and throes of emancipation were consummated. By way of a transition stage, slaves were made apprentices, and had provision-grounds allotted to them; but this state of things, as I have said before, was not allowed to last, and soon bred its own new contentions, apprenticeship was precipi- tately discarded, and absolute freedom proclaimed. The Imperial Parliament now proceeded to undertake for the West Indians what it considered the necessary corollaries to the emancipation which it had carried for them, and to legislate, specially in behalf of the negroes, for the improvement of public institutions in Jamaica. Acts were passed for a better provision of hospitals, workhouses, and gaols ; while for the benefit of the planters was set on foot an immigration of Indian labourers, which at first signally failed. The result of all this vicarious legislation was increased local agitation, until, in 1839, the As- sembly stopped the supplies. The Melbourne Ministry then attempted to suspend the Jamaica Constitution for five years; and, in miscarrying, brought an Imperial Ministerial crisis into the Ik?land's history. Sir Robert Peel could not make JAMAICA. 231 u government, and the Whigs returned to power with a modified Jamaica Constitution Bill. In Sir Charles Metcalfe's Governorship of Jamaica these constitutional modifications were carried out. Only two slight struggles occurred : one on the distribution of patronage, and the other on the removal of the seat of government from Kingston. His popularity, talents, and pri- vate wealth enabled him to pacify parties, and to control the soi-disant representative Assembly. Lord Elgin led the colonists at length to expect greater freedom if they would look more to them- selves, and less to speculations on England; and directed their attention to the improvement of their estates, and development of their own re- sources. He got, in a significant way of remedy, an Encumbered Estates Act passed and Commis- sion appointed; the cost of which, however, has hitherto chiefly fallen upon this country. When the struggle against Imperial free-trade policy came on, after the passing, in 1846-8, of the Acts for equalizing duties on free and slave- grown sugar, the planters complained of the many wrongs they had sustained by Acts of the Imperi d Parliament. They pleaded in a Memorial that, " Slavery was first established among them by the " parent Government, their lands having been " patented on the condition of their maintaining " slave cultivation for the promotion of the national wealth, and now they were called on It 232 WKST INDIES^. ill ■>;. •■ " to make the same production with tlic required " means forbidden tliem." Jamaica certainly Huf- fered most by emancipation, as was apparently acknowledged from the share it received of six ont of the twenty millions voted for compensation ; but it had never really prospered during the pretended palmy days of slavery, and the phmters aggravated the injury inflicted on them, and which was so largely compensated, by doggedly refusing Lo adjust themselves to the change, or to legislate at first to meet its requii-ements. They greatly mis- managed their finances, and loaded their revenue with debt, while capital forsook the island; and the commercial calamities of 1847 may partly be attributed to their uncompromising resistance to the inevitable turn of Imperial policy. The change certainly came suddenly upon them, and great was the distress. Estates were abandoned; and when prices fell the English merchants refused to make advances. Havana was illuminated for joy at its rival's fall. The colonists, however, adopted shortly after a liberal reform in their electoral franchise, which brought no less than fifteen black " citizens " into their Assembly, but the boldness of this advance only more clearly elicited proofs of irreconcilability, and of the impossibility of associating the whole people for common representative government. Rumours of negro risings, and purposely-cir- culated reports of United States annexation kept !■ 'i JAMAICA. 233 Jamaica in a succession of excitomeiits after tliis period, where Lord Grey's account ends, until, in 1805, an insurrection occurred equallinp^ that of 1831 in horrors both of bloody violence, and of more bloody repression. The panic among the authorities, and the savage boldness of the rioters were equally occasioned by uncertainty as to the part the Maroons would take. Had they joined the insurrection, or stood aloof, it is the belief of those best acquainted with the case that there would have been a general massacre of the whites throughout the island. As it was, they stood firm to the Government, and in doing so deprived them of any justification of the pro- longed measures of repression which were resorted to. They held the Blue Mountain passes between St. Thomas-in-the-East and the rest of the island, and gave material aid to the authorities in con- fining the insurrection to that corner of the island. There were 1000 regular West Indian troops in the island, 500 of whom were scattered in gar- risons. Martial law was proclaimed for thirty- one days, under a local Act which was misunder- stood to prescribe instead of to limit the term of such a proclamation. All the Colonies have since been called upon to repeal every statute, which may have anywhere existed, authorizing martial law ; which should rather be treated as an occa- sional necessity outside law, to be afterwards indemnified, than a standing prescription of law. I m 234 WEST INDIES. At this time it was that the Governor, Mr. Eyre, submitted to the Legislature, and both Chambers unanimously adopted^ a plan for surrendering the Jamaica constitution, and placing the government in the hands of the Crown. An Imperial Act, in April, 1866, confirmed two local Acts, which, with a subsequent Order in Council, in June, established a Legislative Council of official and unofficial Crown Nominees, and a Privy Council whose advice the Governor is expressly instructed that he may adopt or not as he pleases. Eoyal Commissioners were sent out while these changes were being effected, to report on the circum- stances of the insurrection and its suppression ; and their report affirmed the gravity of the rebellion, and praised the Governor for the promptitude and vigour with which he at first put it down, but Cv^ndemned the prolongation of martial law and the excesses and barbarities which took place in the process of punishment. Governor Eyre was recaiied, and has ever since been the subject of prosecution by a private committee in England, but without effect. The object of the prosecutors has been to obtain a decision of what is law in cases where law fails, and where the officer in command, in the paralysis of law, has to exercise his own discretion ne quid detrimenti respuhlica capiat; and, very naturally, all they have obtained is an ela- borate conflict of opinions, with successive abortions of legal proceedings. Exaggerated expressions and but and ct of :land, utors cases naud, own and, ela- tions isions JAMAICA. 235 have been used both by those who have made them- selves special mouth-pieces of a common condem- nation of the horrible excesses committed in sup- pressing the insurrection; and by those, on the other hand, who indignantly vindicate from in- justice an honourable Officer who had a difficult task to perform, and certainly failed no further than in sufficient coiitrol, while all around him was savage passion and inveterate animosity, and who in long service had proved himself as humane, as able and courageous. The mixed feelings of hatred, contempt, and yet dread, long entertained by the whites towards the negroes account for, though they in no degree excuse, the atrocities which the G-o- vernor failed to repress, but which I fear were fully equalled during the mutiny in India. It remains for us now to consider what the new Crown Government has already done in the way of reform. Its union of the strength of localized government with that of the purest autocratic form, is justified, for the present at least, by the circumstances of the island. The first reform introduced by the new Go- vernor, Sir J. P. Grant, was the establishment of District Courts, with civil and criminal jurisdiction, somewhat like the Small Causes Courts in India, in substitution for those of the Stipendiaries, who, in conjunction with an unpaid magistracy set up when slavery was abolished, had failed to bring jus- tice easily or efficiently within reach of all classes. il 236 WEST INDIES. 1? Justices of the Peace were ill-suited referees for appeals from the judgments of their associates, being also the employers and overseers of the great mass of the people ; and the Judges of the new courts will at all events be unconnected with the causes v/hich the}^ have to try. The petty- sessional jurisdiction which so failed in Jamaica, has succeeded in Mauritius under the French law It proved inoperative in an English system, so specially circumstanced, by reason of the careless- ness of the unpaid magistracy. CrimincJ casey were ill dealt with; and while suits for small debts exceeding only 10/. had to be filed in the higher courts of Spanish-Town, the great mass of civil cases were practically unprovided for. Barristers, and Writers to the Signet, have been now sent out to take the new judgeships, at salaries of 1000/. All officers are to be paid by salaries, and fees are to go to the treasury : the common-law jurisdiction is made to extend to matters of 50/., and that of equity to 200/., and fines in criminal cases are never to exceed 50/., with the alternative of one year's imprisonment. The District Courts have since been invested with jurisdiction in insolvency, by which the Supreme Court will be so much relieved as to be capable of reduction. Sir J. Grant meanwhile has done his utmost to revive immigration, which from 1847 to 1860 had almost ceased, and which was really the main remedy for all his difficulties. Coolies have been JAMAICA. 237 brought more regularly from Calcutta, encouraged by the excellent agency of Mr. Anderson, and have been better provided for on their arrival in Jamaica, where the planters have been called on to establish hospitals and dispensaries, and to fiirnish medicines for the sick amongst the labourers on every estate. An Act has been passed entrust- ing Boards of Health with stringent powers throughout the island. An attempt has been made to regulate on fairer terms the rate of work and w^ages under indentures, and the providing of rations by employers at a fixed tariff. Even the customary Saturday holiday has been made matter of law. The Coolies on some estates have been ill- treated, the report of which ill-treatment no doubt has checked this most desirable supply of regular labour, the best possible substitute for the former service, and corrective of the precarious system of negro-squatting. There have been repeated cases of proprietors attempting to resume, from squatting negroes, their own abandoned estates, and disputes leading to violence, which Sir John G-rant, with tact, though with very inadequately supplied power, has suc- ceeded in amicably settling. The first necessity is an improved police force, which he has promptly set on foot, basing his organization on the old parish system, which corresponds in size of areas rather with our county divisions. He has also substituted a militia for the almost extinct volunteers, and u. ' il I * h fii ui; ft K !:l |l ' I believe the Internatioual Ocean Telegraph Coni- pauy of New York have been allowed to land their cables on its shores. The Blue Book for 1866 (presented in 1868), showed a deficit of revenue, exclusive of loans, amounting to 68,000A, the expenditure having been S9 5,000/., out of which 33,000/. were in pay- ment of expenses arising out of the disturbances of 1865. There is a debenture debt of 900,000/., two-thirds of which is guaranteed by Great Britain, the rest having grown up from the Assembly's habit of recklessly starting public works on payment by loans. It was estimated for the next ensuing year that increased taxes would be required to provide for a considerable further deficit. Bankruptcies were yet occurring, and trade remained unhealthy, but Sir J. Grant confidently reported progress, and affirmed that perfect tranquillity prevailed, and that a better feeling between classes existed. The crops were reported to be above an average ; but the pro- duction even of the cultivated part of the island was said to be lamentably below its capability, and inferior relatively to that of other West Indian islands. In every respect the condition of the whole island was said to be a generation behind that of the mother-country. To redress the deficiency of the revenue. Sir John Grant has extended the house-tax to houses previously exempted, reimposed the land regis- « 'l V:i JAMAICA. 243 le, Sir lOUses I regris- tration tax of one penny per acre in addition to ^he existing perpetual land tax, increased the rum excise duty, and imposed a trade licence which raised at first much opposition. The produce of these taxes, excepting the rum duty, has exceeded the estimates, and the house tax, appropriated to poor relief, has been cheerfully paid. The land registration tax has been replaced by a graduated property tax according to the nature of the land, and additional import duties have been imposed for a limited period. A Memorial, dated September, 1867, came from the districts of St. Ann and Trelawny, full of com- plaints against the proposed reforms. It was said that judges removable by the governor should not be entrusted to try civil suits about property up to 50/., or decide without jury even in the smallest criminal cases. The fresh taxes on shops, houses, and rum seemed unnecessary inflictions m.erely to supply means for such innovations. Reduction of expenditure was demanded instead, which indeed Sir J, Grant was simultaneously undertaking; nor have any of his new establishments on the whole been productive of increased expenditure, but, in every case, have proved ullimately econo- mical. The Grovernor's prescription was, however, little modified by any opposition, except in the principle of graduation which he consented to introduce into the scale of taxation. At the same time that taxa- R 2 1 11 244 WEST INDIES. i :,.■ ff ■ m tion has been increased, public expenditure, which certainly was excessive, has been boldly reduced ; but declining trade, loaded with a debt of nearly a million, at first offered no materials for balancing revenue and expenditure, and the general paralysis of island enterprise left no starting-point for fresh development. In vain, at first, were instituted reductions of a tenth of salaries, retrenchment of public charges on works and roads, amalga- mation and abolition of oflSces, and economy in ecclesiastical expenditure. The difficulty is great to float accounts on unbuoyant commerce, however they may be cleared of needless encumbrance. The new direct taxes and increased excise bear chiefly on the shopkeepers, landowners, and planters, but the principal revenue is from impox j duties, which bear fairly and proportionately on all consumers; so that the Governor is justified in now pressing somewhat specially on the richer class while he retains this broader and more equal basis for his main revenue. Deficiency neverthe- less, continued to augment itself during the year 1867, while imports were still declining, and in consequence of a large quantity of rum having been taken out of bond in anticipation of the in- creased duty. Steady perseverance in the plan at length, however, met with signal success. In 1868, the imports and rum excise recovered, and much further increase is expected this year, and the JAMAICA. 245 3ngth, 8, the much d the effects of retrenchment have enabled the Governor to recommence road making and public works, and to add 60 per cent, to the education grant. The Reports of 1867 (presented 1869) show that the new administration and financial measures have been satisfixctorily acquiesced in. I may here observe that an Act of Parlia- ment has been passed this year (1869), under which the guaranteed loans may, with the consent of the holders, and without diminishing their security or adding to the risk incurred by this country, be placed on a new footing, which will sensibly lighten the pressure of the debt on the Colony. The approach to financial equilibrium is creditable to the firmness and sagacity of the Governor, and a proof that autocratic govern- ment has been wisely adopted in Jamaica, at least for the time. It appears that the great American war led to sugar speculation being maintained on lands which protection had brought into premature cultivation, and which must still wait for a greater influx of capital and population to make ordinarily profitable. The present cost of sugar production in many parts of the island where it is attempted exceeds the price to be any- where obtained for the product. The effects of unwise Imperial policy are not yet obliterated ; but when the baneful influence of artificial and erroneous systems, both on trade f 246 WEST INDIKB. itself, and on the minds of those trained to trust in them, has worn away, and the energy of English- men in Jamaica is applied to the natural conditions of commerce, there can be little doubt that the great and special capabilities of the Island will attract the necessary influx of labourers no longer impeded by our restrictions, and command a reliable profit in the market of the world. !< •Xf: TURKS, AND CAICOS ISLANDS. Of Turk's Islands and the adjacent Cays I have nothing to say, but that they were separated from the Bahamas Government by a local Act following upon Orders in Council in the year 1848. Their affairs are now administered by a Presi- dent and Executive Council, under the Governor of Jamaica. The Legislative Council consists of eight members, four of whom are nominated, and four elected, the President having the casting vote. All adult taxpayers who can read and write Eng- lish are on the electoral re;jister, now numbering 290, out of a population ol 4372. The expenditure of this sub-government, though not exceeding the rate of 21. 10s. per head on the population, is barely covered by a revenue derived from customs, and miscellaneous sources of which lighthouse dues are the chief, besides the royalties on salt, amounting to 3000^. a-year, which the Crown gives up wholly to local expenditure. The staff ia HONDURAS. 247 of government includes a great number of petty, ill-paid officers, but on vacancies occurring some offices are being amalgamated. A destructive hurricane, in September, 18G6, swept away many public works, roads, and build- ings, which had beon just completed, and which the little Colony has creditably commenced repairing. Large contributions were sent from Great Britain, and from the sister islands, to help the sufferers to retrieve their losses from this tremendous visita- tion which, unhappily, spread over all the cen- tral West Indies. The population is said to have been greatly de- moralized by an influx of refugees from St. Domingo and Haiti during the recent years of disturbance there, but the last report of President Moir as to general and progressive improvement may be considered satisfactory, although the im- proving revenue has since somewhat diminished. Salt is one of the principal products of the island, and fresh water may be said to be one of its principal wants. HONDURAS. The affairs of British Honduras are adminis- tered by a Lieutenant-Governor and Executive Council, under the Governor of Jamaica. The Legislative Council consists of twenty-one mem- bers, who, until 1853, were all appointed by the I- ,,' i:.'' i t 'i f'% Hi ^l^iiill iU ss t'' 248 WEST INDIES. Crown, but eighteen of whom, by an Act of that date, are now elected by constituencies qualified by property or occupancy of 7/. annual value, or a salary of 100/. ; being themselves qualified by property of 100/. annual value. There are only 250 registered electors out of a population of 25,635. It is found difficult to keep up the quorum of eleven members for legislation, and even to supply vacancies in the representation. There id but one electoral district, co-extensive with the settlement, and practically the political area has hitherto been confined to Belize. The development of other industries besides that of wood-cutting, and the multiplication of centres of population, may some day afibrd a broader basis for the Legislature. This strip of the eastern shore of Central America, lying between the parallels 16° and 18" N. lat., and 88° and 89° W. Ion., bounded on its north side by the river Hondo and Mexican Yucatan, and on other sides hy Guatemala, has been till lately valuable as a forest of mahogany, but the exporta- tion of timber is stagnant, if not declining, whilst the growth of agricultural products, sugar espe- cially, is sensibly increasing. Settlers, cultivating sugar, tobacco, rice, maize, and even cotton, are beginning to divide local interests with the old merchants of Belize. The English first acquired a footing in this quarter by i aty with Spain in 1670. By the HONDURAS. 249 this the treaties of 1783-6 Spain acknowledged a limited soveieignty in Grreat Britain, but the boundaries were left very indefinite. Renewed Spanish inva- sion, successfully repulsed in 1798, is considered to have obliterated the conditions of those treaties, and to have left the territory in the hands of the British Crown by right of conquest ; nor have the succeeding American republics ever been allowed to exercise the old Spanish rights. The Clayton- Bulwer treaty of 1850 expressly recognized this British settlement. Indian warfare has been the bane of this Colony. On the Mexican side of the Hondo the Santa Cruz Indians, whose territory is conter- minous with ours from the mouth of that river for a considerable part of its course, live practically in a state of independence, and seek the extermina- tion of the Spanish Mexicans and the extinction of Europeans altogether from Yucatan. The Ycaiches, on the contrary, pretending allegiance to Mexico, are constantly disputing, under their Chief Canul, the boundaries of the two countries, demanding rent for lands which our colonists claim. In 1867 an invasion by those Mexican Indians led to a total desertion of our western district, and was only repelled by the prompt aid brought by Sir John Grant himself from Jamaica. Both tribes depend on our Colony, to some extent, for supplies ; and our various relations with the • Mexican Government, which one tribe 250 WEST INDIES. ^ ' jih y 11. \l{;' rebels against, and the other owns allegiance to, while hostile to us, have involved the Government in much perplexity. The marking out and survey of our western frontier, authorized by a convention of 1859 with Gruatemala, has been begun, but has been found hitherto too costly a process to carry out, while the northern boundary line joining it to the Hondo was not up to 1867 even theoretically determined. At the north-western corner of the settlement a pretext was thus afforded to the Ycaiches to violate our territory in a quarter where there is no settled civilized power for us to treat with, and where our old-established mer- chants assumed a monopoly of interest and a lien on our protection. We have at length taken the completion of the northern boundary into our own hands, fixing the completing line somewhat within what we claim. Our avowed determination to abide by this line, coupled with the firm but conciliatory attitude taken by Lieut.-Grovernor Longden on all occasions, has brought about for the present pacific relations along the whole frontier. The garrison of Honduras used to consist of three companies of infantry, and a few artillery- men. The colonists were called upon to take part in their defence, either by placing on their rivers, at the joint expense of the Colony and Mother- country, one or more armed transports of light draught, or by contributing to the maintenance of HONDURAS. 251 every soldier in excess of one company. The former proposition proved of doubtful practica- bility, and the Assembly declined the latter. The garrison, therefore, has been ordered for reduction to one company, but the colonists have established an armed, and partly mounted, " Frontier Police Force," which, though its present strength does not exceed twenty, may be the nucleus of a suffi- cient force. The Imperial Government is now insisting on a speedier reduction of their garrison and develop- ment of local police ; but the Lieutenant-Grovernor pleads the state of disturbance, aggravated by the excitement during Maximilian's brief empire, as a reason for our continuing a little longer a garrison of three companies, while the local frontier police, under a captain of the British service, are acquiring competency to undertake the I)eace of the Colony. The Imperial Government then stipulate, in consideration of the retained garrison, that the Colony should maintain always a river gunboat, and entirely demur to the mer- chants' demands of permanent protection, and even of compensation for their loss^cs by raids which we have failed to ward oflf. Mexico, indeed, remains an awkward neighbour, by reason of its hopelessly unsettled and impracticable government. During the subsistence of the Spanish treaties, and even down to 1817, land was occupied by British settlers under wood-cutting licences only. 252 WEST INDIES. -» J, . . ? 4 1^ *4;. ■fk t I Tracts so taken up were called " locations." From 1817 to 1839 waste land was disposed of by " grant," but to what extent and on what con- ditions is not recorded. Titles thus given were quietly accepted as freehold, but in the absence of a general survey claims were rudely defined and sometimes clashed. By far the greater portion of the land came in this way into the hands of private individuals, and was suffered to pass unchallenged from one to another by descent, testament, or sale. Titles founded on " locations " afterwards received legislative recognition, and more recently a law was passed which enabled individuals by register- ing their claims to acquire ^^primd facie titles," and after a short period to establish them against all comers except the Crown. Since 1839 Crown land has been nominally disposed of at an upset price of 1/. an acre, but little or no land has been sold. In 1866 this price was reduced from 1/. to lOs. But even +his price puts the Colony at a dis- advantage in competing with the United States, where land may be obtained ready surveyed for one dollar and a quarter an acre. As yet the Colony has not been surveyed. The Crown has the exclusive control of waste land, and derives from this source a revenue of about 600/. a-year. In 1868 a petition came from the Colony for the management of Crown land, with the revenue derived from it, by the Colonial Government. The Duke of Buckingham agreed to entertain any HONDURAS. 253 >» well-considered scheme of transfer. Amongst the proposed conditions were reserves of land for natives, and an annuity of 400^. to the Crown for contingent expenses of government. The objects in view included a general survey and a further reduction of the price of land, so as to place the Colony on a better footing for com- petition with neighbouring countries. The revenue is, by the last accounts, gradually balancing the expenditure; and the public debt, after all, scarcely exceeds a year's income, or about 32,000/., exhibiting an enviable condition of sol- vency to an English statesman's eyes. The expenses incurred by this country in the defence of Honduras against the Mexican Indians in 1867 are being gradually repaid. Out of a population of 25,000, the reports of last year state that there are only sixteen in-door and forty-three out-door recipients of pauper relief, a state of things scarcely justifying any charge on the English taxpayer for the support of so thriving a Colony. The revenue rose from 35,725/. in 1867, to 42,416/. in 1868. Half this increase was pro- duced by a tax on houses and land, borne by the richer class. Import duties, paid by the general consumer, have since been reduced. The Colony in its soil and climate offers abun- dant facilities for the growth of sugar. The great desiderata are capital and labour. In 1868 an 2,U WEST INDIES. M- It , Act was passed to promote the immigration of labourers. Three years ago a large immigration, including agriculturists with capital, from the United States was looked for, and some immigra- tion has taken place from that quarter, although not to the extent which was expected. The principal settlement of the new comers is at Toledo in the south. The question of altering the constitution was three years ago raised in the Assembly, but has not been followed up. The Colony is rapidly changing its charncter. It remains to be seen whether the development and spread of agricul- ture, and influx of new population will not be such as to give fuller scope, and fresh action to the existing constitution. A grant of 1000^. for education is, under a law passed in 1868, equitably administered on the principle of payment according to attendance, without regard to religious denomination. A grant of 1600/. for public worship is monopolized by a comparatively few Anglicans and Presby- terians, but the Legislature is now proposing a more general distribution. By new postal arrangements despatches may pass to and fro direct between this country and Honduras ; instead of, as heretofore, only through Jamaica. BAHAMA?*. 255 BAHAMAS. The Bahamas, early abused as a rendezvous for pirates and buccaneers, recently suffered from their local attractiveness to blockade-runners during the American civil war. Their trade, like their neighbouring seas under the influence of a sub- marine volcano, underwent the violent alternation of a sudden inflation, followed by collapse; and the spirit of gambling which gets abroad in such disordered times still haunts the place for its ruin. Between 1861 and 1864 the year's revenue rose from 40,000Z. to 106,000/.,^ and the imports from 270,000/. to 5,340,000/.; the public debt wab 43,000/. in 1862, and was cleared ofi'in 1865; but in 1868 the revenue had relapsed to 40,000/., and the imports to 230,000/., and the debt had sprung up again to the unprecedented amount of 51,000/. This group of twenty inhabited islands, besides numerous islets on the great Bahamas bank which fringes the I^lorida extremity of the States, have been comprised under one representative Govern- ment for more than a century ; but the Assembly, which meets at Nassau, in New Providence, does not fairly represent all the out-islands. The Turk's and Caicos islands were transferred to the Jamaica Government in 1848. To San Salvador attaches the great interest of its being the first land discovered by Columbus in the Western world. All the group, stretching from Florida to St. Domingo, I X 1^" t€ i-ip^;' '"4 I t -■!'''■■ >| .Mr 256 WEST INDIES. has been in the hands of Spain or England, or of buccaneers, ever since, and became finally ours at the Peace of Versailles, in 1783. It appears that considerable constitutional changes are required in this Goveromont. The fact that SO" ^e official men and L . 'sip! 3 a/e said to be more or less interested or tj!igt»p:*'rl in systematic wrecking shows a state ot thin. ;- uti'>' ly unsound. The whole condition of the Colony iiat changed since its representative constitution was first given. There is not the same class of merchants for its resident landed proprietors which then existed. The present petty land-owners are reported to have reduced the land to a state of shameful neglect. The revenue is deficient. The As- sembly is a narrow circle of family relations. The constituencies, consisting of all male inhabit- ants of full age being freeholders, or householders having resided twelve months, are merely tools of various ministers of religion, who exercise the chief influence over the whole population, and keep up perpetual strife between the Church, the Kirk, and the Chapel. Within the last two years there has been a great agitation for the separation of the Church from the State, raised by demands coming on a falling revenue for restoring churches and chapels destroyed by a hurricane. A dissolution and an election took place early in 1868 on this question of disendowmeut, and the sequel has been a pro- BAHAMAS. 257 spective p rneral disendowmont Act, irre ipective of creed. The oW Asseml!y hpd passed a rooolution to throw thi support of church-fabrics on the con- frregntious; to disedov benefices; to annihilate the parochial system; and to deal similarly with the Kirk. The Legislative Council had rejected the proposal ; but, after the election, they gave way. A "Temporaliiies Regulation Bill" had been attempted in vain by the Government, who were sincerely de- sirous to carry out an ecclesiastical retrenchment. The establishment was certainly excessive for the amount of population, which altogether numbers little more than 35,000. The question of repeal- ing the Church Constitution Acts of 1806 and 1820 was a fair one for local discussion ; and remarkably parallel with our own Irish Church agitation at home. There was the same desire on the part of a large body to substitute the voluntary principle for that of establishment in all religious matters. But this agitation, turning upon a question of rebuilding public churches destroyed by hurricane, bore a character of repudiati n of existing legal obligations, if not of all religious obligations, which certainly ours did not. Resolutions were passed at the same time by the Assembly to retrench all fixed expenditure, such as salaries of police, and superannuation pensions, without even saving existing claims ; but the Legislative Council upheld the faith and s ft'- 258 WKST INDIES. ^i;: fji ■' m ■ m:i m^ m credit of tho Government by rejecting all such resolutions. Retrenchment of the salary of the Governor was agreed upon by both Chambers. This way of reducing the deficit of their revenue, which in 1867 little exceeded half their expenditure, they all approved, and they proposed quartering their Governor wholly upon us ; but on our threat of withdrawing the 1200^. with which we subsidize their contribution of 800/. to his salary, this little scheme of economy vanished. With representative colonial legislatures, of course, the Crown can only cautiously interfere in financial matters. The Governor in this case has managed, with a very limited issue of Govern- ment paper, and a consolidation of offices, to sub- stitute for wild schemes of repudiation, a solid reduction of salaries and expenditure. The question of an outlay on new defences of Nassau has very properly disappeared from the dis- cussion of the Legislature. The cost of sufficient works to secure the island from mere piratical attack, was estimated by Major Cumberland, R.E., in 1865, at 6500?., the garrison being then five hundred black troops and twelve artillerymen. The works, already begun, were stopped in 1866 by Governor Rawson's orders, in consequence of the hurricane losses. Even if the Colony were solvent and flourishing, it is a very disputable point whether such expenditure would be wise. mm such rernor 8 way lich in , they ^ their :eat of bsidize IS little res, of iterfere lis case rovern- to sub- a solid nces of the dis- ifficient )iratical I, xv.ri., ten five rymen. n 1866 lence of y were putable e wise. BAHAMAS. 259 The Colony, however, must certainly first be made to maintain what is indisputably necessary — its own police, and that in a state of efficiency — before it attempts works of doubtful utility ; nor can it be allowed to decline its share of recruiting for the West India Regiments, when called upon. Our interest is to get the Colony in such a state of good order, and capacity of self-defence, as to avoid both the risks of embioilment with neighbours, and the liability to have the consequences of dis- turbance thrown upon ourselves. Salt is produced in Inagua, «vnd some of these islands were formerly cotton-fields, and, if the Ame- ricans possessed them, it is not impossible that more important trade might employ a population now engaged only in getting sponges and turtles when not wrecking. The Assembly have petitioned the Crown to re- linquish its lands, and a casual revenue of fines, and the salt-ponds, to their disposal. The lands which before 1802 were granted on quit-rents of 2^. per 100 acres, and after 1802 of Id. per acre, have since 1834 been sold by auction at an upset price varied from time to time. Owing to neglect of issuing titles, and of collecting purchase-money, the tenure of land fell into confusion, but measures have been taken to cure past negligence, and to pre- vent it in future. Lately, lots have been surveyed and granted out, and an office of inspectors has been established to prevent squatting. The salt- . s 2 260 WEST INDIES. hi ponds used to be freely distributed amongst the in- habitants; but in 1840, after slavery was abolished, one- third of them were leased, in 1851 all gra- tuitous tenure ceased, and in 1858 half of the lease- holds were converted into freeholds. The re- maining lessees are in arrears with their rents. They have now been offered, in lieu of their rent of 305. per aero, the substitution of a royalty of Jc?. per bushel of exported salt, security being first given for payment of arrears. This may prove a considerable relief in bad seasons. Possibly, if the initiation of money votes were secured to the Executive, and more effective administration pro- vided, the whole revenue might be safely sur- rendered to the Assembly. It is, however, a ne- cessary preliminary that the Assembly itself should be reformed, and the representative principle, if it can be sustained at all, made more equal, and free from present influences. An independent Wreck Court seems absolutely necessary, at which H.M. officers on that naval station might assist the judges; and this was ac- tually under discussion when the late Government left office, and might render the naval station still worth maintaining, if only for the euppression of colonial wrecking. The great hurricane of 1866 swept these islands just as they were rallying from the effects of two years' exhaustion by an epidemic fever, and by the sudden cessation of the vicious stimulus of the war. The Government had been making great BAHAMAS. 261 efforts to diveit the Colony from the gambling tendency of the recent war times, and to turn speculation to the cultivation of cotton, and of various products for which the place was -specially favourable. This unfortunate visitation checked all such reformation. A general deficiency of revenue followed, and public works have been suspended. The town of Nassau, however, presents redeeming features of vigour in restoration from destruction ; and it may be hoped that after the first repulse a spirit of renovation and improvement may be induced by wise reforms ; and just as moral injury has been inflicted by false and vicious prosperity, so a new energy and virtue may spring out of provi- dential misfortune. After the hurricane came a drought, neutral- izing efforts for renewed production. The natural products of pines and oranges were reduced one- half, the exports were not a fifth of those of the year preceding the hurricane. The sea, stirred from its foundations, failed of its usual sward of sponge. Salt alone increased in quantity, but that was im- portant. Public debt has risen to an unpre- cedented amount, and revenue fallen further in arrear of expenditure. Mr. Johnstone, who, with the sanction of the Duke of Buckingham, was employed to report on the capability of these islands of greater production, reports only ex- haustion, and decadence from greater previous value. 262 WEST INDIES. I! M ►•< It 1 LEEWARD ISLANDS. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Taking next the Leeward group, which was placed, by Royal Commission in 1832, mider the orders in chief of Antigua, the Yirgin Islands come first in our line of review — a cluster of fifty rocks, so named by Columbus in honour of all Llie virgins in the Romish calendar, but having come more like Yulcan than Yenus out of the fiery Caribbean Sea. The chief island belonging to Great Britain is Tortola. The United States, in search of naval stations all ove^ the world, have recently nego- tiated for, but not completed, the purchase of three which belong to Denmark; namely, St. Thomas, St. John, and St. Croix ; and Spain claims the islets round Porto Rico, except Crab Island and Culel^ra, in the " passage," which are ours, but unoccupied. Our islands were first colonized by the Dutch in 1648, and were annexed to the Leeward Islands by Charles II., and peopled from Anguilla. The first Representative Assembly was granted, at the petition of the inhabitants, on condition of a civil list being permanently provided for out of the 4^ per cent, export duty already mentioned. But this tax, imposed by imperial stipulation for local services in all the British West Indies, was remitted after emancipation. In 1867, the constitution, which had received the last of many amendments in 1859, was totally surrendered by a local Ordinance, and the Colony placed itself under Crown government with a VIRGIN ISLANDS. 263 ?h was ler the Is come ' rocks, virgins 3 more 'ibbeaa Britain f naval T nego- Df three Thomas, le islets )ulebra, 3cupied. utch in Islands !;r anted, ition of : out of itioned. tion for ies. was 'eceived totally Colony with a single Chamber of Legislature, consisting of three official and three unofficial members, all nominated \)y the Governor, who has himself both a casting and a deliberative vote. It was high time for this change, as the old Legislature could not be got to agree to any of the ordinary expenses of govern- ment, or to the most obviously necessary taxation. In the autumn of 1867 a statement appeared in our newspapers that Tortola had been sub- merged, and that all its inhabitants had perished : and, indeed, when the dreadful truth of devasta- tion by a hurricane and submarine convulsion came out, it proved to be practically little short, except as to loss of life, of the first rumour. Sir Arthur Rumbold, the Grovernor, has just died from the shock he then received at the sight of ruin and misery around him, unde:: the horror of which Lady Rumbold sank at the time. Relief and restoration have been the sole work of go- vernment ever since, to which magnificent contri- butions were voted by the Legislature of Antigua, and privately subscribed in England. Perhaps the charitable relief of Tortola was even overdone, especially as the devastations by hurricane at St. Thomas's raised such a demand for labour in that more vigorous island as to place any amount of wages within reach of those who were thrown out of the little employment they ever had at Tortola. The last yearly Report from Tortola, dated November 6, 1868, describes the general confusion of affairs still caused by this destruction. Rt 'i'W 264 WEST INDIES. 1 '' ' ^ if. 1 m The above-mentioned Crown Constitution Ordi- nance of 1867, however, to quote the Eeport, "had " put an end to electioneering feuds, and to the " election, by irresponsible persons, of legislators " utterly ignorant of their duties, alike to their con- " stituents and to the Government, entirely biassed " in their work by private feelings." The failure of government must have been complete before such a Legislature could have felt compelled to put an end to itself. Another reform of 1867 was the Jury Ordi- nance, which reduced the number of jurors to six in criminal cases, and abolished juries in civil cases. It has, however, been since provided that, as at St. Kitts, either the plaintiff or defendant may demand a jury. The negroes are certainly unfit for jurors, especially in civil cases. Mr. Stuart Mill's test of valid laws, that they must commend themselves to the common sense of juries, would not hold where that sense is so wholly wanting. In decisions, however, of matters of fact merely, it may be useful, even under such circumstances, to interpose any sort of jury to relieve a judge from pressure, where small judicial emoluments cannot always secure independent judges. The inferiority of the administration of justice has led to recommendations to forego the severer kinds of punishments, however needful; so true is it that such small societies are fertile of evils which they are untrustworthy to correct. VIRGIN ISLANDS. 265 With a population of about 6000, a revenue of 2000/., and a trade valued at 8000Z. a-yecir, this subaltern Presidency resembles rather a small Irish estate crowded with pauper tenantry, than a province of Empire. The Report sent in 1866 states the previous year's expenditure on account of what is called a militia to have amounted to 36/. 12^. l^d. — chiefly the pay, and surely a poor one, of a drummer and fifer, and for care of the arms. The sum of 46/. 135. 10c?. was expended during the same year (1865) in public works; but, "by the great liberality of Her " Majesty's Grovernment," 607/. 19^. 7c?. was pro- vided from the Crown rents of the neighbouring Isle of Sombrero for the building of a court-house. Our steam-packet station at St. Thomas, one of the islands now under treaty for sale by Den- mark to the United States, generally gives a few weeks' employment to our population, who return to their homes for the rest of the year to spend their earnings in idleness. Public education is restricted to children between the ages of five and twelve, in order to turn out the young as soon as possible to work; but the rising generation are reported to be only less inclined to industry than their predecessors, while nine per cent, of the whole revenue is spent in relief of poor. The cultivation of sugar is almost abandoned, and cotton cultivation is only attempted in scat- tered spots. 266 WEST INDIES. ^K. During the year 1868 the revenue was reported to be diminishing and expenditure increasing, in consequence of collapsing industry, and heavy losses occasioned by cholera and other epidemics raging around. Only S2l. was that year expended on public work«, and the court-house, begun by Her Majesty's liberal grant of the last year's rents from Sombrero, remained unfinished. Mr. Cardwell had offered to annex Sombrero — which a phos- phate company are now renting, and where guano has been found — to the Virgin Islands altogether, if they would only maintain the lighthouse on its shore, which the Board of Trade superintend from St. Kitts ; but they refused the offer unless made freely, upon which the islet, though not without dispute, has been joined to the government of St. Kitts. Altogether, the state of this Colony is not cre- ditable to our past or present colonial system, and presses strongly on our attention the necessity of grouping government on a larger scale. In spite of unhealthiness, recent devastation, and its impending acquisition by the United States, the island of St. Thomas is still latained as our packet-station ; but this may arise only from a temporary suspension of plans, owing to the recent stoppage v)f the Panama line of steamers, and the oxpectatio.i of ir:ea,t changes coming from the new postal and telegraphic communications which are in proC'^ vx OMCabiishiiiijrit. t::-P NEVIS. 267 NEVIS. The Island of Nevis constitutes now a joint Lieutenant-Governorship with St. Kitts. Its population numbers 10,000, down to which amount emigration, balancing natural increase and some Portuguese immigration, has kept it for some years. Its extent is about 50 square miles, its revenue varies between 6000^. and 7000^., its yearly ex- ports scarcely rise above 30,000^. in value, and its public debt a little exceeds half-a-year's revenue. Here, as elsewhere, the representative form of constitution has proved impracticable^ owing to the large proportion of the population of the negro race. Nothing but a much larger aggregation of the white or mixed race — by the union of these little governments — can furnish materials for the practical working of an electoral system, in which the great mass of negroes might safely play their inferior part. The political franchise in Nevis had in itself an additional element of failure, in being confined, even among the whites, to a number of petty free- holders of fragments of land, while leaseholders of hundreds of acres were excluded. In 1866 a local Act "to amend and simplify " the Legislature " combined the old Council with the elected Assembly in a single Chamber, where two ex-officio members — the Colonial Secretary and 268 WEST INDIES. , III'- 1 - ¥ i Solicitor-General — and three nominated members, balance five elected members, and the Lieutenant- G-overnor has the casting vote, who reported in 1868 that the change had been already fruitful of much good. The sugar cultivation in Nevis has been lately improved, both by better drainage of the land, and better machinery for the preparation of the cane ; but the cotton cultivation, which the American war occasioned, has since the peace declined. No military expenditure appears directly in this island's accounts. Ecclesiastical property has been taken over by the public body, and all the costs of buildings, repairs, furniture, and expenses for the ordinances of the church are charged on the revenue. Not a shilling of taxes is spent on national ediicpiion, which is provided for only by a few Church and Wesleyan private schools. When this island was yni by Mr. Cardwell, in 1865, under one Lieutenant-Grovernor with St. Kitts, its legislature and administrative establish- ment were left intact, and unconsolidated with those of tne other island. '- I ST. KITTS AND ANGUILLA make up the entire subaltern command with Nevis. These two islands together contain a popu- lation, chiefly negro, of 26,000. In the single year ST. KITTS AND ANGUILLA. 269 1854, St. Kitts was stript of one-sixth of its inha- bitants by cholera. A great amount of iufan c mor- tality, caused by neglect, habitually keepy down the natural increase of this island's numbers, and the births are more than half illegitimate. The exports are valued at 190,000^., and the revenue is at the rate of 1^. per head of the popu- lation, the contribution of Anguilla being raised by a duty of five cents on every exported barrel of salt. As in all the West Indies, the vicissi- tudes of agriculture are such as to make the re- venue, chiefly depending on it, very variable. In 1864-65 that of St. Kitts was reduced 30 per cent, by a drought. The principal items of expen- diture are a vast number of little official salaries. The clergy are paid out of the public funds, } arochial vestries having been abolished, and the benefices consolidated in 1856. There is now no local taxation, even the municipal establishment of Basseterre, constituted in 1861, being charged on the general revenue. The militia is reported to be improving. Owners of large estates furnish troopers for the cavalry, for which service part of their taxes are remitted to them. The old military buildings of all boKs have been assumed by the Colony as their property, and partially dismantled ; some clumsy old forts being left for Her Majesty to use, if she pleases. Immigration, for which there is a special export duty appropriated, is principally of Portuguese 270 WEST INDIES. from Madeira, and of Africans liberated by the Commission Courts. A few Coolies come, but gene- rally pass on as soon as they can to Trinidad and Guiana. Of the 42,000 acres in St. Kitts, 18,000 are xmder sugar cultivation, and the other 24,000, ex- cept the places built upon, are pasture or mountain, and uncultivated. This sole cultivation of sugar is better conducted than its manufacture. No specu- lation in cotton, since the peace, has thriven. The planters complain of the indolence of their labourers, but the reports of the magistrates' courts show that few actual disputes arise between them. in 1866 an Act "to amend and simplify the constitutii i " was passed by the Legislature, which until then consisted of a Council of eight appointed by the Lieutenant-Grovernor, and an Assembly of twenty-t ight elected by the various parishes. A single ''hamber was substituted of twenty members, three of whom were the chief officials, seven nominated by the Crown, and the other half elected as before, only for five years instead of the old term of thirteen, the Lieutenant- Governor having the casting vote. A second Act of that year, "to make better provision for the " conduct of the Executive Government," abolished the old " Administrative Council." A great fire nearly destroyed Basseterre in 1867. For its restoration on a much-improved plan, 25 per cent, was added to the customs. It is MONTSERRAT. 271 creditable to these little islanos that they have never created permanent debts ; and even for the restoration of their fine old church, St. George, they only borrowed a short loan in England. Anguilla lies 60 miles to the north-east of St. Kitts, and sends a representative to the Council, having for its own local administration (what would really suffice for all the smaller islands, and suit them best) a Stipendiary Magistrate, and a Yestry which in this case was lately set up again for the purpose. Its population are a peculiarly fine mixed race, about 2000 in number, but mi- gratory; in religion mostly Wesleyans, the only Church service being performed in a school-room. Sugar cultivation is here almost abandoned, and that of cotton has ceased since the peace. Salt is at present the chief product^'on, though here as elsewhere past English policy is more to blame for unproductiveness than Nature. MONTSERRAT in the year 1861, substituted a partly-elected Council for the representative Legislature which it had enjoyed since 1668; and in 1867, after an election of the popular portion of its new Council had been taken specially on the question, it con- stituted itself a purely Crown Colony. The white population is only one per cent, of the whole number of 8000. and absenteeism has Mpl ii R 1 liri 1 III if- l''''1 It •{ -i it ! V ■ ' l§ ' '*<•' •. U \ i»i' ■ ! H ' ' J '• • u i i' r ^ *t Ri ■ ' '■ '' !i 1 !i ■' * ,''! " * ! 1 : , .1 '>' ' . '* . ' ' '' \ '■■'■ '■■ M li • ■ M ■>; ;l 1 'i':\: V ill i 1 ^ 1 i! •1 ''li '!'; JJ 1 I ^' .f^if; ?! !| • ■■ , ;■■ 1 1 ^'' :■ '■; ^! ■ t: }•.-■ ■ 1 : f. ,•* ' ' 1 •; ; , i !'!• •• 1 -H ,- ^ P' ■ 4 si i;-' ' ^ ■ ^K'i j» ' > ' ■«bV'' ^■KIl ' ' ' ^ 1 V J ^Bi »' li ' ■ i wK: :^ ' ; « I 'ii t' ; ' *l J- i'.; i si i'- i''^'- j ^^K ! 4H'S V ;i aK xj ', ', 1', BIhIv- 1 ' -iwivHe ' ' ':,H^Sv.:; I^KI''^^^ iffBBB,^ !:'■;<;;, j^HHlp'i -V i^^^F'v-,;' WKm tit't -V 'M^W '^i''*' 'I^H |',|' '-' iffi if '■ ;*^ Isn? 1 '' *i' oM '• ■ ^B^m 'i'' JK ■';:■■[ ' ,H|v^:..| VB|' S.'; ■ w P^ ■■■^^■^ ' i^S »'^ ^ |bk9 -j .7 nt^,j> '•'.',. i\ Ir: .j^R»|J 'HM'^-f' lii nw^s '■'' ^ ''"*7^ k' M^.y '':|'!j |: jKii M.r.4 272 WEST INDIES. reduced society to a mere aristocracy of agents over a mass of freed slaves. The chief proprietors, the Sturges, have, however, fortunately made them- selves as active and conscientious improvers and reclaimers of the land by deputy as they could have been if resident. The Administrator had already, more than once, reported the " total unfitness of the persons chosen " to serve in the Legislature " — the greater num- ber being barely able to read or write — ^when at last the constituencies actually themselves pledged the men whom they returned at the hustings to commit their own political suicide. The result has already been most advantageous. An excessive civil establishment has been con- siderably cut down ; but a less justifiable economy has been sought in postponing repayment of our earthquake loan. Sugar cultivation has been vigorously resumed, and is now conducted on an improved method in places which had been deserted. An immigration has begun from Barbados and Antigua. A regular police has been established. The revenue, at the usual West India rate of about 155. per head, amounts to 5500Z. a-year, and though it had not before proved adequate even to a decent maintenance of public buildings — the gaol particularly being left in wretched condition — it is now found capable of specific appropriation for all requisite improvements. The roads are kept up by a system of statute labour, and parish rates DOMINICA. 2Y3 Lgents ietoTH, them- 's and could 1 once, chosen r num- hen at ►ledged ings to ageoTis. jn con- ^onomy of our 3 been I on an eserted. los and Wished. )f about ar, and even to the gaol )n — it is 1 for all kept up ih rates have been abolished. This island was also to have been, together with Nevis, put under the Lieu- tenant-Governor of St. Kitts ; but a more complete consolidation of botli the executive and legislative institutions of all these islands is now in contem- plation. DOMINICA being the only remaining subaltern government in the Leeward group, we will take it in advance in our southerly course, in order to consider last the metropolitan Islnnd of Antigua. This island also, in 1865, substituted for a representative constitution a mixed Council of Legislature, which is composed of two septem- virates — one nominated, the other elected — with the Lieutenant-Governor riding autocrat over the neutralization of the two. When France, at the peace of Paris, 1763, re- signed several islands to Great Britain, Dominica, together with the Grenadines, St. Vincent, and Tobago were under one government. By our disintegration of government the 25,000 inhabit- ants of this island, chiefly black, are taxed 20,000/. a-year to maintain fifty-three officials for themselves alone. The collection of this revenue costs at a rate of two and a half times as much per cent, as our collection of revenue costs at home. One-sixth of the entire taxation is expended in relief of poor. We have just consented to a T IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 £ lis 12.0 u ^U4 Hiotographic Sciences Corporalion as wht mam strht WnSTIR.N.Y. t4SM (7I*)«73-4S03 ,.* * ,r J • business was transferred to a Court composed of a Chief Justice from each of the principal islands. The Assembly discharges various executive duties by committees. This island has always been as well governed as may be with an ill-constituted Legislature. Its limited territory became speedily occupied, and the slaves, in old times more attached to their masters, have found neither room nor inclination since emancipation for the squatting and idleness which have been the bane of other Colonies. The trade of Barbados is yearly increasing ; indeed, the island is becoming more and more the mart whence the rest of the West Indies obtain their supplies. The smaller islands have ceased sending to America for breadstuffs, finding it easier to obtain them here. Here is the highest cultiva- tion. Lord Grey remarks (1. 195) on the increase of sugar production in Barbados, in spite of the open competition with slave-grown produce since 1846, that it was a proof that all these Colonies had success in their power if they had spiritedly met their trial. It must, however, be borne in mind that the pressure of population on the means of subsistence, here more than elsewhere, obliged the negroes to work. More proprietors reside here than in other islands; and even the absentees keep up more of a family superintendence, sometimes send- ing their sons annually to inspect their estates. In ] 866, Grovernor Walker induced the Legis- lature to pass a Militia Act, telling them that they BARBADOS. 279 must not trust to the Queen's troops for their par- ticular service, as they were meant for the whole of the West Indies, and were altogether thought an undue charge on the British treasury. They after- wards introduced a Bill to repeal the Act, and though for a time delaying its passage in deference to a remonstrance from Lord Carnarvon, they have now apparently given up all thoughts of forming a militia. A Colonel and Regimental Staff will he substituted for a Major-General and head-quarters, and the troops will be reduced, and included in the Jamaica command. A police force was esta- blished in Barbados in 1833, and an Act of 1859 provided for accepting the services of Volunteer Rifles, Artillery, and Yeomanry Cavalry. The Magistracy and Judicial Bench are over- crowded, and the combined Court of Appeal for the Windward Islands, made up of surrounding Chief Justices from St. Lucia, Grenada, and Tobago, far from supplying the authority required, presents an unseemly spectacle of judges in collision with one another. The Episcopate, and laige ecclesiastical esta- blishment I postpone for a more general review. In Barbados the provision is certainly excessive and unequal ; nor do I think the general prospe- rity and comparatively good government of the island any proof that all its establishments do not want retrenchment and reform, or any detraction from the arguments in favour of consolidation of the West Indian service. 280 WEST INDIES. ST. LUCIA is the first Lieutenaut-Grovernorship in proximity to Barbados, but the last incorporated into the Windward group in 1838. The island, not being twice as big as the Isle of Wight, and having a population of less than 30,000, only 1000 of whom are white, finds the civil and judicial establishment even of a subaltern govern- ment burdensome, and the Roman Catholic eccle- siastical foundation out of all proportion to its demands or means. The expenditure is usually about 1000^. a-year in excess of the revenue, which is only 17,000/. The annual trade is valued at less than 90,000/. Old French habits prevent this Colony from ever wishing for any other than simply Crown government. Not till 1833 was English legal procedure substituted for French. Reduction and consolidation of the public offices have been partially attempted, but with difficulty while local affairs are being thrown more on the hands of the Colony. The withdrawal of all Im- perial garrisons has necessitated the organization of a local constabulary, which, however, at present consists of only ^.ity men ; and the payment of sti- pendiary magistrates has been locally undertaken, besides other purely colonial concerns (such as the dredging of Castries harbour), which till lately were strangely considered Imperial liabilities. ST. LLCIA. 281 timity to the Isle of ;o,ooo, vi\ and rovern- ; eccle- to its a-year L7,000/. )0,000/. y from Crown legal e offices ifficulty on the all Im- aization present t of sti- 3rtaken, 1 as the 1 lately es. The public debt does not exceed one year's revenue, and was incurred chiefly for remunerative investments, such as immigration, and for roads and bridges. A small immigration of Coolies began in 1858, but few remain under their indenture. A bounty is now offered to those who will re-indent them- selves, and forego their back-passage, or resist the temptation to pass on to Trinidad or Guiana. An education-grant, which was charged by a local Act specially on surplus revenue, has died out with the existence of any such security. Agriculture is declining, the export of sugar last year having been one-sixth less than that of the preceding year, though the late earthquakes and hurricanes did not reach St. Lucia. Of this Colony Lord Grey remarks that he found it in a very unsatisfactory state, morally and mate- rially — the upper class divided by feuds, the lower having made no progress since emancipation — and its agriculture in a very rude condition (I. 121). He thought tliat the removal of a certain judge, which was consequent on a reference to the Privy Council, was an exercise of superintending power which beneficially tended to suppress local inquie- tude. The interference set up the gods, and served to quell the internal agitations incident to so small a society. In transferring appeals to the Chief Justices on circuit, he to";k the first step towards improving the general administration by a consolidation of 282 WEST INDIES. • f: ■>f:] offices. The establishment of trial by jury in cri- minal cases in 1848, on a plan of his own special approbation, namely, that of giving verdicts by majorities lessening as the period of deliberation lengthened, and the introduction of mimicipal in- stitutions, at Castries, are two measures for which Lord G-rey takes credit, as showing the way of improvement in a Colony which certainly is highly gifted by nature, and whose defects are only in- dicative of error in its treatment. ST. VINCENT is not even so big as the Isle of "Wight, and only 21 miles in distance south-west of St. Lucia. It is the head, as Grenada is the tail, of the Grenadine reef, and some of the islets are comprised within its government, the rest within that of Grenada. Yet the genius of colonial patronage has erected here a Lilliputian Court, and a Council of which the Lord Bishop of Barbados is always one, and a Legis- lature, and a numerous little civil service, and an equity and common law judicial list, in which figure, at least nominally, a chancellor, vice-chan- cellor, chief-justice, and three puisne judges. This island, granted during the seventeenth century to successive noble English proprietors, afterwards passed through various destinies till, in the French war. Sir Ealph Abercombie secured it finally to the British Crown, when the native Caribs ST. VINCENT. 283 were transported en masse to the Isle of Rattan oflf Honduras, and a constitution on the English model was given to the few white inhabitants who then constituted the population, and who were supplied with an outfit of government by an Imperial loan. Considerable efforts have lately been made to furnish St. Vincent with labourers by an immigra- tion of Portuguese, Africans, and Coolies. The population now consists of 2000 Euro- peans, and 30,000 of a mixed and negro race. It was too apparent at the time of the late Jamaica insurrection that this black population sympathized with the insurgents until the news of its prompt suppression silenced them. The revenue is 20,000/. a-year. The annual imports are valued at 200,000/., two-fifths of which come from England, and nearly all the rest from English Colonies. St. Yincent, as appears in my summary (p. 219, and 29 1 ), has followed the prevalent example of the West Indian Colonies in reducing a representative constitution to what Lord Grey considers its germ, namely, a single Chamber of Legislature half elected, with a casting vote given to the Crown. An Ordinance of 1866, confirmed by Order in Council, enacted that the Legislature should consist of three official members, three unofficial, and six elected on a considerable property qualification. The Act was at first drafted so as to give a majority of one to the elected members, but this was objected 284 WEST INDIES. pfW to by the Secretary of State, and, as in every other case, it was enacted that the nominated and elected branches should bo evenly matched. In 1864 the Executive Council had been made a mere council of advice, holding office at the pleasure of the Governor. It was, in fact, confessed that in so small a community, where only seven per cent, of the population were white, and those chiefly agents of absent proprietors, there were not materials for more popular or representative institutions. At the election, however, taken on the question of this constitutional reform, which had emanated from the popular Assembly, there was a decided repugnance evinced to entire Crown government ; and the general feeling ran so strongly in favour of retaining some representative element, as to show a spirit which, if given larger scope, may yet develop more perfect forms of British citizenship. Very few of the blacks ever care to use their votes, and the subsequent adoption of voting papers will practically disfranchise the illiterate mass. It was further proposed to make the whole island one constituency, and Kingstown the only place of election ; but the Secretary of State pre- ferred the retention of the old electoral districts. This looks like hope of some day reviving represen- tative government, but it is clearly the Governor's opinion, and increasingly that of the Council, tlTat for the present the Colony would do better even to submit wholly to Crown government. GRENADA. 285 The Colony expends a considerable sum both in maintaining a militia and volunteers of its own, besides a Company of the Queen's troops. It pays 3000/. a-year for 100 men detached from Barbados, and for the cost of their barracks; being tlie only West Indian Colony which so garrisons itself. The island is divided into ^our parishes, whose rectors, curates, churches, and schools are all sup- ported by grants from the public funds. GRENADA. This last link in the Grenadine chain, which stretches for sixty miles from north to south, is about the same size as St. Vincent at its upper extremity. With Barbados and Tobago (see p. 291) it makes up the majority of three out of the five Windward Islands which retain a complete repre- sentative form of constitution, having one of two Chambers of Legislature wholly elected. Its House of Assembly consists of twenty-six members, who, under the regulations of a local Reform Act of 1854, are elected for a term of seven years by five con- stituencies, both electors and elected being qualified by property. In a population numbering 35,672, the whites have dwindled down to little more than 500. There are only 652 registered electors. The Council was also reformed in 1856, and h « Kr^ »*?' ■'I ki '4 286 WEST INDIES. limited in its duration to three years. The re- venue of this little Government is about 20,000/. a-year, on which it keeps up a considerable civil list, and a judicial establishment which includes a chief-justice and three puisnes ! While the customs are declining the public expenditure increases, chiefly in payment of police, and the last year's accounts show an excess of no less than 25 per cent, over the revenue, besides an increased loan for the purpose of Coolie immi- gration. The trade of this island is, however, on a sounder footing than before the abolition of slavery, when a system of reckless expenditure had led the planters to mortgage their lands to the value of a million and a half sterling. The sugar culture is inferior in quality, and not increasing; but that of cocoa and cotton is rapidly improving, and the whale fishery is considered successful. In 186G the Legislature adopted the West India Encumbered Estates Act. More than half of the population are Roman Catholics, and their church has memorialized for a larger share of public support. The churches of England and Scotland have grants amounting to 2200/. a-year, or one-tenth of the revenue^ besides fees and glebes. In this island, as in others, the Crown has recently given up to the local Government its right to escheats. The home Government have urged on all these TOBAGO. 287 Colonies improvement of their prisons, and the establishment of labourers' hospitals on each estate. The first subject has been attended to in G-renada by the passing of a Gaol Act in 1867. Neglect and even cruelty towards Coolies have lately taken place to such an extent as to necessitate legislation, and unfortunately the new Grenadine enactment does not tally with the regulations in Trinidad and Guiana, where Coolie immigrants chiefly go ; which is another illustration of the desirableness of more concert between all these island Legislatures. The planters assert in their defence with some reason that the terms of the Imperial convention with China, so needlessly onerous to them, lead to a less liberal treatment on their part of the immigrant labourers. TOBAGO was destined by the Duke of Buckingham to be taken out of the Windward group, and put under the Government of Trinidad, from which larger island it is only eighteen miles distant. This little Lieutenant-Governorship has two Chambers of Legislature, the upper being com- posed of seven councillors appointed for life, and the lower of sixteen members elected by seven parishes, each returning two, and by two towns re- turning one each. Both electors and elected must be possessed of a property qualification. Only 288 WEST INDIES. * 216 appear on the electoral register out of a popu- lation of 15,100, and of them, at the last election, only 89 voted, which gives an average of five votes for each member of the Assembly, The white population has dwindled from 2000 to 300, and the whole population has not increased for 150 years. The representative constitution of this little island was given to it in the year 1769, and re- modelled in 1855. There was a reform of the franchise so recently as in 1860. But the Upper House is described as simply a log roimd the Assembly's neck. Their apathy gives the em- barrassment, but none of the benefit, of a check to the Assembly's deliberations. The agric ' al and financial accounts are good. A loan of 20,( > • >vl *ch this country made to enable Tobago to recover its losses from a tremendous hur- ricane has been cleared ofi", its Assembly imposing for the purpose an additional 2 J «c? valorem property tax, which fell chiefly on themselves. The revenue, of 10,000 A a-year, about balances the expenditure. The trade is valued at 56,000/. a-year. The island is ecclesiastically in the diocese of Barbados. There are three clergymen, and five places of worship, and one-eighth of the population are at school. The colonists decline raising any local force, saying that they trust to Barbados in crse of need. The taxes throughout all these islands seem to TOBAGO. 289 I popu- lection, of five n 2000 icreased is little and re- ef the e Upper imd the the em- a check ire good. to enable Lous hnr- imposing property revenue, enditure. locese of and five Dpiilation 3al force, 3 of need. s seem to amount to an average rate of about 155. per head of the population, which, but for the poverty Ox the helot mass, would seem to English tax-payers a very small contribution for the requirements of govern- ment. Certainly the taxation of Cuba, and of other foreign West Indies, is much heavier, and their administration worse. Their heavv taxation is no doubt a process of G-overnment plunder. But our light taxation must not be taken as a feature of economical management, but rather of inefficient administration by a number of underpaid oflScers, the patronage of whose appointments produces no plunder, but only an additional lien on the home treasury, while public interests are starved. Sir Benjamin Pine, in commenting on a circular lately sent to the lieutenant-governors calling attention to the state of their estimates, observes that " not " one of these islands is financially healthy." When we connect the smallness of the rate of taxation with the fact that so large a proportion of the people are proletaire, we must, in treating of the Caribbean Islands, confess some blame for the fact; for a finer original stock existed there than elsewhere, part of which we banished to replace with more docile slaves, and the rest, or what little survives of them, we have failed to civilize. In an able article on Jamaica in the last edition of the * Encyclopaedia Britannica,' written by the Rt. Hon. Stephen Cave, M.P., it is remarked that the fiercer Caribs of the Windward Islands were of a V I r"- f hi" « «' ii 290 WEST INDIES. very different race from tht inhabitants of Jamaica, Cuba, and Hayti, who, like the Arawaks of Tri- nidad and Guiana, were probably of the softer Mexican stock. Here, then, there were probably materials for better institutions, if the first pro- prietors had made adequate efforts to civilize the native population. I have given a somewhat dry statistical ac- count of the Leeward and Windward Islands with the view of showing nakedly the necessity of consolidating their governments, for the sake of economy as well as efficiency in their administra- tion. My sketch may also be of permanent interest as the latest history of these islands, probably, before so great a change and reform in their government will take place. Of all the Leeward Islands, and of two of the five Windward Islands, we may say that the Crown is practically the depositary of their go- vernment. By way of exhibiting the character of their legislatures at a glance, I give a synopsis of the composition of them all. Leewaed Islands. Ex-oflScio. Nominated Elected. Antigua .. — .. 12 . . 12 Crown having casting vote Nevis .. .. 2 .. 3 . 5 ditto. St. Kitta .. .. 3 .. 7 . 10 ditto. Dominica . . .. — .. 7 . 7 ditto. Virgin Islanda .. 3 .. 3 . . — wholly Crown Legislature. Montserrat .. .. — ., 6 . . — ditto. CONSOLIDATION. 291 St. Vincent St. Lucia . Barbados Grenada Tobago Windward Islands. Ex-ofRcio. Nominated. . 3 .. 3 . ,. 6 .. 7 . Elected. 6 Crown having casting vote. — wholly Crown. double Chamber, second elected. We may, then, treat the Caribbean Islands generally as Crown Colonies. Considering that the official members of these legislatures are required to support the Crown, subject to dismissal ; that many of those who are nominated are salaried, and could not retain their salaries with any general opposition to the Go- vernn.snt; that some of the elected members are similarly beholden, and would have probably in critical circumstances to resign emoluments for independent votes, it is clear that the supremacy of the Crown does not even depend on its casting vote, as the opposition could rarely reach its ut- most power against the government influence. The Legislature is therefore under the control of the Executive, and the popular principle is limited to the external action of public opinion, which, under all British government, may be freely expressed, but which in these islands is passive among the great mass of the population, unless when stirred by violent passion. There is no ultimate resource but a protest to the Secretary of State, which must be communicated through the Governor ; or an appeal to the House of Commons, which is an idle u 2 ^4i H I H r ' Ml '^ i sir W r • * M 292 WEST INDIES. resort, unless the case may be available, by parties at home, for damaging a Ministry. The Queen sends out a representative in whom she trusts, and with whom she should interfere as little as pos- sible ; he is furnished with an executive agency, and presides in a council which is really only con- sultative — which gives him advice and informa- tion, and brings to bear upon him the light of day, and the tests of the established law. Such is Crown government. There seems to be no halting-ground between this state of things and representative government, for which, at all events at present, these little islands, peopled chiefly by negroes, with only a small upper class of factors, are not severally capable. The official staff sent out from England finds no local body fit to co-operate with it, still less to control it, in government. Sir Benjamin Pine, during his provisional ad- ministration of the Leeward Islands, which lasted only twelve mouths, had the singular fortune to convert them all into practically Crown colonies, except Dominica, which Mr. Robinson had pre- viously converted, and three-fifths of the Windward Islands have gone the same way. A consolidation of all these eleven little Crown establishments in one, with only such outlying agency in each island as the central authority might require to execute its orders, would have the trebly good effect of economizing their re- CONSOLIDATION. 293 parties Queen s, and ,s pos- gency, ly con- forma- ght of 5uch is etween nment, e little only a sverally Ingland it, still nal ad- lasted ;une to olonies, ad pre- ndward s Crown utlying ithority d have leir re- sources, of offering larger inducements to superior men to undertake their civil and judicial service, and of increasing the social influence of higher intelligence, swamping petty jealousies in the wider community. Mr. Oardwell took the first little step in com- bining these governments, by putting Nevis under the Lieutenant-Governor of St. Kitts ; and Mont- serrat was about to be added to the group, when the Duke of Buckingham took up a larger project for consolidating the government of all the Lee- ward and "Windward Islands, except Grenada and Tobago, which lie so much nearer to Trinidad. He could not, however, amalgamate all the legislatures, owing to the chief of the Windward Islands retaining representative institutions, in- congruous with the rest. On this account. Lord Granville has restricted ' 's plan of consolidation for the present to the Leeward Islands, on which limited scale, he may carry into effect a more perfect unity of both government and legislature, making the command of the Governor of Antigua super- sede the four Lieutenancies, and placing only a Stipendiary Magistracy in charge of each insular administration, while a Legislative Council for the whole group may sit in the metropolis, receiving its elective quota in the way of delegation from the constituencies of each of the several islands. The economy, greater executive efficiency, and national and material development, which may all 294 WEST INDIES. i. K be expected to result from this combination, may thus be partly estimated. The salaries of the five Governors amount altogether to more than 7000^. a-year, besides those of their Secretaries, and of the Colonial Secretaries. Supposing all their clerks and the rest of their staff to be still required, these united salaries alone will be a sufficient sum to attract the highest order of public men to imder- take the whole government, which, from peculiarity of situation, requires the greatest tact, intelligence, and personal independence in its conduct, and a first-class service to be employed upon it. A similar calculation applied to the judicial establishment will show that there are means for substituting a few Circuit Judges of the highest order for a mass of little Chancellors, Chief Justices, and Puisnes now frittering authority and exhibiting unseemly quarrels in every little island ; while decisions from one set of law Officers will be a great improve- ment on the present kaleidoscope of conflicting and fanciful opinions. A united Legislature will to some extent escape from little party spirit, dealing with larger ques- tions on wider principles; and union must tend to assimilate laws and regulations, many of which {e,g. those on immigration) it is a matter of vital importance to make uniform. Sir William Colebrook once attempted such a congress in these islands, without superseding the local legislatures, in hopes of introducing some CONSOLIDATION. 295 degree of homogeneity of ideas, and concert of action in general concerns; and the very first object of statesmanship, in governing little adjacent com- munities of various origin, particularly when the mass of the people is of inferior race, is to use every means to simplify, assimilate, and if possible identify their codes of law. That a single steamer will fully afford all the communication requires by a central executive for official purposes among the Leeward Islands, will appear from the fact that Antigua is only 150 miles from the most northern extremity of the group, and only 50 miles from the most southern. A more thoroughly organized police force throughout the islands will likewise render all the little garrisons of the Queen's troops absolutely useless ; while it may be hoped, as new life ema- nates from a better condition of things, a general contribution from a thriving and lightly-taxed British commercial interest throughout the West Indies may partly meet the cost of their naval protection furnished from England. The possibility of a like economy in ecclesias- tical arrangements I will discuss by-and-by, as it applies to the whole of the British West Indies. I »•' i I}- {'>-' l> \u it 'I ■4 296 WEST INDIES. TRINIDAD is a much larger island, extending 60 miles in length by 40 in breadth. It was finally ceded by Spain to England at the Peace of Amiens, and Spaniah laws, rooted for two centuries, are still the basis of its legislation. The government is, and always has been, en- tirely in the hands of the Crown, the Governor having an Executive Council consisting of the Commander of the Forces, the Colonial Secretary, and the Attorney-General, and a Legislative Council composed of six official and eight unofficial nominees of his own. The population numbers 84,000; in religion, chiefly Roman Catholic; in race, negro, mulatto, and Chinese, with the exception of about 1500 Europeans. The general revenue is 215,000/., besides which there has been established in this island a local taxation, both in rural districts and wards, and in the municipalities of Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, which is chiefly levied on houses and land. The larger rate of taxation in this island may be accounted for by the larger scale of public improvements. The import trade, which may be roughly valued now as follows — 500,000/. from England, 200,000/. from the United States, 100,000/. from British North America, and 100,000/. from the rest of the world — is balanced by exports, chiefly TRINIDAD. 297 dies ill ided by 18, and re Btill en, en- Dvernor of the cretary, ^islative nofficial •eligion, nulatto, it 1500 5,000/., in this icts and )f-Spain 1 houses IS island f public roughly England, )l. from 'om the , chiefly to Great Britain, and of British manufactures to the other countries. Lord Grey gives (I. 128) an elaborate account of the measures successfully taken by Lord Harris, who was Governor of Trinidad from 1846 to 1854, to bring the Colony out of serious financial difB- culties. In 1848 a recent commercial crisis, and falling off of the revenue, and the stoppage of the West India Bank, had reduced the treasury to ab- solute emptiness. Lord Harris (quoted by Lord Grey, I. 86) attributed this state of things to the want of any wise local legislation, on true prin- ciples of civilizing society, after emancipation had given liberty to a mass incapable of understanding it. " A race had been freed, but a society had not " been formed." Lavish expenditure and hap- hazard legislation had been going on for ten years. There were no motives to industry, nor feelings of respect for law among the great mass of the popu- lation. The freed negroes wanted education, and a larger and superior class of European residents were needed to influence affairs, and to divert the community from perpetually hankering after a i-etrograde policy. " How little of any true " foundation of prosperity," observes Lord Grey, " had been laid in the era of slavery and of " protected monopoly ! " Lord Harris, without interrupting the free -trade policy which this country had adopted, retrieved the revenue by a bold retrenchment of expenditure in the most 298 WEST INDIES. lift III .:i^ ''«.' W k a f ;>4< i eelf-sacrificing spirit, and by the introduction of a light local impost. The latter expedient is duly praised by Lord Gl-rey, who always treats this pre- scription for rallying a people's vigour by taxation, with the fondness of Sangrado for his panacea for restoring health by blood-letting. One of the new taxes, on land, materially checked the great abuse of squatting which had been so largely resorted to by the idle freedmen. Immigration of labourers was promoted by loans from England, but since 1853 has come freely from China and India, guarded by the most elaborate regulations of the whole process — at its outset, on the passage, and after arrival — which seem only to err in ex- cess of care, but in that respect seriously demand amendment as uselessly obstructive of the object they have in view. Lord Grey urged the enlist- ment of free black and coloured labourers from the Southern States, which mode of supply the West India committee of 1842 had suggested, but which was somewhat hazardous of international mis- understanding, and could only be effected by small and irregular instalments as occasion might offer. It is strikingly characteristic of the variance of public opinion at different periods that the proposal to aid the West Indies largely at this time by guaranteeing loans was barely carried against great opposition in the House of Commons, not on the ground of Fox's objections to such aid, " that they gave the Ministry irresistible influence TKINIDAD. 299 m of a is duly lis pre- xation, >anacea of the Q great largely ition of Dgland, na and tions of )a8sage, in ex- lemand ^ object enlist- om the le West t which al mis- y small ; offer, '^ariance lat the at this carried mmons, uch aid) ifluence " over the commercial interest, " nor on the ground on which they are now objected to, as throwing undue liability on the British treasury, but as insufficiently remedial to colonies suffering from our desertion of protective policy, and there- fore entitled to more substantial relief from the mother-country. The changes of Governors have been so fre- quent of late in Trinidad that each of the laat four annual Reports begins with a confession of such slight acquaintance with the place as to justify no lengthened observations. In the Report of 1865 Sir John Manners Sutton reflected on the length of the list of an underpaid civil service, and the necessity of a consolidation of offices. There is an equally excessive charge on the revenue for ecclesiastical purposes, both for the Roman Catholics — who are greatly the majority of the population, and have an archbishop and vicar- general — and for the Church of England, which in Trinidad forms only a part of the diocese of Barbados. The municipal corporations established in Lord Grey's time, at Port-of-Spain and San Fernando, are now described as wholly unworkable, and un- suited to the Colony. They are both at present asking for help to get them out of debt. Here, as in other islands, the Colonial Depart- ment has been busily urging on the local Govern- ment many improvements, and especially that, 300 WEST INDIES. ta*? >V in ^>i *) which I have already mentioned, of prison dis- cipline, which the crowded state of the gaol greatly impedes. It may be found impossible to lay down strictly for colonies rules which we have scarcely ourselves the means, even if we have arrived at the principles, to carry out. In Crown colonies, however, it is undoubtedly the duty, and not remotely the self-interest, of the mother- country to give the best advice in all matters of administration, even though it may not be likely, or even possible, that all the proffered maternal wisdom should be adopted. Recent successful speculations in getting pitch and coal in Trinidad show that we have not yet developed all the resources of the island, nor is the cultivation of sugar, cocoa, and cotton anything to compare with what it might, and we may hope soon will be. On the whole, however, the present condition of Trinidad, compared with other West Indian Colonies, may be considered favourable to the opinion that Crown government is the best suited to present wants and circumstances, and that it has carried the colonies subject to it better through recent crises than the more representative forms of government, which, after all, have practically represented one class only. BRITISH GUIANA. 301 son dis- he gaol 3sible to we have we have 1 Crown le duty, mother- atters of B likely, naternal ig pitch not yet I, nor is anything lay hope condition k Indian to the st suited I that it through VQ forms ractically BRITISH GUIANA, though called a Crown Colony, is really possessed of more popular control (so far as the phrase can apply to a very limited franchise) over the Execu- tive in the constitution of its Legislature than many which are said to have representative government. This spot on the South American continent was first occupied by the Dutch West India Company in 1580. Its boundaries on the side of Venezuela are still imperfectly defined, but towards the sea are the rivers Corentyn and Orinoco. It came finally into British possession at the end of the French war, but still retains its Roman- Dutch law in civil causes. The constitution, dating back from 1773, was modified by an Ordinance of 1840. In the Court of Policy five members named by the electoral and elected little College of Kie- zers are coupled with five official nominees, the Governor having the casting vote. Financial Re- presentatives, who sit with them in combined court for all fiscal legislation, are, together with the Col- lege of Kiezers, elected by an enlarged constituency, instead of by the narrow clique of planters who used to engross the elections. The Ordinance referred to also distributed the constituency in electoral districts. Lord Grey dwells much on the important his- tory of this Colony during his administration. The distress whicli followed upon the adoption of free trade was put forward by the Colonists as Imi re* W i*fe. iili 1 302 WEST INDIES. a plea for reducing all their civil list, at a swoop, by 25 per cent. If Guiana, ir Oonsoli- Df circum- Jommons ; ity in this s (judges usting to many had d the plea 3 to justify eto of the be used this. The BRITISH GUIANA. 303 English Minister had moreover an extra right to interfere in Colonial finances when English tax- payers so largely contributed to them — a right the exercise of which the complicated and equivocal nature of the Gruiana constitution only rendered more difficult, but not less justifiable. There was happily a singularly judicious Gro- vernor. Sir Henry Barkly, on the spot; or the handling such extreme policy from so great a distance must have been hazardous. As it was, things ran to the verge of anarchy, and of total dissolution of the whole framework of government. Not till near the end of Lord Grey's adminis- tration (1852) were amel'orating measures passed, for immigration of labourers and agricultural im- provement, which, with trenchant economizing of expenditure, restored the overburdened and in- elastic revenue. The constitutional reform, enlarg- ing the franchise, to which I have alluded, was then also introduced. More thorough reconstruc- tion of the Legislature is still urged by those best acquainted with the Colony — the substitution, namely, of a mixed Council, like that which is being elsewhere adopted, for the singularly en- cumbered machinery of the Court of Policy, which is really an ordinary Crown Government subjected to an intermittent blast ah extra of popular vio- lence dissipating its supplies. Things, however, have gone on smoothly since the last great struggle. The Civil List Act has 304 WEST INDIES. ,il. \hi-- just expired, and certain salaries have been reduced. Sir Philip Wodehouse passed an Ordinance for constitutional reform in 1855, which need not be described, as the Duke of Newcastle advised the Queen not to confirm it. The state of the finances certainly calls for no immediate reform. The public debt is 661,000^., and the expenditure is in yearly excess of revenue, which has fallen from 304,000/. to 275,000/.; but the Colony is paying off its debts, which have been legitimately contiacted for useful public objects. There was a loan guaranteed by this country for Guiana, under the West Indian Loans Act of 1848 ; and a loan Ordinance for building parson- ages, which lately originated informally in the Combined Court instead of the Court of Policy, was allowed to pass. The sugar cultivation has been for many years largely carried on by African Creoles born in Guiana, and well affected ; but larger immigration is much wanted, and is now setting in chiefly from India and China. Great prevalence of unhealthiness and yellow fever, both among the Coolie labourers and our troops, has lately led to considerable alarm. Hos- pitals have been established on every estate, and the War Office contemplates the total withdrawal of the Queen's troops ; in which case probably the Colony will only maintain the existing police to keep the peace. BRITISH GUIANA. 305 Whether the climate and soil are incorrigible, or only unconquered by requisite public works and sanitary regulations, is by no means clear from the Eeports. In 1854 the Duke of Newcastle took the first steps towards withdrawing the small detachments of troops placed here and there throughout the West Indian commands. Their dispersion was de- structive of discipline, and their quarters were of the most inferior kind. In the opinion of mili- tary authorities they were useless for &uch defence against any foreign attack as alone could demand Imperial aid, and which must in every case be naval ; and their commissariat and transport were thought a wholly unjustifiable charge on the Eng- lish estimates. It was proposed to place a steamer at Barbados to concentrate, and bring to bear, when wanted, such reduced force as might be left. The Duke of Newcastle had to maintain this policy in debate against the opposition of Lord Grey, who argued that the West Indian interests had been so much affected by Imperial measures that they were entitled to have the protection of Imperial garrisons. The unsettled boundary on the side of Venezuela is an additional reason for not keeping English troops so near as to get embroiled in, or possibly provoke, local disputes. Gold-hunters are, more- over, forming Companies on the border, whose eager looks for Government aid to their specula- 306 WEST INDIES. tive enterprises give us still further warning against oflfering too ready assistance in that quarter. ii f ^^1 I \>,i WEST INDIAN CHURCH. I proceed to consider the ecclesiastical condi- tion, and general religious provision of the British West Indies. An annuity of upwards of 20,000?. was charged on our consolidated fund for the church, and educa- tional requirements of these Colonies, at the time when the 4^ per cent, local Customs duties set apart for their civil service were allowed, under pressure of distress, to be discontinued. The idea of the generous mother-country was, that the shiftings of her policy from slavery to emancipation had made her responsible for the welfare of those affected by them, and that the cost of such responsibility fell therefore, not on the colonial, but on the imperial tax-payer, especially as to the provision of the National Church. This equitable charge on the English treasury, supplemented by grants for religious purposes from local taxes, supplied means for an extensive list of ecclesiastical officers. To payments from the English subsidy for bishops, archdeacons, rectors, curates, catechists, and schoolmasters, were added large appropriations of every island's revenue, and a numerous ministry of every denomination were also paid from the colonial chest. WEST INDIAN CHURCH. 307 5\rarning in that ,1 condi- 3 British charged id educa- fche lime ities set d, under itry was, avery to for the ; the cost ; on the specially 1. treasury, Dses from isive list Tom the , rectors, re added nue, and on were In 1864 I received a letter from a West Indian chief justice informing me that an archdeacon had died, and expressing a hope that the vacant office would not be filled up again, but that " if the " House of Commons had more money to dispose ** of than they knew what to do with, they would " be so good as to send it them in any shape ** rather than archdeacons." This led me to consider the subject, and I called the attention of Parliament in 1864 both to the excessive Church establishment in the West Indies, and the impropriety of such a burden being thrown on English tax-payers. When in office the year before last, I got an Act passed relieving the consolidated fund of the whole charge gradually, as existing interests die out : and for the future the religious and educational requirements of the British West Indies will have to be pro\ided for from grants made by the local Legislatures, or from voluntary funds, i\s the Colonists please. There were Members of the House of Commons, who have since been chief promoters of Irish Church disendowment, who wished to tack on to my dis- charge of the West Indian Church from our treasury the wholly different proposition of stripping it of all public provision whatsoever ; but they found no sufficient support, either in the House for so un- warrantable a dictation, or in the Colonies for their hostility to any national support of religion. As the " Clergy Acts " in some of these X 2 308 WEST INDIES. m '■ H w Colonies are just expiring, and the English sub- sidy will immediately begin to fall off, a general review and retrenchment of religious public expen- diture will no doubt be necessary. I have related how much Sir John Grant has already done in this way amongst his reforms in Jamaica ; but a more extensive and general scheme will now be required, especially in connexion with the proposed consoli- dation of governments. At present there are no less than six West India bishops, including a coadjutor — namely, the Bishop of Jamaica, and his coadjutor of Kingston ; and the Bishops of Nassau, Barbados, Antigua, and Guiana. There are three archdeacons in Jamaica, two in Barbados, and two in Antigua. The rectories also are numerous, while the work- ing curates are wretchedly paid. Besides the English subsidy, Jamaica appro- priates nearly 30,000/. a-year from its revenue of 390,000/. to religious purposes, exclusively of paro- chial charges averaging 8000/. a-year which Sir John Grant has thrown on the congregations. The little island of St. Lucia devotes a tenth of its revenue to the Church of Rome ; Trinidad divides a tenth between the Churches of Rome and of England ; while other of the island Legis- latures vote grants, not only to those Churches, but also to the Presbyterians and Wesley ans. I say no more than that it is a matter exclu- sively of local concern, in which it is neither right WEST INDIAN CHURCH. 309 icons in nor wise for us to interfere, nor just to implicate the English tax-payer under pretence of Imperial philanthropy. In the Crown Governments the Governor will act, as Sir John Grant has, under the influence of local opinion ; and the Representative Governments will appropriate their own money as they please to their own religious requirements. Extraneous aid is more injurious to the religious even than to the civil interests of any community. The localization of administration is what we have to keep in view as much as possible, both for the adaptation and vigour of all colonial institutions, and neither Im- perial authority nor patronage should ever intrude except in matters specially affecting English inter- ests, or of common concern to the whole empire. '■ . ( il 1:: ■■:t m ■;i!j: ■il mi : im :■'? ( 310 ) MAURITIUS was captured by us from the French in 1810, and our possession of it was confirmed by the Treaty of Paris, 1814, and it has been governed as a Crown Colony. The population is about 320,000 ; the Euro- pean portion, which is chiefly French, numbers about 80,000 ; the Indian about 200,000 ; and the remainder consists of Chinese, Arabs, and Lascars. The French East-India Company administered the island's affairs from its abandonment by the Dutch in 1724 till the French Government undertook it in 1767; and the code civile ^nd procedure remain, except as modified. The Courts were re-organized by Order in Council in 1851. The G-overnor has the assistance of a Legisla- tive Council of seventeen — ten of whom are landed proprietors unconnected with office, submitted for his acceptance, and the rest his executive ministers. The Island of Rodrigues, 300 miles distant, and the Seychelles, 940 miles distant, are superintended by Commissioners under his orders; just as the smaller West Indian islands might be superintended by agents of the governors. Lord Grey (I. 98) states that, at the com- mencement of his administration, Mauritius, while advancing in industry and revenue, was never- MAURITIUS. 3U 310, and e Treaty led as a le Euro- numbers and the Lascars. tered the be Dutch ertook it remain, rganized Legisla- e landed itted for ainisters. and the ended by e smaller nded by ;he corn- US, while s never- theless suflferiug from a difficulty in procuring labourers — a difficulty of course increasing with the greater demand, and fatal to material progress if not overcome. A better supply of labourers from India was therefore his first care. The im- migration was relieved of much of its costliness, and put under better regulations both as to the engagements made on each side of the contract, and as to the regularity of the service itself. The commercial disasters of 1847 occasioned such distress that it was thought right that Go- vernment aid should be granted, both by supplies of rice from India for the people, and by advances of money to the planters and merchants on the security of the sugar shipped for England. The Governor was also allowed to authorize an issue of paper money, to set free some of the capital locked up in specie in the country. The planters prayed for a return to protective duties, and the exclusion of foreign sugar from com- petition, which was of course refused; but their suggestions for a modification of their government, and reduction of public expenditure were adopted. A system of municipal organization was also set on foot. The corporation of Port Louis was con- stituted by Ordinance in 1850, but so utterly did it fail of its proper functions, in recent times of trial by pestilence bred from neglect, that Lord Carnarvon, and after him the Duke of Bucking- ham, debated with the Governor whether the '§ '■fl, 'il 1 M ■■(J :'. ■ •] ,. I -'> « ■' .J 312 MAURITIUS. attempt to train French colonists to self-govern- ment was worth the loss of life in so fruitlessly making it. Much, however, has been done by further legislation to mitigate the evils which ex- isted. At this moment the local government of Port Louis is vested jointly in the municipal council, and a local board of health. In sanitary matters these bodies are subject to the control of a General Board of Health, from which there are great hopes of an amendment of the former state of things. There has been also a reform made in the judicial establishment, getting rid of much of the cumbrous French procedure. The improvement of the jury system, and its adaptation to the variety of races, creeds, languages, and habits in Mauritius, restrict- ing the power of challenge, and purifying the composition of the panel, was carried out on sug- gestions of Mr. Card well's in 1865. The heavy calendars of crime have been reduced by severer punishments, and it is proposed to check the prevalence of murders by substituting the more dreaded capital punishment of beheading for that of hanging. It was during these reforms that two additional unofficial members were added to the Council, putting the official members in their present relative minority, but this has probably been found rather a nominal concession to a sen- timent than any practical guarantee of public economy or reform. A considerable reduction of expenditure, and MAURITIUS. 313 consequently of taxes, has been effected by the Governor. Upon the reduction of the export duties the revenue rose, between 1850 and 1851, from 292,000/. to 321,000/. From 1864 to 1866 the revenue averaged 640,000/., but it is now only 557,000/.; trade has risen in value during the same time from just over one million to nearly three millions sterling, but that flourishing con- dition of the Colony has lately been checked by calamity. England imports less into Mauritius than India, and takes fewer exports than Australia. Australia and India take the finest sugars, and, owing to discriminating duties still levied, only 30 per cent, of sugar exports, and that of the coarser sort, finds (through the lower duties) its way to England. But if Australia takes to producing sugar for her- self, whether from cane or beetroot, and to protect- ing native industry, Mauritius will be forced to equalize her tariff in order to open a more general market for herself in England. Exports to Mada- gascar begin to show that the desired revival of commercial connexion with that country is in pro- cess of realization. A treaty was made in 1865 with the Queen of that island, under which a British consular jurisdiction was established by Order in Council, similar to that at Zanzibar. By the 6 & 7 Vic, 94, " to remove doubts as to Her " Majesty's power in places out of her dominions," the Queen can carry out such treaties, and exercise M i ■> M Ut. In . :< ^ ■ i y m i!r 314 MAURITIUS. such rights as she obtains by them, in any country, as if in a Crown Colony. A series of bad crops, from drought and a disease in the cane, has lately diminished the re- sources of the island, and a frightful fever has thinned the population and dispirited industry, driving men of business away to the more healthy country, and necessitating a partial withdrawal of the troops. The Eeports received from the Governor, Sir Henry Barkly, relating to the year 1866 (presented in 1868) were full of gloom, owing to the then commencing epidemic, which has since thoroughly searched out all the sani- tarily-neglected places in the island ; and to which unhappily a scarcity of rice in India, from de- structive hurricanes and inundation, added the horrors of famine. The danger of a country depending exclusively on one staple product for its commerce, and that produced by an alien race precariously imported, and depending on another country for its food, is strikingly illustrated by these events. The simultaneous distress in India drove a multitude of emigrant labourers, just when they were not wanted, on the hands of the Mauritius planters, who had been asking for them before in vain. Many proprietors were ruined, and properties sold. In the previous year's Reports (presented 1867), . 1 ' MAURITIUS. 315 country, t and a [ the re- iver has ndustry, healthy ihdrawal rom the the year ' gloom, 3, which he sani- fco which [rom de- ded the clusively and that aaported, } food, is drove a len they iauritius before in roperties 'd 1867), Sir Henry Barkly gave an elaborate exposition of the state of the island, as soon as his expe- rience as Governor had given him sufficient ac- quaintance with its aflPairs. He holds sanguine views of the capabilities and prospects of Mauritius, in confidence of the soundness of a basis of pros- perity : where, he observes, " the average yield per " acre exceeds that of the virgin alluvial lands of " Guiana, Trinidad, or Cuba." The regular supply of labourers is the one essential consideration, and on this subject the Governor gives an historical account of great interest. He shows that it is a total mistake to discuss the practice of importing labourers, which has been pursued, as a system; for it has been subjected to constant changes during thirty years. " Distrusted at its commencement by " the Imperial, and opposed by the Indian Govern- " ment, it has been alternately permitted, pro- " hibited, regulated, restricted, but never encou- " raged." (Rep. p. 114.) The planters have prayed that immigration should be allowed to take its natural course unregulated; but as Lord Grey says (I. 103), ** The abuses, to which unrestricted introduction " of labourers by individuals led, have neces- " sitated Government control." Still, the variety of plans, and the clogging of all of them by so many conditions, and the inelastic fixity of the prescribed terms of an enterprise which so much thrives upon the freedom of the contract, must it- 'tr ^ i\ '^ ♦if 'i' If J 'I Ki 1: W' .V,- I'- 11 'J '1, * ti •■ jv;;! 316 MAURITIUS. have, from time to time, caused needless embar- rassment very much accounting for failure. A minimum of conditions should be required; and amended regulations, facilitating the process to the utmost, should be introduced. The cost of pas- sage from India may be reduced much below its present lowest rate of 10^. per adult, which Lord Grey states as 3/. 35. Ic?., I suppose, excluding ex- penses in India. Sir Henry Barkly suggests that there should be introduced an alternation of the sugar crop with that of maize, that the Island may not be so wholly dependent on foreign supplies for food. He would even by law check the precipitate desire to extract the greatest immediate return from the land, which leads planters to neglect this prudent and ultimately profitable precaution. That the immigrants prosper is proved by the fact that, within the year thus reported on, 60,000 of them had re-engaged themselves by fresh con- tracts with their first employers. In periods of distress, they have been known to accept lower wp.ges than those contracted for, and to have post- poned their receipt of wages, showing that the best feelings exist between them and the planters. In June, 1868, the number of male labourers employed on estates was 68,170. The general result of immigration, with all its drawbacks, is described as " having since eman- " cipation quadrupled the population, and the "revenue of the island; more than quadrupled MAURITIUS. 317 embar- ire. A d; and )cess to ; of pas- }low its 5h Lord ling ex- sts that L of the nd may plies for icipitate return lect this >n. I by the , 60,000 jsh con- riods of t lower ve post- the best ers. In nployed b all its 3 eman- md the drupki " its production, and therefore its commerce ; and " though, owing to the heavy outlay entailed " on the planters, not fulfilling the anticipations " of its promoters, yet having raised to compara- * ■ tive affluence hundreds of thousands of labourers " who in their native land had but a precarious " subsistence." The " old immigrants," as the Indians are called who after their first year's residence settle in isolated bands aoout the country, have hitherto been an element of constant social disorder, as well as of disease, from their unhealthily crowding together in defiance of the habits and regulations of the rest of the community. There were upwards of 63,000 emancipated slaves at the commencement of the apprenticeship system. The ex-apprentices, as in Jamaica, with- drew from the cane cultivation, or worked irre- gularly, squatting on patches of ground in the mountains, where they have gradually died down in numbers. Little was done to educate them, and they became utterly degraded, mentally and phy- sically. Much, however, has lately been attempted for the recovery of this class of the population from their neglected and criminal condition. During last year the G-overnment found that it was absolutely necessary to bring the old unem- ployed immigrants under the supervision of the police. An Ordinance was therefore passed re- quiring them to register themselves, and to obtain 318 MAURITIUS. passes from the " Protector," which they are bound to produce on demand. They are further required to report themselves to the police in the district in which they reside, and to declare any change of residence. There are other provisions enabling the police to ascertain whether old immigrants have means of honest livelihood, and to detect any false representations on their part. The Roman Catholic, Anglican, Scotch, and In- dependent communions receive annual grants of public money, in proportion to their numbers; but Sir Henry Barkly thinks that enough is not done for the negroes, and that more national eflfort is due to the object of evangelizing the Indians, who, now that their caste is broken and religious faith gone, are sunk in total ignorance and immo- rality. Considerable public works, especially in railway construction, have been carried on; though, from unpropitious circumstances, with no present return to Grovernment. Sir Henry Barkly has asked for aid to im- prove the defences of Port Louis, and the matter is one deserving the consideration of the Imperial Government. Our garrison is estimated to cost 115,000/. a-year, towards which we now demand a contribution from the Colony of 45,000/. Mauritius receives less, perhaps than any Co- lony, of direct aid from the Imperial Government for postal services. Canada, indeed, maintains un- MAURITIUS. 319 assisted a weekly mail between Quebec and, Liver- pool ; British Columbia, between Victoria and San Francisco ; and New Zealand, till lately, between Wellington and Panama. The Australian Colo- nies and India share the cost of mails with Eng- land. But Mauritius entirely maintains for itself a branch mail, meeting the English mail to India. Seychelles, by its Commissioner's (Mr. Swin- burne Ward's) last Report, is prosperous. The staple product, cocoa-nut oil, had been less exported, but only so because more locally consumed. Tor- toise-shell, brought from near Madagascar, is one of the most profitable exports. Imports, the surest test of a country's internal prosperity, are steadily increasing, but a considerable part of them con- sists of wine, beer, and spirits, consumed chiefly by sailors from the men-of-war which are frequently calling. A deleterious spirit, illicitly distilled from the sugar-cane, is the ordinary drink of the people, in spite of the police ; but a reduction of rum duties may perhaps succeed better in diverting them from it. Coral is so plentiful and easily manipulated that, even in building, it is superseding wood, which is scarce and dear. Unfortunately it is also filling up the port, and making dangerous shoals along the bank which stretches hence to Mauritius. The town of Victoria is greatly improved, and the land about it has doubled m value ; and a settle- ment of titles and tenure, especially in relation to the Crown, has had the same effect over all the ^ \ 't- ^ €^ i MWU ♦ Hf^ w^^ Bt • ' - jR"/ "|, Wr /1; ^ i^ ' ^ kII v* Hi'f ' ' 320 MAURITIUS. islands. A road has just been made across the chief island, Mahe. The Commissioner's vigour has given a fillip to the industry of this little sub-dependency. Much of its labour has been sup- plied by captured Africans landed the e, but at present there is great difficulty in finding suitable employment for them. Squatting has been suf- fered to increase, but is now checked by the regular survey, and settling of titles already mentioned. As the goods consumed in Seychelles are im- ported duty-paid from Mauritius, it is difficult to decide whether this appendage of the Colony, taken by itself, covers its own expenses. Sir Henry Barkly thinks it does ; and, if so, there can be no harm, and may be some good, in retaining it; but, if not, the coral alone would be decisive against undertaking its maintenance as having any indirect value merely as a harbour closed against rival nations on the route to India. ( 321 ) TOSS the i vigour bis little Deen sup- ), but at ' suitable been suf- e regular iioned. i are im- ifficult to Colony, ses. Sir there can retaining 5 decisive kving any against CEYLON Lord G-rey's Letter (XI.) on Ceylon relates almost exclusively to the circumstances, causes, and con- clusion of the insurrection which occurred during his administration, imder the governors! lip of Lord Torrington. Coffee speculation had had its surfeit and revulsion. A financial crisis had been met by a parody of free-trade experiments going on simultaneously at home, and by a supplement of Lord G-rey's favourite prescription of direct tax- ation, in which the priestly influence found fuel for reviving embers of rebellion. Lord G-rey very firmly refused the aid applied for by the Colony in the shape of remission of military payments: public works were not dis- continued; and, not to rake up old controversy on the merits of measures taken, suffice it to say that the insurrection was put down, local burdens were lightened, and prosperity gradually recovered itself. The rapid progress made by the Colony in commerce, in industry, and in wealth during the ten years (1852-62) which followed the period under review by Lord G-rey, naturally led to a reconsideration of the engagement then existing i,iif Ht< t i t iil i tm\ii i iiit m mf .:« ■} 322 CEYLON. I: -^W' i' 1 between the Home Government and the Colony as regards military expenditure. Under that agreement, the cost of the force stationed in the island, which amounted to about £200,000 a-year, was defrayed in about equal proportions from the imperial and local exchequers. A Committee of the House of Commons of ].862 specially recommended that "the cost of the " troops in Ceylon should be in a greater degree " borne by the Colonial Treasury ; " and this was also the view undoubtedly taken of the subject by the House at large. Mr. Cardwell, accordingly, in 1864, called upon the Colony to pay at once an increased annual contribution of £135,000, rising from that by £10,000 a-year until it reached the total cost of the troops stationed in the island; and he promised a Commission to inquire into the whole question of military expenditure and esta- blishments, with the view of deciding the force to be maintained in the island in time of peace. This demand led to the resignation in a body of all the unofficial members of the Legislative Council, who contended that there should be no addition whatever to the colonial military contri- bution until after inquiry by the Council. They expressed themselves willing to pa-y whatever sums might by that inquiry be pronounced justly due, whenever the finances of the Colony would admit of it; but they insisted that certain extra- ordinary items of taxation must be remitted before CEYLON. 323 Colony )T that in the a-year, :om the nons of it of the : degree this was hject by .rdingly, once an 0, rising ched the ) island; into the md esta- force to ce. a body Bgislative Id be no y contri- tl. They whatever 3ed justly ay would lin extra- ted before the revenue could be justly charged with any additional military expenditure. It must be evident that if it had been left to these gentle- men to decide what the Ceylon military expen- diture should be, and the time when the colony could conveniently take upon itself the whole charge, there would not have been much prospect of any speedy relief for the British tax-payers. Their resignations were accordingly accepted. An Order in Council was issued (March, 1865) declaring the Legislative Council legally con- stituted without them; and an ordinance was passed in the terms required by Mr. Card well. Subsequently the Legislative Council was re- constituted without the seceders, and reforms have steadily proceeded in their absence. The promised Military Commission of Inquiry sat also late in 1865, and decided upon the force to be maintained in the island in time of peace, and the cost of it, which was fixed at £160,000, and this sum has been appropriated to the Home Grovern- ment by a permanent Ordinance of the Legislative Council. This amount was fixed upon the very liberal capitation rat^s of £114 fo^- each artillery- man, £100 for each European infantry soldier, and £64 for each Native infantry soldier stationed in the island. These rates are sufficient to cover all home and local expenses — eftective as well as non-effective — of the force quartered in the island. Ceylon, therefore, now stands alone amongst Y 2 324 CEYLON. ■%■ 11 §y British Colonies in this respect. It is precisely on the same footing as our Indian Empire, and has relieved the British tax-payers of all charges of every description connected with the troops stationed in it during time of peace. The settlement of this long-vexed question enabled Her Majesty's Government to place greater financial power m the hands of the local legislature. A despatch of Lord Grey has been much quoted as a pledge to give unreserved control over all expenditure to the Legislative Council. What it really expressed was, a hope that the time had come when such control might be extended. The Home Government has now relinquished the right formerly exercised of making appropriations by simple order oi the Secretary of State, and has promised that every item of colonial expenditure shall for the future be based on local legislative enactments. Of the annual revenue of nearly one million sterling, only about £400,000 is appro- priated by permanent Ordinances for civil and military expenditure. The remainder is annually submitted for the decision of the Legislative Council in the yearly appropriation Ordinance. The Home Government has now also conceded to the local legislature the right of disposing of surplus balances, within reasonable limits, without pre- vious reference home, as fully as is done in the case of annual revenue. The Imperial demands as regards military CEYLON. 325 recisely re, and charges troops question greater islature. quoted over all What it ime had )d. The ;he right tions by and has lenditure gislative jarly one s appro- dvil and annually e Council he Home the local surplus lout pre- le in the military expenditure, and the consequent resignation of the unofficial members, led to some local agitation and to the formation of the " Ceylon League," for the purpose of securing changes in the constitution of the Legislative Council. Lord Torrington had allowed the " Chamber of Commerce " at Colombo to recommend for his nomination the European portion of the unofficial members of council, and so to exercise a modified electoral power. The demand now put forth by the League was for a majority of unofficial members on all ques- tions of finance, so as to secure to them *'full " control of the disposal of the local revenues, " freed from the dictation of the Governor or the ** Secretary of State." Such a demand was inad- missible. The population of Ceylon consists of about two millions and a half of Asiatics, whilst the unofficial European conmiunity numbers only about fifteen hundred. The change proposed would have practically amounted to setting up a specially interested oligarchy over the Governor, who, in a Crown Colony such as Ceylon, is individually charged with the whole administration of the government. Lord Carnarvon replied ti' the demand of the League, that " as it was impossible to establish " in Ceylon any legislature which should really " represent the population of the country, Her " Majesty's Government did not feel at liberty " to abandon that control over the revenues and 1 326 CKYLON. -J " legislation of the colony which was given " to them by the present constitution of the " Legislative Council." This answer, though short, really went to the root of the whole matter. Subsequently the Ceylon League moderated their demand, and asked only for an equal num- ber of unofficial and official members, leaving a casting vote with the Governor. But for a Council of advice, giving utterance to the wishes and wants of the unofficial community, securing publicity and discussion with respect to all measures of legis- lation, and bringing public opinion to bear upon the Grovernment, an equality in number between the two kinds of Councillors (the official and un- official) is not necessary ; and would be obviously suggestive of mischief, as pitting the two in appa- rent antagonism against each other, and making the Grovernor arbiter between them. If the government of the country must be in the hands of the Crown, and if all feasible objects compatible with this are secured by the present arrangement, why reduce the power of the Crown to a casting vote ? When a locally-predominating power is to be exercised, it is better that it should not prevail by, as it were, the mere dust of the balance, which implies a constant equipoise of con- tention, but rather by a decisive preponderance, admitting of a conciliatory deference on the part of the Government to a minority in the Council. So ii> . CEYLON. 327 much for the proposal, assuming oven that it se- cured to the Government always a casting vote. But practically, an equality of official and unofficial members might often present against the Governor a majority on the unofficial side, and transfer the controlling power, which in theory he should pos- sess, to his Council, while he would be reduced to the alternative of being responsible for measures he condemned, or of vetoing acts of his advisers. For these reasons the Duke of Buckingham declined to entertain the application of the League for an equality of official and unofficial members, no necessity whatever for any change having been made out. Indeed, It may be mentioned that, in an address presented to the Throne by the Legislative Council in 1862, deprecating the transfer of the Colony to India which had shortly before been sug- gested in the House of Commons, and the general dread of which bore in itself high testimony to the merits of the government, it was stated that " the " people of Ceylon are well satisfied with the ex- " isting form of government, which has secured ** to them a fair representation of their various " interests. . . . Since the cession of the maritime " provinces in 1796, and within less than half a *' century after the conquest of the Kandyan ter- " ritories, the marked progress which the Colony " has made in material prosperity, and the peace " and good order which contrast so strongly with " its previous troubled state, can be attributed i)i. ; ' i ^i 328 CEYLON. " only to the wise and liberal measures of Your " Majesty*s Government, zealously carried out by " local a^ithorities, who have well comprehended " the wants of its inhabitants, and have sup- " plied them, by prompt and judicious measures. " Under the fostering influence of good laws, " and the encouraging aid of a local administration, " enterprise has been stimulated, and a vast com- " nierce established, by which Ceylon has been " raised to the rank of one of Your Majesty's " most important colonies." Again, the Ceylon League, in their manifesto of 1865, when advocating a reformed Council, contrasted the condition of the Colony in 1833, when the Council was first constituted, with its present state ; and show most conclusively, though unconsciously, that the Colony during that third of a century, under its existing constitution, has advanced with almost unexampled rapidity in agri- culture, commerce, and social improvement. It could hardly be maintained, in the teeth of such confessions, that the present constitution of the Legislative Council has proved any bar to the prosperity of the Colony. Advancing times may suggest advancing improvements; but the demands of the past have been adequately met. As yet no proof has been given that the constitution is not adapted to the political condition of the community, and the statistics of the seventeen years which have elapsed since Lord Grey's administiation (1852 to CEYLON. 329 )f Your out by shended ve sup- easures. d laws, jtration, ist com- is been [ajesty's anifesto Council, n 1833, with its though it third ion, has in agri- teeth of ution of ,r to the Qes may iemands } yet no 1 is not imunity, ich have 1852 to 1869) show most incontestably during that period a rapid material and social progress. In proof of this, in a brief review of this kind, it is merely necessary to observe, that the inland revenue, with- out any additional taxation, has nearly doubled since Lord Grrey's time, and is now about a mil- lion sterling. The island trade (inwards and out- wards) is estimated at ten millions; whilst the exports of coffee alone have reached an amount of one million cwt., and a value in London of more than three millions sterling. This improvement is in a great measure due to the strenuous efforts which for many years have been made by the local Grovernment to open up the country, by extending and improving the means of communication throughout the interior. Vast sums have been expended in a railway from Colombo to Kandy; in new roads and bridges throughout every part of the island ; and in the improvement of the channels of inland navigation. Much atten- tion, too, has lately been directed to the important subject of irrigation ; and a scheme has been adopted for the extension of rice cultivation, which it is hoped will prove a great success, and render the population less dependent than it is at present upon imported food. The police also, and nearly all the more important civil establishments, have been remodelled upon a basis more suitable to the growing requirements of the Colony. But whilst endeavouring to extend agriculture, I ! 330 CEYLON. to increase the facilities for locomotion, and to pro- vide for order and efficient government, the local administration has not lost sight of measures for the social improvement of the people. Munici- palities have been established in the principal towns of Colombo, Kandy, and Gralle. The rela- tions between the employed and the unemployed have been regulated by a labour Ordinance, which is admitted on both sides to be just. A system of registration of lands, and of births and deaths, has been established. The deplorable condition of the prisons and hospitals is U7idergoing reform; and, above all, a scheme has been matured which it is hoped will eveniually place a sound education within reach of the gieat bulk of the population. Still there are further improvements needed. The want of a correct census, and of reliable agri- cultural statistics is greatly felt. Indeed, in the absence of these, the Grovernment is, in its efforts for the amelioration ox* many existing evils, merely groping in the dark. The procedure in civil and criminal law-suits ; the . tate of the currency ; the insecure condition of Galle harbour; the position of the serfs on Temple lands ; and the feasibility of substituting an acreable land-tax on all private lands, in place of the present import duty on grain, are all questions wliich it is believed are now attracting the careful consideration of the local Government. Wfi p|l' ( 331 ) i to pro- the local 3ures for Munici- principal Che rela- smployed se, which system of iaths, has 3n of the rm; and, bich it is education dation. I reeded, ble agri- i, in the ts efforts s, merely civil and Qcy; the position easibility 1 private on grain, are now the local STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. Almost the first thing I had to do, on coming into the Colonial Office in 1866, was to introduce into Parliament the Straits Settlements Bill, which empowered the Queen, by Order in Council, to trans- fer our three Stations on the Straits of Malacca from the Indian Government to the Colonial De- partment at home ; and they were erected by charter into a Colony, for which a Legislative Council was created much on the model of that at Ceylon. I cannot say that the task was a grateful one to me, but it came so nearly completed to our hands that there could be no question about concluding it. For several years the Bengal Government had been desirous to get rid of these out-stations ; and the feeling was mutual, complaints having con- stantly come from them of the taxes imposed on them by India, nor would they like now to return. The Home Government admitted that, as entre- p6ts of commerce, and military and naval depots, they were of Imperial value, and the conclusion seems somewhat hastily *-o have been deduced that their maintenance should therefore rest ultimately on the security of the Home rather than the Indian treasury. The only doubt entertained was whether lit-- t^*' l}-(i:;i:. \:i-'fi- 332 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. their government entailed any ultimate liability at all, or whether their revenue would not so cer- tainly cover their expenditure that the question was merely one of control and not of cost; and this point had been under discussion since 1859, and was supposed to be finally and satisfactorily disposed of. For my own part, I confess, I was never satisfied on either point. I do not believe in the probable costlessness of the Straits, nor in the fair chargeability of England. Even if the income of these Settlements was made equal under Indian Government to the expenditure, will it be so when the Mother-country takes the task in hand ? On the other hand, even supposing Singapore, Malacca, and Penang to be Imperial entrepots of commerce, I am far from coming at once to the conclusion that they should therefore be go- verned from England, or that they were misplaced in 1852, as a separate government under the supre- macy of India, still more so since the transfer, in 1858, of the Bast India Company's powers to the Crown. True it is that the United States' Govern- ment are trying to possess themselves of islands and naval stations all over the world, even in these cosmopolitan days, for the security of their own commerce ; and are said to be now in treaty for the purchase of a Malay island in the neigh- bourhood of the Straits, for which Congress would pay from the general revenues to which every State contributes. But there is no inference from euch STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 333 an example in favour of the principle attempted to he set up in British policy that whatever is of Imperial interest should he undertaken at the cost of the metropolis. I hope the time is coming round again when all parts of the Empire will take their share in Imperial maintenance, as India has heen used to take hers. Why the Straits Set- tlements, as well as Ceylon, should not be treated in these matters in the same way as India, and in connexion with India, no one has yet given any reason. The Andraman and Nicobar Islands of pirates are still considered to be under Indian jurisdiction, yet one would think their control came more naturally under the care of the Mistress of the seas than the ordinary government of her distant children. However, the India Office per- suaded the Colonial Office to take the Straits Set- tlements off their hands, and satisfied them that they would find them self-supporting, by the evi- dence of past accounts which is already begin- ning to prove fallacious. The chief feature of the transfer has been a needless, if not injurious, change of officers, under the pretext of adapting the go- vernment to its new department ; and increasing military expenditure already inaugurates the reign of the more magnificent paymaster. The Colonial Department adopted all the uncovenanted service, but only some of the covenanted, the rest being either taken back or pensioned by India, while new men were put in their place. II hT: I d 334 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. It is a question whether there is any practical advantage to England in retaining, under what- e\er irovernment, all these three Malay stations. Singapore, the most recently acquired, first occu- pied in 1819 under the Grovernorship of Sir Stamford Raffles, is the most important in its situ- ation, and capability both for commerce and war- like purposes. Its insular position also frees it from Malay complications. Malacca, the oldest European occupation, ours by conquest since 1785, is on the Malay peninsula, and has lost its com- merce. It is said to have agricultural and tin mining capabilities, but it may be questioned how far our official connexion will serve to develop them. The system of land-tenure is what most needs improvement for the development of the resources of the country. Penang, insular itself, but held together with the sub-province of Welles- ley, which is indefinitely distinct from the Quedah Eajahship, may compensate for the cost and troubles of government and our yearly tribute to the Rajah, by its position at the north extremity of the Straits, commanding its entrance. But the triple government is excessively costly, cumber- some, and overburdened with administration, as a glance at the 'Colonial Office List' will show. The support of the Chief at Singapore by Lieu- tenants at such short distances right and left of him, is an apparent surplusage of government. The necessity of such a multiplication of establish- practical ier what- stations. irst occu- ► of Sir 1 its situ- and war- ) frees it lie oldest Qce 1785, its com- and tin )ned how ) develop hat most it of the lar itself, )f Welles- 3 Quedah cost and ;ribute to 3xtremity But the cumber- ion, as a ill show, by Lieu- id left of '^ernment. establish- STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 335 ments requires proof. The palaces of the Lieu- tenants at Penang and Malacca might at any rate receive the Chief at his yearly visits as their guest, if personal inspection is wanted to ascertain that they have been doing his behests in the intervals. But are they wanted at all? The distance from Penang to Malacca is 240 miles, and from Malacca to Singapore only 120; and a steamer is almost always at the Chiefs disposal, kept by the Admi- ralty for only the occasional visitation of lighthouses. I believe the Lieutenant-Governorships of Malacca and Penang to be worse than wasteful establish- ments, and that one Grovernor should undertake all our Stations in the Straits, by which sole under- taking he would be better able to hold his own, and less tempted to become intrusive on others. The Dutch were put in possession, by the Treaty of 1824, of all the British acquisitions in Sumatra ; the East India Company being glad to get rid of what cost them four times as much as they re- ceived, and the English, being glad to get Malacca and certain Indian settlements in exchange; so that now the Malay side of the Straits is prac- tically ours, and the Sumatra side Dutch. Pro- bably the whole of the great and rich island of Sumatra will gradually come under Dutch pro- tection or occupation. We have no interest against such an event, if our transferred treaty be kept faithfully with the Sultan of Acheen, and if we can secure to ourselves from the Dutch and their 336 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. allies perfect freedom of trade, the abolition of dif- ferential duties and port-dues, and the opening of the coasting trade. If the Dutch Grovernment are sufficiently en light -^ned ynd able to maintain these conditions with us, we should probably prefer them to any other Power in our neighbourhood. On our side of the Straits we made, by the Craw- ford embassy to Siam, in 1 824, frienc.iy relations with the noiihurn Malay "Rajahs near Penang, who are more or less dependent on Siam — those, namely, of Calantan and Quedah. The southern Rajahs, such as the Chief of Johore, are inde- pendent, and in treaty with us, both as to com- merce aud boundary ; and Malacca and Singapore are almost the only outports to foreign trade. The Rajah of Quedah lately attempted to levy duties contrary to treaty on cattle imported into Penang ; but a correspondence with Siam, through our consul at Bangliok, has brought the tributary to terms. The Governor of the Straits, Sir H. St. George Ord, has recently visited Java, where he has been settling, it may be hoped, the complete admission of British trade into Sumatra. On the Straits Settlements becoming a Crown Colony, the exact date of whicl event w?., ^pri] 1st, 1867, changes were made both in the judicial, and in the military arrangements. The Supreme Court was modified, but apparently so as to give little satisfaction; and we gavi^ still less satisfac- tion by fixing the military contribution, to be STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 337 on of dif- pening of iment are tain these ly prefer bourhood. he Craw- relations Penang, n — those, southern are inde- 1 to corn- Singapore ade. The !vy duties Penang ; 3Ugh our butary to tir H. St. wiiere he complete a Crown va; April e judicial, Supreme ,s to give satisfac- n, to be made from the united revenue which amounts to 200,000/., at 59,300/. It was proposed that the garrison should consist of a wing of an European regiment, six companies of Ceylon Rifles, and two batteries of Royal Artillery, of which aggregate force 880 men were to be considered the comple- ment for local duty, and any excess above that number, now amouDfing to 200 men, were to be considered an Imperial depot. From time to time detachments may be required on neighbouring service — some, for instance, were sent very recently to the Nicobar Islands — without necessitating the temporary deficiency being made up. The question, however, of the nature and strength of the garrison for colonial purposes has not yet been definitively settled, and it is most probable that, instead of Ceylon Rifles being stationed there, a local force, either of irregular infantry or of armed police, will be substituted. The Governor, and the Chief Officer commanding on the Station are now considering the matter. Militar;'- buildings were transferred to the War Department by the Indian Grovernment on the withdrawal of their troops. In a late report from the War Office the ordi- nary purposes of the garrison are stated to be for defence against any piratical or privateering attack on the Statior>i, and for the preservation of internal order. For the latter purpose it is the opinion of some authorities that another kind of force might serve better, such as irregular Indian corps ; but it z n :■ *! 338 STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 'r-k' M: a is a question wliether they would be cheaper. Under the Indian regime it was part of the duty of the troops to guard the public offices, the gaols, and other like buildings. Their guard duty would be too severe, and unsuitable for European troops ; and it is wholly inadmissible that such a force as the Royal Artillery should be used as a support to native police. The municipalities ought to impose much of the ordinary guard duty on police of their own. The military contribution which we demand might then be larger than mere local defence would require, but it is not more than such Stations should render to the service of the Empire, their connexion with which gives them the means to pay, and ample advantage in return. The press and a " Settlements Association " have made severe reflections oxi the cost of the new government, and especially of the military. No doubt the taxation of these Stations is heavy, and was heavy under Indian government, particularly at Singapore ; but duties were thrown by India upon their commerce, and, as all the ports are now free, we may hope that trade will soon create wealth enough to bear easily the revenue which must be derived from it by excise and direct imposts. I have suggested the possibility of a reduction of the expense of government ; but, whatever is decided by the Imperial Government to be the necessary military force to be kept permanently at the Straits, it should be borne in mind that it is chiefly STRAITS SETTLEMENTS. 339 r. Under by of the aols, and would be )op8 ; and ce as the ipport to to impose ;e of their e demand ,1 defence h Stations pire, their means to >> ion have the new tary. No leavy, and irticularly by India ts are now late wealth h must be mposts. I tion of the is decided necessary ly at the t is chiefly kept there for the protection of the Eastern com- merce which resorts there, and that there could be no value in the government without a sufficient force for its support ; and if the commerce so pro- tected cannot cover its own insurance it had better be abandoned. The only question, therefore, is whether the cost of government and military can be brought within due proportion to the woifh of the objects for which the Stations are held, and defrayed from their resources. There are desires also expressed for a modifi- cation of the form of government, so far as to equalize the number of the unofficial and official Members in the Council; but the proposition seems open to the same answer here as in Ceylon, namely, that the Council is merely one of advice, and that it is not desirable to pit the two sections in equal antagonism, with the Governor's casting vote isolated between them. In consequence of recent Chinese riots at Penang, Acts have been passed " for the better " preservation of the peace," by which powers have been given for the institution of a special constabulary, and for the deportation of convicts. Transportation from India to the Straits, which was one of the grounds of grievance against the old Government, will cease in 1870, and the convict establishment for that purpose will be altogether closed on the 1st of April, 1873. That from China ceased in 1850, owing to the strong feeling z 2 I' ' 1 bv- 340 LABUAN. expressed against it; but Ceylon still sends some convicts to the Straits ; and the Straits, under the sanction of the Imperial Government, send some of their criminals to serve in public works at Labuan, at the request of the settlers there. The transfer of these Settlements from the Indian Government to the Colonial Department necessitated also their ecclesiastical transfer from the diocese of Calcutta, and they will probably be placed under the Labuan episcopate, which will thus extend its supervision over four clergy, instead of one — the chaplains, namely, in the four seats of government. The missionary aspect of the episcopate, in partibus infidelium of Borneo, was, I fear, little encouraging to the active exertions of the first Bishop, Dr. Macdougal. ;f5 HT '■■■ '•■k* K I' ■■.1! LABUAN. From the Straits we pass to the Island of Labi an, situate six miles off the North- West coast of Borneo, which was ceded to Great Britain by the Sultan in 1846, and taken in hand from the double motive of promoting commerce, and extend-' ing civilization. Of the former object Lord Grey says : — " On our accession to office, we found that " memorials, earnestly praying that Labuan might " be occupied with a view to opening a commercial ; 1 LABUAX. 341 " intercourse with the large and imperfectly known " Island of Borneo, had been addressed to the " Government by the Chamber of Commerce of " Manchester, and by the merchants of London and " Glasgow." (II. 265.) Of the latter object, he adds : — " Sir James Brooke, so well known for his " philanthropic and enterprising attempts to intro- " duce civilization into Borneo, was appointed " our Consul there, and Governor of Labuan." The Dutch were the only Europeans who had previously made any settlement on these inhos- pitable coasts, which are scarcely anywhere in- dented so as to give access to the interior, or capable of affording more than a very precariou'j shelter to pirates. Lord Grey, after seven years of official ex- perience, says " the advantage derived from this " settlement has not been so great as was antici- ** pated." Certainly, now that a coal-mine has been found to be the sole commercial result of the settlement, and no faith remains in the effect of Government civilization, the only wonder is that he should ever have anticipated any adequate return for the civil, judicial, and episcopal esta- blishment which was set up in Labuan. The Company to which the Crown leased a part of the coal-field, soon languished, chiefly owing to their unfortunate choice of an Agent ; but in the course of last year we assisted their re-establishment on a sounder footing, under a new directory ; and, St rt II if m i I i 342 LABUAN. now that the Admiralty have at last found it pos- sible to use the coal, and have ceased to bring coal from Wales to their ships near Labuan, the speculation may to some extent succeed. The present Governor, Mr. Pope Hennessy, has, in the short time since Lord Carnarvon entrusted him with this little Grovernment, made it at all events self-supporting. Increasing trade enabled him to impose new taxes, though, the port being free, ho could make no revenue from customs. Further trade has been opened in camphor, pearls, gutta-percha, birds'-nests, bees-wax, and sago. The Grovernor has established a police, a fire-brigade, a water supply, a hospital, and schools — indeed, as Napoleon in Elba, he has said to himself, "Even here something may be done." In 1863 the local revenue was 2086/., and the expenditure, exclusive of that on troops, was 7430/., the difference being made up from Eng- land. Mr. Hennessy has made the island support its Governor, Chief Justice, and Bishop, and we are no longer taxed to support a colonial esta- blishment for a failing coal-mine and a hazy shadow of philanthropy in the Eastern seas. What are enumerated as " public works," con- ducted under this Government, have consisted of clearing and draining a plain adjoining the town, and constructing a road, five miles long, through a jungle to the coal-mines. Her Majesty's gun- boats are employed to keep down piracy. To meet LABUAN. 343 id itpos- to bring t)uan, the iessy,lias, entrusted i it at all e enabled port being 1 customs, campbor, -wax, and a police, a and schools las said to be done." |;., and the oops, was from Eng- ,nd support ip, and we onial esta- d a hazy seas. orks," con- jonsisted of the town, t, through jesty's gun- To meet the want of labourers. Coolies have been imported from China ; and, at the Governor's request, a cer- tain number of convicts have been sent from the Straits, to work on the roads, and in lading vessels with coal. The convicts have earned three times as much as their cost to the public. Sir James Brooke, shortly before his death, oflfered his Rajahship of Sarawak to the English Grovernment, but his offer was declined. It seemed of neither suflficient political nor commercial im- portance to tempt us 450 miles inland from Labuan, and we had found Asiatic Stations already too burdensome financially. Sarawak imports coal from Labuan, and is worth more to the Crown as a foreign customer than it could ever become as a subject. It certainly lies on our route to China, but there seemed to be no use in our multiplying posts between Singapore and Hong Kong. The French post, Saigon, is on another route. It is remarkable, that when the United States' Consul in Borneo consulted his Government about a ces- sion offered by the Sultan, they instructed him to refuse it, saying that "they would have no settle- *' ments in a country inhabited by a race speaking " a different language from their own," curiously applying the Monroe doctrine e eonverso to the outer world. The American Consul lately asked our Governor's assistance to arrest a "citizen," who had without authority set up the stars and stripes over a slice of the Bornean coast. The m '■1 M I- 344 HONG KONG. occupation collapsed, however, without th« neces- sity of resorting to any force. There may be some question whether our first outlay in establishing a government to keep order for a coal company at Labuan, has not been a handsome present to the rest of the sea-going world. By the time we have made a thriving concern of it the -Americans will be able to get what they want of the coal, just as well as we, perhaps will rent a wharf of us, with a Yankee eye to business, while our Admiralty are still debating whether the coal for which we have paid so dearly is really fit to use : and whenever war may arise, the entire ownership of the place will certainly fall to whichever nation happens to have most ships in the neighbourhood. h ?l s HONG KONG is a Chinese island, about a mile off the south- eastern headland of the Canton river, and 40 miles from Macao which stretches across the estuary. It was ceded to England by the Treaty of Nankin in 1842, and was occupied solely as a depot for commerce in that part of the world. The har- bour of Victoria is of the amplest kind, and the possession of the opposite peninsula of Kowloon, ceded to us by a subsequent Treaty of Lord Elgin's in 1861, has completed it as a secure naval station. i.:,v riV 19 neces- our first sep order ; been a lea-going thriving ie to get 11 as we, . Yankee are still lave paid ever war )lace will s to have le south- 40 miles uary. It Nankin iepot for The har- and the i^owloon, d Elgin's il station. HONa KONG. 345 The first occupation of Hong Kong was very expensive to this country, irrespectively of its military establishment, and its commercial value did not for some time at all answer expectations. Lord Grey says (II. 263) : — " If the exceedingly *' large amount of the expense it occasioned, and the " limited use of which it proved to our commerce, " had been foreseen, it may well be doubted whethci " it would have been thought worth while that it " should be taken possession of." He, therefore, only thought of reducing the expense of the esta- blishment "which had been formed on a scale " suited to its supposed importance as the great " emporium of the Chinese trade ; " and, by stop- ping public works and withdrawing some of the troops, he brought down the annual charge on the English Treasury for Hong Kong, from 50,000/. to 15,000/. The trade has, however, largely in- creased, and though our merchants have had the Chinese ports since opened to them, and much of our commerce is therefore carried on in them, yet the tonnage entering Hong Kong alone rose from 626,536 tons in 1859 to 1,063,252 in 1866 ; and now, counting the coasting trade and junks, nearly three millions tons of shipping enter Victoria in a year. The value of the trade can only be thus roughly estimated, as the port is free ; but Hong Kong has, no doubt, though without products or manufactures of its own, become a vast centre of Eastern com- 346 HONG KONG. merce in a great variety of goods, such as opium, sugar, cotton, salt, &c., and the chief tea and silk trade is controlled by a Company resident in Victoria. The entire foreign trade of China was estimated, in 1866, at 95,000,000/., of which 71,000,000/. was British. Recent stagnation of trade all over the world has unfortunately checked the advancing spirit of improvement at Hong Kong, and compelled the Governor again to eco- nomize expenditure in very needful public works. Sanitary operations were suspended. A Committee of the House of Commons had to inquire into a great mortality among the troops, which was shown to be entirely owing to malaria arising from opened and unfinished drains. The population of the island consists of 150,000 Chinese, and 2000 English and Americans. The revenue, raised by direct taxes, and lately aug- mented by a much-resisted stamp-tax, which pro- duced 190,000/. a-year, is really no more than a fairly proportionate levy to meet the increased ex- penditure of a more thriving community. In 1859 all grants in aid from England ceased, excepting for the cost of the military, towards which the island is now made to contribute 20,000/. a-year, which is a moderate quota for such a Station to the general requirements of the Empire. The Queen's troops are, however, neither fitted to co-operate with the local police, nor capable of the ordinary guard duty in such a climate. HONG KONG. 347 Situated so close to a part of China specially infested by inveterate pirates, this Station has presented to the handful of English occupying it considerable difficulties of administration. The Governor, Sir Richard Macdonnell, has, however, succeeded in doing much to repress the extra- ordinary amount of crime, and to reduce the ex- cessive number of criminals : in the first place, by an improvement, and increased severity, of prison discipline, and use of corporal punishment; and in the second place, by a registration of junks, in which kind of craft, made for coasting trade, piracy is chiefly carried on, and many of which, till lately, were actually built and equipped for this purpose in Hong Kong. He also obtained an Ordinance for disarming native vessels, so far as could safely be done without depriving honest traders of neces- sary means of defence. A registration of house- holders also had the effect of scattering many of the piratical junk owners to the more congenial pandemonium of Macao. Further, the Governor licensed certain gambling houses, and placed them under strict surveillance, as a first step towards mitigating the evil, and in hopes of at once thereby abolishing the most licentious practice of this in- veterate Chinese vice. The police, which was itself an engine of de- moralization by habitual extortion and connivance, has been reorganized, and has had its most corrupt constituents, the Bombay sepoys, dismissed, and / y 348 HONO KONG. only partly replaced by Sikhs, a smaller strength altogether now doing the whole service more effi- ciently. Six sergeants of London police were sent out about the close of 1866 to improve the discipline of the force, and application is made for more European officers. The weakness of the neighbouring Chinese Government is an additional source of embarrass- ment to our Government, from its want of power to give any effective co-operation in the suppres- sion of crime. (Reports, Col. Possess., 1868.) A new Court has been established, in which the Senior Naval Officer sits as Assessor with the Judge, to try piracy cases, without a Jury, The Chinese Government engaged itself, in the treaty of Tien-tsin, to concert with us for the sup- pression t>f piracy, and information came in Sep- tember, 1866, of a joint expedition of English and Chinese having been satisfactorily and creditably conducted. But Chinese co-operation is never much to be relied on, especially in the suppression of a trade in which probably Mandarins are as much engaged in employing as in hanging or crucifying the ostensible actors. We have invited France and the United States to contribute to the forma- tion of a joint permanent squadron till piracy is effectually extirpated — a task which we undertake singly in many quarters for the benefit of the rest of the world. Probably the best sort of contri- bution we can get from China to this under- HONO KONG. 349 trength ore effi- >re sent scipline r more dhinese jarrass- ■ power uppres- 8.) which nth. the ', in the he sup- in Sep- ish and ditably much )n of a much cifyirig France forma- racy is iertake he rest contri- under- taking will be the pay of a certain number of our own gun-boats in such a squadron; in the same way as we have allowed 5000/., out of the mili- tary contribution of Hong Kong, fixed in 1865 for five years at 20,000/. a-year, to represent a contribution from the Colony of one gun-boat. The Governor of Macao has expressed a readiness to co-operate in this work. The exact extent of our own jurisdiction is left somewhat uncertain by the absence of definition of boundary, and even of mention of the adjacent islets, in the convention made at Pekin in 1860; so that there are gangs of robbers in whose way to the gallows stand niceties of principles about inter- national rights in medid agud Df narrow seas, and the claims of each nation within three miles of its own shore. But the abuse of extradition, or rather of ren- dition to torture, of pirates taken within Chinese waters, calls loudly for a revision of the treaty of Tien-tsin, and is decisive against our renewing it without modification. The instructions to our Officers are not to give up prisoners without a distinct engagement that they shall not be sub- jected to torture; but the invariable Chinese pro- cess of trial by extorting confession utterly sets at nought all such guarantees. By the 27th Art. of the Treaty either party may demand its revision at decennial intervals, and, besides the above-named reasons for revision. 350 HONG KONG. iirl :y there are now additional objects in view, namely, a reform of the tariff, the general opening of ports, and better conditions for Coolie emigration. Sir Hercules Robinson, the present (lovcrnor of Ceylon, established a Mint during his govern- ment at Hong Kong, calculating that whichever way the ^alar^ O'" trade might turn, there would 1,1 ways In- cvicji a demand for coined silver as to support a r,i?f ; r. a moderate seignorage ; but after various experimeiii j in coinage, and a reduction of seignorage to one per cent., it was found the habits of the Chinese prevented any sufficient demand, and Sir Richard Macdonnell has been fortunate in getting the Japanese to purchase the whole concern. By Letters Patent, of the date of May 11, 1849, the Bishopric of Victoria was constituted, under the powers of the 6, 7 Yic, 80, "For the better " government of Her Majesty's subjects resorting " to China," for the spiritual superintendence of the clergy and laity of the Church of Ei: gland in Hong Kong, in its dependencies, and in any part of the Chinese Empire. It is now in contemplation to limit his authority to| the 28° N. lat., and to appoint another Bishop in partihus of Ningpo, for the benefit of the heathen, and more distant English residents in Upper China. The government of Hong Kong is suited to the character of the Station, as a mere commercial dep6t. It is placed entirely in the hands of the ST. HELENA. 351 lamely, iiig of ration, 'vcrnor ^overn- ichever 5 wciild r as to ut after duction md the ifficient IS been urchase L, 1849, ider the better jsorting !e of the and in ny part iplation and to ^ingpo, distant lited to imercial of the Grovernor, r-nd a Council of ten nominated by him, four of whom are unoflicial. Tiie Judicial establishment includes a Supreme Court, and Chief Just* .3. ST. HELENA, an island 1200 miles oif the south-west coast of Africa, was granted to the East India Cor^pany by a Charter of Charles II., and only ta^er n hand by the British Government from +1,.. Ccin- pany so lately as 1833. It is well watered with delicious springs, and ships call here on their homeward voya^ j to take in water and fresh provisions, the supply of which constitutes the trade of the place, and the sole use of the Station. In the month of August, by the last Report, ninety sail put in for srpplies. "We keep troops there to the strength of 450 men. The only material defences of the island, till lately, were some old guns placed on the wharf of James-Town, but some new guns have now been moun+cd on the heights above. There is a population, including military, numbering 6400 ; and the revenue, chiefly raised by port dues, amounts to 32,000/. The pensions of the East India Company's servants are borne on our esti- mates, and aid was granted last year by Parliament for the repairs of public buildings destroyed by * 1, 352 BT. HELENA. the white ant. The merchants are now asking for a modification of the tonnage duty on ships calling for small supplies. There are imports to the value of 118,000/. a-year; but the exports little exceed 20,000/., being chiefly supplies to ships. The disproportionate list of civil, ecclesiastical, and judicial establishments which has long existed for this little watering Station is very charac- teristic of our old system ; but lately, by ^ 3aving vacancies unfilled, and giving two or three places to one man, the list of appointments is reduced to more practicable dimensions. The Chief Justice, for instance, is chief only of himself in other judicial capacities, and the Police Magistrate and Postmaster act as Colonial Secretary and Auditor ; and the Rev. Mr. Whitehead undertakes for 60/. a-year the Chaplaincies of the Forces, and of the Gaol; having, with two other clergymen in the island, a Bishop for superintendence, who wants Her Majesty to set up for him an Ecclesiastical Court of jurisdiction over them. There was an establishment of liberated Africans here, which has been lately broken up. The hospital receives aid from the Board of Trade, for care of sick seamen, to the amount of the excess of their cost over their wages paid in. The "Union Steam-packet Company " contracts for the postal service out as well as in, receiving the entire postage on all letters, except those of ST. HELENA. 353 the army and navy, on condition that their vessels touch at St. Helena regularly once a-month. On the whole the Station is a desirable one for a great commercial nation like ours, though none of its expense should fall on the tax-payers of England, but by economizing the establishment, the whole cost might be brought within the local and commercial taxation; and the municipal ex- penditure, such as that on the gaol and police, should by rights fall not on the shipping interest, but solely on the Islanders. The defence ci the island being entirely a naval question, no n ore land protection should be pro- vided than mig!\t be required against a piratical attack; and it seems doubtful wisdom placing a garrison there, which in regular war would be prisoners if we had not the command of the sea, and useless if we had. Be it ever remembered that Napoleon vainly regretted having placed 2000 of his soldiers in the Ionian Islands, where the English fleet shut them up, during the great French war. Ascension Island is a British possession, under the control of the Admiralty, lying north-west of St. Helena, 10° nearer the Equator, that is, half way to it. 2 A 354 THE FALKLANDS. '•; !, &i THE FALKLANDS are two large, and several smaller, islands off the south-east extremity of Patagonia, in latitude about as far south of the Equator as England is to the north of it, and cursed with no such inclement climate as Lord Grey attributes to them, but remark- ably healthy, though, like most of such islands, exposed to winds which stunt all vegetation but grass. They have been successively occupied and abandoned by the French, Spaniards, and Buenos Ayreans, and were finally taken by us in 1833. Lord Grey gives Lord Russell the credit of having, during his previous Secretaryship, esta- blished British government here, for the conve- nience of commerce, as a place of call for ships on the route from Australia round Cape Horn. Admiral Elliot has lately reported that these islands are increasingly so used, and now more especially as a coaling station, for which purpose the United States Government have asked to be allowed to make a wharf for themselves, proposing to take the ground on lease. The protection of the whale fishery was one of the original objects for which the Station was made. The southern part of the isle of East Falkland was granted to M. Lafone, a merchant of Buenos Ayres, in payment of a royalty on the wild cattle he might kill, which were supposed to belong to the Crown. Lord Grey anticipated a revenue TUE FALKLAND8. 355 Is off the latitude land is to [nclement t remark- \i islands, ition but ipied and id Buenos 1833. credit of hip, esta- tie conve- for ships pe Horn, bat these low more a purpose ked to bt proposing tection of lal objects 1 Falkland of Buenos irild cattle belong to a, revenue from these licence-fees sufficient to relieve mate- rially the expense of government. M. Lafono's Falkland Company, however, afterwards obtained a judgment against the right of the Crown, which was confirmed on appeal to the Judical Committee of Council. The fees, and fines, and sales of for- feited hides, already received by the Government, had therefore to be refunded by Parliament, be- sides the costs of the suit ; and the annual deficit of Falkland revenue, which had existed even during these receipts, increased to this extent its item in our last year's estimates. Leaseholders as well as freeholders may henceforth kill the wild cattle on the land they hold, without any acknow- ledgment to the Crown. New regulations have been made for the dis- posal of Crown lands, which have already led to the whole of East Falkland being taken up by private individuals for sheep farming, and West Falkland is now open for applications. The usual expenditure of the Government is nearly 7000/. a-year, towards which about 1100/. is all that is raised in the island. The Governor, Mr. Eobinson, in his Report, dated July, 1867, expresses a hope that what he calls this " Colony '* will eve- itually support itself, instead of throwing two-thirds of its expenses on the tax-payers of England. Pastoral occupation must, however, first extend over it; and increasing population, now only 600 in number, must reduce wages below 2 A 2 356 THE FALKLANDS. SI"' if III M •■{/'■] I;! I ,?* '■'■ 1 "J -a 1 ,-•■; ^^ ■'■ their present minimum of 5s. a-day. The land is not such as will ever want many labourers for agriculture. Mr. Robinson considers that a quid pro quo for the cost of this Station is gained by the ** Empire " (that is, the English who pay), by a great saving of life and property from shipwreck. He describes it as an increasing resort for shipping, and quotes Admiral Hastings as recommending every ship bound to the Pacific to call there for its excellent supplies. It appears, however, from returns, that during 1865 only fifteen vessels called for re- pairs, twenty-four for provisions, and thirty-one for ordinary trade. On the whole, the Governor admits the neces- sity of a cheaper style of occupation of these islands, and that the Government establishment should be stripped of superfluous officers, such, for instance, as a Surveyor-General or a Public Vaccinator. He re- commends also an amalgamation of offices, as a means of both economy, and greater efficiency. The islands must no longer be treated as a Colony, but simply as a coaling Station, nor can there be any objection to letting wharfage for coal to other nations. The government must be made self-supporting, and we have already insisted on the whole cost of pro- visioning the garrison being charged on the local revenue, besides the extra colonial allowance. In 1866 marines were substituted for the former garrison of military. HELIGOLAND. 357 e land is irers for •0 quo for Empire " it saving describes id quotes TQTy ship excellent irns, that I for re- hirty-one the neces- se islands, should be Lstance, as r. He re- ts a means he islands nt simply objection ons. The g, and we 3t of pro- L the local mce. :he former A dock has been proposed to be constructed, with aid under the provisions of the Colonial Dock Act, such as might be available for our ships of war. A "South American Mission" lately applied for one of these islands, on which they might by profits of farming get means for missionary work throughout the group, and on the neighbouring continent. They at first wanted a Bishop, but afterwards modified their scheme. The Govern- ment, however, declined to deal with them other- wise than as with any other applicants for land. One hardly sees sufficient advantages to induce England to hold this Station for the commercial world, unless it can sustain itself. HELIGOLAND is an old Danish island, twenty-five miles off the mouth of the Elbe. About an area of three- fourths of a square mile is as much as remains of it unwashed away ; and a shoal of sand on the side towards the German Ocean marks where a former headland stood, on which now an extensive bul- wark is being constructed against further encroach- ments of the sea. In the French war it was a great resort for smuggling ; and the inhabitants are now devoted to wrecking, and plunder of merchants chiefly our own. 368 HELIGOLAND. ■>. '.■ The only export, now conducted by the loca Government, is of oysters. The island has become, since 1830, a German bathing and gambling place, the residents adding the rents and plunder of thie season to their profits by wrecking at other times. The government expenditure is not covered by the local revenue, but presents a balance for John Bull to make up of about 1000^. a-year, including the interest on a debt of 6372/., which, however, is in gradual process of liquidation. The revenue, of about 3500/. a-year, consists of a few ground-rents, a large rent for the play- tables, and a number of miscellaneous receipts. English fishermen have lately made a consider- able rendezvous of this island, which has added somewhat to its means, and much to its troubles. The Governor has introduced a light taxation on personal property, and a tax upon wine and spirits, which, with the reorganized oyster-fishery, may in better times bring up his revenue to the necessary requirements of government. The constitution of government was granted by Order in Council in 1864, and is something like the Guiana model. The wretched salary of 500/. a-year is paid to Colonei Maxse, who has ably conducted the most difficult affairs of the Station with the aid of an Executive and Legislative Council of thirteen members, and with the con- stant opposition of twelve elected Representatives, who meet them in Combined Court, in " Conversa- HELIGOLAND. 369 " tion House," empowered to ratify or reject any Ordinances which impose taxes, or appropriate public money. One treacherous Councillor can give the elected Representatives a majority, ren- dering the proposition of the most needful tax, or of any restraint on wrecking, a nugatory effort. Yet the G-overnor affirms that the reform of 1864 was a very great improvement on the former state of things. A certain Councillor Stoldt, however, brought things to a pass, and the dignus vindice nodus having arrived, the Duke of Buckingham spent the official holiday at Whitsuntide, 1867, in startling the Islanders by a visit in the * Enchantress.' He heard the complaints of the Assembly, who had memorialized him for a revival of the old constitu- tion ; and of the Burgher Committee, who in fact were the same gentlemen in a municipal capacity ; and he told them that a revival of the old consti- tution was out of the question, but that whenever he should be informed of their raising taxes suffi- cient to cover the necessary expenses of their municipal and general government, including their debt, and of their observing the laws, their Charter might be secured to them beyond its stipulated term; but that without these conditions their powers of obstruction of all possible government must be further restricted. The Governor finding himself unable to make the Islanders submit to the novelty of taxation, or ^ 360 HELIGOLAND. 1 'III [HI M ^H i^^H^S ^■■BfflWB ^^^|H ^P ■ f^RF'.-' mm' ''■^■■\\^ KJ^K. ijt m relax their hold on the English Treasury, the con- stitution of 1864 was abolished. The Board of Trade also recommended a change in the old Strand laws relating to wrecking ; but it was clear that external authority alone could change the inveterate vices of the place. At the Duke of Buckingham's suggestion, the Admiralty agreed that a coastguard station should be established at the island, which might both keep order among the fishing vessels, and help the Governor to raise his supplies, and to enforce obe- dience to the law as to salvage and wrecking. The * Mermaid' cutter has been sent out, with a crew of sixteen men armed, for whom a watch- room, lodgings, and boathouse have been provided ashore. On her arrival, an Order in Council was pro- claimed repealing the Constitution of 1864, and placing the powers of government wholly in the hands of the Governor. The useless Court of Ses- sion was remodelled, and a stipendiary magistrate appointed to administer justice with summary power, in lieu of the former native magistracy. Juries, except in certain criminal cases, had been abolished in the reform of 1864. The contract for the gaming tables is only allowed to run out its term, and will expire in 1871, and the proceeds in the interval are to be vppropriated to the improvement of the harbour, ar.d to payinf* off debt. MALTA. 361 By all this drastic treatment the law may gain its ascendency, and the island may be made to pay its way ; and it is possible that, as a coastguard and fishing station, Heligoland may yot become an useful appendage to the British Crown. MALTA, as a great naval Station in the Mediterranean, can scarcely be brought properly into a Colonial re- view, but it may bring up the rear, in the category of war-stations, in company with Gibraltar and Bermuda. Only 1400 out of a population of 140,000 are British residents, the great bulk of the inhabitants being Maltese ; but there are British troops gene- rally quartered here to the number of 7000, and a considerable fleet, both naval and mercantile, make the harbour their rendez^'ous, Valetta is strongly fortified by nature and art; and even in 1798 Napoleon said that the Knights of St. John might have kept the rench out if they had only shut their gates. I -as by the general co-operation of the inhabit; ts that we expelled the French in 1800. Lord G-rey thought it desirable tl, l the Go- vernor of Malta should not be the same man as the Commander of the Forces ; but one who^e mind, unburdened with the care of the garrison, might be free to attend to the general wants of the island, m.' tit;.- h'i 362 MALTA. Sii and who, leaving undiminished the Crown's neces- sary powers for the military command, might him- self preside over a constitution of civil govern- ment, in which, to some extent at least, popular principles might be introduced. The old consiglio popolare^ which had existed from 1690, had been abolished by the Grand Master Rohan in 1794. Accordingly, in 1849, a charter was granted, introducing election into the legislature, so far that, of the whole Council of eighteen, eight should be always chosen by a constituency which, upon a qualification of a U. rental, now numbers 3000 on the register. The other request of the Maltese, for elective municipal institutions, was postponed. Certainly there is a considerable difference be- tween a populous island, even so small as Malta, and a mere fortress like Gribraltar, yet Yaletta is so much the chief part of all Malta that the garrison interest must be the paramount consideration of the whole c> << \ ^^A.^o-^ 4((^ 23 WIST MAIN STRHT «VniTM,N.Y. 14SM (7U)l7a-4S03 >^^^^ ^e^^ ^ <\ r,tj .r't 368 GIBRALTAR. f fortresses inevitably introduces a double aspect of government. The Reports which have been made from Gib- raltar during late years to the Secretary for War, and now which come to the Colonial Secretary, simply record the state of the finances ; and they make it appear that the annual revenue of about 30,000/. covers the local expenditure ; that is, that the ground rents and port dues of which the re- venue consists, furnish most of the official salaries, keep the Government-house in repair, and support the tanks, hospitals, poor relief, and ordinary muni- cipal expenses of the place. Special grants for town institutions, and for both Anglican and Roman Catholic churches, are occasionally made, and at this moment the Governor is raising a loan of 24,000/. in England, secured on local rates, for sanitary works. The expense which is incurred by Great Britain on accoimt of the garrison is of course very large. "We still keep about 300 English convicts at hard labour on Government works at Gibraltar, just as at Portland, but as our public works at home now occupy almost all our convicts, this establishment has been reduced. English writers, at intervals, and now again, advocate our generously giving up Gibraltar to Spain, anf^ taking another port, such as Ceuta, on the African side of the Straits, instead. But the pride of Spain has not evinced the irritation GIBRALTAR. 369 ispect of :om Gib- for War, ecretary, and tliey of about ,t is, that b the re- [ salaries, I support try muni- rants for ican and ly made, 'aising a cal rates, incurred son is of nvicts at ibraltar, works at icts, this w again, raltar to s Ceuta, id. But rritation at our neighbourhood which from our side is sug- gested to it. We hope that gallant people will some day recover from its long prostration under the incubus of the Inquisition ; but if it does regain its high national spirit, it will be all the more in- dependent of jealousies, and care as little for our friendly and loyal occupation of Gibraltar as France does for our long tenure of the Channel Islands. In the contingency of general war, it is question- able whether we could long keep Malta without possessing the key of Gibraltar. New implements of war have certainly altered the problem, but rather so as to increase the value and power of Gibraltar batteries, and if, after making a hand- some present of Gibraltar, we lost Malta, the eastern commerce and empire of Great Britain would be at stake. True it is that holding such a post adjoining Spain renders our daily relations with that king- dom delicate, and open to offence. A fl*8et of small craft perpetually smuggling tobacco into Spain keep their guarda-costas in dangerous activity, and the Courts in constant and protracted litiga- tion about seizures. The Duke of Buckingham proposed a registration of small British vessels, and stricter rules and restrictions on any carriage of contraband articles in small craft, and on the other hand that Spanish revenue boats should not come into British waters, nor any armed vessels into our roadstead, without displaying their national colours, nor ever be allowed to come into port 2 B 370 OIBBALTAB. without observing all the regular formalities. Every assurance was given to the Spanish Govern- ment of our wish to avoid everything obnoxious to them, and that our object was to cultivate friendly intercourse, by a careful maintenance of inter- national rights. As the Spanish Government becomes better es- tablished and freer, we may confidently hope that an assimilation of our commercial systems, and an enlightened co-operation will put an end to the only pretence of any reason, beyond a mere senti- ment, for our abandoning this post. Our Governors are always men of high military distinction, and have invariably exercised tact and strict integrity in these difficult relations, assisting the guarda-costas in their own proper work, and maintaining the greatest vigilance in our own waters. Only the other day H.M.S. * Skylark * seized two Spanish traders smuggling tobacco into Spain from Gibraltar, and put them at once at the disposal of the Governor of Algesiras, who had summary proceedings immediately taken on them, gratefully acknowledging our co-operation. There have been five " Charters of Justice " since 1720 up to 1830, by which English laws were asserted to be in force in Gibraltar, and all Courts, criminal and civil, claimed to be governed by that understanding. An Order in Council, of November, 1867, removed up to that date all doubts as to the force of English laws ; but in future only such English enactments will apply to Gibraltar GIBRALTAR. 371 jrmalities. b Govern- noxious to te friendly of inter- i better es- hope that QS, and an >nd to the nere senti- rh. military }d tact and ls, assisting work, and our own * Skylark' Dbacco into once at the , who had a on them, ion. >f Justice" iglish laws ar, and all 3 governed Council, of 3 all doubts future only f Gibraltar as are adopted by local ordinances. A clear codi- fication of what has been decided to be law, and of what is considered applicable, especially of recent English improvements of criminal law, seems highly desirable ; and a better administration of the law by justices out of session, appointed and paid by the Crown, has been provided for by a local Ordi- nance. A better classification of Government lands is under the consideration of the present Governor- General, Sir Eichard Airey, with a view to ar- rangements by which what is not required for purposes of defence might be disposed of by him for local improvement, and all that the principal object of defence requires might be made available. For this purpose a map by fresh military survey has been projected, specially marking as vested in the Secretary of War the unoccupied land between the town and fortifications, over some of which leases have been granted; and showing where, within the town, streets want widening and spaces opening for sanitary reasons, and for checking further crowding within the walls. The law re- garding aliens, and daily permits of residence, has, at the same time, and with the same object in view, been revised. It is desirable for the purpose of the Station to bar the influx of new residents. The Treasury agreed, by a Minute of January, 1867, that the money of Spain should be legal currency in Gibraltar, and the gold doubloon the standard of value. The weights and measures are 2 B 2 «' r 372 THE BERMUDAS. 1 1 f i I those of England, and I hope may before long be amended with them. The Roman Catholic is the prevalent religion, but the Protestant Grovernment, as landlords, make such grants in aid of both churches as they deem reasoneble, though apparently not such as to give present satisfaction to the Roman Catholics. On our capture of the place, and in the treaty of Utrecht, the Roman Catholics were assured of the free exercise of their religion, which the Vicar Apostolic Scandella takes care the Government do not forget, reminding them constantly of their obligations, as landlords, and as controllers of the public resources of the place, not only to permit, but to supply the religious requirements of his charge. Gibraltar being a free port, subject to few duties and restrictions, is also by its situation a most certain entrepot for merchandise. THE BERMUDAS, or cluster of Somers Islands, six hundred miles oflf the main headland of North Carolina, furnish a naval station, dockyard, and convict-works for this country. Their salubrity might suggest their further use as a sanitorium, for the climate is de- scribed as that or a perpetual spring, and the fields and trees as always green. Ever since 1620 the inhabitants of these Islands have had a representative constitution of govern- ment. The London Bermuda Company set up the THE BERMUDAS. 373 re long be it religion, [ords, make they deem as to give lolics. On of Utrecht, )f the free ,r Apostolic not forget, igations, as ic resources supply the Bct to few situation a ed miles oflf furnish a rks for this gest their mate is de- and the lese Islands of govern- set up the first institutions, but forfeited its charter and lands to Charles II. in 1684, and the Crown has ever since appointed the Governor and his Executive, which is also the Legislative, Council. The House of Assembly consists of four representatives from each of nine parishes, chosen and paid by 842 electors, who are all that are qualified to vote by the possession of a 60/. freehold, out of a population of 11,000, one-half of whom are emancipated slaves. These guardians of the local purse lately ex- pressed an objection to pay their Governor's salary, which, however, the then Governor, Colonel Ord, managed with tact to overcome — as he was also able to maintain that a retiring Colonial Secretary's pension should be a charge on local funds. There is difficulty in reconciling a free Constitution with the requirements of a Government Station. An elected House of Assembly is only ready to give up its will on the payment of costs. Mr. Cardwell offered in this case to make over the Crown quit- rents to their disposal if they would undertake to pay the salaries of their Chief Justice, Attorney- General, and Colonial Secretary, but they refused. The resolution of the House of Commons, however, is to make our Stations pay their own expenses, and this resolution may make constitutional changes necessary in Bermuda, which, after all, from the nature of its population, and the object of its oc- cupation, can scarcely be suffered to have its executive subjected to an unreasonable popular control, repudiating local obligations. 'ill 374 THE BERMUDAS. " U (h i'V '}:[ -^l H; Even a plan for raising a local force of Volun- teer Rifles was found impracticable, simply because it was based on the principle of the ballot, the whites declining to serve if there were a chance of blacks serving with them, and no doubt inclined to try whether they had not the option of having no local service at all. The Castle Harbour defences are recommended by the Admiralty for further strengthening, and the unprecedented feat of sending out a ready-made floating-dock from England has just been exciting the interest and admiration of the world. The Bermudas are ecclesiastically in the see of Newfoundland, but a question was lately raised as to the right of the Governor to present his nominee to the Commissary of the Bishop for institution to a vacant parish, against the petition of the in- habitants, who wished for another person ; and a mandate of induction which was issued was publicly resisted, the disputants being supported by a decision of the local Court of Chancery, on the ground that the Crown could give no such power to a Bishop in a representative Colony; but, as this trenches on the wider subject of a subsequent chapter in my Third Part, I -make merely passing mention of the fact. A recent Ordinance has enabled clergy ordained in the United States to hold livings in Bermuda. There is a whale fishery on the south of the islands, and this, together with attendance on vast numbers of ships calling for purposes of trade, con- stitutes the employment of the people. ( 375 ) of Yolun- y because (allot, the chance of t inclined Df having )mmended ning, and jady-made n exciting the see of ' raised as is nominee institution of the in- )n; and a IS publicly ' a decision round that Bishop in jhes on the my Third f the fact. r ordained ermuda. [ith of the ice on vast trade, con- CONCLUSION OF PABT II. So ends the Second Part of my Review, namely, that relating to Crown Colonies, and Stations for trade or war. The essential distinction in the government of Crown Colonies is not in its relation to the Impe- rial Parliament, to which all Colonial Governments are alike in theory ultimately, but in practice almost nominally, subject; but consists in the autocracy on the spot, which contrasts with the subjection of the government of others to repre- sentative Assemblies, with which, as with the Imperial Parliament, the Crown is only legisla- tively a partner. With neither form of colonial government does the Imperial Parliament ever interfere, unless in extraordinary matters of general concern, and then only, in the case of Constitutional Colonies, because the colonists cannot unite with it in any sort of Congress, and general interests cannot be discussed in separate Assemblies ; and, in the case of Crown Colonies, because Parliament will always control the action of the Sovereign in matters how- ever remotely involving its own supplies. I i 376 CONCLUSION OP PART II. m .i''i J .1 M A 1*: 1 , 4 ■'■■••I .i'l ■» Af Neither kind of Colony is in any way subser- vient to the English people. When, therefore, any Colony thus addresses the English people, in the current jargon of the day, " We expect your " defence in return for our allegiance;" they can simply reply, " Your allegiance is not to us, but " to the Crown, in common with us." To Colonies with representative Assemblies the answer is, " The physical accident of distance, " which prevents your congress with the Imperial " Parliament for common affairs, in no way en- ** titles you to lay the burden of those common " affairs on your fellow-subjects who live near " enough to be represented in it, and who, by the ** fact of their crowded old metropolitan residence, " are more heavily burdened than you young ** occupants of fresh territory ; still less does your " absence from the metropolitan council, even " if it ever practically controlled you, which it " never does more than you indirectly control it, " oblige or enable it to relieve you of your re- " sponsibilities, or to assume the charge of your " protection ; and if, unfortunately for you, any " power could so help you, you would soon cease "to be able to help yourselves ; but no bounty is " supplied from heaven for a Mother-country to ** dispense to Colonies." To Crown Colonies the answer is, " Our com- •* mon Sovereign has not governed you in our ** interest, but to the best of its power for your CONCLUSION OP PART II. 377 ly Bubsep- jfore, any le, in the )ect your they can ;o us, but Lssemblies distance, I Imperial way en- common live near .0, by the residence, u young iocs your oil, even which it ontrol it, your re- of your you, any )on cease )Ounty is untry to )ur com- in our for your u own. The Crown is your Government ; we are " not responsible for its actions, and its responsi- " bility to us has been always honestly, if not " wisely, turned to your account." There need be no fear of causing separation by coming to a clear understanding of our true relations; far greater fear should attach to any assumption of false relations, which the day of trial will prove treacherous, and which the very pre- tence will have rendered worse than treacherous, by having superseded necessary preparation. The well-being of the people concerned is surely the primary purpose of all government. Very few now take Lord Grey's view, that the superior wisdom of home statesmen is necessary or useful for the ordinary guidance of distant colonial communities. Their well-being must spring from their own vitality, and their own re- sources. To constitutional Colonies, therefore, the greatest freedom of representative institutions ought to be conceded; and whatever novelty of government may result from their novel circumstances, their own congenial government must be better for them than the best guidance we could give them from such a distance. For Crown Colonies the Crown is bound to give, for their own interest, the best local govern- ment it can; but their fellow-subjects at home can give them no guarantee against mistakes, 378 CONCLUSION OP PART II. • '*'<%• ' :* mishaps, or failures in their government, nor frank them of its cost. Stations have only to be fairly and wisely uti- lized, each for its own special purpose. Bearing these general principles of the true re- lationship of our various colonial governments in mind, there need be no such theoretical questions as we daily hear discussed of the claims of Colonies, and obligations of Mother-country ; which, like the old indefinite and slovenly relations of landlord and tenant, keep both parties in mutual specula- tions, and chronic discontent. True it is that Crown Colonies come more nearly to the idea of Dependencies, but that is so only in the sense that they depend on the central power for their government, and not that they are chargeable on the metropolitan people for their expenses. •*', !;'. nor frank neely uti- ( 379 ) e true re- iments in questions Colonies, ., like the landlord specula- ne more hat is so 9 central lat they for their PART III. ••*■ It remains for me only to make some general remarks on the three most important Colonial questions of the day, namely, On what prin- ciples Colonial Defence, the affairs of the Colonial Church, and Emigration to the Colonies should be conducted. I-/.' ( 380 ) L— COLONIAL DEFENCE. On this subject opinion has so nearly arrived at general concurrence, at least on the main points on which controversy recently prevailed, that I need scarcely do more than show how events at this moment occurring in two or three Colonies illustrate the principles now generally recognized. As I have stated in the First Part of my Ke- view, our earliest and most vigorous colonists in North America defended themselves, as in fact they governed themselves, and separated from us in resentment of our interference. Our second Colonial policy was to govern and defend Colonies from home. Our recent tendency has been to recover e.irlier principles, and our chief blunders have been in halting half-way. The best exposure of the folly of the second policy, in comparison with that which ought to be re-instated, may be seen in the Report of a Depart- mental Committee of 1859, consisting of Mr. Hamilton, Mr. Godley, and Sir T. Elliot, respec- tively representing the Treasury, War Office, and Colonial Office. In referring back to it one is startled at being COLONIAL DEFENCE. 381 ' arrived in points ', that I vents at Colonies )gnized. my Re- colonists in fact from us second polonies been to )lunders second it to be Depart- of Mr. respec- ice^ and being reminded that so short a time ago " the Colonies of " Great Britain may be said, speaking generally, ** to have been free from almost all obligation of " contributing, either by personal service or money ** payment, towards their own defence ; " that in the year preceding the Report our military expen- diture in the Colonies was 3,968,599/., to which the Colonies (and chiefly three of them) only con- tributed altogether 378,253/.; that few had any militia or local force whatever of their own ; and that this little contribution to our expenditure on their behalf was most unequally distributed, Ceylon paying two-fifths, Canada one-fifth. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and New Zealand nothing at all, of the cost of their garrisons. On the Cape alone the English tax-payers spent 830,687/. of military expenditure in one year. The irregular system of colonial allowances to our troops was also most michievous to the service. The Report ably points out the damage done on both sides by such a state of things : on the home side, the scattering of the little British army in small detachments (at the cost of discipline and organization, though with the additional cost of a most disproportionately multiplied staff), shelved in places inviting attack, a deduction from our avail- able strength, and ready-made prisoners in case of war ; while mercenaries were hired, with offence to other countries, to supply our regular service: on the colonial side, the preventing any develop- ^ J I 382 COLONIAL DEFENCE. I' 4 i-?-- 1 ,1< ment of a proper spirit of self-reliance, and the enfeebling of national character. The inefficiency of the system alone would be enough to condemn it. It is not physically pos- sible, even if it were desirable, for England to maintain efficiently in all such distant places gar- risons and fortifications; and singling out needy Colonies for special protection on the eleemosynary principle would only add injustice to injury. Be it remembered that fortifying ca well as garrison- ing all the Colonies was a necessary part of this ideal system, which really was only fit for after- dinner oratory in the House of Commons, to flatter Imperial pride at the cost of common sense, sacri- ficing the real strength of the empire for a mere pretence of patronage. To quote the Report, " The ** conditions of a successful attack iny of our " Colonies must be either permane. "- OHLiiand of " the seas by the enemy, or such temporary com- " mand as would enable him to land an expedi- " tionary force powerful enough to conquer the ** country. In neither of such contingencies would " our colonial garrisons be capable of defence, and " accordingly at every menace of war we find the " Governor cries distress. So far as assistance " from the mother-country is concerned, the chief " thing which most of our Colonies must look to " for defence against foreign enemies is our navy. " But a more efficient safeguard is in their situation, " and in the character of their population. The COLONIAL DEFENCE. 383 and the vould be illy pos- ^land to ices gar- it needy losynary iry. Be jarrison- ; of this )r after- :o flatter 3e, sacri- ' a mere •t,"The of our iiand of ry com- expedi- uer the s would ice, and find the distance le chief look to r navy, tuation, The " successful defence of British America, for in- " stance, depends on the wishes and feelings of *' the people themselves. If they were ill-afifected, " or even indifferent, no possible military efforts " on our part could defend them in case of war " with the United States. On the other hand, " the Americans could never subdue and retain in " subjugation the British provinces, if determined " not to accept their dominion." Against local dangers from natives, from piratical attacks, or from internal discord, every English community should be able to defend itself, nor should the little British army be always dis- persed in exposed places throughout the world to relieve English colonists from such tasks as these. Every Colony should decide on the nature and extent of its own defensive requirements. They will certainly be much smaller than colonists now think necessary, or than are necessary, while Eng- land undertakes their defence for them. Probably there would have been neither Ashantee, Kafir, nor Maori v/ars if the colonists in each case had had only themselves to look to. They would have carefully avoided what they did not feel able to cope with, as our old American colonists did when in contact with far more powerful natives headed by European allies. In foreign war we should assist them, and they no less should assist us. The cost of their fair share 384 COLONIAL DEFENCE. "f. i 4 of warfare they are, man for man, more aLIe to bear than the old country. In both military and naval power every part of the empire should con- tribute to, not deduct from, the aggregate strength. If any Colony, from scarcity of men, cannot furnish their necessary militia, they should enlist men from elsewhere, or pay for such troops as England could spare. The fallacy should be exposed which New Zealand has lately advanced in argument, namely, that because men are worth twice as much in a Colony as at home, therefore the homo country should supply them with soldiers. By the time Englishmen are sent out they are as valuable on the spot as the colonists, except so far as their additional numbers may reduce the value of all alike, and the burden of an expensive soldiery is only transferred to our tax-payers from them, instead of resting on them for themselves ; to say nothing of the cost of transport. In 1851 Lord Grrey himself, with all his grand ideas of the duty of the Mother-country, made an arrangement (modified by the late Lord Taunton) with the Australian Colonies, providing that while the Imperial Grovernment should maintain such troops as it considers " necessary for Imperial " purposes," the colonists should pay for all mili- tary buildings and other local defences, as well as for any troops they asked for beyond the number specified. The Departmental Committee condemned this plan — first, as still open to the objection of COLONIAL DEFENCE. 385 I aLle to tary and ►uld con- rtrength. t furnish len from nd could oh New namely, ich in a country ;lie time >le on the iditional and the ferred to on them •ansport. is grand nade an aunton) at while in such mperial all mili- well as number demned ction of scattering our army in so many, and such ill- fortified places ; secondly, because what is " neceb- " sary or best for Imperial purposes " can be fixed by no rule, but must depend on constantly fluctu- ating circumstances of both place and time; thirdly, because its principle could not be applied recipro- cally; and, fourthly, because it must perpetuate in the Colonies a feeling of dependence on the Mother-country, recklessness of policy, neglect of local efforts, and the absence of that spirit of self- reliance which is the very essence of their pros- perity. On this last ground of objection I lay most stress. If nations are vigorous in proportion as they are free, and free in proportion as they act for themselves, and the prosperity of the people concerned is the chief point in view, what counter- vailing reason can there be for withholding the utmost possible self-action, such as we exercise our- selves at home, from our fellow-subjects elsewhere ? Drawing such a distinction between citizens at home and abroad, as that between imperial patrons and colonial dependents, so far from maintaining any mutual connexion, itself constitutes and ine- vitably develops the most fatal kind of separation. If such a relation of superiors with inferiors could be maintained, what would be its use ? Is it bene- volence, or foolish pride that prompts the offer of protection, which the people at home have not really the means to give? Surely the only last- 2 386 COLONIAL DEFENCE. :i 1 J ing and trustworthy connexion is not that of dependence with patronage, but that of mutual relationship, partnership in commerce, identity of interest, and equal citizenship under allegiance to a common head. On the third ground of objection to Lord Grey's plan, that of its inadmission of reciprocity, Mr. Godley, in a reply to Sir T. Elliot who demurred to parts of his colleagues' Report, observes that " The Colonies of all other nations, ancient and " modern, have defended themselves, or paid for " their full share of the common defence ; and in " the case of the Grreeks, who are always cited as " offering the nearest parallel to our early and " most successful system, the obligation was strictly " reciprocal ; so that if Athens felt bound to assist " the Ionian cities against the Persian king, on " the other hand the Syracusan triremes fought " as a Corinthian contingent in a Peloponnesian " quarrel." But natural relations irresistibly work their way in so free a constitution as ours. It matters little what theories are maintained, so that prac- tically things can take their own course. Lord Grey's half-measure of distinguishing the Imperial from the local quota to a Colony's defence gra- dually shaped itself into a rough calculation of joint undertaking. It was finally arranged that the Australian Colonies should pay for whatever number of English troops were agreed upon as COLONIAL DEFENCE. 387 that of ' mutual entity of fiance to :d G-rey*s ;ity, Mr. lemurred :ves that ;ient and paid for ; and in J cited as sarly and IS strictly to assist king, on >s fought »onnesian )rk their matters lat prac- e. Lord Imperial nee gra- lation of ged that whatever upon as necessary to be stationed among them, at the rate of 40/. per infantry soldier, and 70/. per artil- leryman. "We have also seen Victoria taking the initiative in extending, to other branches of the service, the principle of colonial self-defence; imposing upon herself a share in her naval equipment, as well as in the fortifying of her harbour. A Committee of the House of Commons, of which Mr. Arthur Mills was Chairman, in the year 1861, recommended generally that the Colo- nies, properly so termed, should be called upon to undertake the responsibility and cost of their own military defence, but with a reserve of discretion as to the extent to which H.M. Grovernment should so call upon them, according to their local resources and dangers. They thought separate negotiat'^n with each Colony on the subject inexpedient, and that Lord Grey's Australian arrangement in 1857, might be made the general rule; but they pro- ceeded to suggest its modification for each Colony. They condemned the plans for colonial fortification, but only on the ground of their requiring too many men, not fearing apparently to leave our scattered detachments unprotected. Their last resolution, however, in defiance of the preceding qualifications, adopted after all the main principle of the reformed policy, affirming " that the tendency of modern " warfare is to strike blows at the heart of a hostile " power, and requires a concentration of troops at 2 c 2 388 COLONIAL DEFENCE. " home, trusting to naval supremacy for securing " against foreign aggression the distant depen- " dencies of the empire." In a debate on this Report the following year (1862) the House of Commons fully accepted the recommendation of the Committee, but in practice went much farther. Common sense vindicated itself; and with no further resolution, or any enactment, it seems to have been tacitly admitted that Colonists must, like the rest of Her Majesty's subjects, bear the burdens of both their civil and military establishments. In respect of military expenditure this principle has been distinctly asserted by every succeeding Secretary of State of either side of politics. The Duke of Newcastle extracted larger contri- butions from Mauritius. Mr. Cardwell commenced the withdrawal of troops, which were not paid for, from New Zea- land, imposed larger military contributions on several Colonies, and passed the Colonial Naval Defence Act. Lord Carnarvon instituted the gradual with- drawal of English troops from the Cape ; and Lord Granville is now carrying out the same process, boldly begun by the Duke of Buckingham as far as circumstances allowed him, in Canada. I cannot do better than briefly show how these instances illustrate the policy of colonial self- defence now distinctly adopted with almost unani- COLONIAL DEFENCE. 389 mity by English statesmen. Of the Colonies from wliioli troops are being withdrawn, I may observe that New Zealand and the Cape are the only ones exposed to formidable natives, and Canada is the only one exposed to foreign invasion by land. The three present, therefore, all the strongest pos- sible claims to Imperial assistance. First let me say of the Colonial Naval Defence Act of 1865 that it in fact extends to the Colonies equally with England the benefits of the Royal Naval Reserve. It enables the Colonies to place ships at the disposal of the Crown, as indeed Bar- bados presented George III. with a frigate a century ago in the old French war. It may in the sequel be the foundation of a great naval force main- tained by the energy, and at the expense, of the Colonies, constituting a valuable addition to British power throughout the world. The Duke of Buck- ingham proposed advancing a step beyond this Act, and getting the principal Colonies to main- tain squadrons on their stations under the Queen's command. The case of New Zealand excites, perhaps, more interest at this moment than any other, and tests to the utmost the applicability of the principle of universal self-defence throughout the British empire. To many it appears a desertion of our fellow-subjects at a moment of extreme peril ; but to those who are at the pains to know the true circumstances of the case it saems a signal justi- 390 COLONIAL DEFENCE. fication of the general condemnation of the old system, and preference of the new. The early meddling with New Zealand from home, and, even after the concession of self-govern- ment, the retention of separate control over the native policy, caused and continued the Maori wars. The Crown, however, was the Government of New Z'^.aland, and acted to the best of its judgment for the interests of the Colonists. The Colony became willing to undertake its own defence, when that was clearly seen to be the imperative condition of its having the correlative control of policy. Upon this we made ' clean sweep of the past score, and the Crown gave up all further interference, leaving to the Colony its own a£fairs, and the task to fight for them, or hire troops for the purpose from us at the low Australian rate of pay. The local parties were, however, so evenly balanced, that though the principle of self-reliance was carried, the requisite supplies were refused. Hence the present cala- mities have ensued — the proverbial catastrophe of falling between two stools. But who would attempt to set up the old imperial protection again ? The leading statesmen in New Zealand are resolute not to allow it, though still thwarted in obtaining their ways and means. Bitter experi- ence alone will break down this sort of opposition, and the man who by word or act encourages any hankering after a renewal of the system which bred the mischief is the greatest enemy to the COLONIAL DEFENCE. 391 on wars. Colony. We oflfer them cheaply hired troops, but to the extent to which England undertakes the war, the Crown must resume external control of policy. Imperial troops so employed again would not end, but keep up the war, as they formerly did, while they would finally break down the last hope of the most spirited colonial party who think they see in self-reliance, and sense of responsibility, the only means of ending war. Take next the case of the Cape. Lord Grey, both in debates in the House of Lords, and in his evidence before Mr. A. Mill's Committee, strongly condemned even the gradual withdrawal of English troops from this Colony. He said it was un>vise for the sake of a small economy to run the risk of an expensive war ; unjust to leave colonists to defend themselves from dangers to which we had ourselves exposed them ; and in- consistent with our colonial policy to let colonists and natives settle mutual claims together, which nothing but the dispassionate arbitration of a dis- tant power could treat with justice and humanity. But a long experience has too fully proved the futility of such a theory. Economy is not the object of the new policy, though, no doubt, the stoppage of an unjust and useless waste of English resources will be one of its consequences. War has been the ceaseless concomitant of the system it supersedes. Our placing colonists on lands which they must exercise caution and courage in 392 COLONIAL DEFENCE. B' :-J t« .-1 1, lioMing doG8 not entail an obligation on us to en- feeble all their numerous descendonts for ever by defending them, nor has the dispassionate arbi- tration of a distant Government been eminently successful in the settlement of local disputes. One power fighting for another power quarrelling is a recipe for endless war. Sir P. Wodehouse's present negotiations with the Basutos and Boers, if he had our troops on the spot to back him, would probably have already bred a war. The last illustration of the policy of self-defence throughout the Empire, is the withdrawal of a large force from Canada. This is the only Colony in immediate contact with a foreign power — a power which became foreign by our infraction of its colonial relations — now perpetually threatening us with the sensitiveness of wounded friendship. Canada is becoming an immense Dominion, and, however exposed to danger, must defend itself, or no one can defend it. Whatever means may be required to maintain its integrity, it is quite clear that England cannot furnish them from her resources on the other side of the Atlantic, jor could Canada long rest securely on borrowed strength. We have given the Canadians the besl plans for fortifying their principal posts (which is the only possible mode of defending so great a width of country), and we have set them a good example by strengthening Quebec for them, which, indeed, was also necessary for the safety of our own remain- COLONIAL DEPKNCE. 393 \ to en- 3ver by te arbi- linently i. One ing is a present lie had robably •defence al of a Colony wer — a ction of atening sndship. n, and, tself, or IS may is quite Q from tlantic, rrowed he best hich is a width xample indeed, remain- ing troops. It is for them to do the rest themselves. Our chief object in keeping any troops still among them is the organization of their local forces, but such an employment of our troops necessitates the scattering of them in very small detachments at great distances from each otlier, and cannot be suffered to continue long. While Fenian threats are kept up, to get a dividend for the shareholders in the speculation, and a cry for the American elections, it may be difficult to withdraw our troops wholly from the threatened points, the militia being insufficiently established ; but it may be doubtca whether the red coats of England have most effect in deterring or attracting that species of menace, and the Canadians look upon Fenianism rather as an " Imperial " danger drawn upon them. So long as we keep up a North American naval station it is necessary for us to see that Halifax is secure, and, so long as any of our troops remain, the rail from thence to Quebec is essential to us ; but there is no reason why the harbour, any more than the railway, should be maintained by English taxation, and the object for us to keep steadily in view is to call out to its present requirements the local spirit which showed itself in the Canadian defence of 1813, and which our late system has done so much to suppress. Our chief Colonies are certainly more in earnest now in developing their local strength, and the recent offer of Canada to send a regiment to the 394 COLONIAL DEPENCK. ! 1 i Hi Crimea was a volunteer of even colonial reciprocity in Imperial service. The St. Albans raid called out a provincial army in British America, which marched to the frontier amidst the newly awakened cheers of national feeling. The notion which some people entertain of keeping up a sentimental connexion of sympathy, or shadow of Imperial prestige, by the exhibition of a few English red-coats about every Colonial Grovernor is scarcely worth considering. It is thought by some that Colonists will see no advantage in retaining any further connexion with England when they are left to share equally with the English at home the charge of self-defence. If it were so the relation would not be worth re- taining; but I believe that the healthier attach- ment of community of interests and responsibilities will be also stronger than that of mercenary calcu- lation, and it is already evident, in Canada, that the last thought suggested to our fellow-country- men by the gift of self-administration, is to set themselves up as independent republics, or to place themselves under any other flag. \l hi eciprocity aid called ca, which iwakened ( 395 ) Il.-COLONIAL CHUKCH. ertain of j^mpathy, xhibition Colonial ill see no don with illy with snce. If i^orth re- r attach- Lsibilities ry calcu- ida, that country- s to set to place Certain judicial decisions within the last six or seven years have so affected the recognized legal status of the Colonial Church as to require some notice in a review like this, however imperfect, and my notice must be a mere sketch of what has happened. The Colonial Church was supposed to be as much a part of the Established Church of England as was lately that of Ireland. But one little fact was forgotten, namely, that many Colonies had separate representative legis- latures, and that in them anything that required legislation could not be done by the Crown, which is only part of the Legislature, alone and unautho- rized ; nor could the Crown be Head of an Esta- blished Church where none had been established, though by its ordinary prerogative it could make a Bishop as a Lay Corporation for which no sta- tutory power is requisite, or it might, of course, be the acknowledged Head of a voluntary Church association. The entire overlooking, by all, of this little fact that a Colonial representative Legislature is the same thing as the Legislature at home for all 396 COLONIAL CHURCH. mm mm local purposes, is very significant of the national inappreciation of colonial relations. The fact once accepted carries with it as a corollary that any see, province, or ecclesiastical corporation, set np by the act of the Crown alone in any Colony having an independent represen- tative Legislature, derives no authority or even existence from such an act. Bishop Gray of Cape Town, seems to have devoted himself to illustrating the truth of this corollary, by repeated failures in attempting to disprove it, and abortive efforts to assume authority on the basis which it invalidates. In the year 1861 he first essayed to suspend from his clerical functions, and afterwards to de- prive of his office in Natal, the Rev. W. Long, for refusing to convoke a synod at his bidding. The Supreme Court of Natal refused Mr. Long's appli- cation for an interdict on these proceedings ; but the Judicial Committee of Council, on his appeal in 1863, decided that the Bishop of Cape Town's order of suspension was not justified by what Mr. Long had done, and that the act of deprivation fell with it. In 1864, Bishop Gray took proceedings against Bishop Colenso of Natal, in what he called a " Court of Justice," on a charge of heresy ; and in judgment gave sentence for his deposition, and deprivation. But in 1865, on the petition of Dr. Colenso being referred to the Judicial Com- COLONIAL CHURCH. 397 national it as a esiastical wn alone represen- or even to have I of this pting to ;Uthority suspend ^s to de- lOng, for g. The 's appli- igs; but ppeal in Town's hat Mr. tion fell against sailed a ij ; and )osition, petition al Com- mittee of Council, these proceedings were pro- nounced null and void, and it was decided that Bishop Gray had no such jurisdiction, as he sup- posed, by law, and that Bishop Colenso could not have voluntarily submitted himself to it. The events which led up to this decision must be narrated. In 1847, the Queen separated the Legislature of Natal from that of the Cape by Letters Patent, giving Natal an independent but not a represen- tative Legislature. By other Letters Patent, in the same year, the Queen created the See of Cape Town, which she had full power to do in what was then a Crown Cc^ony ; for not till 1850 were the Letters Patent issued which gave the Cape a representative constitution. By Letters Patent, in 1853, the Queen consti- tuted the See of Natal, and appointed Dr. Colenso its first Bishop; and, fifteen days later in that year, after accepting the resignation of his former post by Dr. Grray for the purpose of the new ar- rangement, she assumed the power of appointing him Bishop of the reduced Diocese of Cape Town, and of giving him Metropolitan powers over the sees of Natal and Grahamstown. These last acts of the Queen, the Cape having then a representative Legislature, are judged not to be of full force, wanting statutory authority. There is doubt whether the Natal Legislature was so far emancipated in 1847 as to necessitate 398 COLONIAL CHURCH. ■ -1 I - m its concurrence with the act of the Crown in the creation of that See in 1853. If so, Dr. Colenso is not Bishop of Natal. But if the Natal Con- stitution, not being representative, left so much power in the Crown sole as to give force to the Letters Patent of 1853, then the result of all these proceedings would be that Dr. Colenso is Bishop of Natal, but that Dr. Gray, having resigned all his former Diocesan authority in that year, and the Queen having been unable by her Letters Patent to give him the new Diocesan p,nd Metro- politan powers which she intended, independently of the Cape Parliament, is simply a Bishop in Cape Town. In the state of uncertainty so produced, Mr. Cardwell consulted the Law Officers, and it was determined that some Imperial legislation was ne- cessary, and early in 1866 he brought in a Bill " to remove doubts as to the effect of Letters " Patent granted to certain Colonial Bishops, and " to amend the law with respect to Bishops and *' Clergy in Colonies." Mr. Cardwell saw at once that there was no alternative but either to substantiate what the Judges had found wanting, or to accept their de- cisions and adapt things to them ; and all agreed with him that the latter course alone was prac- ticable. For Parliament to establish the English Church now in the Colonies would be a vain attempt, nor would the colonial legislatures agree i-c^^'i'-'H i COLONIAL CHURCH. 399 n in the Colenso tal Con- so much e to the t of all )lenso is resigned at year, ' Letters i Metro- jndently ■shop in 3ed, Mr. it was was ne- a Bill Letters )ps, and ops and was no iat the heir de- agreed IS prae- English a vain s agree to constitute a diocesan organization, though will- ing to recognize the constitution of a voluntary Church. The data, therefore, for Parliament to legislate upon were, the cessation of connexion between the Crown and Colonial Episcopate, ex- cept in Crown Colonies; the equal freedom from the State of the Colonial English Church with that of other communions ; the unauthorization of Colonial Clergy to officiate in an English diocese without special permission; and the necessity of ratification of all past proceedings which had been rendered questionable by the judicial decisions. The Bill accordingly proposed to settle things on this basis, that is, to repeal all Acts not con- sistent with the judgments, especially as to colonial ordinations, to cure invalid transactions, and to empower English Bishops to consecrate without mandate in future. The change of Ministry in July, 1866, pre- vented Mr. Cardwell from proceeding with his Bill; but it had already become clear that it could not pass. There was very little agreement as to what legislation was required. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury desired simply the ratifica- tion of past Acts; the Colonial Churches them- selves desired self-administration, and were only anxious to retain identity of doctrine and fellow- ship with the Church at home ; and all saw that a simple voluntary constitution was the inevitable destiny of the Colonial Church. * ■ t < 1 1/ 400 COLONIAL CHURCH. At this period came another judgment, from Lord Romilly, Master of the Rolls, further com- plicating the whole question. The suit was in- stituted by Bishop Colenso, against Mr. Gladstone representing the Trustees of the Colonial Bishops' Fund, who had threatened to stop any appropriation of their funds to the endowment of Natal, as not a legal diocese. Lord Romilly decided that the Privy Council judgments had meant no more than that the Crown alone could not constitute a colonial diocese giving the Bishop coercive jurisdiction over all its inha- bitants such as by statute attached to r*, Bishop in England; but that the Bishop of Natal was a right- ful territorial Bishop with consent, and possessed authority which the Law Courts would recognize. This decision was geneially considered irrecon- cilable with the former. Lord Carnarvon, succeeding Mr. Cardwell as Colonial Minister, was pressed by the Bishop of London, and by several Petitioners, to refer the subject to a Committee of Enquiry. He had, how- ever, promised to introduce a Bill agreeing with Mr. Cardwell's, only more limited in its scope, when his resignation, early in 1867, stopped his hand in this proceeding. The Bishop of Cape Town finding his first proceedings fail, resorted to ecclesiastical excom- munication against the Bishop of Natal ; on which the Rev. Mr. Green, though Colonial Chaplain in COLONIAL CHURCH. 401 it, from 3r corn- was in- ladstone Sishops' priation , as not Council 3 Crown 5 giving ts inha- ishop in a right- ►ossessed agnize, irrecon- well as shop of 3fer the .d, how- ig with 5 scope, ped his lis jRrst excom- i which )lain in Natal, and receiving part of his salary from the Government, ventured to refuse any further recog- nition of Dr. Colenso as Bishop, and even pub- lished his sentence of excommunication in the Church of Pietermaritzburg, of which he was Dean. The Bishop of Natal, thereupon, pronounced sentence of deprivation upon him, and obtained from the Supreme Court, though not a confirma- tion of his informal sentence, an interdict prohibit- ing Mr. Green from officiating is Colonial Chaplain, and ousting him from his Deanery. This sentence has been appealed against, but confirmed. In spite of this further failure, the Bishop of Cape Town has since attempted to set up a rival Bishop in Natal ; and though the feint of a distinct title did not deceive the Queen into lending her sanction to the proceeding, he has managed to get a quorum of Colonial Bishops to consecrate a Bishop in Dr. Colenso's neighbourhood, who is to rally round him the orthodox Church escaping from the treachery of the supposed but uncon- demned Heresiai^ch, and effect an extra-profes- sional, and somewhat homoeopathic, cure of heresy by schism. All attempts at legislation by the Imperial Parliament to meet the difficulties of the Colonial Church seem to be suspended at present. We shall probably wait, as is our habit, for cases to present themselves requiring remedy, and meet them in turn by special legislation. 2 I) 402 COLONIAL CHURCH. rti 111 mm J'l !.«! ft- The effects of the judicial decisions at the worst are these : — 1. That a certain number of Colonial Bishops hitherto supposed to have dioceses and jurisdiction, have not. 2. That the clergy ordained by them and now officiating in England are disqualified for doing so under the 59 Geo. 3rd, 60. 3. That some acts consequently done informally may be open to question ; and, 4. That the bishoprics when vacant cannot be filled by the Crown. Probably no practical evils will arise from these defects ; if they do, they must be met as they arise. The Churches will accommodate themselves to their ascertained and recognized position for the future, in Lord Kingsdown's words, "neither better " nor worse than other religious communions," and able to maintain their own internal arrange- ments, as other corporate bodies, by the general law. The Privy Council judgments affect about twenty-five sees, in North America, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa. But these several Churches nxe very differently circumstanced. The Canadian Church has for some time been \irti:'dly independent. The local Parliament, by an Act in 1851, recognized reli<^ious equality ; and in 1854, by the Clergy Eeserves Act, renounced all connexion between Church and State ; and in 1856 gave the Anglican Church complete self-govern- COLONIAL CHURCH. 403 ment ; since which its Bishops have been elected freely, though the Queen's Letters Patent have been part of the proceeding, which they are now no longer. Most of the Australian Colonies have repu- diated distinctly all idea of Church establishment. The Bishopric of Rupert's Land is peculiar, having been established in the Hudson's Bay Ter- ritory, which had no independent Legislature, yet was never subject to Crown legislation. The judgments of the Privy Council can have no effect on sees in Crown Colonies, nor on such as have been created under Acts of Parliament, or have been recognized by their own colonial legislature. Six Colonial Bishops have been appointed since these judicial decisions ; five of them with man- date from the Queen, which, however, takes no notice of the diocese which they are to govern, but merely authorizes the act of consecrat on ; namely, the Bishop of Rupert's Land, a Suffragan to New- foundland, the Bishop of Grrafton and Armidale in New South Wales, of Nelson, and of Dunedin in New Zealand ; and one by Letters Patent, namely that of Victoria in Hong Kong; not counting Colonial Missionary Bishops. The Bishops of New Zealand have petitioned to be allowed to surrender the Letters Patent by which they were appointed, and to rely in future on the power inherent in their office, stating that 2 D 2 it I ■•1 404 COLONIAL CHURCH. they have associated themselves with the clergy and laity about them in constituting a voluntary church and synod, which the local Legislature has recognized. What then may we conclude generally must be the future character of the Anglican Church in the Colonies ? It is evident that no Colonial Legis- latures will establish it, nor make good the past defective appointments and jurisdiction, though all alike seem willing to recognize a voluntary church, and to give it the same protection as any other legal association under mutual contract. There is no alternative for the English Church, in freely governed English Colonies, but to take up the position to which the Irisli Church has just been reduced. In point of doctrine it will probably rigidly retain the standard of the English Church at home, and, perhaps, by their independent ad- herence, fortify it. All the petitions which have come from the Colonial Church since these judgments, evince an anxiety for the retention of unity with the Esta- blished Church of England. In this, perhaps, as in many other things, the Mother-country herself may get a lesson from her children, and may see some of the problems, which are perplexing her^ worked out freely, as it were in vacuOf or adapted to the novel circumstances of new communities in the world's advancing age. ,( 405 ) I clergy >lantary ture has ly must lurch in I Legis- he past though )luntary 1 as any ct. Church, take up las just rigidly irch at ent ad- orn the ince an le Esta- igs, the om her , which it were mces ot age. lII.-EMKiUATlON. Thinking, as I do, that the speediest possible rid- dance of the false relationship of tutelage lately assumed by this Country with the Colonies, and the full substitution of the true relationship of community, are urgently needed in order to secure a healthy and enduring mutual connexion, which has been much endangered by past mistakes, no subject in the detail of this policy seems to me so important as Emigration. In no other particular is a common and reciprocal interest between both parties so evident and so essential. The want of men is the want of the Colonies, and the only barrier to their almost precipitate and unbounded wealth. The want of land, to spread capital and population over, is the want of an old and limited country. As Pericles told the Athenians that they must colonize to prevent their fellow-citizens being de- graded by poverty, so Englishmen may confess that for want of the right use of Colonies they have in the midst of their wealth a population of paupers. We first misused Colonies as washpots for the overflow of gaols, having allowed poverty to fill the gaols to overflowing ; and now we are only half retracing a wrong step in offering them 406 EMIGRATION. ^■^M the poverty. Let emigration anticipate poverty, and then the contact of men and wealth will be fruitful. The natural overflowing of a vigorous people on fresh lands is freedom on one side, and fertility on the other. The relief to the old country is not only the easing off of men for the time crowding on their work, but the supply of more work to those who remain, by a new commerce with the offset hive. The new Englands' transactions with the old are the real ligaments of a growing British empire ; far stronger, because living, than the mechanism of protection. The blood circulating warmly from the heart spreads the same life through the members of the body, returning as warmly from them to the centre of life again. We have been too much attacliing, rather than pro- pagating. Colonies, as dependent limbs to a lay figure, a mere exhibition of empire, which will not work without strings and pulleys straining instead of co-operating with the centre. The two objects to keep in view are the freest possible opening of fresh lands to the capital and labour of the nation, and the freest possible terms of commerce with our fellow-communities. It is to no purpose discussing whether there is a surplus of population in any country, for that is not a positive but comparative ternL. There is always a surplus whenever the supply presses at all on the demand, and the healthy condition of EMIGRATION. 407 a people depends on the escape from such pressure being at all times easy and profitable. Probably if the capability of this island were fully developed, it would occupy and enrich three times its present population. But the question is how to keep up, through all the stages of national progress, a con- tinuous demand for labour, and enable labour freely to find demand for itself elsewhere, in case of any redundivuce at home. The way is, to facilitate all legitimate enter- prise, to free from hindrance all the natural incen- tives to industry, and to open every healthy outlet to the energies of the people. That some obstruction now stands in the way of national industry, beyond a mere temporary check to trade, is obvious from the fact that a hundred thousand able-bodied men are receiving relief from the proceeds of others' industry, instead of adding to them,* to say nothing of a mass of criminals living in prisons at the expense of the community which, if it had found work for them, they might, and many of them probably would, have enriched. The Discharged Prisoners' Aid Societies have proved how cheaply a large pro- portion even of ready-made criminals may be re- covered to honest industry by merely helping * Mr. Gosclien allows that the number of paupers relatively to the population is somewhat on the increase ; and when he says that few of the able-bodied are fit to emigrate, he circulates results with conditions of the case. Not having emigrated they have become paupers, aud now being pauperized they cannot emigrate. I ' „ i 408 EMIGRATION. ■ It ;:.4 i m m m tbem to find employment. How much more easily could many have been kept from crime by earlier employment ! We have an arrear of difficulty to cope with, and not merely a principle to correct. To take the mass of criminals or paupers which we have allowed to accumulate, and place them on colonial wild land, is a proposition as wild as the land itself. There is no such ready-reckoner for a problem which has been negligently complicated. Many impossibilities stand in the way of such a proposition, which the slightest reflection must discover. A great national effort may be called for, but it must be made in the way of wisdom. Employment is wanted for many thousands, and thousands are wanted for work ; the question is how to bring the correlative work and workers rightly together. The work being local, the workers must emigrate to it. What hinders an English, any more than a Yankee, workman, who has much less inducement to emigrate, from finding fi-esh employment always open to him ? There must be some special obstruc- tion. First, there is our old system of local settle- ments and poor law, the stagnating effects of which are still uneradicated. Theii there is the general ignorance of our people of the offers of wealth to them in distant regions, which combines with their national love of home, to pre\ ent tlieir looking out- wards to better their condition. Tlic unoccupied EMIGRATION. 400 outskirts of England were long a mystery to our common people, purposely unexplained lest the de- terrent virtue of transportation might be lost in con- fusion with emigration. The people's nourishment was disguised for medicinal use, and sacrificed to it. But the only natural and irremovable hin- drance to o-ur access to fresh land is the wide in- tervening ocean. This obstacle must be conquered, the others may disappear. The United States do nothing more to overcome the same obstacle to their supply of labour from Europe, than merely to entice capital by offers of cheap land, and afford labour every possible advertisement and agency to encourage it to come. On our part, we have done much less by way of promoting emigration in these two ways. We have even thwarted it in past times. We complicated our system of Colonial land sales, and now that the matter is left at the disposal of each Colonial Legislature, systems vary so as to bewilder inquiry, though the terms of land sale are generally low enough. Some Colonies give free grants of land to ascertained settlers, some put land up to auction, some sell at a low fixed price. We may, however, be pretty certain, the colonists having the disposal, that " sufficient " price " theories will no longer perplex sellers, whose immediate interest it must be to sell land at the lowest terms compatible with a test of its bond fide occupation. But to encourage emigration effiectually, we 410 EMIGRATION. must in the first place spread more information, and increase agency. The Emigration Commis- sioners should come out of their long hiding-place in Park Street, and be part of the Colonial Ministry, nothing being more essentially a part of the work of that Department than the super- intendence, advertisement, and agency of emigra- tion. The information which is crowded into a closely-printed circular, issuing periodically for sale from those Commissioners, might be distri- buted more widely and intelligibly by advertising frequently the few facts that are wanted through the newspapers, and their agencies throughout the country might be multiplied, and made far more active than they are. More knowledge about the Colonies might be given in our primary schools, whose geography was till lately restricted to the Holy Land, and still greatly fails of meeting prac- tical requirements. Still there is the cost of passage to be paid by somebody before our far-west is accessible to la- bourers. Some Colonies riTer assisted passages out to themselves. Victoria and Canterbury give free passages for women. A few emigrate to West Australia at the expense of the home Treasury, to make up Lord Grey's promised equivalent for the service of transportation. Poor rates may be ap- propriated to emigration under cei iain conditions, but the amount so spent last year was only 227^. Coolies are sent from the East to the West L.idies EMIGRATION. 411 at the cost of their employers. All this is inade- quate to the object in view. There are many who think, and under present pressure are loudly declaiming, that it would be public money well spant if this country were to offer grants in aid to families of labourers wishing to seek their fortunes in new lands, and there would be less risk if such emigrants only were so aided as might be engaged by any of the various Colonial agencies which already exist in all our great towns, and which represent the real demand for them. Public aid to develope industry, in special emer- gency at least, has some precedents in its favour ; as, for instance, the Lancashire relief; but the public works for Irish relief in 1847 left liis warn- ing behind, that public aid should follow upon the exhai:stion of all other means, or it vnll supersede them. But as we have rid emigration of the stigma of transportation, so we must rid it of all connexion with poor rates. If assistance should be given it, and that locally, and not from the Treasury, it must at all events be given by a special emigration rate, distinct from poor rates, and regulated by a different test from that of destitution. There must be no smell of police or pauperism about it. Anything that degrades emigration, degrades the most vital spirit of English national life and growth, and breeds a repugnr.nce in the quarter where it is essential that 412 EMIGRATION. Wi I 1 co-operation should be equally spontaneous and high-spirited. It must not be the halt and blind who go out, but the most enterprising of our working classes. So alone will both sexes go out together in families, instead of our sending ship- loads of "females" to follow a riddance of "males." English ratepayers, with "parish-settlement" recollections in their minds, would cry out at this proposition, not so much alarmed at its direct costliness as at its indirect eifect upon wages, leaving, they will say, the worst labourers for them to pay with higher wages. That wages are artificially reduced below cost price at present in this country is evident from the fact that they do not cover the rent of dwellings, which land- lords provide at half-price as an indirect aid to their tenants. There is therefore a margin up to which emigration might usefully raise them, so as to get rid of this sort of covert truck sys'':em. But ratepayers generally do not yet take in the fact that every able and industrious family of labourers going out to new scenes of in- dustry prevents another family becoming paupers at home ; and that successful emigration increases the general employment both of capital and la- bour. I recollect when this subject was rife, when the Poor Law amendment saved England from imminent ruin, a Hampshire Board of Guar- dians remonstrating with an enlightened proprie- tor who proposed a large subscrij^tion to enable EMIGRATION. 413 ship- a great accumulation of healthy labourers who crowded the parish to emigrate. Tlie plan was ultimately carried out, and the result was that the paupers left behind soon ceased to be paupers, and the poor rates shrank to a quarter of their former amount. Emigration carried on in this spirit would soon empty our able-bodied wards, and thin our prison ranks, not by the suicidal plan of shovelling out the refuse, and fouling the enterprise of the nation, but indirectly by letting in fresh air to purify the crowded atmosphere, and releasing from the crowd those who will best develope employment for all, and widen without depreciating the field of industry. A large vote of public money would be re- quired to help off the arrears of emigration, but a moderate ordinary rate might adequately facili- tate the annual emigration from this country. The Colonies would probably contribute what they now expend in assisting passages, to a common fund, and instead of wasting our resources in undertaking for them their own local expendi- ture, we might, much better in this, as in all joint concerns, unite with them in effecting national objects as one nation. The united enterprise would furnish them with men, and thereby wealth, enough to conduct, without our assistance, their own affixirs; and would relieve our tax-payers of much of their own and of assumed colonial burdens. This mode of simply facilitating the access of 414 EMIGRATION. the supply to the demand is obviously better than the schemes which have been lately proposed of founding new settlements for the deposit of a sur- plus population. But Mr. Murdoch, the chief Emigration Com- missioner, in whose knowledge, experience, and sound judgment everyone has the fullest con- fidence, demurs altogether to any public aid being given to emigration. In- the first place he denies that there is a surplus population in these islands; though he cannot but allow there is a temporary pressure of the supply of labour on its demand at this moment. In the next place he maintains that the emi- gration from this country is as great as it should be, on the average. In the third place he argues that public grants in aid of emigration would only supersede and stanch the salutary efforts of the emigrants them- selves and the private aid of their friends. His facts are these. Emigration takes off, on an average, almost half the increase of our popu- lation yearly. From 1847 to 1868 nearly 5,000,000 emigrated from British ports; that is, about 250,000 a-year; of which total number only 450,000 have been assisted to emigrate, to Australia and New Zealand, the cost of all the rest having been defrayed from private funds, amount- ing to seventeen millions sterling. ' He argues tuat public grants would supersede EMIGRATION. 415 a sur- and these private resources, and that we should not be prepared to vote in annual estimates, or in rates, nearly a million a-year, to keep up even the present rate of emigration ; and that if we did, this would be a very bad substitute for the funds superseded, being much more liable to fraud and abuse, less wholesome in spirit, and likely to raise prejudices in the minds of colonists. What also, says he, would those poor people feel who have provided for their passage by pain- ful efforts of self-denial ? Besides, there is this diflBculty : the great bulk of emigration must at present go to North America, as the cheapest and most open market. Australia is only asking for female servants at present. But how can any public system of consigning emi- grant labour to North America be guaranteed to the place intended, that is, how can labourers sent out, at public expense, to Canada be kept from the larger attraction of the United States, by which, at least, half the object in the view of the national enterprise would be lost? All private engagements, indentures, or bonds, have failed to be put in force. For my own part I feel sure, and indeed both the views I have described agree in this, that it is the business of the Government, if not to stimulate, at least to see that nothing stands in the way of, emi- gration ; that whenever there is a pressure of popu- lation it should find the easiest and safest vent; I i i w .'? 416 EMIGRATION. and that nothing should be allowed to depreciate the enterprise in the eyes of our countrymen, or to prejudice their reception in our Colonies. There should first be the freest permigration of labour through the various districts of this country, equalizing the labour market at home. Better established relations between employers and em- ployed are also a necessary preliminary to proper conditions of emigration. Next in importance is the provision of available information and agency for foreign enterprise, and the best possible regu- lation, if not facilitation, of passage. On the other side of the question is the essen- tial requisite of colonial freedom — the not weight- ing with double government and interference tlie enterprise of capital in new lands, and not disturb- ing the field of labour by meddling legislation. When the conditions are right on botli sides, the natural intercourse will soon adjust itself. ( 417 ) CONCLUSION. People are curious to know what will be the nature of our future relations with the Colonies : as if anyone could foretell, or shape, either those future relations, or the coming condition of either side of them. The Statesman's aim should be to let no special theory of his own warp the most natural relation- ship at the present time, but simply to do justice to it, and to make the wisest use of it fairly in the interests of all. The interests of the Colonies must be the interests of England at home, and their prosperity is ours. We have had enough of the idiosyncrasies of statesmanship disturbing natural relations, first in the breaking-up of our entire Colonial empire in the last century, and then in the enfeebling of our new Colonies. We may fall back now on our freer policy, but still we shall not so revive the former state of thin^^s. Times are changed, the world is a wholly ne*v one. I conclude, as I began, by saying that these things follow a course which Statesmen should study, and not attempt to twist to their fancy. So far we may apply the French Emperor's philosophy, Le ginie pressent Vavenir^ sans en deviner la marche. 2 E 418 CONCLUSION. 1i The Colonies which are inhabited by our race will certainly require the freedom of our national institutions, adapted as they may be to new cir- cumstances and requirements. Mr. Godley, in his * Letters from America' (Murray, 1844), quotes M. Chevalier's confession of the inferiority of French colonization, from the military spirit of the nation producing outposts rather than growth of empire; while the industrious commercial genius of England, with the popular and independent national habit of government, has more vigorously reproduced itself in Colonies. Institutions derive more of their elements from race than from locality, and even the propensity of English Statesmen to hold the reins of colonial government is a feature of the activity of our race which, on the other hand, refuses to be so driven — at least unless handsomely paid for the submission. To intrude government, albeit in a generous spirit, on those who are born to govern themselves, is to thwart and cripple, not to guide or assist. Lord Grey has lately re-asserted his theory that the Colonies should have our protection in com- pensation for our exercising authority over them. But they only consent to the first part of his pro- position, and have proved that the latter must lead to the break-up which he wishes to avoid. Even Crown Colonies are better governed on the spot than the Crown could govern them in Downing Street. That we should have eminent CONCLURIOX. 419 f OflScials of the Colonial Department in London carefully looking after the enforcement of vacci- nation at the Gambia, or the provision of drainage at Port Louis, or the improvement of prisons at Hong Kong, or the amendment of the municipal law of the West Indies, seems a superfluous, if not a hopeless, machinery of government. Can we effectually provide for the detail of administration at such a distance ? Will the agents on the spot move with such long leading-strings? Will not mere local self-will be sure to lead the government more powerfully than the distant advice even of superior wisdom ? If the energy of the community is slack in averting from itself disorder, or disease and death, may not that very indolence have been caused by the soporific influence of supervision ? The Imperial interest in any place is all that the Imperial authority can guard. But on Colonies with representative govern- ment of their own, there can be no doubt about the mischief of intruding either home government or protection. Some indeed vaguely think that such Colonies should be kept down, lest they should become in^4J our withdrawal from interference, a willing co- operation which may graciually admit of organiza- tion almost to the point of guaranteeing defensive security to the empire. There are some who think that Colonists when thrown on their own resources, equally with Eng- lishmen at home, will no longer care for any connexion with them, and that they will refuse to take their Grovernors from the Sovereign's nomination. But this is rather the view of men who are so in love with republican government as to suppose that no community tolerates even constitutional monarchy that can help it. The Erglish Colonies will no doubt develop a very modern phase of constitutions 1 monarchy, but I can hardly conceive a more promising mode of filling the highest seat of such an Executive, ^^\an that combination of the hereditary and elec- tive principle by which eminent men, in the vigour of life, are necessarily deputed to represent ances- tral royalty, occupying the chief place in adminis- tration free from local interests or jealousies, and with the prestige of distant mission, without either the periodical interruptive turmoil and intrigues of an election, or, on the other hand, the occasional default of qualification for government to which hereditary succession must naturally be liable. With so little to be alleged against either the theory or practice of a free Colonial policy ; with the warnings of all experience against departure CONCLUSION. 423 from it; and while the Colonists who have most fully entered into it evince increasing vigour, and attachment to the Sovereign, what Englishman will be hardy enough to predicate, or try to preci- pitate, its failure ? To Lord Granville I beg to say I pede fausto, while he firmly yet temperately embodies in action the sentimentb of his present Chief, as expressed in the debate on the second reading of the New Zealand Constitution Bill, and in his evidence before the Committee of 1865 (see p. 135). But whether he does so or not, I have a firm faith in the future of this great empire, now that its spirit of self-administration is freed from central inter- ference beyond the reach of recall. I have, at any rate, to the best of iny power, given to the public the result of many years of study and occupation connected with the subject of colonial government, in hopes of contributing something to the recognition of its true principles, which seem to me of the most vital interest to all classes of my countrymen ; and a historical sketch, up to this year (1869), of the condition of every Colony and Station of the British Empire. LONDON : PBINTEU BY EDW'ABD STANFORD, 6 & 7, OHABINO CBOSS.