South Wales

“ To facilitate the rise of New South Wales to a state of consequence and independence, its interests must be entrusted to a governor who has no private or mercenary views, and will seek after nothing but the welfare of the colony; who will thoroughly support the trust and honour reposed in him, as the representative of our most gracious Sovereign; who will not treat, nor suffer others to treat, the officers serving under him with indignity ”

“ It is amazing to think that New South Wales holds two-fifths of the population of the whole Commonwealth and that Sydney holds more than half of the population of New South Wales. That fact alone shows the vast importance, not only to the Commonwealth, but to the future of the whole Empire, of this state and its lovely capital. Sydney is indeed the London of the Southern Hemisphere. ”

“ The history of New South Wales is quite unparalleled in that of the world. The management of the penal settlements of Australia is one of the most striking instances of the thoroughly admirable system of colonisation on record. With a country like Australia—in view of its distance—the trying and capricious climate—the wretched poverty of the soil—it could never have been colonised by free emigration. It needed the indomitable energy, and the spirit of enterprise of a British Government, and the pluck of the Anglo-Saxon race, to cope with the difficulties of such an enterprise. ”

“ No country in the world perhaps has been so advantageous to adventurers as New South Wales. The Free Settlers who have come out as adventurers have never felt their dignity injured by trading in every way with convicts ... ”

“ Besides, the soil of New South Wales produces timber and flax perfectly calculated for all naval purposes, and in sufficient abundance. The single advantage that this island presents is, as has been mentioned before, its proving a place of punishment to such notorious offenders in the seat of government as there escape the gallows; and for this purpose a small civil and military establishment might be maintained at a much less expense than the present. ”

“ Although Van Diemen's land seems to possess few or none of those vast depths of soil with which the happiest spots of New South Wales are blessed; yet it seldom sickens the heart of its traveller with those extensive tracts which at once disarm industry, and leave the warmest imagination without one beguiling project. ”

“ Between 1810 and 1820 the lot of the settlers was no easy one, and those who came intending to amass a fortune and return to England found their project a mere dream, and that they needed steady perseverance before they could make their way in the Colony itself. Bigge noticed that New South Wales was unlike any other British Colony, inasmuch as the colonists looked upon it as their future home. ”

“ Many, after being charmed with the exquisitely picturesque appearance of Port Jackson and Sydney, on a very cursory inspection of the surrounding country, come to the conclusion that the whole province of New South Wales is a barren desert only fit for feeding sheep a conclusion which is not more correct than to judge of the agricultural capabilities of England by Dartmoor, or of France by the "Landes." ”

“ Though New South Wales is the parent colony of the Australian group, she has been outstripped in the race of progress by one of her youngest children—Victoria, the wealthiest, most populous, and most important of the antipodean states. ”

“ In the colony of New South Wales two distinct elements developed themselves, one of democratic instincts, which gradually drifted toward the southern coast of the Australian continent, as far toward the pole as possible, and established there under democratic inspirations those flourishing colonies which Great Britain is so justly proud of. There they work for the division of land as a basis for democratic society, and develop a vigorous and free political life in every sense. Another element went north from New South Wales into Queensland ”

“ That a river justly termed the Nile of New South Wales should fall into such hands is to be lamented. In process of time, however, their productive farms will have yielded them all that they aspire to, and may then fall into the possession of persons who will look beyond the mere gratification of the moment, and cause the settlements in New South Wales to stand as high in the public estimation as any colonies in his Majesty's dominions. ”

“ As originally founded, New South Wales embraced the whole eastern seaboard of Australia; but in 1851 the southern part was formed into the province of Victoria, and in 1859 the northern part was divided into a separate colony, called Queensland, still leaving her an extensive sea-coast of eight hundred miles in length. When we say that New South Wales is twice as large [Pg 82] as California, it will be realized that she is not greatly circumscribed in territory. The present population, in the absence of actual statistics, may be safely stated to amount in round numbers to one million. ”

“ That a period of twenty-two years has not been sufficient to render New South Wales independent of the mother country, is a reflection which must produce strong and ungenial suspicions of the prudence of those methods which have been pursued to accelerate such a desirable end ”

“ Thus the preponderance of the town population, so marked a feature of Australian life to-day, and so potent a cause of the democratic sentiment of the country, had already, by 1820, begun to show itself and grew yearly more marked.
Sociologically the history of New South Wales must remain for the present a complete puzzle. ”

“ Wilson writes:—"So much has been said of the scenery in New South Wales resembling noble English domains, that the comparison is rather trite. Imagine a rich valley of considerable width, extending east and west as far as the eye can survey, bounded on the south and north by a succession of undulating and moderately elevated hills, thinly but sufficiently ornamented with trees of gigantic form, and you may have some conception of the beauty of the spot." ”

“ The colonists of New South Wales will feel with me, who must ever take an interest in the welfare of the settlement, a high degree of satisfaction at finding the conduct of their affairs placed under the direction of a nobleman who has dignified the amiable virtues of private life by the acquisition of those more splendid talents which characterise a consummate statesman ”

“ The encouragement of a few barristers to go over to the settlement, who have not met with success adequate to their wishes in the mother country, but who are, notwithstanding, persons of unimpeached moral character (for nothing could be more impolitic in any case than to import persons of doubtful characters into a colony of this description) , and whose legal knowledge would be amply sufficient for every purpose in New South Wales; such an importation would be attended with very great advantages to the inhabitants. ”

“ Beyond this stripe of country, from ten to twenty miles in width, forming the southern extremity of Wales, and an intermixture of rich scenery (particularly in the neighbourhood of Brecon) , with prevailing dreariness on the eastern frontier, South-Wales exhibits a tedious extent of hills without majesty, valleys overrun with peat bogs, and unprofitable moors. ”

“ From such elements the society of New South Wales was formed. Most of the convicts, after a short servitude, obtained tickets-of-leave, and settled upon the parcels of land allotted to them by government; and by the improvement of such opportunities they easily drew a subsistence from the soil; others devoted themselves to the care of cattle; while many more, as the colony increased, betook themselves to trade, by which means large fortunes were frequently acquired. ”

“ To-day upwards of a quarter of a million men work in the pits, and more than half the total population of Wales is contained in the mining valleys. The majority of these labourers are not Welsh; for to the pits, and to the great ports on the Bristol Channel, immigration has been taking place regularly, and on an enormous scale. Except for the thinly populated counties of Cardigan, Pembroke and Carmarthen, South Wales is no longer Welsh in any sense of the word, and it has ceased to sympathize with the political, the cultural, and the religious ideals of the North. ”

“ In this eventful period the colony of New South Wales is already far advanced. ”

“ A man might be captain or commissariat officer in the army as well as sheep-breeder, farmer, butcher, merchant and ship-builder; and with scarcely one exception he was a rum-dealer as well. The subject of spirituous liquors, their importation, distillation, distribution and consumption, fills many pages of the history of New South Wales. It must be remembered that it was in England also an age of intemperance, and that the population of the settlement was recruited from the two classes most prone to drinking, the soldiery and the criminals. ”

“ In 1822 Governor Macquarie embarked for England, after a longer and more successful administration than any governor in the Australian colonies has hitherto enjoyed. He found New South Wales a gaol, and left it a colony; he found Sydney a village, and left it a city; he found a population of idle prisoners, paupers, and paid officials, and left a large free community, thriving on the produce of flocks and the labour of convicts. ”

“ For long years New South Wales remained a purely pastoral colony, and its immense plains were inhabited only by the "squatters"—the proprietors who had bought large tracts of land from the government. ”

“ A new market for cattle and sheep has just opened on the interior side by the establishment of the new colony of South Australia, an event more fortunate for New South Wales than the most sanguine friend of that colony could have foreseen. ”

“ We may turn, therefore, from the rural districts, and take a rapid view of the principal towns of New South Wales. Among these the capital, Sydney, claims the first place, not less as a matter of right than of courtesy. By a happy concurrence of events, the very first settlement made upon the eastern coast of New Holland was formed upon one of its most eligible spots; and accordingly that town, which ranks first in point of time, is likely always to rank first in population, in size, in commerce, and in wealth. ”

“ SILURIA.
More changes have come over South Wales—even in the memory of an ordinary man—than perhaps over any other part of the United Kingdom. Some districts, as for instance much of the mineral country of Glamorganshire, resemble the vigorous bursts of Australian life, rather than the gradual efflorescence so common in British civilisation. In the extreme west corner, increased railroad communication has induced corresponding activity in the harbours and dockyards. Larger supplies of wealth generally tempt men to the seaside ”

“ The greatest disadvantage under which New South Wales labours, is the want of means for conveying inland produce to the market, or to the coast. The Blue Mountains are in this respect a serious bar to the internal prosperity of the colony. ”

“ The present population of New South Wales, despite all 81their burdens and difficulties, furnish an instructive and cheering example of what may be made of even hordes of fallen man under certain conditions, if they can be afforded the opportunity of working and showing their powers. ”

“ The four or five thousand persons annually sent to New South Wales were not absorbed by the population, but continued to form a large and separate vicious mass. Crime and vice were consequently on the increase in the settlement ”

“ One of the greatest objections which families have to New South Wales, is their apprehension of the moral effects that are likely to overwhelm them by bad example, and for which no success in life could compensate. ”

“ In general it may be said that New South Wales legislation in recent times has not been so bold as the legislation of Victoria. ... The land of New South Wales has to a large extent come into the hands of wealthy persons who are becoming a territorial aristocracy. ”

“ I could have enlarged very much the foregoing account of the natives of New South Wales; but, both in describing their customs and in detailing their language, I have chosen to mention only those facts about which, after much attention and inquiry, I could satisfy my own mind. That they are ignorant savages cannot be disputed; but I hope they do not in the foregoing pages appear to be wholly incapable of becoming one day civilized and useful members of society. ”

“ In a moral and religious light, the introduction of a numerous and virtuous free emigrant population into the colony of New South Wales, cannot fail to afford a highly gratifying prospect to all who are sincerely desirous of promoting the best interests of that important dependency of the empire. ”

“ Peel is directed by Lord Liverpool to acquaint ... in answer to his application for permission to proceed to New South Wales, that no persons are allowed to go out as free settlers to that Colony, unless they can prove themselves to be possessed of sufficient property to establish themselves there without the assistance of Government, and who can produce the most satisfactory testimonials and recommendations from persons of known respectability. ”

“ New South Wales (1,132) , the “mother colony” of Australia, fronts the Pacific for 700 m. on the E. between Queensland (N.) and Victoria (S.) , is 21⁄2 times the size of Great Britain and Ireland; mountain ranges (including the Australian Alps) running parallel with, and from 20 to 100 m. distant from, the coast, divide the narrow littoral plains from the great plains of the W. and the interior, and are the source of many large rivers (e. g. the Darling) flowing E. and W.; the climate is warm and everywhere healthy ”

“ The staple of our Australian colonies, but more particularly of New South Wales, the climate and the soil of which are peculiarly suited to its production,—is fine wool. ”