Whenever I Meet With This
Class Of Would-Be Emigrants, The Remarks Of An Old Digger, Which I Once
Over Heard, Recur To My Mind.
The conversation at the time was
turned upon the subject of the many young men flocking from the "old
Country" to the gold-fields, and their evident unfitness for them.
"Every young man before paying his passage money," said he, "should take
a few days' spell at well-sinking in England; if he can stand that
comfortably, the diggings won't hurt him."
Many are sadly disappointed on arriving in Victoria, at being unable to
invest their capital or savings in the purchase of about a hundred
acres of land, sufficient for a small farm. I have referred to this
subject before, but cannot resist adding some facts which bear upon it.
By a return of the LAND SALES of Victoria, from 1837 to 1851, it
appears that 380,000 acres of land were sold in the whole colony; and
the sum realized by Government was 700,000 pounds. In a return published
in 1849, it is stated that there were THREE persons who each held singly
more land in their own hands than had been sold to all the rest of the
colony in fourteen years, for which they paid the sum of 30 pounds
each per annum. Yet, whilst 700,000 pounds is realized by the sale of
land, and not 100 pounds a-year gained by LETTING three times the
quantity, the Colonial Government persists in the latter course, in spite
of the reiterated disapprobation of the colonists themselves; and by one
of the last gazettes of Governor La Trobe, he has ordered 681,700 acres,
or 1,065 square miles, to be given over to the squatters. The result of
this is, that many emigrants landing in Victoria are compelled to turn
their steps towards the sister colony of Adelaide. There was a family
who landed in Melbourne whilst I was there. It consisted of the
parents, and several grown-up sons and daughters. The father had held a
small tenant farm in England, and having saved a few hundreds,
determined to invest it in Australian land. He brought out with him
many agricultural implements, an iron house, &c.; and on his arrival
found, to his dismay, that no less than 640 acres of crown lands could
be sold, at a time, at the upset price of one pound an acre. This was
more than his capital could afford, and they left for Adelaide. The
expenses of getting his goods to and from the ships, of storing them,
of supporting his family while in Melbourne, and of paying their
passage to Adelaide, amounted almost to 100 pounds. Thus he lost nearly a
fourth of his capital, and Victoria a family who would have made good
colonists.
Much is done now-a-days to assist emigration, but far greater exertions
are needed before either the demand for labour in the colonies or the
over-supply of it in England can be exhausted. Pass down the best
streets of Melbourne: you see one or two good shops or houses, and on
either side an empty spot or a mass of rubbish. The ground has been
bought, the plans for the proposed budding are all ready. Then why not
commence? - there are no workmen. Bricks are wanted, and 15 pounds a
thousand is offered; carpenters are advertized for at 8 pounds a week; yet
the building makes no progress - there are no workmen. Go down towards the
Yarra, and an unfinished Church will attract attention. Are funds wanting
for its completion? No. Thousands were subscribed in one day, and would
be again were it necessary; but that building, like every other, is
stopped for lack of workmen. In vain the bishop himself published an
appeal to the various labourers required offering the very highest
wages; others offered higher wages still, and the church (up to the
time I left Victoria) remained unfinished. And yet, whilst labour
is so scarce, so needed in the colonies, there are thousands in our own
country ABLE AND WILLING TO WORK, whose lives here are one of prolonged
privation, whose eyes are never gladdened by the sight of nature, who
inhale no purer atmosphere than the tainted air of the dark courts and
dismal cellars in which they herd. Send them to the colonies - food and
pure air would at least be theirs - and much misery would be turned into
positive happiness.
I heard of a lady who every year sent out a whole family from
the poor but hard-working classes to the colonies (it was through one
of the objects of her thoughtful benevolence that this annual act
became known to me), and what happiness must it bring when she reflects
on the heartfelt blessings that are showered upon her from the far-off
land of Australia. Surely, among the rich and the influential, there
are many who, out of the abundance of their wealth, could "go and do
likewise."
THE END.
End of A Lady's Visit to the Gold Diggings of Australia in 1852-53, by Mrs. Charles (Ellen) Clacy
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