In the course of his administration, Arthur had most places at his temporary disposal: he filled them, wherever possible, with his friends; and he left his nephews in the highest appointments within their professional capacity. Arthur drew out a minute detail of official subordination: the duties prescribed for his officers were defined with labored exactness, and the reins of control met in his hands. Everything was referred to himself, and his instructions were definite, and generally irrevocable. Many persons appointed by the crown were dismissed, or thrown off, by his contrivance. Accident placed many offices in his provisional gift. Baxter, a judge elect; Gellibrand, an attorney-general; Ferreday, a sheriff; Thomas, a treasurer; Burnett, a colonial secretary; O'Ferrall, a collector of customs; and many in lower station, relinquished or lost their appointments, by the determination of his inflexible and unflinching will. The forfeiture was sometimes obviously just; but it was a maxim of his government to fill the departments with persons who knew no patronage except his own. Among them were candidates for the same gifts, who looked for fortunes beyond the limits of their duties: they cultivated farms; became competitors for prisoner labor; and speculators in commerce. The supreme court and the newspapers were often occupied by their recriminations: sometimes they exchanged challenges, and sometimes writs. The colonists in opposition saw, not without some gratification, dissensions which seemed to weaken the common enemy; and the press was often enriched by the malice of official pens. Many were, however, too wise to quarrel: their quiet industry enabled them to combine their public and private employments, without scandal, and with success. They were, indeed, accused of peculation; but specific charges were generally rebutted, and can now only be noticed as a rumour, and dismissed as detraction.
The officers trained under Arthur acquired his tact, and imbibed his spirit: the least deemed himself something superior to the richest trader, or the most enterprising colonist. The sub-divisions among themselves were minute and rigorously enforced. They were, however, subject to vicissitudes. Those who lost their appointments furnished the material of libels: reported the peculations and duplicity of their late colleagues, and often became distinguished for their patriotism.
The patronage permitted to Arthur was enormous: to a large extent he was the almoner of the crown. Thus disaffection became highly penal: a quarrel with a magistrate, or a friendly intercourse with persons under a ban, exposed the delinquent to serious pecuniary loss. These considerations were avowed.[198] The dread of injury made the timid servile, and corrupted private intercourse. A secret influence pervaded every rank: society was embittered by suspicions and the dread of denunciation; and had not the growth of population decreased the comparative power of the government, or had its original plan been perpetuated, it must have formed a community of slanderers and slaves. The intentions of the governor, however just, could not save him from the falsehood of spies, and thus the perpetration of wrong. It was early announced that opponents would be "crushed." The extent of the "crushing system" was greatly exaggerated, and even the course of good government was commonly ascribed by the sufferer to official enmity and avarice.
The industry of Colonel Arthur was constant: his attention to the details of his government, and his perseverance as a despatch writer were universally admitted: a large proportion of his time he spent in his office, and toiled with an assiduity which would have been fatal to ordinary men. It was commonly stated that he was not very accessible; but he willingly heard those whose education and habits qualified them to suggest. Persons of every rank were admitted to an audience on a slight pretence. He was quick in estimating the characters and capacities of all who approached him.
The executive council was useful to Arthur, without obstructing his measures. When he resolved on a project, he would nominate a board, and obtain its sanction. When his private views were opposed to his instructions he affected impartiality, and seemed to yield rather than to guide. These artifices were well understood; but the colony often approved the object, and admired the ingenuity of its execution. A new colonial minister, in the hurry of his office, gladly surrendered to the governor's judgment a question often beyond his comprehension, and which to resist it was necessary to understand. Thus it was ordered to execute public works by contract instead of the gangs; to levy a tax on convict labor; to retain men seven years in chains. Boards, or commissions, which gave him the aspect of a mediator or judge, advised him to postpone and quash the disagreeable order or restriction. Thus during his government his influence was paramount, and inferior functionaries were satellites who obeyed his impulse, or were driven from their spheres.
The chief justice alone could pretend to independence: by his seat in both councils he possessed a voice in the enactment and administration of the laws—a subject of continual suspicion and complaint, and really dangerous whenever the government was a party. The chief justice ultimately resigned his seat in the executive council (1835). The secretary of state had declared in parliament that legislative and executive offices were incompatible with the proper functions of a judge.
The great works of Arthur were attributed by his opponents to sinister motives: those most frequently mentioned were the new wharf at Hobart Town, the road to Richmond, and the Bridgewater causeway. Arthur benefited by his fore-knowledge. The imputations of personal injustice or corruption were unfounded: what he gained, others did not lose, except by the common risks of a sale. Thus the property of the Rev. Robert Knopwood, whom he was said to defraud, was several times in the market: it was offered by advertisement many years before: its future appropriation to commerce was predicted, and was described to enhance its price. It was offered by Mr. Knopwood to Mrs. Hodgson for £800: it was purchased by Mr. H. Jennings, a nephew of Mr. Gellibrand, senior, without reference to Arthur; and was finally sold to his agent at a small advance. The new wharf rendered the purchase highly advantageous; but there was neither deceit nor oppression.
The great work he began at Bridgewater, where a magnificent causeway forms the abutment of a bridge which connects both banks of the Derwent, was a task of many years: many thousand pounds in value lie buried. Arthur had estates in its vicinity. The other charges of corruption are of a similar nature, even less substantial than these.
But although many of his works will perpetuate his memory while the country lasts, they could only be justified by their connexion with penal arrangements. The discipline prescribed did not admit of rapid movement or wide distribution. Huts were necessary for the convicts, houses for their officers, and various stores; and it was only on extensive excavations that labor could be inspected with success. The waste of expenditure was rather apparent than real. The objects contemplated were not colonial; and thus, if the local obligation is lessened, the ground of complaint is diminished.
During his government, Arthur became wealthy: his estates were numerous, and their sale realised a large amount. That he acquired them improperly is not even capable of suspicion; that he applied clandestinely the means afforded by his office to improve them, is equally destitute of evidence. Nor is it easy to see how a community can be injured by the outlay of capital acquired in its service, or the interest of its officers in the soil. The moral weight of government was compromised far more by the air of mystery which veiled, than the corruptions which debased it. The outcries raised against the disposal of land in special instances, were often misdirected: many deviations from strict impartiality were prescribed by the secretary of state, whose discretion was unlimited by regulations. Arthur was silent, and his character suffered: he despised reproach, which notwithstanding impaired his influence for good. Just before his recall, Mr. William Bryan made statements before the Commons of mis-appropriation of crown lands, which had been the text of colonial articles without number, when a secretary from the colonial-office stated that the more serious were unfounded; that many were ministerial acts; and the whole series were reduced to comparative nothingness.[199] While Arthur had the power, he was not sparing in its use: he endowed his friends. Nor is it incredible, that a private service to himself detracted nothing from weight of public obligation.