“Another difficulty arose from unpunctuality in time of sailing, the ships chartered to convey emigrants being too often unprepared when the appointed day arrived. The first means adopted to obtain punctuality was to stipulate for fines in case of delay; but the artificial nature of this arrangement rendered its maintenance difficult. Excuses were tendered, often plausible, sometimes substantial, so that their rejection was hard, while at the same time, whether the penalty were enforced or remitted, the passengers by the particular ship suffered all the inconvenience of delay. To remedy these evils, the rule now established was, that whenever the day for sailing arrived, whether the vessel were ready or not, the expense of boarding and maintaining the emigrants was to be borne by the ship-owners. This gave such a motive to punctuality that delay became infrequent, while, at the worst, detained passengers were relieved from all loss save that of time. I may add that the combined effect of our precautions was that no emigrant ship was lost, nor even sustained any serious accident.
“Yet further to expedite the despatch of emigrants, I procured one additional arrangement. At this early period the sailing of chartered ships being but monthly, the interval was inconveniently long; so that persons who had made up their minds to emigrate were often kept for two or three weeks in that unsettled state which inevitably precedes a great removal. To furnish intermediate opportunity, I induced the Commissioners to give notice to ship-owners that if they were willing to submit to the conditions imposed on vessels chartered by the Commissioners, at the same time undertaking the conveyance at the lowest rate yet tendered and accepted, any unappropriated space should be occupied, in whole or in part, by such emigrants as might be on hand.
“In short, the whole scheme—in which, however, I must admit that my share was but subordinate—worked so well that in the year when I withdrew from my connection with the colony, though this was only the fourth year of the despatch of settlers, the sales of land produced as much as £170,000, the number of chartered ships being thirty-eight, and that of emigrants upwards of five thousand.
“Subsequently, indeed, difficulties arose, serious indications of which had appeared before I ceased to be secretary. The expenditure in the colony, notwithstanding every precaution taken at home, had begun to exceed the authorised estimates, and this eventually compelled the Commissioners to seek aid from the Government; the consequence being that the management of the colony was in effect transferred to the Colonial Office. The debt, however, then contracted was, I believe, subsequently discharged, and if so, the colony may fairly be said to have been from the first self-supporting, being certainly the first, and perhaps the only, colony that could claim that honour.
“As regards the political system of the colony, I may be allowed to mention that when the Commissioners, in their third annual report, recommended Government to grant it municipal institutions, the recommendation included at my suggestion the plan[85] which has been already spoken of[86] as devised by my father many years before, and has recently been more known to the world in connection with the name of Mr. Hare. This plan was adopted at the time, though abandoned at a later period.
“As this secretaryship was my first public employment, and as the estimation in which I was held at its close was important, if not essential to my subsequent course, I may, perhaps, be pardoned if I give here the letter in which my resignation was acknowledged, and my services referred to. I have only to add that, heavy as were my duties during the four years of my secretaryship, and the year or two that preceded my formal appointment to that post, I was also engaged, throughout the whole period, at one or other of two arduous undertakings. Of the former I shall speak presently; the latter was Postal reform; my facts being collected, my plan devised, my pamphlet written, and my case established before a parliamentary committee, more than a year before I left my post.
“‘South Australian Colonisation Office,
“‘Adelphi Terrace,[87] September 27, 1839.
“‘Sir,—The Colonisation Commissioners for South Australia beg to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th instant, tendering your resignation as Secretary to their Board; an appointment in the Treasury having been conferred upon you by Her Majesty’s Government
“‘In communicating their acceptance of your resignation, and in conveying to you their thanks for the zeal, energy, and talent which you have uniformly displayed in the discharge of your duties as Secretary, the Commissioners cannot forego the satisfaction of recording their high appreciation of your successful exertions, in systematising the general business of the Commission, and in devising, framing, and carrying into effect the arduous and complicated arrangements of the Department of Emigration.
“‘Though sensible of the loss they have suffered in being deprived of that combination of theoretical and practical ability which you have manifested in conducting their business, yet the Commissioners, while expressing their individual regret, cannot withhold from you their sincere congratulations upon the advancement you have obtained through the important service which you have rendered to the public.