A military officer is ordered on board in command of a guard, without any instructions whatever, it appears, as to his particular line of duty; and he naturally enough imagines that the prisoners and every other person in the ship are under his charge. Each of these, desirous of securing respect for his authority, regards any interference of the others with a jealous eye; which has given rise to many unpleasant incidents, that have ultimately led to investigations in the colony, where it was decided that the Surgeon Superintendent has the sole charge over the prisoners. It would prevent much inconvenience, were the respective duties of these officers clearly defined before the commencement of the voyage; for at the end of it information must always be too late for any useful purpose.
In consequence of a late regulation, Surgeons in this branch of the service, before they can receive their pay, are obliged to produce a certificate from the principal Surgeon of the Colony, “stating, that no unnecessary expenditure was made of the medicines and necessaries supplied for the voyage.” There is something excessively derogatory of that respect which is due to professional character, in compelling a Surgeon to apply for such a certificate as that here required. The very application, moreover, involves an unbecoming insinuation, that neither the word nor the oath of the individual is to be believed; for every Surgeon, before he obtains his pay, is obliged to make affidavit that the medicines and necessaries have been faithfully expended: but it is evident that even this solemn testimony, although squaring with every cautionary purpose for which it was originally designed, is questioned as to its truth, the recent regulation making it requisite to produce another stronger voucher to the same purport. With the profoundest deference to superior wisdom and official prudence, an additional document of this nature appears superfluous; and no absolute necessity therefore existing to demand its production, such a requisition, it is presumed, might be omitted without injury to His Majesty’s service.
It would seem trifling and ridiculous to dwell longer on a subject of such apparent insignificance; but let it not be forgotten, that of such trifles is the greater part of human happiness or affliction composed: neither ought it to be looked upon as an unreasonable wish, that those professional men who have devoted the prime of life to their country’s service, should, at least in some degree, be screened from unnecessary humiliation.
[30]. The Commissioners of His Majesty’s Navy, finding that the allowance of fifty pounds is wholly inadequate to satisfy the demand for a passage home, have lately increased it to one hundred and ten pounds, and also granted ten shillings a day during the time a Surgeon is obliged to remain in the colony. Since these sheets were put to press, I have ascertained, that the subject of convict management, generally, has received considerable attention, and undergone some improvements. The structural weakness, and consequent insecurity, so severely felt in the Morley, have in some degree been remedied in fitting up the last female convict ship, Mary Anne. Some of the locks supplied to that ship were fitted in a more efficient manner, and appeared of a better quality than those which were formerly furnished. Those useful and highly necessary arrangements reflect credit on their authors, and cannot fail to benefit the service. It is earnestly to be hoped that they will be followed up with others which are still very requisite.
CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS.
In the account given of the transmission of convicts to New South Wales, I have endeavoured, “nothing extenuating, nor setting down aught in malice,” to describe the true state of morality in that country. A wish to avoid prolixity prevented the mention of some few particulars, which from the weight that attaches to their consideration, as affecting the security and reformation of the prisoners, seem to be not destitute of interest, and may without impropriety, it is hoped, be briefly mentioned here. In these remarks I shall simply state circumstances as they came under my notice in their practical effects, leaving the question of remedy exclusively in the hands of those who best can obviate the existing inconveniences, and remedy the mischievous results arising from the present mode of transportation.
In the first instance, then, I would respectfully direct attention, immediate and effective, to the present plan of fitting up prisons on board of convict ships. The manner in which those places are erected for the detention of male prisoners is less objectionable in regard to security than those for females. In the one case, the protection of the persons in authority over the confined appears principally designed, as opposed to any violence meditated on the part of the male prisoners, as also for the security of the ship. But in the other, these circumstances, if they are at all allowed to occupy consideration, appear of but little moment, because it seems to be an opinion commonly received, that improper intercourse between the female convicts and the sailors must continue as a matter of course, and that all endeavours to prevent it will be fruitless, and therefore any precaution in fitting up a prison for females, with that view, is superfluous. As far as it regards the safety of the ship and stores, that may perhaps be the case, as from women, merely, no such danger need be apprehended; and this notion has probably led to the present specious manner of construction, in which the semblance of confinement only appears to be consulted.
The present alarming increase of crime renders every precaution for the safe lodgement of male convicts both wise and salutary, particularly so long as no pains are taken to subdue their predilection for plunder and profligacy, by informing their minds with moral truths, and showing them the just and happier resources of honest life. With regard to this class of prisoners, however, there is little to recommend by way of strengthening the rigour of the system of confinement, as sufficient care is taken in that respect, that as little chance as possible is allowed of their resorting to violence with any hope of success, even were they so disposed: when in addition to the fetters and the strong prevention of their prison, the military guard placed over them is a balance more than sufficiently countervailing to any such design.
The situation of a female convict prison claims attention in a peculiar degree, if the main purpose of reformation, the object originally in the contemplation of their sentence, be kept in view. Revolting in the extreme to every feeling of propriety, is the idea of abandoning these miserable women to indiscriminate intercourse, among the crews of those ships in which they are ordered to be conveyed to their place of banishment. They are humanely removed from their former mischievous connexions; but who would say that this is a mode in which they can be reclaimed? Prostitution has been the bane of many of them; will they thus become less impure?