Page:History of Adelaide and vicinity.djvu/47

 k The Architects ADELAIDP: AND VICINITY 2 1 conditions in the revised scheme that it was quickly dropped with a pout. This was the second stage. What was termed a " powerful and influential body " revived the proposals in 1834. The South Australian Association was formed, and among the names on the provisional committee were those of nineteen members of the House of Commons, and such as Sir S. W. Molesworth, Bart., M.P., Colonel Torrens, M.P., H. Lytton Hulwer, M.P., William Hutt, M.P. (prominently interested in Western Australian and New Zealand schemes), John Wilkes, M.P., J. W. Childers, M.P., Rowland Hill, Jacob Montefiore, and Raikes Currie. Mr. W. W. Whitmore, M.P., was chairman ; George Grote, M.P., the historian of Greece, treasurer ; and Robert Gouger, secretary. A draft charter of incorporation was drawn up, but there were disputations with the Secretary for the Colonies, and it, too, was abandoned. The Association then passed a resolution undertaking that if Parliament provided an Act constituting a Crown Colony, the Association would continue in existence "as a private and temporary society for the purpose of promoting the success of the measure." This was done. Mr. Gouger furnished the rough draft of a Bill, but a short delay took place owing to Mr. Stanley being superseded in the Colonial Office by Mr. Spring Rice, afterwards Lord Monteagle. The latter seemed more ready to support the efforts of the Association than his predecessor, and the Bill was introduced to Parliament by Mr. Whitmore. Among its supporters were Lord Howick (afterwards Earl Grey), J. Shaw Lefevre, Lord Stanley, and Spring Rice. The Marquis of Normanby introduced the measure to the House of Lords, where the Duke of Wellington was largely instrumental in overcoming a threatening opposition. The famous officer became a friend of the new- Province, and recommended that Colonel Light, a companion-in-arms, should be its first Surveyor-General. The Bill received Royal assent on August 15, 1834, and provided that the boundaries of the Province should extend from the 132nd to the 141st degrees of east longitude, and from the south coast, including adjacent islands, to the Tropic of Capricorn. It was expressly stated that no convicts were to be landed in the Province ; that public lands, under the management of a Board of Commissioners, were to be sold at a minimum of I2S. per acre; and that the proceeds from such sales were to be employed in conveying to the Province laborers, of equal number in sex, with a preference for young married people without children. The affairs of the community were to be regulated by the Commissioners until the population reached 50,000 persons, when a representative Assembly would be constituted. The Act was inoperative until the Commissioners had raised ^35,000 by the sale of land, and until the sum of ^20,000 was invested in bonds. The Commissioners were empowered to borrow ^200,000 on the security of the Province. The original proposals of the Association had been greatly revised, but those referring to the price of land and to emigration were adhered to. The best feature in the Act lay in the regulations dealing with the settlement of population, groups of which were to be formed, and lands for which were to be surveyed in blocks of 80 acres. " The land and emigration scheme,"