Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/569

 OF TRANSPORTATION. 445 the sturdy beggars gave to the Justices of the Peace in earlier days. The Act in question declared that the '^ great, known, and notorious thieves and spoil-takers in Northumberland and Cumber- land," on conviction for theft done or committed in those counties, ^he border should be excluded from the benefit of clergy — ^that is, should be *^eves. tried and dealt with in the usual way ; but as that would have meant capital punishment on conviction, it was mercifully provided that the Justices of Assize, before whom they were convicted, might cause them to be " transported into any of his Majesty's dominions in America, there to remain, and not to return.'' By far the most remarkable Act on this subject was passed in 1718,* authorising transportation to the colonies and plantations An Act for in America. It proposed a means for supplying the demand for **** ^"*' labour there, as well as for ridding the mother country of its ^i^^^g^ dangerous classes. Previous to the passing of this Act, trans- portation to the West Indies, on a voluntary basis, was one means of disposing of them ; but having proved ineffectual, the Act of 1718 was passed for the purpose of authorising their compulsory removal to America. The Act also introduced the machinery by Machinery which the system of transportation was afterwards worked, as 2j,rta5on long as it continued in existence. The language of this statute throws a good deal of light, not only on the history of transport- ation, but on the social condition of the time. The preamble recites that whereas it had been found by experi- ence that the punishment inflicted by the laws then in force against robbery, larceny, and other offences of the kind, had not proved efiectual to deter wicked and evil-disposed poi-sons from being guilty of such crimes ; and whereas many offendei-s, to whom royal seiftrans- mercy had been extended ui)on condition of transporting them- ^ wSt" selves to the West Indies, had often neglected to perform that ^°<^i««- condition and had returned to their former wickedness, and been at last for new crimes brought to a shameful and ignominious death : And whereas in many of his Majesty's colonies and plantations in America there was great want of servants, who by their labour want of aer- and industry might be the means of improving and making them coioniS. more useful to the nation : • 4 Geo. I, c. II.— "An Act for the further preventing robbery, burg- lary, and other felonies, and for the more effectual transportation of felons and unlawful exporters of wool, &c." Digitized by Google