Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/37

 THE PAHINE OF 1789-90. 21 stock which they possessed, notwithstanding the advantage 1780-90 they enjoyed in having convict labour at their disposal* Possibly the officers were too much concerned about matters of domestic convenience to turn their attention to the culti- vation of the ground, but however that may be, Phillip seems to have thought that convicts were wasted in being turned over to the military to be employed for private purposes.* His policy was to keep as many convicts as he could employed ggj^ in the field, so that as large a return as possible might be made from the soil. He was desirous of giving convicts to settlers, who would see that their labour was not thrown away, but he did not care to waste them upon those who were unable or unwilling to turn them to good account. " The giving convicts to the officers," he wrote on the 12th February, 1790, '' has been hitherto necessary, but it is attended with many inconveniences, for which the advantages arising to the officers do not make amends. It will not, therefore, be continued after the detachment is relieved, unless particu- larly directed."t Iii another despatch of about the same date he remarked:^ " It may be necessary to grant land to officers and soldiers who, Land g»nto becoming settlers, will, of course, be entitled to every indulgence ; but few of the officers now here have reaped any great advantage from being allowed convicts ; and it is attended with unavoidable inconveniences, from the convicts being left so much to them- selves, and from their mixing with the soldiers. It may be found more to the advantage of the Crown, and the officers likewise, if officers on duty in this settlement were allowed a certain quantity of grain to support their live stock until they have a market to go to."t land of tbeir own. Tbej were allowed to caltivate the soil and enjoy the produce that was raised, but they bad no property in the land, which belonged to the Crown. This was a standing grievance with them. — Post, pp. 119, 252. When the officers of the New South Wales Corps, two years later, obtained grants of land and the free use of conyict labour, they set to work upon their holdings with great rigour. — Post, pp. 256, 289. t Historical Becords, yoI. i, part 2, p. 800. t lb., p. 806.
 * It must be borne in mind that at this time the military officers had no