Page:History of West Australia.djvu/124

94 were in the main those published in the synopsis of proposals of the English Government in 1833. The people were not wholly satisfied with the new arrangements made by Sir James Stirling, but they did not voice their sentiments until the alterations were definitely decided upon. They had many grievances, the severity and multiplicity of the various points of which were aired at their gathering. The chief settlers were not afraid to boldly express their opinions upon the Imperial proposals, and the methods which should be adopted to ameliorate existing infelicities.

The Sheriff, Mr. H. Donaldson, convened this public meeting by requisition, and it was held on the 16th February, 1835. The chair was taken by the Sheriff, and numerous resolutions were carried. The first referred to the alterations in the constitution of the Legislative Council, by which the Government could nominate private members, and asserted that such a method was inefficient and out of harmony with the true spirit of the British Constitution, and perfectly unsuited to the circumstances of a free and taxed population. Colonists asserted that it was their constitutional right to elect their own delegates, and it was decided to request the authorities to abjure this arbitrary system of nomination until the Governor granted the settlers the right of returning representatives by popular suffrage. Mr. Tanner moved this resolution and Mr. Burges seconded it. The same gentlemen carried a resolution opposing the continuance of the police corps, on the grounds that it was unnecessary to and burdensome on local resources, so long as the military was stationed in the colony. The money required to maintain the corps, it was affirmed, could be applied to more beneficial objects. The third resolution, moved by Mr. W. Trimmer and seconded by Mr. Phillips, declared that the contemplated expenditure in the colony exceeded, by a large amount, its resources, and to meet such expenditure additional taxation would have to be levied, which colonists were not in a position to bear.

The next resolution, proposed by Mr. Trimmer and seconded by Mr. Meares, affirmed that, in order to secure the most beneficial application of the public funds, the particulars of colonial expenditure should be published for general information. It was accordingly determined to petition the Local Government to issue the necessary directions. The fifth resolution maintained that the taxation per head in the colony was nearly equal to that in England, and requested that no further tax should be imposed until colonists were represented in the Council.

The sixth dealt with the Land Regulations, and condemned the departure, in 1832, from the original terms promulgated by the Colonial Office in 1829, in that it entailed great hardships on the settlers. The meeting desired that a request should be conveyed to the Home Government that the spirit of the old terms should be adhered to, and that location duties performed on one part of a grant should be estimated as fulfilling the requisite expenditure, according to amount, to obtain the remaining parts of the grant.

The public did not at this time know the extent of grants made to military, civil, and naval officers. No returns had been published, and a resolution was carried asking that full publicity be given to the facts and figures. Moreover, they were dissatisfied with the tenor of despatches received from the Home Government, which they considered inexplainable, except on the probable ground that the Imperial authorities were not in full possession of trustworthy information concerning the colony, of the form or quality of the settled grants of land and of the class of society to which the greater portion of the settlers belonged. It was therefore recorded as highly expedient that full and sufficient information on these points should be forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies.

A committee was appointed, in which was reposed the duty of carrying these resolutions into effect. Messrs. W. B. Andrews, W. Trimmer, D. Thompson, M. MacDermott, W. Buttes, J. W. Hardy, M. Clarkson, A. Waylen, W. Samson, T. R. C. Walters, G. Leake, T. W. Yule, W. L. Brockman, J. R. Philipps, — Trigg, S. Knight, J. Morrell, and Major Nairn were elected. Still another resolution was tabled and received the assent of the meeting, deciding that this committee should be a standing committee until full and free representation in the Legislative Council and all the other objects of the meeting be obtained. It also requested and empowered Mr. W. Tanner, who was about to leave the colony for England, to act as agent in the motherland.

Before the gathering dispersed, some discussion took place upon the projected establishment of a bank. A resolution was carried, expressive of the opinion that such an institution would conduce to the best interests of the colony, and a committee was appointed to collect information and to take such steps as might appear necessary to induce the directors of a bank at that time established in London and carrying on business with the Australian colonies to open a branch in Western Australia. The committee was composed of Messrs. Leake, MacDermott, Yule, Clarkson, Trimmer, Moore, Walters, W. H. Mackie, Tanner, Philipps, Leake, and Captain Meares.

Although the matters dealt with by this influential assemblage of settlers were of serious import to the colony, they obtained little attention for a long period, and it was only after continued representation and the eventuation of plainly construable circumstances that the authorities granted some of the requests. Most of them were just and equitable, but to bring them into the region of practical activity was so difficult that an alteration of the existing conditions, and extensive consideration, were necessary antecedents. Several matters referred to in the resolutions asked for such radical changes in the constitution of the colony that only an increased growth, a greater importance, and industrial prosperity could warrant the Government to agree with them.

The settlers who had congregated in greater numbers at King George's Sound in the last few months were equally impressed with the necessity of alterations in the economic conditions surrounding them. But, probably by reason of the traditional influence of the semi-convict settlement in that district, they looked to forced labour as the best relief from their troubles. Finally, they decided to draw up a petition to the Imperial Government embodying their views. It was circulated among the settlers about Albany in the middle of 1834. The preamble affirmed that the colony was established upon the principles of free labour, and took into consideration the objections of settlers to the presence of convicts, but went on to assert that the difficulties of forming connecting links between the different settlements, and the necessity for extensive development work to secure prosperity and advancement, could not be overcome except by the introduction of convicts. They did not arrive at his conclusion because of any deficiency in the natural capabilities of the place; on the contrary they were still persuaded that it possessed paramount advantages. But the settler had no inducement to expend capital in raising agricultural produce without having lines of communication and a settled market in which to dispose of his commodities. Such a condition could only be attained with