Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/107



To the return of the revenue from crown lands there is a note appended by the auditor-general to this effect:—"It has been estimated that the sums invested in the purchase of land at Port Phillip were derived in nearly equal proportions from the united kingdom. Van Dieman's Land and Sydney." Now I am not aware with what object this piece of information was given. It surely could not be intended to insinuate that the Sydney people, after having purchased one-third of the land, had a right to have the purchase-money back again. If so, to carry out the principle the two remaining thirds ought to be sent, one to the united kingdom, and the other to Van Dieman's Land.

A perusal of the following statements will show that should the universal wish of the inhabitants of Port Phillip for a separation from Sydney be acceded to, there are ample funds for carrying on the separate government, and not the slightest prospect of her costing the mother country one farthing.

From papers laid on the table of the legislative council by the colonial secretary, it appears that the ordinary re-