Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/125

 All I regret is, his having allowed his talents as a financier to get the better of his judgment as a statesman, and by the encouragement given to the monopolists having forced the bonâ fide settler to pay an exorbitant price for his land. But though I have thought it right to combat the opinion so broadly put forward in the report which I have quoted, yet I by no means deny that this sudden withdrawal of capital did accelerate the crisis, which had in any case been rendered necessary by the causes detailed before—namely, the abstraction of government expenditure, the rise in wages consequent on the withdrawal of the convicts, the great fall in the price of wool, and excessive speculation encouraged, no doubt, by the facility with which individuals obtained accommodation from the banks.

To return to the committee on immigration. After going into the subject which I have alluded to, they proceed to recommend the council to apply to the home government for a grant of £500,000 for the purpose of carrying on immigration, as a means of relieving the United Kingdom of its redundant population, and as a kind of bonus to the colony for having already expended a million on this object. In default of this being successful, to apply for a loan of a million, chargeable on the land fund, and guaranteed by the home government. A reduction in the upset price of land they however consider as an essential preliminary to any sales being effected. They further recommend that a remission should be made to emigrants in the purchase of lands on their arrival in the colony, equivalent to the amount they may have paid for their own conveyance to the