Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/197

 ) he must be still, as it would be impossible for him to find such sureties. But at present, to make the thing work at all, a dispensing power must be assumed by the magistrates, as to what part of the English laws shall be applied, and what not—a state of things not contemplated by their commissions, nor by any means desirable.

Having given a sketch of the working of the present system, I shall briefly recapitulate my objections to it—which are:

First—That the British law, being inapplicable to the social state of the aborigines, can only be partially carried out; that it thus acts most unjustly towards the European settler—insisting on a rigid forbearance on his part, while it is totally inoperative for his protection from the natives, or for the punishment of their aggressions upon him.

Secondly—That, by affording the natives a practical immunity from legal punishment, it really does them an injury, by causing the less scrupulous of the settlers, or their servants, in secret, and without any efficient control, to take the law into their own hands, and to revenge attacks on their properties or lives at their own discretion, and in their own way; that, in this way, it subjects the natives to a system of petty warfare, whilst it demoralizes the settlers, by accustoming them to the violation of the laws;—thus placing the most effectual barriers in the way of the improvement of the one, and the civilization of the other.

I give the government the fullest credit for their feelings towards the natives, and believe that their conduct