Page:The Present State and Prospects of the Port Phillip District of New South Wales.djvu/203

, and had frequent opportunities of judging of the state of things in them—and that it is my deliberate conviction that the present unsatisfactory relations of the two races in those parts arises from the unjust bearing of the present law upon the distant settlers.

Having dwelt at such length on this part of the subject, I shall allude more slightly to another branch of it—I mean the direct attempts which have been made to introduce religion and civilization. It is the less necessary to dwell minutely on these efforts, as from the total want of success which has (I regret to say) attended them, the establishments are (I believe) about to be broken up.

The total expenditure made directly on account of the aborigines of New South Wales since 1821 has been £51,807 12s. 2½d. The auditor-general also makes a memorandum that, as half the expense of the border poHce has been incurred on their account, they may be in addition fairly charged with half the expense of that force, amounting to £27,716 8s. 9d. This, however, appears to me questionable. Of the first mentioned sum the expense of £17,792 13s. 1¾d. has been incurred to defray the charges of the several missions through the colony, and £25,191 14s. 4½d. in supporting the Protector's establishments in the Port Phillip district for little more than four years—the expense of these establishments in 1842 being £8,000.

The following are some extracts from a despatch from Lord Stanley to Sir George Gipps, dated December