§ SIR WILLIAM MOLESWORTH* Sir, in submitting to the consideration of the House the Motion of which I have given notice, I must entreat the indulgence of the House; for the nature and extent of the subject will compel me to trespass at some length upon its patience. My object is, in the first instance, to call the attention of the House to the amount of the colonial expenditure of the British empire; and in so doing, I shall endeavour to establish the following positions: 1st. That the colonial expenditure can be diminished without detriment to the interests of the empire. 2nd. That the system of colonial policy and government can be so amended, as to ensure more economical, and altogether better, government for the colonies. And, lastly, that by these reforms the resources of the colonies would be developed, they would become more useful, and their inhabitants more attached to the British empire.
In speaking of colonies, I do not intend to include under that term the territories which are governed by the East India Company; but shall confine my remarks to those foreign possessions of the Crown which are under the jurisdiction of the Colonial Office. Notwithstanding this limitation, the colonial empire of Great Britain contains between four and five millions of square miles—an area equal to the whole of Europe and British India added together. Of this vast space, about one million of square miles have been divided into forty different colonies, each with a separate government: four of them are in Europe, five in North America, fifteen in the West Indies, three in South America, five in Africa and its vicinity, three among the Asiatic islands, and five in Australia and New Zealand. The population of these colonies does not exceed 5,000,000: of
*From a published Report.817 this number about 2,500,000 are of European race; of whom about 500,000 are French, about 350,000 are Ionians and Maltese, a few are Dutch or Spaniards, and the remainder, amounting to about 1,600,000, are of English, Irish, or Scotch descent, Of the 2,500,000 inhabitants of the colonies who are not of European race, about 1,400,000 are Cingalese, and other inhabitants of Ceylon, and 1,100,000 are of African origin. In 1844 (the last complete return) the declared value of British produce and manufactures exported to the colonies, amounted to about 9,000,000l. sterling. The whole colonial expenditure of the British empire is about 8,000,000l. sterling a year; one half of which is defrayed by the colonies, and one half by Great Britain. That portion of the colonial expenditure which is defrayed by Great Britain, consists of military, naval, civil, and extraordinary expenditure.First, the net military expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies (including ordnance and commissariat expenditure) was returned to Parliament, for the year 1832, at 1,761,505l.; for the year 1835–36, at 2,030,059l., and for the year 1843–44 (the last return) at 2,556,919l. an increase between 1832 and 1843 of 795,414l., The present military expenditure is probably about the same as it was in 1843–44; for the military force in the colonies amounts at present to about 42,000 men (exclusive of artillery and engineers), or to about three-eighths of the whole military force of the British empire (exclusive of the army in India). For this amount of force we shall have to vote this year, first, in the Army Estimates for the pay, clothing, &c., of 42,000 men, and for the foreign staff, about 1,500,000l.; secondly, in the Ordnance Estimates for the pay of the artillery and engineers (which I will suppose to be the same as in 1843–44), for Ordnance establishments, barracks, fortifications, and stores in the colonies, about 550,0003/4.; and thirdly, in the Commissariat Estimates for commissariat services, provisions, forage, fuel, light, &c., in the cololonies, about 450,000l,. in all, about 2,500,000l, which will be the direct military expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies, for this year. To form a fair estimate of the whole military expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies, for one year, it would be necessary to add to this sum of 2,500,000l., a very considerable sum, on account of reliefs, military establishments at home, and 818 other matters, which are in part required in order to keep up so large a military force in the colonies. It is evident, therefore, that I shall under-estimate the military expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies, when I set it down at only 2,500,000l. a year.
Secondly, with regard to the naval expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies. At present we have about 235 ships in commission, with a complement not much short of 40,000 men. Of these ships, about 132, with a complement of about 25,000 men, are on foreign stations: some in the Mediterranean, some on the North American and West Indian station, some off the west coast of Africa and the Cape of Good Hope, others in the Chinese and Indian seas, or protecting our interests in New Zealand. Now, the House will remember that, in every debate that has taken place this year on the estimates, the extent of our colonial empire, and the new colonies which are springing up in Australia, New Zealand, and the Chinese and Indian seas, were among the chief causes assigned by the noble Lord the Member for the city of London, and the hon. Gentleman the Member for Sheffield, for the enormous amount of the naval force of Great Britain, and for the increase of that force, which has doubled both in magnitude and cost during the last thirteen or fourteen years. I may, therefore, without exaggeration, assume that at least one-third of the ships on foreign stations—that is, one-fifth of the ships in commission—or forty-five ships, with a complement of about 8,000 men, are maintained on account of the colonies. Now I infer from the estimates, and from the returns presented to the House, that these ships will cost the country annually, for wages and victuals of crews, wear and tear of vessels and stores, more than 700,000l. In addition to this sum, we shall have to vote this year, in the Navy Estimates, 65,000l. for naval establishments in the colonies, another 65,000l. for naval works and repairs in the colonies, and 181,000l. for freight and other matters connected with the conveyance of troops to the colonies. These sums, added together, will give a total of above 1,000,000l. sterling as the direct naval expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies for one year. To form a fair estimate of the whole naval expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies for one year, it will be necessary to add to this sum of 1,000,000l. 819 sterling, a very considerable sum on account of reliefs, and of building new ships, likewise a portion of the cost of the naval establishments at home, and likewise a portion of the expense of the packet service to the colonies, which last item alone costs 418,000l. a year. It is evident, therefore, that I shall very much under-estimate the naval expenditure by Great Britain, on account of the colonies, when I set it down at only 1,000,000l. sterling a year, or at one-eighth of the whole naval expenditure of Great Britain.
Thirdly, the civil expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies is chiefly defrayed by sums annually voted in the Miscellaneous Estimates, under the head of colonial services; some portion of it, however, is paid for under Acts of Parliament. It may be estimated this year at 300,000". It consists of numerous items, to some of which I shall have presently to refer. I will now only mention that we pay 27,000l. a year for the Colonial Office, 20,000l. a year for ecclesiastical establishments in the West Indies, between 11,000l. and 12,000l. a year for the clergy of North America, and that last year we divided the diocese of Australia into four bishoprics, erected a bishoprick at Cape Town, and conveyed the right rev. gentlemen who held these sees to the colonies, at the expense of this country.
Lastly, under the head of extraordinary expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies, I put down such items as the insurrection in Canada, for which in the interval between 1838 and 1843, there were special grants to the amount of 2,096,000l.; as the Kafir war, on account of which there is a special grant this year of 1,100,000l., and for which we shall have probably to pay eight or nine hundred thousand pounds more; as the Maori war in New Zealand, which, at a low estimate, will cost half a million; as 214,000l. for the payment of the debts of South Australia, in 1842; as relief of sufferers by fire and other disasters in the colonies, for which we gave 50,000l. in 1846; as the risk of non-payment of loans, such as 236,000l. to the New Zealand Company, and 716,000l. to the West Indian planters; and innumerable other items. On the average of the last ten years, 200,000l. a year would have been wholly inadequate to cover the extraordinary expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies. I will put it down, however, at 200,000l. a year, and I will omit all mention of the sums paid for 820 emancipating the negroes in the colonies, and the civil expenditure on account of our attempt to suppress the slave trade, which many persons would charge to the account of extraordinary colonial expenditure.
If the four sums which I have just mentioned be added together, namely, 2,500,000l. for the Army, including ordnance and commissariat, 1,000,000l. for the Navy, 300,000l. for civil services, and 200,000l. for extraordinary expenses, the total direct expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies, would amount to at least four millions a year; and I am inclined to think that this is very much less than the actual annual cost of the colonies to Great Britain. Now, I beg the House to observe, that the declared value of British produce and manufactures exported to the colonies in the year 1844 was nine millions sterling, including the one million's worth of exports to Gibraltar, which are sent to Gibraltar to be smuggled into Spain. Therefore the expenditure of Great Britain on account of the colonies amounts to nine shillings in every pound's worth of its exports; or, in other words, for every pound's worth of goods that our merchants send to the colonies, the nation pays nine shillings; in fact, a large portion of our colonial trade consists of goods which are sent to defray the expenses of our establishments in the colonies. What are the advantages which we derive from our colonial possessions in return for this expenditure? Colonies are supposed to be useful either for political or commercial purposes, and with reference to these objects they should be divided into two classes, which should be considered separately; first, military stations, acquired chiefly for political purposes; secondly, colonies, properly so called, supposed to be of value chiefly for commercial objects.
Our military stations are Heligoland, Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian Islands, Bermuda, the stations on the west coast of Africa, St. Helena, the Cape of Good Hope, the Mauritius, Hong-Kong, Labuan, and the Falkland Islands. What do these stations cost us; of what use are they to this country? They are called the outposts of the British empire, and they are supposed to be useful in periods of war, for purposes of aggression. But it appears to me that most of them are so far removed from the centre of the empire, that in time of war they would be sources of weakness and not of strength; for they would compel 821 us, contrary to every sound principle of warfare, to scatter instead of concentrating our forces. Therefore, in the event of a really serious struggle, they would, like other outposts, in all probability, be abandoned to their fate. Moreover, it is evident that we can only retain possession of them as long as we have the dominion of the seas; but having the dominion of the seas, I cannot see why we should cover all of them with fortifications, and fill all of them with troops. I believe a wiser generation will hold wiser opinions with regard to the utility of these possessions. I will, however, for the present, suppose that some of them are of some use to the country, and proceed to tell the House what they cost us.
First, Gibraltar and Malta: in 1843–4 the total expenditure incurred by Great Britain on account of these stations was 366,000l. About the same sum is expended upon them every year, for their garrisons consist of between five thousand and six thousand men (exclusive of artillery and engineers), and considerable sums are annually expended on building and repairing fortifications, naval works, &c. It is stated in the navy and ordnance estimates of this year, that the works now in progress in these two colonies will cost us 460,000l. I will not ask whether they are worth the price we pay for them. But I do question the utility of protecting the Ionian Islands with two thousand five hundred troops, at a cost to this country of about 130,000l. a year, which is somewhat more than the declared value of our exports to those islands in 1844. When England first became the protecting sovereign of the Ionian States, it was on the express condition that a portion at least of their military expense should he borne by the States; the sum to be paid was subsequently fixed at 35,5002. a year. In 1842 the Ionian States were 122,000l. in arrear; and I believe the arrears are still greater at present. We have spent large sums on military works at Corfu, and a grant of 12,873l. is to be proposed this year to complete some of these works. Therefore our military stations in the Mediterranean require about eight thousand troops, and they cost us at least half a million a year, exclusive of any portion of the expense of the fleet in the Mediterranean. That fleet, on the average of the last five years, has consisted of twenty-three ships, with a complement of 5,000 men, the expense of which, for wages, 822 victuals, wear and tear, may be reckoned at half a million a year. The declared value of our exports to these stations is about 1,400,000l., of which nearly a million is a smuggling trade through Gibraltar into Spain.
I next proceed to the Bermudas. Since the Peace we have expended there upwards of 600,000l. (exclusive of the cost of convict labour) on navy and ordnance works alone; and it is now estimated that to complete these works a further sum of 160,000l. will be required. At the Bermudas there is a garrison of one thousand two hundred men, at a cost (exclusive of the expense for convicts) of about 90,000l. a year. Now, what is the use of such costly establishments and fortifications on these worthless rocks? It is said that the Bermudas are useful as a means of aggression against the United States, and that we have garrisoned them and fortified them lest the United States should take possession of them. I believe the United States would not accept of them as a gift. They are chiefly used as a comfortable residence for the admiral on the North American station, for whom it is proposed to build a house at a cost of about 15,000l.
I next proceed to St. Helena, which costs us in civil and military expenditure about 40,000l. a year, and to the colonies on the western coast of Africa, which in a similar manner cost us about 52,000l. a year. These colonies are not, strictly speaking, military stations, nor are they of much commercial importance; their main object is to impede the slave trade. The fleet which we had last year upon this station consisted of twenty-four ships, with 259 guns, and a complement of 2,781 men, and its cost was returned to Parliament for wages, victuals of crews, and wear and tear of ships, at 301,628l. a year. Besides these sums we generally expend about 80,000l. a year on other matters connected with what is called the suppression of the slave trade. Therefore, at least half a million a year is the direct expenditure by Great Britain in the vain attempt to put a stop to that traffic. It may not be proper to include all this under the head of colonial expenditure; but, nevertheless, I may be permitted to express my belief that it is a most useless expenditure, and to recommend Parliament to abandon it, together with the colony of Sierra Leone, and the other stations on the west coast of Africa, and thus to save 823 the country an outlay of at least 450,000l. a year.
I now arrive at the colony of the Cape of Good Hope (the area of which is considerably larger than that of the united kingdom). It may he looked upon as a commercial colony as well as a military station. As a commercial colony, it is not of much importance. In 1844, the declared value of our exports to it was only 458,000l., and our imports from it were 258,000l. The difference was made up by the military expenditure of Great Britain, which for 1843–4 amounted to 294,000l., or more than fifty per cent on our exports. In that year, the number of troops in the colony was 2,951 rank and file; last year, the number was at one time 5,470 rank and file. This increase was in consequence of the Kaffir war; and for the same reason the fleet on this station was increased to nine ships, with a complement of 1,700 men, which fleet must have cost this country at the rate of 170,000l. a year. For that war we have already paid 1,100,000l., and, in all probability, 800,000l. or 900,000l. more will be required to close the account. The House will not be astonished at this expenditure when it is informed, in the words of Sir Harry Smith, "that in the last bit of a brush with a Kafir chief called Sandhilli, 56,000l. were expended in waggon hire alone." One word with regard to that war, for it is a striking instance of the pranks that colonial governors can play, of the little control that the Secretary of State for the Colonies can exercise over them, and of the danger to which this country is perpetually exposed, under the present colonial system, of having vast sums of money expended upon a worthless colony. The Cape of Good Hope is the Algeria of England. The Kafir war which has just terminated was, I believe, the fourth in the last thirty years. The one which preceded it is said to have cost this country half a million sterling. All these wars have originated from nearly the same cause, namely, cattle stealing along a frontier of upwards of 700 miles. Sometimes the Kafirs stole, or were accused of stealing, the cattle of the colonists; the colonists retaliated; then they came to blows; blood was shed; the colonial government interfered; a large expenditure of public money ensued, to be paid for out of the imperial treasury. This was the case in the last war. With regard to the origin of that war, there is a great difference of 824 opinion. Some persons, apparently with great reason, ascribe it to the discontinuance of the system of Sir B. D'Urban, and the adoption of the mistaken policy of the missionaries; and they maintain that the war was inevitable, and only too long delayed by attempts to conciliate the Kafirs. Other persons, with much show of reason, ascribe its origin and its ill success to the haste and indiscretion of the Governor, Sir P. Maitland. However this may be, the immediate cause of the war was this: a Kafir on the frontier stole an axe. He was arrested and sent off to prison. On the road a rescue was attempted; a conflict ensued; on the one side a Kafir, on the other side a Hottentot constable were slain, and the prisoner was rescued. Application was then made to certain Kafir chiefs to give up the offenders. They refused, on the grounds that the colonial authorities were not entitled by treaty to send a Kafir to prison for such a trifle as stealing an axe, and that the blood of the Hottentot had been paid for in the blood of the Kafir first killed; and they entreated the Governor not to be in haste with forces, but to have a talk about the matter and try to understand it. However, the Governor at once hastened to the frontier; by his orders Kafirland was invaded; but every arrangement was so ill made that our troops were repulsed; twice our baggage waggons were cut off; and the victorious Kafirs, in their turn, invaded the colony. For months Sir P. Maitland lived in the bush, enduring (according to his own account) unheard-of hardships, when he was very properly superseded. Great was the amazement and indignation of his successor, Sir Henry Pottinger, at the state of affairs which he discovered in the colony. He declares that he cannot give an "adequate idea of the confusion, unauthorised expense, and (as he believed) attendant peculation which had obtained." In that peculation it is rumoured that men of high station were implicated. Numerous instances of reckless expenditure are stated in Sir Henry's despatches. One of a settlement on the Kat River, where the few inhabitants were, on the plea of defending the frontier, receiving rations at the rate of 21,000l. a year. Another in the vicinity of a station called Block Drift, where rations had been regularly given to a number of Kafirs, who had been fighting against us. Sir Henry attempted to put a stop to these abuses; and the war 825 seemed to be drawing to a close, when, unfortunately, fourteen goats were lost. They were tracked across the frontier into the territory of a Kafir chief; he was required to restore them, and to give up the supposed thief. Twelve of the goats were immediately sent back; but the chief denied all knowledge of the other two, and of the thief, if there were one. Sir Henry Pottinger was not satisfied. He ordered a secret expedition into Kafirland, to surprise the chief in question. The expedition, as usual, failed; the chief escaped; the troops retreated, after having killed a few Kafirs, and carried off some head of cattle; and the war was kindled afresh. Throughout, Sir Henry Pottinger was thwarted by a divided command; and the greater portion of his troops were unsuited for the service which they had to perform. For instance, old officers of the Peninsula, accustomed to regular warfare, were intent upon displaying their strategic skill in a contest with savages; heavy dragoons, mounted upon chargers, armed with rifles impossible to load on horseback; and English regiments, with their ordinary clothing and accoutrements, had, under the burning sun of Africa, to attack Kafirs skulking in a bush all but impenetrable to Europeans. In such a war, seven British regiments, with artillery and engineers, were not a match for half the number of naked savages armed with assegais. The war would never have been brought to a close, had it not been for the colonial corps, who, composed of Hottentots, led on by brave and energetic young English officers, followed the spoor of the Kafirs, captured their cattle, and hunted them down like wolves. By these means, Sir Henry Pottinger brought the war to a close just as he was succeeded by Sir II. Smith. Sir H. Smith, in addition to other marvellous feats, has made the Kafir chiefs kiss his foot, has proclaimed himself their only Inkosi Inkulu (great chief), and has added, on the north of the colony, some 40,000 square miles (about the size of England) of as barren a desert (to use the words of the surveyor general) as is to be found upon the earth's crust. Thus the loss of one axe and two goats on the frontier of the Cape of Good Hope has cost this country a couple of millions sterling. I attach no blame to Lord Grey or his predecessor on account of this war; it is clear from their despatches—I trust they will pardon me for saying it—that they were helpless and ignorant; and I believe Lord Grey was 826 as much astonished as any man when he heard the amount of the bill to be paid. I warn the House, however, that, under the existing system, there is no reason whatever why, every four or five years, there should not be a similar war, with a similar bill to pay. For, with a frontier of about 700 miles in extent, causes of war with the neighbouring savages will perpetually recur. In the colony, such a war is most popular, and is wished for on account of the lavish expenditure of Great Britain; and every effort is made to prolong its duration. There is but one means of securing our purses for the future, namely, by withdrawing our troops from the frontier, and letting the colonists distinctly understand that they must defend themselves, and pay the cost of such defence. Then they will have the strongest motives to prevent the commencement and to hasten the termination of a Kafir war. In return for so doing, they should receive free institutions, and have complete control over their own expenditure. Then 1,000 troops would be a sufficient garrison for Cape Town; and in ordinary years, there might be a saving at the Cape, in military expenditure alone, to the amount of at least 200,000l. a year. If, however, public money be to be spent at the Cape of Good Hope, it would be better both for this country and for the colony that it should be spent on emigration. I believe that about 10l. a head is sufficient to defray the expense of sending emigrants to that colony. Now, the direct military expenditure by Great Britain on account of the colonies is at the rate of 60l. a year for each soldier in the colonies. Therefore, if we were to reduce our military force at the Cape by 1,500 men, and were to send there, in their stead, 9,000 emigrants a year, there would, in all probability, be a reduction in our expenditure on account of that colony; and the rapid increase of population would enable the colonists to guard their frontier effectually against the Kafirs.
From the Cape of Good Hope I proceed to the Mauritius, which may likewise be looked upon, to a certain extent, as a commercial colony. The declared value of the exports to it of British produce was 285,000l. in 1844. The whole expenditure by Great Britain in 1843–44 on account of this colony was 92,000l. I should think that it costs somewhat more at present; for we have about 2,000 troops at the Mauritius, and we are going to improve the defences of the island, at the estimated cost 827 of 150,000l. Where is the necessity for keeping this amount of military force at the Mauritius? Is it in order to keep down the planters? It is true, they are discontented and overburdened by taxation; but the best plan would be to bestow upon them free institutions, and to give them complete control over their expenditure; then 1,000 men—which was about the amount of the military force in that colony in 1826—would be an ample garrison.
From the Mauritius I should proceed to Hong-Kong; but, first, I will stop for a moment at Ceylon. As Ceylon is neither a military station nor a colony properly so called, but is a subjugated territory of the same kind as our possessions in India, it appears to me that it would be better governed by the East India Company than by the Colonial Office, in which case we should have nothing to pay for the troops in that island. In 1843–4, the military expenditure by Great Britain amounted to 110,000l., in addition to a military expenditure by the colony of nearly 70,000l. At present, the military force in Ceylon consists of 4,000 troops, including colonial corps. Now, 110,000l. a year is a heavy price to pay for a colony, the declared value of our exports to which did not exceed 240,000l. in 1844. It is true, however, that the import trade from Ceylon, especially of coffee, is rapidly increasing in value.
I now arrive at Hong-Kong. From the 1st of May, 1841, when we took possession of that island, up to the 30th September, 1846, we have expended upon it 314,000l., exclusive of the sums derived from the local revenue. I find in the Navy, Ordnance, Commissariat, and Miscellaneous Estimates for this year, that Hong-Kong appears under sixteen different heads, for sums amounting in all to 94,514l.; to which must be added the expense of paying, clothing, &c., of 1,200 troops, which must amount to at least 40,000l. a year. Therefore Hong-Kong bids fair to be a costly colony, as, indeed, it ought to be, when the salary of the Governor is 6,000l. a year. I should likewise observe, that to the account of Hong-Kong should be added a portion of the expense of the fleet in the Chinese and Indian seas, which consists at present of about twenty-five ships, with a complement of about 4,500 men, and which must cost at least 450,000l. a year. Therefore the total direct expenditure by Great Britain in the Chinese and Indian seas cannot be less than 600,000l. a year. As 828 the East India Company has a fleet of its own to defend its own possessions, the greater portion of this expenditure is on account of the trade with China, which, on the average of the last four years, did not exceed 2,000,000l. a year in British produce and manufactures.
Next, I have to inform the House that Labuan appears this year for the first time in our estimates, as yet only in the Miscellaneous Estimates, for the sum of 9,827l., 2,000l. of which is the salary of his Excellency the Rajah Brooke, of Sarawak, to whose dominions in Borneo we have this year appointed a consul at the salary of 500l. a year. Now, as in these matters the first step is all the difficulty, we may expect in a year or two to see Labuan, Sarawak, and perhaps in their train some half-dozen other Borneon principalities, holding conspicuous places in the Army, Navy, Ordnance, as well as Miscellaneous Estimates. Then we shall build barracks and fortifications, and garrison them with a few troops. The troops will create a demand for a small quantity of British produce and manufactures. To protect the trade thus arising, a ship or two of war will be stationed in the neighbourhood. Thus, in proportion to the increase of the public expenditure, will be the increase of the traffic, till at length we shall be informed that the British merchant is carrying a flourishing commerce with these settlements, at the usual cost to the nation of ten shillings in every pound sterling of her exports. This is the most approved Colonial Office fashion of colonising and creating a colonial trade—very different from the old English mode.
I will now conclude the catalogue of the military stations with the Falkland Islands. On that dreary, desolate, and windy spot, where neither corn nor trees can grow, long wisely abandoned by us, we have, since 1841, expended upwards of 35,000l.; we have a civil establishment there at the cost of 5,000l. a year; a Governor who has erected barracks and other "necessary" buildings, well loop-holed for musketry; and being hard up for cash, he issued a paper currency, not, however, with the approbation of the Colonial Office.
Thus it appears that our twelve military stations and Ceylon contain about 22,000 troops; and that portion of their civil and military expenditure which is defrayed by Great Britain amounts to at least 1,300,000l. a year, exclusive of extraordinary expenditure for Kafir wars, &c, which, on the 829 average of the last ten years, may be put down at much more than 100,000l. a year. To these sums must he added a portion of the cost of the four large fleets which are stationed at or in the vicinity of the military stations, namely, on the Mediterranean, the African, the Cape, and the Chinese stations. These fleets consist at present of ninety-three ships, with a complement of 18,000 men, and must cost a million and a half a year for wages and victuals of crews, and wear and tear of vessels.
What I propose to the House is this: to withdraw our military protection from the Ionian States; to dispense with our stations and fleet on the west coast of Africa; to reduce our establishments at the Cape and the Mauritius, and to bestow upon those colonies free institutions; to transfer Ceylon to the East India Company; to keep a sharp watch over the expenditure for Hong-Kong Labuan, and Sarawak; and to acknowledge the claim of Buenos Ayres to the Falkland Islands. Then 10,000 men, instead of 22,000, would be sufficient to garrison the military stations in the following manner; 6,000 for Malta and Gibraltar; 4,000 for Bermuda, the Cape, the Mauritius, and Hong-Kong. If this were done, there would be a reduction in military and naval expenditure to the amount of at least a million a year for the military stations alone.
I now come to the colonies, properly so called, which have been planted in North America, the West Indies, and Australasia For what purposes, I ask, were colonies originally planted by England? What benefit does this country derive from he dominion over her colonies? Our ancestors would have answered these question in the following manner. They would have told us, how a little more than two centuries ago some of the inhabitants of this island, being uneasy at home, had migrated to America; they were prudent and energetic men, of the true Anglo-Saxon breed, which is best fitted to wage war with the savage and the forest; and being left alone, they flourished; and in the course of a few years, without costing one farthing to this country, they became a numerous and a thriving people. Then the shopkeepers and other traders of England wished to secure their custom, and, according to the notions of the day, they petitioned Parliament that the colonists should he confined to the English 830 shop; first, for buying all the goods they wanted in Europe; secondly, for selling all such parts of their colonial produce as the English traders might find it convenient to buy. Parliament acceded to this request. Thence the old system of colonial monopoly, which was the sole end and aim of the dominion which England assumed over her colonies. To maintain that monopoly and that dominion, vast sums were expended, costly wars were waged, and huge military and naval establishments were kept up; but it was always supposed that the expense thus incurred was repaid by the benefits derived from the monopoly of the colonial trade. I will not attempt to strike the balance of past profit or loss. It is evident, however, that with the abandonment of colonial monopoly, the arguments in favour of colonial dominion, which were derived from that monopoly, must likewise he abandoned. Now, to monopoly free trade has succeeded, and the last relic of the colonial system, in the shape of the navigation laws, is about to perish. Our colonies are free to trade with whom they will, and in what manner they will. Therefore, they will only trade with us when they can do so more profitably with us than with other countries. Therefore, as far as trade is concerned, the colonies are become virtually independent States, except that they may not enact laws to restrain their inhabitants from buying from us, or selling to us, if it he for their interest so to do. It is evident, however, that if the colonies were independent States, they never would be so foolish as to prevent their inhabitants from selling to us; but it may he said that they might be so foolish as to prevent their inhabitants from buying from us. If this be all the mischief which, as far as trade is concerned, is to he apprehended from the colonies becoming independent States; then it follows that all the benefit which, as far as trade is concerned, we derive from the sums which we expend on colonial dominion, consists in the power which we thereby possess of averting the possibility of the colonies enacting hostile tariffs against our produce and manufactures. The amount of this benefit must evidently depend upon the value of our export trade to the colonies. Now, the declared value of the export of British produce and manufactures to the North American, West Indian, and Australasian colonies for the year 1844 (last complete return) was about 6,000,000l.; the direct expenditure by Great Britain, on account 831 of those colonies, cannot be less than two millions sterling a year. I ask, is it worth our while to spend a couple of millions a year to guard against the possibility of a diminution in an export trade of 6,000,000l. a year? I put this question to any mercantile man: would it be worth his while to pay 6s. 8d. in the pound on the value of his goods, to secure that those goods shall freely compete with the goods of other nations in the markets of the North American, West Indian, and Australasian colonies? And if it be not worth his while, is it worth our while to pay it for him? This is undoubtedly a great and marvellous empire, in many respects unparalleled in history, but in no respect more marvellous than with reference to its colonies. Every other nation has attempted, in some shape or form, to draw tribute from its colonies; but England, on the contrary, has paid tribute to her colonies. She has created and maintained, at an enormous expense, an extensive colonial empire for the sole purpose of buying customers for her shop-keepers. This (as Adam Smith has justly observed) was the project, not of a nation of shopkeepers, but of a Government influenced by shopkeepers. It may be said that I have omitted to consider the value of the import trade from the colonies, which is equal to the value of the export trade; but no one fears that the colonies would, if they became independent States, refuse to sell to us; they would only be too happy so to do. We do not, therefore, require colonial dominion in order to buy from them; and in fact, we do not really require colonial dominion even to sell to them; for if we buy from them, it would be for their interest to receive payment in our produce and manufactures, if cheaper than those of other countries, and that interest would in the long run prevail. It does appear to me, therefore, to be a manifest absurdity to spend vast sums of money on colonial dominion for the purpose of securing free trade with the colonies. I now ask is this large colonial expenditure by Great Britain necessary in order to maintain the connexion between Great Britain and her colonies, which shall secure free trade between them, and the other benefits which I do believe Great Britain may derive from her colonies? I must be permitted to consider these questions separately with regard to each of the three great divisions of the colonies.
In the North American colonies, the military force amounts to about 9,000 832 men. The military expenditure by Great Britain, for the year 1843–4, was 698,000l. The civil expenditure by Great Britain for the same year was 34,000l.; this sum included an annual charge of about 12,000l. for the North American clergy, and of about 15,000l. for the Indian department. The whole direct expenditure by Great Britain for that year was returned to Parliament at 736,691l. To this sum must be added a portion of the expense of the packet service, which costs 145,000l. a year; and a portion of the expense of the fleet on the North American and West Indian station, which, on the average of the last ten years, must have cost 300,000l. a year. When it is remembered that in addition to these sums, Parliament specially granted, in the interval between 1838 and 1843, 2,096,046l. on account of the insurrection in Canada; in 1846, 50,000l. to sufferers by fire at Quebec and St. John's; and in other years, smaller sums on account of Rideau Canal, canal communication in Canada; militia and volunteers in Canada, &c. &c, which in the interval between 1835 and 1847, amounted to 193,174l., it follows that the North American colonies have cost Great Britain at the rate of at least a million sterling a year during the last ten years, and at present they must cost at least 800,000l. a year. Now, on the average of the five years ending with 1844, the declared value of British produce and manufactures exported to the North American colonies was 2,600,000l. a year. Is it worth our while to pay 800,000l. a year, that is, 30 per cent on these exports, to guard against the possibility of some diminution in that trade? For what purpose do we keep 9,000 troops in North America? Is it to protect the colonists against the United States? But if they are loyal at heart they are strong enough to protect themselves; if they are disloyal, twice 9,000 men will not keep them down. But suppose they were to separate from us, and to form independent States, or even to join the United States, would they not become more profitable as colonies than they are at present? The United States of America are, in the strict signification of the word, still colonies of Great Britain, as Carthage was a colony of Tyre, and the cities of Ionia and Sicily were colonies of Greece; for the word colony does not necessarily imply dependency, but merely a community composed of persons who have removed from one country and settled in another, for the 833 purpose of cultivating it. Now, our colonies (as I will term them) of the United States are in every point of view more useful to us than all our other colonies put together. In 1844, we exported to the United States produce and manufactures to the value of 8,000,000l.; an amount equal to the whole of our real export trade to all our colonial dominions, which we govern at a cost of 4,000,000l. a year; while the United States cost us for consular and diplomatic services not more than 15,000l. a year; and not one ship of war is required to protect our trade with the United States; in fact, a British ship of war is very rarely seen off the coasts of the United States. Again, more emigrants go directly from this country to the United States than to all our other colonies put together. In the last ten years, according to the returns of the Emigration Commissioners, 1,042,000 emigrants left this country, of which number 552,000 went directly to the United States; how many went indirectly through Canada, I cannot undertake to say. Last year 251,0000 persons emigrated from Great Britain to North America, 142,000 of whom went directly to the United States, the remaining 109,000 to the colonies. At present it is considered that colonies are chiefly useful as affording markets for our produce and outlets for our population. It is evident that in both these respects independent colonies are as useful as dependent ones. I do not, however, propose to abandon the North American colonies; but if we are compelled to choose between the alternative of the continuation of the present vast expenditure and that of abandoning these colonies, it is evident that the latter alternative would be the more profitable one in an economical point of view. But I maintain, that if we govern our North American colonies as we ought to govern them, follow out rigorously the principle of responsible government, and leave them to manage their own affairs, uncontrolled by the Colonial Office, we may with safety diminish our military force and expenditure, and they will willingly continue to be our fellow-subjects.
In the West Indies the military force amounts to about six thousand men. In the year 1843–4, the military expenditure was 513,386l.; the civil expenditure was 74,462l. This civil expenditure consists of an annual charge of 20,300l. for ecclesiastical establishments, of about 18,000l. for the salaries of governors, and of about 834 35,000l. for the salaries of stipendiary magistrates. The total amount of the direct expenditure incurred by Great Britain, on account of these colonies, for 1843–4, has been returned at 593,834l., or within a trifle of what it was in 1835–6. But in order to form a fair estimate of the whole cost of these colonies, we should add to this direct expenditure a portion of the expense of the fleet on the North American and West Indian station, which fleet, as I have already stated, must cost the country at least 300,000l. a year; a portion, likewise, of the expense of the packet service to and from the West Indies, which is contracted for at 240,000l. a year; likewise something on account of the risk of the non-repayment of loans, such as 50,000l. this year, on account of the hurricane in Tobago; 166,000l. which the Colonial Office, somewhat usurping the ordinary functions of Parliament, promised, without consulting Parliament, to British Guiana and Trinidad in February last; and the 500,000l. with which the noble Lord the Member for the city of London has vainly hopped to appease the West Indian interest. How much of these loans will ever be repaid? And we must likewise add the cost of landing captured negroes free of charge in the West Indies; I have already mentioned the cost of capturing them. I am afraid, therefore, that our West Indian colonies will, in future, cost this country directly much more than 700,000l. a year, which is just one-fourth of the declared value of our annual exports to these colonies, on the average of five years, ending 1844. And that export trade is decreasing, and will decrease; for there can be no doubt that the value of West Indian property has greatly diminished. I will not trespass on the patience of the House by making any observations on the state of the West Indies, as that subject was so fully discussed a short time ago. I will merely remark, that some West Indian proprietors have said that we must either restore the value of their property, by protecting their sugar, or they will throw off our dominion. Now, if we must choose between these alternatives, there can be little doubt which would be the cheaper. For, if we were to abandon those colonies, there would be a direct saving of 700,000l. a year, and no protecting duty on sugar. In fact, if we were to make them a present of ten millions sterling, on condition of their becoming independent States, we should be gainers 835 thereby to the amount of at least 350,000l. a year. Though I utterly disbelieve that the West Indian colonies can ever be of the slightest value to the country, as colonies, for their climate is quite unsuited to our race, and they will, in all probability, become negro islands, like Haiti; though they have been the most costly, the most worthless, and the worst managed of our colonies, a perpetual drain on the pockets of the people of England; yet I do not propose to abandon them, except at the express wish of the colonists. I should merely propose to reduce our military force to half its present amount, and to effect a saving of about 300,000l. a year.
In the Australian colonies, including New Zealand, the number of troops must at present be about 5,000 men; and the military expenditure by Great Britain must amount to about 270,000l. a year. The civil expenditure by Great Britain for this year, according to the Miscellaneous Estimates, will be about 30,000l. a year. Therefore, the direct expenditure by Great Britain, on account of these colonies, must amount to at least 300,000l. a year, exclusive of such items as 14,402l. for the abandonment of Lord Stanley's colony of North Australia; 214,936l. which we first lent, and then gave, in consequence of Colonel Gawler's extravagances in South Australia; and I know not how much for the follies of Captains Hobson and Fitzroy in New Zealand, who involved us in a war with the natives, which is still going on. The bill has not yet been sent in. Will 500,000l. cover it? I am afraid not; for portions of three regiments are quartered in that colony; and there are three or four ships of war, with a complement of about eight hundred men, stationed off the coast. These ships must cost, for wages, provisions, wear and tear, &c, about 80,000l. a year. Now, the declared value of our exports to the Australian colonies, on the average of the five years ending 1844, was only 1,000,000l. a year; putting down our expenditure only at 300,000l. a year, that expenditure would amount to 30 per cent on the value of our exports. Now, it is certain that not one single soldier is required in Australia except to keep the convicts in order; nor would one soldier have been required in New Zealand had it not been for the preposterous mismanagement of that colony by the Colonial Office. Supposing, however that 2,000 men were required for the convict service in Van Diemen's Land, and 1,000 men for 836 New Zealand, the military force in the Australian colonies might be reduced to 3,000 men.
Thus, it appears that the military force in the North American, West Indian, and Australian colonies, amounts to about 20,000 men, and the direct expenditure by Great Britain, on account of these colonies, to about 2,000,000l. a year. I should propose to reduce that force to 10,000 men, whereof 4,000 men would be sufficient for North America, 3,000 for the West Indies, and 3,000 for Australia; and then, in my opinion, less than 1,000,000l. a year would suffice to defray the expenses of those colonies to Great Britain.
Therefore, the whole reduction which I should propose at present to make in that portion of the colonial expenditure which is defrayed by Great Britain is 2,000,000l. a year. I should effect that saving partly by a reduction of 22,000 men in the military force in the colonies; partly by a reduction of the naval and civil expenditure on account of the colonies; and partly by removing the causes which have led to Canadian rebellions, Kafir and New Zealand wars, and the like. If this were accomplished, still, however, the colonies would continue to cost the large sum of 2,000,000l. a year; but I believe that a further reduction might ultimately be made on account of the commercial colonies; indeed, they might cost us next to nothing if we gave them complete control over their own affairs, on condition that they should pay their own expenses. The military stations, however, must always be a source of great expense; and if we retain them we must be content to pay dearly for our whistle.
Before I leave this subject I must call the attention of the House to a Treasury Minute of 10th June last, in which my Lords of the Treasury complain of the delay in rendering, and especially in auditing, colonial accounts. My Lords instance those from Ceylon, the Mauritius, the Falkland Islands, Van Diemen's Land, and New South Wales; and the Commissariat accounts from China, the Cape of Good Hope, Van Diemen's Land, and New South Wales, to which I will add those from St. Lucia, South Australia, and Western Australia. My Lords state that these accounts are so much in arrear that they cannot admit the sufficiency of the reasons assigned for that delay. The delay has certainly been very extraordinary. 837 I find that there are, at present, in the Audit Office the unaudited accounts of ton years from the Mauritius; of eight years from the Cape of Good Hope; of SIX years from Ceylon; and of four or five years from the other colonies to which I have referred. It is evident that, with such delay, it is impossible to exercise an effectual check over colonial expenditure.
I shall now proceed to the consideration of that portion of the colonial expenditure of the British empire which is defrayed by the colonies themselves. A return has just been presented to the House of that expenditure for the last year, in which it could be made up. In most instances it is for the year 1845; it is not materially different from the returns for previous years; I may, therefore, without any considerable inaccuracy, assume that it represents the ordinary annual expenditure by the colonies, and especially for the year 1845. From that return, it appears that the total expenditure by all the colonies—excepting Ceylon, and the stations on the west coast of Africa, for reasons which I will presently state; and likewise the Ionian islands, from which there was no return—was about 3,350,000l. for the year 1845. The population of these colonies was about 3,400,000; therefore, the annual expenditure was at the rate of 19s. 8d. per head of the population. The rate of expenditure, however, varies considerably in different colonies, according to the form of local government. It is greater or less, according as the colonists have loss or more control over their own expenses. This is a most important fact, to which I wish to call the especial attention of the House. I have instituted a comparison between the rate of expenditure of those colonies which have, and those which have not, representative assemblies. From that comparison I have omitted Ceylon, because Ceylon is not a colony, properly so called, but belongs to the class of our Indian possessions; and it is evident that a rate of expenditure which might be considered trifling for a population composed chiefly of Europeans, might be excessive for a population of the Cingalese and Veddahs of Ceylon. I have likewise omitted the colonies on the west coast of Africa; for there is no account of their population on which any reliance cane placed; and the Ionian Islands have also been omitted, because, as I have already said, their expenditure has not been returned to Parliament in the return in 838 question. With these omissions, I find that the rate of expenditure of the colonies with representative assemblies is less than one-half of the rate of the expenditure of the colonies without representative assemblies. The colonies, with representative assemblies, have a population of about 2,580,000, and their expenditure, in 1846, was 1,930,000l., or at the rate of 14s. 11d. per head of their population. On the other hand, the population of the colonies, without representative assemblies, was about 820,000, and their expenditure, in 1845, was 1,420,000l., or at the rate of 1l. 14s. a head of their population, or 18s. 7d. a head more than in the colonies with representative assemblies. I am convinced that this great increase of the rate of expenditure in the Crown colonies is mainly to be attributed to the want of self-government; for it is most apparent when the rate of expenditure, in each class of colonies, is examined and considered separately.
The rate of expenditure is the lowest in the North American colonies, where there is the greatest amount of self-government; in fact, since the last insurrection in Canada, and the establishment of the doctrine of responsible government, Canada has become, in most respects, an independent State, except as far as the civil list is concerned, and except that it is now and then subjected to some mischievous and foolish interference on the part of the Colonial Office. Now, the expenditure of the North American colonies in 1845, was 1,134,000l., their population was 1,700,000; therefore the rate of expenditure was 13s. 1d. per head of the population, or 1s. 7d. less than the average rate of the colonies with representative assemblies. But it should be remarked, that of the 1,134,000l. expended in 1845 by the North American colonies, 500,000 was an extraordinary expenditure by Canada, on account of new works and buildings, a large portion of which was defrayed by a loan. If a portion of this loan be omitted, as it ought to he, from the annual expenditure, then the rate of expenditure by the North American colonies for the year 1845 would have been nearly the same as it was for the year 1842, when it amounted to about 9s. a head of the population. Though this rate of expenditure is low as compared to our other colonies, yet it is about 30 per cent higher than that of the United States for similar purposes. The difference mainly arises from the high scale of salaries paid to the higher functionaries in the North 839 American colonies. Generally speaking, those functionaries receive from three to four times the amount of the salaries of similar functionaries in the United States. For instance, in the Canadas, with a population of 1,200,000, the Governor is paid 7,000l. a year; in the United States, the President has only 5,000l. a year, and no governor has more than 1,200l. a year; in the State of New York, with a population of 2,600,000, the Governor only receives 800l. a year. Again, the Chief Justices of Upper and Lower Canada are paid 1,500l. a year each, while the Chancellor and Chief Justices of the State of New York receive only 800l. a year each. The puisne Judges of Canada receive 1,000l. a year each; those of New York only 200l. a year each. The Governor of Nova Scotia is paid 3,500l. a year; the Governors of New Brunswick and Newfoundland are paid 3,000l. a year each. In Massachusetts, with a population much larger than that of the three last colonies added together, the salary of the Governor is only 500l. a year. In fact, the four North American colonies which I have just mentioned, pay 2,500l. a year more for the salaries of their four Governors, than the thirty States of the Union do for their thirty Governors. Now in the colonies the salaries are fixed by the various civil lists. These civil lists, being removed for a series of years from the control of the representative assemblies, are perpetual causes of quarrelling and discontent; and there is always a dispute going on between the Colonial Office and some colony or other on this subject, which frequently leads to the most unpleasant results. For instance, the dispute about-the civil list of Canada was one of the causes which ultimately led to the insurrection in that colony; and at present the Colonial Office is involved in a civil-list quarrel with British Guiana. In all these quarrels, the object of the Office is to keep up the pay of its functionaries; and the object of the colonists is a reduction of expenditure. There can be no doubt that the salaries of the higher functionaries in the colonies are excessive as compared to the standard of the United States, which is the usual standard of comparison in the colonies. For the salaries of the Governors of the thirty States of the Union amount in all to but 14,000l. a year; therefore the average is 460l. a year for the salary of each Governor. Now there are eighteen British colonies which pay for their own governors; 840 their salaries amount in all to 72,000l. a year; therefore the average is 4,000l. a year for the salary of each of these Governors—or nearly nine times the rate of pay in the United States. In fact, nine out of the eighteen Governors in question receive as much as, or more than, the President of the United States. For instance, the Governors of Canada, the Mauritius, and Ceylon, receive 7,000l. a year each; the Governor of Jamaica has 6,500l. a year; and the Governors of Gibraltar, Malta, the Ionian Isles, the Cape of Good Hope, and New South Wales, have 5,000l. a year each. I do not think this rate of pay is too high for noble Lords and other gentlemen of rank and connexion, when they undertake the duties of governors of the colonies; but if we are determined to employ such persons in the colonies, we ought to pay for them ourselves. On the other hand, if we insist upon the colonies paying their governors, it appears to me that, with the exception of the military stations, we should permit the colonies to elect their own governors and other functionaries, and to pay them what salaries they think fit. Such was, in olden times, the constitution of our colonies of Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachussets. And the honour and distinction attached to the office of governor would induce the best men in the colonies to serve for moderate salaries. If, however, the colonists were to choose, in any particular case, a person unfit to be a governor, they would be the sufferers; they would have no one but themselves to blame: but, as I will presently show, it would be difficult for them to make a worse choice than the Colonial Office generally makes.
To return to the question of the comparative rates of expenditure in those colonies which have, and those colonies which have not representative governments. In the West Indies the colonies with representative assemblies are Jamaica, the Leeward Islands, the Windward Islands—with the exception of St Lucia—and the Bahamas. Their population is about 700,000; their expenditure in 1845 was 450,000l., or at the rate of 12s. 10d. per head of their population; the rate of Jamaica was 13s. Now, compare this rate with that of the West Indian colonies without representative assemblies, namely, St. Lucia, Honduras, Trinidad, and British Guiana—the Combined Court of which cannot with any propriety be termed a representative assembly—their population 841 is about 190,000; their expenditure, exclusive of the cost of immigration, was 284,000l., or at the rate of 1l. 9s. a head, or more than twice as much as that of the West Indian colonies which have representative assemblies. The salaries of the higher functionaries in the West India colonies are all excessive, as compared with the standard of the United States. Twelve governors and lieutenant-governors receive 29,000l. a year, 16,000l. of which are paid by the colonists to five governors. As I have already observed, the Colonial Office is involved in a civil-list dispute with British Guiana. In consequence of the distressed condition of that colony, at the close of last year, the elective members of the Court of Policy proposed a reduction of 25 per cent upon all salaries above 700 dollars a year. The Colonial Office refused to accede to this proposal; and the Governor carried the estimates for the year in the Court of Policy by the exercise of his double vote. The Combined Court then refused to vote the supplies for the period required by the Governor. The Colonial Office has retaliated upon them for this conduct by stopping immigration to British Guiana, and by refusing the usual licenses to carry liberated negroes from Sierra Leone to that colony. This unexpected proceeding has occasioned considerable inconvenience and loss to various shipowners in this country, who complain that no reliance can be placed upon the Colonial Office with its perpetually shifting-regulations.
The Cape of Good Hope and the Mauritius have each of them about the same population, namely, 160,000, and being Crown colonies, their rate of expenditure is about the same as that of the Crown colonies of the West Indies, namely, 1l. 7s. a head; they are grievously taxed, especially the Mauritius. As I have already said, the Governor of the Mauritius has 7,000l. a year; and the Governor of the Cape has as much as the President of the United States.
It may be said that the rate of expenditure is higher in the Crown colonies, because, generally speaking, those colonies are more thinly peopled than the colonies with representative assemblies. It is perfectly true, that, everything else being the same, the rate of expenditure in a thinly peopled territory will generally exceed that of a thickly peopled one. But the Crown colony of the Mauritius is four times as densely peopled as Jamaica, yet the rate 842 of expenditure in Jamaica per head of the population, is loss than one-half what it is in the Mauritius. Again, the Crown colony of Malta is one of the most densely peopled spots on the face of the earth; yet the rate of expenditure is 16s. 6d. a head of the population, or twenty per cent more than that of the plantations in the West Indies; or nearly double the ordinary rate of expenditure in the thinly peopled North American colonies. Again, Malta is more than twice as thickly peopled as the Ionian States; but those States have a certain amount of self-government, and their rate of expenditure in 1840—the last return which I have been able to get at—was 14s. 3d. a head, or 2s. 3d. a head less than that of Malta.
Ceylon is the only apparent exception to the rule, that the rate of expenditure of colonies governed by the Colonial Office is greater than that of the self-governed colonies. According to Sir Emerson Tennent the population of Ceylon in 1846 must have amounted to 1,500,000, and the expenditure in that year was 498,000l., or at the rate of 6s. 7d. a head of the population. It is true this rate of expenditure is lower than that of any other colony, yet I believe it will be found to be extravagant when the nature of the population is considered. For it ought to be compared with that of the territories governed by the East India Company, which are inhabited by an analogous population, but are locally governed by men carefully selected on account of their special aptitude. The population of those territories is said to be about 93,000,000, and the expenditure on the average of the five years ending 1844 was 20,000,000l. sterling, therefore at the rate of 4s. 3d. a head of the population, or one-third less than that of Ceylon. There can be no doubt that if Ceylon were transferred, as I propose, to the East India Company, it would be more economically governed than it is by the Colonial Office.
Lastly, with regard to the Australian colonies. New South Wales is the only one which has a representative assembly of any kind. It commenced its existence in 1843, and immediately caused an extraordinary diminution in the expenditure. In 1841 the free population of New South Wales amounted to about 102,000, and the ordinary expenditure, exclusive of immigration, was 350,000l., or at the enormous rate of 32. 4s. a head of the population. In 1843 the Representative Assembly 843 at once diminished the expenditure for the subsequent year by 60,000l.; and in 1846, when the free population amounted to 178,000, the expenditure was only 254,000l., or at the rate of 12. 8s. a head of the population. This extraordinary reduction in the rate of expenditure may be attributed, to a certain extent, to immigration; but the reduction in the positive amount of expenditure can he distinctly traced to the commencement of local self-government in 1843.
Compare the rate of expenditure of New South Wales with that of the neighbouring colony of Van Diemen's Land, which has in vain petitioned for a representative assembly. In 1842 the free population of that colony amounted to 37,000, and on the average of the four years ending with 1844, the expenditure, exclusive of immigration, was 161,000l., or at the enormous rate of 42. 6s. a head. This rate of expenditure was not very different from that of the kindred colony of New South Wales prior to the establishment of representative government; but it was more than three times that of New South Wales after the establishment of representative government. It must, however, be acknowledged that the difference in the rate of expenditure of the two colonies may be attributed in part, though certainly not altogether, to the abolition of transportation to New South Wales, and to its continuance in its worst form to Van Diemen's Land. The House may remember the appalling description which was given last year of the loathsome moral state of the convict population of that colony and its dependency, Norfolk Island; of their hideous crimes; of their frightful diseases; and of their atrocious murders. It was shown that the unhappy state of that colony was brought about partly by the negligence of the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, Lord Stanley—partly by the mismanagement of the then Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir Bardley Wilmott; and partly by the misconduct of the then Commandant of Norfolk Island, Major Childs. In consequence of these horrid disclosures, it was announced last year to the Governor of Van Diemen's Land, Sir W. Denison, that it was the intention of the Government that transportation should be discontinued altogether; and that announcement was received with great satisfaction in the colony. Unfortunately, it now appears that transportation is to be renewed to Van Diemen's Land, though 844 in a mitigated form. The colonists will be bitterly disappointed and exasperated when they receive this information. At present they are discontented; for to meet the vast expenditure of the colony, taxes have been imposed which the judges have pronounced to be illegal; and one of the judges so deciding has been removed by the Governor, as the colonists believe, in consequence of his decision; a belief which, from the statements made to the House by the hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary of State for the Colonies, appears to be unfounded. The colonists, however, will have every reason to be dissatisfied with the renewal of transportation, which will mar their prospects, and make them for ever the plague spot and reproach of Australasia.
In the other Australian colonies which have not representative governments, I am unable to state with accuracy the rate of expenditure per head of the population. In South Australia, at one time, it exceeded 10l. a head per annum; and the colony became utterly bankrupt through the extravagance of its Governor, Colonel Gawler. We had to liquidate its debts, partly by a gift in 1842 to the amount of 214,236l., and by a loan of 85,000l. This loan will be repaid, because South Australia is becoming rich in consequence of the discovery of mines. With regard to these mines, it is said that the Colonial Office has created great dissatisfaction in this colony by reserving a royalty of one-fifteenth of their gross produce. The House is probably not aware that almost every year the Colonial Office makes some change in the management of the waste lands of the Australian colonies, which affects to a greater or less extent the value of all landed property in those colonies. For instance, with reference to minerals. Originally all minerals were reserved to the Crown, and only the surface of the soil was conveyed to the purchaser. In one instance, however, Lord Bathurst, when Secretary of State for the Colonies, gave all the coal in New South Wales to one company. In consequence of these reservations, no one had any interest in searching for or in discovering mines, therefore no mines were discovered, or, if discovered, they were carefully concealed. When, however, the noble Lord the Member for the city of London became Secretary of State for the Colonies, he, with his usual good sense, at once perceived the impolicy of such reservations, and under 845 his rule all minerals were conveyed to the purchaser of the soil. Then mines were discovered, especially in South Australia; and then, to the astonishment of most persons, the Colonial Office determined upon reserving a royalty upon all future mines. [Mr. HAWES: No, no!] What! Do you mean to say that you have in no instance reserved a royalty? [Mr. HAWES: I mean to say that the late Colonial "Secretary, Lord Stanley, did it.] Well, it matters not who did it. The consequence is, that the previously discovered mines, which are nearer the coast, and therefore can he worked with less expense, will have to pay-nothing, whilst the subsequently discovered mines, which are further from the coast, and therefore more expensive to work, will have to pay a royalty of G| per cent on their gross produce. Such a measure is bad on economical grounds, and bad also in policy. For sound policy requires that this country should interfere as little as possible in the internal affairs of its colonies, and, above all, as little as possible with their pockets. The policy of the noble Lord (the Member for the city of London) was the right and statesman-like one; sell your land to the colonists and have done with it. Seigneuries and royalties are relics of feudalism, wholly unsuited to colonies. Their establishment is another instance of the utter ignorance of men and things which the Colonial Office generally displays in its administration of the colonies; and, to crown the absurdity, the Emigration Commissioners report that these royalties arc, at present, not worth collecting in South Australia.
Swan River, alias Western Australia, has a delicious climate, much good land, plenty of coal, and is well situated for commerce; it might have proved a flourishing colony by this time, but it was overlaid at its birth by the Colonial Office. Its expenditure exceeds its income, and we have to pay seven or eight thousand pounds a year for its civil government.
Lastly, New Zealand. I do not know the rate of expenditure per head of the population in that colony. Its expenditure, however, far exceeds its income. We annually vote between twenty and thirty thousand pounds a year for its civil government; exclusive of the bill which we shall have to pay for Maori wars. In the course of the last two years we have voted that 236,000l. shall be lent to the New Zealand Company, which I hope will be 846 repaid some day or other. In that colony, what with imbecile governors in the beginning, what with constitutions proclaimed and suspended, what with quarrels with the natives, what with missionaries and land sharks, there has been a state of the most extraordinary confusion; yet, I believe, through the indomitable energy of our race, New Zealand will ultimately become a flourishing colony, the Britain of the Southern Seas. The House may remember that in 1846 the Colonial Office imagined a nondescript constitution for New Zealand, and sent it off post haste to that colony. It was to divide New Zealand into two provinces, New Ulster and New Munster. Each was to have a representative assembly. When the constitution arrived, Governor Grey refused to bestow it on New Ulster, on the grounds that it would enable the British population to legislate for and tax the natives. Therefore, Governor Grey suspended the constitution of New Ulster till he could receive further instructions; but he expressed his opinions in very strong terms that the inhabitants of New Munster were fit for a constitution. When this intelligence reached the Colonial Office, Lord Grey immediately proposed to Parliament a Bill (which was passed about three or four months ago) to suspend the constitution of both provinces. Now I infer, from late accounts from the colonies, that New Munster has obtained its constitution; and perhaps its representatives will be assembled, and will be hard at work legislating, when orders will arrive from England to suspend their constitution and to dismiss them with ignominy. A curious farce is the history of the management of this colony by the Colonial Office. This same nondescript New Zealand constitution was sent by the Colonial Office to New South Wales for the colonists to inspect, and to see how they would like a similar one. They have rejected it with scorn and contempt. I am afraid, Sir, that the present Secretary of State for the Colonies, notwithstanding his very great abilities, will not be renowned in future history as either the Solon or Lycurgus of Australia.
I think I have sufficiently established my position that, in every portion of the globe, the British colonies are more economically and better governed in proportion as they are self-governed. In North America the various States of the Union govern themselves twenty-five per cent cheaper than the Canadas do, which are, to 847 a certain extent, under the control of the Colonial Office. In the West Indies, the Crown colonies, which are governed by the Colonial Office are twice as heavily taxed as the plantations; and in Australia, and in the Mediterranean, the same rule holds good. These facts justify the conclusion at which I now arrive, that the greater the amount of local self-government, and the less the Colonial Office interferes in the internal affairs of the colonies, the more economically and the better the colonies will be governed. In the course of the last ten years petitions complaining of Colonial Office government, and praying for representative government, have been presented from the Cape of Good Hope, New South Wales, Van Diemen's Land, Western Australia, South Australia, New Zealand, British Guiana, Trinidad, St. Lucia, and Malta. The prayer of only one of those petitions has been acceded to. New South Wales has obtained a mongrel form of representative government, which must soon be amended, though not in the fashion proposed by the Colonial Office. All the other petitions have been rejected. Now I do not assert that each of these colonies would derive the same amount of benefit from free institutions; but I am prepared to maintain that with representative government every one of them, not excepting the Mauritius, would have been more economically and better governed than they have been or are governed by the Colonial Office.
In saying this I do not mean to speak with disrespect cither of past or present Secretaries of State for the Colonies; but there is no essential difference between them; the system is throughout the same, whoever may he the nominal chief. Of that system, however, I do intend to speak with disrespect; and I can quote in justification of my so doing some high authorities on this side of the House, who have carefully studied the subject. I mean my right hon. Friend the Member for Liskeard (Mr. C. Buller), the hon. Gentleman the Member for Sheffield (Mr. Ward), and the noble Earl at the head of the Colonial Office, before he became Secretary of State for the Colonies. As long as that system exists, the majority of the colonies must be ill governed, and their inhabitants discontented; for the Colonial Office undertakes to perform an impossible task. It undertakes the administration, civil, military, financial, judicial, and ecclesiastical, of some forty different communities, with various 848 institutions, languages, laws, customs, wants, and interests. It undertakes to legislate more or less for all these colonies, and altogether for those which have no representative assemblies. It would be difficult enough to discharge all these functions in a single office, if all the colonies were close together and close to England; but they are scattered over the surface of the globe from the Arctic to the Antarctic Pole. To most of them several months must elapse, to some of them a whole year must elapse, before an answer to a letter can be received, before a petition can be complied with, or a grievance redressed. Therefore, orders which are issued from the Colonial Office in accordance with the last advices from a colony are, in innumerable instances, wholly unsuited to the state of the colony when the orders arrive; in some cases, questions which time has settled are reopened, forgotten disputes are revived, and the tardy interference of the Colonial Office is felt to be a curse even when a wrong is redressed. In other eases, the instructions of the Colonial Office are wisely disregarded by the governors, or rejected with derision by the colonial assemblies, who marvel at the crass ignorance of their transatlantic rulers.
In addition to its other arduous functions, the Colonial Office is required to assist in the vain attempt to suppress the slave trade with Africa; and it has likewise the difficult task of administering a secondary punishment in a penal colony at the antipodes. Now, if it were possible for any mortal man to discharge the duties of such an office, it is evident that he ought to possess, not merely great mental powers, but a long and intimate acquaintance with the affairs of the different colonies; he should be brought up to the business, it should be the study of his life, and he should be appointed on account of his special aptitude to conduct such business. Is this the rule for selecting Secretaries of State for the Colonies? Nothing of the kind. They are generally chosen haphazard from the chiefs of the two great political parties in this or the other House of Parliament; and they retain their office, on the average, some eighteen months or so. During the last nine years there have been no less than six Colonial Secretaries—namely, Lord Glenelg, Lord Normanby, Lord John Russell, Lord Stanley, Mr. Gladstone, and Lord Grey; all of them, I acknowledge, are men of great ability; all of them, I believe, most anxious to use 849 their abilities for the benefit of their country and of the colonies; but I feel persuaded that one-third of them had little or no acquaintance with colonial affairs prior to their acceptance of office; just, therefore, as they were beginning to learn the wants and interests of the more important colonies, and to acquire the first rudiments of colonial lore, they were succeeded by some other statesman, who had to commence his lessons as Secretary of State for the Colonies, and to try his hand in the despotic and irresponsible government of some score or so of dependent States.
In fact, the Colonial Government of this country is an ever-changing, frequently well-intentioned, but invariably weak and ignorant despotism. Its policy varies incessantly, swayed about by opposite influences; at one time directed, perhaps, by the West India body, the next instant by the Anti-Slavery Society, then by Canadian merchants, or by a New Zealand Company, or by a Missionary Society: it is everything by turns, and nothing long; Saint, Protectionist, Freetrader, in rapid succession; one day it orignates a project, the next day it abandons it, therefore all its schemes are abortions, and all its measures are unsuccessful; witness the economical condition of the West Indies, the frontier relations of the Cape of Good Hope, the immoral state of Van Diemen's Land, and the pseudo-systematic colonisation and revoked constitution of New Zealand.
Such a government might suit serfs and other barbarians; but to men of our race, intelligent and energetic Englishmen, accustomed to freedom and to local self-government, it is one of the most hateful and odious governments that can well be imagined. It is difficult to express the deep-seated hatred and contempt which is felt for the Colonial Office by almost every dependency subject to its sway. If you doubt this fact, put the question to the West Indies and the Mauritius; put the same question to Van Diemen's Land, to New South Wales, to New Zealand, and your other Australian colonies; from all of them you will receive the same answer, and the same prayer to be freed from the control of the Colonial Office. Even the Canadas are not content, though they have responsible government; and though, in most respects, they are virtually independent of the Colonial Office, yet every now and then the Colonial Office contrives to produce irritation by stupid interference in 850 some question of minor importance, such as the regulations of a banking bill, or the amount of a petty salary.
Though the colonies have ample reason to complain of the manner in which their affairs are administered by the Colonial Office in this country, they have still greater reason to complain of the governors and other functionaries who are sent by the Colonial Office to the colonies; for, generally speaking, they are chosen, not on account of any special aptitude for, or knowledge of, the business they will have to perform, but for reasons foreign to the interest of the colonies. For instance, poor relations, or needy dependants of men having polical influence; officers in the Army or Navy who have been unsuccessful in their professions; briefless barristers; electioneering agents; importunate applicants for public employment, whose employment in this country public opinion would forbid; and at times, even discreditable partisans whom it is expedient to get rid of in the colonies; these are the materials out of which the Colonial Office has too frequently manufactured its governors and other functionaries. Therefore, in most cases they are signally unfit for the duties which they have to perform, and being wholly ignorant of the affairs of the colony to which they are appointed, they become the tools of one or other of the colonial factions; whence perpetual jealousies and never-ending feuds. The governors, the judges, and the other high functionaries, are generally on hostile terms. The governors remove the judges, the judges appeal to us for redress; every year a petition or two of this kind comes under the consideration of Parliament. To settle such questions the Colonial Office has just created a new tribunal, composed of an ex-Indian judge and railway commissioner, and of an ex-permanent Under Secretary of State for the Colonies; the one with little knowledge of colonial affairs, the other famed for years as the real head of the colonial system, and therefore reputed to be the evil genius of the colonies. It would be easy to cite instances which have occurred during the last ten years which would illustrate every one of these positions. I forbear, however, from mentioning names, as the facts are notorious to every one who has taken any interest in colonial affairs.
It is no wonder that the colonies are discontented, and that they are badly and expensively governed. Is there any remedy for this state of things? I have 851 traced the evil to its source in the colonial system of the Colonial Office. Can that system he amended? It appears to me that the Colonial Office, as an instrument for governing the colonies, must always be far inferior to any mode of self-government by the colonists. For it is evident that at least in ninety-nine cases out of every hundred, the colonists, the men on the spot, must he better judges of their own interests than honourable gentlemen far away in Downing-street can possibly be. It is evident, likewise, that (though the empire at large has a deep interest in the good and economical government of the colonies; though all of us here present are most sincerely desirous that the colonies should be contented and happy), yet we have other things to do besides studying colonial affairs and looking after the Colonial Office. Therefore, the Colonial Office is virtually irresponsible; it may play what pranks it pleases; it is only when we have to pay for a Canadian insurrection, or a Kafir war, that an outry is raised, and the Colonial Office is called to account, and then there is not above a score of us who know anything about the subject, even after a laborious study of the documents carefully prepared for the purpose by the Colonial Office. Remember, likewise, that implicit reliance cannot be placed on those documents. Some, for instance, are long didactic despatches, written for the sole purpose of being presented to Parliament, not intended to produce any specific results in the colonies; but full of well-turned periods, containing lofty sentiments and apparently statesman-like views, calculated to gain credit for the Office, and to satisfy the minds of honourable, ignorant, and confiding Members, who soon afterwards forget all about the matter. Again, as a collection of materials for enabling the House to form a judgment with regard to colonial affairs, those documents are not to be trusted, for, generally speaking, they are tainted with partiality, and necessarily so; because they are selected out of a vast mass, on account of their supposed importance—of that importance the Colonial Office is the sole and irresponsible judge—it determines without appeal what shall be produced and what shall be suppressed—in so doing, it must obey the unchanging laws of human nature, and attach greater importance to those documents which confirm its views, and less importance to those which are adverse to its opinions; the former, therefore, 852 obtain its special care, and are sure to be produced; the latter are comparatively neglected, and liable to be forgotten and suppressed; the result is inevitable, namely, partial statements; instances of human fallibility, affording incontestable proofs of the impossibility under which this House labours of forming a correct judgment with regard to colonial affairs. For similar reasons the Colonial Office labours under a similar difficulty, because the statements made to it by the colonial authorities must frequently be of a partial character, and at times wholly untrustworthy; yet always months and sometimes whole years elapse before any explanation of those statements can be obtained. Therefore ignorance and irresponsibility are the characteristic defects of our present mode of governing the colonies. For these defects there is no remedy but local self-government.
Hence I come to the conclusion, that we should delegate to the colonies all powers of local legislation and administration which are now possessed by the Colonial Office, with the reservation only of those powers the exercise of which would be absolutely inconsistent with the sovereignty of this country, or might be directly injurious to the interests of the whole empire. It appears to me that the powers that ought to be so reserved, are few in number, and could easily be defined. To determine them, it would be necessary merely to consider what are the benefits which this country may derive from the colonies, and what is requisite to secure the continuous enjoyment of those benefits.
Colonies are useful either as affording markets for our produce, or outlets for our population. To prove their utility as markets, my hon. Friend the Member for Liskeard, in his most able and admirable speech in 1843, on systematic colonisation, showed that the rate of consumption of British produce and manufactures, per head of the population, was very much greater in colonies than in other countries. Of the correctness of this position there can be no dobut. In 1844, Continental Europe, with a population of about 220,000,000 of inhabitants, did not consume more than 24,000,000l. worth of our produce and manufactures; whilst our colonies (including the United States), with a population not exceeding 25,000,000, consumed 16,000,000l., worth of our goods. Therefore, while the rate of consumption of our goods did not exceed 2s. 2d. a head in Continental Europe, it amounted to 8s. 853 a head in the United States, 1l. 12s. a head in our other colonies. It must, however, be admitted, that a considerable portion of our trade with our subject colonies, consists of goods sent to defray the cost of our establishments there. Making, however, every fair deduction on that account, still it cannot be denied that they are excellent markets for our goods; it is very unfortunate, therefore, that they cost us so much as 16s. a head of their population, for government and defence, as that sum must absorb the greater portion of, if not all, the profit of our trade with those colonies.
To show the utility of colonies as outlets for our population, I may refer to the reports of the Emigration Commissioners, from which it appears that in the course of the last twenty years 1,673,803 persons have emigrated from this country, of whom 825,564 went to the United States; 702,101 to the North American colonies, 127,188 to the Australian colonies, and 19,090 to other places. It would be interesting to know what has been the cost of this emigration, and how it has been defrayed. I cannot put it down at less than 20,000,000l, sterling, of which about 1,500,000l. were paid out of the proceeds of land sales in the Australian colonies. This emigration has varied considerably in amount from year to year; from the mini-mum of 26,092 persons in 1828, to the maximum of 258,270 persons last year. If averages of five years be taken, it appears to have gone on steadily increasing in amount; for on the average of the five years ending with 1832, it amounted to 60,000 persons a year; ending with 1837, to 66,000 persons a year; ending with 1842, to 86,000 persons a year; and ending with 1817, to 121,000 persons a year. Therefore, the habit of emigrating is confirmed, and becoming more powerful every day; and therefore colonies are becoming more useful as outlets for our population.
Therefore, free trade with the colonies, and free access to the colonies, should, in my opinion, be the sole end and aim of the dominion which Great Britain still retains over her colonies. By keeping these two objects distinctly in view, by bestowing upon the colonies all powers of local legislation and administration which are not absolutely inconsistent with those objects and the sovereignty of this country, I believe that our colonial expenditure might be greatly diminished in amount, and that 854 our colonial empire would flourish and be-come of incalculable utility to this country.
I do not propose to abandon any portion of that empire. I only complain that it is of so little use to us; that it is a vast tract of fertile desert, which cost us 4,000,000l. sterling a year, and yet only contains a million and a half of our race. Would it not be possible to people this desert with active and thriving Englishmen? To cover it with communities composed of men with wants, habits, and feelings similar to our own, anxious to carry on with us a mutually beneficial trade? In this country, every trade, every profession, and every branch of industry are overstocked; in every quarter there is a fierce competition for employment. On the contrary, in the colonies, there is an equally fierce competition for labour of every kind. Now, is there any mode of bridging over the oceans that intervene, so that our colonies may be to the united kingdom, what the backwoods are to the United States? If such a plan could be devised, if it could be carried into execution, it might tend to solve the most difficult economical problems of England and of Ireland.
To carry such a plan into execution, two things would be requisite. First, funds wherewith to convey the poorer classes to the colonies. How could such funds be obtained? The hon. Gentleman the Member for Sheffield, the hon. Gentleman the Member for Gateshead, and my hon. Friend the Member for Liskeard, have, in their numerous and able speeches upon this subject, told us that sufficient funds could be obtained by the sale of waste lauds, according to the well-known plan of Mr. Wakefield. I hold the same opinion. I firmly believe that with continuous and systematic emigration, sufficient funds could be so obtained. But I will suppose, for the sake of argument, that they must be obtained, for the present, from some other source. Now, I ask the House to consider, first, that we spend four millions sterling a year in the colonies on Army, Navy, Ordnance, Commissariat, Kafir wars, Canadian rebellions, and the like; secondly, that for half four millions—the sum which I propose to save by a reduction of colonial expenditure—we might send annually to Australia 150,000 persons, and to Canada twice that number. I ask the House, at the expiration of ten or fifteen years, from which of these two modes of expending the public money would the nation derive the greater benefit? Our Army, Navy, 855 and Ordnance cost us at present from six to seven millions sterling a year more than they did in 1835, when their force was ample for the defence of the empire. What have we to show in return for this enormous increase of expenditure? A Canadian insurrection suppressed, a Kafir war terminated, barren trophies in India, the gates of Somnauth, Hong-Kong, Labuan, and the Falkland Islands. What should we have had to show for it had only a portion of it been expended on colonisation? A third part of it—the two millions a year which I affirm can be spared from our colonial expenditure—would have been sufficient in ten years to double or triple the British population af our colonial empire.
For instance, that sum would in ten years have conveyed a million and a half of our fellow-citizens to Australasia: where the climate is so peculiarly suited to our race, where abundance of food can easily be obtained; there, flourishing and contented, they would have been anxious to purchase our produce and manufactures: wealthy States, worthy of the British name, would have been generated, carrying on with us an enormous trade; self-governed they would have needed neither army nor navy to protect them, and would have gladly defrayed every local expense. That would have been a colonial empire to boast about.
Again, the same sum of two millions sterling a year would, in ten years, have conveyed to North America some three millions; say, of Irishmen. With that sum I believe you might have created beyond the Atlantic a now and happy Ireland, so attractive to the Celtic race that they would have migrated in shoals from the old and unhappy Ireland, and thus, perhaps, have enabled you to solve that fearful problem, which neither Gagging Bills, nor Coercion Bills, nor Alien Bills, nor even a repeal of the Union, will ever solve. That, indeed, would have been a feat for a great statesman to acccomplish, and would have covered his name with immortal renown! I do grudge the four millions a year which we squander upon our colonies, when I consider what might be done with half that sum for the benefit of this country, and of the colonies, by means of systematic colonisation.
But to colonise beneficially, it is necessary that the higher and richer, as well as the poorer classes; that the employers of labour as well as the employed; that all 856 classes of society should migrate together, forming new communities, analogous to that of the Parent State. On such principles alone have successful colonies been founded in ancient or modern times. On such principles the colonies of Greece and of New England were founded.
For instance, from the overcrowded cities of Greece the colonists departed under the guidance of their foremost men; they carried along with them the images of their heroes and their gods, whose common worship linked them for ever to their ancient home—arrived at their destination, they formed States after the model of the parent city; they flourished in wealth, excelled in all the arts of civilised life, extended the empire, and added to the renown of the Dorian or Ionian name. Not dissimilar in principle was the old English mode of colonising, except that our colonies, instead of commencing their existence as independent States, professed their allegiance to the mother country; but their charters gave them all the essential powers of self-government, and complete control over their internal affairs. They flourished rapidly, were most loyal, and sincerely attached to our empire, till we drove them into just rebellion by our now colonial system. Very different from these successful modes of colonising has been that of the Colonial Office. It has been either a shovelling out of paupers or a transportation of criminals, whereby some of the fairest portions of the British dominions have been converted into pest-houses of pauperism, or sinks of iniquity, polluting the earth with unheard-of diseases and unmentionable crimes. No gentleman, no man of birth or education, who knows anything about the matter, would ever think of emigrating to a colony, to be under the control of the Colonial Office. But if the colonies were properly planted, and self-governed according to the old fashion, then our kinsmen and friends, instead of overstocking the liberal professions, instead of overcrowding the Army and Navy, where no career is open for them, would seek their fortunes in the colonies and prosper. For we are by nature a colonising people. The same destiny that led our forefathers from their homes in the farthest east, still urges us onwards to occupy the uninhabited regions of the west and the south; and America, and Australia, and New Zealand, anxiously expect our arrival to convert their wastes into happy abodes of the Anglo-Saxon race.
857 In making these observations, I wish merely to show, that if vast sums of money are to he expended on the colonies, they can he expended in a manner far more beneficial to the interests both of the colonies and of the rest of the empire than they have been hitherto expended. I do not, however, intend to propose to the House any plan of systematic colonisation, or any grant of public money for that purpose. My only objects, at present, are reduction of useless expenditure, and reform of had colonial government, which are things good in themselves without reference to any ulterior measures. But I will presume to express my belief that there is a great and noble career open for any statesman who, possessing the power, shall with firm and vigorous determination, curtail that expenditure, reform that system of government, and, at the same time, promote systematic colonisation. In what manner colonial expenditure can be curtailed without detriment to the interests of the empire, in what manner the system of colonial government can be amended for the benefit of the colonies, I have attempted to show; and in the hope that I have succeeded in proving that that expenditure ought to be curtailed, and that system of government ought to be amended, I take the liberty of moving the resolution:—
That it is the opinion of this House that the Colonial Expenditure of the British Empire demands inquiry, with a view to its reduction; and that to accomplish this object, and to secure greater contentment and prosperity to the Colonists, they ought to be invested with large powers for the administration of their local affairs.And if the Government will accede to this Motion, I give notice that next Session I shall follow up this subject by moving for a Committee of Inquiry.
§ MR. HUTTrose with considerable diffidence to address the House, after a speech which had displayed such great ability and such extensive knowledge of the subject; but be rose with great confidence to second the Motion of the hon. Baronet. There was scarcely any opinion which the hon. Baronet had expressed in the course of his extended speech which be was not prepared to maintain and support. He agreed with the hon. Baronet that the large expenditure which this country undertook on account of its colonies was productive of very little beneficial result in its application. He believed, too, that this expenditure was sometimes admitted as a justification of the perpetual and mischievous 858 meddling of the Colonial Office with the internal affairs of the colonies. The idea of colonial administration to which these evils were incident was a very miserable substitute for the policy which in former times regulated the relations between this country and the colonies; that policy was inexpensive, it was practically beneficial to the colonies, and did not require that those who administered it should be overwhelmed with an amount of business which no human capacity could properly execute. He was astonished that Earl Grey should have been led for one moment to support such a system as this. Did the system work well? The working was absolutely ridiculous. Look at the present feeling existing in the colonies in regard to their administration. It was said this was one of the ancient institutions of the country; that it was hallowed by long associations. The very reverse was the fact. Gentlemen were alive who remembered the time when no Colonial Office existed. It was not his intention to speak with disrespect of the noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department; but to whatever individual the fault might be attributed, it was notorious that the working of the Colonial Office was in the highest degree unsatisfactory; and one of the most offensive features in the system arose from the fact of its perfect irresponsibility. There was a strange and mysterious agency always at work in the Colonial Office, with which nobody could cope, and which nobody could understand. A party of persons interested in one of the colonies paid a visit, in the character of a deputation, to the Secretary of State. They laid before him some colonial evil, and asked for redress. A remedy was proposed, and the parties took leave of the Minister, thankful for the kindness with which he had attended to their interest; and reported to their friends that nothing was more satisfactory than the interview they had had. They expected they were going to have their grievances redressed; but by and by, on the same evening perhaps, at some dinner party or ball room, some attaché of the Colonial Office made it apparent that all their expectations were idle—that the Colonial Office had no intention of carrying out the measures—and that in fact the deputation had only lost their time, and mistaken their errand. What could be more offensive than to find that these irregular communications—these backstairs announcements—were better founded than the solemn assurances of the 859 Secretary of State? It was impossible that these sort of proceedings could often go forward without creating extensive and well-founded discontent; for this irregular influence was always exercised on the side of obstruction and bad feeling. His hon. Friend had called attention to the most flourishing colony of South Australia. That colony had the single advantage of costing this country nothing. The persons who founded that colony deserved every encouragement from the Colonial Office; but the whole encouragement they had received from the Colonial Office would afford an entertaining article in the columns of Punch. The colony of South Australia was formed in spite of the Colonial Office: it was now the most flourishing colony of the British Crown. The Colonial Office had an unlimited extent of fertile soil at their disposal; at home there was a people entirely disposed to colonisation, and gifted with qualities most calculated to succeed. There was a large amount of the working classes suffering from the circumstances of the times, and most anxious to obtain employment in distant dependencies. There was also any amount of capital which could be employed with safety. With such elements, wisely and judiciously combined, the most magnificent results might be expected. What were the results? The Colonial Office had made such use of these elements that they had rendered anything which deserved the name of colonisation almost impossible. He could appeal to the hon. Member for Liskeard, if in making this broad assertion he was not using the language of soberness and truth. Who were the parties who now proceeded to our colonies? Men of no character, adventurers and malcontents, and believers in El Dorado—men who did well in no country—formed the bulk of the present settlers, and it was out of materials such as these that you expected to produce great and flourishing colonies. There was at this moment a great desire amongst the working classes to emigrate to the colonies, and there were thousands of men in England pining for opportunities of distinction, willing to confront any trial, if it would only lead to a career of honourable enterprise—men inferior in no high quality to those colonists who laid the foundations of our colonial empire—men whose presence amongst the emigrants would be an incalculable blessing both to them and any settlement to which they might proceed, but who would not 860 hear of the colonies on the terms on which they were now offered them. It used to be said that the bold Anglo-Saxon colonists brought their Lares and their Vates with them; but that was not exactly the fact, for they carried no such things with them. It was true they carried the Habeas Corpus Act and the Bill of Rights with them, and every colonist might go to church on a Sunday if in the colony in which he was placed he had a church to go to. The most peculiar characteristic, however, of the system of colonisation was, that we, who were a monarchical people, had spread persons of democratic principles over the globe. It had been remarked by Mr. Fox of the British, that there was no system but the British constitution under which a British subject could live with comfort; but he had not described the character of the colonies. He believed that the subject was of the greatest importance—that the destinies of this country were intimately connected with our future colonial policy; and he was firmly impressed with the conviction that more depended upon our colonial policy than ever depended upon the issue of a battle, or upon the approach of a revolution. British colonisation was one of the most important subjects which could engage the attention of Parliament, and therefore he had pleasure in seconding the Motion.
§ MR. HAWESthought, whether he regarded the importance of the subject involved in this debate, upon which he entirely concurred with his hon. Friend who had just sat down—or whether he considered the magnitude of the subject, or the multiplicity of details which it involved—and admitting fully at the same time the propriety of discussing it; he must at the outset ask the House to extend to him its kindness and indulgence while he drew somewhat largely on its attention. Both his hon. Friend who supported the Motion, and the hon. Baronet who introduced it, had impugned not only the colonial policy of the present day, but the whole colonial policy of England. Reproaches, too, had been heaped upon the Colonial Office and his noble Friend now at the head of it—reproaches in which he begged humbly to take his share. [Mr. HUTT: If the hon. Gentleman alluded to him, he begged it to be distinctly understood that he cast no reproaches upon the noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Office.] He thought that what fell from his hon. Friend the Member 861 for Southwark (Sir W. Molesworth), did cast not only reproach upon the colonial system, but upon those who had long and now administered it. Now, it was not for him to presume to defend all the errors and defects which might in past times have characterised our colonial system; but this he did say, that our colonial policy, taken as a whole, was the most successful and the most beneficial which the world had ever witnessed. He asked hon. Members who thought otherwise to point to any foreign colonial possessions either now or in past times where there had been the same success and the same progress. Let them point to any system of colonial government, ancient or modern, where free popular institutions had been so systematically established—where a free press and trial by jury were universally conceded—where personal liberty and political power were so fully enjoyed, so freely conferred, as in the colonial possessions of the British empire. This was the system of colonial government he defended. Both his hon. Friends had referred to and lauded what they were pleased to call "the old colonial system." Now, much as be had endeavoured to ascertain what that system was, he owned that the phrase referred to conveyed to his mind no very definite idea. He had heard it said that the old colonies of America were to be taken as a model by which we were to be guided in amending our colonial system. Now, he hardly knew one of those colonies which bad not been exposed to the direst vicissitudes and misfortunes and disasters, recurring, too, through long periods of time; and when hon. Gentlemen talked of colonies to be formed and founded, comprising every grade of society, he asked them to tell him when and where they found members of the aristocracy, and men of great eminence under the older colonial system, going out for the purposes of colonisation. They might be found going out for the purposes of gaining wealth, tempted by the possession of slave labour—they might find them going out simply from motives of gain—but certainly not for the purpose of colonisation in the sense in which we now understood the term. He believed there was not one colony of recent foundation to which we might not point as a triumphant contrast to the chequered progress of the old American colonies. Whether we looked to New Zealand, or South Australia, or Port Philip, or any other place where we had 862 attempted to found a colony—everywhere the most marked success had attended our efforts, so much so, that it ought to encourage us to continue in the course which contrasted so beneficially with the older colonies to which reference had been made. Not one of the old American colonies had succeeded so rapidly, for instance, as South Australia—not one. He was, therefore, not disposed to recur to the old colonial system, as it was called, when he remembered that it comprehended both monopoly and slavery within its supposed elements of success—nor was be disposed to look with favour upon that system until he had ascertained more definitely from his hon. Friend what that system really was to which he referred. The hon. Member for Southwark had referred to the patronage of the Colonial Office. He thought he had beard him say, that none but needy adventurers, men with Parliamentary influence, were appointed to important positions in our colonies. His hon. Friend, he thought, might have recollected name after name of men who had held high office in the colonies, some even at the present moment, which would give the most decisive answer to this charge. He did not now speak of the exercise of patronage by his noble Friend at the head of the Colonial Department—what he said applied to and included those who had preceded him. His hon. Friend might have recollected the names of many Governors of our colonies, which would show to the House that men of distinguished ability and the highest character had then, as now, been called to fill official positions. He might have recollected the name of Lord Metcalfe first in Jamaica, and subsequently in Canada; of Lord Elgin also, first in Jamaica, and afterwards in Canada, which he now so ably governed, in harmony with the feelings and wishes of the people; of Sir Harry Smith at the Cape of Good Hope; of Sir W. Colebrooke, now going out to Barbadoes—men all marked out by peculiar ability, and eminently fitted for their duties. It appeared to be necessary to remind the House of these appointments, since they were overlooked by his hon. Friends. They were now speaking not to England only, but to the colonies, and it was important to show that the appointments to high places in our distant possessions had not been made from the unworthy motives which had been assigned; but that men had been appointed whose ability had been 863 proved by the success which had attended their administration. He might refer to more recent appointments—to Mr. More O'Ferrall, Governor of Malta. Was there any man could impugn that appointment? To Captain Grey, Governor of New Zealand. Was there any man could impugn that appointment? To Lord Harris at Trinidad, and to many others, which would equally show that the motives assigned had not influenced these appointments to the government of our colonies. His hon. Friend had said, that he was for conferring upon the colonies at once a large measure of self-government; but he understood him at the same time to say, that he was for abandoning none of our colonies. It followed, therefore, as a general rule, that all our colonies should be self-governed. Now, he admitted to a very large extent, that wherever a colony was found fitted for that form of government, the home authorities were bound to confer it; but when his hon. Friend looked over our colonial empire, he would find that that general maxim admitted of great and necessary qualification. Take, for instance, Canada, where self-government has been carried to the utmost point. Did his hon. Friend mean to say that he would apply the same form of government to the little island of Nevis? Take the Mauritius, which was excluded from self-government. That was a colony partaking of a military character as well as a colony; in which imperial interests had to be consulted, as well as the welfare of the colonist. Both could now be reconciled. But if a perfect system of self-government prevailed, imperial interests would clearly become subordinate, and in the upholding of these interests the colony was deeply interested. Then, again, where there were hostile races, or where Europeans were in a minority, would his hon. Friend give local self-government to a mere European minority, and thus, perhaps, place absolute power in their hands? It was here that the moderating influence of the Crown came in, and had been useful in maintaining a harmonious action between hostile races and between unequal numbers of different races; a result which, from obvious causes, could scarcely be expected from placing power without control in the hands of a European minority. Experience here was a safer guide than mere speculation. Our colonial possessions might be grouped in four classes. There was first our territorial possessions, over the surface of which we sought to diffuse 864 our race, name, and language. They varied essentially one from another. Such were our North American and Australian colonies, New Zealand, and South Africa. Then there were the plantations, the great object of which was to supply tropical produce to this country. There were great anomalies and difficulties in the way of applying self-government to these islands, obvious to the most casual observer. Then there were our trading possessions, our great commercial depôts, such as Hong-Kong, Labuan, and our various possessions on the west coast of Africa. Those possessions were held for different purposes of policy and interest, and did not admit of one uniform system of government. Then there were the great military stations, but which he understood his hon. Friend did not mean to include in his sweeping policy. This general survey of the colonial possessions of the country showed the impossibility of subjecting them to any one system of government. The government must be varied with the variation of their necessities and peculiarities, which forbade, even if it were possible, the uniform application of one system through all our colonial possessions. He quite agreed with the hon. Baronet in thinking that local self-government ought to be the rule. He was not at all disposed to interfere with that as the general rule; and, whenever a colony or a community was fitted to receive that form of government, it ought to be the first duty of this country to confer that privilege upon it. He was prepared to show, that this had been the guiding principle of our colonial policy. Whilst he was glad to hear that his hon. Friend did not propose to abandon the colonies, it followed, whilst they were retained, that some form of home or central government must exist, whether, as now, by the responsible superintendence of the Secretary of State for the Colonies, or by a colonial commission as proposed by some high authorities. But a home or central authority must be retained in some form or shape very similar to that which at present existed. The hon. Member for Gateshead had talked of the despotic authority of the Colonial Office; and so did the hon. Member for Southwark. What did they mean? Despotic authority! Where was it exercised? The Colonial Minister was amenable to Parliament. The humble individual who now addressed the House was there to explain and defend, as far as 865 he thought it could with justice he defended, the colonial policy of the country. The debates relating to the government of New Zealand could scarcely be forgotten. They were an answer to the charge of despotic authority. And equally so was the power of moving for papers which the House possessed. The debates upon the government of New Zealand, the full disclosure of every transaction in that colony, were equally an answer to the allegation that any secret influence existed—a charge rather made to give zest to speeches in that House, than founded upon fact. Such an imputation was calculated to injure the just authority of the Colonial Government; and he regretted that for a mere passing purpose such observations should be made. But he would now proceed to state how far the principles of self-government, or responsible government, had been recognised as part of that colonial policy which he defended. Would any one deny that Canada possessed the largest measure of self-government? She made her own laws with scarcely any interference; she imposed her own taxes; she expended their produce. She possessed the largest powers of self-government any colony ever possessed. Not only had she local self-government, but she had responsible government; and never had Canada enjoyed it so fully as since Lord Elgin had held the reins of government. He acted without reference to one party or the other; and the Ministry he appointed to conduct the affairs of the country was the Ministry in which the majority of the Assembly had confidence. Such was the principle of colonial government in Canada; and he must add, that Canada, when throughout Europe the greatest anxiety prevailed, and the greatest changes were taking place, was perfectly tranquil and contented with the Government she possessed. In Canada, no attempt had been made to create either excitement, or even advocate a change of government. On the contrary, the people relied on the Government they had, which was that of the majority of the Assembly; and in conformity, therefore, with the wishes of the majority of the people electing the members of that Assembly. Canada, then, presented a case in which responsible government had been carried to a practical and successful result. New Brunswick presented another instance. There a complete system of local self-government existed. He held in his hand an extract of a despatch which his noble Friend at the head 866 of the Colonial Department had addressed, in June, 1848, to the Governor of New Brunswick:—
The principle on which, in my judgment, the Governor of a representative colony, such as New Brunswick, should act, is that of endeavouring to form such a council as he thinks will command the greatest confidence from the inhabitants and their representatives, and, when constructed, to give to it all fair support in carrying on the government of the province, while at the same time he should carefully abstain from committing himself to the interest of any one political party in such a manner as to place him under any difficulty in giving similar constitutional support to their opponents, if through any change in public opinion, a change of his council should become necessary.Such were the principles on which his noble Friend had acted with respect to New Brunswick. The hon. Baronet seemed to think he had enunciated a new principle, which had never heretofore been acted on. In Nova Scotia, again, a change of Administration had taken place. The province was satisfied with the change; and the Administration was now conducted by the new Ministry, having the assent of the Assembly, and the Governor giving them his cordial support, according to the instructions of the noble Lord at the head of the Colonial Department. He would quote a passage from a despatch dated November 3, 1846, addressed to Sir John Harvey, the Governor of Nova Scotia, in which his noble Friend said—The object with which I recommend to you this course, is that of making it apparent that any transfer which may take place of political power from the hands of one party in the province to those of another, is the result, not of an act of yours, but of the wishes of the people themselves, as shown by the difficulty experienced by the retiring party in carrying on the government of the province according to the forms of the constitution.Well, then, Nova Scotia also had a constitution, had local self-government. Generally, the North American possessions of this country enjoyed the large and full fruits of the British constitution. But the hon. Member for Southwark made some rather harsh observations on the Bill of his noble Friend for the government of New Zealand, overlooking altogether the liberal and constitutional character of that Bill. The hon. Member was not very accurate in what he said. That Bill, he was disposed to think, did confer a good constitution; in that Bill, for the first time, there was introduced this most important provision—a provision for a franchise to the native population. It was, he believed, 867 the first time in the history of the colonies that the attempt had been made to introduce the natives to the exercise of political power; and there were many who would soon become qualified to exercise the privileges conferred. A more intelligent race did not exist—men more fitted to make good subjects of the Queen. With respect to Australia, his hon. Friend had said, the constitution had given great dissatisfaction in the colony: now no constitution had been proposed. How stood the fact? A despatch, not a Bill, had been sent out to elicit the opinions of the colonists. The object of his noble Friend was to place a general measure before the colonists. Their opinion was adverse to the scheme thus propounded—the Bill which Lord Grey intended to propose was at an end—and the future Bill which, in consequence, it might be his duty to propose—would be founded upon the existing constitution of New South Wales, with full power to amend it as the wants or wishes of the colony should suggest. That was surely not a measure indicating despotic authority, or a determination to govern the colonies without consulting them. Then it was said, the Cape ought to have representative government. What had been done? His hon. Friend had attempted to show that an indisposition existed on the part of the Government to grant a constitution and local self-government to the Cape. The fact was quite the. reverse. Among the papers printed and presented to the House was a despatch dated the 10th of December, 1841, from Sir G. Napier, then Governor of the Cape, to Lord Stan-Icy, recommending a representative government for the Cape. Lord Stanley replied in a despatch, in which he made many objections to the scheme, but expressed a hope they would be successfully met. But the noble Earl at the head of the Colonial Department, having had his attention called to the subject, addressed the Governor in a despatch dated the 2nd of November, 1846, as follows—I turn now to a totally different subject, on which I hope to receive the benefit of your advice and assistance so soon as the settlement of the affairs of Caffraria shall have left you leisure for the purpose. I advert to the applications which have been addressed to Her Majesty for the establishment of a representative form of government in the colony of the Cape of Good Hope. Her Majesty's Government entertain the strongest prepossessions in favour of that system of colonial polity, and will be prompt to avail themselves of any opportunity of extending it to the British settlements in Southern Africa.868 The House was aware that the progress of the Cape had been interrupted by the Kaffir war; and that the consequent state of the colony was unfavourable to the establishment or consideration of constitutional government. But peace had been restored; and to show that this great principle of our colonial government was not forgotten, he would now quote a passage from a despatch of Sir Harry Smith, dated December 10, 1847:—I propose to myself, with reference to your Lordship's despatch to me of the 10th of September last, to embrace in one general report the remodelling of the whole of this Government upon a comprehensive view, ever regarding popular representation as the true English form of government.Thus the first thing Sir H. Smith did after the termination of the war was to turn his attention to the civil government of the colony; and they had his assurance that he would speedily make a report upon the civil government of the Cape upon a popular basis. Passing now from their territorial possessions, they came to their colonies in the West Indies—the plantations. Here a different state of things existed: there were small European communities, and a large coloured population. Whether in Trinidad, or the smaller islands, or in British Guiana, the observation applied to all. He asked his hon. Friend if he was prepared to confer upon these colonies local self-government? If so, one of two things must happen. They must either take precautions to secure a large and extended franchise for the coloured population, or they must prepare for the small European minority exercising a power over the coloured population without control—a power he doubted whether any one who was well acquainted with these colonies would wish to see thus exercised. He spoke advisedly when he said—and he was sure that every one acquainted with the legislation of the West Indies for the last ten or fifteen years would hear him out—that the tendency of that legislation had been to pass laws with reference to the labouring population which would have more or less placed them in a state of entire subserviency to their masters; and he believed the influence of the Crown had been most beneficially exercised in controlling, on the one hand, the power of the Council and the Assembly; and on the other in restraining the labouring population, and maintaining a harmonious action between those two portions of these communities. But then, it was 869 said that colonies possessing representative assemblies conducted their affairs more economically than those governed by the Crown. Now, they had no returns sufficiently correct to form any sound judgment upon this point. He must state candidly that he had found the greatest difficulty in obtaining anything like an accurate account, whether of population or of finance, or the expenditure and cost of government in the West India colonies having representative assemblies. He must candidly state, that if there were any colonies with regard to which there existed difficulties in ascertaining these matters, they were our West India colonies. New Zealand, New South Wales, and Australia supplied statistical returns of the greatest accuracy; but this was not the case with the colonies he had referred to. And with regard to the calculations of his hon. Friend, especially those relating to New South Wales, it must be remembered that the rapid introduction of 40,000 or 50,000 emigrants would alter materially the cost of government, and affect the general result when the cost of government was measured by its comparative cost per head of the population. Without accurate information on these points, therefore, no results on which dependence could be placed could be obtained. He would refer to one instance. He held in his hand a return of the cost for one year of the government of British Guiana. The total cost, including military expenses, (which were 42,000l.,) was 313,000l. The mother country only contributed the amount required for military protection, stipendiary magistrates, &c.; and of the 270,000l. which was raised by the colony. 100,000l. was spent in immigration. [Mr. BARKLY: You mean dollars.] No. The accuracy of the amount was undoubted; 100,000l., not dollars, was spent in the importation of labourers; but his hon. Friend (Sir W. Molesworth) had not directed their attention to this point. [Sir W. MOLESWORTH specially excluded the expenses of immigration.] He did not so understand the statement of the hon. Baronet, and had therefore selected this colony as presenting a remarkable instance of the apparent cost of the government, whilst it included so large an amount for the importation of labour. Again, his hon. Friend had pointed out Hong-Kong as a settlement where great extravagance prevailed, and, as he understood him, he objected to the policy which led to its formation. Now, 870 when he referred to the reports from Hong-Kong, he found strong proofs of the wisdom of those who founded it. Sir J. Davis, in a despatch dated the 13th of March, 1847, forwarded the third blue book of the colony, being for the year 1846, which showed that the income for that year had increased, from 22,000l. to 27,000l. in 1847; and further, that whilst the income had increased, the expenditure had diminished, the difference amounting to 6,375l. Thus, while the income was increasing, the expenditure was decreasing. Hong-Kong was an important station, and was maintained for the protection of our trade, and not for the sake of patronage; and it could only be upheld by the and of a naval and military force. But it was not fair to charge that expenditure upon the colony. Indeed he might here remark that if they had no colonies they would still be obliged to maintain a large fleet and a considerable force for the general protection of trade and commerce; so when the hon. Gentleman spoke of the packet service in connexion with our colonies, he must protest against the hon. Gentleman's inference, because it was clear that that service must be maintained, whether they had colonies or not. In the review which his hon. Friend had taken, he had but slightly noticed the island of Ceylon. Now, he was happy to tell the House that the fixed establishment in Ceylon had been recently placed under the review of the Council; and he was confident that in that island, as in other colonies, great reductions of expenditure might be and would be made. The tariff had been revised, and duties largely reduced already. He quite agreed with his hon. Friend, that it was their bounden duty to reduce the colonial expenditure in every case as far as was compatible with efficiency; and with regard to Ceylon, they had an earnest of this declaration by the Legislative Council having been called upon to review the cost of the fixed establishments, which had hitherto been withheld from their control. Many complaints had been made of the cost of the government of the Mauritius; but in September last, when there was a great probability of a commercial crisis in that colony, his noble Friend (Lord Grey), seeing the approach of difficulties, urged upon the colonial government the duty of reducing the expenditure, and, consequently, the taxation of the island. They had now received from the Governor a reply to these instructions, from which it appeared that 871 there had been effected a reduction of taxation to the amount of 65,000l., including an immediate relief to the planters to the extent of 30,000l. a year, by taking off the stamp duty on the indentures of labourers; and relief to other classes to the extent of 20,000l. He had now shown, that as regarded self-government there was every disposition to establish it where the colonies were in a condition to receive it; and as regarded the expenditure, he had shown two marked instances, namely, Ceylon and the Mauritius, where taxation had been greatly reduced. He had proved that the Colonial Office had not been altogether idle in administering the affairs of the colonies. He would not detain the House to show the effect of our colonial policy; but it was important to state that our colonial trade was an increasing trade, whilst the cost of government was not increasing. The hon. Baronet had stated that for every pound sterling of exports 9s. were paid for the expenses of colonial government. If that were true the colonial system would indeed be indefensible on account of its extravagance; but he was confident that more accurate examination would show that it was incorrect. In 1845 the total value of British manufactures exported to the colonies was 15,100,000l., and that of the exports from the colonies was 13,400,000l. [Sir W. MOLESWORTH had referred only to our exports to the colonies; he never thought of introducing the value of colonial exports into the calculation.] He thought he was justified in taking both: if the cost of colonial government was to be thus tested, it should be proportioned to the whole capital employed; and not charged only on one portion of it; and looking at the case in that point of view, it would be seen that the cost of colonial government was far less than 9s. in the pound upon the value of imports and exports combined. Remarks had been made upon what was called the meddling policy of the Colonial Office; and the hon. Member for Gateshead had observed that South Australia would become a flourishing colony if the Colonial Office would but act wisely. [Mr. HUTT: I said if the Colonial Office would let it alone.] Let it alone! Why, if it had not been for the Colonial Office, the colony would have been bankrupt. South Australia had been essentially a pet colony with some gentlemen, and its management was assigned to amateurs. The result was, that they brought the colony to the verge of 872 bankruptcy, and were obliged to come to the Colonial Office for a loan of 200,000l. Subsequently the government of the colony was transferred to the Colonial Office; and from that moment to the present it had been progressively in a flourishing condition. With reference to the royalties on mines which had been referred to in terms of complaint, he begged to inform the House, that the tax had been established by Lord Stanley, after the most careful consideration. But the system had this inequality—that it only applied to some of the mines, because in many cases these had been opened after the land was sold, with all the minerals beneath it. Well, representations had been made to his noble Friend on the subject. His own impression was that the tax was a fair one; but representations continued to be made, and almost the last act of Earl Grey was to remove those duties. Now, before hon. Gentlemen made sweeping assertions, some inquiries ought to have been instituted. [Sir W. MOLES-WORTH: When were the royalties removed?] Very recently. [Sir W. MOLESWORTH: Within the last three or four days?] No. The abolition had taken place sometime back, though only recently communicated to the colony. The progress of this and other colonies showed that the colonial policy of England had not been so unsuccessful as the hon. Baronet represented, in proof of which he might refer to the progress which Port Philip had made. In 1844 its revenue was 69,000l., in 1846 it was 96,000l.; in 1844 its imports amounted to 151,000l., in 1846 they reached 316,000l.; in 1844 its exports were 256,000l., in 1846 they amounted to 425,000l. As regarded South Australia, to which he had already referred, the result was equally gratifying, as the following comparative statement would prove:—
§ RETURN SHOWING THE GENERAL CONDITION OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA IN THE YEARS 1840, 1845, AND 1846:—
| 1840. | 1845. | 1846. | |
| Total population | 14,610 | 22,390 | 25,893 |
| Acres in cultivation | 2,503 | 26,218 | 33,292 |
| £ | £ | £ | |
| Exports of colonial produce | 15,650 | 131,800 | 312,838 |
| Revenue | 30,199 | 32,099 | 52,406 |
| Expenditure | 169,966 | 36,182 | 49,388 |
§
Take any one of the Australian colonies, and it will show a similar progress. It was true that upon some points, such as the minimum price of land for instance, dissatisfaction might prevail; but, generally speaking, the colonies were progressing, and these colonies, if tested by the generally thriving condition of settlers, might fairly be described as happy and contented. New Zealand was another instance of successful colonisation. [Mr. HUME: No thanks to the Colonial Office.] The Now Zealand Company applied to the Colonial Office for a loan, which was granted to a libera amount, and by the great ability and sound judgment of the Governor, Captain Grey, and the renewed exertions of the Company, the colony since that time had made rapid progress in prosperity. He would read an extract from a despatch of Governor Fitzroy to Lord Stanley, dated the 16th of September, 1844, which described the miserable condition of New Zealand at that time:—
The state of this colony is unprecedented and most critical; but I trust that the blessing of God on our utmost exertions in so good a cause will enable us to surmount every difficulty, however threatening. We have no money, except the paper currency reported in my despatch of the 15th of April last (No. 11). The receipts of customs are diminishing monthly, owing to general poverty: fees on grants to land cannot be paid, for the same reason; and near 400 deeds of grant which I have signed since my arrival, are now lying in office, because those in whose favour they are made out are too poor to pay the fee required by law.
He would now refer only to the last despatch of Governor Grey, which was dated the 17th of March, 1848, to show the present state of the colony:—
Firstly, I would generally report that peace and tranquillity prevail throughout every portion of New Zealand; that the general revenue is rapidly increasing; and that internal traffic and commerce are rapidly extending themselves—so much so, that I should think the native trade in manufactured goods had already become an object of some consideration to British merchants; although, as a great portion of this passes through Sidney, it may appear in Great Britain to be a trade with New South Wales. Secondly, upon the state of the native population generally, I would report that they are making rapid and remarkable progress in the arts of civilised life. The various reports I have transmitted upon their employment by the Ordnance department—upon their construction of roads and bridges—upon the number of small vessels owned by them—must all have elucidated the progress the native population are making.
Thus the native population was advancing in prosperity, and partaking in the general advantages of civilised government, making
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not an unimportant feature in the progress of modern colonisation. As regards the revenue, Governor Grey, on the 15th April, 1847, thus addresses the Secretary of State for the Colonies:—
In my despatch (No. 46) of the 12th May last, in stating the probable revenue for 1847, I estimated it at only 22,000l., adding that probably the estimated amount might fall below the real revenue, but that I thought it better to incur the risk of erring upon the side of under-calculating the revenue, rather than upon that of leading Her Majesty's Government to form too favourable an opinion of the financial state of the colony; at the same time I recorded my belief that the revenue would shortly exceed the estimated amount, and continue rapidly to increase. Probably the best idea that can be given of the increase which is taking place in the revenue will be conveyed by my stating, that the revenue of the colony of New Zealand, for the year 1845, amounted to only about 6,422l., or only to one-sixth of the revenue for the year 1847, calculated on the present rate of revenue, which will, however, I believe, rapidly increase.
His hon. Friend had largely insisted on the excessive expenditure, naval and military, which appeared to have taken place in connexion with the colonies. papers on the subject were presented to Parliament in 1832, and again in 1843 and 1844. He had his attention directed to these papers some time back, and he owned that he was struck with the rapid increase of the colonial expenditure, chiefly under these heads. Upon comparing the years to which he had referred, he found that the increase in the expenditure amounted to about 700,000l. In order to ascertain the cause, he had an account made out in detail, showing, under every head, how the increase arose; and one broad result was rather remarkable. He found, upon looking into the account, that nearly the whole of that increase was confined to three colonies—Canada, the Cape of Good Hope, and New South Wales; the latter being; a great military station, and including New Zealand. To a certain extent be considered this a satisfactory result, because he thought that the present condition of these colonies would place it in the power of the Government to reduce that expenditure. In all, war had ceased. The civil expenditure had not increased much—not more than 40,000l.; and when the House came to consider that new settlements had been made at St. Helena, the Falkland Islands, South Australia, and North Australia, the explanation of that increase was apparent. Neither had the naval expenditure increased much, the increase being not more than 8,000l,
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He was bound to admit, however, that he thought the general expenditure, both that which might be considered imperial, as well as that which was properly colonial, might be reduced; but he did not think that that could be done by granting, without discrimination, local self-government to all the colonies. The rule which he would venture to lay down was, that as soon as a colony had arrived at that amount of population, and attained that amount of intelligence, which could furnish the materials for good government, that then it was the bounden duty of a Secretary of State to grant local self-government. His hon. Friend had alluded to the constant interference of the Colonial Office with the legislation of the colonies. In order to ascertain the amount of that interference, a paper had been prepared, which showed that from the 1st of January, 1847, to the 30th of June, 1848, no less than 912 laws or ordinances had been passed by colonial legislatures, of which only 55 had been objected to by the Colonial Office. He had the detailed objections in his hand, and if examined they would be found fully to justify this much misrepresented interference—they were objections calculated rather to improve than to impede good legislation. He was quite aware that the Colonial Office did not just now enjoy the good opinion of many of his hon. Friends; but he was at a loss to conceive or to trace that dislike to any clear or intelligible cause. It was an office which must at all times be more or less verging upon unpopularity. Every man who had a crotchet upon emigration ran to the Colonial Office, and unless his plan were immediately adopted, of course he was a disappointed man. Again, it was sometimes the duty of the Colonial Secretary to discharge a colonial judge; and they and all their respective friends, of course, looked upon all connected with the office with a prejudiced eye. Colonial Secretaries sometimes had to remove persons holding important public situations, and those persons had their friends, who raised objections to the Colonial Office. But if the House would call to mind who had been the Colonial Ministers in past years, they would see that a general imputation of what was called despotism must be altogether unfounded. When the House recollected that Mr. Huskisson, Lord J. Russell, and Lord Glenelg had been Colonial Secretaries, he did not think that a desire to exercise despotic
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authority could be attributed with much justice to them. He could say with confidence that he believed those who had filled this high office, down to the time of the right hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Gladstone), and including him in that eminent list, had conferred the greatest possible benefit on the colonies, and had been actuated by the purest and most disinterested motives. He had now brought the observations which he had to make on the Motion of his hon. Friend to a conclusion. He had not the least objection to the Motion, which only carried out that course of policy which he had endeavoured to describe. He thought that the passing of the resolution would strengthen the hands of his noble Friend, and enable him to proceed still further in the prosecution of the views which he entertained. At the same time, he certainly could not concur in many of the statements made and views expressed by the hon. Baronet the Member for Southwark, which, if carried out, he thought must end in the abandonment of our colonial empire. It might be difficult now to foresee what relations the colonies would bear to this empire when they enjoyed that perfect local self-government which the hon. Baronet indiscriminately advocated. But even if this policy were adopted wisely and opportunely, he trusted that other ties would spring up which would bind the colonies as closely as ever to the mother country. At present there were between them the common ties of language, of kindred, of free institutions, and of great advantages bestowed and received; and he hoped that this great change, necessary and inevitable as it was fast becoming, would tend to bind the colonies in a closer connexion than before with the Parent State, by inseparably identifying their interests with the prosperity and strength of the empire at large.
§ MR. MANGLESthought that the hon. Member the Under Secretary for the Colonies had been very successful in showing the improvement that had taken place within a recent period; and if the hon. Gentleman had confined himself to the recent administration of the colonies, he would have done very well. The hon. Gentleman, however, with more of chivalry than of prudence, went back through a long series of years defending all that had occurred. He thought also, that the hon. Gentleman would have been more prudent, as well as more generous, if he 877 had not taunted the New Zealand Company with having received a loan. The hon. Gentleman ought not to have forgot-ten that it was admitted by all that the distresses of the company had been produced by the manner in which they had been thwarted by the Colonial Office until they were driven into a state of bankruptcy. The hon. Gentleman had alluded to the inconvenience which arose from the constant changes in the Colonial Office; but he had not proposed any remedy for that inconvenience. He thought that there should be a permanent board of commissioners or directors for the management of the Crown colonies, similar to that which had acted so well for the management of British India. The system under which the Indian empire was managed had been admitted not merely by Englishmen, but by foreigners, to have succeeded admirably; and why should not a similar system be extended to the colonies? For the last ten years there had been a change in the administration of the Colonial Office on an average once in every sixteen months, and the inconvenience thus produced was one of very considerable magnitude. The noble Lord had been, he believed, convinced, for many years past, of the advantage of giving representative governments to the colonies; but what answer was it for the hon. Gentleman to say that Earl Grey was now in correspondence with Sir Harry Smith about giving a representative government to the Cape, when he (Mr. Mangles) recollected that for twenty years past that colony had been petitioning for a representative form of government?
§ Debate adjourned.
§ House counted and adjourned at a quarter past Twelve o'clock.