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Southland Times, Volume I, Issue 28, 4 August 1864, Page 2

Tbis. Edward Wilson, one of .the proprietors of the Argus newspaper, is, as most of our readers are aware, a gentleman who has done very much to earn for himself the respect and friendship of his fellow-colonists. He has always been ready and willing to give both time and money, and generally to lend the weight of his influence towards forwarding any scheme which appeared ; worthy of such support. All this and more we are prepared without hesitation to grant him : * but whilst doing so, we by no means consider him infallible; on the contrary, we have a strong opinion that his interest ih any project he may take in hand is very liable to degenerate into fanaticism. 'He is, in short, fond of a hobby, and of riding* •it rather hard. One of those movements to which Mr. Edward. Wilson has given the light of his countenance, is that for stopping the transportation of criminals to Western Australia ; and lately, influenced by the apparent apathy of others of the same' way of thinking, he has addressed a lengthy letter to the paper of which he is part- proprietor, , setting forth his views at great length; Now, the importation of a portion of the criminal; population of Great Britain into any of the Australian Colonies, .is what we are compelled to look at in the light .of a great moral wrong, and so far our .-.views coincide with those held by Mr. EdwardWilson, but with the means vvhi'ch ;he prop oses _ adopting himself, and which he likewise recommends : to the. serious coh--sideration of his friends and the public :in order . to - attain " the desired end,; • )Ve .*• entirely .'dissent.; . -Miy ;Wilson says* 'he 'hag .always Yb'een very strongly opposed to jtransportation— to. making ■ Australia a common.'; sewier, 'as it ■* were', for the ; refuse of British society > and finding tbat the Home Government are still'bent upon continuing the evil in the face of the r expressed opinion of the great body of •colonists, he is determined at once to' adopt a novel line of action, and begin to re-ship expiree convicts to England. " I " shall begin to send home some of the "worst specimens of the expiree class "that I can induce to go, and I shall " continue to do so aB long as I have the "means to do it with, and the convict " stream, flows hitherward, from .Great " Britain." It is worthy of -remark that it is in the Argus that the, letter 'appears ;' it is the Argus that comments upon it favorably in its Reading columns ; it is, in the Argus > that the crude effusions * of. < a host of correspondents on the subject* find a place • and that the Argus is at least in part the property of Mr. Edward Wilson. The'^great majority of the; news-' papers which bave taken notice of the -scheme, %have , done, so only, to oppose- it, and~*-we -are * inclined -to think '/.that z yhad <Mr. /- 'Wxlson*' -, been in no way connected with the Argus, tbat journal would have adopted V a different, line of argument, -and arrived at different conclusions/'. It-is % t^uethatMr.' Wilson is not the editoryof. the Argus, .7* * -• C J'ji.. Yj. Xy

I :geliifemianf^o oc6tipiet^^M ; ptmitloiiS .: ;sufpbsed tip!fcsuH|^oii!|^ 1 |coi||4tionl^|bxitp pall life^^^sitKi J jwepjre in(4sMj^elie^ v "vipDility "c>f^^ryiiig. tran^6rpii^^i|^ sending back 'criminals to England,, th| pen of the editor has, to a certain extent;', been, guided by the band of tbe proprietor. If tbe people of Australia and New Zealand'(for this' Colony is interested 'in tbe question, although in a leßs'er degree) wbuld"bear iri mind that" tbe author'" of tbis letter to tbe Argus is also tbe owner - of tbe Argus, tbey would attacb less weight to tbe opinions 'of tbat journal on this subject, than tbey might otherwise , feel inclined to do. Let Mr. .Wilson's - plan stand or fall, on its own merits, as put forward by a private individual ; but let it not be adopted as, tbougb seriously recommended 1 by, tbe leading journal . of Victoria. Let us see, tben, what tbis i scheme is worth when viewed in tbis , light; Transportation to 7 Western AusL tralia may : be crega:rded ? as one of the great /questions of tbe day,;., and "if ;not/ settled 1 to the satisfaction pf7,/fcbe/ group 7,bf/ ! Qolo ( *- i nies' Ivhoae ' interests, 7 are/most j seriously . affected by it, the issue ... may : . The 0 fraught with far mOre/momen^ ■ at present be distmctiy^ .foreseen.. ■ So s imiicb Mr. Wilson /can perceive ; 7 'but he [ appears* to- forget" that, being! a national 1 question, it should be" treated as such, . and ] that 'it"is~ "to" say the least'"bf "it^'pfe^ sumptibus for a pritateY 'individual to ithrust vhimself ; forward andideclarehimseli ready to • cpmbat: Y ■single-handed* witb a j difficulty which should 7be: met, by_ the / sagacity of a*'pebple. r:iii He" s-iys'tMt 1 his , plan sbo'ul'd'bave been* ¥doptedln 18^^ ' but he forgets td"remind%'sltbat7'tbat.not / over-scrupulous body r-tvtb.e'ffYict.orian I Assembly — have dealt with the matter. . He forgets to mention 'that Mt.-Ktte's ; proposition that a certain amount, of the -, public money' should be expended "in exactly the mariner be now proposes, was 7 met with scorn, as ' developing* ; a line of policy -degrading :in itself,^an'd calculated*' . even should it prove successful," tb stir up tbe angriest feelings between the mother country and ;her 'dependencies .'at this .side ; of the world. No Victorian, . Assembly will be found to support this miserable attempt at retaliation for what, is without doubt a great wrong to the colonies, and a grievous blot oa the fair-dealing and generosity of EnglahuY ■' BuVMiv Wilson sees nothing of this.' - The /Assembly , think-, the proposal what an .American" would be apt vto : term ; '/me^.'/vV^at does this man care. for the Assembly ?He will take the whole responsibility, bf- the meanness on his ; own shoulders !, The Assembly are, of opinion that the attempt would tend to create a- serious/ breacli in the friendly relations which , exist between the mother country arid her dependencies. This WTbng : brained' champion of Colonial rights, does not/recognise tbe. 'situation, or is willing to -risk tbe ppssibility.ofis.uch- : a termination to his pet scheme. The Assembly think -that "the 'public- money would be wasted, as, far as" the. actual relief likely ' to* be given to tbe 'Colony by any such measure as that proposed by Mr. Kyte • hut Mr. Wilson has so great faith in his own powers, bt>tb 'of : pocket ■ and influence j; that beis "prepafed^to 1 step in where the representatives' OT%lie people have, 1 after due deliberation, feared to tread. M.r. WiLSONvhas; started a hobbyi horse, ;and„ is : apparently; about to; ride. it full gallop wherever it may chose to lead , ,him. ': The decision of the Assembly was endorsed by the majority bf "the colonists ; tbey were; content to 7 suffer the preseiut evH..ji?ather.>than risk those greater; ones which tbe carrying -out * of such a • .policy was likely . 'to - entail. A There are doubtless some few sensible men r who are ' .of Mr!. 'Wlggson's ;' ;7 way'%f thirikirig/ tmt; the' majority of his _. supporters in this matter have been influenced by ... This ., .wellknown character as ' &n . barnest wbrifer for tbe good bf.his^fellowfcbloniy^ alii'dvleii away! by the oprubris^ , expressed in "the columns of the Argus i.. There; is; another point; from which to look at/ this scheme for ridding the .Colonies of tHerbane. of transportation, which we have not hitherto noticed, but which is wett .worthy of consideration. Wecanvwell UnderstandCthat the limited, number ,o£: expirees: wbieh. it will be in the power of MrP Wilson- aiid his; friends to send to England, be * taken by very mainy* at Yh'bme •t6 be - only' ■a small sample of what the Colony of Victoria possesses a;', very -large stbckJ ; Jijf -.he success in* ridding* Australia of j;a few •hundreds of 7 her' very worst class of ' 'criminals in : the r ; course *as7*he r /proposes to do, should be besupportedto" any extent, we may rest assured'that their old habits will remain with them. t _ They robbed and murdered, there, they . will ,do the same in England, and the natural effect will be that free immigration to the shores of Australia will receive a severe check. The evil of having a large criminal class in her midst will not be mended by* sending home the. worst specimeriSj to, create an exaggerated impression of 1 Australian depravity, and thereby deter the free emigrant from making his future home within her borders. .It cannot be contended, that this, argument is far-fetched. It is 'one which will commend itself to the judgment of anyone who ( knows with what horror the convict population is viewed in Great Britain. Neither -the capitalist nor the, farm laborer will,, "be influenced favorably towards' a' Colony /whicK* is' so' over-burdeneed with criminals .she pays the passages of such df,them aYslie can induce. to_ go,_in_order/to bjsrid of their hated, presence. Both one and the™ other will certainly prefer^when* emigraV : ' ing", to' 'go Ito some spot where' life and/ property are apparently more, secure. We 1 sincerely trust that Mr. Wilson's attempt may- prove a miserable failure. The colony "whicElias" suffered so mucTffronf the convict class should not jieave power in the hands of a private citizen to damage her good name, by.xaaking out her position 'worse' " that Kit A really is. ' We do not believe that Mr. Wilsons novel emigration scheirie would succeed* in. f iita c „primaryyobjectr-that of inducing Great Britain ,to stay the tide

of transgAcgpn to of Western Austrab^buwe a^|cbnt{nced it would create evils o^greaterj magnttnide. It' is the proposal qfia manswhoi^hatever lii» good qualitie,r|may^be, 4 ,has one great, defect inhig^charactei>-->*want of judgment", and an aptitude for running into extremes. In no instance has be displayed this more than byjhis. .present proposed action. Ho „ . is a memqer of the Anti-transportation Eeague" 1 ; he 'has placed himself under its * banners, and were he content to^do his mefii-" * ber of tbat body, he would do far more to earn the respect and confidence of the people, than by spending his money in sending home expirees to Great 'Britain. * To the Anti-transportation- League we must look for the solution of thiß difficulty, and to the|j jrisUce 'and good sense of the home^uthorities' The, ' colonies may have to wait, but theyvhad , better do so than back up any such scheme as tliat of Mr. Edwabd Wilson. , > i -i'