Wakefield's Strong Faith In The Empire

New Zealand Listener, Volume 3, Issue 74, 22 November 1940, Page 5

Wakefield's Strong Faith In The Empire

F fags 1828 an attempt was made to settle a colony on the Swan River, Westerh Australia. In the absence of preliminary surveys, roads and maps, a handful of colonists found themselves lost in a vast territory. Land was so easy to get that even the leader of the venture found himself deserted by those he had brought out. This fiasco led to the creation of Wakefield’s Colonisation Society in 1830. It included the most brilliant of the younger radicals of the day. Wakefield showed that the recent failures were due to the confusion of immigration with colonisation, He offered a new plan embracing four main principles: (1) the abolition of transportation of convicts, (2) provision for cultural and educational needs of the settlers, (3) self-government through colonial parliaments, and (4) the sale of land at a minimum price, part of the purchase money to be set aside for emigration. This programme was a confession of faith in the Empire. "We spurn the mawkish affectation,’ said Wakefield, "which supposes that England has seen her brightest day." The opposition was strong and persistent. The free traders had no use for colonies, the missionaries no use for colonists, the govern- ment no use for theories of colonisation. Nevertheless, the ideas of the Wakefield school made progress. His principles were adopted to a greater or less degree in New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and early settlements in New Zealand. Only Canterbury, however, was a true Wakefield colony.-(George Wilson, "The Story of Canterbury" 3Y A, October 23.)