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a pardon, conditional or absolute. It is almost superfluous to say that no one will be able to claim a pardon of right, but that it must in every instance be an act of pure grace and favor.

Pardons may be granted either by the queen directly, or by the governor in the exercise of the royal prerogative delegated to him for that express purpose. Her majesty will not, of course, fetter her own discretion as to the exercise of this power in favor of any convict during any stage of his punishment. But the delegation of the royal prerogative to the governor will be made in such terms as to deprive him of the power of granting pardons until the prescribed period of punishment in the three first stages shall have been undergone; nor will a pardon granted by the governor be of any avail beyond the limits of the Australian colonies. No convict will be capable of this indulgence until he shall have reached the stage of the holder of a ticket of leave.

Reverting to the arrangement already mentioned, it remains that I should indicate what are the legal instruments to be completed, and what are the official appointments and arrangements to be made, before the general principles already stated can be completely carried into effect, and the specific rules already laid down can be fully executed.

Under this head I have first to refer to the case of those convicts to whom expectations of a mitigated punishment have already been held out. To clear the ground effectually for the introduction of the system which it is proposed to introduce, the first step will be, to satisfy all the reasonable expectations which have already been excited, that so the convict population in future may be brought, without any exception, within the reach of the same general system of discipline. The Governor of Van Diemen's Land will therefore be authorized to make in favor of those prisoners who have passed through the first stage of probation in the gangs such relaxation of the penal discipline as he may deem expedient. The time so passed will be taken as part of that which they would otherwise be required to pass as holders of probation passes. They will be admitted into the class of probation

pass-holders as soon as the necessary change of the law shall permit them to acquire that indulgence.

Further, the rules already laid down are not to have a retrospective operation to the prejudice of those convicts already in the colony who may have conducted themsalves so as to entitle them to expect the benefits held out under the existing regulations. In their favor the governor will be authorized so far to relax and mitigate the new system, as not to disappoint the hopes which they have been encouraged to form.

Thus much being provided for the past, it remains to consider how security can be best taken for the accomplishment of the future objects to which I have referred.

In the first place, a change in the statute law of this country will be necessary. Her majesty's government propose to recommend to Parliament to alter the statute 2 & 3 Will. 4, c. 62, so far as to vest in the queen the power of regulating whatever relates to the length of service, and the acquisition of property, by transported convicts.

A change in the royal commission and instructions will also be necessary, in order to define with greater precision the extent to which her majesty's prerogative of mercy will hereafter be delegated to the Governor of Van Diemen's Land. It may be requisite that a new and perhaps an enlarged establishment should be formed for the reception and management of convicts in Norfolk Island, and in Van Diemen's Land. I have already intimated that in Van Diemen's Land an officer is to be appointed with the title of "Comptroller General of Convicts." His duty will be to superintend the whole of this branch of the public service, acting, of course, in subordination to the governor, and according to the instructions of her majesty's government. The comptroller will not communicate with the governor through the colonial secretary, but directly, and in his own person. He will in effect be very nearly a second colonial secretary for this particular branch of the public service. He will be dispatched from this country, and will be paid by the lords of the treasury. Subordinate to the comptroller will be the whole body of officers employed in the convict department, whether for

the education or the religious instruction of the convicts, or as overseers, or otherwise.

It will be the duty of the comptroller to draw out and submit to the governor detailed regulations for the employment of the probation gangs, and otherwise for giving complete effect to the system already described. No such regulations will take effect without the governor's previous sanction. A periodical report must be transmitted by the comptroller, through the governor, to the secretary of state, of the condition of the convicts-of the working and progress of the system-of any defects or errors which experience may bring to light-of the best means for correcting and amending them-of the state and efficiency of the convict establishments, and of the expense connected with them-and of the methods by which economy and efficiency may be most effectually promoted. Great importance will be attached to the discharge of this duty with punctuality, exactness, and perspicuity, and it will be the especial duty of the comptroller to draw up his periodical reports in a plain and methodical form, conveying all the requisite statistical information unembarrassed by any speculative disquisitions, and to support every recommendation for any amendment of the system, by a clear and brief exposition of the reasons, and by as minute an estimate as possible of the pecuniary and other consequences attendant on any such change.

Such is the general plan of convict discipline which I have to prescribe for your guidance. Until the contemplated Act of Parliament shall have passed, the new Royal Commission and Instructions issued, the requisite local laws enacted, and the proposed appointments made, you will, I am aware, be able but very imperfectly to execute these instructions. Immediate preparation may, however, be in progress for the execution of them, and especially it will be your duty to avoid, in future, raising any expectations or adopting any measure which would interfere with the introduction of this system at the earliest practicable period.

I have, &c. (Signed) STANLEY.

SIR,

COPY of a DISPATCH from Lord Stanley, to
Lieutenant-Governor Sir John Franklin.

Downing-street, 25 November 1842.

In my dispatch of this date, No. 175, I have commu nicated to you very fully the views of Her Majesty's Government as to the future conduct of the system of transportation in reference to male convicts. An equally important, and in some respects a more difficult subject, is the application of the same sentence to the cases of female

convicts.

The difficulties are greater, inasmuch as those with whom we have to deal are in general fully as depraved as the male convicts, while it is impossible to subject them to the same course of discipline; and thus no alternative seems to be left but either to detain them in actual confinement, or to permit them to enter, in some mode or other, into the mass of the population, where the knowledge of their former characters subjects them to continual degradation; and having neither sound principles, nor feelings of self-respect to protect them, and surrounded by peculiar temptations arising out of the peculiar state of the population, it is hardly to be wondered that they be come, with few exceptions, at once reckless and hopeless, and plunge deeper and deeper into misery and crime.

Looking to the alarming disproportion which exists, and must continue to exist, in Van Diemen's Land between the sexes, it would obviously be the policy and the wish of the Government to carry into actual execution the sentence of transportation on females as generally as possible: but I cannot but feel that the Government are bound, at the same time, to give to these unhappy beings every chance for reformation, and that they incur a serious responsibility by inflicting upon them a sentence which rather furnishes additional incentives to vice, than encour agement and facilities for reformation; and I am compelled to express my fears that female transportation, as it has hitherto been conducted, has partaken more of the former than of the latter character.

According to the present system, it appears that on the arrival of a female convict ship, notice is given to parties desirous to apply for assigned servants; and that the females so applied for are immediately transferred to the service of their employers, while the remainder are detained in the female factory.

It may appear extraordinary, looking to the great scarcity of females, and the great demand for their ser vices in Van Diemen's Land, that there should, in ordinary circumstances, be any "remainder" left upon the hands of the Government; yet I am informed, that not only is this the case, but that great difficulty is experienced in disposing of these females. If this be so, it is a fact which marks most strongly the general feelings of the population, and the almost insuperable difficulties with which these poor creatures have to contend in the attempt, if ever made, to return to a better and more respectable line of life.

The system of assignment in regard to male convicts has been loudly and unequivocally condemned; I confess, I think myself, too loudly and too indiscriminately, though I am not insensible to the many and obvious objections which may be urged against it. But whatever these ob jections may be, they apply with at least equal weight to the case of females, aggravated, as it seems to me, by other and peculiar objections, which will readily suggest themselves. I have no doubt that the local government do their utmost to throw the shield of their protection around these women; but the difficulty of obtaining admission for them into respectable situations is notorious; and assigned to the less scrupulous and less moral portion of the community, it is not unreasonable to suppose that they must be continually exposed to criminal solicitation, to grievous oppression, and often to personal violence; while, from their previous character, little confidence is placed, or can be placed, in the truth of their complaints, if they should venture, or be disposed to complain to superior authority.

Yet I am unwilling to believe but that even among these women there are some, perhaps even many, who may be capable of better things; on whom instruction, careful superintendence, and, above all, the stimulus of hope,

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