mortgages should, if possible, be relieved by a loan of money obtained in England at a low rate of interest. He thought if his export scheme were carried out that the Council might safely recommend, through the Governor to the British Government, the flotation of a loan. He recommended that £100,000 be raised and appropriated: one part to the discharge of mortgages, the residue to the introduction of such number of agricultural labourers as the improved circumstances of the colony required. He advocated the reduction of the minimum price at which Crown lands could be sold.
Mr. Brown, who estimated the taxation per head in 1843 at £2 13s. and the expenditure at. £5 7s., then moved five resolutions, mostly affirming what he had said. On 8th August the Council considered these resolutions, when all were withdrawn except the last, which was carried. This resolution read:—"That it is the opinion of this Council that a measure well calculated to advance the interests of this settlement would be the reduction in the price of Crown lands from 20s. to 5s. per acre, as it would have the probable effect of encouraging capitalists to settle in the colony, and be the means of providing a fund for the introduction of useful artisans, handicraft and agricultural labourers, in proportion to the capital which would be invested in land." The loan proposals were rejected.
One result of the Colonial Secretary's speech lay in the renewed thought which colonists gave to encouraging production, so as to obtain a substantial export trade. It was no easy matter to effect, as years must necessarily elapse before a settled market could be established and experience gained in the precise demands of the foreign buyer. During the interim colonists must suffer. Notwithstanding the dreary forebodings of certain colonists, they laid the foundation of an export trade which, though it took many years to attain considerable dimensions, was yet gradually productive of good.
A shipment of horses and cattle was sent to Mauritius during 1844, the principal shippers being Messrs. Leake, Samson, and W. L. Brockman. Satisfactory figures were realised; horses sold at £33 per head, and cattle at £12 14s. A stock market was established at Guildford. Some pastoralists boiled down their sheep for tallow.
Timber was their geat hope. Mr. P. Clifton, of Australind, cut and carted 100 tons of sawn timber to the beach at Bunbury, ready for export, and Mr. J. Knight stacked nearly 80 tons. The timber was estimated to cost on the beach £2 10s. per ton, and allowing for £3 as reasonable freightage to England, it was anticipated that a substantial profit would be obtained. The English Government, it was reported, had agreed to take timber at £1 10s. Bunbury was active in seeking to open up an export trade, and several settlers conveyed wood to the beach, until by the end of the year there were 250 tons ready for shipment, besides 100 tons of oil, hides, and bark. Settlement in that district was widening, and in each year an increase in stock, area of land cultivated, and number of people was announced.
The population of the colony in September, 1844, was estimated to be 4,301. Further Treasury Bills were issued at the end of the year. The principal measure passed by the Legislative Council in 1844 was designed to prevent intrusion, encroachment, or trespass on Crown lands, offenders under which were made liable to fines. Mr. F. C. Singleton was permanently nominated a Legislative Councillor in 1844.
The financial aspect in 1845 was even less encouraging than in 1844. When the Council met in April, Governor Hutt had again to announce a deficit. The revenue fell off to the extent of £2,627. The year's deficit was over £450—a large item where the total revenue did not reach £7,200. Governor Hurt was compelled to further retrench in the public service. The revenue totalled £7,127 17s. 2d., and the Governor expected that in the ensuing year the returns would be still less. So comprehensively did he intend to retrench that he estimated the expenditure for the financial year 1845-46 at £6,647 12s. 6d., or £273 7s. 6d. less than that of the preceding year. This mournful state of affairs impressed colonists, and on 24th April they presented a petition to the Governor and Council asking that "something" be done to relieve the people. The document set forth in tearful language that the colony was in a critical position, its circulation drained, immigration ceased and emigration begun, revenue failing, property rendered valueless, trade annihilated, energies prostrated, confidence shaken, and proclaimed that the Imperial Act for the disposal of Crown lands was ineffective and restrictive. At the meetings of the Council in May Mr. George Leake vainly moved for the appointment of a committee to enquire into the condition of the currency and the cause of its diminution in the colony. In his opinion the currency problem demanded immediate solving, for unless a preventive was applied the colony would be drained of the greater portion of its small remnant of specie before the end of 1845. Other members concurred with his views.
Governor Hutt declared that the system of trade adopted in the colony was a potent cause of the distress—so far as regarded the abstraction of specie. There were no real merchants; those people who did business on the principle of "Whittington and his cat" were not merchants. One councillor averted that the people of Western Australia showed no real energy; Mr. Leake replied in an earnest speech. In the short space of fifteen years, he said, the handful of men who founded the colony had—assisted by a few capitalists only, and unassisted by Government—stocked the country with 86,000 sheep, 5,000 cattle, and 1,200 horses, besides bringing 4,800 acres of agricultural land under cultivation.
Another effort was made to relieve the currency. Tenders were issued and accepted for Treasury Bills at 1½d., 2½d., and 4 per cent. discount, and also for wheat. The colonial schooner Champion obtained £4,000 in specie from Hobart, Tasmania.
Mr. Leake considered that a protective tariff would result in an improvement of prices, and on 5th June he moved that a Corn Law be established in the colony. The circumstances in which the colony was placed demanded that the producers should be protected from the foreign grower. A general debate ensued, but, in the words of one record, the motion received "unqualified and uncompromising rejection." While the Bank of Western Australia was transacting a remunerative business, and was able to declare on 4th July a dividend of 9½ per cent., the Bank of Australasia felt the full brunt of the depression, and announced early in June that the local branch was to be closed. No new business was being received, and the bank was kept open only until its affairs with colonists could be wound up. The Inquirer suggested that an effort be made to discover the precise indebtedness of the colony. Figures computed, from personal enquiries by this newspaper, gave the probable position in 1844 as:—Liabilities—External £20,000, internal £33,000. Assets (received from revenue, grants, commissariat, exports, incomes, drawn from England, &c.)—£54,000, leaving a balance of £1,000. No credit was taken for the value of goods on hand, and therefore the Inquirer now thought the view of colonists concerning their position was altogether too despairing. Individual colonists were certainly distressed, but as the colony was collectively sound, industry and perseverance would soon tide Western Australia into prosperity.
