At this last sentence one of the committee allowed his fears of the bugaboo—ever present to the imagination of the Australian capitalist to escape him, a terror carefully nourished by the Colonial Office, and guarded against with endless folds of red tape of the true Wakefield hue. He exclaimed, "I am afraid we should find that these people, becoming employers of labour, would do us mischief!"
Not a word, not a thought of the benefit conferred upon three hundred destitute families, converted from costly paupers to independent peasant proprietors, but only terror lest they should become so well off as to give wages at £20 a year instead of £16.
Mrs. Chisholm answered, "I do not think so, but rather that you would be able to obtain in the children of these people brought up in sober, industrious, and frugal habits, a most valuable description of labourers; this class of persons prefer sending their children at a certain age (and for a limited period) into service with respectable families."
Mrs. Chisholm's plan was rejected, and she was left to work it out as well as she could with private assistance on the land of a speculator; and to go on laboriously registering agreements and distributing emigrants from farm to farm, as we shall presently describe.
The committee in their report recorded "their grateful sense of the valuable services of a lady to whose benevolent exertions on behalf of the unemployed, as well as of free emigrants of the humbler classes generally, this colony is under the highest obligations,—Mrs. Chisholm, whose name is so well known for her disinterested and untiring exertions."
The chairman of the committee was Dr. Lang.
In August, 1844, the distress amongst the labourers and mechanics of Sydney had not ceased. A committee was reappointed to consider it. There was a great clamour in favour of undertaking bridges, roads, and other public works, with public money. The mob and officials were favourable to the scheme. The government emigration agent was examined before this committee. "His knowledge," he states, "of the emigrants who arrived in past years was merely general, of the present year tolerably accurate;" "had no knowledge of the number of destitute families then in Sydney;" had no detailed information, but thought a certain detailed statement delivered in by a former witness exaggerated. This was a gentleman paid for his services, who, according to colonial custom, considered it his duty to perform his strictly office duties, and think and know no more,—a very natural view, considering the ill reward that any zeal obtains, except zeal for the views of the Colonial Secretary of State.
