SOUTH AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION.

The object of this Association is to found a Colony, under Royal Charter, and without convict labour, at or near Spencer's Gulf, on the smith coast of Aus- tralia, a tract of country far removed Worn the existing Penal Settlements. Fur raising funds wherewith to remove people to a distant place, as well as to establish and maintain social order in the Colony, making provision for defence, for the security of persons and property, and for the education of the colonists, some authority is required. When the " heroic work," to use an expression of Lord Bacon, of planting a cottony, and converting a desert into the abode of civi- lized society, is undertaken by the Government of the Mother Country, the re- quisite authority exists. But individuals cannot extend society to distant places without forming a compact amongst themselves, and obtaining some guarat tee for its being observed. MI time old and most successful British colonies in Atnerica,—Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Georgia, were founded by individuals whose public spirit, pru- dence, and resolution, were no otherwise assisted by the Government of this country, than as a charter from the Crown erected each of those bodies of indi- viduals into a Corporation with the authority required fon- accomplishing, to use the words of several of those charters, "their generous and noble purpose." In this res wet, the South Australian Association, confiding in the paternal goodness LoI his present :Majesty, and trusting that thew undertaking will he favourably viewed by an enlightened and liberal Administration, will endeavour to follow the s•xample of the London and Plymouth ( 'ompanies which founded Virginia • of William Penn :and his companions, who founded Penuselvania ; of Lord Baltimore and his associates, who founded Alarvland ; and of Lord Per- cival and his cotrustees, who established the colony of i leorgia. The following extracts front the Georgia Cl.arter will, in some measure, ex- plain the objects of the South Austi alian Association, and the litmus by which it is proposed to accomplish them.

George the Seeond. &e. to all to whom these presents shall come, greeting. Whereas we are credibly informed that many of oar poor subjects :ire, through misfortunes and want of employments, reduced to great necessities, insomuch as by their labour they are not able to provide a maintenance for themselves and families; and if they had means to defray their charge of passage, and the expenses incident to new settlements, they would be glad to be settled in any of our provinces in America, where, by culti- vating the lauds at present waste and desolate, they /Mehl ma only gain a comtbrtable subsistence for themselves and families, but also strengthen our colonies, and increase

the trade, navigation, and wealth. of these our reAms

" Aud whereas we think it highly becoming our Crown and royal dignity to protect all our loving subjects, be they never so distant front us, to extend our fatherly com- passion even to time meanest and most unfortunate of our people, and to relieve the wants of our above-mentioned poor subjects ; and that it will be highly conducive for accomplishing those ends that a regular colony of the said poor people be settled and established in the !Southern front iers of Carolina; and whereas we have been well as- sured, that it we would be most graciously pleased to erect and settle a Corporation for the receiving, managing. and disposing of the contributions of our loving subjects, divers persons would be induced to contribute to the uses and purposes atbresaid, ICnuw ye, therefore, that we have, for the considerations aforesaid, and for the better and more orderly can ying on I he said good purposes, of our special grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion, willed.tiolained, eoustituted, and appointed, and by these presents. for us. our heirs and successors, to will, °radio, constitute. declare, auul MO, That our right trusty and well beloved John Lord Viscount Percival, &e. &e. and such other persons as shall be elected in the nutnuer hereinafter menti ttttt sl, and their succes- sors, to be elected in manner as liereivatter is directed, Ile, and $11:111 be one laxly pon- t lc and corporate, in deed and in name, by the name of Tux TitusrEEs FOR ESTABLISH-

MO THE COI,ONV OF GEOHOIA. IN AMERICA

" Aud we do hereby for us, our heirs and successors, give :old grant unto I he said Cor-

pora and their successors, full power and authority to constitute, ordain ;out make, so many bylaws, constitutions. orders. sod ordinance.. as to them, or the greater part of them, at their general meeting for that purpose shall msan meet, IkeeeSSIII y. and coo- venient, fie the well ordering and governing of the said Corporation. . . • . " And we do hereby for us, our heirs and SUCCCSSOTS. Ordain, is ill, and establish, that for and during the term of one-and-twenty years, from the date of these our letters patent, the said Corponeion assembled for that purpose shall, and may form and pre- pare laws. statutes. ILIA ordinances, tit and necessary for, and mmcerning t he govern- ment of the said Colony, and not repugnant to the laws and statutes of England ; and the same shall and may present under their common seal to us, our heirs and successors, In our or their Privy Council, for our or their approbation or disallowance; ;out the said laws. statutes, and ordinances, being approved by us our heirs and successors, in our or their Privy Council, shall from theneetOrth he in full force and virtue, within our said

province of Georgia

" And our will and pleasure is, that the Common Omani' of the said Corporation for the time Niue. or the 111.1jOr part of them, w ho shall he present, being assembled Mr that rigs...shall from time to time, for, during, and until the end and expiration of twenty-ow years, to comment!? from the date of these our letters patent. hare hill power and authority, to nominate. make, constitnte, commission, ordain, sail appoint, by such name or names. style or styles, as to them shall Seelll unmet and tilting, all and singular,such governors, nolges, magistrates, ministers and officers, civil and military, both by sea awl land, within the slid district, as shall by them thought fit mid neolful, to he MO le or him the government of the said Colony (save always and except we'll' Akers only as shall by us our heirs and successors be from time to time constituted ant a;moIntea for the inn ranging, collecting, and receivin4. such revenues as bail from time to tine arise ..vtihirt the said proviuee of Georgia, aud become due to us. our heirs and successors') proviilml always and it is our will and pleasure that every Governor of the said province of Georgia to be appointed by the Common Coun- cil of the said Corporation, before he shall enter upon or execute the said °nice of Go. vernor, shall lie approved of by us, our heirs or successors, amid shall take such oaths, and shall qualify himself in such manner in all respects as any Governor or Com. manderdn Chief of any of our colonies or plantations in America are by law required to do.".

The South Australian Association consists of three classes of members, First, Persons who propose to settle in the Colony. Secondly, Persons willing to aid the Association without taking a responsible part in the proceedings. Thirdly, Persons who may take an active part in the preliminary proceedings of the As- sociation, and may become, under the proposed Charter, Trustees for carrying its provisions into effect. The Provisional Committee, of which a list appears above, is divided into Sub-Committees for particular objects,—such as preparing a draft of the proposed Charter ; communicating with his Majesty's Govern- ment; procuring and publishing information relating to the soil, climate, and other natural circumstances of the South coast of Australia; and communicat- ing with and promoting concert amongst those who may propose to be the first

settlers in the new Colony. •

It is desired that the Charter of Incorporation may contain provisions (amongst others) to the following effect.

1. The Colony to be erected into a Province, under the name of South Aus- tralia, extending front the 132(1 to the 14Ist degree of East longitude, and from the South coast including the adjacent islands to the tropic of Capricorn.

II. The whole of the territory within the above limits to be upeu to settle- ment by British subjects.

III. Provided that within the said limits, no waste or public land shall be- come private property, save by one means uuly, viz. by purchase at a fixed mini- mum price, or as much above that price as the competition of public auction may determine.

1‘'. Provided also that, subject to the above restriction, and to the necessity of previous surveys, all persons, whether residing in the Colony or Great Britain, shall be free to acquire property in waste or public laud, in fee, and without limit, either as to quantity or situation. V. That the management of the surveys and sales of waste or public land he confided to a responsible Board, with the best provisions for constant publicity in their proceedings. j• VI. The Corporation of Trustees to have authority for enabling individuals whether residing iu Britain or in the Colony, to subscribe money into a joint stock for the purpose of buying waste or public laud.t VII. That the whole of the purchase-money of waste or public laud after defraying the necessary cost of surveys and sales, be employed in conveying British labourers to the Colony.

VIII. That the emigrants conveyed to the Colony with the purchase-money of waste land, be of the two sexes in equal numbers, and that the Corporation be bound to give a preference amongst the applicants for a passage cost free, to young married persons not having children; so that for any given outlay of their unmet-, the purchasers of laud may obtain the greatest amount of labour wherewith to cultivate tl:e land, and of population to enhance its vziltie. IX. 'float until the Colony be settled, and the sales of waste or public land shall have produced an immigration fund adequate to the want of labour in the Colotiv, the Corporation of Trustees have authority to raise money on loan by the issue of bonds or otherwise, bearing colonial interest, fur the purpose of conveying sAected labourers to the Colette ; so that the first body of emigrating, capitalists going out to buy land, may from the first be supplied with labour. And that until such loan or loans be repaid with interest, the Corporation be held bound to apply all time net proceeds of the sales of land in repayment of such humans.

X. 'That for defraying the necessary expenses of the Corporation and Colo- nial Government, the Trustees have autlunity to raise money on loan by the issue of bonds or otherwise, and that provided the said expenditure 81-1 not ex-

meal 1. in the whole, the amount thereof shall be deemed a Colonial debt, and secured upon an entire revenue of the Colonv.§ XI. That, as in the case of our old colonies in America, of the company for founding Siena Leone, and of the East India Company, the Corporatioll of Trus tees Lave authority to frame and administer regulations or laws for the 'nein- tenance of order, the protection of persons and property, and other subjects of local goverimient.

XII. That the said authority of the Corporation of Trustees shall continue until the Colony, having, like all the chartered Colonies of Britain, a 'Local legis-

lative assembly, tultall have paid off its debt to the Corporation of Trustees, and shall undertake to defray the whole cost of its future government and pro- tection.

XIII. That the Trustees shall be protected against personal liability.

The substance of the chief clauses in the proposed Charter, as recited above, describes the objects of the Association, but what may be the ultimate provi- sions If the Charter must of course depend upon his Majesty's Government, with whom a negotiation on the subject is now pending.

The Provisional Committee have published an account of the soil, climate, and other natural circumstances of the South coast of Australia, with plans of

the coast, harbours, &c. a statement of sailing distances, and prices current of the produce of the adjacent colonies. This publication may be obtained of Alessrs. Ridgway and Sons, Piccadilly.

A Committee sits daily at the office of the Association, 7, Adelphi Chambers, Um Street, Adenoid, for the purpose of giving information to persons disposed to settle in the Colony, and of communicating with others, not yet members of the Association, who may be willing to promote the success of this important undertaking.

• This exception occurs in several of the Charters, and seems to have had for object the control or the Home Government over the foreign trade of the Colony—a power usually reserved by the King under the out system of colonial trade.

t Considering that the power over the proportion between the inhabitants of a country and the territory at their disposal, exerts a most important influence on the value of land, capital, and labour, complete responsibility and publicity appear quite necessary. t This provision will, it is conceived, be most useful. Without some such provision. either the Corporation of Trustees must, in order to the commodious laying out of the first town and of roads, whereby to connect it with the interior, become a Laud Com-

pany. and purchase a large block of laud with a view to profit ; or individuals might, by making purchases, in the situation most favourable for a town, net ouly create a monopoly price of laud near the seat of government and centre of commerce, but might altogether prevent the observance of method and regularity in laying the foun- dation of the future capital. Whereas. if the first body of emigrating capitalists were

enabled to combine their fowls, and to purchases large tract of laud in the most favour-

able situation for the first town, it would be fur the interest of each and of all of the owners of that favourable situation to lay out the ground for a tuwu in the most con- venient and urnameutal manner, and at lirst to sell town lots at a very moderato price,

with a view to the increase in the value of adjoining lots. It is in this way generally that towns are formed in new American settlemeuts ; many combining to do that

iu the best way, which separated individuals could not do at all. On this account it

was at one time intended that the South Australian Association should be a Joint Stoek Laud Company as well as a body politic ; but the intention has been abandoned

on the ground that the Corporation of Trustees ought not be engaged in any peconiary speculation, and that companies for the purchase of land in the Colony, may ht, formed Louder the authority given to the Association. lu America, the formation of such com- panies is greatly facilitated by the Government. § It is thus provided that this Colony shall be founded and maintained without any expense whatever to the Government of the Mother Country.