We have not yet quite done with the Convict question
in Australia ; nor will it be possible suddenly to out out that diseased part of the body politic : the more reason why every practicable step should be taken to secure perfect health by constitutional means. The Legislative Council of Victoria have made an appeal to the Sovereign which is far too reasonable in its grounds not to merit deep attention. They point to the evils inflicted upon the colony by the influx of convicts, and they call upon the British Government not again to disallow an act passed to exclude persons
of that class from the colony. There is no doubt that their state- ment of the crime created by the infusion of this class is correct. In South Australia, where the elements are more distinct, it has been shown beyond refutation that old convicts are the authors of the larger part of the crime ; and in Victoria the irregularities re- sulting from the gold business render the mischievous working of a vicious element far more serious. Nevertheless, there are great difficulties in the way of an exclusion-act. It would be almost im- possible to define where the mischievous qualities of the convict or emancipist cease. A man whose term has expired is to all intents and purposes a free citizen. Geographical peculiarities render the pursuit, capture, and expulsion of any class, additionally embarrassing ; and it is not easy to perceive how any statute could be rendered effectual, or workable at all, unless its enactments were so strin- gent and its enforcement so harsh as to render the whole law oppressive and inconsistent with a government save of the Aus- trian type. The taint of convictism has been planted in Australia, and the consequences cannot be entirely avoided. The taint must die out : and the local experience of New South Wales shows that a healthier tone is recovered in the open climate of that region far more rapidly than could have been supposed possible. The true reply to the memorial would be to say, "The secondary symptoms of convictism cannot be so suddenly extirpated ; but the original supply has been entirely cut off." In that case, however, there must be no more "conditional pardons," and the transport of con- victs to Swan River should cease, not only soon, but at once.
