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xenithI came across some print-outs from the Examiner in a box I was looking for, full of anti-transportation and the "10th of August" material. Letters to the editor, accounts of meetings and a number of poems.
What is interesting, is those prominent in Anti-Transportation League and its successor are today seen as forward thinking and progressive, yet a lot of the sentiments expressed by them would in a similar context today be seen as bigoted and self-serving. The big divide in society at the time was whether you/your parents arrived Free or at His/her Majesty's expense so this sort of debate enhanced the division. There's a lot of heated debate just in the newspaper columns.
These two are from May 5, 1847.
The first, is a slightly overwrought, emotional appeal "To the Freeman of Tasmnia"
The second, entitled "Lines on Transportation" is more rational, and does give the main arguments in the debate (cheap labour vs progress).
(And a note on the name, officially Tasmania became the island's name 1 Jan, 1856, but obviously it was in common use before that.)
TO THE FREEMEN OF TASMANIA
Hail ! sons of Freedom, hail !
Who dwell in Tasman's isle ;
O'erwhelm'd by streams corrupt, impure
The refuse and the vile.
Say, shall these streams yet flow
Thro' our adopted land;
Engend'ring death, disease, and woe,
With an unsparing hand !
Shall crime and vice still pour
Their floods upon our soil;
Destroy, with unrelenting power,
The parent's care and toil ?
Shall fathers weep and mourn
To see a lovely son
Debas'd, demoraliz'd, deform'd,
By Britain's filth and scum ?
Shall mothers heave the sigh,
To see a daughter fair
Debauch'd, and sunk in infamy
By those imported here ?
All pastors o'er the land ;
In sorrow, o'er the land ;
To see immortal souls debas'd
And, dying be condemned !
And shall the rising race,
Thro' ages yet to come,
Meet with shame on those who made
Their land a penal home ?
Shall Tasman's Isle so fam'd,
So lovely and so fair,
From other notions estrang'd--
The name of Sodom bear ?
Shall Nature's God, provok'd,
Stretch forth His mighty arm,
And, in relentless fury, pour
His righteous judgements down.
Rise, then, Freemen--rise :
Secure your liberty ;
Ne'e'r rest till Transportation dies
And Tasman's Isle be FREE .
"Christianos"
LINES ON TRANSPORTATION.
Tasmanians hear ! attend unto a Muse
Who with impartial eyes this question views,
" If transportation should, or should not cease,
Does it augment our welfare or decrease !"
While some for its continuance contend
And in its praise their eloquence expend,
Others oppose it with an equal force,
And look on Transportation as the curse
Of this devoted land, which Britain's choice
Made its receptacle of outcast vice.
First let us weigh the arguments of those
Oppos'd to its cessation, we would lose
They say, a sum which doubtless largely sounds,
Each year, at least three hundred thousand pounds,
Besides th' advantage which we now enjoy
Of labour cheap, cessation would destroy.
These are the benefits its adherents urge
Too dearly purchas'd by so vile a scourge !
What ! Shall we bear for filthy lucre's sake
So vile a stigma ! Shall we ne'er awake
To our true int'rests, and, in union strong,
Fling from our shores a plague we've borne too long !
Why should we breathe pollution's blighting air
When we may have a purer atmosphere !
Do any live, so lost to sense of shame,
Who make the love of lucre their sole aim !
Let such alone for its continuance pray,
I'll hail the prospect of a brighter day,
When my adopted land shall once be free;
(Till then I hope not its prosperity;)
Then num'rous hamlets shall around us rise,
And free-born peasants bless our longing eyes ;
Then youths and maidens in each cot shall smile,
Attach'd unto their landlords and the soil;
Then Hymen's torch shall often blaze around,
And love, and joy, and happiness abound.
But now what diff'rent scenes do we behold !
With convict servants to our int'rests cold,
Tho' low-pric'd labour we from such obtain,
So worthless they, we find it loss, not gain;
Their evil habits, vile propensities,
Contamination spreading by degrees;
Mingled in masses, crimes of ev'ry dye,
Ev'n that which drew the wrath of God from high ;
Robbers, and murd'rers, in the gangs confest,
Boast of their crimes, and then instruct the rest.
From such sad schools of infamy and vice
We hire our servants--dear at any price--
Their baleful arts our daughters oft beguile
Till they elope, or wed with scoundrels vile;
Our children too their vicious language hear,
And learn their " slang" when parents are not near;
Accustom'd thus e'en from their tender years
To look on vice less hateful it appears.
The sad effects alas! are seen in time,
Knowledge of vice but paves the way to crime.
These are the blessings which we now derive
From Transportation--how by it we thrive
Look round you and behold ! Our farmers now
Scarce make a living from the land they plough,
Our fields uncultur'd, since they will not pay,
Our farm buildings hastening to decay,
Improvements at an end ; no more we view
Fresh farms arise where forests lately grew,
But sad reverse ! by Patriots to be mourn'd,
Our fertile fields are into sheep walks turn'd,
Our earliest settlers forc'd to quit the soil
On which they spent their means, and years of toil;
Those grap their farms who would, with object vile,
Make one wide sheep-walk of this lovely isle.
Two classes only will at last remain,
The extensive grazier, and the convict swain.
Such are the deadly fruits of this vile scheme
Probationism ! a blund'ring theorist's dream.
'Then rise my fellow colonists ! arise
All you who would Tasmania's welfare prize !
Unite, and in this cause combin'd appear
Till Britain cease to send her convicts here,
Too long we've tamely borne oppression's rod,
Too long we've quall'd beneath a Stanley's nod,
Too long we've borne what none besides would bear,
And murmur'd only driven to despair,
Drain'd of resources, burthen'd with a debt,
Free institutions not accorded yet,
Taxes increas'd, our land fund misapplied
To swell the stream of Britain's golden tide,
And then to crown the climax of our woes,
Delug'd with outcast vice which Britain from her throws!
Thus far my Muse--but ere she mounts on high,
She sends her thanks to Archer, Cox, and Dry,
True Patriots they ! the foremost in the field,
'Gainst Transportation all their arms to wield,
Their standards rais'd, let ev'ry colonist join,
"Union is strength"--those conquer who combine.
"A Cessationist"
What is interesting, is those prominent in Anti-Transportation League and its successor are today seen as forward thinking and progressive, yet a lot of the sentiments expressed by them would in a similar context today be seen as bigoted and self-serving. The big divide in society at the time was whether you/your parents arrived Free or at His/her Majesty's expense so this sort of debate enhanced the division. There's a lot of heated debate just in the newspaper columns.
These two are from May 5, 1847.
The first, is a slightly overwrought, emotional appeal "To the Freeman of Tasmnia"
The second, entitled "Lines on Transportation" is more rational, and does give the main arguments in the debate (cheap labour vs progress).
(And a note on the name, officially Tasmania became the island's name 1 Jan, 1856, but obviously it was in common use before that.)
TO THE FREEMEN OF TASMANIA
Hail ! sons of Freedom, hail !
Who dwell in Tasman's isle ;
O'erwhelm'd by streams corrupt, impure
The refuse and the vile.
Say, shall these streams yet flow
Thro' our adopted land;
Engend'ring death, disease, and woe,
With an unsparing hand !
Shall crime and vice still pour
Their floods upon our soil;
Destroy, with unrelenting power,
The parent's care and toil ?
Shall fathers weep and mourn
To see a lovely son
Debas'd, demoraliz'd, deform'd,
By Britain's filth and scum ?
Shall mothers heave the sigh,
To see a daughter fair
Debauch'd, and sunk in infamy
By those imported here ?
All pastors o'er the land ;
In sorrow, o'er the land ;
To see immortal souls debas'd
And, dying be condemned !
And shall the rising race,
Thro' ages yet to come,
Meet with shame on those who made
Their land a penal home ?
Shall Tasman's Isle so fam'd,
So lovely and so fair,
From other notions estrang'd--
The name of Sodom bear ?
Shall Nature's God, provok'd,
Stretch forth His mighty arm,
And, in relentless fury, pour
His righteous judgements down.
Rise, then, Freemen--rise :
Secure your liberty ;
Ne'e'r rest till Transportation dies
And Tasman's Isle be FREE .
"Christianos"
LINES ON TRANSPORTATION.
Tasmanians hear ! attend unto a Muse
Who with impartial eyes this question views,
" If transportation should, or should not cease,
Does it augment our welfare or decrease !"
While some for its continuance contend
And in its praise their eloquence expend,
Others oppose it with an equal force,
And look on Transportation as the curse
Of this devoted land, which Britain's choice
Made its receptacle of outcast vice.
First let us weigh the arguments of those
Oppos'd to its cessation, we would lose
They say, a sum which doubtless largely sounds,
Each year, at least three hundred thousand pounds,
Besides th' advantage which we now enjoy
Of labour cheap, cessation would destroy.
These are the benefits its adherents urge
Too dearly purchas'd by so vile a scourge !
What ! Shall we bear for filthy lucre's sake
So vile a stigma ! Shall we ne'er awake
To our true int'rests, and, in union strong,
Fling from our shores a plague we've borne too long !
Why should we breathe pollution's blighting air
When we may have a purer atmosphere !
Do any live, so lost to sense of shame,
Who make the love of lucre their sole aim !
Let such alone for its continuance pray,
I'll hail the prospect of a brighter day,
When my adopted land shall once be free;
(Till then I hope not its prosperity;)
Then num'rous hamlets shall around us rise,
And free-born peasants bless our longing eyes ;
Then youths and maidens in each cot shall smile,
Attach'd unto their landlords and the soil;
Then Hymen's torch shall often blaze around,
And love, and joy, and happiness abound.
But now what diff'rent scenes do we behold !
With convict servants to our int'rests cold,
Tho' low-pric'd labour we from such obtain,
So worthless they, we find it loss, not gain;
Their evil habits, vile propensities,
Contamination spreading by degrees;
Mingled in masses, crimes of ev'ry dye,
Ev'n that which drew the wrath of God from high ;
Robbers, and murd'rers, in the gangs confest,
Boast of their crimes, and then instruct the rest.
From such sad schools of infamy and vice
We hire our servants--dear at any price--
Their baleful arts our daughters oft beguile
Till they elope, or wed with scoundrels vile;
Our children too their vicious language hear,
And learn their " slang" when parents are not near;
Accustom'd thus e'en from their tender years
To look on vice less hateful it appears.
The sad effects alas! are seen in time,
Knowledge of vice but paves the way to crime.
These are the blessings which we now derive
From Transportation--how by it we thrive
Look round you and behold ! Our farmers now
Scarce make a living from the land they plough,
Our fields uncultur'd, since they will not pay,
Our farm buildings hastening to decay,
Improvements at an end ; no more we view
Fresh farms arise where forests lately grew,
But sad reverse ! by Patriots to be mourn'd,
Our fertile fields are into sheep walks turn'd,
Our earliest settlers forc'd to quit the soil
On which they spent their means, and years of toil;
Those grap their farms who would, with object vile,
Make one wide sheep-walk of this lovely isle.
Two classes only will at last remain,
The extensive grazier, and the convict swain.
Such are the deadly fruits of this vile scheme
Probationism ! a blund'ring theorist's dream.
'Then rise my fellow colonists ! arise
All you who would Tasmania's welfare prize !
Unite, and in this cause combin'd appear
Till Britain cease to send her convicts here,
Too long we've tamely borne oppression's rod,
Too long we've quall'd beneath a Stanley's nod,
Too long we've borne what none besides would bear,
And murmur'd only driven to despair,
Drain'd of resources, burthen'd with a debt,
Free institutions not accorded yet,
Taxes increas'd, our land fund misapplied
To swell the stream of Britain's golden tide,
And then to crown the climax of our woes,
Delug'd with outcast vice which Britain from her throws!
Thus far my Muse--but ere she mounts on high,
She sends her thanks to Archer, Cox, and Dry,
True Patriots they ! the foremost in the field,
'Gainst Transportation all their arms to wield,
Their standards rais'd, let ev'ry colonist join,
"Union is strength"--those conquer who combine.
"A Cessationist"
no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 07:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 08:18 am (UTC)That's an odd situation though.
My ancestors were about half and half.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 08:48 pm (UTC)Yeah, I did check the dates.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-26 10:43 pm (UTC)Huh. I didn't pick up on that, but I guess I'm used to it. Seriously :)