Colonial Times (Hobart, Tas. : 1828 - 1857), Tuesday 10 September 1833, page 2


HOBART TOWN :

SEPTEMBER 10, 1833.

Let it be impressed opon your minds, let it be in-

stilled into you children, that the Liberty of the Press is the Palladium of all your Civil, Political, and Religious Rights. JUNIUS.

THERE are one or two passages in the Address of His Excellency to the Legislative Council, which we published in our last, deserving, we consider, rather more attention than we had then time to bestow upon them. The first upon the list, being, in our opinion, of primary

importance, is the allusion to a proposed augmentation of the Department of Roads and Bridges - in order, as it is said, that the Agricultural facilities of the interior may be increased by easier communi-cation with the southern and northern parts. If this be acted upon to the ex-tent of which it is capable, a real bene-fit will indeed be bestowed upon the Colony. We have so often insisted upon this subject, and so often also have lamented the difficulties sustained by our farmers, in regard to conveying their produce to market, that there is no ne-cessity for occupying the time or atten-tion of our readers by a single additional -observation. We notice it therefore,

not with the view of pointing out that which every man in the Colony must, we are sure, acknowledge, but for the

purpose of urging upon the agricultural interest fully to keep pace with the Go-vernment, in the endeavours thus made

to promote the geneial welfare of the in-habitants. This can be effected in no way so well, as by shutting out Foreigners from supplying us with anything we are able to grow or to produce from within ourselves. The badness of the roads, or rather, we may say, the absence in many places of any roads at all, added to the want of a market, have hitherto operated, we are well convinced, in a very great degree, in deterring many of our farmers from paying that attention to their dairy and to grazing, which has been so se-

verely felt by consumers in the prices they have had to pay the farmers of the Sister Colony. Both these reproaches to our Government, (and great reproaches they assuredly are) bid fair speedily to be removed ; and the fault will then rather be attributable to the public than to the Government, if we do not experience a very material difference in the supply of the usual necessaries for man's suste-

nance.

Next, perhaps, in importance to the service likely to be rendered to the Agri-cultural Interest, by an improvement in regard to roads and bridges, is the relief proposed to be extended to trade by the

removal or modification of certain vexa-tious "imposts upon the Shipping and Mercantile Classes." Although the ex-pression is vague, it is intended, we un-derstand, to allude to our wharfage, and other similar charges; and they may truly be characterized as "vexatious," in the full meaning of the term. In respect to these modifications, the Mercantile inte-rest have to congratulate themselves upon their present strength in the Council, compared to either of its former meetings ; and also, we consider, upon the change between Mr. Hamilton and Captain Swanston ; for many of these "trifling and vexations imposts" are well known to have originated with the former gentle-man - and, had he remained a Member of Council, it is probable he would have clung to them in a manner that might have made their removal more difficult

than will now be the case.

One sentence of the Address cannot be perused with other than feelings of strong apprehension, as to the extent to which an important charge thus intro-duced in our general condition as a Co-

lony, may be carried, either now or here-

after: --

"You will observe that in these estimates several items are charged against the Colonial revenue on account of the support by the Com-missariat, of convicts employed in works purely Colonial, and there are still unadjusted claims under this head which have not been brought forward.

"These sums must be liquidated by the Co-lony, and it will now, therefore, be incumbent upon you to determine what assistance can be given without depressing the rising prosperity of the community."

This, no doubt, arises from "orders from Home," the effect of His Excellency's most excellent annual balance sheet. We fear, however, that we have nothing to do but "to grin and bear our burdens," as quietly as may be. We may rest as-sured, that this is only the beginning of a much heavier load - only a sort of feeling the pulse, to ascertain the general state of our little body politic. Although, therefore, we have not the least idea that any "removal or modification" of the decree already gone forth upon this sub-ject, as to the present, would be the result, of any measures, such as petition or other-wise, that the public could now institute, yet we would wish to see something of this sort done, if only by way of warding off a little, the evil day for the future. We have plenty of harking patriots - lots of bawlers about the grievous burdens we are called upon to bear ; but few, very few, who seem to show any inclina-

tion to put their shoulder to the wheel

towards their removal. Now, however, is a fit time for the display of their anxiety for the Colony's welfare ; for we hesitate not to say, that if the text afforded by the passage we have quoted, will not stir them, nothing will - and out, say we, with all such patriotism.

IN our last we stated, that Mr. Smails had been suddenly and, as we fancied, most unwarrantably deprived of the si-tuation of the Clerkship of St. David's Church, by the Rev. Mr. Bedford. We mentioned that we should again advert to the subject, and now intend to fulfil our promise. From circumstances which have occurred lately, we should not at all wonder if we are the only public Journal that will support the injured individual. Will it be believed that Mr. Bedford has influence over not only the Courier, but over every other Hobart Town Journal, save the Colonial Times, the Tasmanian, and the Colonist? That such is the case we cannot doubt - having been credibly

informed that an alliance has been entered into between the Reverend Gentleman and the Leviathan of the Press of Van

Diemen's Land. But to the Clerkship

affair.

On Friday last, we were not a little surprised at reading in the columns of the Courier, the following most extraordinary reply to the accusation we last week published : -

"On Sunday the congregation of St David's church was agreeably surprised by the appear-ance of their old townsman, Mr. Holdship, junr. officiating as clerk. His voice is firm and distinct, and the practice of a few Sundays will enable him still more nearly to modulate and harmonise his sentences to the size and echo of the church. We may here mention upon autho-rity, that Mr Smails, whom Mr Holdship has superseded, during the whole time he performed the duties of clerk, was uniformly treated with kindness by the Rev. Mr. Bedford."

The writer of the above cannot be mis-

taken. Even had we any doubt on the subject, subsequent information received would fully convince not only ourselves,

but the most incredulous, that the Rev. Mr. Bedford, sen., was the author of this most extraordinary refutation. But let us look over the little paragraph. "The congregation were agreeably sur-prised by the appearance of their old townsman, Mr. Holdship, officiating as

Clerk." Let us tell Mr. Bedford that this is incorrect. The public have no cause to be dissatisfied with Mr. Holdship ;

but that they were agreeably surprised at seeing and hearing him officiate as Clerk of St. David's Church, is untrue. On the contrary, the congregation were asto-

nished at Mr. Bedford's conduct in dis-missing a Government Officer without any apparent just clause, or satisfactory reason being argued. Again, "Mr. Holdship's voice is firm and distinct, and the prac-tice of a few Sundays will enable him still more nearly to modulate and harmo-nize his sentences to the rise and echo of the Church," - so says Mr Bedford. But what has that to do with the dismissing

of Mr. Smails? We now come to the

gist of the affair. "We may here mention upon authority (remember Mr. Bedford is writing this himself, and consequently must be the very best possible authority) that " Mr. Smails, whom Mr. Holdship has superseded, during the whole time he performed the duties of Clerk, was uni-formly treated with kindness by the Rev. Mr. Bedford." This is untrue - as Mr.

Smails can fully prove. Did Mr. Bedford treat him with kindness when he tried to get him dismissed from the situation, because

he, one wet Sunday aflernoon wore a dark blue bottle green coat, in, order to save

his new best black? Did Mr. Bedford treat Mr. Smails with kindness in the five

guinea marriage affair? We could string a file of such questions, which would reach from this to New Norfolk, were we so inclined, but let us inform Mr. Bedford, that Mr. Smails fortunately kept a diary of all the events which took place during the period he held the situation - the lit-tle petty annoyances he met with are therein all narrated, and, for aught we

know, may some day or other be pub-

lished for general information. Under what authority Mr. Bedford

first nominated Mr. Smails as clerk; we

know not - but he being and the appointment

tion of His Excellency, Mr. Sm

came as firmly seated in his situation as

the Reverend Mr. Bedford himself, nor can Mr. Bedford or any other indivi dismiss him from that situatio just cause. If Mr. Smails ha

himself improperly, it was, perhaps, Mr. Bedford's duty to report his improper conduct. Would any other Govern-ment officer, except Mr. Bedford, dare

turn out, sans ceremonie,

office! No - the thing would be impos-sible; but Mr. Smails, is at present as much clerk of St. David's as he was this day three months, and will continue so, till dismissed by His Excellency. Let Mr. Holdship present himself, to receive the salary of the clerkship, and we pro-phecy that all Mr. Bedford's interest, backed as he is by the Courier and the money-getting sexton, would not be able to obtain him a single shilling. As to the fees, however, Mr. Bedford in these matters does as he likes, and therefore Mr. Holdship will perhaps obtain the fees, which, should such be the case, Mr Smails will, we conceive, be ille-deprived of.

We must now come to our conclusion. Mr. Smails, on being dismissed by Mr. Bedford, immediately wrote to the Co-

lonial Secretary. His letter was for-warded to the Governor, and the next morning His Excellency heard his case,

and told Mr. Smails that he came out to

the Colony with an unblemished charac-ter - that the sudden dismissal was likely to injure him in the opinion of the public, and that most certainly his case should have a regular investigation. We believe His Excellency also hinted that he thought it was impossible Mr. Bedford could take upon himself to dismiss Mr. Smails on his own authority. The investigation, we believe, will take place shortly, when, no doubt, Mr. Smails's character will be either cleared and he re-instated in office,

or his dismissal will avow him to be

unqualified for the situation. Let the re-sult be what it may, we have done our duty; and although we have taken Mr. Smails's part warmly, Mr. Smails is to us not only a mere stranger, and with whom we never exchanged words.

Is it true Mister Muster Master Mason, together with his minnikin; clerk, at length thought proper to honor the parade with his august presence during the muster of the.ticket:pf-leave men on.Sunday, last, for.the first time? MtriibileHicttt!Jmt no it is. There was a time, when those holding public satia-tions, anil,..consequently, receiving public money, devoted their time to their duties nôt so at present; performing theil) by deputy. Why are large salaries allowed to those who: have hut little real duty to perform,' hut that' confidence, it is supposed; can he placed iii'; them? The situation of Muster Master was made expressly for the purpose, that the work of mustering should not he done by deputies, who, it was supposed, might be bribed, and who for a few shillings might he templed to report a ticket-ot-leave man present, when, in fact, he was absent many miles away from his district and perhaps committing some extensive robbery. If, therefore, an excessive salary is paid to Mister Muster Master Mason for mus-tering the ticket-of-lenve men on Sunday, and which it was understood at one time formed a very principal part of his duty, why, we ask, is he allowed thus to absent himself for months together. The Secretary for the Colonies; Mr. ; .Stanley (new brooms sweep clenri); has been pleased in his all-powerful station to signify that he will he ready at all times to receive and -

attend to the 'complaints of any Colonist who : may consider himself injured- or oppressed, but, at the same time, he conveys his deter-

mination ? not to attend to tbei murmurs or, jealousies, bickerings, or .animosities, of any psendo editors who may fancy themselves the representative of the people. So much for' Mr." Stanley's proclamation.1 To! return-to

Mister-/ Muster Master Mason, it is evident j that by .his having boen installed into the. situation of Assistant Police Magistrate, much arid very serious,. mischief has, arisen. / ,M is ter. Muster Master Masón fancies himself how so great à man, sitting as he does on the bench : daily, that it is infra digmtatem, counting o var a parcel of men on Sundays. It, therefore, now becomes matter for serious consideration,

being sp closely connected with, prison disci- ; piine. whether Mister Muster Master Mason ia>t'o Be'-allowed to cut out whatever part of the ceremony be chooses to perform, and leave the more important undone. He has .chosen ' that of Assistant Police Magistrate, perhaps he cause it flatters his vanity : it therefore, behoves Government to appoint Some other person in the place of Muster Master, who will not he above doing the duty. ^ There are abundance of persons who.have lately, arriived under the dénomination of, " Paupers," ..who could be found to discharge' the' duties, and at a Very moderate rate, which,,under the circumstances of the miserable Colony [being about to be compelled to pay her own expenses, is of most important consideration. '

i The, insult and .indignities, offered fp some of the civil officers of the. Government are;cruel in the extreme;, and call ajoud for redress-will. it. be helieyed, that some of the Captains of the prison ships,^ have behaved in

the most unceremonious; and uncouth man-ner to Mistër^luster Master Mason, on the occasion of that great personage, attending on board to perform the mighty operation, of taking the heights, mark8Äfc. of the prisoners, arid other such' important cérémonies? ! ! I ,How;it is possible, that these Oaptaihscari bave mistaken, the noble and prepossessing ap Eearance of Mister MusterMasterMascuvand , ave treated him; so indignantly, as to keep him fasting for four hours, not even offering him; a: glass of rum or heer,i we know hb't-^ The only excuse that; can be. made,for themis,' itheyarebad phyaiógnomists. 'Wé understand, (they, apologise' by saying,' they took Mister .Muster Master Waabrii for no';other;than a eommp& clerk,' and therefore made t him share ¡the fate of the other 'writers ! 1 !-Oh I monW trpuslll Inordertp^reyept^arectirrencii.of so frightfula nature; we would beg to throw

ont a hint to the Legislative Council now as-sembled, that Mister Muster Master Mason, be ordered a suitable dress for the occasion, at thetxpense of the Colony, and that the ser-vices, of the Town Crier, ne engaged to pro-claim the coming of Mister Master Mason on board, BOBS to introduce his Worship to the Captain, the Guard, the Surgeon Superintend-ent, and all the Prisoners. We cannot call to mind, when we were more thunderstruck, than, on witnessing the dreadfollyemacjated appear-^ ance of Mister Master Mason, on hUCcoming ashore from the ship1 the other evening, having seen him m the morning, tripping it along on " the light'fantastic toe." The change was as sudden as that of a man, taken with the Cho-

lera-how he reached his residence/which we | understand is close to Hog-en-'dtfrf Castle, we know not-his physical powers must be great

, indeed lil ^ a * i

' - ' Wë understand1 that" the' custom of ' " Pay Tables," which has been reprobated so much at Home, and which was found to lead

to such demoralisation from the incessant in-1 tuxication which it caused, and which induced many of the most.respectable- manufacturers to hold meetings in order to devise means of preventing it, by paying their workmen in the middle of the week, has,been'introduced here. In our opinion, nothing can be more injurious to the well-being of the"body oT tradesmen, than assembling them together at a public house, for the purpose of paying them the earnings of the labor of the week. No one possible reason can be ass gned, hut that the master wishes to assist a friend who is a pub-lican, and-therefore he collects the whole of his men, on pretence of finding change, and being once seated, it 'is considered necessary, after having put the landlord to the trouble of exchanging the money, that something should be drank among them, to repay bim. Thus it is-one glass invites another, there is a cheer-ful fire, the night is dark, conversation coin menees, and the labor of a day or two is spent "in the "accursed dose" in an hour. The poor wife and children are left at home, awaiting the arrival of the husband and father. He makes his appearance reeling drunk, he is na-turally enough rebuked, perhaps abused forsuch brutal conduct-high words, in all probability blows follow, an¿ thus the Saturday night " Pay Table" leads to all the miseries which are found to exist among this class of Society. It is to be hoped, now that the towri Is inun-dated with mechanics, that master tradesman will endeavor to prevent drinking as much as possible, instead of-lending a helping hand to encourage those, who are already prone enough to vice, by establishing " Pay Tables."

We understand that the moist liberal subscription ever yet entered into in this town, is about to be collected for the benevolent purpose of saving the Colony from tüter and irretrievable ruin if possible, bv buying up all the numbers of the Encyclopedia for the pur pose of cutting out the article on " Political (Economy," in order to prevent the members of the " Immigration Committee" from com-mitting further plagiaries, and which have un happilv tended to brinor sudden destruction upon this once thriving Colony. Well inav we make use of the Greek proverb-" A great book is a great evil " If the Grecian could so express himself at the sight of one of the books of his days, how would he have been thunder-struck at the sight of the one volume on Political Humbug. We have now our gaols, our watch-houses, our hulks, penitentiaries, and tread-wheels-we have our beggars, ar-riving in hhoals like the herrings, and tve only require our work-house?, poor laws, and taxes upon tickct-of-leave men and convicts, to render our situation as inferable as 'the greatest political enemy we hate, can well desire. , *

in another part of our paper will be found, tinder the head of Proceedings of the Legislative Council, a draft of a short Act, which will extend the present publicans' li

censes to the 29th November, in'hen of tjie 18th of September-the annual Licensing Dav The New Licensing Act, it is believed, .will pass the Council, and become part and parcel of the law of the land some time early in No-vember ; but it was found impossible to pass it by the 18th of September-consequently the little Act alluded to is being passed, so as to give the additional time. It wdl hot be neces-sary for the publicans to attend orí the 18th of September-the Court will merely meet, arid adjourn to the 29th Novemher, when the New Act will commence, and the licenses for the ensuing jear will be granted. We mention this in order to prevent disappointment-for, no doubt, many of the country publicans not rightly understanding the proceedings of the Council, might be put to both expense and inconvenience, were they not informed of the extension of their present licenses.

At length the Adelaide has sailed, having on hoard the Invalids of the 63rd regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Stubbe man, who had obtained the King's hoe of absence for two years. Captain Wentworth's physicians, it appears, advised a shorter voyage to Sydney, there to inhale his native air, rather than undergo the risk of passing through so many and such variable climates, by which his'life might have been endangered in his present-alarming state of health. Taking into consideration also that he has a noble

estate, in the other Colony, perhaps he has done the wisest thing hy going to look after it. Common sense, they say, is more valuable than great1 talents-but when they are both combined in one person, few can compete with him. r J

It is rumoured in the higher'circles, that the moment Mr. Gregory, the Colonial Treasurer arrives, Capt. Montagu resumes his office as Clerk of the Councils, and Dr. Turn-bull to ,be forthwith removed to the Female House of Correction-Dr. Russel, it appears, has been ordered off to inspectthe Hospitals at Launceston and George Town,'receiving, of course, travelling expenses,, and drawingpay as Colonial Apothecary also. AU the soldiers of 'the 63rd regt, enjoying good health.allows this absence of the doctor. The luck of the 63rd is not yet gone ! , ' ' ,

We are informed by a correspondent, that one of the whaling parties having secured a very fine whale, proceeded to cut it up', on doing, which they discovered a roll in the corner of his mouth, and most miraculous to relate, when it was opened, it turned out to be the memorable Petition ' of the " Glorious Twent7-third." ' The circumstance of the Peti-tion being.found so near our shores, will afford matter ofcalculation to those learned men who delight in endeavouring to ascertain the CUB Barm. It was in a perfect state, except a few stains, hut whether' these were of red ink or Port wine, we. are at a loss to discover. It now, Lias to be owned at the sign of, " VBRY LIKE > WHILE." , t , s f; , ;2

? ,, Is it true,,that two,mighty men, of war¿ compelled an unfortunate antagonist to " eat" his letter the other day ?- 'We have often heard ¡of a man being obliged to' eat " his " wards,'' but. to have a sheet of V< Foolscap/' ink and wafer, crammed dowu^one's throat; is indeed a

( , »i

hard task, and nothing but dire necessity, we

should imaginé, could have-made a man mid- / low so horrible a nostrum. We should not be,

astonished at. hearing: that Mr. Moore, th« . Coroner,' had been called upon to officiate in ^

the business I i ! Many people have died from

much less cause ! ! I

We have been presented with a copy of Mr. Atkinson's newrbublication, yiew^througb Hobart vTown ; ¡ana congratulate the Colony

ohj'jimé^ajHw work$a»er ? brought'^forward here bf this description; The view« iarë^thë

.Hoase.T the 'Barracks, àrid^Kangàreo- Point. Mr. Atkinson bas had numerous difficulties to contend with, which, if taken into considera-tion, will advance greatly the value of his pub-lication. We believe Mr. Atkinson is following his own profession, that of Architect, and that .he.has .considerable practice. as.,8j,ich., ^ehaye seen arid admired some of bis cottage plane, some of them are exceedingly elegant.

We understand that our ^Ambassador, Mr. Sams arrived in the Jntfwn« yyesterriay, and notwithstandlngit was the opinion of many that'*he'"Would':':? not succeed injthe óbje'cfof'liis missions, he has already had the good luck of tumbling into the situation. of .ffaler Bailiff. Wliat has been done relative to the Petitions to Hi» Majesty, arid other matters relative to the* glorious 23rd'<of.;May| has .not yet transpired, but we hope to be enabled to, lay the .subject béforepur readers ¿ext week. ' .^ .. ...

'"' .W'è understand -'there .is a new order of telegraphing^ In futïirei5 merchant brigs, coming from London, will be signalized as male prisoner sh'¡iSr~:íhat merchant ships from London, will be signalized as ship« with troops I'rom Sydney.} we are not yet acquainted with

al 1 the intended changes,' but our readers shall -be informed, thereof, at the earliest -opportu-nity. The new order commenced on Saturday, and 'puzzled half ; Hobart TowUrr-no wonder, ; people get BO accustomed, to the old signals !

'Some.time since, vve recqmtuende»l the placing of a lamp or two, near the post-office ; there iânô part ofTowh,wi|içb.requires more lijçht tHati' the Post-office, and'.we trust our '? hint,- will be ¡the - means Of obtaining the de-

sired lampa.; '! , ,-'--. ??¡.'-.>y,.':--.îv \'---.':.-'i '.\-Z" v ?

In cpnsequeiice of the King!» Bil th^day, notj occurring again fprnear a twelve month, Cape wine has fallen very much. We under-stand a memorial'ia about to he presented by the holders, that some other festivities may take place, in order to enable them to get rid of the great stock on hand1-this is necessary in consequence of the small -.consumption,;, on last birth-day. ' '. .

The good people of New Norfolk, will .be glad, to hear, that Mr. J. P. Deane, with all

the musical world, will shortly announce a

splendid Concert, which" will take place at that TJwrishipi'expectation will no doubt; he on .the tiptoe, and from the arrangements making, we expect a grand treat.. ?.???.,.':V<.: ?

Is it true that the, sales of ; British silver is carried on as briskly as ever? We ask tlie' question, because ive perceived a.largr .'*'cart" going down Macquane'-street "loaded with the precious metal die other day. it is too bad!!! .;' Ç '?.'" ?'?;',?'......-.,

"The Mail-cart arrived in town Mhjs morning at about 3 o'clock.' The letters wert delivered at our Office at a quarter- past one.

The, mail per Adelaide, for Loiidbn, twas. one of. the largest that ever left thie.Ço lonyfor England; .. . -,,,.., v.-.y y-v--y:'1JV'

The Indiana, from London, Captain James Webster, arrived here yesterday, with a general cargo. Passengers for Van Diemen's Land:-Captain Gough, Captain D'Oyley, Mrs. D'Oyley, and two children, Mr. Sams and son; Lieutenant Woodburn; Captain Sutherland;

Mr. Swift; and thirty steerage passengers.

For Sydney:-Mr. Parken, and sixty-seven steerage passengers.

The Indiana, put in at -the Isle of France, and shipped between two and three thousand bags of sugar, -

The húg Mary, from Loudon,»Captain Turban,1 Jim, arrived here on the 8th; ¿¿.Sep-tember, with a geneial canjo* Cabin passen

, ger, for .Vari Dieinen's Land,. Mr. Georgs r

Tasker. Steerage-Mr. R. Seal, Mr, W« Wai» ; son; and Mr. John Wilson.' "/ .",';''