Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 2.djvu/95

7B0M HSNOIiAKD. 75l of land wore under cnltiyation^ the larger portion of which ^'^ was private property. What would become of the seed The harvest, then in the ground — a second sowing — could not be pre- dicted with anything like certainty^ for the first sowing had almost entirely failed. This was the state of the agricultural industry in New a die- South Wales when Phillip sent off his despatches towards proq)eot the close of the first year. It did not augur well for the future of the settlement. The day when the colony would be self-supporting was clearly a long way ofE. Its ^'sole dependence/' as pointed out by Phillip, was on the supplies sent from England. Settlers who would make good use of the land were wanted ; but instead of these being sent, shipload after shipload of useless convicts were despatched. ^JJJJa Although the Home Government was to blame for dis- regarding the repeated admonitions of Phillip, it must be borne in mind that the case was viewed in an entirely different light at Whitehall and at Sydney. Phillip was face to face with the diflBiculties of the position; the author- ities in England saw them only from afar, and did not fully realise them. They were possibly misled by the tone of the despatches received from Phillip, who, while stating the facts plainly enough, always wrote hopefully about the future of the settlement. The authorities at Home seem to views of th© authorities have been possessed with the idea that the colony would be »» England. self-supporting almost from the first, and the conviction was not easily shaken. Advice and warning, unless they were given in the plainest language. Were thrown away upon them. The main purpose of the enterprise was another point in regard to which Phillip's views were at variance with those of the Secretary of State. Although he knew that the primary object was to relieve Great Britain of her criminal population, Phillip seems to have had larger ideas Phillip's on the subject than the statesmen who directed affairs in views. London. It is evident from his despatches that he contem- plated the formation, not of a convict-station, but of a colony.