149; in 1841, 78; in 1842, 94; in 1843, 76; in 1844, 78; in 1845, 78; in 1846, 115; in 1847, 85; in 1848, 85; in 1849, 97; in 1850, 104; in 1851, 113.
Thus the total convictions in 1839, were 866, while in 1851, with a population nearly double, they were reduced to 574. The capital executions were in the same manner reduced from 22 in 1839 to 2 in 1851.
SQUATTING STATISTICS.
The order in council, dated 9th March, 1847, came into operation on the 7th of October that year; under which the lands of the colony were divided into three classes—the settled, the intermediate, and the unsettled districts. The settled districts in the colony of New South Wales comprise the whole of the nineteen counties, the counties of Stanley and Macquarie, the towns in the country districts with the lands immediately adjacent, all the land within three miles of the sea, and the lands at the head and along the banks of some principal rivers.
The intermediate districts in New South Wales comprehend the county of Auckland, Gipps' Land, and some other partially settled districts.
The unsettled districts comprise all the remaining lands of the colony.
In the unsettled districts occupation leases are given for fourteen years with the right to cultivate for the consumption of the establishment of the lessee, and no further: the amount of rent being ten pounds per annum for the estimated capability of the run to carry 4,000 sheep or an equivalent number of cattle; the capability of the run to be determined by two valuers, one appointed by the commissioner of the district, and one by the occupier. During the lease the land can be sold to only the occupant. The lease may be renewed for the whole run if no portion is sold, or for any portion of the run, provided that one-fourth of the whole remains unsold.
In the leases there are reservations for public purposes, and conditions for the payment of rent, &c., punishable by the forfeiture of the run in case of non-observance.
In the intermediate districts, the leases are confined to eight years, it being, however, a condition that at the end of every successive year from the date of the lease, the governor may, by giving sixty days' previous notice, offer for sale the whole or any part of the lands on the said run.
In the settled districts the leases are given from year to year only.
This, then, is the position, politically speaking, in which the pastoral districts now stand; under the constitutional act of 1850 the popula-
