rincipal farming settlements.

The Home Government made no provisions for grants to officers, and as to
free emigrants, they were a class in those days so little contemplated
that the early governors' instructions merely provided that they were to
be given every encouragement short of "subjecting the public to expense."
Grants of land equal to that given to non-commissioned officers could be
made, and assigned servants allowed, but nothing else.

Any modern emigrant who has seen what a grant of uncleared land in
Australia means knows what a poor chance of success the most industrious
settler could have on these terms, and the early governors were in despair
of getting people settled, since they could not provide settlers with
seeds, tools, clothing, or anything else without disobeying the order not
to subject the public to expense.

Emancipated convicts, on the other hand, were allowed much the same
privileges as discharged marines. Phillip repeatedly wrote to England on
this subject, and he, on his own responsibility, on more than one
occasion, departed from his instructions, and gave privileges to _bona
fide_ selectors of all classes.

The English Government was perfectly right in the plan laid down. Its
object was to encourage those people to go upon the land who were prepared
to remain there, and military and civil officials were not likely to
become permanent occupants of their land grants. An opportunity, as a
matter of fact, was given to them to supply information as to whether or
not they wanted to settle. At that time things looked unpromising, and
most of them answered, "No." When it became apparent to the Government
that there was a desire to settle, further instructions were issued by
which officers were allowed to take up land, but the permission was given
without providing proper security for permanent occupation or without
limiting the area of land grants. From the omission of these provisions
many abuses grew up. A scale of fees absurdly small, seeing that fees were
not chargeable to military and convict settlers, but only to people who,
it might well be supposed, could afford to pay, was also provided by the
Government, and regulations for the employment of assigned convicts were
drawn up.

In Governor Phillip's time there was no authority to grant officers any
land; in Lieutenant-Governor Grose's time there was no limit to the land
they might be granted, and as little value was attached to the Crow