ing, as already men of
fortune, and, presuming on their anticipated wealth, they often lived in
an expensive and extravagant style, very different from the prudent and
abstemious life which can alone secure to the young colonist the success
he hopes for. In Sydney the most profuse habits prevailed, and in
Melbourne it seemed as if prosperity had turned the heads of the
inhabitants. The most expensive liquors were the ordinary beverages of
waggoners and shepherds; and, on his visit to Port Phillip in 1843,
Governor Gipps found the suburbs of Melbourne thickly strewed with
champagne bottles, which seemed to him to tell a tale of extravagance
and dissipation.

#3. Land Laws.#--Whilst many of the younger merchants were thus on their
way to ruin, and the great bulk of the community were kept impoverished
by their habits, the English Government brought matters to a crisis by
its injudicious interference with the land laws. The early years of
South Australia, and its period of trouble, have been already described.
In 1840 South Australia was on the verge of bankruptcy, and the
Wakefield policy of maintaining the land at a high price had not
produced the results anticipated. Now, many of the greatest men in
England were in favour of the Wakefield theory; and, in particular, the
Secretary of State for the Colonies--that is, the member of the British
Government whose duty it is to attend to colonial affairs was a warm
supporter of the views of Wakefield; so that when the people of South
Australia complained that their scheme could not be successful so
long as the other colonies charged so low a price for their land, he
sympathised with them in their trouble. "Who," they asked, "will pay one
pound an acre for land in South Australia, when, by crossing to Port
Phillip, he can obtain land equally good at five shillings an acre?" To
prevent the total destruction of South Australia, the Secretary of State
ordered the other colonies to charge a higher price for land. New South
Wales was to be divided into three districts. (1) The Middle District,
round Port Jackson, where land was never to be sold for less than twelve
shillings an acre. (2) The Northern District, round Moreton Bay, where
the same price was to be charged. (3) The Southern District, round Port
Phillip, where the land was of superior quality, and was never to be
sold for less than one pound an acre.

A great amount of discontent was caused throughout New South Wales by