t a "feigned issue bill" was brought
into the council. It simply referred the question of illegal
distillation to the jury, without assessing their claims. The right of
the distillers to compensation was, however, so indisputable, and the
retrospective action of the bill so liable to objection, that it was
generally opposed; and, by the dissent of the lawyers, the treasurer,
with all the non-official members, rejected by the council. The
attorney-general, Mr. Macdowell, impressed with its injustice, informed
the governor that he could not support the bill; in this resolution he
had been fortified by the strongly expressed opinions of his colleague,
Mr. H. Jones, the solicitor-general, who denounced its principle as
utterly iniquitous and unprecedented: but on the resignation of Mr.
Macdowell, Mr. Jones accepted his place, and voted for the bill:
defending his conduct by stating that he had expressed his former
opinion in ignorance of its details. The public indignation was excited
by this apparent perfidy, for which Mr. Jones atoned by a speedy
resignation. The financial success of the suppression was mentioned by
Sir John Franklin in exulting terms. The law is, however, regularly
violated when grain is low. Private stills have supplied spirits more
than usually deleterious; and the revenue has shown a decline. The
rights of the distillers were recognised by the home government, and
their unsettled claims, to the amount of L7,431, were paid in 1843.

The duty of a member of the government to support, at all events, the
measures of his chief, was asserted by the secretary of state. If his
conscience would not permit his acquiescence, he was expected to resign.
Thus, while his oath bound him to advise, as a legislator, according to
his convictions, his interest, as a public officer, compelled him to
submit to the impulses of another. From this condition the chief justice
was excepted,--a condition hard to an honorable man and unfair to the
colony. However plausible the reasons for distinguishing between an
official duty and a conscientious belief, public morality abhors them;
and Mr. Macdowell is entitled to the colonial remembrance, as one among
few who have refused to support a measure because unjust.

The extensive land sales, combined with the demand for labor (1840),
induced Sir John Franklin to promote emigration. The impression was
general that transportation to Van Diemen's Land would cease; such had
been announc