Chapter 5; Caught in the Act, New South Wales Government Acts of Bastardry Against Aboriginal People 1788-2005 Kathy Stavrou

[Source: Oakes, M.J., The Aborigines of the Richmond Area (Richmond River Historical Society, Pamphlet No. 2]

Checklist of Royal Commissions Select Committees of Parliament and Boards of Inquiry, Index NSW 1855-1960; "304. SC (Select Committee) on condition of the aborigines. (19.12. 1876) These Documents are missing from the archives.

"In 1872-75 Farnell was secretary for lands in Henry Parkes's first government. In 1872-73 he bore the brunt of the rush for mineral leases and dealt with applications for three-quarters of a million acres ... In 1877 ... as the secretary for lands, became the first native-born prime minister of New South Wales ..."

"In 1877 a Royal Commission was appointed 'to inquire into the present condition of the aborigines of the colony, and advise as to the best means of caring for and dealing with them in the future.' "[Whitworth. Mr R.P.; The Treatment of the Aboriginals-1838 to 1847in Victoria and Its Metropolis (Melbourne, 1888) Page 253

Appointment of protectors of the blacks .. protection of the aboriginal natives from oppression and outrage on the part of Her Majesty's demoralised white subjects in New South Wales, [p3114] Adjournment, Protection of Aborigines [pp1314-1318]

Aboriginal Natives—Church and School Lands Dedication Bill (No. 2)—Volunteer Land Orders Hill—Messages from Assembly Bill—Wharfage and Tonnage Rates Bill)— Adjournment (Protection of Aborigines)---Supreme Court Temporary Judge Act Continuation Bill (Second Reading).

ABORIGINAL NATIVES. Mr. C. CAMPBELL asked the Vice-President of the Executive Council,— Does the Government purpose appointing protectors of the blacks in the districts of The Macintyre, The Barwon, The Darling, The Lachlan, The Murrumbidgee, and The Murray, with a view to the protection of the aboriginal natives from oppression and outrage on the part of Her Majesty's demoralised white subjects in New South Wales?

Sir JOHN ROBERTSON replied: It does not seem to me that there is any reason for the protection of aborigines in the districts named any more than in other districts. I do not know why they should be selected. I may be permitted to say that the whole matter of the protection of the aborigines of the colony is under the consideration of the Government.

Mr. C. CAMPBELL moved the adjournment of the House in order to make a few remarks on the subject of the question he had just addressed to the Representative of the Government. He was pleased to hear that the matter was .under the consideration of the Government. His own view on this subject was that any portion of the great body of mankind which had been separated from the rest of the civilised races for centuries could scarcely be restored to equality. Therefore it might be supposed that he was indifferent to what was called civilising the aborigines of this country. He thought they were out of the reach of the influences of civilisation, and possibly of the influences of Christianity. But however that might be, the first step to be taken on the part of the Colonial Government ought to be to protect them from outrage by the British portion of the community. The reason why he mentioned the five districts was because there was still a great number of natives in them, and it would be useless to appoint protectors to portions of the colony now scarcely inhabited by aboriginal natives. Wherever there were rivers abounding in fish there were still many aborigines ; and he maintained that great wrong to them might have been averted by the appointment of gentlemen holding the office of Police Magistrate and having protective powers given to them as in the colony of South Australia. He alluded particularly to those outrages inflicted in consequence of the aboriginal women being subjected to the lust of the white man. About three years ago he was in one of the districts named, when application was made to the gentleman with whom he was residing by a black to assist him in recovering his gin who was kept away from him by force. It was pointed out to the gentleman that he had no power to interfere. He had heard of a case in which an overseer had promised an aboriginal a quantity of goods, tobacco, etc., for the labours of his wife, and after obtaining what he sought with the woman he refused to give the blackfellow the promised articles, and as the black was importunate, the overseer had him tied to a dray and cruelly flogged. A few weeks ago there was a good deal of excitement about a black boy being brought by stockmen into one of the civilised districts. When he was in the district he spoke of, it was a common practice to buy a black boy for £5, and although doubtless it was an illegal act he did not see that much harm was done in bringing the boys into contact with the white population. But the fact that they were liable to such illegal acts showed how necessary it was to give them such protection as that contemplated in the question.

Sir JOHN ROBERTSON hardly knew what his honorable and learned friend had in his mind when he put the question, unless it were the buying and selling of black boys, of which he seemed to approve. For his own part, he had a great objection to the practice, and if the facts could be proved the Government would do all in their power to put it down. But it was denied; and who knew whether it was true or not ? He had no sympathy with those who bartered in human flesh. It was usually put forward that the Governments and the people of the colony had not been good to the blacks; and he quite agreed with his honorable friend that they might have done more good to them. But having had experience in other colonies, especially in Queensland, he could say that our squatters never treated the blacks here as they had been treated in that part of Australia. No one in the Chamber had been so much in the backwoods as he and Mr. Ogilvie ; but he defied any one to say that our squatters refused the blacks permission to "come in," as it was called, which refusal was the practice in the northern colony. When he was out in that country, having large stations there, he endeavoured to put down the practice of debarring the blacks from the stations, but he found it out of his power to resist it. If one man had 15 or 18 square miles of territory and others had the same areas adjoining, What was to become of these poor blacks if they were not allowed on the land? In New South Wales he usually made friends with a prominent member of the tribe and gave him sufficient consideration to make peace with the blacks, and there was no instance in which they were refused to "come in" on the run. He knew the proprietors of runs in this colony had almost invariably been exceedingly kind to the blacks. True, some of the convict servants, in olden times, were very cruel to these people ; and their conduct was very different from that of their employers. The honorable member said the districts mentioned required peculiar consideration in reference to the blacks. But we had to go only 3 miles from Sydney to find blacks who required protection more than those in any other district. Let him go to Rose Bay and there he would see young children—of course in the guardianship of their parents— and any man might have them for a shilling. He could not understand why the Police Magistrate did not take the children from the women and put them into the Reformatory. A few days ago a clergyman came to him at the head of a deputation, to represent the manner in which these people were treated in the interior, and this case at Rose Bay was brought under his notice. No power was given to issue prosecution, but it was pointed out that the Government had an establishment near these women to which the children might be taken. Although we might not have done so much as we ought to have done for the blacks, at any rate they received rations sufficient for their support; they also received clothing, and blankets had always been supplied to them. If, however, the blankets were given to them earlier than June, they sold them, and if they were given later people complained if the cold weather came in a little sooner than usual. What can be done with people who could not in these small matters take care of themselves? The other day a gentleman came to him to recommend the establishment of a school for aborigines in The Murrumbidgee district, and he immediately authorised the school without troubling about the mode of action or whether it came within the rule or not. The honorable member said we ought to appoint a Police Magistrate to protect the blacks. Some of them had been provided for, and a boat was given to them, but they quarrelled about it and it had to be given into the custody of the local Police Magistrate. The general matter might well be left in the hands of the Government, and at the present time they were giving it anxious consideration. It was, however, a difficult problem. We could not pretend to provide schools for them, or to improve their morals; they had no idea of morality. In the case the honorable and learned member referred to, the complaint of the aboriginal was not that his gin was the victim of immorality, but that he derived no profit from it. If we wanted to save the poor young children he had mentioned, their cases should be brought before the Police Court, and if the mothers were unfit to have charge of them, the children ought to be put in the Reformatory. We had a suitable place for them, capable of accommodating twenty-five girls, and there were now only four inmates. It was a discredit to the magistracy of the country that the children were not better cared for. It would be an act of philanthropy for some one to look after them. The Government were certainly not amenable to the complaints made by the honorable member.

Mr. OGILVIE said the subject was one with which he was conversant, having passed a large portion of his life in the backwoods and taken a great interest in the aborigines. He quite agreed with the Vice-President of the Executive Council [Sir John Robertson.]

that it was exceedingly difficult to know what ought to be done with these people. Neither the colonists nor the Government could be charged with having illtreated them, though the Government perhaps had not done as much as it might have done in their behalf. They who knew most about the matter must be aware that the great agency in effecting the misery and destruction of the blacks was the intoxicating liquor they obtained, and every means practicable should be taken to prevent it from being supplied to them. Parliament had passed a law prohibiting the practice, but the law remained a dead-letter, sufficient trouble not having been taken to give it force. If the police in the different districts were strongly enjoined to watch public-houses in order to procure convictions for this offence, an improved state of the condition of the blacks might be brought about. But he had known even Police Magistrates to supply them with intoxicating drinks. He had known a Police Magistrate to speak of the prohibitory law as an improper one, more righteous to break than to observe. In the districts where these things took place it was not likely that the police would take much trouble to enforce the law. Something might be done to compel these officers to do their duty in this respect. With regard to the female children ho thought the suggestion of the Vice-President of the Executive Council was right, that they should be taken away from parents who were found willing to trade them in the way ho described. But he would not advocate their entire separation from their parents by shutting them up in reformatories to which the mothers had no access. Although the mothers might not be fit to be trusted with their children in this respect, as a matter of fact they had great affection for them, and to be deprived of them would inflict great grief and sorrow. Therefore ho thought it desirable that the children should be taken from the parents and put under proper control, the parents being allowed access to them. Institutions of this kind had been established in South Australia for several years; the children were gathered together in schools and taken care of. If anything of that kind could be done for the aboriginal children of this colony it would be highly desirable. Any attempts to civilise or christianise them must result in failure; they were not capable of receiving the influences of civilisation, and the race was not likely to last long enough to derive much benefit from Christianity. As soon as the white race appeared in any district the blacks dwindled away and in a short time died out. The injury of taking from them their lands ought to be mitigated as much as lay in our power, and we should make their lives as comfortable as possible during the time they were destined to remain. Suggestions had been made that something should be given to them more than blankets. Clothes might be given to them two or three times a year ; the cost would not be so great that we should begrudge it to a race whom we had despoiled of their territory.

Mr. FOSTER thought the state of the aboriginal inhabitants of the colony was a blot on the British name. We came here as British subjects and took up the country in millions of acres appropriating it to our own use, and the smallness of the amount we had contributed to the welfare of those we dispossessed was disgraceful. When we saw the state in which they were placed we could not acquit ourselves of blame. The wrong no doubt was one of neglect rather than of illtreatment. The blacks here had not been so badly treated as in other countries. The people could not escape the blame of neglect by throwing it on the Government, though a great deal might have been, and had not been, done by the Government, who even now might do more. The honorable and learned member, Mr. Charles Campbell, suggested that some officers like protectors of the blacks should be appointed, and this was reasonable. How could these people who did not know right from wrong know how to protect themselves ? Were they to be left to the philanthropy of persons whose interference was looked on as officious? These aborigines were expected to subject themselves to the laws of the country and to have the benefit of those laws. They did not know what benefit the laws afforded, and surely we might appoint persons to see what protection could be given to them. If there had been a protector of the blacks near Sydney he might have prevented the abuse of the children referred to by the Vice-President of the Executive Council. It was a breach of the law, according to the ages of the children, and would subject the perpetrators to severe penalties. A person whose business it was to protect the children might avert the evil to a very great extent. Not long ago the same thing was going on in the interior, and a philanthropic gentleman spoke of it to the police and they said it was not their business to interfere, not being instructed to do so. He spoke to the Superintendent of the district, and under that officer's authority the infamous state of things was put down. The camps of the blacks had been used in a way that was a disgrace to any Christian country. If the laws were put in force more zealously, the blacks would be in a better position ; nine-tenths of the wrongs they suffered were not owing to any defect in the law, but to the want of vigour in its administration. Nothing could be more philanthropic and more consistent with our duty as a Christian people, than to strive to enable these tribes to know the benefits of the law under which they lived. The appointment of officers, like the protectors of the blacks in Victoria and South Australia, to look after these people, and see that they were not wronged, would admit of the law being carried out effectively. He could not agree with what fell from Mr. Ogilvie as to the utter impossibility of doing anything to christianise the blacks. Efforts of that kind had and were now being made by philanthropic individuals and were exceedingly successful. It was true that the blacks had little idea of morality in our sense of the word; but it was true they had feelings like those of other human beings, which were being outraged every day. A gentleman who devoted himself to their interests told him that lately one of these unfortunate girls requested his protection from the brutality to which she was subjected by her tribe. She was put with others under protection. He did not think it likely that the whole of the blacks could be christianised; but something might be done in individual cases, and he was glad that a society was established for that purpose, and to this the Government might very properly give a little encouragement. The

main thing, however, was that the Government should deal with the matter having respect to their own powers ; and by the appointment of protectors...

Licensing Act 1882 (45 Vic. No. 14) [Repealed by Act 18, 1898] (supply to aboriginal natives of any age forbidden. Mc)

Checklist of Royal Commissions Select Committees of Parliament and Boards of Inquiry, Index NSW 1855-1960; "Inquiry into working of aboriginal mission stations at Warangesda and Maloga (23.6.1882) (8.8.1882), NSW Pp. 1883 (v.3) 937-941

Legislative Assembly; 21 February 1883 Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission, Aborigines removed to America, Protectorate of Aborigines [21 Feb 1883]

Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings, Ministerial Statement, Treatment of Aborigines

Sir HENRY PARKES : I cannot help the honorable gentleman saying "No." I allow him to say the most outrageous things and I never say " No." Surely then the honorable gentleman will allow me to make an explanation ! That explanation is that this office was created in the interests of the blacks, and that Mr. Thornton was appointed to it as a gentleman whom we believed to be in every way qualified to look after the interests of these people. With regard to the allegation that these people were left in a stale of starvation on Christmas day, or any other day, I am sure honorable members will at once know that all I can do in such a case is to apply a remedy when I am made acquainted with the evil. When I received from the honorable member a letter informing me of this case 1 did not lose, a single hour in causing an inquiry to be made.

Sir HENRY PARKES: I caused inquiry to be made of the Protector of the Aborigines, and I specially sent a police officer to inquire into the allegations brought under my notice by the honorable member. I gave instructions that whatever was required for the necessities and comfort of these people should be supplied, without reference to anybody else. I ask the House. what more could I or any other person possibly do? it seems to me, to say the least of it—I will not say an ungracious thing, because I cannot expect anything gracious from the honorable member—but it does seem a most unjustifiable thing to make an affected interest in these unfortunate people a means of heaping insult and untruthful representation upon me.

Mr. McELHONE, in explanation : I should state that the honorable gentleman's colleague, the Colonial Treasurer, instructed Mr. Hill to supply the aborigines at Botany with rations. Mr. Hill, although not legally appointed to the office of Protector of the Aborigines, voluntarily discharged its duties for a period of two years, at the end of which time Mr. George Thornton received the appointment he now holds, Mr. Hill receiving no notice that his services would no longer be required.

Mr. O'CONNOR drew attention to the item, ‘Aid to Association for Protection of Aborigines in proportion of £2 for every £1 raised by private contributions, .£2,000.’ The aborigines were the true natives of the colony, but by our audacity and by the spirit of adventure of our race had supplanted them. We had taken lands from them, and we were bound to attend to the wants of those who were left. It was a dishonor to the country that a vote for the sustenance of the aborigines should be granted conditionally on the public subscribing an amount equal to half of that which was voted by Parliament. In the name of common humanity and the dignity of our race, was this right? The aborigines had no special representative in this Assembly, they had no particular interest in the country, but he hoped that honorable members would be animated by a spirit of fairness and honesty, and refuse to agree this vote with the condition to which objected. Suppose a sum of £1,000 I not subscribed by the public !

Mr. O'CONNOR : The poor blackfellow would go without blankets and with out food.

Mr. O'CONNOR : More shame on us! Was it not dishonoring and humiliating for the vote to be submitted to Parliament the condition to which he referred? We ought to make provision for the protection of the aborigines without any such stipulation. All nations which had invaded other countries had made ample provision for the people whom they supplanted. The people of England were taxed to the extent of .£20,000,000 for the liberation of the blacks of the West Indies. It was unbecoming of a free and £ prosperous country like this to surround a Vote for the protection of the aborigines with a condition which was not applied to any other vote, and he asked the Colonial Secretary to withdraw the condition attached to the item to which he had drawn his attention.

Mr. STUART : I am quite sure the Committee will re-echo to a great extent the views put forward by my impetuous friend, the honorable member for West Sydney. One would imagine from the way in which the honorable member hurled indignant remonstrances against the manner in which this vote has been placed upon the Estimates that the Government were placing greater restrictions upon the expenditure of the money. The honorable member will recollect that in the year before last there appeared upon the Estimates for the first time a vote for the laudable purpose of aiding the aborigines —excepting of course the annual vote for blankets, which is included in the Stores Department. I find that when the vote was under consideration last session I said :

‘Last year was the first time that any care at all was shown towards the aborigines, and then a secretary was appointed, whose salary was paid out of the advance vote.’

In 1882 a sum of .£200 was voted for a secretary to the Aborigines Protection Board, and last year the sum of 3,600 was placed upon the Estimates for the purpose of protecting these persons. The vote appeared upon the Estimates in this form : "Aid to the Association for the Protection of the Aborigines, .£2,000 ; towards the formation of stations and otherwise in aid of the aborigines, £1,000." With regard to the first of these items, it became a question in what proportion the amount voted should be paid. It is customary for the Government to aid institutions having benevolent objects in view m the proportion of.£1 to £1; some are aided in the proportion of 10s. to £1. I believe that my honorable friend, Sir John Robertson, is the patron of the Society for the Protection of the Aborigines, and the honorable gentleman stated, at a public meeting of that society, that he would recommend the Government of which he was a member to contribute .£2 for every .£1 raised by the society. That proposal, however, fell through, and the amount was not placed upon the Estimates. Last year £2,000 was voted, and that vote appears upon the Estimates now before us. But .£1,000 was also voted without any restriction whatever. The Board for the Protection of the Aborigines were allowed to deal with that sum. In the first instance, the Honorable George Thornton was appointed Protector of the Aborigines ; but as the work opened up it was found desirable to intrust to a board the duties of the protector. That board consisted of six members, of which the Honorable George Thornton was elected the first chairman. He has since resigned, but the board is carried on; and the Committee are now asked to vote £4,000 in lieu of the £1,000 which was voted last year. The honorable member for West Sydney (Mr. O'Connor), who addresses us on this subject in such an impassioned manner, may be correct in saying that the total vote of £6,000 is unworthy of the dignity of the nation and the liberality of the House; but the sum of £4,000 is three times as much as the sum voted last year for the board to dispose of as they think proper. In addition to the distribution of this vote, however, the board has the control of the blankets, the money for which is voted under the Stores Department. The Society for the Protection of the Aborigines has formed certain stations, which are called mission stations, with the benevolent object of endeavouring in some measure to raise the social and moral status of the aborigines. I was only too glad to find that my predecessors in office had taken up this matter, and I hope that the House will continue to vote money in assistance of so benevolent a design. In establishing these stations the society interweaves with their benevolent object the imparting of religious instruction and duties. This is a work which the state cannot undertake. Whether for good or for evil the state has decided that it will not interfere in religious matters. But this society, while it is doing work of a religious and moral character, is at the same time carrying out a highly benevolent work ; and the state is willing to aid the society, not by way of granting aid to religion but in order to take advantage of the benevolent instincts of the association to do something towards improving the social and moral welfare of the aborigines. I have no doubt that the society will raise the £l,000, and if it does so it will be the channel for the expenditure of the £2,000 contributed by the Government towards the objects of the institution. The Aborigines Protection Board will have placed at their disposal £4,000 for the furtherance of a most useful work. I commend for the perusal of honorable members the report of the board, which I laid upon the table the other day. When they have digested that report I am sure they will come to the conclusion that the board is beginning a really good work —a work which I quite agree with the honorable member for West Sydney (Mr. O’Connor) ought to have been mm. many years ago if the country had been alive to its duty in this matter. But it is better to begin late than never. I do not think it would be prudent to place on the Estimates at once a large sum for this purpose. Let the board go on with their work. Last year they had £1,000 at their disposal, this year they will have £4,000. If next year it is found that they satisfactorily appropriate a larger sum of money, I feel satisfied that they will not appeal in vain to the generosity of this House.

Mr. GARRARD said that the honorable member for West Sydney (Mr.O'Connor) did not appear to have examined these items very attentively, but he was glad that the honorable member had referred to the matter. His eloquent language would, perhaps, have the effect of reminding some honorable members their duty as the descendents of those who first took possession of this land towards the survivors of the aboriginal race. The honorable member seemed to have been under the impression that it was necessary for the Association for the Protection of the Aborigines to raise £1,000 before they were entitled to receive any of the £2,000 which appeared upon this vote, hut he took it that the society would receive £2 for every £1 they raised. The whole colony was under a debt of gratitude to those gentlemen who had in first instance established mission stations, for the improvement of the conditions of the aborigines. Their action appeared to have awakened the country to a sense of' its responsibility in the matter. He believed that Mr. Matthews, of Maloga, initiated the work.

Mr. GARRARD : But the first systematic and successful effort was made by Mr. Matthews, and it was repeated at the Warangesda Station. The Association for the Protection of the Aborigines had taken into its care the conduct of these two stations, and it was pleasing to know that a number of charitably disposed persons had contributed to the cost of their maintenance, and that the Government now saw their way to place at the disposal of the Aborigines Protection Board a sum of £4,000 instead of the £1,000 voted last year. He shared in the regret expressed by the honorable member for West Sydney (Mr.O’Connor) that some steps were not taken long ago to brighten the last days of an expiring race. The expenditure of this vote, however, would go some way towards wiping out the disgrace which had hitherto attached to the colony by reason of its neglect to care for the Welfare of these unfortunate wretches - for wretched in the extreme they certainly were. He hoped, however, that the board would exercise such influence as it possessed to prevent the blacks from coming into the centres of population, where they saw nothing but worst side of our civilisation. They would be far better off in the country districts. A number of the unfortunate people had been wandering about the streets of the metropolis during the past weeks. The annual distribution of blankets which was made on the 24th May appeared to have attracted them to the city earlier than usual. He cheerfully voted for the increased estimate.

Mr. B. H. D. WHITE was also very pleased that the vote had been increased. He was satisfied that only a very few members of the House were acquainted with the deplorable condition of the aborigines. Many of them could not obtain sufficient to eat, and were reduced to a state almost of starvation. He had discovered that some blacks had lately died at Port Stephens in a state of absolute destitution. The few blacks who were able to earn a living were eaten out of camp by the others. He intended to bring under the notice of the board the state of want to which the blacks in his electorate —and there were a great many—were reduced; and he hoped that there would next year be a further increase in the vote.

Mr. GARRETT intended to support the vote; but he objected to the organisation for the expenditure of the money. He had no confidence in voluntary boards so far as the expenditure of public money was concerned. It would be far better to leave the expenditure of the money in the hands of a responsible minister ; under the present arrangement that responsibility was frittered away through the Minister to the under-secretary, and through the undersecretary to a board who were not paid for their services. He believed that the gentlemen who composed the board were actuated by benevolent motives ; but they seldom performed their duties. Who could be held responsible for this neglect? True, the Minister was nominally responsible, but he had between him and the House a buffer in the shape of this unpaid board. During the last six weeks he had noticed droves of blacks in the city begging of every one they met ; but when this vote was passed last year it was supposed that it would put an end to that state of things. It should be our endeavour to put a stop to this discreditable spectacle. We were only discharging a duty to those of whose country we had possessed ourselves when we made this provision for them. His chief object in rising, however, was to point out that as regards the expenditure of this money a voluntary board could not be expected to discharge their duties so satisfactorily as a paid board. The existing arrangement was another illustration of the old saying that every one's business was no one's business.

Mr. FREMLIN could not support this vote, because he did not believe that as a rule the expenditure of the money had the beneficial effect which it was supposed to have. As regarded the blacks at Botany, he was aware that they had been supplied with boats and fishing lines and other means of gaining a livelihood; but this distribution had been attended by the most disappointing results. They were too prone to exchange for grog everything which was given to them. He could not help expressing his contempt for the ill-judged sympathy with the blacks which was manifested by some members of the board whose names it was quite unnecessary to mention. When the House sanctioned the expenditure of so large a sum of money we had a right to expect that the board would take some more definite action. It was a disgrace to the community that the blacks should come into our centres of population exposing their peculiar vices side by side with the vices of our own people. . The honorable member for Balmain (Mr. Garrard) had expressed some very benevolent sentiments as to our duty towards the aboriginal race; but if England were to take it upon herself to provide food and clothing for the aboriginal race of every country of which she took possession she would have more than enough to do. Many of the so-called blacks had in their veins a considerable proportion of the blood of people of white extraction. Why should they not work as white men were made to work ? Why should we pamper them up ? He would not object so much to making provision for the support of the pure blacks; but in cases where the men had the blood of white men in their veins they should be made to work as white men worked. He should vote against the measure.

Mr. BARBOUR said there were doubtless good and bad aboriginals as there were also good and bad white men; but under any circumstances we should consider the welfare of the children of the aboriginals who were receiving education, combined with domestic training, in the institutions which were referred to. It had been observed that the blacks were given to habits of intemperance; but there were many white men who rendered themselves objectionable upon this score, and we had no right to expect that the blacks would be absolutely free from vices of this description. We could certainly do a great deal towards enabling them to become useful members of society, and in this respect the mission stations were carrying out a very important work. The girls in these institutions, he believed, were taught to sew, while the boys were trained in various descriptions of farm-work. He had had frequent opportunities of observing the working of these institutions, and he felt persuaded that they were of great utility.

Mr. O'CONNOR said that the money was either necessary or not. If not, it ought not to appear on the Estimates. If it was necessary, it ought not to be dependent upon any contingency whatever. That we had improved upon what was done by our predecessors was to a certain extent creditable to ourselves; but if our predecessors had neglected to do their duty to the aborigines that was no reason why we should do it badly if we did it at all. There was not a more charitable member in the House than the honorable member for Redfern (Mr. Fremlin), yet that honorable member said that we ought to let the aborigines starve because some of them were not pure blacks. If they were not pure blacks, it was because of the viciousness of the whites. We ought to take these people under our tender care. The honorable members asked what the British did in the parts of the world where their power was predominant; but he would point out that in no part of the world did the British nation rule so cheaply as here. In other colonies standing armies had to be maintained ; but in Australia we had nothing more to do than to preserve the emblems of peace. We had only to make a provision for those unfortunate aborigines, who are rapidly dying out. It must be known to the Colonial Secretary that innumerable complaints had been made about these people being in want. Why were they allowed to get into that condition? They had not the power to take care of themselves, and we ought to provide them with their necessities in every possible way. We were called upon by every feeling of humanity to do it, and he hoped the Colonial Secretary would withdraw the condition upon which the money was to be granted. He would be glad if the Colonial Secretary would tell him who the members of the board were.

Mr. STUART: I understood that the honorable member had read the report which the names of the six members of the board are attached. There is a board, consisting of six members, for the protection of the aborigines. There is also voluntary society, of which the honorable member for Mudgee, Sir John Robertson is, I believe, the president. This item of £2,000 is to aid that society. If we were to hand over the money to the society unconditionally, we should cease to call forth those philanthropic exertions for the exercise of which the society was formed. The members of the Government board are Mr. Richard Hill, Mr. W. J. Foster, Mr. Alexander Gordon, Mr. P. G. King, Mr. Fosbery, and Mr. Robison, Inspector of Charities. It is impossible for the committee to eliminate the words which are objected to. We can reduce any sum of money, but we cannot alter the terms on which a vote is submitted.

Mr. O'CONNOR said that every one of the gentlemen whose names the Colonial Secretary had mentioned was as good any of the honorable gentlemen's colleagues, and could be trusted to expend this money for the benefit of the aborigines. We ought not to deal with the aborigines as we dealt with a school of arts; they were in an entirely different position. He was sure it was the wish of the people of this country that these unfortunate people should be well cared for.

Mr. TAYLOR had heard no explanation as to why the item should be put on the Estimates in this manner: the money should be provided without any conditions whatever.

Mr. STUART : Do we not grant all the aid afforded to charitable societies on these conditions?

Mr. A.G. TAYLOR, asked whether the Colonial Secretary could not see the difference between a blackfellow and a mechanics’ institute? The people of the colony did not support the aborigines. What was everybody's business was nobody’s business. It was the duty of the state to provide in a direct manner for people whose country we possessed. Why should we encumber the grant with conditions? He moved :

That the item, "Aid to Association for the Protection of Aborigines in the proportion of £2 for every £1 raised by private contributions, £2,000," be omitted.

Mr. BARBOUR hoped that the motion would not be carried. Some honorable members did not appear to understand this matter. The fact was that a number of charitable people thought it their duty contribute a sum of money for the assistance of the aborigines, and to encourage them in their philanthropic efforts the Government gave .£2 for every £ which those people contributed. In addition to this, however, the Government placed on the Estimates a sum of .£4,000 to be spent for the benefit of the aborigines entirely regardless of what was being done by the association.

Mr. YOUNG thought every honorable member would consider that all money which was really spent for the benefit of the aborigines was very properly spent, and he could not understand on what principle the honorable member for Mudgee moved the omission of the item. He did not think the sum at all too much. If twice as much could be spent judiciously on behalf of the aborigines, he would willingly vote for it.

Mr. BURNS would recommend the honorable member to withdraw his amendment.. We ought only to be too glad that a society of this kind, for which the money was intended, was trying to benefit the aborigines of the colony in this way, and it ought to be quite sufficient for the Committee to know that the money was properly spent.

Motion (by Mr. Stuart) proposed : That the estimates, "General staff, £3074"; " Artillery Force, £:33,347 " ; Artillery Reserve Force, £1,520"; " Works of defence, £1,500"; "Volunteer Force, £50,220"; " Volunteer Naval Artillery, £500"; Naval Brigade, £5,817"; and "Training-ship Wolverine, £4,200,"be postponed..

Mr. A. G. TAYLOR said he intended to move a reduction in this estimate, and he would keep the Committee a considerable time in trying to effect the reduction. If honorable members were earnest in their expressed desire to retrench the public expenditure, no better opportunity was afforded than by the military vote. During the last ten years we bad spent £1,000,000 upon our military forces. That money had come out of the pockets of the working-people of the colony, and what had we to show them for it ? Nothing but a miserable lot of painted soldiers and military … (etc.)”

Legislative Assembly Aborigines and disgraceful scenes [4 May 1886] (p1644) Aboriginal Rations [9 June 1886] (p2515)

"the board for the protection of aborigines and aboriginal housing" [19 Aug 1886] (p4160)

Legislative Assembly Supply of Rations and Railway Passes to Aborigines [10 May 1887] (p1397) Relief to the Aborigines [8 Nov 1887] (p1032) The Aborigines [16 Nov 1887] (p1272)

'That this House will, on Tuesday next, resolve itself into a Committee of the Whole to consider its address to the Governor, praying that his Excellency will be pleased to cause to be placed on the estimates for 1888 a sum not exceeding £10,000, for the purpose of supplying the aborigines throughout the colony with rations, clothing, and shelter.'

He said: I think that this motion requires very few words from me to command the attention of hon. members. I was struck some time back with the small amount winch was placed on the estimates for the relief of the aborigines, I am sure that during last winter almost every hon. member must have had brought under his notice personally, or through the press, the extreme destitution and disease which was prevailing amongst the aborigines. I take it that the House will most willingly grant the amount stated in my motion. We have taken the country from the blacks, and at the present time they are in a most destitute condition. Their number is reduced to something like 6,000, and out of that number there are 2,000 who are diseased or infirm, and unable to work. There are about 1,000 who are robust and strong, and desirous of working, or who could be made, to work, all that they require being a small amount of assistance. The balance consists of children, from about 14 years of age downwards. It would be a disgrace to our civilisation to allow those unfortunate people to be wiped out of existence without making some effort to render their declining days peaceful and comfortable. We find that 2,000 out of the 6,000 are so decrepit and diseased as to be unable to work. I know of many hon. members who, out of their own pockets, last winter relieved this unfortunate section of the community, and that in many cases owing to the actual want of the necessaries of life, combined with the severity of the weather, some of the aborigines perished. I shall not make any lengthy remarks upon this subject tonight ; but will reserve what I have to say until the House goes into Committee. I trust that hon. members will do all they can to assist me in impressing upon the Government the necessity for expending a decent sum of money to make these poor, wretched people more comfortable than they are at the present time. We build grand palatial residences for the poor and sick of our own race ; but what have we done for the blacks! Nothing, comparatively speaking. We have taken from them their hunting-ground—-in fact everything they possess, and we occupy their country. I think that many of our rich men should assist most liberally in increasing the proposed vote of £10,000. Rich men like the Tysons, the Dangars, the Campbells, and the Whites, who are making their living out of the land the blacks used to occupy, should as well as Parliament do something to relieve the necessities of this unfortunate class of the community. Question proposed.

Sir HENRY PARKES: I must ask the hon. member in this case to withdraw his motion. The Government are fully alive to their obligations, with regard to this unfortunate race; and as we intend to make more liberal provision for them on the estimates than has hitherto been made. I think the hon. member might, leave the matter in our hands. It is a most difficult thing to deal with. I assure the hon. member and the House that we are fully alive to the duties winch devolve upon us in doing whatever we can to alleviate the condition of life in which these unfortunate people are placed, that we are not insensible to the difficulties surrounding any attempt to afford them substantial relief, and that to some extent we have paid a good deal of attention to the nature of those difficulties. When I assure the hon. member of all that, and. of our desire to do whatever we can for the relief of the aborigines, I trust he will not think it necessary to go into Committee upon this subject. I think I can appeal to the hon. member's good sense not to press the matter any further.

Mr. J. P. ABBOTT : I think the hon. member might accept the suggestion the Colonial Secretary. Yet I cannot allow the resolution, to be withdrawn without drawing attention to what appears to me to be disgraceful neglect, whether on the part of officers in the department of the Colonial Secretary, or on the part of the board appointed to look after the aborigines, I cannot say. During the winter the Reverend Dr. White, of Singleton, a well-known charitable man in that district, directed attention again and again of the Aborigines' Board, with reference to the wants of some of the blacks there. He wrote again and again not only to the Colonial Secretary's predecessor, but I think also to the hon. gentleman himself, and a very lengthy correspondence was published in the local papers, in which it was pointed out that not one of the letters addressed by this gentleman, who, if he had written upon any subject, had a right to receive a reply on account of his position in the country, to the Colonial Secretary was acknowledged. 1 think the reverend Gentleman had good cause for complaint, and by directing public attention to the matter. Having regard to the multitudinous duties devolving upon the department of the Colonial Secretary, probably all that could be done was to refer the letters to the board appointed to deal with the aborigines, and it was their bounden, duty to reply to them. The reverend gentleman, however, appears to have received no replies to any of his communications. I hope the Colonial Secretary will look into the matter himself, and see that the board discharge their duties. I am told that at Long Bay, a place not very distant from Sydney, there has been a lavish and wasteful expenditure of money by the Aborigines' Board. The money must have been taken out of the aborigines' vote, and I am told that it has been expended in a most improper way in the erection of a pavilion and other buildings which were altogether unnecessary, and which cannot add to the comfort of, or be of any service whatever to, the aborigines. I believe that a few of the poor blacks are kept about the place occasionally ; but I am informed that the money so wastefully spent in this locality would have been the means of relieving the distress of many blacks in the past winter. I hope the Colonial Secretary will, inquire as to what money has been expended at Long Bay.

Sir HENRY PARKES: If I may be allowed to say a few words in reference to what has fallen from the hon. member for Wentworth, I would state that I have given as much personal attention to this as I could, and that it is my intention to personally investigate several conditions of it. Among others, I have in the last few months sought to enlist new agencies on the part of some of aborigines who are grouped in different parts—and especially in the far southern part—of the country. I have tried in many ways to do what I could to bring about a better state of things. With regard to the particular case to which attention has been called, I will see that inquiry is made into the matter, with a view to ascertain the real facts, without any delay. As to the letters of the Reverend Dr. White, although I have a distinct recollection of his name m connection with the subject, I cannot at this moment venture to state what are the particulars, as far as they are within my knowledge ; but it is more than likely that any letters from this gentleman which came to me would to referred to the board. I do not, however, distinctly remember what occurred.

Mr. DOWEL, in reply : After the statement made by the Premier, I will, with the concurrence of the House, withdraw my motion. I am quite sure that the hon. gentleman will do justice to the question. I intended to speak at length upon the question, for I have a large amount of information. I have resided in the interior for upwards of thirty years, and I have often come into contact with the unfortunate race to which my motion refers. Although in some instances, such as that to which the hon. member for Wentworth has referred, the aborigines' vote has not, perhaps, been applied m the best possible manner, still I am certain that the necessities of the case require that a larger amount of money should be placed at the disposal of the board if they are to do anything like justice to tins unfortunate race. I do not think we shall be long troubled with them, because they are dying out very rapidly at the rate of 500 a year, if we can possibly do anything to make the last days of this race comfortable and happy, we shall only be discharging our duty. If we can do anything at all towards educating, schooling, feeding, and training the young aborigines from the age of 14 downwards, we shall have done something which we have a right to do, I find that out of 2,000 aboriginal children only 272 are going to school. I think that is a disgrace to the Education Department, and I hope the gentlemen, termed truant inspectors, will give their attention to this matter. With the concurrence of the House I shall withdraw the motion. Motion, by leave, withdrawn." (Pages 1132-1033)

It is stated in the annual report of the Aborigines Protection Board that there were 5,012 aborigines in New South Wales in 1887, as compared with 4,893 in 1886. The increase, however, consists entirely in the number of children, the adults, both male and female, having decreased. There were 2,741 half-castes in the Colony in 18S6, and 2,860 in I887. Compared with the above returns, the number enumerated by the census appears .small, and shows that the aboriginals passed over as being in a wild state far nut numbered those within the bounds of civilization.

It has been the misfortune of the aborigines of Australia, as it was of the Carribee, the North American Indian, and the Hottentot, to be found in the way of European colonization ; and the blacks have not seen the white man take possession of their territory without many an attempt, by deeds of cunning and of blood, to stop the invasion and to avenge the injury. It would be easy to gather from the records of British colonization in Australia many instances of horrible crimes committed by the aborigines. They are, in fact, partakers of the worst passions of human nature. But it must not be forgotten that, amongst the people of British origin who settled upon the land, formerly occupied by the blacks alone, were many whose crimes against the aborigines at least equalled in atrocity any committed by that unfortunate race. Cunning and ferocity were the natural concomitants of such a struggle; and the remembrance of what cunning and ferocity have done tends to make the colonists slow to recognize any characteristics of an opposite kind in the blacks.

There is, however, evidence from their songs and their cherished traditions, (Vide, Kaniilaroi and other Australian Languages, by Rev. W. Ridley, M.A.) that they are by no means destitute of some qualities in which civilized men glory —such as the power of inventing tragic and sarcastic fiction, tin; thirst for religious mystery, stoical contempt of pain, and reverence for departed friends and ancestors. The manner in which they have displayed these characteristics presents such a strange mixture of wisdom and folly, of elevating and degrading thoughts, of interesting and of repulsive traditions, of pathetic and grotesque observances, that in order to account for the apparent, contradictions, recourse must be had to the .supposition that, this race has descended from an ancient and higher civilization, of which they have retained some memorials".

[Source: Coghlan. TA, Government Statistician The wealth and Progress of New South Wales 1887-88, Sydney: Charles Potter, Government Printer (1888) page 328]

Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings, Aborigines Protection Board

Mr McELHONE said that when this question was under discussion on a previous occasion the hon. member for Northumberland, Mr. Melville, stated that some blacks at La Perouse had not received their proper rations. With regard to one member of the board, the Hon. R Hill, it was not possible that any one could be kinder to to the aborigines than he was. That was true of the whole of Mr. Hill's family. Mo doubt some abuses might have crept into the supply of comforts to the aborigines, and the blacks were as much given to lying as white people were. If they were left to the tender mercies of the head of the refreshment committee the hon. member for East Sydney, Mr. Burdekin, no doubt they might have some cause to cry out, because he did not believe that hon. member devoted much of his time or means to looking after the aborigines. Within this last fortnight he saw a number of blacks at Breeza, including gins and children, some of them being very old, and they had not yet received their blankets for tho present year. It was the custom to distribute blankets among the black-fellows about the Queen's Birthday. - In the northern and southern districts it was extremely cold in the month of May ; and, in fact, in any part of the country the 24th of May was too late in the year to give these blankets. At Breeza an old gin of 60 or 70 years of age complained to him that she had not received her blankets, and that tho same was the case with the other blacks. The custom was to send the blankets to a police station, but there was

no police officer at Breeza, and those black-fellows would have to go to Gunnedah, a distance of 25 miles, in order to get them. They could not get to Gunnedah by rail, because they would first have to go there to get an order from the police officer or magistrate to travel on the railway. These blankets should be left at railway-stations where blacks were known to reside. Prior to the appointment of this board the. blacks were always allowed to travel free by tram without any special interference. Aborigines going on board any of the coasting steamers were allowed to travel free, and before the existence of the Aborigines' Board they were carried free on all the railways of the colony on presenting themselves at the station. But probably owing to some ridiculous idea on the part of the hon. member for East Sydney, Mr. Burdekin - and the assumption was only natural after the insane placard the hon. gentleman had caused to be issued, prohibiting hon. members from getting ''tick" at the refreshment-room — this hon. gentleman might have suggested the present absurd practice of compelling these unfortunate blacks to go, perhaps, 20 or .30 miles to obtain a free railway pass from the police authorities. He hoped that the Secretary for Public Works would at once issue instructions that on presenting themselves at a railway-station aborigines should be allowed without question to travel free on the railways. This was the least we could do for the unfortunate people whom we had robbed of their land.

Mr. GOULD heartily concurred in the remarks of the hon. gentleman as to the treatment of the aborigines. No doubt the Secretary for Public Works would take steps to see that in future they were allowed to travel free by rail without requiring a pass, to obtain which they were now put to so much trouble and inconvenience. During the last two or three years cases had come within his knowledge in which these poor blackfellows had not received proper treatment; but he could not agree with the hon. member for The Upper Hunter in attributing the blame to the hon. member for East Sydney, Mr. Burdekin. He had had occasion to see that hon. gentleman with other members of the board, and he had at all times expressed his willingness to do all he could to assist the blackfellows. Not only was the issue o£ blankets in some parts of the country delayed until the weather was cold and inclement, but the quality of the blankets was very inferior. They were almost useless for purposes of warmth. More generous treatment should be given to the aborigines in regard to blankets and clothing. Homes should also be provided for them in which they might go and rest undisturbed. Many of them were willing to work, and areas of land might be set apart on which they could make a living for themselves. He was glad to notice that an additional sum of £2,000 was proposed to be voted in the estimates for the maintenance of old and infirm aborigines, the money to be expended under the authority of the board. He was quite sure that the board would be able to expend every shilling of the vote with credit to the colony and with benefit to the unfortunate recipients. These poor people, who were the original owners of the soil, had had to give way before the advance of civilisation. Before many years were past, there would not be a blackfellow in the country; and it, was not expecting too much at our hands that we should make tins miserable remnant of the race as happy and comfortable as possible, by providing them with shelter from the weather, with warm clothing, and also with food where they were unable to procure it themselves. With regard to the present system requiring these unfortunate people to obtain railway passes, a case occurred in his own district, in which an unfortunate blackwoman was seriously ill. The medical officer of the district stated that it was absolutely necessary that she should go to Newcastle for a change. Before she could leave, application had to be made to the Serjeant of police of the district for a free pass. This application had then to be referred to the board, and afterwards to the inspector of: police at Maitland ; and two or three weeks elapsed before the unfortunate woman could be carried in the railway.

Mr. GOULD said he thought she died about that time, but he was not sure. All this would have been obviated if the old system had not been altered, under which a blackfellow's colour was his pass. It had been suggested that to prevent tho§ blacks from parting with their blankets; to unscrupulous white people, the blankets should have a distinctive colour, so that any transfer of them could be detected.. Instead of there; being any complaint of illiberal treatment of the aborigines, the reverse should be the case, and the action of the Government towards them should be characterised by generosity.

Mr. BURDEKIN said that he did not think it necessary to defend himself against any attack made on him by the hon. member for The Upper Hunter; but.' there were one or two matters to the hon., member referred, respecting which be wished to say a few words. The hon., member referred to tile La Perouse blacks, and said that they had not been supplied with blankets and food. The moment that the matter was referred to in the House, he consulted that most excellent gentleman, Mr. Richard Hill, who. had always taken a great interest in the blacks, and he was assured that there had been no neglect, and that the. usual blankets and food had been supplied. The blacks being of a roving disposition, it was quite possible that there were, some new arrivals at the camp who had not been supplied. At any rate, Mr. Hill went to the camp, and saw that all the wants of the blacks were supplied. As to the charge of inattention to the blacks, all that he could say was that the board were only too anxious, at all times, to have cases of destitution reported to them, so that they might afford the necessary relief. Since he had been a member of the board, there had not been a meeting at which every requisition sent in was attended to. rations, clothing, and, where needed, medical advice and medical comforts, were supplied ; and in some case houses were provided for them, where the circumstances did not permit of their being taken to a public institution. At the last meeting of the board a voucher was sent to the Colonial Secretary for £115 for the blacks at Lismore. This showed distinctly that there was not so much inattention to the wants of the blacks as the hon. member for The Upper Hunter alleged. There was a great deal of force in what the hon. member had said about the women ands children at Breeza not being supplied with blankets. Hitherto the practice had been to distribute the blankets through the different police magistrates; but he thought that it was a good suggestion that, where there was no police magistrate for 20 or 30 miles, the blankets should be distributed by the police officers. He would have much pleasure in bringing the suggestion under the notice of the board. The hon., member for Patrick's Plains said that the blankets were distributed at too late a period in the year. The practice had been distribute them on the Queen's Birthday; but on its being suggested to the House that, owing to the coldness of the weather, they ought to be; distributed earlier, lie brought the matter under the notice of the board, and the blankets were sent out forthwith. It could hardly be said that the railway-stations were proper places at which to distribute the blankets. the work of the board could not be satisfactorily or economically performed, except through the police. A complaint was made that the, blacks were not allowed to travel free by rail. There were very good reasons for that. Was it in the interests of morality, was it charity, to induce these people to congregate in towns? They were very fond of drink, and in the interests of morality, as well as of their health, it was advisable to keep them away from centres of population as much as possible. There was a gathering of blacks on the occasion of the opening of the Bondi Aquarium, and people who saw them about the streets of the city must have regretted that they bad been brought here for such a purpose. The board did all in their power to see that they were sent to their respective homes as quickly as possible. A further complaint was that the blacks were not allowed to travel on the Botany tram. Was it not infinitely better that they should remain at their camp, than that they should be allowed to ride to Sydney, with the result that they would not return home until late at night, and then generally in an intoxicated condition? The hon. member for Patrick's Plains said that the blankets were very thin and of poor quality. He had recently examined the blankets which were being issued, and he thought that no reasonable exception could be taken to them. Possibly some. inferior blankets were on hand in some of the country districts, and they had been distributed.

Mr. BUKDEKIN said that unfortunately the blacks would drink intoxicating liquor, and if they were supplied with more than one blanket, the chances were that the extra blankets would he bartered away for grog. One blanket was as much as they cared to carry about from place to place. At one time they were supplied with boots ; but it was found that after they bad worn them once or twice, they disposed of them, and it was simply a waste of money to give them the articles. The hon., member for The Gwydir could state that ho had had no difficulty in getting huts erected where they wen; required for the blacks in his district. The board did all in their power to make the unfortunate people as comfortable as possible. The hon. member for Patrick's Plains suggested that the blacks should be assisted in the way of offering them encouragement to earn their own living. Whenever blacks asked for boats or fishing nets, and they were known lo be people who would take care of them, they were supplied with what they wanted. In many parts of the country reserves were set apart for the occupation of the aborigines, and it was the constant endeavour of the board to induce them to settle there. The were supplied with seed, and helped in any way which would induce them to become reputable members of society. As to food, they were induced, as far as possible, to depend upon the natural game for meat; but they were provided with tea, flour, and sugar. The men also were supplied with shirts and trousers, and the women with warm petticoats. He would appeal to the hon. member for Argyle to say whether, immediately he brought under the notice of the board the necessity for paying greater attention to the wants of the aborigines in his district, his representations were not at once attended to? He thought he had shown that this very important matter of the care of the aborigines had not been neglected. Everything that could be done in reason was done, and any suggestions from hon. members or others received instant attention.

Mr. HASSALL said that if there was any cause for regret it was that still greater provision was not made for the unfortunate aborigines. He was sure that the House would unhesitatingly pass a much larger vote than that now submitted.

Mr. HASSALL said it was very necessary that there should be a considerable advance upon last year's vote, having regard to the altered circumstances in which the aborigines were placed. A few" years ago they could wander about the country as they pleased, getting abundance of game, whereas now the country was covered with a network of wire fences, the fish in the rivers was destroyed by the drought, and the game was destroyed m order to send the skins to market, so that the unfortunate aborigines were debarred from obtaining the food to which they were accustomed. The consequence was, that they congregated about stations, where, he was glad to say, the spirit of christianity still prevailed among the settlers, who relieved their wants as far as they could. A few years ago the aborigines were largely employed as shepherds; but when the new order of things came about, und the country was enclosed with fences, they were deprived of that occupation, and now they were literally wanderers upon the face of the earth, subsisting upon charity. For these reasons he would suggest that greater provision be made tor them in their declining years. They could not exist much longer. He ventured to say that in the course of the next fifty years a blackfellow would be a rarity m New South Wales. The majority of the aborigines in Queensland were making their way to the Cape York Peninsula, where there was no settlement of white men, and when; they would be undisturbed. They could retain their vitality when they were undisturbed ; but as soon as they were brought into contact with civilisation they began to die out. It was a mistake to set apart special reserves for their use. They preferred to wander about the country ; and they would rather do that with only one meal a day than remain settled in one place where they were well cared for, and had three meals a day supplied to them. This habit was bred in them ; and it was cruelty in the shape of kindness to restrict them to a circumscribed area. He thought it would be a wise plan to authorise responsible persons in various localities where the blacks were in the habit of congregating to supply them with food and other necessaries, the Government supplying the blankets, as at present. Some time ago a number of blacks from Queensland assembled at a .station in the electorate he represented for the purpose of performing some tribal ceremony. There were about 200 of them, and it is feared that so large a number would be unable to find sufficient game to support them, and that they would suffer hardship m consequence. The case was represented to the Government who no doubt acting on the recommendation of the Aborigines' Protection Hoard, sent up a supply of food for the blacks during the time they were congregated together. He brought another case under the notice of the Colonial Secretary— that of an old blackfellow- who refused to leave the part of the country where he had been brought up. and to accompany a gentleman on whom he had been dependent to another part of the country, and he was glad to say that the hon. gentleman did not hesitate a moment in attending to it. He was instrumental m getting that blackfellow a. small hut in which he could live in peace and comfort, the people in the district providing him with food and clothing. The man said he thought it was about time that he was made king ; he wanted to have the dignity of being possessed of a small place of his own. When he applied to the Government they did not hesitate for a moment to do what he suggested. Another aboriginal, on hearing of what had been done for that man, came and demanded a 10 acre block, thinking that he could go and cultivate the soil. .It would be a hazardous experiment, however, to employ the blacks in the cultivation of the soil in the expectation that they would be able to support themselves. They would rather wander about the country free as the wind ; if they only knew that there were places where they could get food. We had taken from these people their country, and they were entitled to our sympathy. They were fast dying out ; but not in the natural order| of things. It was owing to the vices which which our so called civilisation made them acquainted. It was said that the blacks drank and gambled ; but who had taught them to do it? We, who had taken away their territory, and who were hounding them out of existence. Instead of putting into the hands of the blacks the means to gamble we might supply them with food and clothing as long as they remained among us.

Mr. SEE admitted that good had been done in providing for the blacks, but thought that a great deal remained to be done. The fact that the alms which were doled out to the blacks passed through the hands of the police ought not to be lost sight of. Nothing could be more degrading than that. Instead of elevating them and finding them employment, we took the aboriginals to the police station to receive assistance at the hands of the police, whom they regarded as their natural enemies. Some other means of providing for them ought to be devised. We ought in give the blacks to understand, delusive as the idea might be, that they were in some way earning the assistance which they received. No doubt these people were difficult to deal with, but we ought to preserve them as long as we could. .In roaming about the country they got into more temptation, and became more dissipated, than they would be it they remained in one place and had some employment. He thought that the Colonial Secretary should endeavour to devise some means of affording them employment. It was proposed to vote for the aboriginals a sum of 8,000, and there were about 8,000 of these people in the country, so thy would receive about £1 each per annum Something ought to be done to take the children off the streets and send them to school.

Mr. SEE said that there were 398 aboriginal children attending school, of whom 350 were at public schools, and forty-nine private schools. The black race was fast dying out. He could remember the time when then; were almost as many blacks in the northern district as there were now all over the colony. There must be some reason for their dying out; he thought it was because they were not treated as human beings. As long as we enabled them to exist we thought we done enough. The small dole which allowed them was not as much as ought to be demanded on behalf of those whose territory we had appropriated. The natural enemies of' the blacks were grog and tobacco, which they got in spite of the law. A suitable area of land ought to be provided for cultivation by the blacks; mission stations ought to be provided for them ; and they ought to be placed under proper supervision. They might also be educated, and raised to a much better condition than they were in at present. We had only supplied the aboriginals with food, clothes, and blankets up to the present time. This did not seem to him to be sufficient for these people, many of whom were respectable and intelligent. He hoped the matter would receive more attention at the hands of the Colonial Secretary than it had hitherto received. He thought a great deal more than Parliament had yet undertaken might be done for these unfortunate people.

Mr. COPELAND would ask the Colonial Secretary to consent to progress being reported, because he was desirous of raising a question of privilege affecting an hon. member's seat? He was unable to do so earlier in the evening, because he had not the necessary papers, and he would be unable to move m the matter tomorrow, because it was imperative that he should leave for Melbourne tomorrow afternoon.

Mr. S. W. MOORE thought the statement of the hon. member for Grafton, that the blacks regarded the police as their natural enemies, was incorrect, and that the Government might advantageously employ them as trackers to a greater extent than had hitherto been done. In this capacity they had already rendered great service to the country m tracking cattle-stealers and bushrangers.

Mr. McELHONE would ask the Colonial Secretary whether he would advise the Aborigines Board to abolish the present system under which free passes on .the railways were issued to the aborigines ?

Sir HENRY PARKES : I say at once that I will make the best arrangements I can to prevent any aboriginal from being refused a passage on our railways. But I think there must be some regulation, which I think can be easily devised, other than allowing any station-master in the country to take any blacks to any point.

Sir HENRY PARKES : That maybe. Practically I will do what the hon., member wants. It can, perhaps, be done in a different manner from the one which has prevailed hitherto. I am as much in favour of any facility being given to these unfortunate people to travel from one point to another as the hon., member himself can be. 1 will undertake to see that it is done.

Mr. BURDEKIN desired to point out that there was no difficulty in the way of the blacks travelling at the present time. All police magistrates were provided with books of forms ; and if an aboriginal not near to a police magistrate desired to travel, all that he would have to do would be to apply to the nearest police officer, in which ease the necessary form would be forwarded. As a matter of policy, it was much more desirable to keep these people m the country instead of allowing them to congregate in towns.

Mr. DOWEL was pleased that the Government had in some small degree recognised their responsibility by placing an increased sum upon the estimates for the unfortunate blacks. Still, he would like to see a much larger sum placed upon the estimates, as he believed the House would willingly vote it. There could be no doubt that the blacks had m the past been very badly treated, and many complaints had been lodged against the administration of the Aborigines Protection Board. He believed that their shortcomings arose, not from the want of inclination, but from the want of means.He could say from his own knowledge that at the present time the aborigines were not being treated as they should be treated. He would ask the hon. member for East Sydney (Mr. Burdekin) whether he considered that the miserable ration doled out to the blacks was sufficient to preserve human life. The ration consisted of a little flour, tea, and sugar, and did not include a particle of meat. Their fish and game had been to a great extent taken away from them, and some substitute should be found for it. It seemed extraordinary that out of a population of 3,000 aboriginal children under the age of 14 only 50 were compelled to attend the public schools.

Mr. DOWEL said that white children lived in the back country, and we took the public schools to them. Why should not the aborigines be treated in the same way as the white children? There was no reason, in his opinion, why the state should not educate these children in a manner that would enable them to perform higher and better functions in the the community.

Mr. DOWEL said he could tell the hon. member a fact which occurred in the town of Yass. About four years ago twenty-live black children were attending the public school there; but on one bright morning they were expelled, because they were not properly clothed—because the state had signally failed in its duty to this class. The Catholic nuns of the town took the children in hand, and had clothed, fed, and educated them ever since. The Government, he was informed, had recognised their responsibilities, and given the nuns a certain sum to provide for the education of the blacks. The hon., member for Yass Plains had brought under the notice of the Aborigines Protection Hoard the state of the blacks in Yass, and got for them 5 or 7 acres, upon which they were now encamped. The men were housed, clothed, and fed, and put in the way of earning their livelihood ; and that was what should be done in other parts of the colony. He would impress on the board the necessity for including some meat in the rations. A few weeks ago, in New England, he met with some seventeen blacks, who had had to travel 15 and 20 miles to get a poor dole of flour, tea, and sugar—a ration that was scarcely sufficient to keep life together. They complained to him most bitterly of being unable to get any meat. One of them—; Lord Nelson, as he was called—had begged and prayed him to get some meat for him ; and he had undertaken to see that he was provided with meat. It was said that the police had neglected their duty to the blacks ; but in the, depth of last winter, when his hon. friend, Mr.Hassall, brought under his notice the case of two gins, who were perishing on a station, the Superintendent of Police at Tamworth, immediately he received the letter, communicated at once by wire with the police at Wee Waa, and the women were promptly relieved with rations. The sum which the Government had placed on the estimates for the relief of this unfortunate class was a very small sum, and he hoped that a larger amount would appear the next estimates. In his opinion, with proper care, the blacks could be made a very valuable class in the community. There were upwards of 3,000 aborigines and half-castes of the age of 14 years and downwards. Many of them knew no fear, and were indifferent as to whether they broke the law or not. In his opinion, these were an exceedingly dangerous element in the community, and every possible care should be taken to make them good members of society. It was the duty of Parliament to try to do as much as possible for this unfortunate class who, in bygone days, had rendered invaluable services to the country as black-trackers, and to pastoralists as pioneers of otherwise impenetrable country. Men like the Dangars, the Campbells, the Tysons, and others whom lie could name, were in duty bound, in his opinion, to come forward and largely supplement what Parliament voted to assist in making the last hours of these unfortunate people happy and comfortable. He hoped that the Government, on some future occasion, would largely increase the Vote.

Mr. KELLY said he was as jealous of the public money as any man m the House, or in the country; but he did not object to increase the vote, so as to give the blackfellows a little more in the shape of comfort. Thirty years ago, he was what was called a protector of blacks. In those days, blackfellows were just, as unpopular in the interior as were Chinamen today in Sydney ; and the man who said a word for for a blackfellow where he lived was regarded in much the same light as he would be regarded now were he to say a word in favour of a Chinaman.

Mr. KELLY: No. The real reason was that some use was made of them. They used to work, and the working men did not like them for the same reason that did not now like the Chinamen. During even his lifetime he remembered when a man would have to fight if he tried to say anything in favour of a blackfellow. Now, however, hon. members, spoke kindly of the blackfellows, simply because there were no votes behind this question, and it was thought to be nothing to vote £8,000 or £10,000 in this way, because the blacks did not go into the working man's road. If the vote were £80,000 it would not be challenged. The vote of a few thousands to encourage immigration used, however, to be challenged, not because the money was cared for, but because working men were not wanted here, he thought facilities should be given to enable parties of twenty or thirty aborigines to visit the Melbourne exhibition. The hon. member for Patrick's Plains suggested that it would be to the advantage of the blacks to place them on farms, so that they might cultivate the soil. As one brought up among the blacks, he knew that such a scheme, was impossible. No matter how well off a black-fellow might be, he was never contented if he had not a free leg. He would always endeavour to wander about the locality where he was born.

Mr. McELHONE said the hon. member for East Sydney, Mr. Burdekin, had misunderstood him. He was referring to places like Breeza, where there were no police authorities, and the blacks had to get people to write for passes tor them, or they had to travel 25 miles before they could get passes. It was a matter of indifference to the country whether they were allowed to travel tree or not; it would certainly do no harm. He failed to see why blacks should be expected to pay more than members of Parliament-. It was cruel to attempt to keep these people in one place;. They would travel about, as it was their nature to ramble He trusted the Colonial Secretary would see that imperative instructions wore given to all .station-masters to allow the blacks to travel free on the railways without orders. The whole of this country once belonged to the blacks ; it had now been taken from them; and surely the Government could afford to be as liberal to the blacks as private individuals were? All private steamship owners in the colony gave free passages and food to the blacks.

Mr. COLLS said that when he arrived in Yass, forty-two years ago, there were 600 blacks in the district, and now the number was reduced to fifty or sixty. About eight years ago they were in a very destitute condition, and he applied to the present Premier, who was then at the head ..."

Legislative Assembly Mission to the Aborigines [15 May 1889] (p1243) Aborigines (Sir Henry Parkes) [23 May 1889] (p1540) Aborigines in want of rations [16 Aug 1889] (p4162) Aborigines Protection Board [22 Aug 1889] (p4347-4355)

The Privy Council declared in 1889 in the well-known case of Cooper v Stuart that New South Wales was a settled colony.

"Financial Records. 12. Tabulated expenditure at Aboriginal stations, 1887-90, CGS 13 ... These volumes show the expenditure of the Board on the upkeep of its stations, and also act as a form of census of the Aborigine people on the upkeep of its stations. They are arranged alphabetically by name of station, then chronologically ... Table A gives the monthly total of Aborigines in the district, with divisions according to age and sex, and whether full-blood or half-caste; the number of Aborigines receiving rations, clothing etc. and the total amount of money spent ... Volume 7/3641 ... an undated listing of the numbers of Aborigines in each district of New South Wales ... (noting whether male, female, or children, Aborigine or half-caste, and the number at school); a Government Stores Department Minute paper ... which encloses several returns of Aborigines in the Grafton sub-district 1886-1887; and a letter from the Police Officer, Grafton, dated 16 February 1887, enclosing a list of names of Aborigines recommended for clothing ..."[9]

Legislative Assembly Coloured Labour "Federation Bill .. Queensland reverting to coloured labour" [18 Feb 1892] (p5429) Black Labour in Queensland [23 Feb 1892] (p5556) Coloured Children in Government Asylums [23 Feb 1892] (p5557) Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission [23 Mar 1892] (p6826) Protection of Aborigines [1 April 1892] (p7348) Brewarrina Aboriginal Mission Station [13 Sept 1892] (p339)

Reserve for use of Aborigines (revocation of Reserve in Macquarie County) [26 Oct, 1893] Legislative Assembly

Supply, Aborigines Protection Board [7 Feb 1894] Legislative Assembly (misuse of funds) (p541); Aboriginals employed in shearing sheds (as cheap labour) [5 Sept 1894] Legislative Assembly (p190)

"In November 1894, the aborigines Committee, now called the La Perouse Aborigines Christian Endeavour Society, built a mission church and began publication of 'The Aborigines Advocate ..."[11]

Mr. McELHONE (Sydney—Fitzroy) [10-41]: I notice that the salary of the secretary of this board is put down at .£100, hut that a foot-note says that he is also an officer of the Police Department at a salary of .£214 per annum. I should like to know what his total salary is? If hon. members will look at the schedule to the estimates, they will find that some officers draw two or three salaries, and this is a case in point. If this officer is not sufficiently paid in the Police Department, give him the salary he is entitled to there; but I object to any man holding a dual position.

Mr. McELHONE : If he is not fully paid, pay him fully for his services in the Police Department; but do not give him two positions. J am almost willing to give the. Government their estimates in globo, after the statement the Premier has made about reorganisation.

Mr. REID : I agree with the hon., member ; we are going to abolish all these dual positions !

Mi. CHANTER (Deniliquin) [10-1G] : I trust that the hon., member will not press the amendment. I believe he and other hon. members are very desirous that the money voted year by year to sustain the aborigines, who are fast dying out, should be expended in a proper manner. The board have an opportunity of obtaining the services of as careful and capable an officer as there is in any department of the state in the person o£ this official whose salary is proposed to be reduced. The members of the board receive no remuneration for their services, and are compelled to have as secretary a careful man to spend, in a proper manner, the large sum of money at their disposal. If this officer's services are dispensed with, the board will have to get some one from outside at a salary of at least £300 a year, instead of £I00 a year. We cannot get any competent man to fulfil the duties for £100 a year.

Mr. CHANTER: It is impossible to get a man for that salary to deal with thousands of pounds, and attend to all the correspondence. I hope the Committee will not strike a blow at this officer while allowing so many large salaries to go untouched. 1 would ask the hon. member to withdraw his amendment.

Mr. CANN (Broken Hill) [10-49] : I would also ask the hon., member to withdraw his amendment, because if he reduces the salary by £50 it will be impossible to get any one to take the position. We have the assurance of the Premier that these dual positions shall be abolished. Many persons would be willing to perform the duties of this office for £100 a year, and to provide sufficient security.

Mr. McElHoNE : I am quite willing to withdraw my motion if the Committee desires me to do so !

Mr. PERRY (Ballina) [10-52]: I see there is a considerable reduction in this item. I hope it is not caused by a reduction of the allowances to the aborigines.

Mr. GORMLY (Wagga Wagga) [10-53]: 1 am glad to hear the assurance of the Minister that there is no reduction in the amount given to the aborigines, which up to the present has been very small. Considering that we have taken from them all their possessions we should certainly be more liberal. The provisions now granted to them are by no means equal to their needs. If the board finds that there ti not adequate provision made, 1 hope the Government will not hesitate to give all the relief required, and 1 am sure Parliament will sustain them.

Mr. J. C. WATSON (Young) [10-50] : I desire some explanation with regard to an appointment made to the local land board in the district I represent. Some time ago … there was a vacancy on the local land board, and in view of the fact that the re-valuation of special areas will come within the purview of the board I have been urging the filling up of the vacancy. I have been informed that the vacancy has recently been, filled, and am surprised to find that one of the local squatters has been appointed. There is already a large landholder upon the board, and it seems to me only right that one of the representatives of the smaller holders should have been appointed … There is already a squatter on the board, which means two squatters and the chairman …. (etc. etc.)” [13]

Aborigines: Railways (Aborigines no longer able to travel free, to be discouraged in wandering habits), Labour Bureau: Railway Passes (persons, presumably non Aboriginal, obtaining railway passes through Labour Bureau) Guardians of State Children: Claims (State Children's Relief Board, race not specified) [27 Oct 1897] Legislative Assembly (p4199); Supply, Aborigines Protection Board (inadequate funding, badly administered: "our duty to the blacks was to make their remaining days as comfortable as we could") [10 Nov 1897] Legislative Assembly (p4543)

This volume is a record of the financial workings of the Board, both at Head Office and in relation to Mission Stations. These Stations were administered by the Aborigines Protection Association, a private body, until 1893, when responsibility for their maintenance was taken over by the Board. There are two main parts to this ledger. The first gives various financial details under different headings. They include: subscriptions promised, donations in kind; Government grants; donations; salaries; rents; incidentals; printing, and Trust Account. There are similar headings for the Mission Stations (Cumeroogunga; Warangesda; Brewarrina. At the end of the volume are details of trust accounts for individual Aborigines. [14]

Coloured Races Restriction and Regulation Act 1896 (60 Vic. No. 41) [Repealed by Act 34, 1924]; Royal Assent withheld.

Liquor Act 1898 (No. 18 of 1898) [Repealed by Act 42, 1912]. Repealed 1881 Act.

Section 48. "Every holder of a license under this Part who allows, in or on his licensed premises, any aboriginal native of Australia of any age to be supplied with liquor (and whether the liquor be for consumption on the premises or not), or any person apparently under the age of sixteen years, to be supplied with liquor, by purchase or otherwise, for consumption on such premises, shall, as well as the person who actually gives or supplies the liquor, be each liable to a penalty not exceeding ten pounds nor less than forty shillings."

"... the La Perouse Aborigines Mission became involved with the La Perouse community, and in 1899 assumed management of the reserve as the New South Wales Aborigines Mission ..."[15]

[6] Have to find the next page …

[9]: Aborigines Welfare Board, in State Records New South Wales, Concise Guide to the State Archives (A-B): Page 1

[11] La Perouse and the Missionary Movement, in Randwick City Library and Information Service, Randwick, a Social History Page 2

[12] New South Wales Parliamentary Proceedings; the Aborigines Protection Board [17 April 1884] Legislative Assembly (p2843);

[13] New South Wales Parliamentary Votes and Proceedings, Assembly, 1 Oct 1895, Page 1285

[14]: Aborigines Welfare Board, in State Records New South Wales, Concise Guide to the State Archives (A-B): Page 1

[15] La Perouse and the Missionary Movement in Randwick City Library and Information Service, Randwick, a Social History Page2