24 THE EARLY TASMANIAN PRESS, ETC. 



manifested m the recall of Col. Avtliui." When Arthur 

 sailed, Robertson and a few of his fellow lladicals illumin- 

 ated their houses in honour of the event, and persuaded a 

 number of men and boys to let off fireworks in the street. 

 The police intervened, and in the Police Court proceed- 

 ings of the following day it was announced that Robertson 

 had been arrested with his pockets full of crackers (60). 



From such expressions of party hatred it is a relief to 

 turn to the Hohart Town Coiirier (of which Ross was still 

 editor), and the other papers which had supported Arthur's 

 rule. Here we find nothing but praise of the administra- 

 tion, and sincere regret when Arthur was recalled. "Go- 

 vernor Arthur has made the colony," says Ross (61), and 

 the long list of actual achievements shows that, in spite of 

 many blunders, and a haiighty manner, Arthur had been 

 responsible for much real progress in the colony. If this 

 was so, how then is one to explain the tirades of Melville 

 and the Radicals? The explanation is that the press was 

 conducted on strict party lines, perhaps even more so tha» 

 to-dav. The Radicals were the Opposition, an Opposition 

 which had no power to voice its opinions in a Legislature 

 composed entirely of the Governors nominees. The only 

 available channel for criticism or suggestions was, there- 

 fore, the press. But Arthur was an autocrat, who took 

 no regard of the advice showered upon him, a fact which 

 exasperated the Radicals to a great degree. Further, the 

 settlement was isolated ; news from the outside world fil- 

 tered in only about once a month. The newspapers were, 

 therefore, driven to fill their columns with local matter, 

 and as this was difficult to accomplish, they sought refuge 

 in virulent attacks on the Governor, who so completely 

 disregarded their few just grievances. The journalistic 

 conscience was practically non-existent; the laws of evi- 

 dence were apparently unknown ; the colonists must have 

 value for their money. Therefore, the line of least re- 

 sistance was to attack the administration, with a violence 

 such as we have seen on several occasions above. Having 

 gained a certain measure of liberty in 1828, the journalists 

 drew no line between liberty and license, and their tactics 

 were frequently nauseating. Arthur, after his initial at- 

 tack of hyper-sensitiveness in 1824-5, learnt to ignore the 

 constant jibes at himself and his subordinates, knowing 

 full well that the Radicals would defeat their own ends by 

 their unwise methods. Only when some accusation be- 

 came too offensive did he seek the aid of the law, and on 

 such occasions he was always sure that a. militarv iury, or a 

 specially chosen civil jury, could be relied upon to give a 

 satisfactory verdict. It is an unpleasant story, and 



