LAND, LABOUR AND COMMERCE. 135 



for by the inefficiency of the overseers, 'who were usually convicts 

 themselves and had little influence over the men. The overseers 

 and men played into each other's hands, and the former were 

 reluctant to report misconduct or neglect of work. 1 It was also 

 the unanimous opinion of the magistrates and landowners that 

 " the convicts " did best at task-work as long as it was strictly 

 measured. Druitt, the chief engineer, opposed such a system, 

 giving as sufficient reason that if put to a task the men scamped 

 the work, and that it was unfair to conscientious or slow 

 workers. He pointed also to its failure when he did give it 

 But he really never allowed it a fair trial, for no man was per- 

 mitted to leave the labour yard until the six o'clock bell whether 

 his task were finished or not Occasionally work had been allotted 

 in weekly tasks, but in such a way that the men often finished on 

 Wednesdays and spent the remainder of the week in idleness. 2 



It was no wonder that the Government service became popu- 

 lar amongst all the prisoners except the good mechanics 3 and 

 that the landowners thoroughly disapproved of Macquarie's 

 system. It was not merely their poverty which prevented them 

 from taking men off the Government's hands. The disinclination 

 of the men themselves to go into the settler's service, their con- 

 sequent unwillingness to work, and the cost of their keep and 

 wages, all constituted serious hindrances. 



In 1804 a Colonial Regulation had decreed that every master 

 to whom a servant was assigned must agree to feed and clothe 

 him in a satisfactory manner and to give him 10 a. year as 

 wages. No agreement was drawn up, but by taking a convict 

 servant a settler necessarily accepted the conditions. The 

 rations were expected to be equal to those given by Govern- 

 ment and the wages were in payment for work done after three 

 o'clock. These regulations were republished by Macquarie 

 in i8i4 4 and in 1816 he ordered the wages to be paid, if the 



1 Major Druitt did not agree in this opinion. According to him it was easy 

 to keep discipline in the barracks because the men were always ready to inform 

 against each other. But the man who tells tales is quite a different individual 

 to the man who reports neglect of duty. See, however, Drain's Evidence, Ap- 

 pendix, Bigge's Report. R.O., MS. 



"e.g., in the saw-mills and on the road-gangs. For the discussion in regard 

 to task-work see magistrates, etc., to Bigge in Appendix to Reports. R.O., MS. 



3 One mechanic was kept for fifteen years in Government service. See Riley, 

 C. on G.. 1819. 



4 G.G.O., zoth September, 1814. 



