144 A COLONIAL AUTOCRACY. 



had occurred of the Provost- Marshal carrying out execution 

 against the "permissive occupant". 1 Sometimes the land was 

 not sold outright but purchased by instalments, and when the 

 five years were up the " tenant" applied to have the grant made 

 out in his name. '* In no case within Oxley's knowledge had the 

 Crown resumed or threatened to resume any grant even though 

 the violation of the conditions had been notorious. 3 



The others had been equally disregarded. If the farm was 

 small and the owner continued in possession, he did as a rule 

 clear and cultivate the required area. 4 If it was too small for 

 pastoral purposes he had indeed no other way of making a living. 

 But the restricted and uncertain market, the great varieties of soil 

 and climate, made it impossible to carry them out in all cases 

 and to enforce the conditions would have been unjust and im- 

 politic. Marsden attributed the delay in getting the land under 

 cultivation to lack of discrimination in making grants to emanci- 

 pists who did not attempt to cultivate .but sold it at once, thus 

 reducing the supply of labour and increasing the amount of land 

 on the market; especially as the land purchased was usually 

 added to the great estates for pasture. This was probably true 5 

 and much good might have been done by requiring the 

 emancipists to produce at least 20 before making them grants 

 of more than ten acres. 6 Bigge thought that when distillation 

 should be permitted, the conditions might well be enforced. 7 



While the conditions laid down by Macquarie were neglected 

 by the colonists, those laid down by the Secretary of State 

 were neglected by Macquarie. His Instructions ordered him to 



1 Bigge's Report, I. Sometimes they borrowed money on it at a dollar (55.) 

 an acre. 



2 Oxley's Evidence. He was Surveyor-General. Appendix, Bigge's Reports. 

 R.O., MS. 



3 In August, 1804, a grant was held to be cancelled by reason of non-fulfilment 

 of conditions. No other case arose on the point until March, 1821, when Judge 

 Field, on circuit in Van Diemen's Land, reversed the previous judgment. He gave 

 judgment as follows: " In the case of a conditional grant, though the condition 

 be unperformed, the king cannot regrant without office found, by 18 Henry VI., 

 c.6; that is, without the inquest of a jury to ascertain whether the condition be 

 performed or not. . . . If this were not so all the grants of the Colony would be 

 mere tenancies at the will of the Crown." See Appendix, Bigge's Reports. R.O., 

 MS. 



4 Bigge's Report, I. 



8 Marsden to Bigge in Appendix to Reports. R.O., MS. 

 8 Bigge's Report, III. 7 Ibid. 



