Account of 
20*2 
whilst he had a certainty, at the same time, that a continu¬ 
ance of good conduct would ensure to him, after a period, a 
ticket-of-leave, or some other mark of indulgence from the 
government. If he committed a fresh crime, he was subject 
of course to be sent to a penal settlement, and there to endure 
the many privations and hardships attaching to such places, 
and which he had well deserved. The unfortunate being who 
had committed a transportable offence in the colony, was not 
assigned ; had no chance by good conduct of obtaining in¬ 
dulgence—he was at once consigned to all the rigour of a 
penal settlement. 
It occurred to me that some plan might be adopted, either 
by sending these men to another colony, where they would 
be placed on the same footing as the convicts from England, 
or by making their servitude at a penal settlement for a 
certain period, to reckon double to that which would have 
been passed in assignment, and thus shorten their miseries. 
It has been observed that there is no excuse for such of¬ 
fenders ; they live in a penal colony, they have every day 
before their eyes living examples of the consequences of 
leading a criminal life. This is true, and perhaps with such 
warnings there may be little excuse for the commission of the 
crime; but why should that crime be more severely punished 
in the colony than in England ? What difference is there 
between the act of stealing a pocket handkerchief from the 
person of a dandy in the streets of the metropolis of England, 
or from an exquisite in Hobart Town ? The act is the same, 
—the punishment should be the same. The probation or pri¬ 
mary labor system now adopted, in a great measure lias met 
these views. For now, whether a man has committed the 
offence in England or in this colony, he has to undergo the 
same treatment; one class having no advantage over the 
other. 
The number of convicts at Macquarie Harbour never ex¬ 
ceeded three hundred and seventy ; of these, about sixty of 
