and industriously circulated by a few capricious and wealthy settlers on the plea of the unproductiveness of the three past harvests. On this … taking place I called on the grain growers to give in tenders for supplying the King's stores—on which the Government was compelled to pay as high as fifteen shillings per bushel for the greater part … although afterwards it was proved that there was more than a sufficient supply of wheat in the Colony at that moment for maintaining the whole of the population."[1]
That was the way in which the matter presented itself to Macquarie, but it takes on a rather different light when the whole of the facts are laid bare. In 1813 the harvest was so bountiful that in Macquarie's words it could have supplied twice the population, but in consequence of the restricted demand the greater part of it was wasted. The Government bought what they required at eight shillings a bushel, and much of what was left, instead of being bought at a low price and stored against a bad season, was thrown to the pigs and cattle and treated as valueless.[2] Under any circumstances the position would have been discouraging, but on this occasion there were specially disastrous features. In 1812 there had been a scarcity, and Macquarie had imported from Bengal a shipment of corn at eight shillings the bushel which arrived in 1813. Thus even the Government made a very small demand upon the settlers; and as the harvest was so plentiful, prices in the open market fell as low as three shillings and sixpence a bushel.[3] In the following year (1814) only 1,300 acres were put under crop, although an additional 4,000 acres of land was alienated by the Crown within the same period.
In 1817 the settlers were again in difficulties. "Proceeding to the year 1817," said Riley, in his evidence before the Committee on Gaols, "I see by the Gazette the stores were ordered by the Governor not to open until the 1st of March, and then only one day in the week. The harvest is so early in New South Wales that the settlers would have been able to commence supplying in the middle of January. Previous to the 1st of March …
