20 ADELAIDE AND VICINITY The Architects In 1830 a Colonising Society was formed in England, and in 1831 proposals were made for the establishment of a new colony in the country on the south coast described by Flinders. Sturt. and Barker. In 1834 Wakefield published the first edition of a work entitled "The New British Province of South Australia," wherein he mentioned that the projectors had consulted all the reports of the forerunners, and had taken evidence concerning the quality of the land. It is interesting to record that, in judging of the suitability of the country, Wakefield accepted the law of analogy as a basis. He argued that, unlike America and other places, " e.xtra-troj)ical Australia " presented in distance little difference in climate, soils, and general features, and that from works i:)ublished on New South Wales and 'an Diemen Land, a judgment could be formed of the country in South Australia. In March, 1831, the British Government, impressed with its evils, abolished the land-grant system, and substituted one which proclaimed that all Crown lands should Ix: put up for sale at a minimum price of 5s. per acre. The gentlemen who made the proposids embraced with avidity the principles of Wakefield, enunciated in letters from Sydney, published in 1829. They agreed that no free grants of land should be made ; that a minimum of 12s., and a maximum of 20s., per acre should be fixed; and that the proceeds of sales should " form a fund for giving free passages to qualified laborers and mechanics, with their wives and families." The great object sought to be attained was to help the industrious classes. They gained the assistance of Mr. Robert Gouger, a powerful advocate of Wakefield's j)rinciples, who edited the before-mentioned letters, Major Bacon, Colonel Torrens. Mr. Graham, and Wakefield himself Much official correspondence ensued, but Lord Goderich. the Secretary for the Colonies, eventually discouraged the jiroject, and the negotiations were abandoned in 1832, even after a provisional committee had been appointed. A change of administration took place, and in July, 1833, Mr. W. Wolryche Whitmore, M.P., submitted a modified scheme to the new Secretary for the Colonies, Mr. E. G. Stanley. Says Mr. Edwin Hodder, in his "History of South Australia": — "It contemplated the j)urchase of land by a joint-stock company, and by private individuals, and with the proceeds arising from such sales to send out the pauper or unemployed population of the United Kingdom ; the expense of establishing the colony to be borne by the company, and a land tax levied to defray the cost of government, the company having the right of pre-emption of one million acres of land at 5s. per acre." Mr. Hodder uses the term "joint-stock company," the associations of which at that time were objectionable, and follows the policy of magazine reviewers and othe critics of the day who were severely castigated by Colonel R. Torrens, M.P., in a book issued on the subject in 1835. Colonel Torrens denied that it could be named a "joint- stfx:k company," and marshalled powerful arguments in favor of his view. Indeed, in a certain circumscribed but enlightened circle, the new proposals were discussed with considerable heat and compr<;hension. The Secretary for the Colonies demanded such
