it." The commissioners supported the land tax, and a fixed price for country lands, and advised that leases under Class B should be restricted to the narrowest limits consistent with good faith.
The bill passed in 1857 was altered so far as to fix the minimum price at 10s. an acre. Under its provisions, in the leasing regulations, large areas of land were almost immediately selected. These figures, taken from an address to the Legislative Council by Governor Kennedy, in October, 1859, indicate the revival in land speculation and extension:—In 1852 the land leased from the Crown consisted of 277 leases, representing 2,356,239 acres; in 1858 there were 653 leases, representing 4,965,046 acres; in July, 1859, 687 leases, representing 5,003,336 acres. In April, 1860, the first applications for the purchase of land under the new Act were received, and on the first day land to the amount of £3,050 was sold. The Blue Book gives the amount received from 1850 to 1860 inclusive from the sale and rental of Crown Lands as £74,717; the receipts in 1850 were £718; in 1860, £17,342.
Still another society was formed in Western Australia to "further the aims of the colony" in London. In 1860 the Western Australian Association was established, with a committee comprising Messrs. Lochee, G. W. Leake, J. Fermaner, E. W. Lander, G. Shenton, J. G. C. Carr, A. Shenton, R. J. Sholl, L. Samson, and W. Padbury. The numerous other similar associations formed from time to time had lived but for a short day. In 1855 an ordinance was passed providing for the formation of a Government Savings Bank, an institution which was opened on 22nd June of that year. The rate of interest was fixed at 5 per cent.
Two other ordinances of some importance were passed. In 1855 Grand Juries were abolished, and their power was vested in the Advocate-General. In 1857 an Insolvency Act came into force. Numerous other measures of more or less importance were also considered, but did not excite public interest. The first issue of stamps was made in 1854—the black penny stamp.
The emigration, which seemed so serious after the gold discoveries in Victoria, continued in following years. At first large numbers of conditional-pardon men migrated to the new fields, but their presence was not appreciated. Bands of freemen intermittently left the colony, greatly to the regret of those left behind. In June, 1855, the Chamber of Commerce recorded that the advance of the colony was seriously retarded by the drain upon the population of some of its best elements—colonists of experience and means, who withdrew considerable capital. The loss thus sustained would have been almost irreparable had it not been for the inauguration of convictism.
Prospecting for gold was continued for some time, and exciting rumours were occasionally disseminated of fabulous discoveries. In January, 1854, a meeting was held in Fremantle, when £357 was promised in subscriptions towards offering a premium for the discovery of gold in Western Australia. One rumour of gold discovery in the settled eastern districts was particularly exciting. Excellent specimens were shown, but the locality could not be found again. Mr. Austin, after his explorations through the Murchison country in 1854, expressed the opinion that gold would be found in those regions. The correctness of his report was comparatively recently proved. When giving evidence before the Committee of the House of Lords in 1856, Captain Henderson informed its members that it was "more than possible" that gold would be found in Western Australia. But though considerable prospecting was done, no definite discoveries were made up to 1860.
Development work was, however, proving that there were deposits of lead and copper of great intrinsic value in the northern districts. Considering the small amount of capital at the disposal of the people, the enterprise concentrated on these mines was laudable. The smelting furnace erected at the Geraldine mine was turning out, early in 1855, six and seven tons of lead per week. In March, fifty tons of lead were shipped to Singapore, selling as high as £33 a ton. Captain Fitzgerald was convinced that, given sufficient capital to work it, the mine would be productive to any amount. In order to get the ore to the seaboard, the Government was asked to build a railway or tramway, a work which the promoters estimated to cost £2,500. Captain Fitzgerald considered a railway to be desirable, but he refused to give convict labour to construct it, as other private speculators would demand equal rights. The directors could not carry out the work without Government guarantees.
In November, 1855, another mine was discovered on a squatting lease on the Bowes River. Mr. Jas. Drummond purchased the property, which comprised 90 acres. He formed a company named the Wanerenooka Mining Company (subsequently changed to the Western Australian Mining Company). In 1856 about 40 tons of copper ore were taken from the mine, and in 1857 about 375 tons. The first shipment realised £27 13s. 4d. per ton. In March, 1858, the balance-sheet of the company had £1,356 to its credit; the property was estimated to be worth £9,400. Other copper mines were soon worked in the district, principal of which was the Wheel of Fortune. The percentages of copper were high, as is indicated by the prices obtained in the English market. A report received in Perth in April, 1860, of sales of ore at Swansea gave the percentages as follow:—51 tons, 35½ per cent.; 18 tons, 21⅝ per cent.; and 11 tons, 19⅞ per cent. From the Wheel of Fortune mine 60 tons of 25⅜ per cent. ore sold at £26 14s. 6d., and 18 tons of 33½ per cent. at £35 14s. One return gives the export of copper ore in 1858 as 1,150 tons, valued at £25 per ton; another states that 1,395 tons were exported to the United Kingdom in 1859.
The Geraldine mine was considered so important that in 1859 shareholders resident in England shipped a traction or road engine for use between the mine and the seaboard. The soft state of the roads was not sufficiently considered. The trial trip was successful until a stoppage was made in soft sand, where the engine sank with its own weight, and the more it tried to pull out of the sand the deeper it sank. The engine was practically useless except on the hard portions of road. Dismal reports were then circulated as to the future of the mines, the want of good roads and capital being esteemed very serious. At the same time it was reported that rich ore was being taken from the Wanerenooka mine, but the expense of raising it was rapidly increasing owing to the greater depth. A fall had also taken place in copper.
In 1859 the Imperial Government was memorialised to assist in the construction of a railway from the coast to the copper and lead mines. The Secretary for the Colonies emphatically refused a guarantee, and advised the local Government not to support the scheme until their revenue was greatly in excess of the expenditure. Different lots of mineral lands were sold in 1854-60.
A steamboat service was established on the Swan River in
