erals, and their
widespread forests of valuable timber, which stand ready for the axe, a
gentleman possessed of only L20,000 will obtain as large an income from
it as could be procured from L100,000 in England; yet he will be able to
enjoy his learned and cultured leisure, just as he does at home, because
all the work will be done for him by the servants he employs. For three
or four years this agreeable fallacy made quite a stir in England:
famous authors, distinguished soldiers, learned bishops were deceived by
it; noblemen, members of Parliament, bankers and merchants, all combined
to applaud this novel and excellent idea of Mr. Wakefield.

#2. South Australian Association.#--in 1831 the first effort was made to
give a practical turn to these theories, and the southern shores of
Australia were selected as a suitable locality for the proposed colony.
A company was formed; but when it applied to the British Government for
a charter, which would have conceded the complete sovereignty of the
whole southern region of Australia, Lord Goderich, the Secretary of
State, replied that it was asking a great deal too much, and abruptly
closed the negotiation. Two years later the South Australian Association
was formed, and as this company asked for nothing beyond the power to
sell waste lands and apply the proceeds to assist immigration, the
British Government gave its consent, and an Act was passed by the
Imperial Parliament to give the association full power to found a
colony. This Act directed that commissioners should be appointed to
frame laws for the colony, to establish courts, and to nominate its
officers; land was to be thrown open for sale at not less than twelve
shillings an acre, and even this comparatively high price was to be
raised, after a short time, to L1 per acre, in order to keep the land in
the hands of the wealthy. It was expressly stated that no convict would
be allowed to land in the new settlement, which, it was hoped, would
become in every respect a model community. The British Government
declined to incur any expense in establishing or in maintaining the
colony, which was to be purely self-supporting. Eleven commissioners
were appointed, of whom Colonel Torrens was chairman in England, and Mr.
Fisher the representative in Australia, where he was to take charge of
the sale of lands and supervise the affairs of the colony. At the same
time, Captain Hindmarsh was appointed Governor, and Colonel Light was