establishment of a most injurious monopoly amongst
the inhabitants of the settlement, which has tended to the ruin
of fair trade.--The commencement of this baleful system is traced
back to the administration of Governor Phillip, at which time I
was not in the settlement. In a very scarce period, when all
classes were labouring under every kind of privation, the
officers prayed leave of the governor to charter the ship
Britannia for the Cape of Good Hope, to bring back cattle and
other articles on their account, for which speculation a
considerable sum was subscribed, in equal shares. The governor
assented to the proposition, in consequence of the peculiar state
of the colony at that time; but scarcely had the Britannia sailed
upon her voyage, when the governor, having received leave of
absence, left the settlement, and the government immediately
changed its form, from a naval to a military system. In
consequence of this variation, permission was readily obtained
for the disposal of the cargo thus imported on its arrival, and
after its passing through the hands of the importers, the chief
part of the merchandize produced from 1000L. to
2000L. per cent. to the private retailer. These
extraordinary advantages could but be attended with evil and
destructive consequences to the settlement at large; nor does the
system of monopoly, which was so early introduced in the colony,
cease to spread its baleful influence; by which means the
settlers, who were deserving of the most marked encouragement and
indulgence, still remain in far less affluent circumstances than
they otherwise might have been. This topic deserves serious
attention, and the mild hand of legislative authority, to check
its further pernicious effects.

Having spoken thus on the subject of monopoly, which I shall
at a future period fully establish, and which has occasioned the
sacrifice of the public, to individual interest, I shall proceed
to advert, 8thly, to the loss which the government has sustained
in the dereliction of some of its most valuable servants, who
have been allured, by the rapid fortunes made by several
individuals, to quit the service of the public, and to embark in
traffic. The inferior officers of the settlement, and the
non-commissioned officers and privates of the regiment, have been
infected with the itch for dealing; and many of the settlers
themselves have either disposed of their farms or deserted them,
to obtain the means or the le