[“The White Savages of the Nor’-West” (Letter to the Editor), Perth Gazette and West Australian Times, Friday 07 March 1873, page 3, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3753988]
CORRESPONDENCE.
THE WHITE SAVAGES OF THE NOR’-WEST.
To the Editor of the Perth Gazette & W. A. Times.
SIR,—In two or three of your publications you do us the honor to devote a considerable space in your columns to the affairs of the N.W. Settlements, and occasionally the N.W. settlers and natives.
We have no objection, and are not ashamed to have our goings on in general, and dealings with the aboriginal population in particular, canvassed, discussed, and fairly criticised, in any public journal, but for the sake of plain truth, to say nothing of the serious consequences to us collectively and individually, of such false representations, we earnestly request, and think we have almost a right to demand, that a little more trouble be taken in testing the reliability of your information, and more discrimination be used in publishing grave and revolting charges wholesale, in public journals, charges that are damaging to the character of a whole community.
We really cannot permit such reflections as have lately been cast on our community, to any longer pass by unheeded and unquestioned, and we therefore request, on the principle of justice to all parties, the following exposure of some of the injurious and false representations that have lately been hurled against us, as well as a few comments on the nature of the system af dealing with and governing the natives lately advocated in both your own and contemporary newspapers.
First, there is a long tirade against the profligacy and immorality of the inhabitants of our district, the absence of places of worship, schools, &c, a lament that a terrible disease introduced by white settlers, is decimating the natives. We will simply remark on this, that we believe there has actually been one instance of death which was attributed to the effects of that disorder, and it is moreover confidently asserted by many intelligent people, that the disease in question existed previous to the arrival of European settlers, having been introduced by Malays and whalers, who used frequently to visit this coast in search of its marine products, and that for the one death from the said disease, scores of signal cures have been the result of medicine administered to the natives, gratuitously, by their employers. Also, that as people in glass houses should not throw stones, so we would suggest that these patterns of virtuous behaviour should look around among their own model communities, and they will probably find plenty of cause for sad reflections on the frailty and sinfulness of human nature; for the history of the world proves that, while human passions and proneness to their indulgence exist, those that set a powerful restraint on them will always be an obscure minority, and it is only because in a more advanced state of civilisation, greater secrecy is observed, and more care taken to cloak over and mask the real state of affairs, that any greater degree of immorality is observed in new settlements. That there is no school is not our fault, as unfortunately the district has not succeeded yet in producing a sufficient number of children to entitle it to a Govt. school-master, and, though several attempts have been made to start a private school, the number of children will not support one. Goodness knows we are badly enough in want of a doctor, and have tried, and are still trying hard enough to induce one to come here, but we fear both doctors and clergymen prefer a more enjoyable climate, and a place with more of the comforts and luxuries of life for the scene of their labours.
In one of your articles it is stated that, “considering the nature of the first settlers in the North, and the disposition of natives, it was to be expected that the relations between the two races would be unfriendly, and that such was the case until the pearl fishery created a demand for the services of the natives, &c.” We beg to inform you that this is deliberately false, for you must know that the relations between the Nickol Bay blacks and the first settlers or inhabitants, were of the most friendly nature, and that long before pearling was thought of, they were employed with profit and satisfaction to both parties, aud that we consider it is wholly due to the kind, considerate, yet firm and practical treatment of the natives, at the first onset, that such a happy and very unusual feeling was preserved (a remarkable contrast with the feeling entertained between the early settlers and the aboriginal inhabitants of the Swan River districts, in which parts, a solitary man could not follow the tail of his plough, or even walk a few yards from his hut without being thoroughly armed, and which enabled future residents to put them to such profitable use in pearling. We feel pretty sure that all the colonists who were among the earliest residents here, will compare very favorably for either morality, intelligence, enterprise, or common sense, with any like number of individuals you can produce in either Perth or
Fremantle.
In another place you remark that if Walter Ledger’s murderers are executed, the natives will be thereby incensed and retaliate, and more murders will ensue, from which we infer that it is considered advisable to let them off. We can hardly imagine it possible for any one in the possession of sane faculties, to seriously propound such a doctrine. If such treatment of native murderers is considered the correct thing, we would suggest that still greater kindness and forgiveness be shown and extended to native culprits, and that the next savage that sheds European blood be brought or coaxed to the presence of the principal authorities in the colony, aud that they should implore him on their knees, to intercede with his black brethren not to take any more lives, as they wish to live on friendly terms with the natives, then rig him out in a new suit of clothes, load him with presents, and send him back to his tribe to describe in glowing colours what noble fellows the whites are, and how forgiving, and show his tribe what he has obtained by knocking a white stranger on the head. What cowardice! Afraid to deal fearless justice tor fear of retaliation!! The savage, if the civilised race is to be allowed to inhabit the same land, must be afraid to do wrong, and rewarded when he does right, and not when he does evil, in order to bribe him to do right, for he cannot be taught these abstract principles of right and wrong.
You do not seem aware that vigorous steps were taken by the police for the arrest of Hale, as soon as any suspicion of the charge came to light, but Hale was on the alert, and having securely planted on some obscure island till an opportunity occurred, got clean away, and it ought to be borne in mind that Hale or any man is innocent until proved guilty, for who knows what may come out in evidence to either mitigate or justify the supposed offence.
It is quite a piece of news to us that the people here are allowed to do as they like, and take the law into their own hands, and that “no preventive administration of the law” exists here. We think that if any of your own free model community come up here meditating a little season of escape, from what are to some, the disagreeable restraints of the law, and in the hope of indulging in any little favorite practices, without official interference, they will be apt to find that our police and Reaident Magistrate will not be so easily talked over into letting them off as they imagine; disorderly persons, as a rule, meet with their deserts in this district, in the shape of heavy punishments.
Again, you observe that an innocent life has been taken, simply because a guilty white man had shot a blackfellow in the same neighbourhood, alluding, we suppose, to the charge against W. Hale. Is it generally known that exactly the same kind of plea or reason was given by the murderers of poor, kind, amiable Lazenby, which took place previous to Hales’ affair, and that in all the preceding outrages by the blacks, similar reasons were the exciting cause, except in the first and second attacks on the whites in that part, for which they could not plead any call for revenge, as they had not been molested at that time.
The government of any colony, or portion of that colony which has only recently been settled, and of which portion of the colony the aboriginal inhabitants have hitherto been lords and masters, and have swayed for generations back undisputed authority, appear to us to act a very mean and cowardly part in earrying to such lengths that sentimentality and excessive and jealous consideration and pretended love for the native possessors of the soil, for they first assume in the name of the Queen, what will very probably end in a forcible possession of the land, which is their birthright; they then publish liberal offers of this land to induce enterprising settlers to go and settle and invest capital in stocking it, and who turn it from a savage, unfruitful, inhospitable waste, into a profitable source of wealth and revenue to that government, and to the other civilised portions of that colony. They leave these struggling, pushing settlers and early residents, for the first few years to make the best terms they can with the aboriginal, and we suppose, rightful possessors of the land, and let them manage them as best they can for a while, until the country may be fairly said to be in possession of the colonists; they then come forward red hot with sympathy for the poor blacks, and with a sort of determination to make some amends for doing them out of their native soil at the expense of the white population; become fiercely indignant, because these white settlers do not let the natives do as they like, and when they steal or murder, insist that they shall have forgiveness and mercy shown them, and that any hostile demonstration on the part of the natives is wholly attributable to the cruel treatment of their white masters, and cannot possibly arise from any natural feelings of hatred to the intruding strangers who have taken possession of their country.
A. R. Richardson, A. McRae, K. McLean, Robert Thomson, A. E. Anderson, J. E. Richardson, John Edgar, John Abbott, F. McRae, Fredk. Pearse, Godfrey C. Knight, R. J. Sholl.
AB notes:
The list of signatories to this letter includes the Government Resident, Robert Sholl.
The letter includes a very early reference to sexually transmitted disease among Aborigines.
This is one of the first uses of the term “Nor’-West” as part of a distinct identity.
