Perspectives

Reaction to the Stockade battle flooded into the Government from all quarters. Following are a selection of documents commenting on the Stockade itself and the State Trials that followed.

The documents highlight some of the other tensions existing within the new Colony of Victoria at the time. Four of the documents Hotham includes as enclosures to his lengthy Despatch no 162 reporting to England on the Stockade and immediate aftermath express support for the Governor's policy and measures. These are balanced by a variety of communications from people on the goldfields, and interestingly, in Melbourne, condemning the attack.

Particular anxiety was expressed about whether the uprising was caused by "foreigners". It is never specified how or why these foreigners would act to stir up unrest, but it is practically a tenet of belief that they are up to no good. Even Lieutenant Governor Hotham, in his response to J.W. Lindsay's letter, is happy to subscribe to this idea. Deflecting the blame is always a useful strategy when under pressure, and Hotham is also at pains to point out the number of Irish and other "foreign" nationals in his despatches.

Of course, balanced against these accusations is the simple fact of the goldfields. The Victorian authorities seemed to have had little trouble with the idea of foreigners digging up minerals from Crown land, provided that they could be taxed and, as John Joseph was, tried for treason. The foreign consulates on Victorian soil did not display the level of concern for their citizens deemed necessary (at least in public) today. The US Consuls correspondence with Hotham on the subject of American nationals involved with the Stockade is reproduced below. The Belgian Consul also wrote to Hotham in early December offering support.

This laissez-faire approach was not to continue. Hotham's despatch no. 47 of 1855 discusses the findings of the commssion into the administratio fothe goldfields and the recommedation it has made (and Hotham has adopted) to replace the minig licence with an export tax. Following a discusson of the likely revenue impact of these rearrangements, Hotham floats thee idea of introducing a tax of up to ten pounds on single Chinese men arriving inthe colony, ostensibly to discourage Chinese men arriving without family.

Documents

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