3-003 (Text)

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The League and Solemn Engagement of the Australasian Colonies, Declared by the Delegates in the Conference held in Melbourne, 1st February, 1851.
Whereas, in 1840, by an Order-in-Council, the practice of transporting convicts to New South Wales was abandoned by the Crown: And Whereas, by divers promises the Government of Great Britain engaged not to send convicts from the United Kingdom to New South Wales, New Zealand, Victoria or King George's Sound: And Whereas, by an Act of the British Parliament, transportation to South Australia was positively prohibited: And Whereas, Lieutenant Governor Denison, in 1847, declared to the Colonists of Van Diemen's Land, Her Majesty's most gracious purpose, that transportation to that island should be discontinued: And Whereas the colony of Van Diemen's Land has been deeply injured by the pouring in of enormous masses of transported offenders: And Whereas divers and repeated attempts have been made to depart from the letter and spirit of these promises: And Whereas the avowed object of Her Majesty's Secretary of State is to transfuse the convicts disembarked in Van Diemen's Land through the Australasian Colonies, and thus to evade the spirit of the promises and Act of Parliament so made: And Whereas large tracts of land have been purchased by the colonists from the Crown, many millions of capital invested in improvements, and many thousands of Her Majesty's subjects have settled in Australia on the pledged faith of the Crown not to disturb their social welfare by the importation of crime: And Whereas the native Australasians are entitled to all the rights and privileges of British subjects, and to the sympathy and protection of the British nation: And Whereas many and varied efforts have been made to induce her Majesty's Ministers and the British Parliament to terminate the practice of transportation to these colonies, but without success - Now, therefore, the Delegates of these colonies, in Conference assembled, do declare their League and Solemn Engagement, to the effect following:
That they engage not to employ any persons hereafter arriving under Sentence of transportation for crime committed in Europe. 
That they will use all the powers they possess, official, electoral and legislative, to prevent the establishment of English prisons or penal settlements within their bounds; that they will refuse assent to any projects to facilitate the administration of such penal systems, and that they will seek the repeal of all regulations, and the removal of all establishments for such purposes.
That they solemnly engage with each other to support, by their advice, their money, and their countenance, all who may suffer in the lawful promotion of this cause.