Hard Labour.
To the Editor of the Southern Cross. Sir, — Can you oblige me with the definition of "hard labor. 1 ' I imagined that by watching the prisoners employed on the road in Queea|»street I should see a practical exemplification of the words, supposing these men to have been condemned to hard labor ; but that surely was not their sentence ; — I should rather suppose it to have been "to amuse themselves with spades and trucks," for a more larking, a merrier set of workmen I never saw. Very different to the amusement of these convicted felons is the real hard labor which I have seen those undergo who are honestly earning a livelihood, and benefitting the colony by breaking up coun-try-land. It does seem very inconsistent, if not unjust, that while honest men are working, or rather slaving, 10 hours a day, convicts, who have injured their fellow-men, and who put the colony to a great expense, should be allowed to be almost idle, and not even earn their keep, which they cannot have done lately. I doubt if they are sufficiently tired to sleep soundly. Surely this ought to be looked to. Yours, &c. B. F. Auckland, October 16, 1843.
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Bibliographic details
Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 27, 21 October 1843, Page 3
Word Count
201Hard Labour. Daily Southern Cross, Volume 1, Issue 27, 21 October 1843, Page 3
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