How prison labor interferes with economic development. Australia, interesting facts - the highest mountains, the largest river and the most dangerous animals in Australia Australia is the largest prison on earth

Port Arthur is located on the Tasmania Peninsula, Australia. This small town is famous for the fact that until 1877 it was a convict prison, which was considered one of the most terrible prisons in the world. It contained the most notorious criminals, including those who had already escaped from other prisons. The prison, built in 1933, served a sentence of approximately 13,000 prisoners, 2,000 of whom died there.

The Port Arthur prison was a complex of 60 buildings. There were 80 solitary confinement cells, a hospital morgue, a Catholic chapel, a cathedral where representatives of all faiths could pray, a psychiatric hospital, a bakery, a laundry, a kitchen, the commandant's residence, and much more. Most of the prison buildings were damaged during forest fires, wooden buildings were destroyed by them, only stone ones survived.

Port Arthur Prison is now accessible to tourists. They can inspect what remains of the prison buildings. Within the walls of the prison, actors act out scenes from the life of prisoners. Tours are also held on the Isle of the Dead, where the prison cemetery is located; tourists are also shown the former Point Puer colony for boys, where they were sent from the age of nine.

Each continent, each country and state is amazing, wonderful and unique in its own way. On any continent, every nation has its own characteristics, traditions and which will be very interesting for any tourist. Thanks to these features, a vivid and complete picture of a particular area is formed.

This article presents useful and very interesting facts about Australia.

Continent country

Australia is a very large country. It ranks sixth in the world in terms of its territory. It is so huge that it covers an entire continent. Its territory covers more than seven million square kilometers.

Interesting facts about Australia regarding the geographical location of the country - it is undoubtedly three oceans. The mainland is washed at once by the Indian, Pacific and South.

A huge part of the country is occupied by deserts and semi-desert territories. The most famous of them are Bolshaya Peschanaya and Victoria. From a bird's eye view, Australia looks like a bleak and red desert.

The country is indeed considered the driest continent, with only 500 mm of rainfall a year.

But despite all this, the mainland is in the top ten countries in the world in terms of quality and standard of living.

The most famous Australian animal is the kangaroo. It is the symbol of the country. Australia is full of them. When it gets dark, they, attracted by the headlights, go out onto the highways and jump under the wheels of cars. Therefore, Australians even have a special “kangaroo” sign to warn drivers of danger on the road. Mostly Australian kangaroos are small in size - up to 60 centimeters. But there are also larger individuals - up to 3 meters.

The most dangerous animals in Australia are crocodiles. The northern part of the country is simply teeming with them. And practically not even a week goes by as accidents with the participation of these animals occur. Alligators simply devour the people they come across. The continent is full of crocodiles. The most famous is the Australian saltwater. It is found in salty sea water and is the largest species on earth. An adult crocodile can weigh a ton (!) And reach 3-4 meters in length.

Scary stories about predatory poisonous from which hundreds of people die are well known. However, these are just stories. Since 1979, no human has died from a spider bite in Australia. So you can rest assured.

The same goes for sharks. They are not uncommon off the coast of the Australian continent. Yes, they are dangerous, but if you behave carefully and do not provoke them, then everything will be fine. Sharks are non-conflicting creatures, they never attack first.

What other animals is Australia diverse? You will learn interesting facts about its inhabitants if you visit local zoos. For example, have you ever heard of an animal called a wombat? And this is the continent. A small guinea pig that looks very much like a wild boar. Do you know about the Tasmanian devil? This is an Australian breed of dog that resembles a French Bulldog.

River of life

The largest river in Australia is the Murray. It flows in the eastern part of the continent and reaches a length of 2,570 kilometers. The river originates in the Australian Alps and flows into the Indian Ocean. On its way to the sea, it flows through a variety of environments: cities, agricultural land, etc.

The largest river in Australia is the "liveliest" of all bodies of water. It is home to frogs, fish, ducks, crayfish, snakes, and many other animals. The river is so diverse that every animal representative can find a place for himself here. Proud swans swim in the clear crystal waters, and frogs croak and snakes and lizards crawl in wetlands.

A wide variety of fish species are found in the Murray River: trout, cod, golden perch, Australian smelt, minnows and many others.

There are only mountains above the mountains

Interesting facts about Australia - this is undoubtedly its lowest and highest geographic points. So, on the one hand, the continent is below sea level when compared with other land areas of the Earth. The lowest point is Lake Eyre (15 meters below sea level). By the way, it is the driest in the world. It is covered with a thick four-meter layer of salt, and there is absolutely no water in it.

On the other hand, there are the Alps, on the territory of which the highest mountain in Australia is located - Kosciuszko (2228 meters). This is the highest point of the Green Continent.

Why is the highest mountain in Australia named after the Polish general and hero of Belarus Tadeusz Kosciusho? The fact is that its discovery was made by the Polish geologist Strzelecki in 1840. By the way, initially it was not called that, but was named Townsend. “Kosciuszko” was the neighboring mountain, which was then considered the highest. But later, when it was scientifically proven that Townsend was 20 meters higher, the Australians changed the names of the mountains so that the highest point was named after the hero of Poland. They did this as a sign of respect for the discoverer.

City life

Most of Australia are Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobat. And none of the above is the capital. The fact is that the capital of Australia, Canberra, is a very small city. It is home to a little more than 350 thousand people.

The largest Australian city is Sydney. It is home to about five million people. Next comes Melbourne with a population of about four million. By the way, earlier it was Melbourne that was the capital of Australia. Today this city is only the cultural capital of the continent. Brisbane, a major industrial center of the mainland, is home to about two million inhabitants. In Perth and Adelaide - one and a half million.

Gastronomic facts

What will Australia offer travelers? Interesting facts about the culinary characteristics of the country also cannot be ignored. First of all, we should talk about the traditional Australian dish - wedgemite. The name sounds mysterious, doesn't it? But in fact, everything is much simpler. This is ordinary yeast spread over unleavened bread. The pungent smell of brown mass and its salty taste will not please every traveler. The same cannot be said about the Australians themselves, who simply adore their traditional “pate”.

Another unusual edible feature of the country is the basket-shaped pies. Inside - meat filling. It looks beautiful and tastes good.

Sydney landmarks

One of the most amazing and beautiful buildings in the world is the Sydney Opera House. Its opening took place in 1973 by order of Queen Victoria. This unusual building is considered to be the most beautiful building of the twentieth century.

The Sydney TV Tower is the tallest structure in the entire South. Its height is striking - 309 meters in height! Thousands of visitors annually climb the Tower to admire the panorama of the city, the heights opening up in front of them and the world's largest bridge, Harbor Bridge, from the observation deck.

Sydney is also home to the world's largest aquarium. Its huge number of underwater tunnels will not leave anyone indifferent. There is something to see here - more than six thousand species of various representatives of the depths of the sea are at your service!

What else to see in Australia?

The main attraction of the continent is the Great Barrier Reef. This is a real miracle of nature. The largest coral reef system in the world. 900 islands stretch over a vast territory - more than 3000 kilometers. By the way, it is here, on one of the islands, that the most remote mailbox is located.

Another natural wonder of Australia is pink. Scientists still cannot explain the reason for its scarlet color.

Locals

Interesting facts about Australia will be told by the inhabitants of the continent themselves. By the way, mainly Europeans live here - more than 90 percent of the total population. They are mainly Irish and British.

The residents themselves call themselves a funny nickname "Ozzie". They also refer to the American dollar. Strange, do they really associate themselves with money? But we cannot understand this.

By the way, aborigines still exist in Australia. They occupy five percent of the total population. These black Australians live in remote reservations and settlements.

Australians are a very cheerful people. They love to joke and laugh. And in general they strive to live and breathe deeply. This is probably why they are so friendly and welcoming. In addition, they are very fond of traveling. Not only across your continent, but around the world in general.

A wide variety of international events are held annually in Australia to attract overseas visitors.

Unusual facts

1. Only Australia has a Flying Doctor Medical Service. They provide only emergency care to patients living in areas remote from the city. This service is a kind of symbol of the country. After all, she speaks of a high level of medicine and life in general.

2. Australia is a country of sheep. In 2000, more than 100 million of these animals were counted in the country. It turns out that the number of the "sheep population" is five times greater than the human population.

3. This is the largest pasture in the world. Still would! There are so many sheep in Australia! And they also need to graze somewhere. The largest pasture is called Anna Creek and covers an area of ​​35,000 square kilometers.

4. Nondescript capital. Canberra is a small and unremarkable city. Unlike Sydney or Melbourne. Then why is she? This is a kind of compromise. The city is located exactly in the middle between Melbourne and Sydney. As they say, so that there are no disagreements.

5. There is more snow in the mountains of Australia than in the Swiss Alps. The fact is that a huge amount of snow falls on the territory of the Australian Alps, much more than in Switzerland. Therefore, winter holidays are very popular here.

6. Continent of prisoners. Australia was discovered by Great Britain and became its colony. England used the remote island to exile criminals. Therefore, those who survived a long sea voyage in dirty ship holds, in fact, became the first inhabitants of this country. So a quarter of Australia's population are descendants of British prisoners.

7. The largest part of Antarctica belongs to Australia. In 1933, the Antarctic Territory of Australia was officially ceded to it by England. This is a huge area - about six million square kilometers.

Australia: fun facts for kids

1. This Green Continent was discovered by James Cook in 1770.

2. The most common animal in Australia is the kangaroo. It is home to the largest number of snakes in the world.

3. Australia is the smallest continent. At the same time, it is the largest island in the world.

4. English is spoken in Australia. And mainly Europeans live here. Although there are also indigenous people - aborigines.

5. The main architectural value of the continent is the Sydney Opera House. It is built right in the harbor and is surrounded by water on three sides. The roof of the building resembles a ship with sails or the wings of a swan.

10th place among all the high-profile escapes is the jailbreak Maze. For several decades, this case has remained one of the most notorious in the UK. On September 25, 1983, in the city of Antrim, which is located in Northern Ireland, eight people who had previously served in the Irish Republican Army were able to escape from a local prison. They were sentenced to prison for numerous murders and terrorist attacks.

9th place belongs to the history of Alfred Hinds. This prisoner was very popular in Great Britain. He received twelve years for armed robbery, but during this time he was able to organize his own escape from three prisons. However, he spent the six years that remained in Parkhest Prison, located on the Isle of Wight.

Express info by country

The Earth is in third place in terms of distance from the Sun and in fifth among all planets in the solar system in terms of size.

Age- 4.54 billion years

Average radius - 6,378.2 km

Middle circle - 40,030.2 km

Square- 510,072 million km² (29.1% land and 70.9% water)

Number of continents- 6: Eurasia, Africa, North America, South America, Australia and Antarctica

Number of oceans- 4: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, Arctic

Population- 7.3 billion people (50.4% men and 49.6% women)

The most densely populated states: Monaco (18,678 people / km 2), Singapore (7607 people / km 2) and the Vatican (1,914 people / km 2)

Countries: total 252, independent 195

Number of languages ​​in the world- about 6,000

Number of official languages- 95; the most common: English (56 countries), French (29 countries) and Arabic (24 countries)

Number of nationalities- about 2,000

Climatic zones: equatorial, tropical, temperate and arctic (main) + subequatorial, subtropical and subarctic (transitional)

8th place in the nomination of the top 10 famous jailbreak given to the seven from Texas. On December 13, 2000, a group of prisoners escaped from a Texas prison. Half a million dollars was promised for the capture of dangerous criminals. The escape took place on election day. The prisoners were taken to the voting room, but with the help of various tricks they were able to disarm the guards and leave the walls of the prison. Now two of them are dead, and five are awaiting death sentences.

7th place given to Alfred Wetzler's escape from the concentration camp. Jewish by nationality, Wetzler was in the German concentration camp "Auschwitz". After a successful escape, he laid down in his notes a clear plan of the camp, a description of the crematoria, gas chambers, and so on. The escape took place in April 1944, on the day of the Passover.

Escape from Siberia to India takes 6 position... A Polish soldier, Slawomir Rawicz, who was arrested in 1939, took part in this story. He went through torture and interrogation by the NKVD, but survived and was sent to construction work in camp number 303, located near the Arctic Circle. On April 9, 1941, he organized his escape. But, according to a 2006 BBC investigation, it turned out that Ravich's escape turned out to be more of a hoax.

Escape from Alcatraz - 5th place... The most famous escape from this prison was by Frank Morris and the Englin brothers. They escaped through a service tunnel that was not guarded. According to the official version, the fugitives are considered missing, but there were rumors that the relatives of the former prisoners received letters from them in South America.

4th place takes a mass flight from Libby. In February 1864, during the American Civil War, the escape of more than a hundred prisoners from a prison located in Virginia was organized. The prison was famous for its terrible conditions of detention and complete unsanitary conditions.

3rd place takes Johnny D.'s escape. This man was one of the most famous criminals of the 30s in America. Johnny was serving his sentence for multiple bank robberies. Twice he managed to escape from the prisons of America, but on March 22, 1934, he was killed while resisting during his arrest.

Helicopter escape takes 2nd position in the ranking. Prisoner Pascal Payet escaped twice with the help of an airplane and friends who were at large. In the interval between his imprisonment, he was able to rescue several more people with the help of a helicopter. The first escape was in 2001, Payet spent four years at large, the second escape was in 2007. But after three months he was caught again. Now all information about his location is classified by the police in order to avoid such cases.

1 place of honor belongs to an imperceptible escape. Julien Chatorde was convicted on charges of arson. After arriving at a London prison, Chathorde hid under the bottom of a van, thus leaving the territory of the correctional institution. His disappearance was noticed seven hours later, when, looking at the footage from the cameras, one of the guards saw a strange shadow under the truck. The most interesting thing is that after three days in the wild, Châtorde returned to the police station with a confession.

Once a huge prison, Australia now ranks first in the world happiness rankings.

The history of modern Australia began in 1606, when the reckless Dutch captain Janszon landed on an unknown land and named it "New Zealand" - in honor of the Dutch province.

Here this name did not take root, but later moved to the islands to the east of Australia. The Dutch did not take root either: the local population greeted them with hostility, several sailors died. Having given the order to raise the anchors, the captain wrote in the logbook: "Nothing good can be done there."

This conclusion was confirmed by his compatriot Captain Karstenz: "These shores are unsuitable for life, they are inhabited by poor and miserable creatures."

The largest prison in the world

Well, the Dutch have always been good sailors, but absolutely no warriors. The British are a different matter. James Cook was sent to extend the rule of the crown to unknown lands - he did. With fire and sword, the English colonists reclaimed food and water for themselves on the Australian coast. The Dutch probably saw in this only confirmation of the words of Captain Janszon.

In those years it was already clear that Great Britain had bitten off more land for itself than it could really develop. The only use that was found for Australia is a beautiful prison well isolated from the civilized (thousands of miles of water).

Already 18 years after Cook's first visit, those who would later be delicately called "stowaways on Her Majesty's ships" landed on the shore - convicts. Several tens of thousands of angry people, often seriously ill, who died in hard labor, drove out the aborigines and infected them with diseases unknown in Australia - became the foundation of the future Australian society.

FOR REFERENCE : Now, in the 10s of the XXI century, Australia ranks first in the Better Life Index of happiness from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. GDP per capita is over 45 thousand dollars - a place in the first ten world countries, only the United States is ahead of the big countries. Eighty-four percent of Australians say they are "much more likely" to experience positive emotions than negative ones.

How the hell did they do it?

At one time, Australia (like New Zealand) began to climb on gold and wool. Even convicts began to breed sheep, and later it became literally a national occupation ("Australia rides a sheep") and until the end of World War II provided the main flow of funds into the country. Suffice it to say that in the 1880s a unique "dog fence" was built here, more than 5 thousand kilometers long (more than enough to block the European part of Russia from north to south), protecting the pastures from dingo dogs.

Like New Zealand, Australia experienced a golden boom in the 1870s. But if easily accessible deposits were quickly depleted, then in general Australian reserves have not depleted until now. This is a real world pantry: almost the entire periodic table is mined here.

Australia secured its actual independence from the British crown thanks to ... the technology of freezing meat. After the opportunity arose to export not only wool, but also other parts of sheep, a country with a well-developed agriculture by that time could simply ignore London. And the British had the wisdom not to start a military operation far away: the air already smelled of the First World War.

And they had little chance of winning. After all, it was the original contingent of the first settlers that played a role in Australia's success. Courage, endurance, perseverance, ability to physical labor were originally Australian trump cards over pampered Europe.

There was no happiness, but the war helped

And then world wars thundered, which pretty much enriched Australia, remote from conflicts, with both increased demand for raw materials and human capital: thousands of qualified specialists left here from mobilization, battles, devastation.

It must be said that not everyone was accepted: until the 1970s, the concept of "White Australia" dominated, and, for example, Asians were virtually barred from entering. Only when the level of education in Asia increased to more or less decent, the ban was lifted - and now immigrants from China, Indochina, and India play an important role in the country.

The rich bowels, the wonderful climate of the southern coast, multiplied by the harsh Protestant ethics (its traces can still be traced in the country, although most of its inhabitants are no longer religious), helped to make a flourishing land out of the inhospitable continent. There are a lot of problems in Australia, as elsewhere, - now, for example, it is the opposition to Muslim expansion (more precisely, the way of life that migrants bring with them), but it is difficult to doubt that Australians will cope with this scourge. This is not Europe, everything is more serious and simple here.

The Soviet Gulag is undoubtedly the largest experiment in the history of the development of territories through forced labor. But he had predecessors - not only the American South, but an entire continent-prison. However, already in the middle of the 19th century in England they realized that prison labor slows down the Australian economy, and they stopped sending convicts there.

ELENA CHIRKOVA

The war between the North and South in America ended with the defeat of the Southerners by the Yankee army and the abolition of slavery in the southern states. Slaves are freed, that is, these people are not only freed from slave labor, but also removed from allowance and are now forced to look for work for hire. For money, they are not too needed. Especially when there is an alternative. "I almost decided that I would hire the platforms on the platters. I somehow spoke with Johnny Helleger ... How hard to make these black masses work, and he asked why I did not take the convicts. It seemed to me a good thought. ..— says Scarlett O "Hara, the main character of Margaret Mitchell's novel" Gone with the Wind. " blacks after the abolition of slavery.- "Money") will not rush into me like a swarm of wasps for this, and will not poke all sorts of laws under my nose and interfere with what does not concern them. " an entrepreneur cannot put up with the bullying that convicts endure from a sawmill manager who wants to squeeze out the maximum income.

To the edge of the world

Scarlet O'Hara was not the first to pursue the idea of ​​the Gulag as an economic organization. Beginning in the 18th century Great Britain was engaged in this, turning Australia and the surrounding islands into a colony-settlement. Initially, the purpose of colonizing this continent was ship timber and the cultivation of flax in a suitable climate. from which sails were made. Both England imported from Russia through Riga. There was no suitable tree in Asia, flax could not be grown there, so to build a ship in India, you had to drag materials across half the world. Deliveries from Russia depended on the relationship between England and France and the sympathies of the Scandinavian countries.

In 1784, France received permission from Sweden to create an outpost near Gothenburg, at the exit from the Baltic Sea. In this regard, they remembered the island of Norfolk, a thousand miles from the eastern shores of Australia. This island was discovered by James Cook in 1774. Cook reported that on Norfolk and the neighboring islands he saw pine trees up to 60 meters high with trunks of almost a meter in diameter, and that flax grew there. The linen samples delivered to him have already been tested: the canvas made from it turned out to be very durable. In addition, in 1783, the US War of Independence ended, and England lost its most important colony.

The first proposals for the colonization of Australia and the surrounding islands involved sending the English poor there. There was no shortage of them due to the depression caused by the lost war; they intended to use the Chinese as slaves for the colonists. Slaves were essential. Only free land and free labor could attract immigrants to the distant - at that time nine to ten months' journey - the continent. Another idea won out - to reduce the burden on English prisons and to send thieves and murderers to remote territories. In an economic sense, they were supposed to replace slaves.

It was decided to establish colonies on the shores of the Botanical Bay (the modern Australian state of New South Wales with the capital Sydney - the city that grew out of the first settlement) and on Norfolk. The presence of French ships in the region and the information that the navigator Comte de La Perouse had already landed on Norfolk forced them to hasten to seize the island. However, the pine tree there was found to be unsuitable for building ships because it was too soft, thin-grained wood (an excellent ship pine tree was found in Tasmania, but several decades later). The economy of the "project" turned out not at all as planned, nevertheless, the colony on Norfolk grew, becoming, in fact, a prison with very harsh conditions of detention.

Developed a business plan: criminals will be sent to the Botanical Bay by ships of 600 people; the organization of the settlement will take about £ 19 thousand (£ 2.6 million in modern money), the costs for it in the first year will be about £ 15 thousand, in the second - about £ 7 thousand, and in the third it should come to self-sufficiency ...

The first shipment took place in 1786, 736 people were loaded on board. There were no political ones among them, who committed grave crimes like rape or murder, too. The picture of the contingent relocated to Australia over the years of this practice was something like this. 80% were convicted of theft, from half to two-thirds were re-sentenced. The overwhelming majority are urban dwellers; the villagers, who were most in demand as a labor force, accounted for only a fifth. 75% were single, with one woman for every six men. The average age is 26. Most were illiterate - more than half could not even write their name.

Floating prisons

For transportation in record time, an appropriate fleet was built - ships with a well-insulated room equipped with bunks. A prisoner had about 50 cm of space in width, three or four were assigned to one bunk. In no case two - it was believed that sleeping in three insures against homosexual contacts. Australian writer Marcus Clarke (1846-1881) described the insides of a floating prison in his novel Condemned for Life: “There were twenty-eight bunks, each with six people. The bunks passed in a double tier on two sides of the prison ... feet and six inches. However, the latter were cut for lack of space; but even with such crowding, twelve people were still forced to sleep on the floor. "

The height of the hold was about human height. There was no light other than natural light - no candles were given to avoid a fire. During a storm, the hatches were battened down, and fresh air did not enter the hold, but walks were allowed in good weather. On the Malabar, on which Rufus Does, the hero of Clark's novel, who had received life imprisonment, was taken to Australia, the promenade was arranged like this: “The middle part of the deck looked strange. a dense bulkhead with openings, entrances and exits ran across the deck from one bulwark to another.Outside, this corral was guarded by armed sentries. prison clothes. All of them were prisoners of the English king ... "

And these are also divine conditions. Dose was sent to Australia in the second half of the 1820s, when hygiene standards were somehow respected. The fate of the first parties of prisoners was much more difficult - they had a much worse situation than the slaves brought from Africa to the United States. For example, out of 499 "passengers" of one of the first carrier ships, only 72 made it to the place in relative health, the rest died or became seriously ill. By the way, the high mortality rate was beneficial to private contractors who carried out the delivery of prisoners: food was loaded in England at certain rates, and if the "mouths" naturally diminished along the way, the surplus could be sold in ports in Latin America or in Cape Town. Yes, in those days people went to Australia through Latin America.

To reduce mortality, doctors began to be assigned to the ships, not accountable to private companies that took over the transportation of the contingent, but to the companies themselves paid extra for its successful delivery. The bonus for each prisoner delivered alive was 20-25% of the base price of the carriage - the amount paid regardless of mortality.

Lobster hard labor

The first ships sailing to Australia took on board a supply of everything necessary for life for several years in advance - there were no guarantees that the next ships with provisions would safely reach their destination. It is only in Daniel Defoe's fairy tale "Robinson Crusoe" that an Englishman survives on a desert island, eating pasture. In Australia, convicts who fled to the interior of the mainland died of hunger, or returned and voluntarily surrendered to the authorities. If the next ship was late, the ration often had to be cut to a hungry minimum. In the early years, it came to the point that prisoners and officers were given equal rations. The only significant addition to the imported provisions was lobsters - off the coast of Australia, they were abundant, so that a brigade of prisoners could catch about five hundred in the evening. Australia became self-sufficient in providing basic needs around 1810 - 23 years after the first settler landing.

Convicts were required to work - the embodiment of the idea that punishment should consist of work, not time spent in prison. In the early years, all those serving time worked for the state, the harvested crop was considered its property. The grain was sent to state stores, where the colonists purchased at the rates according to the rationing distribution system. However, by the beginning of the 19th century, agricultural production and trade became a private business in Australia, while in general, up to 90% of convicts subsequently worked in the private sector. Those who were engaged in public works could mine coal, equip bays - build breakwaters or lighthouses, as well as build prisons, barracks, roads, build tunnels, build bridges.

Scientific sources consider work in coal mines one of the most inhumane: hard physical labor, lack of daylight, dampness, rock debris, lack of air and professional diseases of miners - asthma and rheumatism. However, it is even more difficult to collect and burn shells for limestone, the industrial deposits of which were not near Sydney. The collector worked barefoot in the water, stepping on sharp shells, dragging heavy baskets, the smoke from the burning shells corroded his eyes.

However, even worse work is mentioned in the novel by Marcus Clark. The brutal prison governor, with personal motives to hate Rufus Dose, "gave him ... fifty lashes, and the next day sent him to grind cayenne pepper. This punishment the convicts feared most of all. The corrosive dust got into the eyes and lungs, causing unbearable agony. For a man with a wounded back, this work turned into torture. "

By law, the prisoner's working week was limited to 56 hours, but production quotas were also established, and those who did not fulfill the plan had to work more. In 1800, for example, in a week it was necessary to clear a plot of one acre (about 0.4 hectares) of forest or thresh 18 bushels (about half a ton) of grain.

It was allowed to have your own vegetable garden, this was especially encouraged in the first hungry years of colonization. Prisoners could even be released early from community service - at three o'clock in the afternoon, for example, so that they could work for themselves.

It was not forbidden to cut down the forest in their free time, clear areas and the like, receiving a small payment for this. And skilled artisans - jewelers, tailors, shoemakers could work in their specialty and earn quite a lot, up to £ 4-5 (£ 500-700 in modern prices) per week. After their release, former prisoners had the right to choose their own business to their liking.

Origin of capital

The first free inhabitants of Australia were the military - guards in the places of deployment of prisoners and representatives of the rudimentary government. It was believed that on the mainland-prison there is no trust in other residents. The continent was slowly filling up with free people, even in the 1820s prisoners made up 40% of Australia's population. Free were both former prisoners who rewound their time, and ordinary migrants. Some came due to the fact that they were members of the convict's family, but these were in the minority due to massive refusals in resettlement permits (it was required to prove that the person who served his sentence could support his family) and because of the price of a ticket to Australia, which was too high for workers.

Others went for the "long pound". To find a new homeland was because of what: as much land as desired - a free resident of the colony, at his request, was provided with 25 acres (10 hectares); land in Australia has been worth almost nothing for about four decades since colonization began. Ten prisoners were attached to the future farm - at first this contingent was the only source of hired labor in Australia. At first, there was no payment for the use of prisoners' labor, and the state took upon itself the responsibility of providing them. So it tried to attract wealthy settlers.

But pretty soon, already in 1800, the costs of keeping prisoners working in the private sector were shifted to the tenants of the labor force. They were supposed to provide the worker with allowance, clothing and housing. It was stated in detail that linen and bedding should be provided, in particular, the prisoner had the right to receive a blanket. Food and clothing could be borrowed from government stores, paying at the end of the year, after the harvest. Also, the private employer took on some of the medical expenses.

The minimum contract period was 12 months. If it turned out that the farmer was unable to support the workers, they were taken away and a fine was issued for each day until the end of the contract. The prisoner could be taken away and if he was used unproductively or secretly subleased - this was prohibited. Private persons were not allowed to punish prisoners, it was the prerogative of the state.

A prisoner who served as a servant of a free person could sit with the owners at the same table. Tea, sugar, rum and soap were considered to be signs of well-being, and they rewarded workers for hard work. Of course, tobacco was also valued - perhaps the main equivalent in prisons at all times.

It was not forbidden to use prisoners as servants. On the one hand, this contradicted the idea of ​​productive labor for the good of society in order to atone for guilt. On the other hand, in class society there was an understanding that a London butler would not go to Australia in search of work, and a rich man was not ready to do without him. Accordingly, there was a demand for educated prisoners. Here, against the background of thieves, usually illiterate, stood out those convicted of fraud, for example, bank clerks who forged bills. Oddly enough, there was also demand for thieves. Of these, wealthy Australians recruited security - the robber had a good idea of ​​how to protect the house from theft.

According to the law, the rights of those who were originally free and those who had served a sentence were the same. In practice, former prisoners, as well as free people not connected with the military infrastructure of the colony, were discriminated against. The military could choose the best plot for themselves, the best prisoners - these were people with experience on the land, paid less for tools and seeds, and in addition, they could take out loans against the security of salaries and use them as investment capital. In particular, they bought land from the released prisoners, who received plots for free - few of them were agricultural workers and knew how to profitably run a business. The fragmented land was gradually consolidated. Exactly according to Lenin: capitalism grew out of small-scale commodity production.

For three years (from 1792 to 1795) the colony was de facto ruled by the military, who monopolized the purchase of goods delivered from the metropolis and their resale. The main load was rum, which served as a universal equivalent - the colony did not dry out all over the place. This is another source of the first Australian fortunes.

Slavery as a brake

Some large fortunes formed quickly, but Australia developed slowly. She suffered from a lack of capital, isolation, long distances, a small population, a conservative penitentiary system, and most importantly, because of the specifics of the labor force, which had absolutely no incentive to work. Very similar to the situation in the southern United States in the first half of the 19th century, where slavery hampered economic development ("Money" wrote about this - see "The Cost of Uncle Tom", http: // www ..

There were also differences. In the United States, the planter had to buy a slave, and the cost was high, reflecting not only the demand but also the purchase and transportation costs. The crown transported English prisoners to Australia at its own expense and distributed it to free colonists for free, which significantly reduced the cost of labor. But free labor and free land have their disadvantages - free or subsidized distribution of resources creates distortions in the economy: surplus production is produced, surplus assets grow. In Australia, these were, for example, flocks of sheep. Animal husbandry could provide as much meat as the country, in principle, could not eat.

The reasons for stopping the expulsion of prisoners were the growing dissatisfaction with the implementation of the "project" in the British political environment in the 1830s, as well as the improvement in the state of the penitentiary system and opposition from Australians, who began to consider the continent their homeland.

As for England, the crime rate has not declined there, from which it was concluded that moving to Australia is a weak threat for potential violators of the law. In addition, the economy of the "project" stopped working: local prisons became more efficient and it turned out to be more profitable to keep prisoners in them, at least with short terms. It was also understood that the system was creating distortions in the Australian economy. Since they still wanted to populate the continent, they focused on material incentives for volunteers. For example, in 1837, a healthy immigrant under 30 was given £ 37 (approximately £ 3,700 in today's money), as well as £ 5 for each of his young children and another £ 15 for each teenager.

No more than 20-25% of criminals convicted under the most severe articles worked in shackles, the rest were in the settlement, or, as they said in the USSR, "in chemistry." They could, to some extent, make decisions regarding their work, master a new profession. They were better prepared for life in society after their release than prisoners in prisons.

In the 1830s, the salaries of freed convicts in Australia were higher than those of similar occupations in the metropolis. British prisoners began to view transportation to a distant country as a chance in life, as an opportunity to get rich. Especially after gold was discovered in Australia in 1851. This is one of the indirect reasons for the final refusal to transfer prisoners there. There was no point in taking criminals free of charge to where many sought to get on their own, and for a lot of money.

The prevailing opinion in England that Australia is a land of opportunity is reflected in Charles Dickens' novel Great Expectations. Its main character, Pip, comes from a simple family, who lost his parents early, at the age of seven, he showed mercy to the fugitive convict Abel Magwitch. He was caught again and sent to Australia for life. Magwitch kept a fond memory of the orphan and decided incognito to spend what he earned in Australia on turning him into a gentleman. After some time, Abel Magwitch, despite the threat of the death penalty, returns to his homeland to visit Pip, who by that time lives in the "mansions" that "the lord does not disdain". Abel Magwitch reveals to Pip who was his anonymous benefactor, and in short words tells how he made his fortune: he was in the service of a cattle breeder, worked as a shepherd "in distant pastures," and the owner left him money when he was dying, and then Magwitch ended term, and he "began to do something for himself little by little."

In Australia, the further transfer of convicts was supported by the rich, including former prisoners, they demanded cheap labor. Free hired workers were against them, they were afraid of competition from guest workers and a decrease in their income. Their other argument is that according to statistics, many released from prison became recidivists: the proportion of newly convicted already in Australia among the entire population in 1835 was ten times greater than in England. The opinion of the working masses prevailed.

In New South Wales, convicts were no longer delivered back in 1840, to Van Diemen's Land (the original name of Tasmania), which was turned into a maximum security prison - in 1853. The last landing of prisoners in western Australia took place in 1868. Since 1787, when the first transport with criminals arrived in Australia, 825 "special flights" were sent there - an average of 200 prisoners on each board, that is, about 165 thousand people were forcibly resettled. According to statistics, only 7% of those who lived to see liberation returned home.