In order to dispose of the question relative to the black labourers, one more letter from the Commissioner upon the subject to the Navy Board may be introduced, in the confidence that the plan suggested in it, will appear at once economical and practical, and that if steadily followed up, it must have been effectual for their provision and future comfort, and the probable result that of making these men a valuable portion of the population. “SIMON’S BAY, 24th SEPT. 1817. “GENTLEMEN, “As the works of this yard are now nearly completed, I beg leave to offer a few observations which have occurred to me, upon the subject of the black labourers belonging to the establishment. Many of these people have been in His Majesty’s service since 1808; and consequently have, according to the present arrangement for recaptured slaves, only five years to serve; but from the opinion given by your solicitor, transmitted in your letter of the 28th May, 1816, they are even at this time susceptible of liberation. “It becomes a matter of serious importance to provide for these people the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, and of making them useful members of society, when they shall be no longer under control. And it appears to me that so desirable an end may be effected, without putting His Majesty’s government to any expense, by the means which I take the liberty of submitting for your consideration. “We find from experience, that the lower classes of all descriptions of men who have been long accustomed to restraint and dependence, no sooner find themselves their own masters, and in possession of a considerable sum of money, arising perhaps from a long course of industry, than they are involved in great danger, and generally become entangled in difficulties, for want of some decided line of conduct to pursue. The blacks would be particularly liable to this exposure, unless care be taken to prepare them for liberty by a superintendence of their concerns, and by introducing them to it gradually. “There are amongst our labourers several who have become good masons, brickmakers, blacksmiths, excellent caulkers, tolerable carpenters, and expert boatmen, and who consequently, if kept in industrious habits, are well calculated to provide for themselves. “There are belonging to the Naval department, by right of purchase, and totally independent of the Colonial Government, pieces of ground, not required for any purposes connected with the dockyard, nor likely to be required however extensive that establishment may become, from their situation; a part lying behind the Commissioner’s garden, and part beyond the Naval Hospital at the south of the town.