PDF (Whole thesis) - UTas ePrints - University of Tasmania

142
young , and their contribution to the preva lence of diseas e;
constructively, he drew attention to the measures being taken in
England and called upon the Government , those owning capital, and other
J
memb ers of the Pub lic to take action to combat the ev il.
So insistent
1.,rere his efforts that on June 15 Archdeacon Davies convened a pub lie
meeting , at which Hall was present, to discuss the formation of a society
to be called the "Hobart Town Model
Lodging House Society11 which would
provide reasonab le and comfortab le accommodation both for the working
man and the indigent portion of the community.
At a second meeting on
June 21 a prospectus was adopted and a capital of twenty thousand pounds
in shares of ti-Jenty pounds each decided upon .
Having effectively
concentrated attention upon the lodging houses in which the Courier was
now helpfully interested, Miller turned to another matter with even more
dramatic effect.
On' May 18, the Tasmanian Daily News pub lished its
first editorial directed against the Convict Departmen t.
_
Hall, for his part, was building up his private medical
practice . Any leisure he had he devo ted to one of his lifelong hobbies ,
his Biblical CGl lection, which he exhib ited to the Public at his
residence , Claremont Hous e.
The Co llection, \\'hich included many rare
and valuab le editions in various
lguages dating back to early times,
was enhan ced by some ancient Bibles in Greek, Latin and English which
were lent by a generous minded Protestant clergyman after the exhib ition
loJas advertised in
the Colonial Times and the Tasmanian Daily News on
May 15-19.
By coincidence , therefore , Hall and the Convict Department
were mentioned for the first time in the Tasmanian Daily News at the
same time.;
in the next fe\.,r months , Mi. 11 er 's determined efforts to
eradi cate social injustice welded their names together .
In his second attack, Mi ller openly accused the high officials
of the Convict Department of gross acts of jobbery, which were long
known and resented by the Public;
of using their peculiar position to
secure for their private profit the services of trained artisans from
amongs t prisoners, when labourers were refused to others ;
of carrying
on an extensive commercial business and underselling the ordinary trader
who was orced to pay a dearer price for the same labour; of speculating
in the timber trade and procuring prisoner sawyers to carry on business
lihen no one else could get them;
quarri es to use in private houses.
of taking stone from Government
Day after day, fi ery editorials
inveighing against the convict officials and cal ling for an investigation