Page:History of Australia, Rusden 1897.djvu/385
inhabitants may not lose their claims on each other, and
for their future accommodation, blank printed forms" were
supplied by the government. An Order in 1802 rendered it
compulsory to register every assignment of property, unregistered assignments being made illegal. An Ordinance
of 1801 prescribed that bakers should use only one quality
of flour, i.e., of meal from which 24 lbs. of bran had been
taken from 100 lbs. Offending bakers were to be fined £10,
and their ovens were to be pulled down. The weight of the
loaf was fixed, and (15th May 1801) a General Order notified
that for selling a loaf 6 ozs. short in weight a baker's oven
had been pulled down and he had been fined. "This notice
is inserted to convince every description of persons that the
Governor is determined on having his orders enforced."
Butchers also were licensed. By a Proclamation (16th
March 1802), King announced that he and the magistrates
would license two butchers in Sydney and one in Parramatta. Unlicensed persons would be fined £5 for each
offence. No cow, ewe, or breeding sow was to be killed.
Weekly returns of the male stock slaughtered were to be
given to the Governor. Licensees were to give no more
than 13d. per lb. for mutton, and 6d. per lb. for swine's
flesh, and to "demand no more than 15d. per lb. for
mutton and 8d. per lb. for swine's flesh." In Oct. 1804,
the butchers having "combined with a few individuals,"
further Orders extended the number of licensed butchers
to six in Sydney, two at Parramatta, and one at Hawkesbury. The price of beef was fixed (from the average of
tenders) at 1s. 9d. per lb., of mutton at 1s., and of pork at 8½d. Each licensee was to pay £2 sterling to the Orphan
Fund.
A public brewery was established at Parramatta in 1803. King wrote (Aug. 1808):—"Much barley has been saved this year. I hope a final blow will be given to the desire of obtaining, as well as the importation of, spirits, the yearly difference of which your Lordship will observe by the enclosed return." It was difficult to keep watch over convict servants and overseers, and after a time the brewery was let at a rate which returned interest on its cost. Flax and woollen factories were established, and prices for their products were fixed. Salt was made in pans, both in