It was appointed in January 1877 "to inquire into the present condition of the Aborigines of this colony, and to advise them as to the best means of caring for, and dealing with them, in the future".
[2] Among its conclusions, it said that colony was obliged to "mitigate as best it may the injurious effects which the occupation of the country has produced on the aboriginal inhabitants" (South Australian Register, 6 December 1877).
The report also said "There are those who think it premature to assert that the race must necessarily disappear altogether and that, though at present they have not the moral force to hold their own in the struggle of life, they may, in future generations, acquire the resolution and provident habits which would enable them to do so... in any case, there will survive the memory that the Government of the day did not neglect a sacred duty to those who, by no act of their own, became subject to its control".
[5] The South Australian Register commented that "the remuneration offered in Victoria to managers [of the reserves] is insufficient to induce any man of ability, unless one who undertakes the work in a thorough spirit of self-denial and philanthropy, to accept the office.
On the other hand, we cheerfully confess that stations, whether here or in Victoria, are much more likely to prosper under those who take charge of them chiefly out of a sense of religious duty than they would be if managed by those who would make the work a mere matter of gain".