AUSTRALIA: THE
MAKING OF A NATION

JOHN FOSTER FRASER

AUSTRALIA:
THE MAKING OF A NATION

AUSTRALIA:
THE MAKING OF A NATION

BY
JOHN FOSTER FRASER
Author of "Canada as It Is," "Quaint Subjects of the King,"
"Life's Contrasts," "The Real Siberia," "America
at Work," "Red Russia," "Pictures
from the Balkans."

Confident, aggressive, lonely.
Product of the present only.
Thinking nothing of the past.
— Australian Poet

THIRD EDITION

PUBLISHED FOB THE
BAY VIEW READING CLUB
Centeal Office, 165 Boston Boulevabd, Detroit, Mich.

CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD.
LONDON, NEW YOKE, TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
1911

PRINTED ¦ AND • BOUND • BT
THB-PLIMPTON-PBE8S
NOEWOOD-MASS-tJ-S-A

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE}
Foreword to the People of Australia . . xi
1. Some General Impressions .... 1
2. The Imperial and National Spirit . . 11
3. The Problem of Immigration ... 21
4. Stray Notes  34
5. Roundabout Notes ..... 46
6. Some Problems of Population ... 52
7. Sheep, Wool and Mutton .... 64
8. Settlement on the Land .... 72
9. The Middle State  92
10. The Problem of the Railways . . . 102
11. Home Life of the People . . . .116
12. A Maligned State  128
13. The Desert City  139
14. Constitution and Government . . . 151
15. The Mother State ..... 165
16. The Working Man  180
17. Systems of Education — ^The State as Parent 188

18. Experiments in Labour Legislation
19. A White Australia

201214

20. The Garden State .
21. Queensland .
22. Australia and Canada
23. Tasmania
24. The Great Lone Land
25. Some General Observations

224
239257
270
278
290

FOREWORD TO THE PEOPLE OF
AUSTRALIA
This is a book about you — the impressions, the in
vestigations, and the conclusions of a world-wanderer
who spent a few months in your midst.
For years many of you wrote to me: "You write
books about America, Canada, Russia, Siberia, and
other lands; why don't you come here and tell the
world about us? Tell the truth, and we'll give you
a good time when you are here."
It was long before the opportunity came. When
it did, you kept your promise. You gave me a good
time. I have told the people of Britain about your
hospitality. It never faltered from the moment the
first bunch of greeting telegrams was pushed into my
hand on reaching your shores, till, in the droop of the
day, I watched the flutter of handkerchiefs as my
boat steamed homewards. There were the official
receptions from Premiers and Lord Mayors, the
dinner parties and the luncheon parties, the kind
things said, the willingness of men whom I had never
seen, and am never likely to see again, to throw
private concerns aside in order to show me phases of
hfe in which I was interested; the visits to farms,
the pleasant meals, with the good-wife waiting on
her guests, the talks with all sorts and conditions of

xii AUSTRALIA
men — all back in my life now, happening thousands
of miles away, but, as I write in the quietude of my
London home, bright and fragrant in memory.
Many of you put the question, "Are you going to
write a book about Austraha?" and I always told you
I did not know. I did not. I had seen other coun
tries — oh, a great many other countries: new lands,
old lands, had studied life and the state of labour in
them, and I found myself looking at you sometimes
as a people apart, sometimes as people working out
problems other people had wrestled with; sometimes,
and this more frequently, I looked at you with eyes
that quivered with the haze of comparison. Some
body once wrote something nasty about compari
sons. Yet it is only by comparisons that we arrive
at safe judgments about men or about countries.
Thus I came to admire much in Australia. But
now and then I knocked against something which
jarred, which hurt. Then, thought I, "No, I will
not write a book. Why should I criticise? How un
gracious even to hint all might not be well." I said
this to myself because I Hked you, and I did not want
any of you to murmur as you turned pages I had
written, "He might have left that unsaid."
What, for a long time, kept hand from pen was
a recognition of your "touchiness." Do you know
that many of you would talk to me by the horn-
about what a horrible place England was to live in,
and when I hinted that there might be some re
spects in which England was a better land than
Australia you stuck up your feathers and intimated
I was just one more of those muddy-brained Britons

FOREWORD

xm

who got personal satisfaction in sneering at Austra
ha and the Australians? And you have done that in
regard to all your author visitors, from Froude down
to Fraser. Deary me! That was the kind of atti
tude which made me laugh and occasionally made
me sad. And now and then the temptation came to
me to say, "If you are pained by the casual chatter of
the globe-trotter who visits Australia for a couple of
days and fails to be enthusiastic, what justification
have you to be contemptuous about Britain, which
the majority of you have never seen?"
I have knocked enough about the world to know
there are other good lands besides England. And
believe me it would not be a bad thing if Australians
— especially Australians who have not been outside
their own continent — could come to believe that there
is just a possibility that other people are also wide
awake, and that it is not beyond the range of lan
guage for a visitor to say a nice thing about another
land without the slightest intention of casting a slur
upon Australia.
It was fine, however, to notice the way you stood
up for yourselves — ^not boastfully or braggingly, but
just standing up. It was like a tonic to hear most
of you sing the praises of Australia. I like to see a
young fellow glow with passionate love for his
mother: the dearest, sweetest, most beautiful
woman on earth. It does not prove that she is;
but it makes the blood gush warm with admiration
that he should think so. So I loved to hear the
Australian talk about Austraha.
You know what "having a chip on the shoulder"

xiv AUSTRALIA
means? Well, may I suggest in kindliness, get
yours off. Do not be looking for offence where no
offence is meant. I was interviewed in a certain
town — indeed, I was interviewed in most towns, but
I am thinking of a particular town — and I talked
about the amazing development of Australia, all the
more wonderful to me when I remembered the class
from which the men who had done most of this
were drawn. In my mind's eye were those brave
men, discontented with their lot in the old country,
not University men, but men with big hearts and
stout sinews, who had battled in the new country
and gained victory. Yet I was abused in the
Australian press as an offensive British bounder
who was insulting the Austrahan people! I made
inquiry. What was it? Convicts! I laughed.
Then I used bad language at the thought that there
were actually people in Australia who turned words
into insult when a compHment was paid. And,
believe me, I came across that particular "chip"
more than once. Get rid of it. It is unworthy.
Besides, if it will afford any satisfaction, let me say
that I had two of my Scottish forbears hanged by
the neck at Carlisle, a century and a half ago, for
cattle lifting.
It would be contrary to human nature if many
an AustraHan, on reading some of my impressions
in the following pages, did not exclaim, perhaps
mildly, perhaps otherwise, "The author is wrong."
And, my dear Australian, if I were sitting opposite
you it is not unlikely you would be able, with much
show of reason, to demonstrate that, as your opinion

FOREWORD XV
differs from mine, you are much more likely to be
right, because you have Hved in Australia aU your
life and I was but a scampering visitor for a few
months. I have been in precisely the same box. I know
Britain well; I have lived most of my Hfe in it. But
every how and then I read a book or a newspaper
article written by an outsider, an American, some
times an Australian, and I have caught myself cry
ing out, "Heavens, the fellow is ignorant or grossly
prejudiced." Sometimes I have resented the criti
cism passed upon the British people. Occasionally,
however, I have known the writers, competent men,
widely travelled, keen students of humanity, able
to form stable judgments, and neither ignorant nor
prejudiced. So, instead of flying into a tantrum, I
have tried to appreciate that the writer, though his
acquaintance with England may be short, has
brought a new vision to bear upon us, that he has a
qui,ck eye and a shrewd brain, and he has seen things
which impressed him, but which I have not noticed
because I have seen them so often that my sight and
conscience have become blunted. Hence the shout
"That is an exaggeration!" which escapes from the
lips when some sentence cuts into the raw of my
Britishism Uke the lash of a well-directed whip.
Thus I come to recognise, quietly and philosophically,
I trust, that the people of my own land do not neces
sarily possess all the virtues, and that we do not
suffer when a visitor directs a glance to our faults,
towards which, naturally, we have been a Httle
bHnd. And what I give to others I am prone to

xvi AUSTRALIA
ask — a recognition that one may criticise and yet
appreciate, that a condemnation of one thing should
not be nursed as a grievance to the forgetting of
admiration bestowed upon a hundred things.
What? A "letting down," an "apology" for
what is to follow! Not at all. It is just a plea to
the Austrahans, who need to mark the point as
much as any people, that they should keep the
balance and think that a British writer, who has
been in Australia for a short time, may know more
about Australia than some Australian writers, who
have never been at all to Great Britain, know about
Great Britain. I did not fail to notice that the
Australian who most bitterly resented criticism of
his land was always the first in criticism of other
lands. Nothing would be easier, nay pleasanter, than to
go through the piles of printed and written material
with which I am surrounded, and on which might
be stamped "Advertise Australia," and proceed to
write glowing paraphrases of official pamphlets. I
have no desire to win your adulation by turning on
the hose of gush. It would be a poor compliment to
the intelligent masses in your country if I did that.
As for the others, I am unconcerned. Much more
good will be done — at least you must allow me to hold
that opinion — by regarding Austraha with a loving
eye, for I came to love your country, and write
frankly, sincerely, and with no axe to grind, exactly
what a man, who has studied men and things in many
other parts of the earth, thinks about the mighty
continent of the southern hemisphere. The only

FOREWORD

xvu

country that need be afraid of honest criticism is the
country which has things to hide.
You have the right to walk straight-shouldered
and to hold your heads high. Your fate is not in the
lap of the gods; it rests on your illimitable prairies
and on the two thousand million acres of Common
wealth lands still available for occupation. Not you,
nor any of us, shah live to see the time when the
breasts of all those prairies will yield food to wide-
scattered mankind. But we are seeing the begin
nings of a mighty settlement. The crowded parts
of the world are beginning to tum their eyes to your
southern land. Are you going to welcome them?
They have been tardy in coming. Perhaps this is
because they have been misinformed. If so, ask from
where they got their information?
A year or so ago there was a Franco-British
Exhibition in London. Australia made a brave and
interesting display at that great Fair. Yet the vis
itor smiled. Here is an account written by a good
AustraHan of what took place: "A farmer goes into
the Australian Court for information, and he is im
mediately struck by the different information he gets.
He calls at the New South Wales Court, and receives
pamphlets, and is told that that is the coimtry for
him. He goes on to Victoria, and hears that New
South Wales is subject to drought, and that he had
better go to Victoria. He then drops into New
Zealand, and is told that that is ' God's own country.'
He winds up with Queensland, and tells the man in
charge what he has heard. That individual laughs
at him, and says, 'Look here, read these cuttings

xviu AUSTRALIA
from recent AustraHan papers.' The headings are
as foUows: 'Exodus of New Zealand Farmers to
Queensland,' 'New South Wales Farmers sell out
and go to DarUng Downs,' 'Victorian and South
AustraHan Exodus to South Queensland.' He need
not barrack for his State; he has knocked out his
rivals without a word. The farmer next hears that
every Canadian-AustraUan steamer leaving Queens
land is booked full of people for British Columbia.
The farmer leaves disgusted, and goes and sees the
Canadian Court, where all are for Canada, and none
for Quebec or Manitoba, or any particular province."
An AustraHan wrote that.
Have your read your own story-writers, your own
poets? I ask you: Do the best known of these
AustraUans write in the same vein as do the gentle
men who write advertising pamphlets for the States
of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South
Australia, Western AustraUa, and Tasmania? They
do not. The novelists or the rhymers are usually
sad dogs — pessimistic, gloomy, telling of failure, of
drought, of the loneliness of life. What is it that
has made them so moody? No Enghshman has
ever given such a picture of Austraha as AustraUans
have themselves provided. Remember that.
We in Britain have miUions of people who have
never seen your country; but they get their im
pressions from the writings of your own folk. In
all my reading I have never come across such depre
ciation of a land as I found during the months I
devoted all my leisure to reading stories or poems
written about Australia by AustraUans. The general

FOREWORD xix
impression left was one of sadness. If you say these
things concerning your own land, is it a matter of
surprise that people on far distant shores should
believe you?
Some of you think there is a prejudice against
Australia. That is not true. But there is much
ignorance. You have a noble heritage. The great world
has not paid much heed to your progress during the
Hfetime of men not yet old. Yet you have pro
gressed. You are prosperous. You have ten miUion
acres growing crops, and many tens of milHons of
bushels of wheat are annually cut upon your plains.
You have had your bad times. Now you are enjoy
ing good times.
What you have accomplished is but a gauge of
what you will accomplish. You have done what you
have done because you come from British stock.
No other race could have done what you have done.
You live freely beneath the Union Jack. It is well
sometimes to think what that means.
JOHN FOSTER FRASER.
London, 1910.

AUSTRALIA
THE MAKING OF A NATION
CHAPTER I
SOME OENEEAL IMPRESSIONS
" Australia ! land of lonely lake
And serpent-haunted feu j
Land of the torrent and the fire
Aud forest-sundered men :
Thou art not now as thou shalt be
When the stem invaders come,
In the hush before the hurricane.
The dread before the drum."
Jambs Listgb CuTHBBBTSoiq'.
Adelaide for culture, Melbourne for business,
Sydney for having a good time. That is as quick
a summary as I can provide in one breath of how
three big towns of Australia first struck me. Then
with investigation came qualification and amplifica
tion. There was more business in Sydney than
Melbourne. There was more culture in both than
in Adelaide. Yet how a town first impresses one
is not without interest.
And illusion went as a wave clears a deck of
rubbish. B

2 AUSTRALIA
I went out to the "land of drought," where, by
repute, the country gasped for water, the hills were
wide wastes of ochreish soil, where cattle pined and
sheep died by the million, all because there was no
blade of grass to feed them and no pools at which
to soften their parched tongues.
When I reached Adelaide it was raining, and it
had rained for weeks. The train communication
with Melbourne was interrupted, for the floods had
destroyed the bridges. Instead of sheep dying for
lack of water, I heard of thousands being drowned.
Later, when I went to Melbourne, it rained — dull,
miserable rain. At Sydney it rained, but there were
occasional days of sunshine. That was in August
and September — "our winter," explained the Aus
tralian .
"This rain," observed the native, "must make
you feel quite at home " — for the good fellow clung
to the belief, as he clings to the cardinal tenet in
his religion, that it is always raining in England.
The only thing was to wait until there was a fragrant
and sunshiny day, and for the man from the "Old
Country" to remark: "Ah, this is lovely, and re
minds me of a typical English summer day." A
glint in the eye of the Australian advertised that he
W3S not sure whether I was leg-pulling or lying.
In England we talk about our hours of sunshine.
In Australia they talk about their inches of rain.
As sunshine is necessary to us, so rain is necessary
to them. And though bridges crashed before the
floods, though sheep were drowned, though I saw
vast miles of country under water, though roads were

SOME GENERAL IMPRESSIONS 3
impassable because of the rains, the general heart
of Australia was glad.
Rain was a blessing. The land was in a rapture
of fecundity. The plains were carpeted with green.
The sheep-feed was good, and the price of wool was
bumping. There had never been such prospects.
The lean, droughty, dying, bankrupt years were for
gotten. I went to Australia in the year of much
happiness — 1909 — because of the plentitude of
rain. So I took out big maps of Australia, and read
the words "desert" and "terra incognita" over
great slabs of the continent. Men told me of life
in those regions. Some talked of the horrors, the
loneliness, the God-forsaken regions of the back-
lands. Other men said " desert " was a lie — that
there was land to sustain millions of people.
Both spoke the truth. Before the rains the
interior is arid. If you have a stray patch of grass,
its neighbour patch is hundreds of miles away. For
five years the interior may pant , cursed with drought.
Then the rains come. In a few days prairies of
grass reach to the belly of your horse. That is one
of the wonders of the land.
Australia, which is so vast that you could drop
the "British Isles upon it and not find them again
for years ; w-hich is as big, or bigger, than all Europe,
has an insignificant population of a little over four
million inhabitants. In the big towns, like Sydney,
Melbourne, and Adelaide, you will find a third of the
population — strangely lop-sided compared with the
number who live on the land. In no other country

4 AUSTRALIA
in the world, dependent upon agriculture for its
wealth, is the disproportion so marked. Melbourne,
the capital of Victoria, is moving toward holding
half the population of the State, and Sydney is doing
the same. In some parts there is a movement for
the population to decrease in the agricultural dis
tricts. Strange that in a country where 93J per
cent, of the soil is still untouched by farming one
should come across a drift toward the towns !
If you go into the "back-blocks," where the
battle for life is fiercest, you will learn that many
of the fighters are new-comers — "new chums," as
they are called. I was told that by the third
generation the Australian has got sick of the fight.
Life in the bush is all right for story books. But
it is better to be one of the mouchers round Sydney
than living on gum trees "away back."
Now, there are things you note quickly in the
big towns. You will have been warned, as I was
warned, against the swaggering, "blowing" pro
pensities of the people. That may have been a
characteristic of the past. It does not exist to-day.
True, there is the ignorant and blatant creature
in Australia, as there is in all countries ; but beyond
an open and legitimate pride in what has been
accomplished in little more than half a century ,«and
a rosy optimism concerning Australia's future —
" when we get the people " — I found little of the
puffing national megalomania which distinguishes
some other lands.
Whilst the Australian is proud of his British
stock^ — and though he has never seen Britain and

SOME GENERAL IMPRESSIONS 3
has forgotten from where his ancestors came, he
calls England "home" — he has an idea he is not
so sluggish as John Bull, and rather preens himself
on having the briskness of the American.
During my stay in Australia I must have been
asked a thousand times whether I did not think
the Australian approximated in character to- the
American type. I never failed to notice a certain
disappointment when I said "No." The laying-out
of some of the towns, the straight streets, the
blocks of offices, are more American than English.
But the people themselves are, up to the present,
just transplanted British people. If by a magician's
wand I had been wafted from England to Australia,
to Sydney or Melbourne, and been asked at the
end of a week where I was, I would have answered :
"Some well-managed English provincial city that
I seem to have missed."
You find neither the fashion nor the culture that
London shows, but you come across a clearer in
tellectual life, a higher plane of social well-being
than you see in any towns of similar size in Great
Britain. Take Adelaide, the Philadelphia of Aus
tralia, about the drowsiness of which the other
cities like to make jokes. It has a population under
200,000. I know of no similar-sized town at home
where anything approaching the same kind of
stimulating life prevails: colleges, museums, art
galleries, botanical and zoological gardens, an ex
tensive public library, a geographical society, and,
in social circles, a refinement and a culture which
were a little astonishing to me, who had allowed

6 AUSTRALIA
myself to accept the popular idea that Australians
were of the crude backwoodsman type.
And what applies to Adelaide applies also,
though in a variable degree, to Melbourne and
Sydney. Melbourne is a business town. Yet, as
I have indicated, more business is done in Sydney,
with its blocks of substantial business premises
suggestive of the solid wealth of Liverpool. The
Sydney man, however, lives in a softer, warmer,
easier climate than Melbourne possesses, and some
of the clime has got into his bones.
No place stocked with folk of British race is
more easy-going than Sydney. I doubt if there is
any city in the world more exquisitely situated.
The beauty of the harbour — great deep-water fingers
of the sea, stretching miles up between wooded
banks — ^is captivating. My ears had tingled so
much with praise of Sydney Harbour that I was
prepared to be disappointed. The loveliness of the
situation, however, was all that words had painted
it. Mighty ocean-scouring vessels lay alongside the
wharves abutting on the town. A fine park cuddled
the waterside. Villa residences dotted the brae-
sides on the hills across the bay. Quick-moving
and cheap ferry-boats slid from landing-stage to
landing-stage. One night I dined with a friend in North
Sydney. After dinner we went on the balcony.
There lay Sydney — a heap of glittering points of
light. The shore fronts were punctuated with
electric bulbs. The radiant ferry-boats, throwing
deep reflections, glided, like giant fireflies, over

SOME GENERAL IMPRESSIONS 7
the water. The scene was more fascinating
than Venice at night when approached from the
Lido. The climate, with soft rains in the winter and
semi-tropical sultriness in the Australian summer —
December, January and February — produces an
amiabiUty which makes the Sydney folk as pleas
antly contented a community as can be found.
And yet — this struck me as curious — they are
not a joyous-looking people. You may have heard
of the Australian frown — a puckering of the face,
due to the sun glare. Nor in the streets do you
mark any blitheness and gaiety of demeanour — no
merry, girlish laughter. On a Sunday afternoon
the domain breasting the harbour is thronged with
people, neatly dressed, decorous, admiring the scene
— but solemn. There is no spray of light chatter
such as distinguishes the promenaders in London
Hyde Park on a Sunday afternoon.
Another thing is the physique of the people ;
and these remarks apply to Melbourne as mu'ch as
they do to Sydney. The countryman is long, lean,
wiry ; but the average city man and city woman —
quite different from the people in the United States
— are rather slim in physique and are not over the
medium height.
Then, the courtesy of everybody. Those who
have knocked about the world know something of
the brusqueness, nearing rudeness, of some demo
cratic communities — rather a straining to make you
understand that they are quite as good as you.
Politically and socially, there are no more demo-

8 AUSTRALIA
cratic people than the Australians. But there is
no noisy self-assertiveness. The quiet, dignified
courtesy, genuine and not conventional, was delight
ful to receive.
Now, all this sent me to probe beneath the sur
face. Here was a people drawn from sturdy British
stock, brought from regions where the climate is
often severe, and planted in a land where the atmo
sphere is that of Italy, and where — despite the
droughts, which wither prosperity out of the land
— life has few hardships ; nay, where life is as gentle
as in any place on the face of the earth. What
their forefathers, the breed of daring men who first
settled the land, have done is patent to all eyes.
But, with immigration — the flow of fresh blood into
the land — sluggish, what will be the characteristics
of the third and subsequent generations?
The warm climate, the pleasant conditions of
life, are already removing that doggedness which
was the hall-mark of the brave men who first ad
ventured in Australia. Among native-born Austra
lians there is a growing dislike towards bush life.
There is a hunger for the towns and the pleasures
which town life brings. We have that at home.
But, of people of British origin, the Australians are
the most pleasure-loving I have come across. They
are honest pleasures: boating, picnicking, cricket,
football, theatre-going. But what effect is this
having on the development of the nation? There
one pauses.
It would be silly to criticise a people because
they are contented. Content, however, is not

SOME GENERAL IMPRESSIONS 9
sufficient, especially when there is a mighty conti
nent lying asleep and needing to be awakened into
agricultural well-doing. There is little or no striving
after immense fortunes, which is the keynote of
American success. At the risk of overstating the
case, I may say there is a singular absence of
commercial ambition in Australia. "Oh, that is
good enough," is a phrase I heard too often. This
was not from the lips of the older men, who have
done so much, and valiantly, to lift Australia where
it is, but chiefly from the lips of the newer genera
tion, who have inherited the good things provided
for them. The British youth does not win much
praise by reason of his industry or his desire for
knowing and equipping himself for the battle of
industrial and commercial strife. But there is more
vim in him than in the Australian young man.
So a significant point is reached in the history
of Australia. Men from Britain and those of imme
diate British descent have accomplished wonders.
Fine towns are Sydney and Melbourne, and impos
ing is their architecture. But get back from those
towns and you strike a human desert.
"Canada has no such big town as Sydney," said
an enthusiastic Sydney man to me. " Canada ought
to be thankful," was my reply. For an agricultural
country like Australia has too few people on the
land and too many in the cities.
Charming cities !
But what is to be the future of Australia ? Wheat
grows, vast herds of cattle are reared, sheep breed
amazingly.

10 AUSTRALIA
The coming of children is slow. The native-
born population moves slowly. Children are a
nuisance — and they interfere with pleasure. The
American cry of "race suicide" is being echoed in
Australia. The country is too far away to attract throngs of
the determined needy from Europe. Besides, they
have heard of the horrors of drought seasons. And
though the shout in Australia is "Population — oh,
that we had population ! " I missed any general
genuine desire for immigrants. "We are happy;
life is good ; why should we make things harder for
ourselves by letting others come in and share the
good things? " That is the thought which I could
discern at the back of the minds of many Austra
lians. Yes, a pleasant country, that southern rim of
the continent. A good-natured and most hospitable
people. A languorous climate, with the danger of
consequent slackness of energy.
A beautiful land. I loved it. I loved the people.
But always, after they had been entertaining
me, after I had been on motor tours, after a yacht
ing trip to Sydney Harbour, I kept saying to myself :
"It is delightful — but what are the Australians in
tent upon doing to make Australia the great country
they all say it will be, some time? "

CHAPTER II
THE IMPEEIAL AND NATIONAL SPIRIT
" She is not yet ; but he whose ear
Thrills to that finer atmosphere
Where footfalls of appointed things.
Reverberant of days to be.
Are heard in forecast eohoings.
Like wave-beats from a viewless sea —
Hears in the voiceful tremors of the sky
Auroral heralds whispering, ' She is nigh.' "
James Brtinton Stephens.
Australia presents a paradox. There is a breezy,
buoyant Imperial spirit. But the national spirit,
as it is understood elsewhere, is practically non
existent — though one sees the green leaf sprouting.
This seems strange. Yet the explanation is
simple enough. The population in all the States
has been drawn from one common source : the
British Isles. There is a warm and generous love
for the Motherland. When the Australian uses
the word "home," he does not mean his home. He
means England.
And that one word "home," more than argu
ments about the advantages of Imperial trade or
demonstrations in favour of Imperial cohesion, has
soaked into the brain of the Australian, and he
appreciates — not always by reasoning about it, but
with the regard a son has for his father — that

12 AUSTRALIA
"home" IS his country just as much as is Australia,
and that what affects the Englishman affects him.
Hence the growing spirit of Imperialism throughout
the continent.
But you drop from Imperialism to something
like parochialism in Australia, with little of the real
national spirit intervening — though it exists and
must increase. Here is the reason. The old settle
ments were made on the seaboard long before the
coming of railways. For all practical purposes, the
States might have been so many islands. The only
communication was by sea. Indeed, to-day there
is no railway communication between Western
Australia and. the eastern States. It takes almost
as long to go from Fremantle to Adelaide as it
does from Liverpool to New York. Western
Australia is part of the continent, but as there is
no railway communication, it is just as much
severed from the rest of the continent as though
an ocean flowed between.
Now this was very much the state of things in
old days between New South Wales, Queensland,
Victoria and South Australia. Though of common
stock, each State was an absolutely independent
community. Each State was fired with ambition to
make itself the most favoured land. The people
had their independent ParHaments; separate
Governors were sent out by the Crown. The States
passed their own laws with no more consideration
for each other than British legislation displays for
uniformity with French legislation.
The old spirit of State rivalry, amounting almost

IMPERIAL AND NATIONAL SPIRIT 13
to enmity, is waning — and must be destroyed by the
machinery of Federal government — but it is, how
ever, sufficiently pronounced to-day to rouse the scorn
of all sensible men. The humour of the situation is
that every man you meet in Sydney or Melbourne
will agree with you on the general principle.
"Yes," says the Sydney man, "you are quite right;
but I am sure you do not find the jealousy in
Sydney to anything like the same extent you do
in Melbourne." "Of course," says the Melbourne
man, "this parochial feeling to which you refer
would soon disappear if it were not for the absurd
jealousy of Sydney over Melbourne's prosperity."
Each State is able to provide for the patient, listen
ing visitor, like myself, convincing statistics that
in regard to one point or other that State is more
prosperous per head of the population than the
neighbour State or any part of the globe's surface.
In my journeys I heard too much talk about
State advancement and too little about Australia's
advancement. Here was a marked difference from
what I had noticed in Canada. There a man is
proud of Ontario or British Columbia or Manitoba ;
but first, last, and all the time he is a Canadian.
To say there is absolutely no Australian national
sentiment would be an injustice to plenty of repre
sentative men. The ordinary Australian, if the
question were put to him, would insist that there
is a national sentiment, and very likely be indig
nant with myself for suggesting that it is small.
He would point to the defence movement : compul
sory training and the establishment of a local navy.

14 AUSTRALIA
Talk to such a man, and, although he will begin
with phrases about what a very magnificent country
Australia is, it is only a few minutes before he is
enthusiastic about his own State and is making
disparaging comments upon the other States.
When a young farmer leaves Ontario and goes west
to the wheat stretch beyond Winnipeg, there is
delight that he bas gone to another part of Canada
to make it fruitful. When young farmers move
from Victoria to Queensland, there are wailing
regrets in Victoria, as though they had emigrated
to a foreign land.
Australia has now a Federal Parliament — and
great good to the nation must come as a consequence.
But the State Legislatures still continue, control
ling the land and the railways, for instance. As a
matter of fact, there has grown up a fear in the
States that Federal Government will decrease their
importance, that they may be called upon to con
tribute money one of these days for great public
services, not to the benefit of Australia — few will
consider that proud aspect — but for the benefit of
some other State. It is just as. though the tax
payers of Birmingham objected to pay for naval
defence on the ground that they could not be sub
jected to naval attack.
The capital of each State is the meeting-place
of the State Legislature. But where is the Federal
Legislature to take up its permanent habitation?
At present it is in temporary assemblage at Mel
bourne. For it to remain there would put Sydney
into hysterics of indignation, and for it to be

IMPERIAL AND NATIONAL SPIRIT 15
removed to Sydney would almost provoke a civil
war in Victoria. To satisfy all parties it was
arranged in the original Constitution to build a
Capitol removed from either of these towns. It
will, very likely, be at a spot called Yass, in New
South Wales. But to prevent heart-burning among
the other States, a piece of territory has been ceded,
and it has been disinfected, as it were, from New
South Wales by being made an independent spot —
like Washington.
Yass, as a town, is little more than a name. It
is an extremely picturesque spot. But it is not
on the road to anything, except scenery. That in
coming, though distant, times a beautiful and
worthy Capitol will be at Yass I doubt not, should
it be finally decided to erect the Capitol there. But
that this generation or the next generation will see
it is well-nigh impossible. Who is going to live at
Yass? Permanent officials and politicians — the
latter only during the parliamentary session. The
society of politicians is not sufficient to attract the
retired and leisured classes. There will be no diplo
matic circle, as at Washington, to be the nucleus
of a cultured community. It is hard to conceive
that society people in Melbourne, and Sydney, and
Adelaide, and Brisbane — with all the pleasures those
cities can afford — will go and dump themselves in
a ragged, raw, unfinished place as Yass is sure to
be for many years. The one good thing about it
is that the creation of Yass will break down local
jealousies and help in the development of a national
spirit.

i6 AUSTRALIA
Also, the growing Imperial sentiment will
operate in the same direction. During recent years
— dating from the South African War, and then
accentuated by the victory of the Japanese over the
Russians — there has been a growing recognition of
the fact that AustraUa cannot stand in "splendid
isolation," that her life depends on the mainten
ance of the British Empire. Not so long ago this
idea was absent from the public mind — even now
it is possible to touch a stratum of opinion that
Australia should keep outside the range of inter
national complications.
To the mass of people, Europe presents a picture
of an armed camp — and that makys them shudder.
The conquest of Australia was a peaceful annexa
tion. The Australians have never had to fight for
their national existence, and they have never had
the terrors of war on their borders. In the main
they have been a prosperous people, living in a
part of the world far removed from the storm centres
of racial difference. Things have gone so easily
with them that the prospect of invasion never
entered their minds ; whilst to a considerable section
of the people the money paid for the upkeep of the
British Navy was just so much cash thrown into.
the sea.
I am not going to say I did not come across
people who jibbed at the idea of Australia being
under Britain — the word " Colony " is offensive to
them — and who talked about independence. I came
across men of influential position who argued that
as the British investor has so much money locked

IMPERIAL AND NATIONAL SPIRIT 17
up in Australia, the British taxpayer should bear
all the cost of defence against a possible aggressor.
Nay, there are even men who do not care a rap for
the British flag, and will tell you they would just
as readily live under the German or Japanese flags,
which means they do not want to live under
Japanese, German or British. These represent
small slices of public opinion. But they do indicate
what gets into the mind of folk who are such an
enormous distance from Europe and who have never
had the enemy at their gates. Perhaps the thing
which would jerk all these people into a proper
appreciation of the situation would be the sudden
knowledge that, say for just one month, Australia
was free and independent of Britain, and could
not expect the guardianship of the British Navy.
Now, the sentiments which I have indicated,
though existing, are far less common than they
were ten years ago. Most Australians do know it
is impossible for them to stand alone. In the dark
days of the South African War they found them
selves asking the question : " What would our posi
tion be if anything happened to Great Britain ? "
Then the latent love for the Old Country flamed,
and splendid service was given by Australia's sons
on the veldt of the Transvaal. Next, the growth
and the efficiency of the Japanese Navy gave them
pause. Japan is hungry for colonies. Mighty tracts
of useful land in Australia are still uninhabited.
In time of disaster what could Australians — be
they never so valorous — do to keep the Japanese
out? c

i8 AUSTRALIA
And Germany? AustraUa began to see that it
would not be necessary to have sea battles on her
coast to affect her fate — that very likely it might
be affected by some struggle in the North Sea.
And so love for the old land, and the fire of fear
in their hearts, gave impetus to Imperialism. I do
not think there is much fear now.
The national mind, like the human mind, works
curiously. Accordingly, you find in Australia to-day
a belief that Australia's State and national autono
mous Governments are dependent on Australia
being an integral part of the British Empire. There
is a warm pride in forming part of the Empire.
Loyal demonstrations are most marked. At private
luncheon and dinner parties the toast of "The
King " is given. Semi-public gatherings rarely dis
perse without singing the National Anthem. There
is more evidence of loyalty in Australia than
I have ever met with in any other part of the
King's dominions — not even excepting home.
But it is loyalty to the Empire, not to Great
Britain. This is having a remarkable effect on the people.
It will go a long way to smother the silly inter-
State jealousies. It is making the people realise
their position and admit the responsibilities of
their manhood. Not out of State patriotism, but
out of Imperialism a healthy nationalism will grow.
And when the national tree blossoms, the crop of
good will be enormous. For one of the things that
has hampered Australia's progress has been the
absence of the national ideal.

IMPERIAL AND NATIONAL SPIRIT 19
Australia, without any demurs that are now
worth noticing, is bent on having an Australian
fleet, built as far as possible in Australia, and
manned by Australians. Critics point to how little
Australia is doing after all. That, at the present
moment, is not the point. The thing is that
Australians, instead of developing the feeling of
independence, grasp the principle of inter-depend
ence amongst all the Britains. Members of the
Labour Party have not shown any marked objec
tion to an Australian fleet, though there was some
boggling at it being under the jurisdiction of the
British Admiralty. This was representative of the
public thought not so many months ago. But the
persuasive eloquence of Mr. Deakin, the late Prime
Minister, brought the multitude into line to accept
the arrangement that, whilst the Australian fleet
will serve in Australian waters in time of peace,
it shall pass under the control of the Imperial naval
authorities in times of Imperial emergency.
Further, there is the belief that all young Aus
tralians should learn how to shoulder and fire a
rifle. A scheme of compulsory military training was
long shuttlecocked. But it has been taken up in
earnest by the Government, and in conversation
with all sorts of men I rarely heard anything but
the heartiest approval of the project. Whilst, there
fore, a strong State sentiment exists and a great
Imperial sentiment is saturating the hearts of the
Australians, the very thing which might be expected
to militate against a national sentiment is really
levering it into existence. From Australia's recog-

20 AUSTRALIA
nition of the place she holds in the Empire, and
the obligations which that recognition brings, there
must flourish the national sentiment, with the con
sequent desire for the advancement of national in
terests — as distinct from State interests — to the
material profit of the Commonwealth as a whole.

CHAPTER III
THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION
" Thus do I stand—
Duty and Friendship on either hand.
Buty cries ' Go,' while Friendship whispers ' Stay ' ;
But Duty's is the voice I must obey." Gabnet Waloh.
Australia is the land of problems.
The largest of all these is the peopling of the
continent. In a broad generality, there is no place
on the world's surface capable of yielding so much
for the benefit of the race, and where so little is
being done. It is a stale commonplace that Aus
tralia needs immigrants. It is a puzzle how she is
going to get them. It is a fact that a good many
Australians are antagonistic to the coming of fresh
settlers. Now, it has been abundantly shown that the
continent is capable of carrying a mighty duplica
tion of the present population, which at present is
only four persons to every three square miles.
Even by a restrained calculation, I conclude that
Australia is able to support at least 200,000,000
people. Something is being done to attract suitable
colonists. Paragraphs which occasionally appear in
English newspapers about the arrival of one or

22 AUSTRALIA
two hundred "new chums" produce in the mind
of the casual reader the impression that there is an
encouraging flow of human life into this new land.
It is encouraging as far as it goes ; but it is rather
Uke throwing a bucketful of water upon an arid
plain and then thinking you are irrigating it.
Of course, the Australian people realise that their
future well-being, and even existence, as part of the
British family, depends upon the increase of that
family in their own regions. Tbe older countries
of the earth are becoming stocked. The more deter
mined of the younger generation find there is not
elbow-room for their energies, and the fighting and
the struggling is often disheartening to them. When
they break away, it is usually to the American
continent that they go. They cannot be said to be
setting their faces in any large numbers toward
Australia. It is, however, not only the non-coming
of Europeans to Australia which is giving concern to
thoughtful people, but the question whether another
race, in the turn of time, will insist upon occupy
ing the northern sections of the continent? For be
it remembered that Asia, India, China and Japan
particularly are crowded. The struggle for existence
in those lands is even more severe than in western
countries. Japan is packed to the bursting-point.
Japan must have somewhere to send her surplus
population. Japan is looking round the eastern
world and marking the spots where her statesmen
want that population to go.
It is well to step aside from the AustraUan, the
British and the Imperial standpoint, and regard the

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 23
matter with some aloofness of thought. All beings
were placed upon this earth by Divine intention.
Therefore, what right has a tiny population like
that of Australia, an eastern country inhabited by
men from the west, to say to the mighty hordes
in the other eastern lands, "We are not develop
ing this country, but we do not intend to allow you
to come in and develop it?"
It is too much for human nature, influenced as
it is by a thousand thingp., to regard the question
dispassionately. It is, however, within the range
of obligation that the Australians should consider
the whole matter from tbe point of view of self-
interest. They know that the yellow races desire to come
to Australia. They possess sonorous Acts of Parliament pro
hibiting the landing of yellow people. They should
know that these Acts of Parliament would amount
to little more than paper declarations if behind them
were not the naval power of Great Britain.
At present there exists an alliance between Great
Britain and Japan — but an alliance only lasts so
long as both parties find it convenient. Australian
statesmen with imagination may possibly glance
into the future, and contemplate the possibility of
the British Navy being worsted in the western seas.
It is fit that such statesmen should contemplate
what would be the action of Japan under such
circumstances ?
Japan has a passion for colonies. Japan would
undoubtedly turn her eyes to those regions in

24 AUSTRALIA
northern Australia, capable of so much, but actually
and comparatively producing so little. I know the
bravery of the Australians. I know they would do
their utmost to resist the invaders. Let them, how
ever, face facts with unblinking eyes and recognise
that with their limited population, their scant arma
ments, and all their valour, they could not drive
out the Japanese from the northern territories.
At present the natural increase of the popula
tion of Japan is 700,000 a year. The natural
increase of Australia is 65,000 a year. Instead of
resisting the coming of Asiatics by fighting, the
sane policy is to turn all available parts of Australia
to productiveness and to draw millions of capable
workers to the land so that no Power could say to
the Commonwealth : "You have no right as a nation,
unable to develop this land to its full powers, to lock
the doors against the rest of the world. You claim
as justification in taking Australia from the black-
fellows, the aborigines, that they were not utilising
it for the benefit of mankind. Neither are you."
Not only the most immediate, but the greatest
of all problems facing the people of the Common
wealth, is how they are going to populate the con
tinent which they now possess. I have mentioned
the limited amount of immigration into Australia.
It should be remembered that there is also some
emigration from Australia. Some years ago the
well-known Australian writer. Dr. Fitchett, was
subjected to attack in the Commonwealth Parlia
ment because he dared to inform the world that
there was what he called a "ripple" of emigration.

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 25
The onslaught was made upon him not on the
ground that he was inaccurate, but because he
should reveal the truth. It was asserted he was

JAPAN, ABOUT
ONE-EIQHTEENTH THE SIZE OF
AUSTRALIA, CONTAINS
46,000,000 PEOPLE.

CHINA, ABOUT HALF THE SIZE OP
AUSTRALIA CONTAINS 400|000,000
PEOPLE.

INDIA, ABOUT HALF THE SIZE OF
AUSTRALIA, CONTAINS 300,000,000
PEOPLE.

JAVA, ABOUT ONE-
SIXTIETH THE SIZE
CF AUSTRALIA, CON
TAINS 30,000,000
PEOPLE.

AUSTRALIA, ABOUT THE SAME AREA AS INDIA AND CHINA COMBINED
CONTAINS 4,000,000 PEOPLE.
AUSTRALIA AND ITS NEIGHBOURS. EACH DOT REPRESENTS A MILLION OF
POPULATION.

doing an unkind thing to Australia even to suggest
the possibility that people were leaving.
Now, there is no country on the face of this earth
where discontents are not to be found, where there
are not individuals who, with the best chances of
success, make failures. I heard woeful complaints
from individuals about Australia not coming up to

26 AUSTRALIA
their expectations. Since my return to England 1
have had the opportunity of perusing letters from
settlers who went out a few years ago and who are
full of bitterness. It is the natural tendency of all
emigration officials to paint the advantages of the
country they are advertising in the brightest of
colours. There are people who accept their state
ments to the full, and, being of a buoyant and
optimistic disposition, imagine that they have only
to go from England, where the struggle is severe, to
Australia, and there the plums of life will drop
into their mouths without effort on their part.
These people are disappointed. They write home
and tell their friends of their hardships. Their
statements get into the newspapers, and investi
gators like myself receive numerous communications
from intending emigrants asking if I can say
whether these dolorous complaints are justified or
not? Precisely the same thing happens in regard to
the United States, Canada, South Africa and South
America. The thing to be borne in mind is not
individual failure, but whether, viewing the country
as a whole, the ordinary man, with capabilities
suitable for the work to which he applies himself,
is likely to succeed. By my elbow Ues a letter
which reached me from a man who has settled not
a thousand miles from Sydney. Let me give an
extract :
"I beg to say that I arrived in this country last
October with my family, consisting of four sons
and two daughters, from Sutton, Surrey, with the

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 27
purpose of going on the land with three of my sons.
My eldest, Dr.  , is now in practice at G  .
He is a Guy's man. When I arrived I discovered
that the Government had no land suitable — in fact,
only small areas in isolated and detached portions,
quite unsuitable and extortionately high in price,
owing to the whole of the available land of this
country being in the hands of the large owners,
who won't part except on a boom price.
"I was led to believe by the agents at home that
I should be welcomed to this country — first, because
I was a man of capital, with a large family, and
secondly, because I was going on the land with
grown-up sons who had been specially trained for
the purpose. My sons had been through a course
at an agricultural college and the Crystal Palace
School of Mechanical Engineering. They are 19
and 27 years of age. But I had the utmost difficulty
to get them placed, although these boys are hard
workers and have given every satisfaction.
"This is a grand country if it were properly
settled ; but under the present system it will never
be settled. How can it? The Australians want
our capital, and only so many settlers as the financial
houses can deal with, because these institutions are
at present up to their necks in loans on land and
cannot cope with more. It is their fear that, if
they open up the country too fast, others will smell
the good chances out and come and share the
cake. "There is a great and prosperous future for this
terra incognita, and you wiU do the Empire the

28 AUSTRALIA
kindest service if you will tell the Australians of
the great danger they are in, of an alien race taking
it away not only from them, but from others across
the sea who have footed the bill for them and who
have a greater right than themselves even, because
they across the sea are still paying, whilst these
are only making promises after years of fat profits
out of the pockets of the other man."
This is not a communication from an ignorant
man, but from a gentleman who has considerable
right to express an opinion.
The population of Australia at the present time
is roughly four and a quarter millions. Elsewhere
I will deal with its distribution and fluctuation.
The point I wish to press at present is the slowness
of its increase. During the ten years 1899-1908 the
natural increase was a little over half a million,
whilst the net immigration increase was only 21,272,
varying considerably, from 1,736 in 1899 to 13,150
in 1908. Anyway, the total increase of population
in those ten years amounted only to 610,591.
The figures of immigrants supplied me by State
statisticians did not tally with those supplied by the
Commonwealth statistician. State statisticians in
clude all immigrants settling in each State, even if
they have only come from a neighbouring State;
whereas the Commonwealth statistician only in
cludes immigrants on their first arrival in the
country. I take the lattet figures. The net
immigration into- the various States for 1908
amounted to only 13,150. In that year of 1908,

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 29
however, 72,208 immigrants arrived in Australia:
from the United Kingdom 21,416, from New Zea
land 26,357, from other British possessions 13,481,
and from foreign countries 10,954. Here, then, is
a startling result — 72,208 immigrants arrived in
Australia in 1908, and 59,058 people emigrated from
Australia that year !
Surely there is something wrong in that, whilst
the wave, however small, of immigrants is beating
upon the shores of Australia, there is a back- wash
carrying most of them away again ! There is a flow
back to the old lands from the United States and
Canada. But nowhere is it so disproportionate as
in Australia. What is the reason of this ? When I was study
ing the situation in Australia, I was provided with
innumerable reasons. The argument that Australia
is so far from the older lands that it does not attract,
cannot apply in this instance, because here the issue
is: After they come, why do they leave?
Is it the fear of Socialism? That explanation
was frequently given to me. But I hardly think it
is the true cause, because most of the fresh arrivals
are working people, who at any rate have got nothing
to lose by Socialistic legislation.
Is it that Australians, having made their pile,
clear out of the country and go and live in Europe?
There is a good deal of this, but by no means
sufficient to account for the tremendous outflow.
Talk to any of the "advanced" politicians, and
they will, without hesitation, tell you the real ex
planation is the difficulty to secure land ; the conse-

30 AUSTRALIA
quent pressing of the mass of the people into the
towns, with the result that there is unemployment.
We have reached the point where everybody
admits that the country is capable of holding an
enormous population, and that, unless it is filled
with white men, yellow races will make a claim to
come in ; and whilst there is an influx of immi
grants into the land,, there is an outflow almost as
great. Bold and clear, however, stands the fact that
if Australia is going to work out its destiny as a
nation, it must have people. It is not only a matter
of saying, "Come to this happy land." All sorts of
issues contribute to the complexity of the problem.
Sufficient here it is to look at the question from
one point of view, namely: Australia needs people,
and what is she doing to get them?
When I come to deal with the various States it
will be shown what the Governments are doing in
order to attract new settlers. Since the arrival in
London of Sir George Eeid, the High Commissioner,
the Commonwealth has been considerably advertised.
This is good. But to the inquirer who is thinking
of emigrating to the Antipodes, and is doubtful
where he shaU go, the pushing of the special merits
of the States by their particular representatives in
London, with, of course, the suggestion that the
other States can in no way compare with that which
a particular agent champions, produces confusion
and not a little distress.
Meanwhile, exceUent work is done by the British
Immigration League of Australia. It wiU be re-

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 31
membered that, moved by popular enthusiasm, and
stimulated by the example of New Zealand, Aus
tralia decided to contribute towards the building of
a ?'Drea(fnought." Large sums were subscribed for
ihis purpose ; but as a new arrangement was made
between the Commonwealth and the Imperial
Government, this money was freed for other pur
poses. It was determined to devote it to the build
ing of a naval training college and uf depot farms
for British immigrants. About £40,000 is avail
able for the naval college and about £48,000 is in
hand for the farms. It is proposea that at these
farms British immigrants be given, in exchange for
their labour, a short course of practical training,
without in any way competing with the higher train
ing afforded to paying students at the agricultural
colleges. After their course at the farms, the immi-
Jgrapts Vi^ill pass on to situations in the country with
'th^ advantage of having acquired a fair practical
knowledge of local conditions.
The " Dreadnought " farm scheme has received
general approval both in the Commonwealth and at
home, because the main proposal is to emigrate
Britons to Greater Britain. The work is chiefly in
the hands of prominent Sydney residents. Mel
bourne citizens are following the example of their
neighbours. Thus, arrangements are being made
to provide an agricultural start for at least 200
British lads. The States of New South Wales
and Victoria, however, have no responsibility in
regard to choosing them or paying their fares. This
must be done by the British public. There are

33 AUSTRALIA
plenty of applications. Indeed, at the time oJ
writing (1910), some 300 applications have been
received, and of these five per cent, can pay their
fares (£16), forty-five can pay part, and' fifty per
cent, have no money saved, but have strong
physique and good characters. At home, under the
direction of Eev. E. L. Gwynne, the Kent Colonis
ing Association is doing splendid work in looking
out for suitable lads. The proposal is to raise money
amongst British people favourable to the plan, so
that young fellows may be lent a sufficient sum with
which to make a start in the southern world.
Besides local conditions, as to tbe treatment of
immigrants, it should be remembered that there are
various Immigration Eestriction Acts on the statute
book of the Commonwealth. For instance, there is
a dictation test, which is really intended to act as
a bar against Asiatic and other coloured labour.
There is a provision for the deportation of non-
British subjects who are guilty of crime. No person
is allowed to enter the Commonwealth if a contract
has been entered into with an employer to do certain
work unless it has been approved by ihe minister
in charge of immigration. The procedure of having
to obtain the sanction of the Government before a
man can go from England to Australia to take up
a definite post is undoubtedly a hindrance. The
Commonwealth Government makes it clear that the
approval of a contract will not be given if it is made
with a view to affecting an industrial dispute, or if
the remuneration and other terms are not as advan
tageous to the contracting immigrant as those

THE PROBLEM OF IMMIGRATION 33
current for workers of the same class at the place
where the contract is to be performed. There is an
additional provision that, where the proposed immi
grant is not a British subject born in the United
Kingdom, or descendant of such a person, it has to
be proved that it is difficult for the employers to
obtain in the Commonwealth a worker of at least
equal skill and ability. This practically amounts to
prohibiting any foreigner from entering Australia
with a fixed job to go to.

CHAPTER IV
STRAY NOTES
"The London lights are far abeam
Behind a bank of cloud,
Along the shore the gaslights gleani«
The gale is piping loud ;
And down the Channel, groping blind,
We drive her through the haze
Towards the land we left behind :
The good old laud of 'never mind,'
And old Australian ways."
Andeew Barton Patbbson.
Some of our town and village names at home are
quaint and apt — we could not fancy them being any
thing else. Most of them "just growed," like
Topsy. But in new lands names are applied which
are singular, like Medicine Hat or Kicking Horse
Pass. When in Australia I started collecting curious
names. In New South Wales alone I found thirty
Dead Horse Flats — you can see the wide levels, with
a dead horse as the only sign ; twenty -seven Tin-Pot
Gullies — cannot you imagine the gullies with the old
tin pots lying round? one hundred and thirty Sandy
Creeks — easily to be thought of ; ninety Sugarloaf
Hills. All in one State.
The most curious place I heard of in Australia
was Will-I-Go-Bung. Strange chap, who stuck that
34

STRAY NOTES 35
name to the spot where he settled, hoping to make,
but yet doubting whether he would make , a fortune I
Did he go bung? Nobody knows.
Even the most insular of non-wandering British
readers knows that Australia grows many things.
But what do you think is the chief crop?
"Potentialities 1 "
It is scarcely possible for any orator, reared be
neath the Southern Cross, to have his tongue wag
ging for five minutes without uttering that word
"potentialities." "Mesopotamia" was a blessed
word to some old lady, but not half so blessed as is
"potentialities" to the Australians.
There was a friend of mine who occasionally
accompanied me to public functions, and his right
eyelid used to answer in signal to my left eyelid
when " potentialities " was trotted out.
They tell you about the rich potentialities of
their district, the potentialities of their State, the
giant potentialities of the Northern Territory. I do
not think I ever went to a public luncheon, dinner,
or meeting without hearing about Australia's
"potentialities." I do not mention the word as a
joke, but to show how a single word gets rooted
in the public mind and sprouts on every conceiv
able occasion.
I remember a judge saying to me: "What has
struck you most in Australia ? ' '
"The number of times you use the word
' potentialities,' " I replied — rather at random, but
a sufficiently near shot, as we were at dinner. He
expressed astonishment. I explained. He assured

36 AUSTRALIA
me I was mistaken ; he did not say it was never
used, but — rarely. Yet within twenty minutes he,
himself, used the word twice — and, like a good
fellow, he threw back his head and laughed.
Yes, Australia seethes with "potentialities" —
blessed word !
The hotels of Australia are excellent. There are
not the swagger places we have in London, nor the
superb gilt and plush caravanserais they have in
America. But they are good, and they are comfort
able. In towns like Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong,
I found hotels considerably in advance of the class
of hotel we should find in the same-sized places in
England. There was none of the rawness that one
experiences in the smaller towns in the western
wilderness of the United States.
The thing that is really bad is the fish. It is
quite possible that they have fish worth eating in
the southern seas. But it never came my way.
During four months I strove nobly to find a bit of
fish that came within a dozen miles of English
excellence. I failed — and I had the honour of being
present at some first-rate dinners.
You might think that house rent in a land of such
expanse would be cheap. It is dear ; ridiculously
dear. Clothing is about a third dearer than at
home. Food is about the same, though, if any
thing, slightly cheaper. The dinners in the work
ing-men's eating-houses are the best and cheapest I
have seen anywhere.
The Australians — and the Australiennes par
ticularly — drink tea at every meal, also between

STRAY NOTES 37
meals. They ought to be a nation of dyspeptics.
They are not. There is more advertising of brands
of tea than anything else. Every hoarding blares
at you the merits of some special tea. I never knew
there were so many teas.
There aren't. Shopkeepers like to have an "ex
clusive " brand. They get it. Other shops also
have "exclusive" brands. They are often just the
same teas in different wrappings. But this is a
secret which must not be whispered in Australia.
Aye, but the Scots are clannish. If you want
to know how clannish — well, go to Australia. The
Scot, so I am informed, has a- guid conceit of
himself. But at home and in England he takes
things for granted. No Scot now, unless he be a
lord or a gillie, wears the kilts. But most Scotsmen
in Australia have kilts, and it is a grand occasion
when they can put them on and strut. Nearly every
town has its Caledonian Society, or its Highland
Society, sometimes both. And every society has its
band of pipers.
I am suspected of being a Scot myself. So at
places Uke Sydney and Melbourne, not only were
there the Premier and the Lord Mayor to give tbe
touring journalist a greeting, but above the cheers
of the crowd, come to see "that fellow Foster
Fraser," was the skirl of the pipes, with half a
dozen gorgeously kilted pipers blowing their hardest.
It was all very flattering.
One night I was the guest of a Scotch society in
Sydney. There were the rugged-faced old men who
had come out to this far-away land, and there were

38 AUSTRALIA
young fellows born in it — but every one proud to
have Scotch blood in his veins.
There was Scotch liquor drunk and Scotch songs
sung, and Scotch speeches made. Many of the old
boys, who were never going to see the romantic
land of their forefathers again, let their thoughts
wander, and tears came as references were made to
places they knew lang syne, but will never know
again. This love of the old country was something not
to be reasoned about, but only felt. And never till
I die will I forget, when it was necessary to bid
them adieu, how hundreds of them sprang to
their feet and sang, " Will you no' come back
again ? "
Absence does make the heart grow fonder. At
a little town in New South Wales the landlord of
my hotel was a Londoner. He was doing well, but
his heart pined for "the great smoke," as they call
London in Australia. He fussed about a lot when I
arrived. I did not understand what it meant until
afterwards he came to my room and asked, "How
long is it since you were in London, sir?"
"Oh, about three months."
"And I've been here four years," he added, "and
you are the first gentleman from London I've seen.
Do you know the King's Eoad, Chelsea, sir? "
"Oh, very weU."
" And is it just the same ? "
"Just the same, as far as I know."
Then he said rather sadly, "I lived in the King's
Road, and I often wonder what it is like? I would

STRAY NOTES 39
give half I've got to have a walk along the King's
Eoad." Just to see someone fresh from London — his
dirty, grimy, beloved London — that was something
he hungered for. He came down to the station the
next morning. There were many good-byes to be
made. He chucked something into my carriagfe.
"Just some cigars, sir, to remind you of the Lon
doner you met out here." And the last I saw of him
was that his eyes were full of tears — for when would
it be his lot to see London again ?
At Melbourne I made the acquaintance of an old
London waiter. I forget how many years he had
been in Australia — about thirty, I fancy. He was
the real article, transplanted. Not the modern
London waiter, who is usually a German or a Swiss,
but the old type, rather like an archdeacon, clean
shaven, obsequious, and gently rubbing his hands
as, with body slightly bent, he sought the will of
the man who had an order to give.
He knew London in the 'sixties ; had waited
in Pall Mall clubs, and had some anecdotes of well-
known men in those times.
"Yes, sir," said he, "I'd like to see the old place
— very changed, I presume, sir. Yes, I suppose
I'm an Australian now, sir ; but I never forget I'm a
Londoner, sir. We have a society here, sir, of the
old London waiters, and every St. George's Day,
sir, we meet — well, generally in a ceUar, sir — and
we drink ' Good health to old London.' Thank
you, sir. I thought you came from London as soon
as I heard you speak, sir. They caU me the

40 AUSTRALIA
' Cockney ' here, sir. Well, I am not ashamed I
ought not to be, ought I, sir?"
How do the Australians amuse themselves?
Well, horse-racing comes first, and then cricket.
But horse-racing is easily first. Nowhere in the
world are there such splendid race-horses as in
Australia. The States, excepting Victoria and New
South Wales, approve the pastime — and take part
of the plunder.
The totalisator is used. That is, you bet with
the State. It is something like this : you back your
fancy and you plant your money with officials. If
you back the favourite you may be sure thousands
are doing the same. Say the favourite wins. Then
all the money is divided, a certain large propor
tion equally amongst those who backed the
favourite, a smaller proportion amongst those
who backed the second horse, and a lesser
proportion amongst those who backed the third.
If you have backed a winning outsider which few
others have backed you get an enormous amount.
If nearly everybody has backed the favourite, which
wins, you won't get much more than your money
back. Anyway, you get your share, less 10 per
cent. I think 1}4 of this is appropriated by the
State, and the racing officials take the other 2^
per cent, to keep up the course, the grand stand and
all the paraphernalia — and very well they do it.
The States which join in make enormous sums.
Suppose the betting public bring £10,000 on to the
ground, and it is all used in backing on the first race.
The public get only £9,000 back. They put that

STRAY NOTES 41
on the second race, and then the public only get
£8,100 back. And so on.
I have sometimes wondered what shrieking there
would be in England if it were seriously proposed
to introduce the totalisator there.
Next, the theatre — light comedy or pantomime.
They have pantomimes all the year round in Aus
traUa. Now and then there is a rash of seriousness.
There was a Shakespearean revival when I was in
Australia. But the more entertaining plays are
most sure of a run. As a rule the plays are im
ported from London. The acting is first rate.
When, however, it is advertised that such and
such a play is better staged and better acted than
it was in London — well, well, if it brings happiness
to believe that, let it be believed.
Australia has good cause to preen itself on its
newspapers. With town populations that are small,
in comparison with those of the great cities of
Europe and America, it is little short of wonderful
the way in which first-class morning, evening, and
weekly illustrated papers are turned out. They keep
to the British rather than follow the American
model. They do not screech. They are dignified.
This is one of the secrets of their power.
With an experience of newspapers all the world
over, I know of no place where the Press exercises
so strong an influence. Newspapers have power
in London ; but there have been occasions when in
politics the greatest city in the world has pro
nounced a verdict different from the teachings of
the journals which own the largest circulations.

42 AUSTRALIA
In both Britain and the United States there is a
tendency on the part of leading politicians to ignore
the influence of the Press. Not so in Australia.
Leading poUticians not once, but many times, told
me that they would have been unable to take a
certain action had they not had the support of
certain newspapers ; or that they were unable to
follow a particular line of conduct because they had
not the support of particular journals in favour of
that course. Eecognising, therefore, the strength of
the Australian newspapers, it was excellent to find
that the journals throughout the country were ani
mated by a fine sense of responsibiUty. In all
branches, from careful and judicious reporting of
events up to the special leading articles, a high tone
prevailed. As one somewhat acquainted with the
politics of the wider world, I was impressed with the
range of knowledge in regard to European politics
revealed in the leading articles. This was to me
all the more remarkable because the cablegrams re
porting European events are, owing to distance and
high cost, usually short.
Many a time Australian journalists would find
fault with the limited amount of Australian news
which appears in the average London paper com
pared with the amount of English news which
appears in the Australian papers. They thought
that one was as important as the other. After all,
what a country is doing is the important thing, and
I sometimes thought there was an absence of sense
of proportion. Australia's population is less than
that of the County of Lancashire. Yet, in general,

STRAY NOTES 43
more news appears in the London papers about
AustraUa than about Lancashire. Besides, if,
because of Australia's position in the Empire, she
should receive more space in oversea journals than
she does, she in return should give more space say
to Canada, where the population is half as much
again as in Australia. Yet very rarely does even
a single paragraph appear in the Australian papers
about what is happening in the North American
Dominion. It struck me that AustraUan writers felt a Uttle
sore at what was considered to be neglect or lack
of appreciation of their country in British papers.
There is no earthly foundation for this. What
seems important to the man in Sydney may sink to
comparative insignificance when looked at through
London glasses many thousands of miles away.
But the standard of quality and the widespread
information which the Australian newspapers pre
sent, is, in selection and manner of treatment,
superior to what I have noticed in any towns of
similar size in any other part of the English-
speaking world.
Frankness is a delightful trait of the Australian.
So frequently I had this question bluntly put to me,
" Do you think we talk Cockney ? ' '
To charge a person with talking like a Cockney
has behind it an intention to be supercilious and
rude. Yet we all know that, in London, certain
sections of the population have an intonation and a
distinctive pronunciation which goes by the name
of Cockney. Before ever I went to Australia the

44 AUSTRALIA
usual informative friend told me the Australians had
a Cockney twang ; but for the sake of my life I must
never say so, for they would take umbrage and
show dislike.
So when the plain question was plumped at me,
"Do you think we talk Cockney?" what was a
poor man to do? Equivocate!
Now it is a remarkable fact that a considerable
number of the people do possess the Cockney tongue.
Say is "sye"; cake is "kyke"; "down the bay"
is "dahn the bye." I have heard an Australian
woman, who had never been away from her own
country, talk Cockney with the fluency of a real
Londoner. But to say that all Australians talk Cockney is just
one of those exaggerations which the mass of people
have a right to repudiate. The grown Australian
struck me as a particularly clean speaker ; that is,
he spoke without the slovenliness of which we have
plenty in England, and with a correct pronuncia
tion. Yet that Cockney is spoken is undoubted. The
speak'ng of it is not limited to one stratum of
society. The curious thing to me was that Cockney
was spoken by one member of a family, whilst the
other members of the family spoke perfectly correct
English. It is not only the visitor whose ears
notice the Cockney. Australians themselves are
conscious of it ; they talked freely to me about it,
and even made fun about it.
Where does this Cockney accent come from ? To
say it is an inheritance from London settlers is

STRAY NOTES 45
absurd. My own belief is that it is an independent
growth, partly due to climate, but mainly due to
carelessness in speech. I watched carefully, and I
noted it was chiefly children and young women who
had the loose pronunciation — very rarely a man , and
only occasionally a woman, who had reached middle
life. As folk advanced in years they seemed to
grow out of it. But that Cockney is to be heard in
Australia is undoubted.

CHAPTER V
ROUNDABOUT NOTES
"The toil of it none may share;
By yourself must the way be won.
Through fervid or frozen air
TUl the overland journey's done ;
And I would not take, for your own dear sake, one
Thorn from your back, my son."
John Lb-Gay Bbbeeton.
Some day, in volume form, there will be published
the records of the story of the exploration of Aus
tralia. It will provide as romantic and as thrilling
a narrative as any tale of adventure, and would
take its place on many bookshelves alongside
"Hakluyt's Voyages."
Some accounts have been published ; others are
apparently lost for all time ; others are still in
manuscript. It was my rare pleasure to finger the
pages and peruse the fading words telling of wander
ings in the mysterious interior. There is a noble
work lying to the hand of some Australian writer
to recall, more fully than has hitherto been done,
the epic of Australia's youth, when indeed it was
a terra incognita to the world, and when men had
brave hearts to adventure in the wilds.
Dimly through history emerges the ancient
belief that to the south of Asia lay another continent.
46

ROUNDABOUT NOTES 47
I have myself — in the Doge's Palace at Venice and
amongst the old maps — found evidence of a mighty
island to the south of Java. Then, by the names
along the coast we can tell where, centuries ago,
Dutch vessels touched, follow the range of Captain
Cook's voyage, and mark the spots named by the
French navigators. But to men of English birth
the honour is due for penetrating the interior — ^that
interior which was as though a place accursed, and
which, as if dominated by some evil sprite, claimed
toll of the lives of men who dared to pull the veil
aside. To those of us who live in the older world, the
names of such men as Bass and Flinders, Evans and
Oxley, Hamilton Hume and Allan Cunningham,
Charles Sturt, MacMiUan, A. C. Gregory, Edward
John Eyre, Burke and Wills, Gosse and Ernest
Giles — what are they but a string of more or less
common names?
They were the men who pushed far beyond the
coast line, even crossing the sandy wastes — and some
of them have left their bones to bleach.
There is public recognition in the way of statues
to one or two of these men. Before, however, it
is too late, and whilst possibly photographs are
in existence of some of the more brave, it would
be well if Australia beautified her towns and recalled
good deeds by erecting still further statues of these
noble men.
There is something significant and poetical about
some of the native names, especially those given
to rivers and to creeks. And the names left by for-

48 AUSTRALIA
gotten travellers conjure up pictures in the mind.
There is Muddy Creek and Dismal Creek, Holy Joe
Creek and Black Gin Creek. Dinner Eiver and
Breakfast Creek, Sunday Creek, Pie Creek, Wel
come Eiver, Brown Bun Creek, Tin Can Inlet, and
many similar quaint appellations. Also a touch of
romance has been left in the name given to many
sluggish streams. A traveller, having left some loved
one on the coast, or perhaps in the old country,
halting at night by some freshly discovered stream,
would likely enough let his thoughts wander to the
woman he cared for, and then give her name to the
brook. So we find scattered through the land creeks
carrying the names of Maggie, Dora, Mary, Lizzie,
Lydia, Jeannie, Maria and Marian.
Half of this continent of three million square
miles lies within the tropical zone — a weird country
in its way, with practically no mountains except
comparatively close to the seaboard — the interior
something like a saucer, so that although there are
one or two big rivers flowing seaward, most of the
rivers flow toward the interior and are then lost.
Indeed, considerable stretches of the continent are
below the level of the sea.
It is an interesting pastime of zoologists to trace
the relationship of animals in one part of the world
with those in another. So it is easy to find beasts
in Asia with first cousins in America. Australia,
however, may be said to have stood through the ages
in a sort of isolation. Practically no country in the
world, except Australia, is without the cat and the
pig as natives. True, Australia has the dog, the

ROUNDABOUT NOTES 49
dingo, which has similarity with the pariah dogs
of South India, the one point of animal relationship
between the old world and this new world. Aus
tralia, left alone, developed animals with characteris
tics peculiarly their own. First jumps to thought the
kangaroo, an animal which has its like in no other
part of the world. In birds there have been special
types like the cassowary and the emu, and bower
birds, which make their nests a sort of passage and
then decorate them with any bright articles they
may find ; lyre birds, so called because of the peculiar
shape of their tails; birds of gorgeous plumage, but
not many birds rich in song. There are no vul
tures, such as are generally to be found in sandy
lands. There is, however, a water-holding frog,
which can fill itself up and live in the mud for a
year — a thing which tells how, through countless
generations of frogs, the AustraUan interior has been
subject to drought.
Not a horse, nor a cow, nor a sheep, nor a rabbit,
nor a sparrow did Australia originally produce. Yet
these have come and have multiplied in a way that
is astonishing. It is good for cattle and sheep to
increase. The man, however, who first took rabbits
to Australia, little knew what he was doing. They
became a pest. There must be millions upon mil
lions of them. Man and the law have waged war
upon rabbits. I have stayed with kindly settlers who
could say nice things about everything and every-
Dody until the word "rabbit" was mentioned; then
they burst into towering furies of rage. A scourge
of rabbits would come and eat up in the course of a
E

50 AUSTRALL^.
night almost every blade of grass upon the settler's
possessions, so that practically no food was left for
his sheep. They fine you in Australia at the present
day if you dare to keep pet rabbits. Eabbit wire
fences, literally thousands of miles long, have had
to be placed across parts of the continent in order
to check the scourge. Few Australians will eat
rabbit, unless they belong to the poorer classes.
They are vermin in Australia. Yet, with cold
storage and quick transit to Europe, there is surely
the possibility of a great industry in the exportation
of the carcases of rabbits.
Some similarity has been noticed between the
flora of Australia and that of South Africa. The
flowers are bright, but most of them are scentless.
There is the brilliant waratah and the golden wattle ;
but there is neither the variety nor the delicacy of
blooms which is to be found in other countries of the
world. Except in the south-west parts of the con
tinent there is little forest. In the temperate zones
there is considerable growth of eucalyptus trees,
crooked of limb, and casting their bark instead of
their leaves. Most of the woods are very hard, so
that there has to be a considerable importation.
European trees do exceedingly well under fair
conditions. There are parts of the continent where
the trees are yearly laid low in enormous numbers
before the axe. The average Australian is disposed
to dispute what is recognised in other countries as a
fact, namely, that trees are inclined to draw rain.
Now Australia is not over-blessed with rain, and
there is the possibility that by the wholesale cutting

ROUNDABOUT NOTES 5^
down of trees she is hindering rather than helping
the very necessary moisture. It is not for me, with
the Australians so busy doing the spade-work of
getting their country into a fit state, to press the
advantages of forestry. But the day cannot be far
off when the Australians must take into serious
account what they are going to do to replace the
trees now being felled in such enormous numbers.
The native plants suitable for human food are
few. There are no cereals worth mentioning. So
we see that Australia in its natural condition was
not fit to carry a large population. Here again is
evidence of the romance of the country, because
imported cereals flourish to an amazing extent. It
is just as though Nature said to the old world, "Here
is a passive region ; here is the raw material ; come
and see what you can do with it." Everything
grows profusely and multiplies extravagantly —
except human beings.

CHAPTER VI
SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION
"Write not that you content can be.
Pent by that drear and shipless sea
Bound lonely islands rolled :
Isles nigh as empty as their deep.
Where men but talk of gold and sheep.
And think of sheep and gold."
WlLUAJU Fembbb Hebves.
Like other writers, I am prone to apply generalisa
tions to the people of Australia. Yet, bearing in
mind that those living in the north are in the tropics,
whilst those who live in the south are in a temperate
zone, time, climate, and social conditions must
produce certain distinctive characteristics.
When in the big towns I was conscious that the
people had different traits, just as one may note how
different are the people in the north of England from
those you meet with in the south. It was not until
I returned home and began to bring together the
data I had collected that I found that there is more
humidity in Melbourne than in Adelaide, and more
in Sydney than in either.
Humidity, undoubtedly, has an effect on the
energy of the people. Now, mark how pleasant,
soft-voiced and delightful the Queenslanders are.
Come south and you find more commercialism in

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 53
the air of Sydney than in Brisbane. Drop further
south still, to Melbourne, and there, there is really
something like energy. Continue south till you get
to New Zealand, and there you can pass from the
charming easy manners of the top of the north island
until you get amongst the rugged, determined busi
ness men who live at the bottom end of the south
island. In this stretch you see the effect of the climate
on the people, just as those of us who have travelled
in America can compare the hustle of Chicago with
the easy-going of New Orleans. The New Orleans
folk are the nicer ; but the men of Chicago are those
who make the money.
I said something very much like the above in a
newspaper article published soon after my return to
England. Then came Australian indignation.
What could a casual visitor know about it? Fluffy
journalists proceeded to scorn. Slackness, indeed !
What right had this fellow, Foster Fraser, to talk
about slackness when Australia's wealth was so
great, and Australians did so well in athletics ; how
could slackness produce that?
These patriotic gentlemen missed the point.
Australia has gone ahead ; wonders have been accom
plished — but the energy has generally come from
men born in Europe, or who are the children of
Europeans. Look round the men of mark in Aus
tralia. How many of them had grandfathers and
grandmothers, or even fathers and mothers born in
Australia ?
The Australians who were so quick to object to

54 AUSTRALIA
the deductions I drew : that the race transplanted
from Europe to Australia was, affected in character
by the climate, assumed that what I said was a
hasty generalisation drawn from watching some
loungers round Sydney. As a matter of fact, this
subject of climatic influence on heredity is one I
have carefully studied for years. I studied it in
AustraUa as well as elsewhere.
When silly and ignorant retorts were made
upon myself, there was some poor satisfaction in
receiving batches of letters from old residents, Aus
tralians to the backbone, who acknowledged that
what I said was too true. And it was by this means
I fell in with the published opinions of Dr. Alexander
Buttner, of lilelbourne, whose authority to speak on
this subject no Australian will dispute. Over fifty
years' residence in Victoria has forced upon Dr.
Buttner the conviction that in cases where both
parents are Australian born, the weakening effect
of the climate shows itself more and more strikingly
with each succeeding generation.
"It is, therefore, my firm belief," he writes,
"that the number of children born will steadily
decline as the distance from the European family
stock increases. An absolute necessity exists, then,
that we should once more secure a continual stream
of European immigration, if only for the sake of
self-preservation. Were it possible to cut the Aus
tralian continent off from the rest of the world for a
few centuries, I am convinced that not a single de
scendant of its four million white population would
be living. The race would have become extinct.

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 55
"In support of niy argument upon this subject,
I would refer to the fact that, while trees and other
plants belonging to Europe develop most luxuriantly
in Australia, if watered on hot, windy days, every
year's seedlings of such introduced plants deteriorate.
Also our horses, cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry are
undergoing this regular process of deterioration,
which can only be stopped by the introduction of
fresh blood from time to time. Our Australian-born
population is, so to speak, an exotic one, which, in
order to preserve its original vigour of physique and
mental stamina, will require an influx of the Euro
pean races from which it has sprung. Without this
influx the white race here is doomed, for the
universal law of life, from which there is no escape
either for man or the lower orders of creation , with
out the penalty of obliteration, is that there must be
a systematic introduction of animals of the same
blood from the countries whence they were originally
drawn. "Being one of the old colonists, and a close
observer of the deteriorating influence of this
cUmate," continues Dr. Buttner, "so soon as my six
children had passed through their primary educa
tion, I made, with pleasure, great paternal and
material sacrifices in sending them to Europe for
the purpose of there fortifying their constitution
during the period of their principal development
But whenever a child has reached its twentieth year
it should, in my opinion, certainly return to Aus
tralia, as otherwise it will form such an attachment
to the Old Country that in nine cases out of ten it

56 AUSTRALIA
will remain there altogether. Parents who can bear
the expense — and there are certainly many in Aus
tralia — would find that an absence of even a few
years would greatly invigorate their children's con
stitutions and thereby better prepare them for their
several active spheres of life — a subject Of moment
that tasks the thoughts of so many anxious parents
at the present time."
The less informed AustraHan newspaper writers
do not alter the laws of nature by ignoring them, nor
in chiding the visitor who makes public at home
what Australians, given to the study of heredity,
know perfectly well.
In their hearts Englishmen regret the differences
of over a century ago between themselves and the
folk who lived in the North American colonies. It
is possible, however, that had it not been for the
American War of Independence, Australia would
not have come under the British flag. It was that
War of Independence which closed to the British
authorities the right of sending their convicts to
transatlantic plantations. British prisons became
full to overcrowding. It was necessary to look round
and find another part of the world to which evildoers
could be deported. It was Sydney Cove that was
decided upon. There the first consignment landed
in 1788. Most of those new-comers were men, and
for a long period the proportion of white men to
white women residents was more than two to one.
Gradually, however, through the hundred years
which have elapsed, there has been a strong tend
ency, by natujal increase, toward the equalisation of

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 57
the sexes, until at the present day the surplus of
males over females is only about ten per cent.
The growth of population in the older countries
is due to natural causes. Whilst these operate, too,
in a new country, there is the increase which comes
from immigration. It is the man rather than the
woman who leaves his fatherland and settles in a
new country. Therefore, although there is a very
even balance in the older States, in States Uke
Queensland and Western Australia the proportion
of men to women is still considerably larger. At the
present time a quarter of the population of the Com
monwealth have been born outside Australia, the
majority of these being from New Zealand, whilst
the remainder can be said to come from the British
Isles. Australia is unique, compared with the United
States and Canada, in that — although I came across
most excellent German colonists in South Australia
— it has practically done nothing whatever to attract
people from the Continent of Europe. I found that
the settlers of German birth were just over a fraction
of one per cent, of the population, that those drawn
from Scandinavia (that is Sweden, Norway, and
Denmark) number less than a half per cent., those
who come from the United States less than a quarter
per cent., and those from Italy just over one-sixth
per cent.
It is gratifying that the movement to secure
population should be directed chiefly toward the
British Isles. The idea of rearing another British
stock in the South Seas is a fine one. But our

58 AUSTRALLV
population is limited. At present, from sheer force
of circumstances, the magnet which attracts our
extra population, desiring to put their powers to the
test in new lands, is the Dominion of Canada.
Personally, I do not think that we of the British
race have all the agricultural virtues. Accordingly,
I believe that those who are genuinely anxious to
attract to Australia those people the country needs
most, agriculturists, would do well to direct some
of their persuasiveness to the rural population of the
Continent of Europe. Australians who know any
thing about the German settlers are well aware what
good colonists they make. I have marked the same
thing in Canada. They soon become good Cana
dians, just as the German settlers in the Common
wealth become good Australians. There is nothing
to fear, but much to gain, by drawing to the shores
of Australia people of other than British race. I
am convinced that one of the great factors which has
gone to the building up of the United States has
been the mixing of virile representatives of the old
races in Europe.
At present the Australians are much like Britons.
But neither they, nor we, must put on one side the
fact that their fresh environment, their new social
conditions, their life in varying climates will, in the
course of time, produce certain distinctive types.
The Australians are a long-lived people. Again and
again I was struck with the old men I met. Of
course, one meets old men in the United States and
in Canada ; but there are not the numbers there in
proportion to the population that there are in Aus-

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 59
tralia. Statistics are not always reliable ; but from
those I investigated I came to the conclusion that,
proportionate to the population, there are more cen
tenarians in Australia than in any other part of the
world. This is due to the healthiness of the climate.
The diseases which afflict older communities are not
so marked in the Commonwealth as elsewhere.
Without any question, it may be written that Aus
tralia, especially those temperate portions where the
mass of the population is already settled, is exceed
ingly healthy. The State of Victoria has the largest
share of people who are over sixty-five years of age.
That being so, one comes to the question : Why
is it that the migratory tendency of the people is to
ward the towns? First and foremost Australia is an
agricultural country. Yet only one-half per cent, of
the acreage of the continent is devoted to the grow
ing of crops, and, per head of the population, only
two and a third acres is devoted to food growing.
Sir George Eeid, the High Commissioner of the
Commonwealth, now resident in London, is a mis
sionary of Empire, and is urging throughout Britain
those agriculturists who desire to try their fortunes
elsewhere to go to the country which he represents.
The Australian Press echo him with the cry, "We
do not want more men in the towns ; we want fresh
settlers on the land." Good ! But the Australians
themselves are disposed to leave the land and flock
into the cities and to bring about that congestion
and unemployment of which we so often read.
There are others, besides agriculturists, in Eng
land who emigrate. There are artisans, dissatisfied

6o AUSTRALIA
with the wages they earn in England, and flushed
with the prospect of earning the good wages reported
from Australia. When they arrive at one of the
big ports they cannot follow their calling unless they
join one of the trade unions. Trade unions are
capital institutions; I believe in them, because they
have maintained the status of labour and have
resisted the endeavours of the less scrupulous class
of employer to lower wages. Once, however, the
English trade unionist becomes an Australian trade
unionist, he is entwined with the regulations of his
society, and it is difficult for him to break loose,
become an individualist, and win one of the big
prizes which a new country has continuously to offer.
I know it is getting near to an exaggeration; but
still, in general, the fact stands good, that the men
who have done best in Australia have been those who
have landed in the country with no particular trade
to their hands.
All the people of the Commonwealth agree that
the stream of immigration, although increasing, is
not flowing with that force which the possibilities
of the country would justify. As I have shown, the
increase of population is 'slow. But, viewing the
land as a whole, three-quarters of the increase is due
to natural causes, and only one-quarter can be
ascribed to immigration. Yet, looking over the
course of years during the last quarter of a century,
the rate of increase shows a marked decline. Deal
ing with the period between 1861 and 1907, forty-
seven years, the official Year Book of the Common
wealth says : "In regard to the contribution of indivi-

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 6i
dual States to the net immigration of 784,982, it may
be said that for two, Victoria and Tasmania, the
departures for the period in question actually exceeds
the arrivals by 26,713 in the case of the former and
12,488 in that of the latter, while in South Australia
the total gain for the period was only 13,663. In
New South Wales, Queensland and Western Aus
tralia, on the other hand, the additions due to net
immigration during the forty-seven years were
respectively 377,498, 246,923, and 186,099."
The increase in the population of the Common
wealth is practically at the same rate as that of
Germany — an old country, which is losing some
of its population by emigration. Germany is a
densely populated land. Australia is a sparsely
populated land. Yet in proportion to her popula
tion, which ought to increase aboundingly, Australia
travels at the same rate as that of Germany.
The people of Australia take much satisfaction
in comparing themselves with the people of the
United States. Let us look at the increase of
population in both countries under comparable con
ditions ; that is, examine the growth of the United
States in density of population when it was a new
country as we can examine the growth of population
in Australia whilst it is still a new country. Cover
two generations of comparable time and we find
that the pro rata increase in Australia is only half
what it was in the United States. The Com
monwealth statistician, Mr. G. H. Knibbs, has made
a computation that if AustraUa continues to increase
at her present rate she will have in 1950 a popula-

62 AUSTRALIA
tion of 7,949,000 inhabitants ; whereas, if her growth
were the same as that of the United States under
comparable conditions, the number of inhabitants
would be 15,058,000.
This is matter for deep concern. Australia has
the land, and she has the possibilities. Yet the con
tinent is the most sparsely occupied continent on the
face of this globe. Australia carries 1.41 persons to
the square mile, whilst America carries 10, Africa
13, Asia 55, and Europe 111. Indeed, Australia has
a smaller white population to the square mile than
has Siberia.
Keeping in mind that AustraUa is pre-eminently
an agricultural country, we have now to consider the
occupations in which her grown men are engaged.
In rough figures, there are 100,000 belonging to the
professional classes, 100,000 engaged in transport,
200,000 in commercial occupations, 400,000 belong
ing to the industrial classes, and 500,000 who are
primary producers, that is engaged upon the land.
The proportions are not satisfactory. Of course,
some of these classes are interdependent one upon
the other. Transport and commerce naturally rely
a great deal upon manufacturers. So we come to
this, that whilst Australia at the present time ?a
calling to the United Kingdom to send out agricul
turists, more than half the men of Australia are
engaged in industrial pursuits. I am not saying
anything against industrial occupations. That
would be foolish. But as labour is protected in the
Commonwealth — as it has a perfect right to be if the
people think well — wages are increased, and the cost

SOME PROBLEMS OF POPULATION 63
cf the manufactured article is such that it cannot
compete in the open market with a similar article
made in countries where wages are not so high, the
growth of Australia's industries must depend upon
the increase in her agricultural population. The
agricultural population, however, has not grown,
and is not growing to that extent which gives one
sound hope that there can, in the immediate future,
be any striking development of industry.
It is almost a platitude to say that the Australians
are on the right lines in centreing their efforts upon
securing people to go on the land. I will even go
so far as to say that, at the present time, Australia
has no need for settlers of the artisan class. There
are enough artisans to supply the wants of the
Commonwealth in manufactures. Again, artisans
will increase as the market increases by having a
larger population taking up land in the rural areas.
I am well aware of the cry heard in the cities that
too much land is locked up, and that the unlocking
of it by legislation will provide better opportunities
for those desirous of securing a livelihood in agricul
ture. Yet I am not blind to the fact that Australians
themselves frequently display a dislike for bush life
and make their way to the towns at the first oppor
tunity. We have that trouble in England — for
saking the country for the towns. But they do
not have it in Canada.

CHAPTER VII
SHEEP, WOOL AND MUTTON
" I'll sing to you a flne new song, made by my blessed mate.
Of a fine Australian squatter who had a flne estate.
Who swore by right pre-emptive at a sanguinary rate
That by his rams, his ewes, his lambs, Australia was made great-
Like a flne Australian squatter, one of the olden time."
OxJj Bush Sono.
There are 100,000,000 sheep in the Commonwealth.
Over 500,000,000 lbs. of wool are exported. Eoughly
speaking this means a gross value of wool exports of
£25,000,000. In the year closing June 30th, 1909,
the number of sheep slaughtered in the Common
wealth was 11,094,397.
This tremendous business has grown up within
the last hundred years. The story of the founding
of the wool industry of Australia is something of a
romance. The continent had no native sheep, and
when over a century ago British boats were crawl
ing down the coasts seeking for harbours and the
genesis of a colony was started where Sydney now
stands, food was difficult to procure.
By some means a few sheep from Ireland and a
few sheep from India were brought to New South
Wales. It was in 1797 that several fine wool
merinoes were imported from the Cape and distri
buted among six or seven individuals. Amongst
64

SHEEP, WOOL AND MUTTON 65
these was Captain John Macarthur. All the little
flocks which were consequent upon this importation
disappeared except that of Captain Macarthur — ¦
they were probably eaten. Captain Macarthur
crossed his Cape sheep with those already in the
island. Later, in England, when George III. had a
sale of the progeny of sheep which had been pre
sented to him from Spain, Macarthur became the
possessor of some of the best, and paid the highest
price that had ever been paid in England for sheep.
These he proposed to export to Australia. Curiously
enough, however, he was for a time barred by an
ancient statute which made it a felony to export live
sheep from Great Britain. That difficulty was
overcome by the exercise of commonsense. Mac
arthur brought his sheep to New South Wales. By
judicious breeding he began cultivating sheep for
their wool. This process has been continued until
to-day. No sheep in the world carry so much wool
as do those of Australia. It is thick, matted, long,
and beautifully fine, and is accepted as the best pro
duct which goes into the mighty woollen mills of
Yorkshire, as well as the woollen centres of France,
Germany, and the United States.
The sheep thrived. What some of the early
settlers thought a barren land produced excellent
food. Macarthur, though resisted by some of the
officials governing the new colony, received author
ity from the home Government to take possession of
the best stretch of feeding ground^and he came
to this knowledge by the fact that cattle which had
strayed some years before had settled themselves
F

66 AUSTRALIA
there. Others saw the advantage of wool growing.
The British Government encouraged them. Land
was obtained for little more than the asking, all
that was necessary was the securing of a licence.
One squatter paid £80 a year for 400,000 acres. The
system was rather haphazard ; four landowners paid
no more for nearly 8,000,000 acres than four others
did for one-twentieth of that area. Thus it was that
some of the finest stretches of the country passed
into private ownership. Anyway, the greatest in
dustry that Australia ha,s ever had, that of providing
wool for the world, began to advance not by steps
and strides but by leaps and bounds. In 1807, 245
lbs. of wool were shipped from Australia. In 1835,
it was 3,776,191 lbs. In the last official year it was
over 500,000,000 lbs.
Squatters made immense fortunes. There was
no harsh weather and no necessity to look after the
sheep at the lambing time. They could be left to
themselves, except to be rounded up each year to be
clipped. Few men were required to look after the
runs during most of the year. Gangs of clippers,
starting in the north, would work southwards, visit
stations and clip for the squatters. At first the
shearing was done by hand, and the man who could
shear a hundred sheep a day was the "ringer" —
the leader. Now, however, the shearing is done by
machinery, quicker, cleaner, closer, and with fewer
horrible gashes in the flesh of the beast.
As you approach a shearing shed yon hear the
buzz of the machinery. The sheep, with wool grow
ing over their heads so that sometimes they are

SHEEP, WOOL AND MUTTON 67
blinded, are in long pens. Men half-stripped, reek
ing with perspiration, have each a sheep with its
head between their knees. They are running the
clippers over the body with long sweeps of the arm.
The beginner may cut the skin. But the experi
enced shearer runs the clipper over the back, round
the belly, between the legs, along the throat, by the
ears, and in little more than a minute the wool is
lying on the ground like a torn coat, and the shorn
sheep with the pink skin showing through the close
cropped wool is pushed through a door into a yard
to join his clipped mates. Boys grip the wool and
carry it away. A panel is raised and another sheep
is seized. So it goes on through the long hot hours
of the Australian day. The shearers are paid well,
for besides lodging and food it is easy enough to
make £1 a day. The English shearer would be
astonished at the rapidity at which the clipping is
done on the Australian sheep stations.
Fine, lithe-limbed and stalwart fellows are these
shearers. A little rough in their manners, they are
good fellows in their hearts. Few of them have any
family ties; they care nothing for the morrow.
When the season is over they are in funds. Some
of them bank their money. But too many find
their way to the nearest tavern, where the vilest
liquor is to be obtained ; and there for a week or a
fortnight they have a wild drunken orgy, until their
money is gone and they are turned out to search for
means of livelihood elsewhere. The moralist should
not be too hard upon them. Remember, they lead
lonely lives on far-away stations; they have Uttle

68 AUSTRALIA
acquaintance with home life or culture ; their idea
of civilisation is to meet other good fellows in the
taverns and "shout" drinks to one another.
AH the world wants Australian wool. Formerly
it was exported to the London mart and there sold
by auction. Much of it is so sent at the present
time ; but the demand is so great that each year the
great mill-owners send out their own buyers. On
the P. & 0. boat by which I travelled to Australia,
half the saloon passengers were wool-buyers from
England, France, and Germany. They are expert
men and can tell by the feel the quality of the clip.
The bales are sold by auction, and the clamour, the
shouting, the gesticulations, the fierce struggle for
possession, for all the world reminded me of the
hubbub in the " pit " of Chicago when a great gamble
in the wheat of the world is in progress.
For many years fortunes were in wool alone.
The clipped sheep was of little value. For there
were more sheep than could be eaten by the small
Australian population and exportation of the meat
was impossible. Then the system of. freezing was
introduced ; ships were specially constructed to carry
frozen mutton from Australia to England, and a
further means of acquiring a fortune was opened
up. In the old days a shorn sheep could often be
bought for 6d. or Is., and failing that the carcase
was boiled down for the tallow that was in it. Now
it is sent as food for the poorer millions in the Old
Worid. Strange it is that Australia should produce such
excellent wool, and yet the price procured for Aus-

SHEEP, WOOL AND MUTTON 69
tralian mutton in the British market be so exceed
ingly poor. This is not because Australian mutton
is bad — I personally have tasted some of the best
mutton in the world in Australia — but it is due to the
haphazard, careless and almost criminal negligence
with which the sheep are treated before being
slaughtered, and the manner in which the carcases
are exported. The treatment of the sheep intended
for slaughter is nothing less than inhuman. The
merinoes do not travel well ; they are worn and
feverish ; they are often driven long distances to the
trucking yards over hot and dusty roads ; frequently
there are no drinking facilities, and the brutes are
put into the trucks in a thirsty condition.
Take the state of affairs in New South Wales,
which is the centre of the mutton export trade. I
have no hesitation in saying that the manner in
which the sheep are treated there is worse than in
any land on the face of this earth. The sheep are
loaded from the side of the truck instead of from
the ends as in more progressive countries. The
trucks are loosely coupled and the jolting is injuri
ous. The trains are slow. So stock are often in
the train from thirty to forty hours, passing through
a country where there is much dust and where the
temperature is frequently over 100 degrees. The
sheep fail and drop, and drovers are obliged to use
poles to get them upon their legs. In a depreciated
condition the sheep are driven to the saleyards, and
after that are pushed along seven miles of dusty
road to the abattoirs, where the killing takes place.
That this description may not rest on my un-

70 AUSTRALIA
corroborated testimony, I summarise what appeared
in the Sydney Morning Herald of September 17th,
1909, as to what took place in the Home Bush
Yards. Upwards of 70,000 head were advertised for
sale. "If the quality of the sheep and lambs as they
are now leaving the pastures could be supplied to
the meat consumers, the quality would be entirely
satisfactory. The system of railway trucking and
marketing, however, is severely out of joint with
the times, and what should be choice eating meat is
to a large degree sapless and flavourless."
Now there is only one unloading platform at
Flemington railway station, alongside a narrow
end of the sale-yards. On the Wednesday night
most of the stock trains arrived ready for Thursday's
sales. Late in the evening, however, the Ughts
were turned out and no unloading could take place
untU morning came.
" The stoppages and shunting of the stock trains
tend to jolt the sheep off their feet," says the
Sydney Morning Herald. "The long journeys tire
the sheep, and they are inclined to lie down.
Whether down from either cause, the length of
time taken before they can be unloaded, results in
severe losses. On the unloading siding, and in the
yards yesterday, there were several heaps of dead
sheep that had been trodden to death. During
yesterday six double horse vans were working con
tinually, carting the carcases away to the boiling-
down. It was estimated by the contractor that
between 900 and 1,000 dead and crippled sheep

SHEEP, WOOL AND MUTTON 71
would be removed. The longer the stock were kept
in the trucks the more the sheep went down by
shunting or other causes, and the more there were
smothered, many of them trodden out of recog
nition." Such barbarous treatment is a disgraCfe to the
Commonwealth. Nor, I regret to say, have I a
word of praise as to the manner in which the car
cases are treated after slaughter. In rough method
they are conveyed in carts to the freezing works.
There they are passed as fit for export. No atten
tion, however, is paid to them between the time
they leave the works and when they reach the ship's
hold. They are conveyed in all sorts of weather
and in all kinds of conditions to the ships. When
being loaded, practically no steps are taken to keep
an even temperature. The men have frequent
rests and the doors are left open, so that the meat,
being exposed to the atmosphere, is softened and
discoloured ; there is too much jamming, with the
consequence that shanks are often broken. So it
comes about that Australian mutton does not secure
the same price in the London market as does mutton
from elsewhere. As I have said, Australian mutton
in Australia is exceedingly good. But the cause of
its fetching the lowest price in England is entirely
due to the carelessness with which the sheep are
treated when alive, and the slipshod manner in
which the meat is dealt with after death.

CHAPTEE VIII
SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND
" One People working out one Destiny —
Shall we not live within the ample shores
Of our fair land, with no remembered sores
Of once-distempered blood ; no enemy,
Nor speech nor hearts divided ; earth, sea, sky
Our own ; the coming Nation's plenteous stores
Of courage, richer than her golden ores,
Expanding with her fame and industry ? "
Henbt Fabebs.
The time will surely come when mighty vessels,
breasting the seas, will carry southwards from the
old lands cargoes of brave human freight determined
to settle on Australian lands, whilst other vessels
beating northwards will be heavily laden with the
grain which previous settlers have grown.
In my mind's eye I see the day when it will be
possible to ride through innumerable miles of waving
com, when the only sound will be the rustling of the
ears. In that future Australia will have millions of
sturdy fellows devoting their energies to grain grow
ing. They will be useful units in a productive
family. But sometimes, when the evening comes
and they rest after the heat of the day, they will
recall the first settler. He was James Euse, who
now takes his long sleep in St. John's Churchyard,
Campbelltown (N.S.W.). Writing to a Secretary
72

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 73
of State on June 17, 1790, Governor Phillip thus
expressed himself in regard to an experiment which,
at his suggestion, Euse was then making : " In order
to know in what time a man might be able to culti
vate a sufficient quantity of ground to support him
self, I last November ordered a hut to be built in a
good position, an acre of ground to be cleared, and
once turned up. It was put into the possession of
a very industrious man, who was told that if he
behaved himself well he should have thirty acres.
. . . He has been industrious, has received some
little assistance from time to time, and now tells
me that if one acre more is cleared for him he shall
be able to support himself after next January, which
I much doubt, but think he will do tolerably well
after he has been supported for eighteen months.
Others may prove more intelligent, though they
cannot well be more industrious."
Out of the public funds Euse was supported until
February 25, 1791, when he would not accept any
further aid because he was then able to maintain
himself, his wife and his child. The promised deed
of grant of thirty acres was issued on February 22,
1792. The holding was known as "Experiment
Farm," and "Experiment Cottage" stands, to this
day, quite close to Harris Park railway station.
Now, throughout the Commonwealth you hear
the cry in favour of closer settlement. Already I
have referred to the manner in which the first
comers found how suitable the climate was to sheep-
rearing, and got possession of enormous areas.
They were the best regions ; but, comparatively

74

AUSTRALIA

speaking, not far distant from the main centres of
population, and there, naturally, railways have been
developed. But there are great stretches of country
capable of food production, which are at present

THE BLACK PATCHES SHOW THE LAND IN EACH STATE WHICH IS UNDER
PRIVATE OWNERSHIP, AND SUPPOSING IT TO BE ALL COLLECTED INTO
ONE LOCALITY, THE ARFA ALIENATED IS ei PER CENT. OF THE WHOLE
COMMONWEALTH. OVER 1,000,000,000 ACRES ARE YET UNOCCUPIED.

beyond commercial use because they are too far
from a railway line.
It is easy to understand how men who are desirous
to settle upon the land clamour for the breaking up
of the big estates, so that they may be utilised by

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 75
farmers rather than be devoted to the feeding of
sheep. Also, one can well appreciate why it is that
pastoralists are resisting the proposal , either that the
governments of the various States should seize their
property at a price and split it up for agriculturists,
or that there should be a system of land taxation,
the main intention of which is to compel the big
landowners to divide sections of their estates into
agricultural holdings. The curious thing is that,
whilst much is being written about large estates
being sub-divided, when one descends to the bed
rock of facts, and studies the position of the Com
monwealth agriculturally, it is fotind that instead
of more land going under cultivation, it is really
decreasing year by year. Here are some figures,
taking different periods during the last ten years,
which show how land — when the whole and not
patches of the Commonwealth is viewed — is gradu
ally going out of cultivation and being turned into
grazing ground :
UNDEE CULTIVATION.
Wheat.
1900-1: 1907-8.
5,666,614 acres. 5,383,911 acres.
Oats.
1900-1. 1907-8.
12,043,310 bushels. 9,185,227 bushels.
Maize.
1890-1. 1907-8.
300,990 acres. 299,579 acres.
Potatoes.
1906-7. 1907-8.
146,681 acres. 143,511 acres.

76 AUSTRALIA Hay;
1903-4: 1907-8;
1,853,864 acresj 1,811,579 acres.
Sugar Cane.
1905-6: 1907-8:
155,912 acres; 144,763 acres.
Vines.
1901-2: 1907-8.
64,577 acres. 61,232 acres;
The " sadness of the landscape " is a worn com
monplace in Australia. The "native born " is tired
of being told about it. He does not notice it.
Yet, no one with a touch of imagination can fail
to be depressed by the sombreness of the land. I
shall never forget my first weeks in Australia. It
looked a weary land — conscious of its own short
comings. It looked as though the Almighty had
started to make a fine continent of it and left it half
made. There were hills, but most were near the
coast, so that the rivers, instead of running to the
sea, ran inland. Eain was provided to make vegeta
tion sprout with a luxuriant vigour unequalled in any
part of the world ; but every now and then Australia
is forgotten by the rain, and years of drought follow.
The birds were made beautiful — how delicious it was
to see them, with their gorgeous rainbow plumages,
flitting amongst the trees — but it was forgotten to
provide most of them with song. Trees grew, but
mostly of the eucalyptus family — the " eternal blue-
gum," as it is called — and you can journey days,
weeks, and see nothing but the dark bluish foliage of
the gums. The wood is hard, and most of the trees
are gnarled. Some of them seem^to shed their bark

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND ^^
in despair, and stand miserable. Few flowers have
been given to Australia. Suddenly, however, you
come across a blaze of wattle, ribbons of flaming
gold, and the deUght of the Australian, the rhapsody
in which he or she indulges, at this splash of beauty
in the sad landscape, is almost pathetic in its
enthusiasm. Few Australians will thank me for writing the
preceding paragraph, because few of them have been
to other lands, and they are consequently devoid of
the sense of comparison. The belief they have in
their own land is refreshing, for they cannot or they
will not, believe that the physical aspects of other
lands can be more attractive. The visitor who dares
suggest such a thing is regarded as prejudiced. And
I have listened to travelled Australians abused as
wretched and unpatriotic creatures for presuming to
say Australia has some defects.
Yet I think, if I were an Australian, instead of
resenting the notice taken of harsh, hard, inhospit
able stretches of the continent, I would find pride
in the knowledge that men of my own race had
gripped stubborn, niggardly Nature and forced her
into well-doing. Of that the Australians have cause
to be proud. It has something to do with them
which the natural conditions have not.
When I motored through the "bush" and saw
the tight-knit, repellent "gums," and then came to
"clearings" with stretches of forest removed, the
stumps wdth their earth-clinging fangs hauled away,
and the wilderness turned into fruitful agricultural
areas, I felt a glow of joy that it was men of British

78 AUSTRALIA
breed who, fighting against odds and with many
heart-aches, had wrestled their way to prosperity.
Not yet, but some day, AustraUans will come to
reaUse that the finest thing in their history will be
the tale of the courageous men and women who,
during the early half of the nineteenth century, had
the will to leave the old land, sail across the seas in
indifferent vessels, come to a region which was little
known, and, with bravery in both hands, begin the
battle. One evening, spinning in a motor-car along a
broad and level road, my host said to me: "I first
came this way as a baby in a bullock wagon. There
was no road, and my father and my uncle had to cut
down the trees so that the wagon could get along.
It took them six weeks to cover the distance we now
motor in an afternoon. As a child I lived for two
years in that bullock cart, and I do not think that
during that time my mother ever saw another
woman." He spoke simply, casually ; for it was a common
tale. But to my mind the story was an epic of
endeavour. That Australia is easily capable of carrying ten
times the population it does now is admitted. Also
it is accepted that the future welfare of the con
tinent will depend on agricultural development. Yet
the number of people living on the land is almost at
a standstill. Seek for the explanation. One class
will tell you that the Australian is a pleasure lover,
tires of the hard life, and crushes into the towns.
Another class will tell you that all the best land is

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 79
occupied, and that the curse of the country are the
mighty sheep runs, covering millions of acres, which
would be more productive if turned into agricultural
land and wbuld carry more people. So the cry is
for "closer settlement."
The "squatter," the owner of sheep runs, is the
most abused man in Australia. His forbears, in
pioneering days, got swift possession of vast tracts
of territory. What easier than to turn sheep out,
breed, grow wool? So there came the wool and the
mutton industry, the backbone of Australia's com
merce. In the hard, dry years, when the land lay
blistered, the small men were ruined and the richer
men, struggling through, got cheap possession of the
neighbouring "runs." The last seven or eight years
have been splendid, plenty of rain and plenty of
herbage. The price of wool has bounced, and the
"squatters " are the richest men in the land. I had
the pleasure of being a guest at several " stations "
out on the downs, far removed from the railway.
Charming hosts I found, with houses built after the
manner of English country houses, and with all the
accompanying luxuries — a delightful bit of "home "
far from the "Old Country."
Now, agricultural labour is expensive and, at
times, impossible to secure. There is a lot of human
nature amongst "squatters," and it is not surprising
that, doing so well with sheep, requiring only a few
men to look after them, except at shearing times,
when travelling gangs of shearers are employed, the
" squatters " want to leave well alone instead of
ploughing their land and growing wheat on a poor

8o AUSTRALIA
soil — for though there are some fine productive
patches, the average wheat yield on the continent is
only nine bushels an acre. The " squatter " prefers
to give an acre to sheep ; it is easier than farming,
and there are no labour worries.
That the best of these " runs " should be in the
most favoured portions of the land, on hill slopes and
near water, is just what might be expected. In
deed , they are declared to be the best sections of the
country. So the politicians and the townspeople,
who do not own land, cry out for the "runs " to be
divided into farm lands. The tendency of legislation
in the various States is to pile up taxes on land — an
accelerated increase : the more the land, the higher
the tax — and so squeeze the "squatter " into selling.
This is being done, but with different results. In
some parts the land is bought quickly, tilled, and
gives employment to more persons than are occupied
on a "run." In other parts these "squatters " have
sliced their land and offered it at the market value,
but there are few buyers.
But, generally speaking, viewing the whole area,
there is a decided movement toward "closer settle
ment." Most of the State Governments have a
right to acquire land oompulsorily at a price fixed
by arbitration. So "closer settlement" progresses.
When I inspected some of these regions I was
impressed with the industry, the frugality, and the
prosperity. Land is dear ; much dearer than in any
other colony for similar land. Farming is less in
tense than at home, but more scientific than in
Canada. This because the soil is not so good as

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 8i
that of Canada. All the more credit to those who
are working it. There is the "mallee" country in
Victoria, formerly a waste of bush. Many hearts
must have been broken in conquering that bush,
cutting it, clearing it, delving it. What men can
do with a repellent land is demonstrated by what
has been done in the "mallee."
Then there are waste areas, with apparently no
virtue in them. These have been treated with super
phosphates, so that comparatively little rain is
required, and success has come. Giant irrigation
schemes are working and projected. Dairy farming
is prosperous, and an increasing quantity of butter
is yearly exported. But none of the industries is
so wealth-producing as sheep raising, and the "squat
ter" is crying out that the politician is killing the
bird which lays the golden eggs.
The answer of the politicians is : " We want your
land for people instead of sheep, and you can put
your sheep into the ' back-blocks,' which are not
suitable for growing foodstuffs."
For there is a belief that within the interior
enough food can be got for sheep, and that, by
boring, plenty of water for drinking can be secured.
Scientists and geologists point to underground
rivers, and cattle men have told me of their fortune
in getting water, suitable for sheep, but on land not
always suitable for irrigation.
So, very hesitatingly, the old idea that the
interior is nothing but a sandy, waterless waste, is
disappearing. That there are tremendous areas
which are useless is true enough. Men who know
G

82 AUSTRALIA
the country, however, declare that two-thirds of the
continent is capable of good.
If Australia imagines she is going to draw the
moneyed farmer whilst practically nothing is done to
provide such a farmer with labourers, she is wrong.
The European farmer with money is the most
conservative man on the face of the earth, and he
is not at all likely to leave his own country, to tear
away from the shire of his fathers, in order to
embark on a new style of farming, under con
ditions that will take him long to learn. The well-
to-do farmer who may come to Australia is the young
fellow with perhaps little experience at home and —
unless he has exceptional ability — likely to come a
cropper in the new land. As one who has studied
this settlement question in other new countries, I
am convinced that Australia will not secure the
proper immigrant — poor, sturdy, brave — until free
land can be offered.
"Oh, but free land is being found," I was told.
"Settlements are being formed."
That is true. I visited one of them a few
miles out of Geelong, in Victoria. I trust it
was exceptional ; but here is what I found.
Fresh arrivals had been given plots of six or
seven acres each. Not much. Eough shanties
had been built, and most of them had no water
supply unless it was collected rain or brought
from a distant brook. Only one room was boarded
inside, and in one house I could see daylight between
the roof and the walls. One respectable man, a
teetotaller, nuirried, and with two children, told me

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 83
his experience very much in these words: "I come
from Kent. I was told by the authorities of the
Victorian Government in London that I would be
given between sixty and seventy acres. I was shown
pictures of a nice house in the middle of a farm , and
told that was the sort of place the immigrants would
have. We were brought out here. There was
nothing but this hillside — not a stick on it. I
expected we would have to rough it, but I did not
expect it would be anything like it turned out to
be. We were put into tents until houses could be
built. We were told we would have to earn money,
and we were given log-cutting to do. I earned 5s.
a day, but the charges against me were more than
5s. a day for the keep of myself and family. At
last a Uttle wooden house was built. I was promised
agricultural implements. In my mind that meant a
plough and such like. But I was given only a
shovel, a pick, and a crowbar. I was promised the
use of a horse, but it was little good. I was pro
mised a cow, which, of course, I would have to pay
for by instalments. I was told that I would have
to build the stables and shed myself, but wood would
be provided. Only half a dozen planks were given
me. The charges against me were about 7s. a week,
but from where was I to get 7s. a week? I was told
to go and work in Geelong. I did. I am strong,
but there has been unemployment in Geelong.
Other families were worse off, and starved — yes, sir,
starved. If it had not been for the ladies and gentle
men of Geelong, I think some would have died.
I've managed to get along, because some of my

84 AUSTRALIA
friends at home sent me £15. I don't want to
grumble, but this is not the kind of place I was told
about by the Victorian officials in London."
It may have been I stumbled upon an unfor
tunate instance of immigrant settlement. But there
it is. I made inquiries and the story was corro
borated. Only I was told that there must have been
a mistake in thinking sixty or seventy acres and a
house were to be provided — that the aim was to find
small plots near a town where the man could get
work, the wife to look after the little farm, and so
give the couple a chance. Let it go at that.
Yet what is the good of dumping a family on a
hillside and telling the man to go and earn his living
at Geelong, three or four miles away, so that he has
to walk the distance twice a day?
When I probed into this matter from the official
side I found that a sub-committee of the Victorian
Cabinet stated in their report on the administration
of the Small Holdings Act the following: "As the
committee went amongst the people on the settle
ments it saw on all sides evidences of the downfall
of the organisation. A short experience has proved
that the Act does not properly embody the inten
tions Parliament had in view when passing it, nor
were the conditions of settlement made as easy as
was intended. Failure was accelerated by the
attempt to do too much in a limited time, and by
the effort to treat 250 men in different parts of the
country merely as units of a great human machine,
the lever of which was to be controlled in the public
offices in Melbourne. Cumbersome methods, added

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 85
to the burden of the cost of official action in respect
to the cultivation of the holdings, completed the
wrecking of a humane national experiment. Almost
absolute failure, with few redeeming features, is,
to the committee's deep regret, the burden of this
report, in which the ameliorative steps necessary
to be taken to save the present settlers, and remedial
and preventive action in the future is indicated."
In regard to the Geelong settlement, the Cabinet
sub-committee found : " That the valuations of
accredited men indicate that the land was purchased
at a fair market value, yet when the sub-divisional
charges, etc., are debited to the tenants, and the
unsuitability of the allotments for small holdings
purposes taken into account, the price becomes ex
cessive, and is higher than should have been under
taken by the department. The tenants, with all
these charges and other objections considered, are
not getting value for their indebtedness, and the
Government should give them some relief. That,
viewed from the point of small holdings, such prices
are not justified, and this estate should never have
been purchased. The evidence discloses that, not
withstanding the extensive works now being carried
out by the Geelong Harbour Trust, which will
shortly be completed, the local labour market was
over-supplied before the establishment of any of
these small holdings, and an additional 78 men,
together with their wage-earning children, have
added to the difficulty of securing work. Unless
something unforeseen takes place, there will be for
many years a difficulty in these additional families

86 AUSTRALIA
obtaining employment, and, in the opinion of the
committee a grave error has been made in establish
ing so many workmen in this district. The cure
for such a want of foresight is either to reduce the
number of holdings or increase the acreage, and
allow the tenants to entirely support themselves on
the land."
All this does not reveal any lack of sympathy
on the part of the Victorian Government. I was
convinced that there is a very great desire to find
means to settle famiUes on convenient plots of land
near towns. But it does show that sufficient care
and expert knowledge had not been brought to
bear in finding means to carry an excellent object
into practice.
Each State, as I have shown, has its own plan
for assisting those who are desirous to settle upon
the land. Though there are criticisms concerning
methods and details, there is agreement in principle.
The sharp conflict comes when the proposal is made
that land already held should be taken from its
present owners and divided amongst others.
When we turn to Government statistics we find
that an infinitesimal portion of the continent has
been alienated to private ownership. The figures
show that in New South Wales only 25.42 per cent.
of the land is alienated or in process of alienation ;
in Queensland, 4.59; in South Australia, 2 per
cent. ; in Western Australia, 2.09 ; in Tasmania,
33.39 per cent., and in Victoria, 48.79 per cent. In
all, the average of alienated land in the Common
wealth works out at 6J per cent. , so that the various

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 87
Governments have between them 98J per cent, of
the land still to settle.
What strikes the investigator is that so much
of the present legislation is directed toward split
ting up that 6J per cent. , whilst comparatively Uttle
is being done to place settlers on the 93J per cent.
I know the answer. It is that, of the 93J per
cent, of the continent non-alienated, much is use
less and the rest is too far away from a railway
to be commercially serviceable ; whilst the 6J per
cent, is acknowledged excellent soil and is within
fairly easy reach of railways.
In some of the States, if not in all, the Govern
ment, who have re-purchased estates and are
'bursting them up for small ownership, are giving
everybody a fair chance by having ballots for the
occupancy of certain blocks. This is quite fair. It
gives everyone who desires to take to agriculture an
equal chance, and he becomes the occupier of a
farm stretch and in time, by easy payments, the
freeholder. The system, however, excellent though it is in
inception, does not always work out as fairly to
the community as its proposers would like. In
New South Wales I heard of men who entered
repeatedly into what might be called a gamble for
the land. They were always applying in the hope
of being a lucky drawer. This did not mean they
were prospective settlers. They applied whenever
the opportunity came, in the hope that they would
secure one of the best plots, and it is these repeated
applications by the same men which has something

88 AUSTRALIA
to do with the statement so frequently heard in New
South Wales that there are thousands of people
hungry to get upon the land. What such a gambler
does, when he has been lucky in securing a valuable
block, is to occupy it for a short period, and then
dispose of it at considerable financial profit to him
self. In regard to this feature of the case, it was
strikingly interesting to read a speech made by
Mr. Wade, the Premier of New South Wales, that
during five years 11,000,000 acres of crown lands
had been alienated and 1,000,000 acres of privately-
held land re-secured for sub-division, and yet the
demand for closer settlement and sub-division was
more insistent than ever. The providing of
12,000,000 acres of land for small holders was a fine
thing to read about, for their development would
require a considerable increase in population. As I
knew that the agricultural population of the State
had not been increasing to an enormous extent, it
was necessary to make further inquiries. It was
calculated that to turn those 12 ,000, OCX) acres into
productivity would require about £50,000,000 and
the employment of at least 115,000 men. Yet it
is a fact that, althougn there has been an increase
in the products, when one compares the end of the
five years with the state of affairs at the beginning,
the area under crop has fallen off by a quarter
of a million acres from 1907 to 1908, and that in
1906 there was an even greater area cultivated than
in 1908. I confess I was somewhat nonplussed, though

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 89
the situation rather gave colour to the statement
which so often came my way that a considerable
proportion of the men who obtain sections are not
very far removed from land speculators who are
waiting for an increase in value.
A considerable authority on the land question
asserted that the bulk of landholders in Queensland,
New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia
havo been cutting up and selling their estates for
the last ten to twenty years, and they are doing so
now, especially in Victoria and in what is known
as the Eiverina District, where the demand is the
greatest, thus placing a large quantity of land on
the market. He insisted that at the present time
there is more land offering, mainly in New South
Wales, than there are men to buy it.
Personally, I recognise that the Governments
are actuated by good political sense in endeavouring
to secure land now held by squatters for sheep-
raising, which would be more productive if handed
over to farmers, than in expending millions upon
millions of money constructing railways into the
"back blocks," where settlers might not be inclined
to go, and where the railways would be unable to
secure a traffic which would pay for their mainten
ance. It is to be remembered, however, that the land
settlement policies, being largely devoted toward
putting settlers on land already in occupancy, make
it only possible for the men with at least some
money to take up possession of a holding. It is
to the "back blocks," where land is cheap or ought

90 AUSTRALIA
to be given for nothing to the industrious settler,
that greater energy should be directed, if the men
in the older countries who have not been successful
are to be attracted to the new land.
As things now are, largely due to the non-
building of railways to open up fresh country, the
value of land within what may be called the com
mercial areas has increased to an astounding
extent. None of us like to pay ta^es. Therefore, it can
be understood why the proposals made for imposing
land taxes in Australia are strenuously resisted by
the landholding classes. The answer of the men
in the towns is that most of the State revenue is
acquired by taxing the men in, or the goods which
are imported into, the big towns, and that much of
this money is now being devoted to buying out
owners of large estates and in assisting settlers.
The town men feel that, as it is chiefly their money
which is being utilised for agricultural development,
big agriculturists themselves should contribute more
than they are doing at the present time toward
the means which will lead to the ultimate benefit
of the whole country.
For instance, the Government of New South
Wales is this current year (1909-10) spending at
least one and a half millions of money on the
resumption of estates for closer settlement. The
State, however, has to take the risk of having the
poorer of the blocks into which the estates are cut
up left on its hands, to be sold later on at a loss;
or, if it gets a covering price, then the unfortunate

SETTLEMENT ON THE LAND 91
buyer may find himself overburdened. I heard that
all along the railway, north of Newcastle, land can
not now be purchased from owners except at prices
prohibitive to would-be buyers. The same thing
obtains along both the Western and the South
Western railway lines. I heard of one big estate
where Government valuers fixed the price at £4 10s.
an acre, but the owners demanded £7 15s. an acre,
though afterwards they were willing to accept £7.
Of course, there is denunciation of the cupidity of
landowners. All things considered — and I regard the matter
as an outsider studying the question without any
pecuniary interest in the settlement — it would be
better if more attention were given to the develop
ment of Crown lands where the Government had
not to deal with the private owner, who could be
left to dispose of his estate as the market decided.
There is also this curious situation, that, as the
Government is a purchaser, prices are raised, with
the consequence that the man who has money and
is anxious to settle has, in private bargain, often
to pay a much higher price for the farm he desires
than he would do if the general prices were not
being forced up by the Government being in the
market. Therefore, the Government, with the best inten
tions in the world, is really benefiting private
owners who have land to sell, and hindering men
who have money with which to purchase farms.

CHAPTER IX
THE MIDDLE STATE
" On some fertile spot which we may call our own.
Where the rich verdure grows, we will build up a homo.
There industry wUl flourish aud content will smUe,
While our children, rejoicing, will share in our toiL"
Old Bush Sons.
In dealing with the States of the Commonwealth, I
choose first the least known and least advertised of
them all — South Australia.
Here is an area seven times as large as that of
the United Kingdom, with a population of only
400,000 — not so much as that of a second-class city
at home. Exclusive of what is known as the
Northern Territory — something of a white elephant
to South Australia — ^it has an area of near 250
millions of acres. Yet only just over 2^ millions are
under cultivation, or about 1 per cent.
It is a contrast like this which is so startling to
the investigator. First think of the millions of good
but unproductive acres awaiting man. That there
are sweeps of land, wild waste, sandy and water
less, is true. But it is not all so. The population
is a handful, prosperity is undoubted. Yet people
are shy to settle, and the miserable inter-State jeal
ousy, which is so lamentable a feature of public life
in AustraUa — though, of course, it is always "the
92

THE MIDDLE STATE 93
other States which are jealous of us " — bars appre
ciation by neighbouring States.
Well, I stint nothing in my admiration of what
the folk of South Australia have done.
"Oh," I was told elsewhere, "South Australia is
no good because it has a deficient rainfall."
It is because of this lack of moisture — though
there was no cause for grumbling on this score last
season (1909)— and the determination of the people
to turn an arid region into agricultural well-doing,
that South Australia is one of the wonders of the
world. Go to untouched areas, parched, with turfy, rank,
bleached grass. As the glare of the desert hits you
and cracks the skin of your cheek, you feel it is an
accursed place to be avoided. Then you and your
friends give heel to your horses, and away you
scamper to another stretch, green, fruitful, joyous
with productiveness. The thing to recall and never
forget is that this smiling plain was a scowling,
scorched plain till the South Australians changed the
face of it. Science, fertilising with superphos
phates, irrigation, dry farming, has done it all.
Dry farming, which is chiefly deep ploughing, so
that the moisture is better retained, has worked
much. I was told of extraordinary yields of wheat
ou what, a year or two before, had been a semi-arid
plain. Exceptions, however, are never a guide.
Averages must be struck, and the wheat return per
acre is undoubtedly much lower than in Victoria
or New South Wales. Land, however, is cheaper
in South Australia than in the eastern States, and

94 AUSTRALIA
the working of it is not so costly ; so that, as an ex
pert put before me, a yield of seven bushels in South
Australia is financially as satisfactory as one of
fifteen bushels in New South Wales or twenty
bushels in New Zealand.
When Queen Victoria ascended the throne there
were four hundred people in this State. Those
four hundred have since been multiplied a thousand
fold. Few of them were rich settlers; most were
rough men, with little money, but valiant hearts.
They have spent over £4,000,000 in building reser
voirs and providing distributing channels. Over four
thousand square miles are to-day benefited by the
reservoirs. It is only by jerking back to mind the
heartaches which must have come to the early
settlers, the droughts, with no sluices of water to
loosen, and keeping in the eye of thought that even
to-day the population is tiny, that one begins glim-
meringly to comprehend what has been done.
Adelaide, the parent city, is one of the most
charming towns I have ever been in. Pleasantly
built, wide streeted, it has some two thousand acres
of green, known as park lands, dedicated for all time
to the public and provided for in the old days by
Colonel Light, who brought the design of laying
out the city from India. Adelaide is not yet in need
of "lungs," as the London parks are called. But
the time will come when these open spaces will be
a blessing to Adelaide, as to-day they are a delight.
The background is a heave of hills, sometimes grey,
sometimes dark green with olive plantations, some
times patched with the lighter green of orange

THE MIDDLE STATE 95
groves. To look from Mount Lofty, as I have done,
upon the sweet white city of Adelaide is to see a
picture full of beauty.
The Botanical Gardens are radiant with blooms.
There are statues to men who did much for South
Australia. The public buildings are worthy, without
ostentation. The private life of the citizens repre
sents all the best we know at home. It was my
pleasure, during far too brief a stay, to be a guest
each day at some private residence. Those visits
leave a delicious memory.
There was one thing to which I may allude : I
came to the conclusion that for its size-^and, of
course, I write in general terms and put on one side
the university centres at home^ — Adelaide is the best
educated town I have ever been in. In another
chapter I deal with South Australia's place in the
Commonwealth scheme of education. But here,
writing of its capital, I can say I was impressed
again and again with the culture of the people.
I have mentioned the Botanical Gardens. Then
there is the Zoo. The Public Library is well man
aged, and I noted the fine endeavours being made to
bring together the records, some still in manuscript,
of the early days of the State. The Art Gallery con
tains good pictures — and some others — presented by
worthy citizens. A really fine building is the
University — the first university in Australia to grant
degrees to women. The University devotes much
of its work to preparing students for a commercial
career. There is a Conservatorium of Music and a
School of Design and Technical Art. The School of

96 AUSTRALIA
Mines and Industries is thought to be the first in
stitution of its kind in the Commonwealth. I will
go much further than that, and say it is one of the
best equipped colleges in the world. Here, and in
all the places I went to, I saw a healthy, generous,
broad-minded, public spirit. Remember, Adelaide
has a population of only 165,000.
The " Nile of Australia " is the name given to the
Eiver Murray. The waters come down with swirl
ing rush, leap the banks, and, when the floods go, a
rich deposit of earth is left. There have been many
of these inundations. But Nature is irregular.
Years come, and there is no flooding. There is little
rain. Vast expanses of soil, which need but a moist
kiss, lie dead through long years. When the water
comes and then recedes, the land blossoms ; but not
with growths specially suitable to man. I see the
day not far off, however, when the waters of the
Murray will be locked and conserved, and great
will be the advantage to the land.
Few people have heard of Eenmark. I confess
I never heard of it till I read something written by
Mr. David J. Gordon, one of the best journalists
Australia has produced. Well, in 1887, a man
marked out a block of uncleared land on the Murray
side which he thought was suitable for fruit growing.
To-day there are 1,200 people, only a village — but
in 1908 they raised fruit to the value of over
£80,000: apricots, peaches, oranges, grapes, olives,
apples, and pears. The township covers less than
4,500 acres, and the lands are assessed at £150,000.
And only yesterday, as it were, the site of Eenmark

THE MIDDLE STATE 97
was wind-swept sand, with scrub and tough grass
struggUng for life. Man's labour, scientific treat
ment, and irrigation have been the magic. You will
not find Eenmark on an ordinary map ; it is but a
pin-point of a place on the Australian continent. It
is an example. The Australians have found the
Aladdin's lamp which will bring to them the
sparkling jewels of prosperity. It is called irriga
tion. Though the tiUed land in South Australia is
trifling compared with the acreage of the whole, the
State cultivates fully one-third of the land now
under cultivation in all the Commonwealth. So,
wherever one turns, the possibilities are enormous,
and a sigh escapes that so few men are engaged in
the development.
Sufficient for the present it is to see what has
been accomplished, and, in the spirit of goodwill,
take that as fair evidence of what is going to be done
in the future. Eailways, agricultural colleges,
roads, bridges, irrigation, the sinking of artesian
wells, the purchase of big grass tracts, hitherto given
to sheep, and slicing them into smaller blocks suit
able for mixed farming — millions and miUions of
money are being spent.
From where does the South Australian Govern
ment get the money? It borrows it. The public
debt is enormous.
So it might be said of all these Australasian
communities — particularly New Zealand, which is
rapidly moving to the point where the problem will
be how to raise sufficient money to pay the interest
H

98 AUSTRALIA
on the borrowed money, far less the debt' itself.
That is an outlook causing the sensible people of
New Zealand to think deeply and long. There is
much to be written on the unwisdom of a young
state, in its eagerness to bound ahead, shackling
itself with debts which in time may impede it from
reaching the goal it has in view. Australia, during
late years, has been blessed with fat seasons. She
feels her strength. The States are too impetuous
to wait till they can develop out of revenue. They
borrow with all the ardour of youth, and, with a
beautiful optimism, work out sums to prove that the
loan and the interest can be repaid easily and a fine
balance left in the pocket. But the best-laid plans
"aft gang agley," and the "Oh, we are reducing
our debt," which is heard in these flourishing days,
might be turned into, "How are we to raise
money ? " if Australia were again blanketed with
several years of shrivelling drought.
I point out a possibility which is a platitude,
though I accept the Australians'' reminder — their
debts are represented by reproductive public works,
and have not been accumulated by unproductive
wars; and, further, that the calamity mentioned
loses its terrors as years go, for the works, reserva
tion of water, canaUng, dry farming, the sinking of
artesian wells, will all help in tiding over the drought
period which in times past blighted the land of life
and hope.
If I were a settler in South Australia, and given
my choice of occupation, I would become a wine
grower. The climate is that of Italy. There are

THE MIDDLE STATE 99
sunny, protected hill slopes, which are specially
suitable for vine culture.
One day I was motoring out to view a vineyard,
and I said to my host : " What kind of soil do you
grow on?"
"The very best," he replied, whereas most vines
flourish on a poorish soil.
"What wines do you prepare? " I further asked.
"All sorts — burgundy, hock, claret, chabUs, port,
sherry," was the answer. I had to laugh. Here,
in South Australia, as I remember in California,
with slopes specially suitable for vineyards, I found
enthusiasm without much thought.
The Australian has yet to learn that the quality
and tone of a wine is almost as much dependent on
the soil as on the vine from which the grape is
plucked. The consequence is that Australian wines
are being labelled with the names of well-known
French vintages ; but they are not like the original,
and cause disappointment to the taste of a man who
does know the real article. The planting of vines
on inappropriate ground too often leads, whilst pro
ducing a rich and honest wine, to supplying one that
is harsh to the palate. Also, the rushing of the local
wines upon the market before they have matured has
much to do with these Colonial wines failing to find
favour with connoisseurs. That there is a future
for viticulture there can be no doubt, if growers are
more careful in the selection of slopes, and if the
wine is cellared longer before it is given to the
public. Even at the present time — by accident,
I fancy, rather than by design — little vintages are

100 AUSTRALLV
produced with as excellent a bouquet as some of
the famous French wines. Lunching one day with
a retired judge, near Melbourne, I had the oppor
tunity of drinking a light white wine, from the banks
of the Murray Eiver, which was as daintily generous
as any wine I have tasted drawn from famous
chateaux in France.
South Australia is not one of the boomed States.
Yet, since white folk settled, the Colony has had a
trade of over 600 millions of money. To-day its
yearly trade is something like 26 millions. And the
land has been but scraped.
But there is a contradiction which the inquirer
notices. He rides through wealthy lands, cleared of
"bush," and now given to the feeding of sheep.
"Excellent!" he exclaims, and asks: "Is there
much of such land? "
"Millions upon millions of acres," is the lively
answer. That being so, the inquirer begins to ask why
there is so strong a movement to tax squatters,
owning giant areas for sheep rearing, to such an ex
tent that these squatters are being compelled to split
up their estates, and sell portions for general agricul
tural purposes?
Preaching the need of population in Australia, I
understand that, if all the best land is given to sheep
grazing, it might be well if an acre did something
more than feed a sheep for a year. If you hint to
an Australian that perhaps the eyes of the land have
already been picked he repudiates the suggestion.
Then he says it is impossible to get people on the

THE MIDDLE STATE lOi
land until the big sheep runs have been split up.
In the next breath he tells you that the fine feeding
country you are looking upon is but an example of
untold areas. What the duU Briton finds hard to
comprehend is why, if there are these millions of
acres ready to be made fruitful, as I believe there
are, there should be this frenzy to dispossess
squatters of their estates? Of course, I know the
argument, dinned into my ears hundreds of times
by townsmen : These squatters got their land for
next to nothing in the old days ; sheep are prolific,
and in a happy climate need no looking after. But
in their early days, or, at any rate, in the days of
their fathers, the pioneers, there were hardships to
be faced and conquered. And bearing in mind the
insistence of the Australian that the eyes of the
country have not been picked out, that there is just
as good land in the interior as there is on the coast,
I asked, and never got an answer: "Why does not
the present-day young Australian, who wants to go
,on the land, push into the interior, where land can
be obtained for next to nothing, and battle with
troubles as the present squatters find their forefathers
have done ? "
When I did not get an answer, I found dancing
in my mind another question, which I could not put :
" Is the young Australian of to-day lacking that fine
physical valour which the original pioneers showed,
and does he really want to get easily, through poli
ticians, what the men who first settled in South
Australia got with daring, courage, and hard work? "

CHAPTEE X
THE PROBLEM OP THE RAILWAYS
" For time means tucker, and tramp you must, where the scrubs
and plains are wide,
With seldom a track that a man can trust, or a mountain peak
to guide ;
All day long in the dust and heat — when summer is on the track —
With stinted stomachs and blistered feet, they carry their swags
Out Back." Henry Lawson.
As I have remarked in a previous chapter, the
policy of Australia in regard to railways is different
from that pursued by any other people owning a
region ready for development and desiring to secure
settlers. In the Argentine, in Canada, in South Africa,
even in Siberia, the first steps taken are to throw
railway tracks out into productive territory, know
ing that the population will follow along the way
and put the agricultural possibilities of the land to
the test. That population follows railways is an
axiom accepted in all parts of the world, except in
Australia. The general attitude of the governing
powers in the Commonwealth is only to provide rail
ways where they are needed by the population.
I am well aware of the sharp conflict of opinion
there is in Australia concerning railway develop
ment; indeed, I have more than a suspicion that

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS 103
the furtherance of railway building depends upon
political rather than economic considerations. Men
are as keenly divided in their opinions on railway
construction as are men in England on the rival
merits or demerits of Tariff Reform and Free Trade.
As an outsider, it was impossible not to recognise
that if Australia is desirous of carrying a larger and
wider-spread population than she has at present,
she must go in for a great scheme of further railway
building. At present the majority of the 14,658 miles of
lines in the Commonwealth are crushed down in
the south-east corner. Since the federation took
place, in 1901, there have only been built 260 J miles.
Here are the annual average increases for the
various States: New South Wales, 78| miles; Vic
toria, 19| miles ; Queensland, 69| miles ; South
Australia, 17| miles ; Western Australia, 78J miles ;
Tasmania, f mile, and the Northern Territory, nil.
Now, as these railways are Government-owned, it
can be well understood why there is hesitation to
build into uninhabited regions, and why, when con
struction does take place, it is in those parts of a
State where population already exists. The tax
payer has to find the money ; naturally, he wants
the railway to come near him. He objects to his
money being spent to open up an area which may
be productive to the continent, but is not going to
be of any direct advantage to himself.
Politicians are dependent in Australia, as else
where, upon the popular vote, and therefore the
present situation is just what might be expected.

104 AUSTRALIA
You will not get the Australian poUtician to admit
that his attitude on the provision of fresh railways
is decided by political considerations. He usually
argues that it is better to lay lines through those
areas which are fit for closer settlement, mixed farm
ing rather than sheep stations, and so give an oppor
tunity to the agriculturist to get his produce to the
great centres of distribution quicker than he is able
to at present. It may be said that the governments
of the various States believe that this policy, which
they know will give satisfaction, and which has in
it a large probability of being financially successful,
is a better one than that of pouring millions into
parts of the continent which may become prosperous,
but which may not. Anyway, all governments
have to remember that they are dependent upon
the votes of the electors, and the tendency is to
conciliate them, whilst not denying it would be a
good thing if money could be secured to open up
further territory.
Be it right or wrong, it must be accepted that
the majority of the people of Australia are in favour
of Government-owned railways rather than railways
in private ownership. The Australian takes satis
faction that no money goes into the pockets of share
holders. He is just a little disposed to forget that
his country has borrowed from the British investor
something like £140,000,000 for railway building,
and that the British investor gets his rate of interest,
which the Australian has to pay. The only differ
ence is that the British investor in a Government-
owned Australian railway is sure of his percentage,

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS 105
whether the railway pays or not, whereas the in
vestor in a private-owned railway may get his per
centage or he may lose all his money by the failure
of the line.
The construction of railways in Australia is
extremely expensive — more expensive than in any
other part of the world. This is chiefly due to the
shortage of labour. The little line between Sydney
and Parramatta, built in 1855, when labour was
scarce, cost £5.0,000 a mile, whilst in other parts
of New South Wales the cost of construction has
gone as high as £13,156 per mile, although in
Western Australia the cost has been brought down
as low as £5,524.
Viewing all the railways in the Commonwealth,
and balancing those that are successful against those
which are non-successful, it must be admitted that
at present there is a margin of profit. It should not
be forgotten, however, that for many years they were
failures, and, therefore, setting the good years
against the bad years, and considering the railways
of Australia in a purely commercial light, they have
not been successful. This being so, it can well be
understood why there is hesitancy about spending
more money.
I am of opinion that if the various State Govern
ments, which run their railways independently of
each other, desired to embark upon fresh schemes
to open up their country, they would not find the
EngUshman, with money to spare, quite so ready
to invest it in Australia. First of all, there is the
growing suspicion amongst British investors that

io6 AUSTRALIA
the trend of Labour legislation in the States indi
vidually, and in the Commonwealth as a whole, will
ultimately be inimical to their interests. Further,
the guarantee for the oversea investor lay in the
Customs The Customs, however, have been trans
ferred to the Commonwealth. Although a certain
proportion of the money raised by Customs is to be
given back to the States, the Commonwealth prac
tically has control of this money ; but the Common
wealth has no control whatever over the railways.
Therefore, even if there suddenly blazed the inten
tion, on the part of the States, further to develop
their country, they would find not a little difficulty
in borrowing money at cheap rates.*
Yet everybody in Australia agrees on the value
of railways. The State Governments hesitate,
while the mass of the people are certainly antagon
istic to privately-owned lines. Quite frankly, I
believe the Australians in this respect are on the
wrong tack. Admitting, if they like, that grave
evils have arisen on the American continent as a
* The return of Customs money to the States is one of the most
difficult and tangled issues of the present position of afEairs. As a
matter of constitutional fact it is provided that a " certain propor
tion," actually three-quarters, is to go back only till 1910 " or until
such time as Parliament (the Commonwealth) shall otherwise arrange."
That means that the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to
take the lot, and the Labour Party, now in office, contend that
the Commonwealth needs it all, and should take it, so aa to make
the States increase their land taxation. Anyway, it may be accepted
as quite certain that the States will have to be content in the near
future with a very small portion of the Customs revenue. This is
of immense importance to the British investor who will be losing
the greater part of his original security.

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS 107
consequence of private lines, they could, at any
rate, learn wisdom from those examples and make
provision that no such evils should occur in their
land. I fail to see how Australia, with so many
public works to be effected, will be able to go ahead
in the manner which she desires, and deserves, until
she gives the capitalists, the speculators, the in
vestors of the great money countries of the world,
an opportunity of coming in and taking their chance
of making money.
Here is the situation. You can easily pick a
piece of Australia as big as all England in which
there is not a yard of railway line. You will be told
that it is a good stretch and is capable of carrying
a large population. No farming settlers will go
there because there is not the means to get their
produce to the markets. Sheep may be browsing
in that area, but the country is more suitable for
mixed farming than for sheep. As there are prac
tically no people living there, no political pressure
can be exerted on members of the local parliament
for a line to be constructed. The parts of the country
which have population would cry out in protest
against their money being spent in opening up new
land. But a private company would be willing to
speculate. Such a company, however, would prob
ably demand land grants, and the Australian shrinks
from giving land to a private company.
At any rate, that land is not of any advantage to
the State at present. It would be of advantage -to
the company. It would be to the interests of the
company that people settled. The settlers would

io8 AUSTRALIA
not only make money out of their agriculture, but
they would want to purchase things produced by
Australia in other parts. The adjoining sections,
remaining in the hands of the Government, hundreds
of thousands of square miles which at present have
no population, would be occupied. The Govern
ment would get far better prices for that land than
they can possibly get at the present time. Every
family settled in Australia means hundreds of pounds
addition to the wealth of the country. Therefore,
whilst it is true enough that the shareholder in a
private company would benefit — he would not put
his money into the country unless he hoped to get
an advantage — the whole of that district would be
come fruitful, and Australia would reap the result of
the prosperity.
That there is a sullen rather than an outspoken
antagonism between the State Governments and the
Federal Government is undoubted. The State
Governments have a shrewd fear that, as time pro
gresses, they will be clipped of much of their power,
which will be transferred to the Federal authorities.
So they cling to their own land laws rather than
have a uniform scheme of settlement throughout the
Commonwealth. There is much to be said in favour
of this, because conditions are vastly different in
the various parts of the Commonwealth. The States
are holding tight to the control of the railways
within their borders, and beat back any proposal
that all the railway systems in Australia should be
federalised. Yet no man, who is not short-sighted,
can fail to see that the federalisation of the Govern-

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS 109
ment railways in Australia is inevitable. The
present lines were constructed with as little con
sideration for the benefit of the whole of the conti
nent as a railway in Finland would be built with
consideration for the benefit of Italy. It is easy to
be wise after the event, and to point out how, when
the various States started building their lines, they
could have adopted a common gauge. In all fair
ness, however, it should be remembered that the
beginning of railways was in the days when the
States were absolutely separate and antagonistic to
each other, when it was almost beyond imagination
that the time would come when it would be to the
commercial interests of the land to have the same
width between the metals.
At present, Victoria and South Australia have a
gauge of 5 ft. 3 in.* ; New South Wales, 4 ft. 8J in. ;
Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania,
gauges of 3 ft. 6 in. On the light railways of Vic
toria it is 2 ft. 6 in., and on the light railways of
Tasmania only 2 ft.
It is easy to imagine the inconvenience this
causes. Ordinary passengers have to change trains
when they cross the borders from one State to an
other, as from New South Wales to Victoria. They
have to change again if they are going from New
South Wales into Queensland. There are enormous
delays, with the consequence that to go from Bris-
• Away from the main and Adelaide suburban lines the South
Australian gauge is 3 ft. 6 in. To go to Broken Hill, for instance,
the traveller must oLange trains from the broad to the narrow gauge,
when he has gone less than half way.

IIO AUSTRALIA
bane to Adelaide, a distance of 1,000 miles, takes
over three days.
Think of the extra cost to the commercial com
munity in the transfer of goods from the New South
Wales to the Victorian system. Live stock costs
3s. a truck extra to transfer, and general mer
chandise costs 3s. 6d. extra per ton.
There is much talk nowadays of the position of
Australia if ever Great Britain came into bloody
conflict with some other Power. If an attempt were
made by our enemies to invade Australia, how
terrible would be the confusion in conveying troops
or armaments over lines of different gauges. There
is general admission, except in regard to light rail
ways, that there should be a uniformity of gauge.
New South Wales will not alter for the convenience
of Victoria and South Australia, and neither of these
is likely to go to the expense of altering so that a
through train may be run from Melbourne to
Sydney. If one must search out the original offender, it
is New South Wales. When railways were first
constructed there, the Government decided upon a
gauge of 5 ft. 3 in. Victoria began to build on the
same gauge, and when she had made a good start,
the New South Wales Government changed its
mind, and brought down the gauge to 4 ft. 8J in.
If only to secure standardisation of gauge, and so
facilitate the carrying of merchandise, federalisation
is absolutely necessary. I appreciate the advantage
of cheap light railways as feeders to main lines,
but that there should be the same gauge on all the

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS m
main ways throughout the continent surely cannot
be disputed.
That the present confusion of system is detri
mental, pastoralists, agriculturists and traders gener
ally will not deny. As ther© is no competition,
there is no choice of routes, and the State Govern
ment does much as it likes. In my chapter on the
wool industry, I narrated an instance of the suffer
ing which was often inflicted upon the sheep. This
was by no means a solitary instance. I read in a
paper of a mob of 2,600 sheep sent in New South
Wales from Collarendabri to Muswellbrook, being
kept waiting over three weeks, almost on the verge
of starvation. Finally, owing to there being no
water at Collarendabri terminus, they were kept 36
hours without a drink before entering the trucks,
when they had to go another 48 hours waterless.
The consequence was that the poor beasts over-
gorged themselves, when at length water and grass
were available, so that 1,300 of them died.
As political influence is always strongest where
the population is greatest — strongest at Sydney,
at Melbourne, at Adelaide, at Brisbane, and at
Perth — the Governments of the day, to win sup
port, have converged the lines in the States upon
these various places — to their benefit, truly, but to
the disadvantage of other places and the undoubted
crippling of business.
At certain periods of the year a great rush of
business comes in conveying wool, live sheep and
mutton. Instead of having various exits for export,
the aim seems to be to force all the goods out of

112 AUSTRALIA
one door in each State. So there is congestion,
there is delay, there is damage, and there is loss
of money. Few coasts in the world have such mag
nificent natural harbours as AustraUa. These ought
to be utilised. For what should be in the minds of
all good Australians, is the success of their country
as a whole rather than the advantage of any one
particular part.
This, however, is a counsel of perfection. Just
as one particular town in a State grabs for all the
import and export trade, to the detriment of other
places which ought to have their share, so, on the
larger question of linking up Western Australia with
the Eastem States, and the Northern Territory with
South AustraUa, State rivalry and State jealousy are
unfortunately playing a bigger part than ought to
be revealed if the States had the true interests of
the Commonwealth at heart.
On an earlier page I have described how Western
Australia is as much cut off from the Eastern States
as though it were an island, because there is no
railway connection. A survey has been made, and
experts who know the country well, whilst not deny
ing there are unpleasant stretches, make it clear that
it would be profitable to join Adelaide with Perth.
If this is done, it will have to be done with Common
wealth money. There is much shouting, however,
in New South Wales and Queensland against gold
being taken out of the common purse and their purse
for the development of a tract of country in which
they are not at all interested.
If you had talked to an Australian, say a Queens-

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS 113
lander or a man of New South Wales, a year or
two ago about the powers of Australia, he would
have waxed eloquent over the disappearance of the
so-called desert region, and told you that practically
the whole of the land hitherto regarded as desert
was capable of cultivation. The proposal has come
along that a railway be run clean through from south
to north, the whole length of the continent, from
Adelaide to Port Darwin, by constructing a way
between Oodnadatta and Pine Creek. The man
of South Australia will be tremendously en
thusiastic. He will quote authorities and give
you suggestions to show you that, if only a line
ran straight northwards, one of the finest areas in
the world would be opened up. But now talk to
a Queenslander or a man of New South Wales,
and they will tell you that the central part of
Australia is nothing but a desert, a horrible place.
There is not a tree in sight, not a blade of grass,
they say, and it would be like pouring money into
the sea to construct a railway in that region.
Further, the Queenslander, who has a plan of his
own, will say: "Eun a railway from Port Darwin
in the north, but take it eastwards, and let it come
south through Queensland." The New South Wales
man will also have a plan, whereby the railway shall
miss the abhorrent central parts and benefit his
State. Is not all this rather absurd? When are the
Australians going to rid themselves of their parochial
isms and consider in a broad, statesmanlike .way
what should be done for the awakening of all. Aus-

114 AUSTRALIA
tralia into fruitfulness ? They should recognise that
in a Commonwealth all sections of the community
gain advantage from the prosperity of any part, in
stead of persisting in regarding these great problems
from the standpoint of how it is going to benefit
their own back garden.
The cost of travelling in Australia is much lower
than it is in Great Britain. I heard many an
Australian grumble to me about the slowness and
the inefficiency of the railway service. And not in
frequent complaints were made about the dirtiness
of the carriages. Well, the trains do not travel fast,
but on the main lines, instead of being disappointed,
I was impressed with the excellent accommodation.
When it is borne in mind how new the country is,
and what has been done, it must be said that on
the big express trains there is as comfortable travel
ling as can be found in most lands. On the side
lines, however, my experience was not so favour
able. For the carriages were not always attractive
and the travelling was invariably at a dawdling pace.
But the same thing can be said of England. There
is much inconvenience caused by the failure to link
up the lines of different States at various points. A
State will run its line to within a few miles of its
border and then stop, ending nowhere. The ad
joining State wall do likewise. Surely some arrange
ment ought to have been made to join them? Then,
although the railways are Government-owned, the
freight charges are much higher than in the United
States, where they are privately owned, and where,
of course, there is competition. The average freight

THE PROBLEM OF THE RAILWAYS ns
charge for all goods on the Chicago-New York rail
ways is id. per ton per mile, while on the State-
owned railways of New South Wales it is 1.62d.,
or more than six times as high. And in the valley
of the Hunter Eiver, where production is greater
than in any other part of the Commonwealth, and
the population denser, the average freight charges
are more than ten times as high as on the Chicago-
New York lines. Chilled meat is carried on the rail
ways of the United States from Chicago to New
York, something like 1,000 miles, at a rate which
leaves a profit to the producer, while in New South
Wales the charges for a similar service, from Aber
deen to Sydney, over about 180 miles of the most
thickly populated part of the Commonwealth, are so
high and the delivery so slow that it is impossible
to send country-killed beef or mutton to Sydney.
It will be seen how progress in the advancement
of Australia is joined up with the problem of the
railway. Australia must have more railways, or her
plans to attract immigrants into the country will
only lead to a further congestion in the great towns.
Whether Australia will cling to her present
system of State-owned lines, or will follow the
example of the Argentine, Canada and the United
States, by allowing skilled and experienced railway
managers to come in, with millions provided by the
British investor, to arouse those tracks which are at
present sleeping, is, of course, for the Australians
themselves to decide. Anyway, it is necessary that
they think less about their local interests and a little
more about their national welfare.

CHAPTEE XI
HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE
" We are common men, with the faults of most, and a few that
ourselves have grown.
With the good traits, too, of the common herd, and some more
that are all our own ;
We have done great deeds in our direst needs in the horrors of
burning drought.
And at mateship's call have been true through aU to the death
with the Furthest Out." Edwaed Dyson.
The Australians take pride that in their land there
are not the social distinctions which mark the older
lands. They have not much of a wealthy leisured
class at one end of the scale, nor anything of a class
of poor, cringing, wretched mortals at the other.
There is a closer uniformity of prosperity in Aus
tralia than in any other country. So far all
Australians are unanimous in opinion. It is only
when they come to size each other up that the porcu
pine quills are upraised. The number of times I
was taken on one side in Melbourne, and asked my
opinion of Sydney and its inhabitants, was only
equalled by the number of times I was taken on the
other side in Sydney and invited to reveal my inmost
thoughts about the folk of Melbourne.
¦ It was necessary to fence because, from a purely
personal point of view, they were equally gracious.
ii6

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 117
But if I am to be forced into giving a judgment, it is
this : Sydney is a more beautiful town than Mel
bourne. But the Melbourne business man — though
his town must be content with second position as a
commercial capital — is quicker than the Sydney
man. Even in his walk he gets over four miles to
the Sydney man's three. As to the women, the
ladies of Sydney have more grace of manner, though
the Melbourne ladies have more style in costume.
Both cities have public buildings worthy of
any town in the world. Melbourne, however, has
disfigured itself with the ugliest railway station I
have ever had the misfortune to see — Flinders Street
Central Station. Its colouring is a hideous com
bination of red and yellow. Besides, it is a foolish
fraud. It has an expansive front ; beyond the front
the platforms are partially exposed, and in wet and
windy weather exceedingly disagreeable. It looks
a colossal station ; but it is so narrow and inadequate
that there is not accommodation to meet the growing
suburban traffic. In my walk I made a careful
examination of this station which Melbourne people
admire. In front it is red brick ; but on the river
side more than half the structure is covered with tin
painted red to look like brick — an unpardonable piece
ol architectural bunkum. How the Melbourne
people, who have genuine artistic instincts, shown
by the many artists born amongst them, could have
aUowed such an eyesore to be constructed, was
and will long be a wonder to at least one visitor.
On the other hand, though I have seen most of
the show places of the world, there are no public

ii8 AUSTRALIA
gardens anywhere comparable in brilliant variety
with the Botanical Garden at Melbourne. It lacks
the soft shades of Kensington Gardens, and the
gentle blend of colours which distinguishes the
flower-beds of Hyde Park in the season. Nor are
there the inviting, semi-wild bits such as you find
near the lakes in St. James's Park and Regent's
Park. It is more garish, bright, dazzling. But
of varieties of trees and blossoming shrubs, revealing
care in planting and genius in horticulture, no other
park can show such an infinite collection. And it
is pleasant to the eye to see whole families camped
under the shade of heavily umbrageous trees, the
women and girls in white frocks and the men and
boys in flannels, spending happy tiines.
Parts of the year are semi-tropical, and the heat
strikes like a furnace upon the streets of the great
cities. It is particularly so in Queensland, where
the rich, languorous, ripening climate draws the
people into long, slim individuals, a little languorous
themselves, and toning down the voice to a pleasant
drawl, whilst the women, particularly, have the
prettiness of hot-house plants.
The manner in which Australians, however,
cling to the habits of their British ancestors is not
without its amusing side. Christmas with them is
about the hottest time of the year — steamy, clammy,
with the grass sun-burnt to the hue of hay. Yet on
December 25th they stuff themselves with turkey
and plum-pudding, excellent no doubt in our clime,
but scarcely suitable to a temperature of 110 in
the shade. Then, although the majority of private

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 119
houses are quite well-built — if generally disfigured
with tin roofs — and shady balconies are provided,
there is no endeavour at all in the principal buildings
of the main streets to do other than produce replicas
of English or American structures. The consequence
is that with the wide, shadeless streets — for instance,
Collins Street, Melbourne, regarded as the principal
street in the Commonwealth — and the solid stone
buildings, there is an uncomfortableness and stiff
ness which, with a little more sense of adaptability,
might well be avoided.
Frequently I heard it passed as a criticism that
the companionable English home life, which we hold
so dear, is non-existent in Australia. Personally I
would be surprised if it did exist. The English
home life is not due to any special virtues in our
possession, but to the fact that our weather is
treacherous, our winters cold and the dark evenings
long. So we are naturally dependent upon the
home for our amusement. There has grown up a
friendliness amongst members of English families,
a mutual reliance to provide pleasure, that is not
necessary in Australia. There is no need to stay
within doors. When business is over, nothing is
more natural than to escape into the open , especially
if the heat of the day has been spent in some swelter
ing office. Again, it is natural that young people
should gravitate towards each other for boating
parties, lawn tennis, croquet, picnics, outdoor life,
as much as possible. Human nature being what
it is, and the attractions of the open so inviting in a
sultry land, and wintry nights — when most of us

X20 AUSTRALIA
do our reading — being entirely absent, it is not to be
wondered at that Australians are a pleasure-loving
folk, and that amongst the younger generation, at
any rate, there is a disinclination to read what may
be described as solid books.
It therefore follows that the appalling ignorance
amongst the young men and women of Australia jars
on the nerves. It is the privilege of ignorant people
to be dogmatic. The dogmatic cocksureness and
overweening conceit of the average young Australian
is something to make one alternately sorrow and
laugh. He has not been to other countries; his
knowledge of geography is hazy to ludicrousness ; he
decides, without any knowledge at all, that other
countries are "rotten places." He does not want to
know about other lands. Australia is the finest
place on earth, and that is sufficient for him. There
are plenty of exceptions to this ; but what I say has
been corroborated in my hearing by many travelled
and cultured Australians themselves.
This leads me to another phase of character ex
emplified by the inter-State jealousy to which I have
more than once alluded. The Australians have got
so much of which they have full cause to be proud,
that it is sad such jealousy should be apparent. It
runs right through the gamut of their relationship
with each other and their concern with the rest of
the world. Split municipalities are the rule in
Australia. A town grows, and a municipaUty is
formed. Then the south end of the town becomes
jealous of the north end ; there is a breaking away,
and a new mayor and town council are set up and a

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 121
nasty rivalry prevails. So, all over the continent you
get clusters of separate municipalities, too small to
do anything effective, but their dislike too pro
nounced to recognise the merits of amalgamation.
You get this between different quarters of the same
town. The manner in which different towns sneer
at the claims of each other is notorious. Then, too,
the way in which the States take delight in depre
ciating one another is lamentable. Thus you move
up step by step till you reach the point where Aus
tralia, as a whole, has something like contempt for
the rest of the world, except perhaps the United
States. England is "the cold land," and London is
" the great fog " — and that summarises the know
ledge a good many hundred thousand Australians
have of the land from which their fathers came.
Let me give a few examples of the things I heard,
which skip to memory as I write. One of the
best-known men in Australia said to me: "Great
Britain will never do any good in the world till the
people are given free education." When I told him
we have had free education in Scotland since the
time of John Knox, and free education in the public
elementary schools of England for the last twenty
years, he showed hesitancy to believe it, and escaped
with the remark: "WeU, I never heard of it "—
which was more the pity.
"What do you think of Melbourne?" was an
inquiry addressed to me whilst I was in that
city. I said I liked it, and gave several reasons
why. " I suppose you've never seen any better city in

122 AUSTRALIA
aU your travels?" Oh, well, in fairness to other
places I could not say that.
"What place? " Oh, London I — at a shot.
"What is there better in London than in Mel
bourne?" Another shot— oh, Westminster Abbey.
"WeU, I'm sure Westminster Abbey does not
compare with Melbourne Cathedral."
I was led to ask: "But have you seen West
minster Abbey?"
"No," came the answer quickly, "and I don't
want to." And then, after a pause, the spoken
thought: "I don't think you like Melbourne." No
surprise that educated Australians — and it was my
honour to meet many of them — squirm when they
hear their own country-people talk like this I
Discriminating praise is regarded as a polite way
of hiding your dislike, which was now and then
annoying because, personally, although I was
obliged to smile at the conceit, I trust I was suffi
ciently discerning to admire the true metal under
neath. There were phases of life of which perforce I
could know nothing personally, but about which I
heard a great deal from Australians. From talk
about the slackening of home ties the conversation
drifted to the regard young folk have for their
parents, followed by a consideration of the morality
of the people. To assert that youthful Australians
honour neither their father nor their mother would
be a libel. Yet I hesitate to make even a rough
guess of how often elderly folk complained to me of
the decay of manners. Personally I had been struck

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 123
the other way. The courtesy of the Australian was
a thing I noticed as soon as I landed on the shores,
and I admired it during all my stay. But what was
in the minds of the people who spoke to me was the
independence of the younger generations. Remem
ber, womanhood or manhood is reached in a warm
clime like Australia much earlier than in colder
regions. The result is that boys and girls of four
teen and fifteen years of age refuse to be under
parental domination and "gang their ain gait." The
consequence is that frequently there are outbursts
of indignation, from pulpits and in the press, about
the small regard there is for the moral code. When
I was in Melbourne Chief Justice Madden spoke out
against this evil. Statistics were produced to
demonstrate the startling amount of illegitimacy";
cases were even quoted of girls of thirteen years of
age having children. Sir John Madden said :
"In the Melbourne Women's Hospital during the
year ended June 30, 1909, ninety unmarried girls
under the age of 18 gave birth to children. Nine
teen of these were between the ages of 14 and 16.
In the Carlton Eefuge, during the months of May-
June, there were 34 inmates under 20 years of age ;
13 were under the age of 17, and four were only 15."
A visitor who dared to say such a thing would
probably be stoned out of the place ; but writers in
the Australian newspapers gave corroboration to the
assertions, and many a man, well acquainted with
Ufe in the big cities, told me that the state of affairs
was shocking. It was certainly difficult to believe;
and I could not have thought moraUty was at such

124 AUSTRALIA
a low point had not Australians told me sadly,
mournfully, and with much trepidation concerning
the future of their country, that it was all too true.
The cause? Many reasons were given me.
First there was weakening in religion, the scant
attention paid to it in the schools, and the niggardly
attendance at places of worship on the Sunday — be
cause that is the day much devoted ^to boating and
surf-bathing and picnicking in the woods. Next there
was the absence of consideration for the advice of
parents. I know all about the promenading of the
streets by young people in some of our English towns,
but nowhere have I seen such flocks of children,
twelve and thjiieen years of age, brazenly marching
the streets late at night as I have seen in some of the
big towns of Australia. The final reason for the dis
tressing state of morals is the climate. I have heard
worthy people urge the introduction of the curfew,
so that after a certain hour all young folk should be
within doors. This seems inhuman, because when
the daytime has been pantingly hot it would almost
be a crime to keep the young people indoors when
the refreshing cool of the night approaches. Any
way, it is clear that Australia, amongst its many
problems, has to face one upon which the highest
well-being of the land depends, the proper guardian
ship of the purity of its young womanhood.
The antagonism to large families is a serious
menace to the Commonwealth. All publicists agree
that there is a growing shirking of the responsi
bilities of parenthood. The following extract is
from the report of the Eoyal Commission on the

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 125
" Decline of the Birth Eate " (1904) : " In whatever
way the waning birth rate of New South Wales is
viewed, whether in its effects on health, character,
or social worth of individuals ; on the value of the
family as the basis of national Ufe ; on the quality
and dignity of civic life ; on the character of the
people; on their social, moral, and economic pro
gress ; on their national aims and aspirations ; or on
their capacity to survive in the rivalry of nations ;
and whether it is viewed in the light of history or
of science, it is seen as a grave disorder, sapping
the vitals of a new people, dispelling its hopes,
blighting its prospects, and threatening its continu
ance. Patriotism dictates that the people of to-day
should consider what the facts mean to the future.
It is the duty of the present generation of Aus
tralians to see to it that their patriotism is not
impugned in time to come, and that the loss of this
fair heritage of the British race, which under existing
conditions, the philosophy of history foretells, is not
made attributable to them by those who may, in the
days to come, have to sacrifice their blood and
treasure in the vain hope of defending it."
The Sydney City Coroner recently spoke in the
following terms: "Now, this seems an opportune
time to mention that this is the tenth of the inquests
on the bodies of newly-born infants found dead in
public places in my district within the past six
months . . . in at least six of these ten cases
the deaths , . . were feloniously caused. . .
These figures, taken in conjunction with the fair and
reasonable supposition that the bodies discovered

126 AUSTRALIA
constitute merely a percentage of the bodies unlaw
fully disposed of, appear simply appalling."
The following is from the pastoral letter adopted
recently by the Presbyterian General Assembly, sit
ting in Melbourne: "We, in common with the
Church in all ages, wish to denounce this cowardly
and selfish refusal of parentage as a crime both
against humanity and against God. The callous
selfishness of such a course is in itself shocking ; but
when we see, as we must do, that a continuance
and spread of it will bring about the decay, and
ultimately the ruin, of our race and nation, the call
to all men and women who are loyal to our civilisa
tion becomes most urgent. If the higher and
Christianised races take and keep this path, then
inevitably the non-Christian races will displace
them. . . When these things have had their
perfect work, the crime against humanity involved
in race suicide will stand out in all its blackness in
the national and racial ruin it has brought."
Some of the noblest-minded people in the world,
whom it was an honour to meet, are striving, but I
am afraid ineffectually, to bring the people to a full
appreciation of their responsibilities.
The attitude of the Australian — and I mean the
average Australian, and not the exception which I
am well aware can be quoted against me — toward
the Old World, its traditions and monuments, its
history and what it has spelt to mankind, is one of
the most captivating of side studies. Australians are
fond of measuring themselves along^de Americans
and beUeving they own the same qualities — which

HOME LIFE OF THE PEOPLE 127
they do not. The Americans like European history ;
they feel they are the outcome of it ; the romance of
history appeals to their sentiment. The Australian
does not care. Also, he does not understand ; and
as for romance, he would rather have a blood-and-
thunder novel — it means just as much to him and is
more interesting.
Now I, for one, do not pass any criticism upon
them for this. The strange thing would be if it were
otherwise. Except by name, few of them have any
historic connection with Europe. They come of
brave, valiant sires and courageous, true-hearted
women, and the knowledge of ancestry does not go
further back than the early settlers.
Australia has no history, in the ordinary meaning
of the term. There are no traditions, no cathedrals
sacred with the ages, no venerable castles which
have played a part in the life of the nation. The
Australians are a new people, starting from scratch
as it were. Besides, they are so far removed from
the mighty centres of the world's population, that
happenings ten or fifteen thousand miles away are
often quite meaningless to them.
Therefore, although at first it is all rather sur
prising to the student from another part of the world ,
a Uttle thought makes it clear that, removed from
the possibility of comparison with the long settled
countries, and actively conscious only of the great
things accomplished in their own country, they
should be well satisfied with themselves without
botherine their heads about life in other lands.

CHAPTEE XII
A MALIGNED STATE
" I have eome to tell you of the glorious news you'll all be glad to
hear,
Of the pleasant alterations that are taking place this year.
So kindly pay attention, and I'll pass the whisper round :
The squatters, of their own free wUl, will this year pay the pound."
Old Bush Song.
The Australians, like the Americans, love bigness.
It is not unpleasant to see a long-limbed Australian
stretch his legs on the club veranda, and, whilst he
twirls his cigar, tell you what a gigantic continent
Australia is — as though he made it — and what a tiny
little hole of a place England must be — just as
though you were responsible for that. His favourite
design is a map of Australia, with Europe, minus
Eussia, swallowed up in it.
So, in Western Australia the first thing handed
me was an outline map, showing that the United
Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy and half a dozen
other European countries could be tucked within its
borders. A handbook, for the instruction of the
visitor, informed me there are nearly a million
square miles of territory in this State.
Indeed, figures, financial and statistical, concern
ing areas and the value of the produce, and what the
timber is producing, and what the goldfields yield,
128

A MALIGNED STATE 129
were pitched at me in such profusion that my mind
danced hazy, and I could not recollect whether the
figures had to do with the pearl fisheries or the
cherry crop. Anyway, it was all very wonderful,
and Government officials pumped figures into me as
air might be pumped into the lungs of a nigh-
drowned man.
Progress ! Nine years ago the population of all
Western Australia was only 46,000. To-day it is
270,000 — trifling, but showing a jump.
I almost missed seeing " W.A.," as it is called all
over the continent. In the eastern States it was
intimated I would be rather wasting my time going
to see that desolate stretch of the continent, famous
for nothing but "sun, sin, sand, sorrow and sore
eyes." AU this, however, was just another wretched
incident in the story of AustraUa's inter-State
dislikes. These last few years the W.A.'s have done
wonders. The goldfields attracted population ; the
influx gave a fiUip to development; "deserts" are
now part of the wheat belt ; drought, the nightmare
of other parts of Australia, is unknown ; railways are
being flung forth ; a really sensible system of irriga
tion is being inaugurated. All these wiU be stiU
further taken advantage of when the — well, when
the "potentialities " of W.A. are properly advertised.
Here was a people of fewer than 50,000, most
of them native-born, practically shut off from the rest
of the world save for occasional calling steamers —
a scattered people, with their chief town, Perth,
little more than a village, far away from culture
J

130 AUSTRALIA
and learning, with all the temptations, one would
imagine, to slide back into a sort of half civilisation.
Then suddenly, with the gold discovery as an im
petus, they bestirred themselves, and are determined
to make W.A. something very different from the
travesty which dear friends in other States depict
it to bo.
For all practical purposes an inland community,
the West Australians set about welding their State
into usefulness. They were led by Sir John Forrest,
bluff, vigorous, far-seeing, a man who played the
fatherly autocrat. Material success was panted for.
Another man. Dr. Hackett, kept before the public
eye the need for other things besides material pros
perity. A baby parliament, with, maybe, a solicitor
as premier, and the ministry composed of farmers,
grocers, barbers, land agents, publicans, laid hold of
problems which some European statesmen would
have boggled at. That is the striking thing : settlers
and the sons of settlers, with all the disadvantages
which must rest upon the shoulders of those who
have to wrest a livelihood from Nature, starting
cheerily, merrily, to knock a piece of courttry half as
big as Europe into shape.
Perth, the capital, has to-day a population of
some 60,000. It is well built, wide-streeted, and
is by the side of the beautiful Swan Eiver, which
here opens into a lagoon-like sweep. The public
offices are imposing, the Legislature, not completed,
dominates a noble eminence ; a commodious Govern
ment House is close to a pretty park ; the King's
Park, a magnificent and well-kept demesne, over-

A MALIGNED STATE 131
looks the fair and white-walled town and the lake-
breast of the Swan ; there is a worthy town hall , and
also a pile of post-office buildings which no town in
England six times the size can surpass. There are
two daily newspapers, two theatres, a museum, a
picture gallery, and a zoological garden. The three
latter owe their existence to the enthusiasm of Dr.
Hackett, a Trinity College, Dublin, man, who,
forced by ill-health, came out to this land long years
ago, and has done as much as Sir John Forrest
himself, though in another direction, to lead the
warm-hearted West Australians along the road of
judicious development. Now he is advancing a
scheme very dear to his heart — the establishment
of a university.
To say that all these things are duly appreciated
by the people would be misrepresentation. There
are plenty of men — and men, too, who have played
a good part, tugging and pushing W.A. into well-
being — who growl at all this educational, artistic
and zoological nonsense. It is not monkey-houses,
pictures of semi-nude women, and stories about what
wicked kings did centuries ago in far-away, over-
populous Europe which have made the State what it
is. It is thew and muscle, the swinging of axes, the
making of roads, the construction of railroads, the
crushing of gold quartz. These men are practical,
serious, apparently unimaginative — and yet what a
glow of imagination must be behind their wrinkled
and sun-dried foreheads when they picture what they
intend to do within the next few years 1
That there is much poor, sandy, unyielding soil

132 AUSTRALIA
in Western AustraUa goes without saying. It is not
all a garden. But in the hUls to the north there are
luxuriant pastures where cattle thrive abundantly.
That part, however, is scarcely a white man's
country ; the heat is terrific, and at seasons the fly
nuisance is maddening. Take a line, however, north
of Perth. From there down south to the sea the
whole of the south-west country is not only a white
man's land, but one where the climate is good and
warm and happy, conditions of life agreeable, and
the agricultural prospects enormous.
Well, it is to stir this part into agricultural
success that the efforts of the State are now mainly
directed, and a well thought-out plan, an improve
ment on the Canadian system, is being worked to
attract the serviceable immigrant. Passage money
from £6 upwards will be granted to suitable persons
in Europe who are possessed of a capital of £50;
but if there are more than three children under
twelve years of age, the applicant must possess a
further sum of £25 for each additional child. Better
assistance is given to farm labourers, much needed
in this State of high wages and scant workers. Let
£10 be deposited in London, and £5 is advanced to
help in payment of the sea passage; then, on arrival
in- Western Australia, the £10 is returned. The
same rule applies to domestic servants, except that
only £5 deposit is required. Residents in Western
Australia may nominate friends and relatives to come
out from England, and these get anything from £6
to £18 10s. to assist them. Of course, there is a
balance to be provided by the individual; but the

A MALIGNED STATE 133
new arrival, if he proceeds to settle on Government
land, can get a refund of half the amount he has
spent on coming out, provided the amount does not
go beyond £9 10s. Then, settlers who have left
their wives and families in the "Old Country," or
in the eastern States of Australia and New Zealand,
can get passage money advanced and railway tickets
to their destination provided, and the money can be
repaid over a long period, with interest at 5 per
cent. Helped immigrants must be under fifty years
of age if married, and under forty-five if single.
Further, all males so helped must have some know
ledge of farming. Thus steps are taken to attract
the type of immigrant most needed in a new
country. In Perth is a receiving home for immi
grants; new arrivals are met by officials, and for
three days free food and lodgings are provided ; after
that a small charge is made.
Steps have been taken to prevent the acquisition
of large estates, even by the most competent of
agriculturists. The object is to make Western
Australia a sort of Mecca for the small farmer, where
he is not likely to be crushed and undersold by his
big neighbour, with superior appliances. So — bear
ing in mind that in the old days great areas passed
into private ownership — the Government will allow
no man to acquire more than two thousand acres
of State land, though his wife may acquire a further
one thousand acres.
This, however, may be a distant prospect on the
horizon of the English or Scotch farm labourer who,
dissatisfied with his life at home, and having

134 AUSTRALIA
courage to pull up stakes, is looking round the world
for a suitable place where he may start afresh. He
naturally wants to know how he, with an assisted
passage, a few pounds in his pocket, is going to
fare when he reaches this new land, which is still
much of a mystery to him. Well, every male over
sixteen years may select a homestead farm of from
10 to 160 acres — a quarter of a square mile — just the
same as Canada offers. The occupation certificate
is issued for seven years. Personal residence is re
quired for six months in each of the first five years.
Pour shillings an acre must be spent on the land
during the first two years, six shillings more an acre
during the next three years, and then an additional
four shillings an acre — or, by the time the land is
wholly his own, he must be in a position to spend
fourteen shillings an acre on it. If the settler is
prosperous, he can buy up a thousand acres from
the Government at ten shillings an acre, and he can
pay for them in half-yearly instalments spread over
twenty years. Incidentally, it may be pointed out
that working men can select half an acre within a
township, or five acres outside, at a minimum price
of twenty shillings an acre, payable in ten years by
half-yearly instalments. Residence and improve
ments are necessary, and the Government allow
one-half the cost of any house toward the improve
ments required.
Still the prospective immigrant hesitates. He is
willing to work ; he has farming experience ; he has
a few spare pounds ; but what can he do without
capital? Here steps in the Agricultural Bank,

A MALIGNED STATE 135
unique, I believe, to Western Australia — a Govern
ment institution to lend money to settlers. It lends
anything from £25 to £500 for clearing land of trees,
fencing, providing water supply, and the like. But
what about repayment? During the first five years
only 5 per cent, interest is charged on the loan ; and
the settler must be a poor farmer if he cannot make
his property sufficiently productive to pay 5 per cent.
After five years it is necessary to repay the advance
in fifty instalments, spread over twenty-five years.
Money is advanced on the full value of the improve
ments as they are effected, and even £100 is granted
for the purpose of purchasing breeding stock.
True, the sturdy new-comer, taking advantage of
all these things, finds himself a debtor to the
Government. But I know of no other part of
the world where such inducements are held out to
the- farm labourer of Europe to come to try his luck.
What of the climate and prospects? In the
south-western region the former is magnificent.
I was there for only a short time, but sufficiently
long to appreciate its excellence ; a steady and de
pendable rainfall in what is known as the winter
months — snow is never seen — and the summer warm,
with continuous blue skies, and each evening a
breeze from the ocean. It was only half a dozen
years ago that Western Australia — ^relying chiefly
on her gold mining — ^imported most of her food
supply. She is overtaking the local demand, and in
the matter of wheat is beginning to export. It has
been discovered also that the south-west has par
ticular qualities for the growing of fruit. Apples,

136 AUSTRALIA
peaches, oranges, lemons, pears, and cherries are
grown. Some of the most luscious oranges and
cherries I have ever tasted came from this district.
It should, nevertheless, not be forgotten that
most of this land is wooded, and has to be cleared
before it is ready for fruit-growing. Eing-barking
is resorted to; that is, a ring cut is made round the
base of the trees, which decay in about two years —
and few things are so sad as a mass of leafless trees
stretching forth their bare arms. Then they are
burnt down, and the plough can be put into the soil.
Striking an average, I should say it costs about
7s. 6d. per acre to clear. In some districts there is
a tangle of scrubby undergrowth. The way this is
removed is instructive. Three steel railway rails,
fastened in the form of a triangle, are drawn by four
horses ; the stuff is thus mown down, left to die,
and is then fired. Twenty or thirty acres can be
mown in a day.
Let there be no misunderstanding. The soil is
poor when compared with that of England. It is
even indifferent when compared with the soil of the
eastern States. But this part of Australia has one
immense advantage over those eastern States : it is
never afflicted with drought. Taking the last ten
years' average, I found that, while the wheat yield
in New South Wales was ten bushels to the acre,
in Victoria eight, in South Australia seven, it was
eleven in Western Australia.
In order to develop the country, the Government
allows people to take up land without residence,
which means that a good many townspeople invest

A MALIGNED STATE 137
in land, paying for it by instalments, and have prac
tical men settled to work it for them. When in
Perth I heard of shortness of money amongst the
people, and a pessimist even whispered into my ear
that this was due to Western AustraUa not being
so prosperous as it was. On further investigation,
however, I gathered that although the people have
not so much to spend as formerly, this was chiefly
due to their putting their money into the land, an
enormous quantity of which is not yet productive.
Formerly, the plan was for any settler to go roam
ing and find his patch for himself, and then the
value had to be appraised by the Government. The
present plan is for the Government to survey and
divide the land into blocks before selection. There
are now some half-million acres available for selec
tion, and nearly forty surveyors are out prospecting
other areas. This is a huge benefit, for the new
arrival has a very clearly mapped plan of the selec
tion where his choice inclines him to settle.
Gigantic tracts being specially suitable for pas
toral purposes — cattle and sheep — the man with
money, who wants to embark on sheep farming,
can lease from the Government thousands of acres.
In the south-west he pays £1 per thousand acres
per annum for not less than 3,000 acres, whilst in
the eastern division of the State he must take up at
least 20,000 acres, at a rental of 5s. per annum for
each thousand acres. At other places it is 3s. per
thousand acres. I will not say it is good land — some
of it will only carry one sheep to ten acres I — but
that it is profitable is demonstrated by the fact that

138 AUSTRALLV
over 160,000,000 acres are so held, and over 6,000,000
acres were taken up on these terms during the first
seven months of 1909. The land must be stocked
or forfeited. Dairy farming is beginning to go ahead; pig
raising is prosperous; mixed farming is proving
successful. Butter factories are established at
various places ; cold storage and refrigerating cars
are provided on the railways. The Government are
repurchasing large estates, slicing them into small
farms, and reselling blocks at anything from 3s. to
£4 an acre. On such land a settler with some
money can begin farming at once. Also the Govern
ment are clearing stretches of "bush," so that the
new-comer can start at once without the better
part of three years being spent in clearing. An
experimental farm has been set up some 160 miles
from Perth, and scientific and practical instruction
is given. The course covers two years, but a student
can limit his attendance to six months. The fee is
£10 a year, including board and lodging, but not
bed linen. In return for instruction and mainten
ance the students must do farm work. There are
four smaller experiment farms and a dairy farm.
It is aU very wonderful.
Surely nowhere can a small community of a
quarter of a million of people be found doing so much
to make their territory flourish, and to attract to it
those hundreds of thousands of poor people in the
old lands of Europe who are seeking fresh homes
beyond the seas.

CHAPTEE XIII
THE DESERT CITY
"They had told us of pastures wide aud green.
To be sought past the sunset's glow ;
Of rifts in the ranges by opal lit.
And gold 'neath the river's flow.
And thirst and hunger were banished words.
When they spoke of that imknown West ;
No drought they dreaded, no flood they feared.
Where the pelican builds her nest ! "
Maey Hamtay Foott.
"Sun, sand, sin, sorrow, and sore eyes," as I have
already mentioned, is the east Australian's un
complimentary description of Western Australia.
And "agriculture," it may be added, though the
word is not alliterative. And gold, it may also be
added — and the gold mines have done more than
anything to direct the eyes of settlers to this land
of the west.
It was a forsaken land once, abhorred, burnt-up,
accursed, and the British Government made the
banks of the Swan Eiver — where the black swans
come from — a convict settlement. Great work was
done by forced labour. Perth's town hall was built
by convicts. The slit windows in the tower are
after the design of the broad arrow, showing the
architect was a subtle humorist.
For half a century Western Australia lay asleep.
139

140 AUSTRALIA
The people were adrift from the rest of the world.
New-comers were few. But pioneers, who pushed
through the bush and traversed the dry, sweltering
plains, occasionally came back with nuggets of gold.
Gold brings lust into the eyes of men. Daring
fellows pressed across the featureless regions, where
the sun glare baked their cheeks and the absence of
water shrivelled their tongues, seeking for Mount
Youle, which never existed, but which, according
to story, was literally a heap of gold. The miners'
town of Coolgardie prospered and waned.
In 1893 — only yesterday as it were — a party of a
hundred odd prospectors set off to look for the Aus
tralian El Dorado. Water ran short. Two men
went searching for a spring and to round up some
wandering horses. Their names were Hannan and
Flannigan. They did not find water. Paddy
Hannan found a hundred ounces of gold on a bare
sandy stretch, bleak of all vegetation and with
nothing but illimitable waste around.
The news spread and the rush came. The place
was called Hannans. The native name was sought.
First it was Calgoola; next it was Kalgurli; to-day
it is Kalgoorlie — one of the wonder places of the
world. Kalgoorlie, with the neighbouring township of
Boulder, has a population of over 30,000, and 6,000
men are working in the mines. Since the gold dis
covery was made in 1893, over 12,183,000 tons of ore
have been treated, giving £45,000,000 worth of gold,
of which £16,000,000 has been paid in dividends.
Each month about £100,000 is disbursed in wages.

THE DESERT CITY 141
and some £84,000 is spent in fuel, merchandise, and
machinery. At present 140,000 tons of gold ore are
treated every month, and the value of it is £320,000.
Round the mines has grown a town, wide
streeted, with great public buildings. Churches,
hotels, theatres have been reared. Tram-cars dash
along the main ways. There is the inevitable race
course. The Australians are a town-proud people.
So civic life is vigorous, and the people of Kalgoorlie,
whilst hungry for gold, have never dropped their
ideal of making a beautiful town in the desert.
You leave Perth late in the afternoon. You
traverse a sunburnt land for about three hundred
miles, and next morning you are at Kalgoorlie. The
winds sweep across the desert. Dust clouds whirl
over the city.
But the people are made of the right stuff. They
are determined. The fact that they have had to
erect their city hundreds of miles from any adequate
water supply has given them zest. The times when
water had to be carted and men washed themselves
with soda water are beginning to be forgotten.
The vicissitudes of gold -mining, success, failure,
fortunes lost, fortunes won, the sickness of hope
unsatisfied, the thrill of unexampled prosperity — all
is like a dream.
Swindling companies, drawing money from
British investors to get gold from locations where it
was perfectly well known no gold existed, are not
now mentioned.
The area is a sort of Monte Cristo.
The extraordinary yield — 12 per cent, of the

142 AUSTRALIA
whole world's gold supply — has caused a flush of
speculation, and not a few of the gold companies
are over-capitalised — with British money chiefly.
Western Australia has borrowed many millions for
development, but within the last seventeen years
sufficient precious metal has been drawn from this
patch of Western Australia to cover it all — ten
million ounces of gold and six hundred thousand
ounces of silver. Nowhere is more up-to-date
machinery to be found. All the latest scientific
treatments are adopted, and ore, which a few years
back was not worth dealing with, is profitable. The
mining of low grade ore is one of the things of which
Western Australia is proud.
The Government takes toll from the dividend
receivers. Also it acts the part of encouraging
parent to the gold-mining industry. The State
provides machinery, crushing mills, and the like, so
that the poor prospector who has staked out a claim
may have a good chance in competition with the
great companies equipped with the most recent
appliances. On a capital expenditure of £230,000
these State plants have crushed out gold valued at
£2,500,000. Besides this, the Government sub
sidises private crushing plants, assists syndicates,
advances money to individual workers. So a good
deal of the outlying mining is done by humble
miners. All this is useful, because — owing to
hanky-panky company-floating five or six years ago
— the present-day British investor is shy about
throwing his money into Western Australia.
There must always be hazard in gold-mining.

THE DESERT CITY i43
But the era of gambling is over, and the day of the
swindler has gone. Though there is practically no
British money coming into the country — burnt
fingers prevent that — the majority of the mines,
apart from the fact that many are over-capitalised,
are being worked on sound business lines. A pile of
millions has been poured into the country ; but,
despite the amazing output, the dividend seeker has
not got much retum because of the over-capitalisa
tion to which I have alluded.
I heard the Western Australian grumble at the
lack of confidence on the part of London financiers.
Also I heard snarling that the mere British investor
should get so much as he does in dividends. Surely
a curious position to take up ! No man puts his
money into a gold mine unless he hopes to have a
big retum. Millions of British money have already
been lost down Westralian mines — money which has
left England and been largely disbursed in Western
Australia, often in the opening of poverty-stricken
shafts. It is, therefore, i-ather stupid and certainly
unreasonable on the part of the people of Western
Australia — and I only mention the matter because
so many of them are sore on the point — to complain,
after having been provided by British investors
with the money which has assisted to make Kal
goorlie what it is, of the money which goes back to
England by way of dividend. However, the hesi
tation of the London capitalist during the last few
years has impelled the Government — especially as
so much has been done to assist agriculturists — to
assist the small miner, with the consequence that

144 AUSTRALLV
slowly a good deal of the result of gold production
remains in the hands of Western Australians, and
does not pass on to outsiders in the shape of
dividend. Kalgoorlie is not the only mushroom town of
prodigious growth. There are other places in other
countries which have growm more quickly. But I
know of no city in the New or Old Worlds which so
quickly has settled down, cast off its rawness, and,
whilst spick, span, and new, gives evidence of a
healthy municipal and public life. There are men
still 'young who recall with a chuckle the hard old
days when the first prospectors put fists on nuggets
of alluvial gold at Coolgardie, of the mad scurry to
this region, of the speedy exhaustion of surface gold-
winning, and then the despair, the ruin, the agony
when the realisation came that the gold was but a
sprinkUng, the glitter of which had tempted men to
their doom. That was the day when the bogus com
panies sprouted and withered. Then came Hannan's
find, which opened up what is known the whole world
over as the Golden Mile. A hamlet of shanties first,
then a municipal council coming into existence in a
year or two, then the planning of a worthy city.
So now, instead of drab desert, there is a delight
ful town. Where no weed could find water to raise
its head are well-cropped lawns and miles of trees
shaking their leaves in the hot breeze. Near yonder
hill, Lamington Heights, dotted with happy viUas,
are the golf links. Take a stroll along Hannan and
Maritana Streets in the fall of the afternoon, and
you will see as well dressed and well set-up women

THE DESERT CITY i45
as in any town on the Continent. The tramway
traffic is busy. The shops are good — remarkably
good when you remember Western Australia is not
a manufacturing country and nearly all articles have
to be brought several thousands of miles. And
your eye need not be quick to take in the fact that
the most striking and ornate buildings are the hotels
and drinking saloons — a testimony to the thirstiness
of the land.
There are fifty places in the municipality where
beverage can be obtained, and the cheapest price for
a drink is one shilling.
With the early cessation of business and the
coming of the cool night, Kalgoorlie turns out in its
thousands to see and be seen, to promenade Hannan
Street whilst the lamplights send a glow over the
scene. What must appeal to the thought is that
everybody is well dressed. There are no gorgeous
dames reclining in barouches, such as we see in
London's Piccadilly; but neither is there the crowd
of slinking, sickening, wretched creatures which are
to be found in our East-end. The climate of Kal
goorlie is not good. But the people are of good
material, and with their parks, their clubs, their
fine race-course, their abounding prosperity, their
saloons, life goes with them very well.
Purposely I have kept back the greatest wonder
of all. Nature placed the gold down in the quartz
below the desert. It was gold hunger which led
men to risk their all, to undergo innumerable hard
ships to snatch wealth. lint with the scantiest
rainfall, no river, the weUs inefficient, how comes

146 AUSTRALIA
this town of approaching 40,000 people to get a
water supply, and why do the trees flourish and the
lawns keep so green?
The water is all pumped from Perth, 400 miles
away. The damming of a river on its way to the
sea, the laying down of pipes, and the erection of
pumping stations to drive the water over the hills —
and it takes eight days for the water to do the
journey — that is the best evidence in Western Aus
tralia of what virility there is in the people.
There were not a hundred thousand people in
all Western Australia when it came to be recognised
that if Kalgoorlie was to go ahead, and be other than
a mere mining camp, one of the most gigantic water
schemes must be faced. The mines might be ex
hausted any year. The State would be saddled
with debt. Violent opposition came from other
parts of Western Australia. The State was going
to be ruined ; it was going to undertake a burden
which would break its back. But Sir John Forrest,
then Premier, set his teeth. He "bossed " Western
Australia. The thing had to be ; and it was. But
would it be a success? When the dam had been
built and the pipes laid, and the water was about to
be sent over all those hundreds of miles the chief
engineer went mad and blew out his brains.
Not only is Kalgoorlie supplied, but townships on
the way also. At places are branch pipes running off
to supply some town, say, fifty miles away. Twenty-
six towns and townships are supplied, with 788 miles
of piping. A great community with a million of
inhabitants might have undertaken the work and

THE DESERT CITY i47
been congratulated on its daring. It is, however,
by maintaining a sense of proportion, recollecting
how trifling was the population when the scheme
was inaugurated, that one is lost in amazement at
what has been done. Three million two hundred
and thirty-seven thousand pounds were spent in
construction. The annual consumption of water is
951 ,546 ,000 gallons , or 2 ,607 ,000 daily . The cost of
Mundaring reservoir was £250,000, and it has a
capacity of 4,600,000,000 gallons. The cost of eight
pumping stations and machinery — raising the water
a net lift of 1,210 feet— was £435,000. Putting
down 351 miles of 30in. pipe — as from one end of
England to the other— was £1,800,000. The total
annual charges, including £103,400 for interest, are
£191,200, whilst the revenue, after deducting work
ing expenses, is £110,000. Accordingly, the scheme
is doing little more than pay for the interest on the
capital. But there is not now a man in Western
Australia who has any doubt about its financial
success. Indirectly it is a huge success : it has been
the cause of an influx of population; it has, as a
consequence, increased trading ; it has developed
mining. In a multitude of ways it has increased
the wealth of the State.
It seems to be a blessed provision of nature,
certainly in this west land of Australia, that the
tracts unsuitable for agricultural advancement
should be the regions most likely to produce mineral
wealth. Gold always tickles the public imagination.
Yet I think that Western Australia's output of
minerals will in the future depend more on less valu-

148 AUSTRALIA
able metals. Tin streams have been struck, and
though the price fluctuates, very profitable opera
tions are now in progress. The same may be
written in regard to copper mining. In one year
the value of the output moved from £50.337 to
£180,337 ; but prices have since fallen. Lead has
been discovered, and, when the mines have been
properly exploited, will yield a rich harvest to the
investor. There is plenty of iron ore, but practically
nothing has been done to work it. Thick seams of
coal, but not of high class quality, have been
chipped at ; as Fremantle is the nearest existing
port between Australia and the Old World there is
the likelihood of an enlarged industry in supplying
steamships with fuel. In general. Western Aus
tralia, which has been for so long the Cinderella of
the continent, shows every manifestation of be
coming one of the most valuable parts of the Empire.
Unwise, however, is any State which relies solely
on its mineral resources for progress. Western
Australia has got its eggs in a good many baskets.
The best thing of all is the strenuous endeavour to
survey the suitable farming portions and to woo
suitable settlers to this neglected slice of Australia.
In all my investigations I was again and again
brought to pause in considering the illimitable ex
panse of Western Australia and the sparseness of
the population.
Look at a map, and in the northern region you
will see Kimberley. Here one hundred people lease
nearly 40 million acres of cattle runs, and the
country held for pastoral purposes exceeds

THE DESERT CITY 149
160,000,000 acres, or an area considerably larger
than the whole of France ! Cattle in the extreme
north, and sheep in the north-west, thrive exceed
ingly. If I wanted to become rich in ten years,
and I had no objection to the loneliness of station
life — though the fascination of it grows and grips
with the years — I think I would like to be a squatter
in this territory. I met many of the squatters
— nice, frank, hospitable men, weU-to-do, even
wealthy, most of them, with no necessity to live
under the arduous, strained conditions of their
brothers whom they have left in the "old country."
Their chief duty, during most of the year, is to lean
on a fence whilst the beasts fatten and the sheep
lamb and grow wool and make the squatter's bank
balance swell. He has no drought. He is not ex
pected to fence his property. He can get "black
fellows " to do most of the work. From the Govern
ment he can lease 600,000 acres for £75 a year!
The life is lonely, except when the "black fellows "'
spear cattle. The sub-tropical climate is certainly
enervating. But what kind of hustle do you need
in a land where practically the only work of the year
is the shearing of the sheep and getting the wool to
a railway line?
It must be said, however, that there is a swelling
public opinion against tracts of country, almost as
large as Wales, being in the hands of single squat
ters. They were the pioneers. They showed the
way into what was once a no-man's-land. They
had what they took. AU that is now stopped, and
the free land is held by the Government, and the

150 AUSTRALIA
tendency — to be accentuated if anything like quick
settlement takes place — is, as the giant leases fall in,
to cut the sections into lesser strips and so encourage
small settlers rather than large settlers.
Thus it will be seen, so far as public opinion can
be gauged by ministerial action, that the rich man
— as the word is generally understood — is not wanted
in Western Australia, but rather a multitude of small
settlers, so that the State may have as its human
bulwark a sturdy yeoman class.

CHAPTEE XIV
CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT
" The South will wake to a mighty change ere a hundred years are
done.
With arsenals west of the mountain range and every spur its
gim;
And many a rickety ' son of a gun,' on the tides of the future
tossed
WUl tell how battles were realjy won that History says were
lost." Henry Lawson.
In considering the growth of Australia into a nation
it is useful to take a glimpse of the gradual develop
ment from the time it was a penal settlement, until
it became a struggling colony split into several
States, and slowly, laboriously moving toward the
creation of a Commonwealth.
At first, when the only use to which the country
was put was a place of exportation for convicts, the
Governor was king — not much interfered with by the
authorities at home, and so able to do much what he
pleased. He had power to impose or to remit taxa
tion, just as he thought well. As the settlement in
New South Wales grew, the authority invested in
one man was recognised as too great ; so there was
created a Council of from five to seven members —
practically a committee formed to rule the land.
It was not until 1842, however, that a Legislature
151

152 AUSTRALIA
was created. It might be called a Representative
Assembly ; but it was hardly democratic, because,
whilst of the thirty-six members, twenty-four were
to be elected by the people, twelve were nominated
by the Sovereign. The Council did not possess the
powers of a responsible government, because aU the
heads of the departments and all public officials were
still appointed and dismissed by the Governor on
behalf of the Crown. The people, however, had
tasted a little of the sweets of authority. Agita
tion began. The people in Victoria and in South
Australia, all voluntary immigrants into Australia,
aud disliking to be associated with New South
Wales, which they regarded as tainted with con-
victism, succeeded in breaking loose from the parent
State. Each of the States then came under the control
of a Legislative Council as a sort of Upper House,
and a House of Eepresentatives as a sort of Lower
House. These new Governments received wide
powers ; they could impose what taxation they liked.
The only restraint put upon them was that no law
passed should be repugnant to the law of England,
that there should be no interference with the sale
and the appropriation of Crown lands, that no
customs duties of a differential character should be
imposed, and that the Governor of each State, on
behalf of the King at home, should exercise a veto on
any measure brought forward.
So the institution of democratic government was
started. Gradually the powers were extended until
a fully responsible system was secured. In time

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT i53
the northern portion of New South Wales broke
loose, and the State of Queensland came into exist
ence. Western Australia, so far removed from the
other States, had a separate life, chiefly controlled
by an Executive Council until 1870, when the prin
ciple of representative government was introduced.
It was not, however, until 1893 that Western Aus
tralia got into line with the other States, and secured
an elected, responsible Government.
In a previous chapter I have dealt with the pro
vincialism which resulted from the States being
absolutely independent of each other in develop
ment. There were far-seeing men who recognised
that there could be no advance toward the production
of a nation so long as the States were inclined to be
antagonistic, and occasionally waged tariff wars upon
each other's goods. The germ of Federal Govern
ment was in the minds of many. The vision of a
Commonwealth began to appear. The creation of
a Commonwealth was an idea which all men were
disposed to agree with in general principle ; yet when
it was considered as a practical proposition great
obstacles arose. The main question debated in all
the States was, "What shall we get out of it? "
Besides, there were different tariff systems. New
South Wales was a free trade State. Its immediate
neighbour and great competitor, Victoria, was a pro
tective State. Victoria did not want her markets
to be freely invaded by the manufactures of New
South Wales. New South Wales hesitated to get
into line with Victoria, to have protection and pos
sibly raise the price of goods.

154 AUSTRALIA
The movement toward federation was slow.
When at last it was adopted, it was adopted with
misgivings. Many of the State politicians resisted
because they saw that, by the establishment of a
greater Government, some of their powers and much
of their influence would depart. Still, the hope that
all would be well was nourished.
In my opinion all is well. Yet I believe that, if
a referendum could be taken to-day. Federal Govern
ment would be abolished and the State Governments
would regain much of their waning power. But
there will be no referendum. Federation is going
to stay. The Commonwealth wiU wax. Many of
the powers now held by the State Governments
must, in the fullness of time, pass to the Federal
Government. Still, in conversations with the
leaders of public opinion in the States, I did not
fail to recognise the strong conviction that as Aus
tralia is so large, and the interests of various
parts of the continent so different, rule from a central
authority could not be so advantageous to the com
munity as rule by a Government with peculiar local
knowledge of the particular needs of each particular
State. There is much in that. I do not believe,
however, that in the increase of power which must
come to the Commonwealth — it already controls the
customs, decides on matters of defence, ought to con
trol the railways, and it is an open point whether
it should not also have complete control over land
settlement — that the State Governments ought to
be, or will be, deprived of a voice in what can
legitimately be described as purely State affairs.

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT i55
Besides the Governor-General of the Common
wealth, an office now held with much charm by the
Earl of Dudley, each State has its own Governor.
With the coming of a Governor-General the radiance
about the State Governors has been somewhat
dimmed. There is a body of opinion which believes
that the time has come when these Governors
appointed by the King should be dispensed with,
and in their place there should be Governors of
Australian birth. I venture to assert that such a
change would be a serious mistake. To have Aus
tralian (3rovernors would mean that the office would
generally be held by political derelicts, that there
would inevitably be much wire-pulling to secure the
dignity, and that whoever held the office would be
fairly certain to have many personal opponents. The
present Governors, nominated by the King, have had
no association with local party politics. By their
office they are above party. They are EngUsh
gentlemen of high birth and distinction, and they
form the centre of a social life, clean and elevating,
which has a marked and beneficial influence upon
the whole of the community.
Though federation is only ten years old, the idea
of a Federal Government has been in existence for
over sixty years. As far back as 1849 a Privy Coun
cil Committee urged there should be a uniform tariff,
and that there should be a Governor-General of Aus
tralia. Indeed, Sir Charles Fitzroy was appointed
"Governor-General of all her Majesty's Australian
possessions." This office existed, nominally, until
1861, when it lapsed. In succeeding years spas-

156 AUSTRALIA
modic movements were made toward federation.
They failed because there were States, especially
those smaller in population like South Australia and
Queensland, which feared that if they cast in their
lot with the other States they would practically be
ruled by New South Wales and Victoria, where the
majority of the population resided. Yet the idea
grew. In the early 'eighties a conference got so far
as to recommend that there should be a Federal
Council, a sort of superior committee, representa
tive of all States, to discuss things which they had
in common, but not the establishment of a Federal
Parliament. It was hoped that New Zealand would
join. That country declined. New South Wales,
chiefly because it was a free trade State, also held
back. Nevertheless, in 1885, the British Govern
ment approved of the creation of a Federal Council.
It was a failure, and it died.
It was the subject of imperial defence which
stimulated the public mind of Australia to the recog
nition of the fact that as the country was so far
from Great Britain, and dependent upon Great
Britain to save it from attack, if an evil day came
when the fair lands of Australia might be desired by
another Power, no State had any provision worth
talking about for resisting invasion. It was seen
that all the States ought to act in common to provide
some adequate system of coast defence. In the dark
days of the South African War the danger to which
AustraUa might suddenly be exposed was borne in
upon the consciousness of the Australians. This
was the crowning argument to many arguments

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 157
which for years had been impressed upon the citi
zens. Nobody had anything to say against a united
AustraUa. It was the debating of how a plan could
be devised, that would give advantage to them all,
which blocked the way.
National Ck>nventions were held. Conferences of
Premiers took place. States began to get into line.
Queensland, Western Australia, and New Zealand
stood back. As public opinion grew. Western Aus
tralia joined New South Wales, Victoria, South
Australia, afid Tasmania. It became clear that New
Zealand intended to keep outside the federation. It
was decided to go on without her. All the States
were now agreed except Queensland. The rest of
the States were not to be restrained from proceeding
because Queensland would not come in. A popular
vote was taken on federation in New South Wales,
Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania, and a
majority of well over 100,000 was in favour of
federation. Later there came a second popular
vote, with Queensland this time joining in, and the
majority was well over 200,000. Later a refer
endum was taken in Western Australia, and whilst
44,000 voted for federation, only 19,000 voted against
it. The way was clear.
It was on September 17th, 1900, that Queen
Victoria signed the proclamation — which is now to
be seen in Melbourne, together with the pen which
she used on that occasion — declaring that on and
after January 1st, 1901, the people of the six States
should be united in a Federal Commonwealth under
the name of the Commonwealth of Australia.

158 AUSTRALIA
So Australia was born as a nation. The
Governor-General represents the King. There is a
Senate, and there is a House of Eepresentatives.
It is interesting to compare the constitution of
AustraUa with that of Great Britain. Our Upper
Chamber, the House of Lords, is hereditary ; but the
Senate, which is composed of six senators from
each of the States, is elected for six years on an
electoral qualification, the same as that for electing
members to the House of Eepresentatives ; and half
the senators for each State vacate their seats at
the expiration of three years.* A senator loses his
place if he is absent from the Senate without per
mission for two months of any session. At least one-
third of the whole number of senators must be pre
sent in order to constitute a meeting. In our House
of Lords a quorum is three. The House of Eepre
sentatives, which is twice the size of the Senate and
reflects proportional representation, is elected for a
period of no longer than three years. I know that
short Parliaments have their advocates in Great
Britain. Though I am well aware it is a point open
to dispute, my own impression is that these three-
year Parliaments in Australia are not good. The
first year a ministry is chiefly occupied in getting
into the saddle ; the second year some definite legis-
* Though the Senate is elected on the same qualification as that
for electing the House of Representatives, there is this important
difference : for the Senate elections each State polls as one single
constituency — which explains the predominance of the Labour Party
in the Upper Chamber — and each State, Tasmania the same as New
South Wales, returns an equal number of senators, sii. This is the
salient blunder in the Commonwealth constitution.

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 159
lation may be advanced ; the third year is devoted to
political manipulation in order to have a good case
to present when next an appeal is made to the elec
torate. As in the Senate, members of the House of
Eepresentatives lose their seats if they are away for
two months without permission. Each senator and
each member of the House of Eepresentatives
receives £600 a year. Both Chambers are elected on
adult suffrage.
Now what are the powers of this Australian Par
liament? It has control of all trade and commerce
and can impose taxation, but without any discrimina
tion as between States. It can give bounties on
the production or export of goods. It can borrow
money. It has the naval and military defence of
the Commonwealth under its control, and also the
postal, telegraphic and telephonic services. It has
authority over currency, marriage, divorce, old age
pensions, immigration, conciliation and arbitration,
over the prevention and settlement of industrial
disputes extending beyond the limits of any one
State — ^that is, whUst, say, the New South Wales
State Government has a perfect right to pass special
industrial laws, the Commonwealth can interfere if
those laws affect Victoria or any other State. There
is a provision, though not yet exercised, whereby the
Commonwealth can acquire, with the consent of a
State, any railways on terms arranged between the
Commonwealth and the State. From the admirable
official Year Book issued by Mr. G. H. Knibbs,
the Commonwealth statistician — to whom I am
indebted for much of my information — I quote the

i6o AUSTRALIA
following paragraph, which is useful at the present
period when there are differences at home between
the House of Lords and the House of Commons in
regard to the right of the former in rejecting Bills : —
"If the House of Eepresentatives passes any pro
posed law, and the Senate rejects or fails to pass it,
or passes it with amendments to which the House
of Eepresentatives objects in the same or the next
session, again passes the proposed law with or with
out any amendments which have been made, sug
gested or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amend
ments to which the House of Eepresentatives will
not agree, the Governor-General may dissolve the
Senate and the House of Eepresentatives simultane
ously. But such dissolution may not take place
within six months before the date of the expiration
of the House of Eepresentatives by effluxion of time.
"If after such dissolution the House of Eepre
sentatives again passes the proposed law, with or
without any amendments which have been made,
suggested or agreed to by the Senate, and the Senate
rejects or fails to pass it, or passes it with amend
ments to which the House of Eepresentatives will not
agree, the Governor-General may convene a joint
sitting of the members of the Senate and of the
House of Eepresentatives.
"The members present at the joint sitting may
deliberate and vote together upon the proposed law
as last proposed by the House of Eepresentatives,
and upon amendments, if any, which have been
made therein by one House and not agreed to by the

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT i6i
other, and any such amendments which are affirmed
by an absolute majority of the total number of the
members of the Senate and House of Eepresentatives
shall be taken to have been carried, and if the pro
posed law, with the amendments, if any, so carried,
is affirmed by an absolute majority of the total num
ber of members of the Senate and House of Eepre
sentatives, it shall be taken to have been duly passed
by both Houses of Parliament, and shall be pre
sented to the Governor-General for the King's
assent." As representative of the King, the Governor-
General, who receives a salary of £10,000 a year, is
Commander-in-Chief of the naval and military forces
of the Commonwealth. It is he who sends for the
head of a party which has been victorious at the
polls and offers him the post of Prime Minister.
Ministers of State must not exceed seven in number,
and their joint salaries are not allowed to exceed
£12,000 a year. The judicial powers of the Com
monwealth are vested in a Federal Supreme Court.
Besides the two Houses of the Commonwealth,
each State has a Parliament of two Houses. Thus,
in Australia, with a population one-tenth that of
Great Britain, there are fourteen Houses of Parlia
ment. As most of the members are paid for their
sendees, Australia pays more to her politicians than
she is spending on defence. Each State, besides a
Governor, has a Legislative Council and a Legis
lative Assembly. Except in New South Wales and
Queensland, where the Legislative Councillors are
nominated for life by the Governor, the CounciUors
L

i62 AUSTRALIA
are elected, though on qualifications somewhat vary
ing in the different States.
To get a proper idea of Australia's advance, local
government as well as Commonwealth and State
Government must be taken into consideration. In
this connection it must be remembered that Aus
tralia has paid little attention to what has been done,
or is being done, in the older countries of the world.
She has proceeded to work out her own destiny. She
is untrammelled by custom or usage, with the conse
quence that she can open up a fresh line of procedure
in the administration of local affairs, and make what
the rest of the world calls experiments, which would
be quite impossible in older lands, where long estab
lished, vested interests cannot be easily uprooted.
Government in Australia from the top to the
bottom is democratic. Although I am not going to
say that I did not hear of cases of alleged corruption,
I satisfied myself that Australians taking part in the
management of public affairs are, on the whole, as
public-spirited and actuated by as high motives as
the average man at home who takes part in politics,
either imperial or local. The provincial enthusiasm
in Australia, whUst having its drawbacks, is pro
ducing towns which for beauty are not to be sur
passed by any other towns similarly situated and
with similar population, in any other region. South
Australia, which is unique in its State Government,
has the credit of having, in Adelaide, brought the
first municipal law into existence as far back as 1839.
Municipalities are incorporated very much on the
same lines as with us, and, generally speaking, the

CONSTITUTION AND GOVERNMENT 163
rates are small compared with those which are im
posed in Great Britain.
For the interests of uniformity there is too much
splitting up of towns into separate municipal dis
tricts. I have happily forgotten how many different
mayors and corporations there are in the city of
Sydney. Though I believe in decentralisation, the
fact remains that many of these local municipalities
are in antagonism one with the other, vrith the result
that there is an absence of desire to work together
for the benefit of the city as a whole.
In most of the States there are general rates
levied on the unimproved value of land at the rate
of not less than Id., nor more than 2d. in the £1.
When a corporation proposes to impose a special
rate, a poll may be taken by the ratepayers as to
whether the rate shall be imposed or not. Besides
the borough councils, each State has shire munici
palities not unlike the district councils in England.
Provisions are made for the construction of new
bodies. Take Victoria as an example. There, any
part of the State containing rateable property yield
ing, upon a rate not exceeding Is. in the £1, a sum
of £1,500, may be constituted as a shire upon the
petition of at least fifty inhabitants. Then, any part
of the State, not exceeding nine square miles in area,
and having no point more than six miles from any
other point and containing a population of not fewer
than 500, and a rateable value yielding, upon a rate
not exceeding Is. in the £1, a sum of £300, may be
constituted a borough upon petition of at least 250
resident householders. Also in Victoria the general

i64 AUSTRALIA
rates must not exceed 2s. 6d. in the £1 of the net
annual value. Even with the imposition of extia
rates the total must be kept within 2s. 6d.
As regards borrowing powers, the amount raised
for permanent works must not exceed ten times the
average income of the municipality for the three
preceding years. And, of course, if there is a
demand made, the decision is to be referred to a poll
of the ratepayers.
In Queensland rates are levied on the unimproved
capital value and are of two kinds, general and
special. The general rate must not be greater than
3d. in the £1 nor less than j4d. ; whilst special rates
must not exceed 3d. in the £1, but this provision
does not include separate rates, special water rates,
loan rates, cleansing rates, or tramway rates. Any
ratepayers, having not less than one-third of all the
votes of the ratepayers within any particular area,
may petition for the construction of tramways. A
poll is then taken on this direct issue, and, if it is
favourable, the Governor sanctions the issue of a
(jrovernment loan for the purpose of constructing a
tramway. The total amount advanced, however,
must not exceed £3,000 for every mile constructed.
GeneraUy speaking, provisions on very much the
same Unes are in force in the other States.

CHAPTEE XV
THE MOTHER STATE
"Then toast with me our happy land.
Where ali that's fair prevails.
Our colour's blue and our hearts are true.
In suimy New South Wales." Old Bush SoNa.
The people of New South Wales are rightly proud
of their capital city Sydney — one of the most charm
ingly situated towns in the world, and possessing an
individuality which no other Australian city can
boast. But, from the economic point of view, and that of
the development of a vast territory, I refuse to be an
admirer of one great town, with a population of over
six hundred thousand — a beautiful, picturesque, and
even fascinating town — when I know that most of
the goods of the State are in the shop window.
Sydney has been developed at the expense of
other excellent ports in New South Wales, with
splendid harbours and fine anchorage — one of the
evils incident to State-owned railways, having
politics rather than the actual needs of the country
to press the expansion. With the consequence that
in the busy time of the year — the time for wool
exportation and the sending of frozen mutton to
Great Britain — there is a congestion of traffic on
165

i66 AUSTRALIA
the lines converging upon Sydney, causing much
inconvenience and depriving other ports of a due
share of the export trade.
New South Wales has an area of nearly two
hundred millions of acres. Only two and a-half
millions are under cultivation for crops, and a fair
calculation is that nearly twenty millions of acres
in the State are suitable for wheat. There are in
New South Wales between 20,000,000 and
30,000,000 acres known to be suitable for wheat
growing. Not one-tenth of that area is used for the
purpose. Much wheat land is used for grazing and
dairying. Though England and the East call for
unlimited quantities of wheat, the surplus over local
needs averages in these late years a little over
4,000,000 bushels. If one-quarter of the suitable
area of New South Wales were devoted to wheat,
there would be a surplus, at low averages, of over
50,000,000 bushels available for export.
New South Wales, like other parts of the con
tinent, does not want needy clerks who cannot earn
a livelihood at home, and think that a fortune will
be theirs if only they emigrate to this sunshiny land,
but farmers with money to take up land and
labourers with stout hearts and broad backs. In the
case of the latter the wages range from 15s. to £1 a
week, together with board and lodging. Domestic
servants can earn about the same. I rarely went
into a private house without hearing some lament
from the mistress about the dearth of "helps." I
doubt if there is any place in the world where the
servant girl gets better wages, and receives more

THE MOTHER STATE 167
consideration, than in Australia. The average
wage of males in the production of gas and elec
tricity is £123 ; in shipbuilding, £122 ; in metal
works, £169 ; and then it drops to £90 for workers
in stone, clay and glass ; to £80 for workers in
wood ; to £71 in coachbuilding and saddlery ; and to
£68 in wool-washing, boiling-down, and other treat
ment of animal products. In some of the indus
tries where a fair proportion of female labour is
employed, the average wage is above the lowest
named. But the pay in the clothing and textile
industries is the lowest of any group, and probably
the female average is not much over £40.
Certainly no other State in the Commonwealth
has more diversity of climate, nor a wider scope in
the diversity of products. There are big sweeps of
downs, mighty rolling uplands, only suitable for
grazing, calling for only a limited number of men.
But there are areas which need the plough, and
there are not the hands to direct it. Wheat, sugar,
fruit, dairying, all await considerable development.
The question I want to deal with, therefore, is how
far New South Wales appeals to the English farmer
with money, and the agricultural labourer with no
money, who by various means can get shipped out
to this huge continent?
Congestion seems a curious word to apply to a
country where the population is infinitesimal. Yet
there is something in the nature of congestion in
farming areas, chiefly because of the limited railway
service and the absolute impossibility for a man, in
the dairying business for instance, to do any good

i68 AUSTRALIA
unless he is within reach of a line whereby to send
his produce to market. And it is little use for any
body to point to fine land if that land is too far from
a railway to be commercially valuable. The conse
quence is that good land, in appropriate districts,
costs more than does similar land in England. The
Crown has much land, millions of acres, to be sold for
from 10s. to £3 an acre, and this can be paid for on
the instalment plan, stretching over thirty-six years.
There is no actual free land. I cannot help con
cluding this is a mistake, especially when Canada,
with the offer of a quarter of a square mile to any
male immigrant, is acting like a magnet to hundreds
of thousands of brawny, agricultural men in the
old lands. "Oh," says the New South Wales
man, "we are in pressing need of money,
and we must charge something for the land."
But because the Government does charge some
thing the people do not come, and so the
Government does not get the money it wants.
Make sections free to the new settler who undertakes
to develop, and the State at once has a valuable
asset. For as the man prospers he buys more land,
he needs implements and a thousand things; he
marries and rears a family, and, as the members of
it work, extract wealth from the soil, purchase
goods, the whole of the community is benefited. It
did not strike me that there is sufficient far-sighted
ness about land settlement in Australia to get
population — that is, assuming always that the Aus
tralians are genuinely in earnest to make their
continent a great haven for immigrants.

THE MOTHER STATE 169
Do not imagine, however, that nothing is being
done. A great deal is done ; but that great deal is
small in comparison with the area capable of culti
vation. I will go so far as to say there is something
approaching very near to " free " land. But the
conditions, whilst easily understood by the educated
man, must be complicated and confusing to the agri
cultural labourer in Britain, who cannot see his way
to a freehold except through a maze of technicalities
which he suspects. He can understand 160 acres
free which is Canada's offer. When he is told that
in New South Wales he can embark on the con
ditional purchase system, stretching over three
dozen years — a very long time for a man to be
shackled, no matter how light the claims may be —
or that he can take up a conditional purchase lease,
the lease being for fifteen years and the rent only
two and a half per cent, on the capital value — true,
very little — and that he can turn the lease into a
conditional purchase whenevoT he feels he has the
money to pay the instalments — well, the agricultural
labourer, such as we know him in Europe, gets
fogged and shies. However easy may be the way,
however smooth the conditions, however parental
the administration, is not the New South Wales
Government checking the way to settlement with
a lot of needless threads?
Cut them. Go one better than Canada. Say to
the world : "Any strong man in the world can have
250 acres free, on the condition that he lives on
the land, fences it, and develops it." That would
attract; land which is now slumbering would

170 AUSTRALIA
awaken ; population would increase, and town manu
factories — which are now up to the high level mark
— would expand, and Australians would not so often
say to visitors : " We have a better climate than
Canada, and we cannot make out why people do not
come here instead of going there."
It is true that New South Wales has many mil
lions of acres of land capable of wheat production.
But what good is the mass of this land when it is
too far from a railway to be financially profitable?
Of course, any Government would be nervous, being
answerable to the public for their existence, about
driving a railway into uninhabited regions in the
full expectation that population would go that way.
Maybe it would not, and the public, which knows
no mercy, would want the heads of the Government
who had been squandering their money, and a
myriad of " I-told-you-so " politicians would let
their voices be heard in the land. It does, however,
reveal a certain lack of confidence in the capacity of
the soil to win immigrants if — whilst innumerable
pamphlets tell of its possibilities : I have two bags
stuffed with them — ^very little is being done to take
intending settlers to this soil, even if they came
with souls set aflame by the radiant descriptions
provided in those pamphlets.
In view of the danger of building a railway, with
the chance of no users, the Government has adopted
the policy of buying back land from squatters, which
is in proximity to existing railways, and now only
used for sheep but suitable for mixed farming,
slicing it into sections and getting small farmers to

THE MOTHER STATE 171
enter into possession. Here one drives into the hot
controversy whether it is wise to badger the squat
ter, the sheep-farmer, with heavy taxation, in order
to compel him to split up his land — for taxation is
graduated, and the man with a hundred thousand
acres pays much more per acre than the man who
has only a thousand acres. The lesser annoyance
is for the Government to acquire stretches of land,
paying a fair price for it, and then re-sell to farmers
who want to settle. The theory is that the squatter
can go further into the back blocks, whilst it is abso
lutely necessary for the farmer, who must get his
produce to a railway, to be within easy reach of that
railway. Accepting, then, that the Government, after con
sidering all the issues, is right in obtaining pos
session of pasturage which would be more valuable
in carrying people than sheep, we have to see what
the immigrant is offered. The first thing for which
he should be grateful is that the old squatters
cleared the place of trees. Nothing is finer than the
dauntlessness of men who have to remove something
like a forest before the ground is able to provide
sheep food, or be ploughed for wheat. Yet nothing
can be so heart-aching as the months and even years
of ring-barking, firing, root-digging, hauling, and
general clearing before a single penny of recompense
comes Lhe grand old settlers did all this. The
modem man who wants to go on the land does not
care to face it. It is much better to have a Govern
ment that will buy the land from those who have
done the clearing and give the new settler the oppor-

172 AUSTRALIA
tunity of entering upon an "improved" farm.
Quite frankly I must say the mass of public opinion
is in favour of the breaking up of the big estates
within easy railway reach and handing them over
to many farming families.
Frequently in my inquiries I bumped into a
paradox. Here was a continent with untold mil
lions of acres suitable for culture, and yet the cry
was "There is no land." And that there was no
land was frequently advanced to me as an explana
tion why the towns have populations altogether out
of proportion to the rural districts. And further, I
was reminded, whenever big estates were split up
into farming sections, there was an instant rush of
settlers. Certainly such farms can be obtained on
the easiest terms. A small deposit is required, and
then, by paying five per cent, per annum on the
value, which, covers principal and interest, the
farmer becomes a freeholder in thirty-eight years.
Of course, if the farmer cares he can pay off at a
quicker rate, and the sooner the value is paid the
sooner he gets released from paying interest. There
is a Government Savings Bank which will lend
money on easy interest, with the land under mort
gage up to two-thirds of the value, so that the
capable settler, with a little money in hand, may
purchase all the agricultural requisites. Then
again , most valuable work is being done by the State
experiment farms. The assured rainfall district ia
a wide belt down the coast, but "dry" farming —
raising crops with a minimum of moisture — is
making gigantic strides, so that before long it will

THE MOTHER STATE 173
be possible to grow wheat a full hundred miles
farther inland than is now considered safe.
It will be seen that the poor immigrant has got
a long way to travel before he can sit on his horse,
let his eye roam round the country, and say, "All
this is mine." And it is this long and laborious
travel which, I am convinced, stands in the way of
agricultural labourers going in great numbers to
Australia. Canada offers him a quicker return, for
he can, if he likes, take up his 160 free acres wher
ever he likes. But to the man with money, say
£500 to £1,000, I know of no country which has
more to offer than New South Wales. He must be
a practical farmer, a man willing to work himself,
and not be too ambitious about an ultimate great
farm, because farm labourers are difficult to get.
Many of them are "born tired," and the attractions
of the town woo them away from the land, no matter
how good the money may be.
I have already mentioned the dearness of land
in Australia. Why, in many places land of the
quality you could purchase for £20 an acre in
England costs as much as £50 an acre in New South
Wales ! Yet the new-comer, eager, industrious,
willing to take the plunge, can find plenty of land,
on the fringe of that now under cultivation,
at from £2 10s. to £5 an acre, and he has
little difficulty in getting advances from the banks.
The wise man is he who goes in for mixed farming.
There are such farms, fenced, with homesteads, with
water- tanks, everything ready for occupation, to be
obtained freehold at from £4 to £8 an acre, accord-

174 AUSTRALIA
ing to quality and nearness to a railway. The farmer
who cannot make such a farm pay would probably
be a failure at anything to which he turned his
hand. Here, as elsewhere, everything depends on a
man's personal exertions. Yet I am unacquainted
with any farming country where the return is quicker
than in this salubrious state of New South Wales.
The closer settlement within the district that is
fairly certain to have a twenty-inch rainfall in the
year has had much to do with raising the wheat-
growing area by a million acres in ten years, and in
more than doubling the yield. It is calculated that
the cost of raising a crop is 14s. an acre. The
average wheat crop in this part of the world is ten
bushels to the acre. The lowest price for wheat
delivered at the nearest wayside station is 2s. 6d.
a bushel. Accordingly, a satisfactory margin of
profit remains.
Australia is far away, and at first I was amongst
those who thought Australia could never come into
competition with Canada in exporting wheat, be
cause it is so much farther from the home market.
But the wheat-growing districts in Canada are far
from the sea ; those in New South Wales are close
to it. To bring wheat across the seas from Canada
to England is cheaper than from Australia to Eng
land. But the outside distance from a New South
Wales port where wheat is at present grown is three
hundred miles. The centre of the Canadian wheat
district, say Eegina, is two thousand miles from the
Atlantic coast. So, balancing the heavy railway
freight and light steamer freight in conveying

THE MOTHER STATE 175
Canadian wheat, with the light railway freight in
New South Wales and the heavy steamer freight, it
comes to this : To carry wheat from Eegina to Liver
pool costs Is. 2d. a bushel, whilst to carry wheat
from 300 miles outside Sydney to London costs
Is. IJd. Thus Australian wheat can be landed in
England cheaper than can Canadian wheat.
Eemembering always that the backbone of Aus
tralia's prosperity consists of wool and mutton, it
was satisfactory to learn that small farmers were
embarking on sheep rearing. I was told officially
that there are over ten thousand flocks in the State
of five hundred sheep and under. The sheep are a
cross, producing merino wool and making good
mutton. Then there is dairying, with a splendid
market for butter, which, through cold storage, can
now be delivered fresh in London. Excellent butter
it is I Yet the butter trade is but in its infancy.
Also the State has fine coal beds, iron deposits, silver
lodes — who has not heard of Broken Hill? — ^indeed,
the yearly output of minerals is well over the value
of ten million pounds.
That New South Wales is aboundingly prosperous
goes without saying, mainly as the result of long, fat
years, with no visitation from drought. The whole
State has a population of not much more than a
million and a half, and her products are over sixty
millions a year. Her trade represents £57 per head
of the population, which is nearly double that of
any other country in the world. Wages have gone
up, but the cost of living has increased. House rent
is higher than in London. Clothing in Sydney

176 AUSTRALIA
costs about a third more than in London. The
private wealth of the State is much more distributed
than in long-settled countries, and represents about
£250 per head. One person in every six is a property
holder. Yet only six per cent, of the men have
incomes of over £200 a year. The average income
of the other ninety-four per cent, of men is just £2
a week. Now that is not much in a country where
housekeeping is fairly expensive. The people dress
well and neatly. Their pleasures are cheap ; but,
to use an Americanism, they have "no money to
burn." When I was in Sydney I heard much of what
was being done in manufactures. But Australia,
within the period necessary for any of us to con
template, can never become a competitor in general
manufactures with other parts of the world. The
manufactures have little market but their home
market, and they are doing as well now as they can
possibly do with the existing population.* Farm
ing is the thing which will lift prosperity ahead.
And when the lands suitable for closer settlement
are dotted with homesteads, there will still be mil
lions of acres available for sheep. At the present
time about one hundred million acres of New South
Wales are occupied for pastoral purposes. There
are over fifty million sheep feeding in the State, with
* I am well aware that Australian agricultural machinery
is exported to the Argentine and that woollens and cheap cloths
are exported to the Far East — but the point I make, that Australia
must be chiefly dependent on herself for the sale of her manufactures,
is not disturbed by these exceptions.

THE MOTHER STATE 177
a cash value of about £25,000,000. Formerly only
the wool was exported. Now, with cold storage,
the mutton can be sent abroad, and five million sheep
are slaughtered in this State alone for exportation.
Up till a few years ago, when sheep were reared for
their wool only, the shorn sheep was often not worth
more than Is. But Great Britain is buying Aus
tralian mutton, and the breeders in New South
Wales are turning close attention to the growing of
a mutton sheep. Very good mutton it is. What
effect a couple of months' freezing has on the quality
of the mutton, I do not know; but I can say that,
with the single exception of Welsh mutton, I have
eaten as good mutton in Australia as ever I have
done at home.
This State carries more than half the sheep grown
in all Australia. The amount of wool the merino
sheep bears is astonishing to anyone acquainted only
with the shaggy-coated sheep of Great Britain. The
wool is tight, thick, and there is sometimes so much
of it that the sheep is almost blinded. From its
fifty millions of sheep New South Wales can, in
an average year, produce 340,000,000 lbs. of wool.
Buyers come from all over the world. So prices
bound up, and the Australian sheep-breeder smiles
as his bank-book bulges.
My readers will have noticed that I am in the
habit of judging progress by comparison with what
is done elsewhere. Certainly, in applying this
standard to New South Wales, the State shows very
weU indeed. Take the United Kingdom and Canada
in instance. A fairly good test is the amount of
M

178 AUSTRALIA
trade done per head. Therefore, taking the average
during the three years 1906-7-8, we find that the
total trade of New South Wales represents
£51 12s. 4d. per head of the population, that of the
United Kingdom £24 9s. 4d., and that of Canada
£17 15s. 7d. Now look at the figures in shipping.
In 1908 the tonnage of the vessels entered and cleared
at Sydney was over eight million tons, which,
although it is only about half that of Liverpool, is
half as much again as that of Glasgow. The total
value of the agricultural production is over
£8,000,000, which works out at an average of over
£3 per acre. The amount of butter produced was
upwards of 61,000,000 lbs., of which nearly
16,000,000 lbs. -vi^as exported to the United King
dom. In the various factories there were 89,000
employees, and the wages paid were £9,719,000.
The value of the products from all industries —
agricultural, pastoral, dairy, mining, manufacturing
—amounted in 1908 to over £56,000,000. It is
interesting to note that one out of every four of
the population in New South Wales is a depositor
in the savings bank; so we find 442,000 deposi
tors with deposits to the value of £19,022,000, or
£43 Os. 9d. per depositor. Whilst each member
of the population in Canada sends 63 letters a
year, the United Kingdom 84, the people of New
South Wales send no fewer than 88 per head a
year. On June 30th, 1908, the public debt of New
South Wales was £90,307,000, or £55 10s. 5d. per
head, but 80 per cent, of this has been expended on
reproductive services, which in 1908-9 returned

THE MOTHER STATE 179
£2,885,000, or 90 per cent, of the total interest bUl.
During the last three years £4,332,000 have been
transferred from revenue to funds for promotion of
closer settlement and for public works. With such
a record the people of New South Wales have every
rea.son to be satisfied with their prosperity.

CHAPTEE XVI
THE WORKING MAN
"The wide, wild pastures of old are fading and passing away,
All over the plain are the homes of the men who have coma
to stay.
I sigh for the good old days in the station whar^ again ;
But the good new days are better — I would not be heard to
complain." David M'Kbb Wwqht.
The Australian working man is a good fellow. What
he has to do he does well. He has quiet assurance.
All is well with him. Whenever he thanks the
Almighty it is that he does not live in England. He
knows English workers are poor, decrepit, under
paid, and crushed. He has read that in the news
papers. But when you intimate he knows only one
side of the picture — that the most skilled artisans in
the world are to be found in England, that the
general level pf the British worker is higher than
ever it was, that good wages can be earned, that
hundreds of thousands of working men own their
own houses and have money in the savings bank —
he does not contradict you, but he does not believe
you. An idea exists in Australia that Old England is
played out, and that we are decadent. In every
colony I have visited the same thing is marked.
i8o

THE WORKING MAN i8i
And, as a writing man, I feel qualms of conscience.
The fact is, we British people are our own severest
critics. We are constantly comparing ourselves with
other countries, to the disadvantage of ourselves.
Some of us occasionally write articles demonstrating
how other countries can get ahead of us, and other
countries, with the recollection of Britain's great
industrial and commercial attainments, take this aa
confession that we are losing ground.
Now, these other countries— the United States,
Canada, Australia, New Zealand — are constantly
shouting what fine places they are. And the average
visitor to a colony — ^generally the recipient of
warmest hospitality — is always complimentary ; he
says nice things, partly because he believes them,
and partly to please his hosts ; and, discreetly, he says
nothing about the things which he fails to admire.
Consequently, a disproportionate idea prevails. The
condition of Britain is regarded as worse than it is,
and the over-sea Britains believe themselves to be
much finer than they actually are.
I write this in no spirit of depreciation, but with
a desire to secure some sense of proportion. It is
unsatisfactory that our kinsmen in far parts of the
Empire should nourish the thought that we are
played out, and that, knowing we are played out, we
look to them for aid. We stand much in need of a
Society for the Appreciation of Britain, with the
main function of letting the world know the things
of which we have reason to be proud.
It is this thought about the poorness of the
British working man which colours the minds of the

i82 AUSTRALIA
Australian industrial classes in regard to immigra
tion. The Australian worker is opposed to immigra
tion. Labour M.P.'s are opposed to it. Yet,
theoretically, everybody is in favour of it. I found
ardent propagandists. The Federal Parliament is
constantly debating means whereby Australia may
be strengthened by a flow of immigrants. Mr.
Fisher, the Leader of the Government, gave point-
blank denial to me one moming when, in conversa
tion, I put the question, whether the Labour Party
was antagonistic to "new chums." I was glad of
that official denial, though previous and subsequent
investigations inclined my belief that the Australian
working man does not want new-comers. I will go
so far as to say that, though officially the Labour
Party is in favour of encouraging immigration, the
leaders would fare badly if they put forward any
practical proposal which would lead to the arrival of
a hundred thousand new workers every year.
The remarkable thing is that the men who are
most opposed to British workers landing in the
Commonwealth are British-bom, have gained much
advantage during the years they have been in Aus
tralia, and now clamour for barriers to be raised to
prevent other poor British workmen from having the
same opportunity. As there is manhood suffrage,
and the power is in the hands of the workers, I
doubt if any Government dare advance a scheme to
draw large fresh populations to Australia.
In business we are all more or less actuated by
selfish motives. The Australian working man is as
selfish as any of us. Bluntly it may be said that,

THE WORKING MAN 183
recognising he has "a good thing," he does not want
anybody to share it. Wages are good, food is
cheap, but house-rent and clothing are dear. Wages
are fixed by law and hours are strictly regulated.
There are arbitration courts to settle disputes. The
workers accept the award when it is favourable to
them ; but the inclination is to snap fingers at
it if it favours the employer. Later on I shall
have something to say about the working of the
arbitration courts. Here let me indicate one or
two anomalies which came under my notice — of
trifling importance, I admit, but life is made up of
trifles. Hotels are under the law affecting work
shops, and as I lived in hotels I saw the result.
I noted that nothing was done in most hotels to
set a bedroom straight after six o'clock in the even
ing. It was because the employees had ceased to
work, and the majority of hotels could not afford
a second shift of attendants. If you arrive at an
hotel in a small town, say, after seven o'clock at
night, it is impossible to get anything in the nature
of a hot meal. I remember in one hotel seeing
a notice saying that nothing but cold food could
be supplied in the evening. At one place I arrived
hungry. The landlady made me tea and boiled a
couple of eggs — whilst the cook sat in the kitchen
reading a novel. At one hotel I stayed at a barmaid
had gone into the bar to talk to her friend before her
own hours of work began, and both proprietress and
barmaid were hauled before the court and fined,
because, legally, the barmaid had no right to be on
the premises before the stipulated hour.

184 AUSTRALIA
Of course, cooks ought to be allowed to read
novels and barmaids ought not to be overworked.
Workmen should receive standard wages. But the
tightening of the legal cord is destroying friendly
relations between employers and employed — for in
A.ustralia, as elsewhere, all employers are not
sweaters, and all work-people do not possess all the
virtues. The two classes regard each other as
enemies. The drift is to make the employer heart
less and the employee callous.
For what it is worth, I may be allowed to state
that I believe in trade unions. Dock labourers have
as much right to combine as doctors or solicitors.
But here is a significant instance. The wharfingers
who work in Sydney Harbour have got an exceed
ingly strong union. It is so strong that no shipping
company dare employ a non-union worker, or load
ing and unloading by the harbour-side would come
to a standstill. Every wharfinger must be a trade
unionist. Very well. The Sydney wharfingers,
having won the battle so far, closed their books and
would not permit any man to join the union. They
created a closed corporation, first, by refusing to
allow any man to work alongside them unless he
belonged to the union ; and then they objected to
any new men joining their union. That action,
intended to force up wages, had to be smashed in
a court of law. The court accepted the right of
the unionists to dictate as to the employment of non-
unionists, but laid it down that they must keep their
books open to permit any qualified worker to join
the union. Wharfingering is not a skilled trade.

THE WORKING MAN 185
it is the employment to which most sturdy new
comers would naturally turn. Therefore, the atti
tude of the Sydney wharfingers to the fresh arrivals :
"Go and work elsewhere, or starve, but we do not
want you to compete with us," provides better proof
than innumerable fine speeches of the way the
workers view the immigration question.
No one — certainly not I — can criticise the Aus
tralian working man for attending to his own
interests. But he really must not talk about the
possibilities of his country when he resists the
coming of men who may assist in its development.
Of course, the trouble is that the Australian is a
town dweller. There is not a sufficiently growing
agricultural population to be fed with the manufac
tures of the town, as in Canada. So far as manu
factures are concerned, the AustraUans are living
very much on each other, for, with the high wages
that obtain, one cannot conceive the Australians
being able to send their goods to compete with the
goods of countries whose prices will be cheaper
because the wages are lower. That hurls one back
to the cardinal principle for Australia's salvation :
get immigrants, and plenty of them, and settle
them on the land.
In all the towns I visited I went to the factories.
Sometimes I wanted to go ; more often I was press
ingly invited. Eemembering how new Australia is,
they were aU creditable. But when I was taken to
a twopenny-halfpenny place to admire very ordinary
manufactories, after I had seen hundreds of better
places in other parts of the globe, and was told

i86 AUSTRALIA
that the system was the best in the world — well, it
was embarrassing. Except in the manufacture of
some agricultural appliances, I saw nothing being
made that I have not seen made as well else
where. But the conditions under which men and women
worked were certainly superior to those in most
countries I have visited. To my brain jumps re
membrance of particular cases in England and
America, where the conditions of the factories are
superior to anything I saw in Australia. General
conclusions, however, must not be drawn from par
ticular instances. Therefore, taking the broad
view, I say that the factories and workshops are,
in build, lighting, guarding of dangerous parts of
machinery and sanitary conditions, decidedly an
improvement on the usual conditions in the Old
Worid. At Sydney I heard whispers about "sweating."
So I made it my business to visit several "sweat
shops " where cheap clothing is made, chiefly by
women. One of my correspondents told me I would
see a state of things worse than I had witnessed in
the East-end of London. I got a factory inspector
to show me the "sweat shops." I was surprised.
There was no comparison whatever. The crowded,
malodorous state of some of the tailoring dens in
the East-end has no counterpart in Sydney. In
the hot months — and the heat of Sydney can wither
all strength out of your sinews— it ran^i be un
comfortable. Yet I saw no overcrowding. There
was plenty of ventilation ; the women were drawing

THE WORKING MAN 187
fair wages, and they lacked those sad, weary-eyed,
pasty-cheeked characteristics which are so sorrow
ful to note amongst the bedraggled victims of the
"sweat shop" in East London.
In quick summary, the Australian worker is
healthier-looking than the British worker. He has
shorter hours, and he earns more money. In the
shearing of sheep and the preparing of mutton the
Briton is "not in it" with the AustraUan. But in
all other work it was never my fortune to come
across any evidence that the Australian is quicker
or turns out a better article than his brother worker
in the "Old Country."

CHAPTEE XVII
systems of EDUCATION — THE STATE AS PARENT
" There is nothing but the human
Touch can heal the human woe." ViOTOE J. Dalbt.
Compared with the four and a half millions
population of the Australian continent, the number
of children attending the primary schools is not large,
just under three-quarters of a million. Which is one
of the proofs that the birth-rate is far behind what it
ought to be in a new country. The original settlers
had families of ten or a dozen children. The modern
Australian contents himself, and particularly herself,
with one or two children.
Excepting Western Australia, Victoria, and
Tasmania, the Commonwealth now shows a decreas
ing school attendance, consequent on a falling birth
rate — one of the saddest and most significant things
which presses upon the mind when thinking of the
future of this too sparsely inhabited continent.
But the scheme of instruction, though varying
somewhat in the different States, is broad and demo
cratic, compulsory and undenominational ; and there
are plenty of people who ascribe the existing slack
ness in religious life, the lax morality, and the
neglect of bringing families into the world — causing
i88

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 189
much concern to good Australians — to the absence
of dogmatic religious teaching.
Eecognising, however, that in some areas families
are far spread from each other, the way in which
the State Governments have battled with difficulties
and overcome them has been courageous.
The inefficacy of small schools has long been
recognised, and the endeavour is to centralise — ^to
have, say, one good school in a district rather than
several small and badly equipped schools scattered
around. In the towns there is little difficulty, and
the education, generally, is quite up to the level of
that given in other enlightened communities, and
very much on the same lines. The trouble has been
in regard to the remote districts, sheep stations
which are frequently several miles from each other,
and on which maybe there are only a couple of
families. So provisional schools are established to
meet the requirements of cases where the number
of scholars is under a dozen, though when the
attendance goes beyond that number a public school,
with a qualified teacher, is invariably provided. But
so tiny are the families of those parts, that often the
authorities are not justified in starting even a pro
visional school. Then teachers visit the different
districts on alternate days, whilst in the thinnest
areas an itinerant teacher goes the round of certain
homesteads. New South Wales has even estabUshed a travel
ling school, consisting of a van. The teacher takes
a tent with him, pitches it, hauls out the books from
the van, a dose of instruction is given, the tent is

190 AUSTRALIA
packed away, and the van moves on to another
place. This arrangement is primitive and unsatis
factory, but it is as much as can be expected in a
land where there are mighty plains over which you
can ride for days without catching a glimpse of
a habitation. A fine thing about the Australian system of
education is that all the requisite steps are provided
to enable a clever pupil to march straight from
the primary school to the university. But this is
not general. Queensland has no distinctly second
ary schools. Though there are technical schools in
Western AustraUa, there are no genuine secondary
schools. Tasmania has not provided for the inter
mediate instruction which should come between
that given at a primary school and that which is to
be received at a university. The other States have
made provision. Of course, in- all States there is a
full appreciation of its desirability, and only the
matter of pence and pounds stands in the way.
Training in agricultural subjects is eminently neces
sary, and though there is plenty of room for im
provement, there is at present a very healthy move
in the direction of instructing lads how to go upon
the land as farmers. Not only are there perambu
lating teachers of agriculture attending the State
schools, but agricultural colleges are provided and
appreciated. Also training colleges for teachers are
springing up in the States. Thus satisfactory
foundations are being laid for sound instruction.
Now for a few points of detail : for I want to show
that, though there are points of defect in Australian

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 191
education, the people of the country are determined
to do what they can to equip the rising generation
with the knowledge necessary to make them com
petent citizens. In New South Wales and Tas
mania, where the children live some distance from
the school-house, they are carried free over the
Government railways. In Victoria, instead of free
travelling, the State makes a contribution of three
pence or fourpence a day toward travelling expenses,
dependent, of course, on satisfactory attendance. In
some rural places a free conveyance is provided for
the children. Good attendance, as in England, does
not mean a certain attendance, no matter how young
the child is, nor how far it lives from a school. The
requisite attendance differs in different States. But
it all depends on the school radius and the age of the
child. Take the case of Victoria, where the child
must attend 75 per cent, of the school-days when it
is under seven years of age, and lives within a mile
of the school ; or two miles if it is between seven and
nine years ; or two and a half miles between nine
and eleven ; whilst all children over eleven years of
age must make 75 per cent, of attendances if they
live within three miles of the school. A sensible
plan, and not putting too great a physical strain on
toddlers under seven years of age. In Western
Australia much the same radius is adopted, but
there regular attendance means being present every
day that the school is open.
To deal with the smallest children, free kinder
gartens have been established, first in Sydney and
then in Adelaide — chiefly maintained by private

192 AUSTRALIA
subscription, though the Governments make limited
grants. I shaU always remember a very happy
morning I spent in Adelaide visiting free kinder
garten schools, just converted cottages, and seeing
the children, tidy and clean, though coming from
poor parents, noting the delight of the youngsters,
the kindliness of the teachers, and the enthusiasm
of the ladies who make this particular branch of
education their special care.
Another thing I admired was the attention paid
to manual training. The clamour for purely
scholastic instruction which swept over the English-
speaking nations some forty years ago has been
softening of late years. Education consists in much
more than turning out millions of young people who
are ashamed to dirty their hands with toil, and jostle
one another in the market for clerks and typewriters.
AustraUa, whilst not behindhand in general curricu
lum, has rightly laid hold of the principle that
manual training may be more serviceable than some
of the things now being taught. I am not going to
say I came across anything to arouse ecstasy. The
chief point is that a start has been made, and educa
tion would travel fast if the necessary money could
be obtained from the Government.
New South Wales leads the way. In all the big
schools I visited not only were gardening and agricul
ture generally given a prominent position, but
carpentering, weaving, and metal-work were taught ;
all most valuable to develop particular talents, and,
maybe, turn a lad into a useful craftsman, whereas,
without such training, he would have drifted into

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 193
the army of clerks, of which there are already too
many in Australia, as in other countries. Cookery
is taught in some of the schools, a necessary accom
plishment for girls, because it cannot be fairly
declared that the ordinary household cookery in
AustraUa is anything of which anybody has any
reason to be proud.
The method of school control is not the same in
all the States. The Government is primarily re
sponsible, with the Education Minister in charge;
but he naturally delegates administration to local
boards. In New South Wales these boards are
nominated by the Governor, but in aU other States
the parents have the deciding voice in choice. But
then comes secondary education, provided in some
States by high schools, business colleges, technical
schools, and agricultural colleges. Innumerable
scholarships and bursaries are provided, and so the
country lad has a chance to compete with the town
lad. A clever country boy in New South Wales,
winning a scholarship, gets three years' superior
education for nothing and £30 a year towards his
maintenance. In Victoria, though there are no high
schools, there are continuation and technical schools,
which fairly well cover the ground. Forty scholar
ships a year, moreover, are provided to help lads on
to obtain degrees in mining or agriculture at the
university. Any boy under fourteen and a half
years can compete, and if the father's income is less
than £250 a year, then the State contributes to the
lad's travelling expenses and cost of lodgings. The
private business colleges to be found in the big
N

194 AUSTRALIA
towns, though doing good work, are still a long way
behind the commercial colleges which are now to be
found all over Europe.
Let it ever be remembered to the honour of the
sturdy men of fifty and sixty years ago, who, just
when the first rush of immigration came to Aus
tralia, saw the needs of the future, and proceeded
to lay the foundations for universities. It would be
absurd to compare the universities in Sydney, Mel
bourne, or Adelaide with our older institutions ; but
they stand very well in comparison with some of
our newer universities. In appliances they are cer
tainly quite up to date. Of course, the cry of the
professors with whom I talked the matter over was
for more money, more money — their work was
crippled through want of money. And, whilst ex
cellent service has been done by old settlers who
want those who come after to be well provisioned
with knowledge, there still remains a stratum of
prosperous, bull-headed, stubborn old fellows who
look upon university education as so much waste of
time. The head of one of the universities told me
that he was one of a deputation which waited upon
an Education Minister to plead for more money.
They were startled, on entering the room, by the
minister greeting them : " I'm glad to see you,
gentlemen, but I may tell you before you begin
talking that this Government don't care a d  for
science." Australia is supposed to be drifting to
ward Socialism, but the same professor told me that,
as a rule, the Labour members of the State Parlia
ment were more sympathetic toward university

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 195
extension than were those who, in their earlier years,
had heen benefited by a better education.
Quite naturally, in a new nation working out its
destiny on lines of its own, the whole trend is toward
practical instead of academic subjects. There are
valuable endowments and the establishment of
elaborate laboratories. Female as well as male
students are admitted to the courses of lectures.
Besides general studies there are medical schools,
schools of engineering, mining schools, courses in
agriculture,, schools of dentistry. The fees are
moderate ; the scholarships are many. Queensland
and Western Australia ar<5 still without universities,
but it can only be a matter of limited time before
they also raise their educational shoulders to the
level of their neighbouring States.
Now a word or two of criticism. The salaries
paid the professors at the universities, and, indeed,
the teaching profession in Australia generally, are
better than in England, but not so good as in the
United States. It was my delight to meet not only
at the universities, but in their private homes, many
of the men who are giving their best to Australia.
They were men of high university attainments at
home, and if it were not for the sincere love of learn
ing they have in their hearts it would be difficult to
understand why they continue the life. Now and
then I heard native-born Australians grumble about
the importation of professors from home. They
ought to be exceedingly grateful. Even if Aus
tralia could give the foundation of learning which can
be obtained at the British universities, how can they

196 AUSTRALIA
expect Australians — who have not taken to breeding
a purely literary, academic, and scientific class — ^to
give their abilities for small pay when there are
so many other walks of life where the recompense is
greater ?
Another point. Whilst I can well understand so
much educational energy being directed to practical
and see-able things, the limited instruction given in
Australia in history and geography is lamentable.
Full of admiration though I be for the work done in
other directions, I doubt if there is any civilised
nation on the face of this earth so ignorant concern
ing geography and history as the Australians. "The
past is dead — what have we got to do with it ? " is
the attitude of the average man towards history.
He has yet to be taught that even a young nation
like Australia has much to learn from the life-history
of other nations. Having but a superficial acquaint
ance with ancient history, and knowing virtually
nothing of modern history, and having the most
ludicrous ideas about the geography of other lands
and their possibilities, the Australian does not do
himself justice. For, naturally a fair-minded man,
he misses the very things which would enable him
to secure a judicious and balanced idea about the
place Australia happens to hold in the congress of
nations at the present time. Travelled Australians,
with a better and wider outlook, mourn grievously
that the majority of their countrymen should so
often put themselves in a false and stupid position,
not because they want to be ignorant about other
lands, but because the people, as a whole, have not

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 197
yet grasped the use of a proper study of history and
geography. Nowhere in the world do you find the principle
of the State in the capacity of parent advanced to
such an extent as in South Australia. Here the
State has come to recognise that the child belongs to
it, that it must feed, nurse, clothe, and educate it.
Youngsters who misconduct themselves are taken
before a youthful offenders' court, absolutely inde
pendent of the ordinary police court, and in the
serious cases sent to a reformatory. That is just
the same as in other countries. Where South Aus
tralia is different from other lands is that inspectors
go about the poorer districts, and when they find
drunken or harsh parents, or immoral homes, the
authorities have the right to take the children away.
They are not put into union workhouses, but are
invariably boarded out with some respectable family
in the country, and the father is called upon to con
tribute. Generally he does, but often he skips into
another State, where the expense of pursuing him
would be too great. The State undertakes the
function of guardian, though, if the parents improve
the home, there is a prospect of the child or children
being allowed to retum. There is, however, little
of this, and the State stands in the position of parent
untU the wards reach twenty-one years. The time
arrives, when the child approaches fourteen years of
age, and is likely to begin earning money, for some
relative to display a sudden desire for the boy or
girl to leave their foster-parents and live at home.
The State will not allow anything of the kind if

198 AUSTRALLV
there is the slightest suspicion that it is the earnings
the relative is after.
The children above fourteen years of age become
"service children." They are taken from the homes
of their foster-parents who have received payment,
and are put with families who feed, clothe, and keep
them in retum for service, the lad working about a
farm or leaming a trade, or assisting in a shop, and
the girls generally acting as domestic servants. In
ordinary circumstances the State children receive
their freedom at eighteen. But that is only if the
State parent, through its inspectors, is quite certain
that they have the moral qualities to enable them to
stand alone and begin the battle of life. The State
has the right, and it is frequently exercised in the
case of girls, to extend the period of authority by
single years up to the age of twenty-one, when the
State relinquishes all authority.
Eecently there has been established a private
fund intended to help clever children, who, having
qualities to fit them for something different from
working on a farm, can proceed even to the uni
versity and adopt one of the higher professions.
Now , all this has its origin in the most Christian
of motives. The men and women who, under the
authority of the Government, are given control of
these State children, are as noble-minded as any it
has ever been my privilege to meet. They care for
the children as though they were their own. Often
the children, drawn from an unsavoury home circle,
are difficult to deal with; they lie, are careless, and
the girls are without any idea of household work.

SYSTEMS OF EDUCATION 199
Yet kindness has done much, and, from all I could
learn, the foster-parents, the people with whom the
children are boarded out, care for their charges with
genuine love. There are frequent applications to
adopt the children. But the State does not part
with its own authority unless the children have lived
in the family for many years and there is sufficient
evidence of real affection.
The State looks after the material welfare of the
child from its very birth. In Euiopean countries
there are maternity homes, where poor women may
go. They and the children are generally turned out
a fortnight or so after the birth. If the home to
which the woman goes is wretched, there is more
than a possibility that the child will not survive six
months, especially if the mother has to earn a liveli
hood and the child has to be reared on other than
its natural food. In South Australia, if the woman
is poor, the State will keep her and the child for six
months, with free medical attendance and plenty of
instruction about children, on the one condition that
the child is given its natural food from the breast.
There are no slums in South Australia. Human
nature, however, is very much the same all the world
over, and there are callous and neglectful parents.
Because there are such parents is no reason why the
child should suffer ; every baby is a new immigrant
into the State, and the State wants it to be healthy
and strong, weU fed, with good surroundings and
fair opportunities put in its way. So the State says
to the parent : " If you are poor we help the mother
and child. If you are neglectful of your duties we

20O AUSTRALIA
shall take the child from you ; you will have no more
voice as to its upbringing than as though you were
a stranger. If we do not think your influence is for
good we will not tell you where the child is, so you
cannot write. We will force you to pay, but if you
escape us we will still take care of the child, for it is
ours till it reaches twenty-one years."
The beautiful humanitarian thoughts behind all
this will touch the heart of anyone. Yet, when all
this has been said, another thought sprouts: "Are
you interfering with parental responsibility? Are
you playing into the hands of the wastrel, who re
fuses to fulfil his duties as a father — struggling,
striving, proving the manhood that is in him, in
order to feed his bairns — because he knows and may
be glad that by neglect and ill-treatment he will lose
his children to his own advantage? "
That the noble work to help the helpless may
have its effect in weakening the appreciation of
parental responsibility is undoubted. Such responsi
bility, filial affection, the duties of family life, do not
occupy the place in Australia which you might ex
pect to find amongst people with ideals. Con
currently, therefore, with the movement to give all
children a fair chance in the world, a little more
might be done toward inculcating the principles of
responsibility into the minds of parents who are
bringing a family into the world. It may be that
fostering the theory, "the State is the parent," does
harm amongst that very class who ought to, but do
not always, know their duty.

CHAPTEE XVIII
EXPERIMENTS IN LABOUR LEGISLATION
¦* Who can say, ' Thus far, no farther,' to the tide of his own
nature ?
Who can mould the spirit's fashion to the counsel of his will T
Square his being by enactment — shape his soul to legislature —
Be himself his law of living, his own art of good and ill T "
Brunton Stephens.
Leaving all comment on one side, I propose to
give some sort of r^sum^ of the position of Austra
lian labour in the eyes of the Australian law.
The people of the Commonwealth, with no in
volved conditions of society, with no customs which
have the powers of legal enactment, are engaged in
a great industrial experiment. It is a land of
workers ; the leisured class is small to insignificance.
The politicians are dependent on the democratic
vote for their return to the State Parliaments, which
pass the laws applicable to capital and labour in
their respective spheres. All the State Govern
ments are "advanced," and — from the British
standard — with strong leanings toward Socialism.
Anyway, no Government could expect to hold office
if its first and chief interest were not to benefit
the working man.
The result is that the rules of the trade unions
have become the law, and there is not an industry

202 AUSTRALIA
which is not hedged with regulations concerning
conditions of work, hours, and wages to be paid.
The eight-hours' day is operative throughout the
Commonwealth, and both employer and employed
are liable to punishment if longer hours are worked.
Labour Governments come and go, but, whoever is
in power, the working man's vote has to be nursed,
and during the last ten years stacks of statutes have
been passed Wages Boards and Arbitration Courts
have been set up. The eight-hours' day sometimes
means forty-eight hours a week, but as the workman
wants to get away at noon on Saturday, it is often
forty-four hours, and in some cases it is only forty-
two hours. Shops, except in Tasmania, come within
the purview of the eight-hours' plan, even to small
shops looked after by the proprietor and members
of his family. There is a provision in Victoria,
however, that shops where there is not more than
one assistant, paid or not paid, shall be allowed to
remain open for two hours a day longer than other
shops where more assistants are engaged. The law
throughout the Commonwealth is that all shops, save
those I have just mentioned, close at six o'clock each
night on four days of the week, ten o'clock on one
day (in South Australia it is nine o'clock), and one
o'clock in the afternoon on one day, thus providing
a half -holiday. Accordingly, after six o'clock in the
evening scarcely a shop is to be found open. Hotels
and public-houses are allowed to remain open much
later — though no employee must work longer than
eight hours — with the consequence that a cynical
friend was able to remark, whilst we were strolling

LABOUR LEGISLATION 203
through the Melboume streets : " You see a poor
woman cannot buy a loaf of bread after six o'clock,
but her husband can buy drink up tiU ten o'clock."
Most of the Factory Acts are based on British
legislation. As there is a strong feeling against
Asiatic labour, it is the law in some States that the
employment of one Chinese constitutes a factory,
whilst the employment of seven whites brings the
place within that definition. The Chinese have got
a good deal of the cheap furniture business in their
hands ; and I found , on visiting some of their work
shops, that they are compelled to stamp their furni
ture and so disclose the fact that it has been made
by Chinese labour. Women and boys are not
allowed to work near dangerous machinery. To
prevent the state of things which has grown up in
some millinery establishments in the old countries,
the minimum wage is 2s. 6d. a week, and no pre
mium is allowed to be paid by female apprentices
and improvers. In most factories the earliest age
at which a woman is allowed to work is eighteen
years, and in at least two of the States — New South
Wales and Western Australia — women are not
allowed to work within four weeks after childbirth.
Wages Boards exist in most of the States. As
there is the possibility of different standards being set
up in neighbouring States, there is a Commonwealth
Arbitration Court to deal with matters which affect
two or more States. The Wages Board system,
started in Victoria in 1896 to deal with the trades
of butchering, bread-making, furniture, and cloth
ing, has been extended to include practically every

204 AUSTRALIA
trade. A Wages Board consists of from four to ten
persons, employers and employed being equally
represented. The stipulation is that the members
must have been actively engaged in their trade up to
their appointment, a provision to keep out the hired
glib spokesman. The boards are nominated, though
in cases of objection an elected representative may
be sent. This does not apply to the Furniture
Board, which is nominated outright in order to keep
the Chinese in check. Each board, holding office
for three years, nominates its own independent
chairman, who is appointed by the minister in charge
of the Labour Department. It therefore foUows
that the independent chairman is invariably sympa
thetic toward the employees. To quote from the
Commonwealth official publication, a board has
"power to determine the lowest wages, prices, or
rates to be paid to persons, or classes of persons,
coming within the Act for wholly or partly prepar
ing, manufacturing, or repairing articles, and for
other services rendered, and may fix special rates
for aged, infirm, and slow workers." The board
fixes the hours, decides the wages to be paid, and in
South Australia limits the number of apprentices.
When a workman is old, slow, or infirm he may seek
a licence from the Chief Inspector of Factories, to be
renewed each twelve months, to work for a lower
wage than the minimum rate. The trade unions,
however, are not favourable to this kind of work
man. So what generally happens is that when an
artisan falls below the ability to earn the minimum
wage he is squeezed out of his trade altogether. The

LABOUR LEGISLATION 205
determination of a Wages Board remains operative
until the board alters it, or it is altered by the Court
of Appeal ; and, when applied to a town or city, its
operation generally extends to workers ten miles
beyond the municipal radius.
To settle industrial disputes the compulsory
arbitration laws of AustraUa can be put in force.
Employers and employed may settle disputes by
agreement, as is frequently done in Britain, but they
must be registered. Then the awards are supposed
to be as binding as though they were Acts of Parlia
ment. In cases of non-agreement, the dispute is
adjudicated upon by the Arbitration Court, which
consists of a judge of the High Court in cases of in
ter-State importance, and a judge of the Supreme
Court in State disputes. In the latter case he has
two aids, representing the employers and employed
respectively. This Arbitration Court lays down the law, and
commands disputants concerning their relationships.
One party, employers, or workpeople through their
trade union, may apply to the court for a difference
not covered by the Wages Board to be settled by the
Arbitration Court. For there is nothing outside
the jurisdiction of the Arbitration Court. Wages,
hours, privileges, duties, preferential employment,
dismissal, or non-employment of particular persons
— such as the refusal of an employer to keep in his
service an agitator — can be brought before the court,
and if the judge decides the agitator is to be em
ployed, the employer must give him work or be
severely penalised.

2o6 AUSTRALLV
Besides all this, laws have been passed abolishing
the employment of Pacific Islanders in the sugar
plantations. Certain stiff educational tests are
applied to immigrants, with the direct intention to
exclude Asiatic and, indeed, all coloured peoples
from the continent. As I stated in a previous
chapter, no workman of another country, an
Englishman, say, is allowed admission into Aus
traUa if, before leaving home, he has entered into
a contract with an Australian employer — unless
the Minister of External Affairs approves of the
contract. Excepting in the case of British subjects,
this means that the Minister "must be satisfied that
there exists a difficulty of obtaining a worker of equal
skill and ability in the Commonwealth." The con
sequence is that less than a thousand workers a year
are admitted into all Australia to work under con-
tract, and the majority are agricultural labourers
introduced into Queensland to work in the sugar
plantations. So much for a general r^sum^ of the conditions
of labour in most of the trades. Now let us look to
see how the whole thing works. That wages are
higher, hours shorter, and conditions of employ
ment vastly improved, may go without saying. But
immigration is not expedited thereby, for except
under special circumstances the skilled British
artisan is not allowed to land in Australia if before
leaving home he has taken the precaution to have a
definite job to turn to when he lands. But let him
arrive without any knowledge how or where he is
going to earn a living, and he is granted permission !

LABOUR LEGISLATION 207
What British workman of skill is going to spend
money to go out to Australia on terms such as these ?
He does not go. The Australian will tell you the
strict law against contract labour is to prevent
employers flooding the market with cheap workers,
and thus, by economic pressure, forcing down wages.
But no contract labour is allowed, even when the
immigrant has an agreement whereby he shall re
ceive the standard rate or even more. The whole
effect, and it is intentional, is to keep skilled work
men of Britain and other lands out of Australia, by
refusing them admission if they dare to come with
a contract in their pockets to receive certain pay for
certain labour. In the Commonwealth Year Book
for 1909 the latest statistics given are for 1907, and
from these I find forty-seven British and thirteen
Germans were admitted to labour as artisans under
contract ! I quite recognise that Australia to-day
is in need of agriculturists rather than men who are
industrially skilful, but in 1907 only 912 farm
labourers were allowed to land in Australia with
a knowledge that they had definite work to go to !
The theory of the minimum wage is excellent.
Every labourer is worthy of his hire, and it may
readily be conceded that the thought in the minds of
those who agitated for Wages Boards was to save
the workpeople in certain trades from slipping into
the grip of the sweater. From the investigations I
made, it became clear that the tendency is for the
minimum and maximum wage to be the same. It is
quite true that in some factories all the employees
were drawing more than the minimum wage, be-

2o8 AUSTRALIA
cause the employers, having special work, very
naturally wanted to attract the best men. So ex
ceptions can be found. But as labour is not over-
plentiful in Australia, and the minimum is fixed by
law, the only way in which an employer can get
straight is by keeping down the wages of his better
men. Say the minimum wage is 10s. a day. He
cannot pay less, though some of the men are barely
worth it ; so the man who is worth 12s. is kept down
to 10s. Of course, the matter is one of controversy,
and therefore I will be content with saying that my
own personal conclusion was that the fixing of a
minimum wage produced a contentment in the
worker, which, though pleasant enough, deprived
him of the ambition which might lead him on to do
much better.
On the whole, the Wages Boards do their work
smoothly and harmoniously. Running over the
statistics of a number of decisions, the satisfactory
thing was to find so many of them were arrived at
unanimously. As to their effect, they have cer
tainly checked sweating, particularly in the clothing
trade, and trades in which women are largely em
ployed. But the decisions do not apply to home
workers, and therefore elderly men, unable to earn
a minimum man's wage in a factory, take to work
at poor pay in their homes, and thus, to a consider
able extent, have thrown the women home workers
out of employment altogether. The boards have not
increased employment, but, as I have shown, they
have certainly had some influence in lifting the
wages of the average worker.

LABOUR LEGISLATION 209
That the object of the Wages Boards and Arbitra
tion Courts, to improve the condition of the workers
and to secure a settlement of disputes without the
violent arbitrament of strikes, has been attained in
some measure is undoubted. But the unfortunate
fact remains that the law can be operative against
an employer if he refuses to comply with an award,
whilst it is practically inoperative in the case of
workmen who ignore it. Also, various cases have
proved that the trade unions, whilst hailing with
approval awards for the benefit of their members,
ignore them and denounce the Arbitration Courts
when the decisions have been given against them.
That there is interference with personal Uberty is
demonstrated by the fact that che courts insist on
preferential treatment being given to trade unionists.
The unions have made it difficult for new members
to join, and so, by creating a sort of close corpora
tion and restricting the output, have raised wages.
Then there is pressure by the unions in favour of
"the last to come the first to go " ; that is, that the
latest comers, no matter how skilled they be, should
be the first dismissed when it is proposed to reduce
the number of employees.
Very stringent are the regulations preventing any
man doing any work which does not come within the
strictest definition of his particular employment.
A groom is not allowed to make any repairs in a piece
of harness, however slight. Here is a Sydney case
which wiU show to what extremes the unions occa
sionally carry their demands. In the Australian
maritime service are three kinds of trade — "deep
o

210 AUSTRALLV
sea," or foreign; "inter-colonial," mainly between
different States ; and "coastal," that is, from one port
in a State to another port in the same State. The
pay of seamen varies, that for "deep sea" sailors
being lower than the others. Then, in the unload
ing or loading of the different kinds of ships by the
quays of Sydney, the Wharf Labourers' Union insist
on different rates of pay. Men working on coastal
or inter-colonial boats get Is. an hour, and those
working on foreign boats get Is. 3d. an hour. There
is a good deal of trade done with Fiji and the sur
rounding archipelago, and this trade was classed as
"deep sea," and the wharf labourers received Is. 3d.
an hour. The shipowners, having to yield to this,
wanted the seamen to be paid at " deep sea " rates,
just the same as other "deep sea" boats. "Oh,
no," said the union, "in rating these vessels we
insist they be treated as though they belonged to
the inter-colonial or coastal trade, in which the
pay is higher than in ' deep sea ' boats." The case
was carried to the Arbitration Court, and the court
decided in favour of the will of the union. Thus it
comes about that, as for the purposes of the seamen
these boats are ranked as "inter-colonial," but for
the wharf labourers' purposes as " deep sea " boats,
the shipowners have to pay on the higher scale in
each case.
Innumerable cases came to my notice that the
law of the Australian States, not always consistent,
is very much what the trade unions want it to be.
There was the case of the Hunter Steamship Com
pany. The union workers "bossed the show," and

LABOUR LEGISLATION 211
when the company did not do as these men desired,
a picnic was arranged just when the men were
needed to advance work. To prevent interruptions
like this the company proposed to engage constant
men at a weekly wage ; they were willing to pay
union men £3 a week. The union officials refused.
Then the company engaged men from, outside. The
Arbitration Court decided that the local trade
unionists must be reinstated, and the company was
obliged to discharge the men they had engaged to
work by the week. Then there are the cases of the
American ships. Resolute and Andromeda. The
Resolute arrived in Sydney harbour with timber,
and the captain employed his own crew to discharge
it into lighters. Action was taken against him for
acting as a stevedore, and the clause of the Arbitra
tion Act governing stevedores set forth "that all
cargo must be discharged by union labour at union
rates." The court, however, decided the captain
was not a stevedore, and the summons was dis
missed. A week or two later along came the
Andromeda, and the captain, undertaking to pay his
men a little more for the work, employed the crew
to discharge the cargo into lighters. He was sum
monsed. He ignored it, whereupon, although the
two cases were on all fours, the Arbitration Court
fined him £50. He was also fined £5 for not em
ploying union labour ; he was commanded to cease
unloading until he engaged unionists and paid them
union rates. This he was compelled to obey. An
oil company engaged six youths, of ages varying
from eighteen to twenty -one years, to see to the

212 AUSTRALIA
tightening of hoops on the casks. Simple and
elementary though this work was, the Arbitration
Court decreed that the hammering was cooperage
work, must be done by coopers, and therefore the
company was fined, the boys were discharged, and
coopers at £3 a week had to be engaged to do boys'
work. Men who are not trade unionists have the utmost
difficulty in getting employment. Employers have
been called upon to dismiss non-unionists who are
good men, and then when, for the sake of peace,
the men have expressed their willingness to join the
union, they have been told the books are closed.
Again I say I am personally in favour of trade
unions. I believe they have done an enormous
amount of good in raising the status and wages of
the workers. I believe it is unfair for a non-unionist
to get advantages which he personally has done
nothing to secure. But I am at a loss to understand
the spite shown in too many cases in Australia, or
why an Arbitration Court, with delegated powers,
should make laws concerning labour, give decisions
without allowing the persons cited to defend them
selves, nor have its decisions revised or even reviewed
by any other authority.
The preference clause in the New South Wales
Act amounts to the law of the land being utilised
for furthering political purposes rather than to im
prove industrial conditions. The trade unions prac
tically dictate the labour laws Yet only a small
minority of the working men of Australia belong
to the trade unions. Things go even further, for

LABOUR LEGISLATION 213
an employer is not always allowed to decide what
workman he should employ. I heard of a case : A
Mr. Wildman wanted a workman. Two applied.
He chose the non-unionist, because, in his opinion,
he was a more competent man than the unionist.
For doing this he was fined £2 and £2 2s. costs, and
the arbitration judge told him it was the Arbitra
tion Court, and not the employer, who must decide
as to the relative competency of employees.
The consequence of all this legislation is to create
the unpleasantest kind of relationship between em
ployers and employed. I met lots of typical repre
sentatives of both classes, really fair-minded,
courteous men, until the conversation turned on
wages, and then I saw a bitterness, a vindictiveness,
almost a savagery, between class and class, which,
happily, in Great Britain, with all our industrial
complications, we are very Uttle acquainted with.
These compulsory arbitration courts, having for their
object the amicable settlement of differences, have
promoted strife. They generally operate against the
employers because they are the employers. The
men at the head of great concerns, whilst apprecia
tive of their men, feel they are harassed, and many
of them were pessimistic in telling me their woes.
No doubt some took a too unfavourable view of the
prospects. But it is a bad thing for the industrial
development of a country when the men who have
carried the development to the position it holds lose
heart, are moody, and miss no opportunity to warn
the visitor against being too much impressed with
stories about the abounding prosperity of the land-

CHAPTER XIX
A WHITE AUSTRALIA
"May this, thy last-bom infant, thMi arise.
To glad the heart and greet thy parent eyes j
And Australasia float, with flag unfurl'd,
A new Britannia in another world."
WnjJAM Chaeles Wbntwoeth.
The vision of the Australian continent peopled
entirely with a white race is magnificent. The turn
ing of the vision into a reality is the ambition of all
Australians. True, they are far removed from those
parts of the world where the white races originated,
and are next door to races which are yellow,
brown, and black. Therefore we have the striking
phenomenon of a race from the west being im
planted in the east. Time and distance are con
siderably obliterated in these days of telegraphs and
fast steamers. Geographically, however, Australia
is an oriental country.
In some other parts of the world I have en
countered splashes of racial antipathy amongst the
whites against the blacks. Nowhere, however, have
I remarked so much as in Australia how practically
the entire population is pledged to resist people from
Asia becoming settlers in Australia. The objections
are quite plain, and are frankly stated. There is
the racial prejudice, the fear that the whites would
3X4

A WHITE AUSTRALIA 215
deteriorate if there were intermarriage. Chiefly the
resistance is economic. The democracy of Australia
have quite definite opinions on this matter. They
have been drawn from European countries, and have
in the main come from a class ill-rewarded in the
matter of wages. They have settled chiefly along
the southern fringe of the continent, and principally
in the south-east comer, where the climatic con
ditions are favourable. Life is pleasant ; the future
is regarded with hopefulness. There are tariff
walls erected to hinder the cheaply produced goods
of Europe having free access into the Commonwealth
to under-sell articles of Australian manufacture,
and so, by the force of competition, pull down prices.
Having taken this action against the lesser-paid
whites of Europe, the Australian feels he would be
committing industrial suicide if his ports were
thrown open to the Chinese, Japanese, the Hindus,
and the races of the Pa«ific. The Asiatic will work
longer hours than the white man, and he will be
content with a reward which, to the white, would be
below the line of decent living. The Australian,
accordingly, holds tight to the intention to resist by
every means in his power any part of his country
passing into the possession of Asiatics.
But the possibUity of an invasion of dusky peoples
is something like a nightmare in the minds of
Australian statesmen. They are animated by the
fine ideal of making Australia a new white-man's
land like North America. They know that the
teeming millions of China are streaming into every
part of the world that is open to them, and that the

2i6 AUSTRALIA
Japanese, with islands already too crowded with
population, are looking for outlets. They know
quite well that avaricious eyes are cast upon northern
Australia. Restrictive legislation in regard to immi
grants is severe, in order to prevent Asiatics entering
the country. Yet at the back of most minds is the
recognition that the day may come when one of
these races, say the Japanese, so well equipped in
military power, possessing so expert and well
manned a navy, may make a giant endeavour to
secure the northern portion of the Commonwealth.
Let us look the situation straight in the face.
The older countries of the world, including Japan
and China, are overcrowded. Just as England is
sending its sons to settle in other parts of the world,
and so extending and strengthening the Empire, the
Japanese with their new-born ambitions, with the
desire to become a colonial power in the East, are
undoubtedly determined, one of these days and
before long, to find possessions elsewhere.
Now, Australia has but a drop of the population
of the world. It is possible to travel hundreds of
miles and never encounter a white man. The great
northern stretch of the country, uninhabited, is but
waiting for labour to burst into fruitfulness. What
will the Australian people say when the question is
put to them, "As you are not developing this region,
what right have you to prohibit other people from
developing it? It was not your land in the first
instance. You obtained it by conquest that was
peaceful. What can you do to resist conquest by
force of arms? Who are you to say to the world.

A WHITE AUSTRALIA 217
' Let other peoples crowd together and be hungry
owing to congestion of population, live cramped and
struggling lives, but we, although doing practically
nothing to develop our own resources, do not want
anybody else to come in and develop the resources
of a part of the world not given to us but given to
the human race? ' "
That is the problem which Australia has to
solve. It is no good for the Australian, be he never
so patriotic, to talk about the advantages of a "white
Australia " unless he makes it a white Australia. A
combination of war and economic circumstances will
force him, perhaps sooner than he anticipates, to
cease playing the part which is described by many
as that of the dog in the manger.
I do not so describe his attitude. I recognise
his ambition, and I appreciate his difficulties. Yet
the nut has to be cracked, and unless he cracks it,
it will be cracked for him. A "white Australia " is
magnificent. At present there is no white Aus
tralia What is to be done?
Of course, I recognise that, if an endeavour were
made by an Asiatic power to annex a portion of the
northern territory, Australia would have the full force
of the British fleet to resist the invaders. Let us
not be unconscious, however, of the possibility that
at some time Great Britain may have serious trouble
in another part of the world. What will Australia
do in that dread day if an Asiatic power took advan
tage of England's troubles elsewhere to take posses
sion of part of Australia? I know how brave the
Australians are, and I know what is being done for

2i8 AUSTRALIA
coast defence. Conceive, however, Japan's war
ships arriving in the north and guarding the way for
Japanese emigrant boats bringing thousands upon
thousands of Japanese into the north. • How could
Australia turn them out? It is no good blinking
facts. Australia would be absolutely helpless to eject
the new-comers. The only thing that could be
done would be to draw an artificial line through
sections of the continent, and declare that they
would fight to the last drop of their blood to prevent
these parts being taken. They would do that as
suredly. But the white Australia would have gone,
part of the continent would have passed into the
hands of Asiatics. The Asiatics would develop it,
which the Australians had not been doing. Their
action would be to the economic advantage of the
world. The nations of Europe would not be likely
to come to the assistance of Australia.
Now, I am a whole-hearted advocate of a white
Australia. I am fully at one with the noble am
bition to keep it a white man's land. Talk, how
ever, is not sufficient. Action must be taken.
How? It is my opinion that the Australians do not
always appreciate the enormous extent of the
country which they possess. Speaking generally,
the Australian lives in the most temperate part of
the continent, and is disposed to forget that an
enormous part of the country lies within tropical
regions. I am not one of those who say that the
Briton cannot live or work in the tropics. He is
doing so in many parts, but the tropics are not

A WHITE AUSTRALIA 219
suitable to the rearing of British people. The virUe
Briton, with the stored-up energy of his ancestors,
can do and is doing wonders. The virility, however,
does not last. The tropics are bad places for the
breeding of white children ; the conditions of nature
are altogether against them; they grow up lanky,
weedy, and without stamina. On the high, bracing
dry uplands of Queensland healthy families can be
reared; but in the low-lying, tropical, damp, soggy
enervating atmosphere of the lowlands there is an
undoubted falling away in the energy of the people
who are being born out there and who are bringing
fresh families into the world. The politicians and
the mass of the electors live in tlie south. What I
think they will have to realise is that conditions of
Ufe, suitable enough for their part of Australia, are
not suitable for those portions which lie within the
area of the tropics.
So, looking at the question from a practical point
of view, it has to be decided, if Australia is to be
white, what shall be done in the immediate future.
The Commonwealth authorities are saying to the
people of Great Britain: "If you want to emigrate,
come to us, and we will give you welcome." That
is excellent. Even, however, if Australia drew
every emigrant in her direction, it would be long
before the people, most of them drawn from the
agricultural classes, would go and live in the torrid
zone if they could find employment where the heat
was not so severe. Australia must look elsewhere.
Every year thousands of emigrants leave Italy for
the American continent. They work in the tropical

220 AUSTRALIA
parts of America, and, whatever may be said to the
contrary in particular instances, they are an excel
lent type of immigrant , industrious and sober. They
stand heat much better than do those of British
race, and their labour can be secured at a cheaper
price than that of Englishmen or native-bom Aus
tralians. "Ah, but," the AustraUan working man
will say in answer to this observation, "the introduc
tion of cheap Italian labour would mean the lower
ing of wages throughout the whole of the Common
wealth." The man who argues like that speaks
without knowledge of what is being done elsewhere
in the world. The taking of Italians into the north,
to develop it under the supervision of Australians,
would mean an increase in the value of the produc
tion of the continent. It would mean an increased
demand for the manufactures of the south, and, as
the north progressed, the south would reap an
advantage. Again and again in Australia I ran across
the fallacious argument that the coming of new
people lowers wages. The coming of new people —
if they go on the land instead of going into the
industrial centres, which is a very different thing —
would provide an increasing market for the work
shops of New South Wales and Victoria. High
wages mean that the manufactures of Australia
cannot compete with the manufactures of other lands
where wages are lower. The only development can
be in Australia itself, and the development can
only come with an increase of population. I believe
that in time, with Italian settlers no doubt inter
marrying with those of British race, there might

A WHITE AUSTRALLV 221
grow up a people acclimatised to the conditions of
the north.
Meanwhile, however, much more is to be done.
The people of Australia have to justify their posses
sion of the north. The best justification is by de
veloping it. Even though there were a continuous
stream of ships bringing ItaUan immigrants to Aus
tralia, the continent is so vast that, for a generation
at least, comparatively little would be done. Much
happens in a generation. Before Japan could say, in
circumstances which I have indicated, "We have a
right to this land because you are making no use
of it," a great deal should be endeavoured in the
direction of making those enormous and fruitful
tracts of the world's surface productive.
After careful and most serious consideration of
all the great issues involved, I believe that the only
way out will be by the utilisation — for a time, at
any rate, until the white population has grown up —
of coloured labour. I cannot too strenuously press
that it is an economic question as well as one of
sentiment. The Australians are unable to let indus
trious Japanese in, because Japan, as one of the
world Powers, would do its utmost to see that once
in they held their grip. The remedy Ues in the
utilisation of Indian native labour.
The AustraUan, like the rest of us, must not lose
sight of the fact that the Indian is a British subject.
As the Australian himself has claimed the right to
go throughout the Empire where he thinks well, he
cannot logically say to other people in the Empire :
"We shaU not let you into our country."

222 AUSTRALIA
The situation is not of the calmest in India, and
in the hour of stress the native Indians, recalling
that the door is shut against them in Australia,
might contribute to that disaster which many men
fear, namely, a native uprising. A strain being thus
put upon British arms, other Powers might seize the
opportunity of Britain's troubles to extend their own
bounds, and thus place Australia within the range of
possibility of having to deal either with the desire of
Germany to extend her colonies, or of Japan to
widen her area. A zone line could be drawn through
certain sections of the continent, below which
coloured labour would be excluded. Within the pre
scribed northern districts, Indian labour could be
employed under contract to do purely agricultural
work suitable to the tropics, but which no white man
of British race can do if he is to be paid a wage
which will allow the results of his labour to be sold
on level terms with the productions of other parts
of the world where wages are cheap. All the time
the drafts of Indian coolies were doing the purely
laborious work, Italians and other south Europeans
could be engaged in better work, whilst over all
would be the managers of British race. As the
white people became acclimatised and their numbers
increased, the time would arrive when fewer Indian
coolies need be brought in. Anyway, by this means
an answer would be given to the question which is
being put in many parts : ' ' What right has Aus
tralia to hold land which the Australians are taking
no effective steps to develop ? "
I am well aware of the prejudice against coloured

A WHITE AUSTRALIA 223
labour, and I appreciate the reasons. The fear,
however, in good Christian minds that it would lead
to viciousness and degradation can be dismissed.
There have been those troubles in other parts of the
world, but they arose in times when conditions of
life were very different from what they are at the
present time, and they are not likely to grow up in
Australia. I am seriously convinced — quite apart
from other points which I have developed in previous
chapters — that the Australians will some day be
called upon to give good reason why they lay claim
to the greatest island in the world. The best answer
they can give, whilst never losing sight of the goal
towards which they are striving — an Australia full
of white people — is to utilise the instruments which
lie to their hand, and which will carry all classes
of the community to even a greater prosperity than
they at present enjoy.

CHAPTER XX
the garden STATE
" As the sky is fair for all, whoever, wherever he be ;
As the blessed stars on all shed their light of hope and of liberty :
So let the earth, this fertile earth, this well-loved Southern land
Be fair to all, be free to all, from strand to shining strand."
Fbanois Adams.
Victoria, rightly called the Garden State of
Australia, is small compared with other States.
But it is as big as the whole of Great Britain.
It prides itself on not being as other States. It
claims that it has a more educated population, that
more has been done in equipping it, that the soil
is superior to any elsewhere, and that generally it
is leading the way. Certainly it is a charming
country. During my motor trips through it I saw
richer agricultural land than I had looked upon else
where. The country had a settled air about it, and
all the farmsteads were prosperous.
Only I wish that the entrance to the garden were
a little more up-to-date than it is. The towns are
as fine as you can want ; but the landing facilities
at Port Melbourne are just about half a century
behind the times. There is an indifferent pier,
without shelter; railway engines are constantly
snorting along it ; the new arrival has some incon
venience in finding his way to the railway station,
224

THE GARDEN STATE 225
which is about a quarter of a mile distant. No
doubt in time the Victorian Government will provide
landing accommodation really worthy of their State.
Now, you pick up a pamphlet and read that the
population of Victoria has increased. When, how
ever, you give more than a casual glance at the
figures, you find that the increase has been, in the
main, in the city of Melbourne itself. There have
been years when Melbourne has increased by thou
sands whilst other towns and the rural districts
have decreased. In 1908 the population of Mel
bourne increased by over 11,000, so that the popu
lation of the city is now about 550,000 ; other towns
increased by just over 2.000, so that the population
is now 211,000; the rural districts increased by
5,000, so that the population is now 510,000.
Taking a period of seven years, Melbourne has in
creased its population by 47,521, whilst that of the
rest of Victoria has increased by only 16,361. Thus
three-fourths of the new population of Victoria has
crowded into the capital city.
Here is an interesting spectacle, of a country
as big as Great Britain with a population of one and
a half millions, and the tendency all in the direction
of one town growing until the time is within sight
when half the people of Victoria will be living in
Melbourne. It is good that Melbourne should be a large and
a beautiful place. Victoria's prosperity depends,
however, not upon Melbourne, but Melbourne
depends upon the res-fc of Victoria. That is a simple
fact which, at times, is Ukely to be overlooked.
p

226 AUSTRALIA
There are immigrants arriving in the State ; they
go upon the land. The Australian is disposed to
shift from the land to the city.
The Victorian, when questioned about this, wiU
regretfully admit the truth. If he lives on the land
himself, his explanation will probably be the attrac
tions of city life ; but if he lives in the city he wiU
tell you it is because so much of the best land is in
the hands of individuals and used for the rearing of
sheep, and that the man willing to turn farmer
finds most of the suitable land locked up, or the
price so high that little margin is left for profit.
Because of its excellent agricultural possibilities,
the cry for splitting up the big pastoral estates is
louder in this State than elsewhere. Of the
56,000,000 acres in Victoria, 34,000,000 acres are
occupied; but of these only a little over 4,000,000
acres are under cultivation. The difficulty to extend
this area is the reason put forward why so many
Victorians are moving themselves off to other States.
Now comes the pertinent question. Why should
Victoria be inviting agriculturists from Great Britain
to come and settle in her realm when politicians in
Victoria are declaring, in hammer and tongs man
ner, that they must secure land for their own people
before land can be offered to immigrants?
In a little publication issued by the Victorian
Land Settlement Division of the Immigration League
of Australia, of which Mr. Alfred Deakin is presi
dent, it is stated: "No immigration is possible to
" Victoria until the State Government has arranged
" for land for its own people. . . . We want every-

THE GARDEN STATE 227
"body in Victoria to be able to write to the old
"country and tell their friends that it is easier to
"get land here than in Canada and upon better
"terms than can be had anywhere in the world.
"No one can honestly write so now from Victoria.
"We do not want our farmers' sons to be leaving
"Victoria. We believe emigration from a rich
"young country like Victoria is a symptom that
"there is something wrong, and we think the want
"of land is the root of the matter."
In a general description, Victoria is capable of
doing as much agriculturally as Great Britain is
now doing. Great Britain has become a manufac
turing country and has ceased to owe its main
prosperity to agriculture. The prosperity of Vic
toria must depend upon agriculture. Yet in sheep
we grow more than twice as many as Victoria,
nearly five times as many horses, four times as
many cattle, and getting on for ten times as many
pigs. We grow more than twice as much wheat,
eight times as much oats, fifty times as much barley,
and about twenty-five times as many tons of pota
toes. I mention these figures as an indication of
what Victoria can do with her good soil and her
beautiful climate when once she gets into full work
ing order. Anybody who has visited the western
district of the State, or has been in Gippsland, or
has been through the mallee country, or has seen
the great national irrigation works, must appreciate
what lies in front of Victoria when she is properly
developed. Let me make another comparison. Denmark

228 AUSTRALIA
has about twice the population of Victoria ; but in
acreage she has only a seventh of Victoria's area.
There are 165 persons to the square mile in Den
mark, but only 14 in Victoria. Denmark has close
upon a million people engaged in agriculture, whilst
Victoria, says the Immigration League of Australia,
has only one-eighth of that number. Denmark has
nothing like the climate which Victoria possesses.
Denmark, however, goes ahead; Victoria lags.
We survey amazing figures about Victoria's ex
portation of frozen mutton and frozen beef, rabbits
and hares, bacon and ham, and all the rest of it.
But when you lump all these together they do not
nearly approach the value of Denmark's exporta
tion of eggs alone. In Melboume there is talk about
the wool industry and the millions of money it reaps.
That is true. But Denmark exports a greater value
in bacon than does Victoria in wool. Lump the
exportation of Victorian wool, wheat, butter and
cheese all together, and then the State only exports
two-thirds of the value of Denmark's exportation of
butter. Indeed, Denmark's export of butter is
greater than all Victoria's exports of wool, wheat,
butter, cheese, flour, skins and hide, hay and chaff,
fodder, oats, and dried fruits and fresh fruits.
It is not by looking at figures standing alone that
you get a proper idea of a country's prosperity ; it
is by placing those figures in comparison with
smaller countries where the conditions are by no
means so favourable.
"That wUl be aU right," says the Victorian,
" when the big estates are split up."

THE GARDEN .STATE 229
Despite Victoria's position to-day, I confess that
I am full of optimism in regard to Australia's future.
When the State has done what the people think
best in opening up the country for farming, then
will be the time to shout to the agriculturists at
home: "Come and settle amongst us." As farming
expands there will be scope for the man with capital.
The man with capital, however, will be able to
accomplish little without labour. Therefore, when
the new condition of affairs provides a wider field
for agricultural development, agricultural labourers
are the men which will be most needed.
Victoria is a land of sunshine. The rainfall is
fairly good. The conditions of life are pleasant.
The death-rate is low. When the Government have
put into working practice their .schemes for throw
ing open the Crown lands, there will be millions of
acres to offer to immigrants — not the best land in
the State, but still land where not only a livelihood
can be made, but a decent competence secured. At
present the Government are spending huge sums
of money in road-making, clearing the ground of
bush, draining it and providing water. At the
present time, Victoria, only one thirty-fourth of the
total area of the continent, produces more than a
quarter of the wealth of the whole Commonwealth.
The Government own some 12,000,000 acres of
Crown land, and the parts that I have seen are well
suited not only for mixed farming, but for fruit
culture. Besides, action is being taken toward closer
settlement, so that those miUions of acres, now in
comparatively few hands and used for pastoral pur-

230 AUSTRALIA
poses, may be given over to wheat growing and to
dairying. Over half a million of money a year is
authorised for re-purchase of estates and assisting
settlers. Land settlement ought, therefore, to pro
ceed with giant strides.
What, in the old days, hampered the new arrivals
was the necessity of spending much money and
much time before the land began to yield anything.
The Government are adopting a policy of preparing
the land for the settler, so that when he secures
possession he can proceed at once to make money.
The agricultural labourer can obtain an allotment
on easy terms, so that if he is hard-working and
willing to go into the less-favoured regions, not
many years need elapse before he is the possessor
of a freehold farm.
I shall always nurse in remembrance a motor
tour I took in the district lying some twenty or
thirty miles beyond Melbourne. Here were excel
lent fruit farms, flourishing market gardens, and an
expanding milk business.
Of recent years there has been a striking move
ment in the western district to cut up some of the
large estates and lease them as dairy farms. These
are worked on the share system. The landlord pro
vides the land, puts up a house, erects the out
buildings and finds the herd. The tenant farmer
has to provide all the labour, and then the profits
are shared between the landowner and tenant. To
the Briton with good knowledge of dairying, but
with no capital, this is an admirable means by
which he can make a start in the new land. To

THE GARDEN STATE 231
ride through a part of the Wimmera Plain, once a
cattle run, was like traversing a fruitful stretch of
Manitoba, in Canada — miles upon miles of waving
wheat. There, also, one found a judicious combina
tion of wheat growing and sheep rearing.
As I have indicated in earlier pages, the mallee
district presents the most wonderful story of all of
what determination can accomplish. The mallee is
a thick-set, dwarfed eucalyptus, and it had put a
grip upon some eleven million acres in the north
west part of the State. The soil was light, the
rainfall deficient. Yet by steady clearance, by re
fusing to be broken in spirit, man has cleared some
three million acres of the mallee, and turned it into
a fine wheat-producing area. The progress which
has been made in the last half-dozen years is
astonishing. Some 3,000 farmers are now in the
area. Millions more acres are being cleared. Eail
way lines are being laid down. Irrigation is being
provided ; so excellent is the return that the gross
earnings average anything from £20 to £30 an
acre. Away in the eastern section of the State is
Gippsland, probably the most prosperous stretch of
agricultural land in the whole Commonwealth. It
was formerly covered with dense forest, with trees
rising full 150 feet and with undergrowth so matted
that a way had to be cut with an axe. The whole
region has been transformed. It is well settled,
towns are many, cattle are on every hillside, a won
derful, expanding butter trade with England is
growing up.

232 AUSTRALLV
Victoria has now an extensive wheat belt, and
this, fed by the rivers or by irrigation, and nurtured
by superphosphates, ought to become one of the
great grain-producing tracts. In those districts I
visited I noted that the farmers were using the most
up-to-date machinery, and that intelligent interest
was being displayed in seeking for varieties of wheat
most suitable to the soil. As the share principle
has been adopted in the dairying biisiness, so
there is now a growing practice to raise wheat in the
same way. The landowner provides the land and
implements, and the farmer provides the work. Of
course, there is nothing like the same amount of
land devoted to wheat growing as can be found,
say, in the smaller Canadian province of Manitoba.
But that the day is coming when Victoria will take
a very prominent place as a wheat-growing State
I am convinced.
At present dairying is the happiest business in
the whole of Victoria. Amongst those fond of a
farming life, the attractions of dairying fall only
short of the fascination there is in gold-mining.
During the last twenty years dairying has made
enormous advance. At first the business was hap
hazard. Then the Government came along and
provided means for making it more scientific.
Butter factories were established, and creamery and
skimming stations set up. To stimulate the butter
business, the Government gave instructions to dairy
men as to the establishment of factories on the co
operative system. By way of further encouragement,
a bonus of 3d. a pound was given on all butter

THE GARDEN STATE 233
which fetched Is. per lb. on the London market,
2d. on butter which got lid. per lb., and Id. on
butter bringing in lOd. per lb. This had such an
effect that within six years nearly two hundred co
operative butter factories were estabUshed.
So rapid has been the growth of dairying that
country vUlages have now become thriving towns.
Squatters, realising there was more money in butter
than in sheep, readily parted with parcels of land
suitable for dairy farming, and worked on the share
system. In other pursuits a considerable interval
elapses between the investment of capital and its
return. In dairying it is immediate, and certainly,
as far as the co-operative factories are concerned,
each farmer gets paid once a month for the milk
he has supplied. Dairying has, through natural
causes, led to a considerable spUtting-up of estates,
because land-owners have been quick to appreciate
the amount of money they can make. The Govern
ment give a strict eye to the quality, and by law the
words, "Victoria, Australia," must appear on every
package as a sort of advertisement of the State. It
is excellent butter, and the demand is growing.
It is significant of the trend of development in
Victoria that wool, which was formerly the staple
production, has now been surpassed by the output
from dairying and grain growing. This does not
mean that the rearing of sheep is falling away in the
State, but simply that it is being found more bene
ficial to the community to utilise the land in farming
than in feeding sheep. Until a few years ago the
mutton and beef market was restricted to home

234 AUSTRALIA
consumption. Now, however, with an expanding
export trade in frozen and preserved meat, a new
source of wealth is being opened up. Victoria is
the pioneer State in the exportation of frozen lamb.
The Victorians, recognising that, as Great Britain
becomes more and more a manufacturing country,
it is, therefore, increasingly dependent on over
sea regions for its food supply, are laying them
selves out to fiecure a considerable portion of the
market. When it is remembered that we in Great
Britain pay for the meat and pork we eat some
thing approaching £40,000,000 a year, the possi
bilities which lie before Australia must be patent.
Although Victoria sends to the United Kingdom
about a third of the mutton and lamb which the
United Kingdom receives from the Australian
States, yet all Australia only supplies about a third
of the value which New Zealand supplies. Argen
tina sends to us more than twice as much mutton
and lamb as does all the Commonwealth. The
AustraUans, however, are beginning to appreciate
that their greatest competitor is not New Zealand
but the Argentina, which is just at the gateway
of its resources.
Where, also, Victoria has a promising future is
in horse-breediug. Victoria is specially suitable for
horses, and a great market lies in our Indian
Empire. Indeed, J will venture to say that Aus
tralia, with its special qualifications, should become
a great horse-breeding part of the British dominions.
Besides this, there is a demand throughout the
whole of lower Asia for the animals which AustraUa

THE GARDEN STATE 235
can produce. I made it my business to attend
several agricultural shows. Nowhere have I seen
such healthy young stock or such hardy full-grown
horses as I saw on those occasions. Not only are
high-class race-horses produced, but the active, big-
boned draught horses are not to be surpassed by
the animals of any other country.
Fruit-growdng of infinite variety is developing
in this State. Orchards are to be found in many
areas. Something like 50,000 acres are now set
apart for fruit. The fruit season of Australia begins
when that of Europe is drawing to a close. The
European market, ready to avaU itself of the pro
duce of Victoria, is far larger than is at present
comprehended by the Australians. We are great
fruit eaters in England. In my vagabondings I have
travelled through the Mediterranean on a tramp
ship packed from hold to deck with fruit. Millions
of cases from Australia arrive at our great ports,
and yet, admirable though the increase of Victoria's
fruit trade has been, only one out of every thousand
cases of fruit landed from overseas in England comes
from Victoria. Still, remembering the well-worn
truism that Eome was not built in a day, one learns
with satisfaction that, small though may be the
importation of Victorian fruit into Great Britain,
it has increased to a considerable extent during the
last ten years.
Fortunes are to be made in Victoria not only in
supplying Europe with fresh fruits, but also in the
canned fruit industry. The sun-dried fruits of
Mildura, particularly figs, are not bettered by the

236 AUSTRALLV
fruits of Europe or America. Further, the time
is coming, and quickly, when Victoria, together
with other parts of southern Australia, will compete
with the south of Europe in vine nurture. As I
have mentioned in my chapter on South Australia,
there is plenty of room for improvement in scientific
growing. The fault is that the vineries are gener
ally placed on ground which is too rich, and so a
wine is produced which is more vigorous in flavour
than is quite pleasant to the European palate. In
my opinion there are many square miles of Vic
torian land too poor for growing wheat but admir
ably suited to viticulture.
Though other States have particular and peculiar
qualities which, in certain lines, lead them to out
distance Victoria, there is no State in the Common
wealth which is so compactly good as Victoria, and
where the conditions are so suitable for multifarious
interests to go ahead. There is pig-breeding and
there is poultry-raising. England is importing
bacon from China, and those of us who have
travelled in China and know how most of the pigs
gain their livelihood by scavenging, recognise the
risks to health by the importation of pork so fed.
Here Victoria has a splendid opportunity. The
United Kingdom annually imports £10,000,000
worth of poultry and game and over £6,000,000
worth of eggs. Here again is another fine opening —
especially as, as in the case of fruits, Australian eggs
are produced in vast quantities in the third quarter
of the year, when the supply of European eggs is
beginning to shorten.

THE GARDEN STATE 237
The curse of drought, about which the outer
world hears so much, has been given the go-by in
Victoria. Many years have passed since Victoria was
afflicted with drought. In the meantime, irrigation
works have been constructed, so that more than a
quarter of a million acres are now artificially
watered. The northern part of the State is where
insufficiency of rain is sometimes felt, and it is here
that irrigation is most needed. Whatever Mr.
Alfred Deakin has done for the good of his country,
and whatever memorial the Australians in future
years may raise to his memory, the finest monu
ment of all will be the canals which were inaugur
ated under his authority when he was Minister of
Water Supply of Victoria, and which now irrigate
such an expanse of country. I know there have
been harsh criticisms concerning the millions of
money expended in providing irrigation in those
parts of the State where it was least needed, namely,
toward the south. The explanation is the old
one — ^political. Those places where the electors
were most numerous demanded irrigation for them
selves, instead of the money being spent in localities
which had limited population because of the scarcity
of water. Now a much more comprehensive scheme
is in vogue, and areas which were formerly barren
and unattractive are flourishing bountifully — due
mainly to the skill of a Canadian, Mr. Elwood Mead.
Victoria has played a large part in the gold
production of the world, as the histories of Ballarat
and Bendigo wiU tell. To-day a considerable
quantity of gold is being mined within the State.

238 AUSTRALLV
Victoria, however, has other metals — silver, copper
and tin. Besides, there are the coalfields, which
are of considerable area.
Victoria must go ahead. It is going ahead. The
total value of production by her miiUon and a half
of population is close upon £40,000,000 a year.
Yet always, in viewing the strides which have been
made, one comes back to the point from which one
started, namely, that with all its attractions, all its
possibilities, the land is not being developed at the
pace which its merits deserve.

CHAPTEE XXI
QUEENSLAND
" Oh I my heart goes with the river. I scent the old gum leaves,
And hear the parrots screaming, high above me in the trees j
The Queensland sun is sinking, and the peaceful night draws nigh.
With glorious moonlight spreading o'er bush and sea and sky."
Wtt.t.tam Main.
As a State Queensland is just half a century old. It
is four and a half times as big as the British Isles,
and the entire population is that of a London suburb.
Yet the development of the country has been mag
nificent. It has some three thousand miles of railway lines.
Some twenty million sheep are browsing on its
lands. There are over four million cattle. The
value of Queensland's exports is something like
£12,000,000. Queensland to-day is playing to Australia very
much the part that the great prairies of America
played to the eastern seaboard of the United States
half a century ago. Then the command was "Go
west, young man." To-day in Australia, whilst in
New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia
there is to be heard the order " Go west," more often
the invitation is to go to Queensland.
The readiness which the various States display
in directing attention to the motes in the eyes of
239

240 AUSTRALIA
their neighbours finds rather an exception in the
case of Queensland. Everywhere and always I found
generous recognition of the fact that Queensland
is the coming country. Its varieties of temperature,
agricultural conditions, and range in productive
ness is astounding. It is blisteringly tropical in the
north ; in the south there is the warm, luscious
climate of southern Europe. For three months of
the year the atmosphere is sweltering; but, for the
other nine, immense areas have a climate which is
quite congenial to people of European race. The
death rate in the State is 9.56, whilst in London it
is 21.3. There is plenty of rain in the tropical
regions, and, though in the south there are times
when water is scarce, the official figures represent
an annual rainfall of 60 inches on the coast, whilst
inland it is 27J inches.
Queensland has already shown what it can do in
the way of rearing cattle and sheep. Gradually its
possibilities as a country for mixed agriculture are
becoming known to the world. Its suitabUity for
growing the sugar cane is beyond all question. It
has forests, and one of these days its capabilities for
growing cotton will, I trust, be appreciated by the
rest of the Empire. It has great possibilities in
rubber, coffee, tea, and cocoa. It is blessed with
exceUent coal mines. Its coast-line of 2,500 miles
is indented with many fine harbours. It is some
thing of a lucky bag in precious metals and rare
stones: gold, silver, copper, tin, diamonds,
amethysts, sapphires, opals; all these have been
discovered, and milUons more equally valuable are

QUEENSLAND 241
probably awaiting the hardy prospector in those
broken ranges of hills which have yet to be fully
surveyed. Queensland is parading its attractions to the rest
of the world in a more suitable and sensible manner
than is being done by any of the other States.
I must have read hundreds of booklets, officially
issued, proclaiming the merits of the different States
in the Commonwealth. Mostly they struck a too
pronounced note, picturing the land in too glowing
colours, and, by this very excess of glorification,
creating in the mind of the reader something of
suspicion. It is not that the States do not possess
most of the virtues needed in new lands calling for
population. But, everything being painted rose, the
reader is forced, reluctantly enough, to think the
colouring has been laid on a little too lavishly. If a
man goes out to Australia with his knowledge of
the country limited to that which he has obtained
from pamphlets issued by the various States, he will
imagine he is proceeding to an earthly paradise.
Australia, however, with all its excellences is hardly
that. It has natural disadvantages with its ad
vantages. It has turns of sorrow as well as turns
of joy. In some respects it offers a better life than
any other country can offer, whilst in other respects
there are occasions for heart-searching. The point
to be conceded is that, balancing one thing with
another, it is a country where the man who is will
ing to face odds may, with energy and industry,
arrive at a competence and an independence quicker
than he can in any of the old countries he may have
Q

242 AUSTRALIA
left, and probably more quickly than in some of the
other new lands which send forth invitations for
immigrants. Now, the Queensland literature which
I have read is restrained in tone, and, whilst not
behind-hand in glowing enthusiasm about its possi
bilities, it recognises that the only way to achieve
fortune is by continuous industry.
The capital, Brisbane, is a beautifully situated
town. The Brisbane man believes there is no other
town on the earth like it. That it will become one
of the beautiful cities of the world I doubt not. At
present it is rather hobbledehoy. It has some fine
buildings, with plenty of others in its main thorough
fares that cannot be described as picturesque. Its
streets are by no means as clean as those of Sydney,
Melboume, Adelaide, and Perth ; and as it is without
a sewage system, it cannot arouse the enthusiasm
of the man who admires energy in civic develop
ment. Queensland, however, gives a lesson to the other
States in the matter of ports. Elsewhere the ten
dency, due chiefly to political influences, has been
to push all the export trade through one channel :
Sydney in New South Wales, Melbourne in Victoria,
Adelaide in South Australia, Fremantle in Western
Australia — to the benefit of these towns, but fre
quently causing congestion, and to the disadvantage
of other places which, if encouraged, would boom
ahead. No such charge can be brought against Queens
land. The railway system has led to the develop
ment of other places besides Brisbane. Journey

QUEENSLAND 243
north, and you find Maryborough exporting timber,
Bundaberg and Mackay centres of the sugar in
dustry, Gladstone a place for the exportation of
meat, Eockhampton doing a big trade in wool,
Townsville tapping a lovely pastoral district, and ex
quisitely situated Cairns, which is the delight of
tourists in the Australian winter months.
Queensland has no rivers to speak of. She has,
however, the rainfall to which I have referred. On
the hills, within easy range, there is plenty of feeding
stuff for cattle. On the hills behind Brisbane, par
ticularly Darling Downs, there is a heave of country
which can well be said to be one of the finest patches
of grazing country. Further west come those
seldom traversed regions which have hitherto been
described as desert. In the days of not so long ago,
when in these parts there was a shortage of rain,
terrible were the consequences. The earth's surface
was burnt ochre ; not a blade of grass, not a drop of
water were to be found ; sheep died by the million.
Yet it has been discovered that under this apparently
barren country flow great subterranean rivers. They
have been reached by means of artesian wells, and
as soon as water has been struck, at varying depths
— sometimes the crust is so thin that only sixteen
feet of earth need be penetrated — there is a mighty
gush of water from the bores.
Here, then, is one of the wonders: A land
always within reach of drought and consequent
disaster being turned to fruitfulness. Some of these
bores belch forth as much as five miUion gallons of
water a day, though the average outflow is something

244 AUSTRALIA
like seven hundred thousand gallons a day. A log
plough, dragged by sturdy teams, zigzags a channel
for ten or fifteen miles over the plains. The water
follows this tiny canal, makes small lakes where
there are indentations in the land, and provides the
one thing necessary to save sheep from death when
droughts come along.
The trouble in former times was, when one dis
trict was stricken with drought, to drive the sheep
and the cattle to places where water could be
obtained. The wells were few ; sometimes they
were dried up, and the route from the arid part to
the place where verdure and water could be secured
was marked by a long row of carcases. That danger
is lessening year by year, for, with the sinking of
artesian wells and the flow of water through channels
many miles long, the journey from the bad parts to
the good is made easy. The development of the
artesian well system, tapping these wonderful sub
terranean rivers, is doing, and will continue to
accomplish, a great deal in bringing parts of Queens
land which were regarded as useless within the area
of prosperity. The State is pursuing a wise policy in attracting
immigrants. Free passages are given to suitable
settlers. When they arrive they can, under con
ditions of occupancy, secure 160 acres of free land.
Farming, however, is not conducted on the same
lines as at home. Therefore fresh arrivals are well
advised not to start "on their own " as soon as they
have landed, but to enter the employment of some
body else, and gain a knowledge of local conditions

QUEENSLAND 245
and Australian agriculture before they attempt to
farm for themselves.
Special facilities are offered to settlers who in
duce their friends at home to follow them out to
Queensland. The Government, besides the mUlions
of acres which it holds, is gradually getting back
into its possession by purchase some of the dis
tricts, particularly in the region of the Darling
Downs, which hitherto have chiefly been used as
sheep stations. So, improved farms can be obtained
at a comparatively cheap cost. Agricultural home
steads, varying in size from 160 to 460 acres, can
be purchased from the Government at 15s. an acre,
to be paid for over a stretch of ten years. Further
inland the courageous agriculturist may get a farm
ing plot without paying a penny for it, on condition
that he works it, and then for a very small sum he
secures the freehold.
Of course, the man with capital is most welcome,
and the Government has various schemes whereby
land may be secured on easy terms. For instance,
grazing land may be obtained on long lease at Id.
per acre a year, though in noting this peppercorn
rent it should be borne in mind that in the interior
the land is very poor, and sometimes takes four or
five acres to maintain a sheep. Pastoral holdings
on long lease can be secured at 5s. a square mile.
Some of the stations held on this kind of lease are
of an enormous size, running up to as many as a
thousand square miles. I remember lunching one
day with Mr. Syd Kidman, the cattle king, and in
curiosity I asked him how much land he held in

246 AUSTRALIA
the Australian continent. He made a rough calcula
tion, and it came out at 60,000 square miles, an
extent of territory in the hands of one man which it
is difficult for folk at home to realise.
Everybody knows the enormous profits which
sheep yield, firstly from wool and secondly from
mutton. So when a squatter owns 100,000 sheep it
is rather more profitable than the ordinary gold
mine. Naturally enough, the man with means, who
goes to Queensland wanting to get a fortune quickly,
goes in for sheep. But the life is lonely, arduous,
and anxious. With the constant possibility of
drought, it is something of a gamble.
The endeavour of the Government is to encourage
legitimate farmers to settle. As I have indicated,
everything is being done to encourage such men. A
new-comer can, on comparatively small capital, make
a very good start. He purchases a farm from the
Government, or he pays down £10 for every £100
of the value. In the second, third, and fourth years
he pays no instalment whatever ; from the fifth year
he proceeds to pay instalments at the rate of
£8 2s. 7d. for every £100 worth of value until the
whole amount is cleared up. The fairly well-to-do
settler with sons sends his boys either to one of the
State farms or to the Agricultural College, where
they may be thoroughly instructed in Queensland
agriculture. In Queensland, as in other States, the dislike of
the native-born lad for rough farming life is most
marked. New-comers go into the "back blocks,"
but their sons, and particularly their grandsons too,

QUEENSLAND 247
often lose the love of the free life, and prefer to flock
into the towns. There is a fascination in station
life, the riding of horses, the rounding up of cattle.
But for the laborious, though profitable, farm work,
the young Australian does not care much. Many
worthy Australians themselves have provided me
evidence of this. Although I am not at liberty to
give names of men who told me things in private
conversation, I may quote a sentence or two which I
found in the Year Book of Queensland for 1909.
Eeferring to what the Government is doing to
educate the youth in rural pursuits, it is stated:
"Although the opportunities for a thorough agricul
tural education are thus largely availed of, it cannot
be ignored that the majority of young Queenslanders
do not take kindly to a farming life. The necessary
plodding, the long hours of labour, and the uncer
tainty of the season lead them to the more congenial
pursuits of station life. . . . The Australian
youth appears to be born with a fondness of horses.
Hence, as might be expected, there are few better
horsemen in the world than the young bushman,
and hence, also, arises the paucity of native-born
agricultural labourers. It is not, therefore, surpris
ing that immigrants of the farming class, both as
settlers and farm hands, should be welcomed with
open arms to our shores." Yes, the idea is a good
one. But the thinking man casts his mind ahead
a generation or so, and wonders what the sons of
these immigrants and farm labourers will be inclined
to do. In the south of the State a great increase in the

248 AUSTRALIA
dairying business is going on. Here New South
Wales and Queensland abut. The climate is the
same ; the cattle can be out on the downs all the
year round. No shelter is necessary, and there is no
winter time when artificial foods have to be provided.
A few years ago Queensland was importing butter ;
now Queensland is exporting millions and millions of
pounds of it. With cold storage and quick transit
there is a great market in Europe. Be it not for
gotten that the seasons are reversed, so that when
winter is coming in England and fresh butter is
difficult to procure, spring has already arrived in
Queensland, and thus fine fresh butter may be placed
on the English market just when the demand for it
is greatest. There is plenty of good cheap land at anything
from £2 to £10 an acre to be got in Queensland,
which is lower than the price for similar land in New
South Wales. A man with some dairying know
ledge, landing in Queensland with a capital of £250,
and obtaining possession of a Government farm,
paying for it on the instalment plan, can make a
most excellent livelihood. He has not to seek a
market for his butter. The co-operative principle
is at work. All he has to do is to supply the milk,
either to one of the centres where there is a Farmer's
Working Corporation or to a Government factory.
There his milk is converted into butter in the morn
ing, and the next morning when he brings milk
along he can take away the skimmed milk for the
nutriment of his calves, and the value of the butter
produced is credited to him, with a deduction of a

QUEENSLAND 249
certain percentage for converting it into butter and
selling it to the dealers.
Xow I come to a matter which, poUtically, has
convulsed Queensland, and affected the whole of the
population throughout Australia, namely, the grow
ing of sugar. In the tropical regions the country is
weU adapted to the growing of the cane. Formerly
Kanakas, natives of the South Sea Islands, were
landed under indenture to cut the cane. But the
cry of a "white AustraUa " sounded throughout the
land, with the consequence that practically all the
Kanakas were deported, and only white labour was
permitted on the sugar plantations.
I have heard it disputed that the white man,
working in the tropics, can cut as well as a coloured
man. Let that point go. What is quite clear is
that the white man must receive a bigger wage than
the coloured man receives. This means increase in
the price of production. It means, also, that unless
the output is so enormous that quantity can force
down price, sugar produced under white labour
cannot compete in the markets of the world with the
sugar produced, as it is in aU other countries, by
black labour. The consequence has been, although
it is possible for the white man to work in tropical
regions, and although many smaU growers have
come into existence, that the sugar industry, if not
crippled, at any rate has had its development
considerably hindered. In order to keep the Aus
tralian-grown sugar from being under-sold by sugar
from abroad, a duty of £6 a ton is imposed upon
imported sugar. This is a burden on the tax-payer,

250 AUSTRALLV
who also finds himself paying more for his sugar
than formerly he did.
I believe that there could be no better investment
in the world than in sugar growing in Australia.
British investors, however, are chary ; rightly or
wrongly, they dread Labour legislation in Australia.
Moreover, they are placed in a further difficulty, for,
whilst Governments are saying to the investors of
England, "Put your money into this country," the
Labour men of Australia never cease girding at the
British investor, who has already invested, for taking
so much money out of the country by way of interest.
Some of them go so far as to say that Great Britain
ought to be extremely indebted to Australia, not only
for borrowing money from the British financier, but
for the money which is drawn out of the country by
way of dividend after investment. The two parties
are of advantage to each other. But it is difficult
to understand the dual attitude which I encountered
very frequently, namely, Why does not the British
investor put more money into Australia? and
secondly. What right has the British investor to
take so much unearned increment out of Australia ?
The Government is in a difficult position. Recent
legislation has checked development ; but it has
quadrupled the number of small growers. The crops
are plentiful and the Government, under the Sugar
Works Guarantee Act, has done excellent work,
when groups of small farmers have combined, in
advancing money to erect crushing mills in central
districts. The old plan was for Kanakas to be brought in

QUEENSLAND 251
to the sugar area under indenture for a period of
three years, receiving a minimum pay of £6 per
head per annum. But with the cost of Uving and
clothing it worked out at about £37 per head, with
the addition of £8 to provide for the return of the
Kanaka to his island. In the case of Kanakas who
remained after three years, they made their own
terms, which meant receiving anything from £20
to £30 a year. Then came the cry that the blacks
were taking bread out of the mouths of the whites,
and the result was that the use of the Pacific island
labour was prohibited.
With only white labour employed, the sugar
industry would have died had it been left to com
pete with the imported sugar from countries where
black labour is employed. Accordingly, to nurse
the industry, a duty of £6 per ton was, as I have
said, put on foreign sugar. Prior to federation each
State had its own fiscal system, so that it cost £6
per ton to get sugar from Queensland into Victoria
and £3 to get it into New South Wales and South
Australia. With federation came inter-state free
trade, and the Commonwealth only taxed sugar
which came from abroad. There is an excise duty
of £4 per ton, thus leaving a balance of protection
to the grower of £2. There is in addition a
bonus of £3 per ton on sugar produced by white
labour. The problems to be faced are, first, whether the
sugar industry is suitable for white labour ; and,
second, if it is, whether under her present legisla
tion Australia can go ahead with the development

252 AUSTRALLV
of the grovring, so that she can send her sugar into
the markets of the world, instead of being content
to keep up a tariff, which simply amounts to nursing
the sugar industry for home consumption by keeping
out foreign sugar? Personally, I am all in favour
of a government assisting by bounty a struggling
industry. But unless the non-sugar growing popu
lation increases to an enormous extent, to consume
the sugar which is grown within the Common
wealth, I do not see how the industry can expand,
as the country is suitable for its expansion, unless
some means are found whereby Australian-grown
sugar can compete with sugar grown elsewhere.
In another place I have shown how difficult it is to
have uniform conditions of labour in a country where
the climate ranges from tropical to temperate.
Though white men are working hard and earning
good wages on the sugar plantations, I am anything
but sure that tropical agriculture, especially cane-
cutting, is suitable to the white man.
I heard many stories of drunkenness and dis
soluteness amongst white workers in the sugar
regions. I decline to think that the many instances
brought to my notice were due to the fact that the
labour attracted an inferior type of workman.
Rather, I am regretfully forced to the conviction
that the work is so hard in the north, and the re
sultant lassitude is so great, that the poor fellows,
suffering from a lowered vitality, are driven to
secure artificial stimulant.
That the work can be done, I recognise. That
it can be done by men retaining their energy year

QUEENSLAND 253
after year, I am unable to agree. Above all, there
is the fact that sugar provided by white labour, com
peting with sugar in the open market, cannot be
produced at a profit. I am forced back to the con
clusion I have stated in my chapter on a white
Australia, that somewhere in the north a Une must
be drawn, and above that line the services of Asiatics
should be utilised.
It is difficult to get some Australians to regard
this question from an economic point of view, for
they are obsessed with the desire to secure a white
Australia. Those who differ from them are not
always met with argument, but are faced with
abuse. For a man, who knows the business, to
state that the white worker is not as good as the
black worker may be open to argument, but the
way to meet such a statement is not by denounc
ing it as "scurrilous and blasphemous," as I know
it has been. I have not the slightest sympathy at
all with what is known in Australia as "the stinking
fish party "^the men, of whom there are many,
who are always finding fault with their own country.
Neither, if I may be allowed to say so, have I the
slightest sympathy with the Australian who makes
the foundation of his belief the statement that all
must be well in Australia, and that anybody who
differs from him, who thinks things might be im
proved , is necessarily a contemptible creature deserv
ing to be booed out of the land.
Australia has, therefore, a double trouble to
settle : How to get white men to take up their
habitation in those southern tracts well suited to

254 AUSTRALIA
whites ; and how to develop the northern part of
her possessions, where undoubtedly the climate is
such that it is unsuitable for white men to do the
work of the labourer, either in cutting sugar-canes
or in keeping the cane-fields clear from the weeds
which grow in such profusion.
Queensland is rich in precious metals and stones.
Already she has yielded something like £100,000,000
worth. Mount Morgan has yielded £12,000,000
worth of gold, whilst Charters Towers has yielded
£20,000,000 worth. Queensland's possibilities in
the direction of precious metals have only just been
tapped; there are enormous districts that, up to the
present, have received nothing but the most casual
survey. Besides, the country seems to be mixed up
geologically. It does not run sure. Gold may be
found ; but suddenly a streak of copper may be hit.
The future of the State in mining may be anything.
The district that is known to contain minerals covers
an area of 32,000 miles. A miner can get a licence
to prospect for the insignificant sum of 5s. Many
of these men are out — brave, hopeful men — search
ing inhospitable regions for the thing which stits
the heart of men most — gold.
Some of the stories of how great finds have come
along read like a romance. Everybody has heard
of Mount Morgan. From an agricultural point of
view the hillside is poor. A farmer named Gordon
owned it, and with the utmost difficulty scraped a
living by keeping a few head of cattle. Two brothers
named Morgan, out prospecting, halted for a night
at Gordon's hut. They had a look round. There

QUEENSLAND 253
had been rain, and the water on the rocks revealed
to the practised eyes of the brothers the possibilities
of gold. They took away a few samples of rock.
They came to a decision. They returned and bought
out Gordon at £1 per acre for his selection — and he
was very glad to get so good a price. The Morgans
knew they had discovered something good, but had
no idea how good. They needed money to set up
machinery to crush the rock. They tried to realise
£2,000 in Eockhampton by approaching one man
and offering half their interests for £2,000. He
declined, but with a relation and two friends they
each raised £500. It was not many years before
in return for that £500 they were both millionaires.
The crushing of the rock now proceeds day and
night under the glare of electricity. It is owned by
a company with a capital of £1,000,000, and has
produced £12,000,000 worth of gold, £7,000,000 of
which has gone in dividends to shareholders.
Then take the case of Charters Towers, the lead
ing goldfield of Queensland. Three prospectors, sit
ting one night over an evening meal, discussed where
they should prospect next. One of them suggested
that before they left the district they should have a
look at some little hills in the distance. The next
day they rode seventeen miles through the country,
came to a ragged little hill 300 feet high, and there
found quartz which indicated they had discovered a
good find. In time fresh comers came, looking for
alluvial gold, for gold-reefs yield the most profitable
return. The richest fell into possession of a man
named Francis Horace Studbley, and in a very

256 AUSTRALLV
short time he made several hundred thousand
pounds. He was a good-natured man. His fortune
he disbursed in extravagance. WTien it was all gone,
he returned, a pauper, to see if he could not make
another lucky find. He was found lying dead by the
roadside

CHAPTER XXII
AUSTRALIA AND CANADA
"The lithe Australian with the earnest eye
That looks not back, but courts the future high.
And eager soul for ever in a glow.
Heavy the task, but boldly these shall meet
The burden and the heat.
For toil to brave men still for noble ends is sweet."
Edward B. Loxtohban.
More than onc« I have indicated that the Australian
cares comparatively little about what is happening
in the old countries of the world. He has, how
ever, a lively interest in the development of the
newer lands, such as the United States and Canada.
With an admiring eye, he looks upon the enormous
development of the United States. Feeling that he
has the vim and the energy which are characteristic
of the people in the great republic, he pictures the
bright day when Australia will be as aboundingly
prosperous as America. That, he recognises, must
be in the distant future, and when he will have
ceased to have any personal interest in the growth
of his country. So at present he is prone to measure
himself with the Canadian. He sees how the
Dominion is increasing in wealth, how the prairies
are being gridironed with railways, how the popula
tion is increasing by millions. He wonders why it
R 257

258 AUSTRALIA
is that people of the older lands, seeking other regions
where their efforts will be better rewarded than in
the crowded, competitive countries of Europe, drift
so strongly toward Canada and so slackly toward
Australia. Now, I have been impelled to vmte this chapter,
because the rival attractions of Canada and Aus
tralia were a very frequent topic of conversation when
I talked with men about the slow growth of the
Australian population. I would not like to say that
Australia is jealous of Canada's progress. But there
is undoubtedly a clinging wonder why people should
go to Canada, which is swathed in snow for five
months in the year, where the climate is severe and
forbidding, instead of going to Australia, where snow
is hardly k^own and where it is possible to live
out of doors practically the year round.
It was interesting to notice how, in referring to
Great Britain, the AustraUan was disposed to harp
upon our supposed decadence; and, in commenting
upon Canada, how he invariably came back to this :
"How terrible it must be to live in a country which
is so cold for half the year, compared with AustraUa,
where the climate is invariably genial."
I have shown that Canada primarily attracts the
farming folk of the older lands. Why? Because it
is nearer Europe than is Australia, and therefore
easier to reach ; because absolutely free land is given
to the immigrant; because the man who goes forth
generally proceeds to some place where relatives and
friends are already doing well ; because Canada is
boomed and advertised, and the world kept well

AUSTRALIA AND CANADA 259
acquainted with its prosperity, whilst Australia is
at the other end of the world, and not so many people
have relatives and friends out there ; because stories
reach Europe at intervals of drought and commer
cial disaster in Australia ; because Australia's advan
tages are not properly heralded, and because the
working men in Australia themselves frequently tell
their feUows in the lands from whence they them
selves came that there is unemployment and really
no room for new-comers.
Knowing something of the Dominion and the
Commonwealth, I can say, without any disparage
ment of Canada, that Australia has a happier and
pleasanter life to offer than can be secured in
Canada. But, as I have already pointed out in
previous chapters, there are no laws in Canada such
as there are in Australia to hinder the landing of a
man who has little but his muscle and his deter
mination to advance him. And, again, in the opening
up of the country the governments act on different
lines ; namely that, whilst in Canada an encourage
ment is given to the buUding of railways, knowing
that settlers wiU come, the practice in Australia is
to hold back the building of railways until there are
sufficient settlers to require them. The tendency of
this policy in Canada is to spread the vast majority
of the population over the rural areas ; and the tend
ency in AustraUa is to confine them to limited areas
and produce an altogether disproportionate popula
tion in the towns compared with those who are
engaged upon the land.
In the course of my investigations I made the

26o AUSTRALIA
acquaintance of a man in New South Wales, who
had extensive farming experience in both Canada
and Australia. He went out to Australia in 1886
from Canada, and he told me that what struck him
very much was the apathy in the new land to which
he had come in regard to immigration, compared
with the enthusiasm and enterprise displayed by the
authorities of the Dominion. He ascribed the
booming of Canada to the national spirit of the
people of the Dominion, which has soared above
the petty ' ' stinking fish ' ' tactics of unpatriotic
Australians. Sad to acknowledge, but the fact should be recog
nised, that in Australia there is a section of people
who are deservedly sneered at by the rest of the
community as the " stinking fish party " — folk who
are always sneering at their own country, always
dUating upon the hardships of life in the "back
blocks," always scoffing at those who praise their
land, and who make no secret that they simply want
to obtain enough money in order to clear out of the
country. I remember travelling with a lady and gentle
man who had lived some thirty years in Australia.
The man had acquired a considerable fortune ; he
had had his ups and his downs ; but now that he
had secured his pile, he was making for Europe, and
never intended to return to what he called that
"cursed land" again. I have never heard a Cana
dian talk like that.
This condition of mind is not limited to the rich
Australian. It is to be found amongst the working

AUSTRALIA AND CANADA 261
classes. Delegates of trade unions have even been
sent from Australia to London to warn artisans
against going out to Australia. I recall talking to
a carpenter about the thousands of men who were
leaving England for Canada, and asked him whether
it would not be a fine thing if Australia could have
a similar immigration. "Oh, yes," he replied, "I
have got no objection to immigration, but we do
not want any more carpenters ! "
The fact of the matter is that a dread exists that
the coming of new workers into the Commonwealth
will lower wages. This feeling is not limited to
Australia. I came across examples of it in Winni
peg. Yet the flow of immigrants to the West of
Canada has not lowered wages in Winnipeg ; it has
increased them.
Australia is beginning to open its eyes and to
understand. This is chiefly because the people of
the Commonwealth have learned a lesson from the
Dominion. I say, with whatever authority my pen
can command, that if Australia does not become
far more productive of wealth than Canada, it will
be due to the short-sightedness of the Australians
themselves. In farming, Canada has to contend with a long
winter, often hard to bear. The snows, however,
provide the soil with nourishment. Just as there
is the possibility of a continued drought injuring
seriously the farming in Australia, so, in the northern
wheat-growing areas of Canada, there is the con
tinuous nightmare of a possible summer frost which
will blight the produce of a million acres.

262 AUSTRALLV
Australia by comparison has no winter. So life
is enjoyable, and the farmer can take two, or even
three crops of various kinds from the same ground
in a year. My New South Wales farming friend
told me that his selection in Canada was seven mUes
from the town of Brandon, which is 150 miles west
of Winnipeg. In those days (1880 to 1886) it was
found impossible to get even the hardy apple tree
to survive through the winter. I believe, however,
this has been overcome by the introduction into
Manitoba of a Eussian apple. "Now, mark the
difference," he said to me, "I have in my own garden
here in Australia, growing side by side, the following
fruits: mandarin, orange^ lemon, Ume, pear, peach,
plum, persimmon, quince, grapes, strawberries, pas
sion fruit and rhubarb, not to mention half a dozen
European vegetables growing all the year round.
Potatoes grown in Manitoba during the summer, if
they are to be kept for winter use, must be put in
frost-proof cellars, which is unnecessary in Aus
tralia. If the Canadian farmer has an apiary, his
hives must be removed into warm cellars for the
winter. His poultry-"house must be built with thick
walls, and even then his fowls are often frozen to
death. There is nothing of this sort in Australia.
The poultry roost in the trees both summer and
winter, and the apiary is left undisturbed, bees fly
ing to and fro all the year round. That Australia
has natural pastures for her flocks and herds, can
supply fruit or fresh, grass-made butter and cheese
during the English winter months, gives it a signal
advantage. It places its dairy produce on the home

AUSTRALIA AND CANADA 263
markets at a season when supplies from America
and northern Europe are scant."
Magnificent wheat is grown in Manitoba, Sas
katchewan, Assiniboia, and Alberta. I have seen
it. And for days I have driven through miles upon
mUes of rustling wheat. To be quite just, there
are patches in Australia which can grow equally
good wheat. I did not see, however, nor did I hear
of any similar enormous expanses of prairie, which
would at all compare in excellence with the Canadian
soil. The Canadian selector of prairie land has con
siderable advantage in having no timber to fell and
clear. So, within his first year he can begin to make
money. The Australian has generally to clear the
ground of timber, and it is rarely until the third year
that a crop can be grown. On the other hand, as
the Canadian selector settles on the prairie, his time
is almost wholly occupied in winter in hauling small
stunted trees from great distances. And the great
scarcity of fuel is a big drawback in a country with
long winters. The new settler in Canada finds him
self at a distance from a railway — for be it remem
bered that the 160 acres of free land which the
Government gives to the immigrant is seldom nearer
a railway than thirty miles — and consequently the
cost of getting produce to market is sometimes so
heavy that a considerable amount of his profit is
eaten up.
If Australia sets about the matter rightly, there
is no reason why the strong-limbed agriculturist of
Great Britain, or the northern regions of Europe,
who wants to emigrate, should not be brought to

264 AUSTRALLV
understand that it is not more difficult to reach land
in Australia than it is to reach available land in
Canada. By the time the settler in Canada has arrived at
his far-away free grant in Saskatchewan or other
parts of the western territory, it has cost him as
much or more than it would do to reach an Aus
tralian port, where, without much trouble, he can
arrive at some part of the Government-owned coastal
land. Canadian free grants are very far from the
coast. Indeed, on reaching Canada, the immigrant
generally has to travel 2,000 miles by train, and then
journey another 40 or 50 miles by wagon, before
he reaches his allotted quarter of a square mile.
Nevertheless, I have come across many men in
Canada who have been able to secure a competence
within a comparatively few years. I have found
Australian farmers doing the same thing.
The cost of carrying goods must be taken into
consideration. Handling and freight of wheat from
north-west Canada to Liverpool costs more per
bushel than from the wheat centres in New South
Wales to London. Take the butter industry in which
my friend and his three sons, as dairy farmers, were
interested. All they paid in freight from their farm ¦
to London was .23 of a penny per lb.
Here are the experiences of this farmer in both
countries. "In 1879, with my wife and chUd, I left
London for Canada and took up 200 acres of Crown
land in Ontario, about 150 miles north of Toronto,
in the district of Muskoka. The place was very
picturesque, but I found that the land in the whole

AUSTRALIA AND CANADA 265
district which was not rock was pure sand. I
believe now, after thirty years, there is not much
more farming carried on in Muskoka than when I
took up land. It is a place attractive only to the
tourist, hunter and trapper. I stayed there a Uttle
over twelve months, during which time I got out
pine logs for the mill, as I found it impossible to
grow anything successfully in the sand. At that
time the influx to Manitoba had set in, and I
decided to try my luck in that province. I started
on a selection about seven miles from Brandon, and
stayed there until 1886, when, seeing nothing but a
bare living in view for the rest of my life, if I stayed
on, I took the first opportunity of selling out and
removing with my family to a country which would ,
at any rate, provide a more genial climate. My
experience in Australia has abundantly proved the
wisdom of the change, and my only regret is that I
did not in the first instance emigrate to Australia
instead of to Canada, and so have saved much valu
able time and money at the start. Having expended
my slender capital, I decided upon accepting the
offer of a position in town until such time as I had
sufficient capital again to make a fresh start on the
land. It would also give a better opportunity of
having my children fairly well educated, All my
boys and girls (seven in all) seemed to have an
instinct for country rather than for town life. And,
as soon as they were old enough, they all received
a training on farms or stations with friends, thus
acquiring an early knowledge of rural pursuits which
later became most useful. Two of my boys took

266 AUSTRALIA
part in the South African War, at the conclusion of
which they returned, and took up Government selec
tions in this district at 20s. per acre, with the object
of dairying. This part had commenced to come into
prominence as a splendid dairying country owing to
its proximity to the coast , and the consequent low cost
of getting produce to Sydney ; rich soil, most bounti
ful rainfall, and the introduction of that wonderful
grass — paspalum, dilitatum. My eldest daughter
also selected, and for five years my three sons and
two daughters worked the land — burning, grassing,
and fencing — whilst I remained in Sydney supplying
them with the cash until the farm was self-support
ing. I then resigned my position in Sydney of
£350 per annum to join my sons, and I have no
reason to regret the move. I have also selected, so
that we have now amongst us 1,453 acres. The
three lads have done most of the work on the place,
with very little outside assistance. I have expended
some £1,500, and now, after seven years, our position
is that we have land worth at its present valuation
£10 an acre, including improvements, £14,530; 150
head of stock, £1,000; total, £15,530.
" On one farm we have 150 acres under grass and
60 acres fallen ready to burn and grass next month,
and on the other 120 acres grassed. Altogether we
are milking 90 cows, which retum £8 per cow per
annum. Not a bad return on an investment of
£1,500 1 Could anything like this be done in
Canada? I think not. It should be remembered
that our farms are in their infancy, and as we get
more ground cleared and grassed year by year, so

AUSTRALLV AND CANADA 267
will our output increase and the value of our land
enhance. Well-grassed farms in our neighbourhood
are changing hands at from £20 to £40 an acre,
whUst the rent demanded for the same is from 30s.
to 40s. per acre per annum. This sounds high, but
I assure you there are farms here which easily carry
a cow to the acre, and on paspalum alone all through
the year. One leased farm of 100 acres near us has
been carrying 130 head of stock for years, and the
returns from cream alone have been as much as £90
a month. Our land was most heavily timbered,
excellent soil and well watered by creeks and
springs. We have nearly two miles frontage to the
Pacific Ocean, and the house is on a high ridge
which gives us a commanding ocean view extending
from Cape Byron to Point Danger. On our western
boundary we have the railway, and two railway
stations within two mUes. The butcher, baker and
storekeeper deliver at our house, which is very dif
ferent from having to travel many miles for stores,
as I had to in Canada. We can sit on our veranda
both summer and winter and enjoy the weather and
scenery, watching the ships pass on the east side
and the trains on the west. If we want a trip to
Sydney all we have to do is to jump on the train,
almost at our door, for Byron Bay, fourteen mUes off,
catch the seven o'clock boat, and on Sunday evening
we can be listening to the sermon at St. Andrew's,
Sydney. "There is as great a difference between farming
here and farming in Canada as there possibly can
be. Here is every advantage, there every disadvan-

268 AUSTRALIA
tage. A man would be very foolish indeed if, know
ing of these differences, he were to take only into
consideration the free grant offered by the Canadian
Government as an inducement to give that country
the preference.
"You ask what I think of the prospects for a
man with little money settling in Australia com
pared with the prospects of such a man in Canada?
My opinion is all in favour of the Commonwealth
for the intending settler, whether he have means or
not. My advice, however, to one and all is this : Do
not invest until you have been some months at least
in the country working for others. Take hold of the
first work that offers on a station or farm ; there is
plenty to leam. In this way a new-comer finds out
if the occupation suits him without dropping any of
his capital ; he is also sure to hear of an opening in
which he can commence on his own. There are
some men who are, from various causes, bound to
be failures. On the other hand, there are those who
are sure to succeed. A young Welshman, 19, wrote
me from Sydney at the beginning of this year (1909)
asking if I could employ him. I told him I would
give him a trial for a month for his board, and if he
suited I would pay him after that whatever he was
worth to us. The work he had to do was very
rough, for although a dairy farm, the dairy work is
looked after by the girls and myself, leaving the
young men to fell, brush, burn off, fence, split raUs,
etc. , in the preparation of new ground for grassing.
He came, and we soon found that he was a great
worker, although he had never soiled his hands

AUSTRALIA AND CANADA 269
before. He had come to learn, and learn he would,
be the work never so rough. He kept up with my
sons after a time, and soon learnt to handle the tools
dexterously. Always cheerful and willing to turn
his hand to whatever had to be done. After the
first month we found him so useful that we paid
him full wages, although he said he did not expect
pay as he was only a learner. This young fellow
is well connected and is in receipt of a private
income. Yet he could see that working was to
benefit him later on, and was sensible enough to
know that the work would not cause him to lose
caste. After being with us nine months he has,
together with another young man, leased a dairy
farm. They are now milking 60 cows, which should
return £500 per annum for cream alone. Their
rent is £150 a year, and they hire one lad to help
milk. I am quite sure that this could not be done
anywhere in Canada within so short a time, if at
all. This is no isolated case by any means. I know
of many selectors who are prosperous men owning
2,000 to 3,000 sheep and from 640 to 10,000 acres.
The rise from penury to a comfortable position in
Ufe is sometimes startlingly rapid."

CHAPTEE XXIII
TASMANU
" But always I would wish to be where the seasons gently fall.
On the Further Isle of the Outer Sea, the last little isle of all;
A fair green land of hill and plain, of rivers and water-springs.
Where the sun still follows after the rain, and ever the hours
have wings.
With its bosomed valleys where men may find retreat from
the rough world's way . . .
Where the sea-wind kisses the mountain-wffld between the dark
and the day." Eenest Cubbie.
Happy Tasmania I
Not only do the people joy in the satisfaction
of living in the most beautiful part of the Common
wealth, but they have the brightest confidence con
cerning its industrial future. People in Britain look
at a map of Australia, note the island of Tasmania
at the lower end of the map, and without inquiry
conclude that it is perhaps about as big as the Isle of
Wight. As a matter of fact it is nearly as big as
Scotland ; it is over twice the size of Belgium. Yet
whilst Belgium maintains a population of 7,000,000,.
the population of Tasmania is only 185,000 — about
that of a fourth -rate town in England.
It is a charming little State. It has a Governor
sent out by the King, two Houses of ParUament, a
Prime Minister, an Agent-General in London. It
has the satisfaction of reading eight daily and five
270

TASMANIA 271
weekly papers, including a journal speciaUy devoted
to the interests of the Labour Party. It has a
university. State-owned raUways, plenty of trade,
and everything goes well.
You will find on inquiry that, although Tasmania
cannot possibly compete with the mainland of Aus
tralia in the quantity of sheep, it does produce the
best stud sheep, and that although the coal dis
covered up to the present is not of the highest
quality, there are good hopes. But, anyway, there
is plenty of iron and other minerals. There are
most of the essentials for shipbuilding. Altogether
there is the confident belief among the Tasmanians
that one of these days their island will stand in
relation to Australia very much as Great Britain
does in relation to the Continent of Europe.
In judging what is done by a community, it is
always necessary to have a standard. The thing,
therefore, to be constantly kept in mind when con
sidering what Tasmania is doing, is that the whole
island cannot yet boast of a population of 200,000.
Yet she has a trade approaching £8,000,000 per
year. Federation with the States of Australia was a
good thing for her. Appreciating that her future
must lie along the line of industrial development,
she directed a good many of her energies to manu
facture. Now, the rate of wages being high, and
the distance from Europe being great, it was impos
sible to conceive that Tasmania would do much in
sending her goods to Europe. Her market lay with
the millions of people on the Australian continent.

272 AUSTRALIA
Tasmanians did manage to do business with New
South Wales, which previously had free trade; but
they were considerably hampered by the tariffs
imposed upon Tasmanian articles on endeavouring
to enter Victoria. Now, whilst there are tariffs
against the world, there is inter-State free trade in
the Commonwealth, with the consequence that Tas
mania is now as free to sell her manufactures in
Victoria as she is to sell them in Tasmania itself.
The island is generally understood to be occupied
with the growing of apples. Well, a tremendous
and increasing business is done in apple growing,
and England itself receives about half a million cases
a year. The Tasmanian engaged in apple culture
makes a profit of about £40 per acre, so that an
up-to-date orchard brings in its owner something like
£1,000 a year. But it must not be thought that
fruit culture is the mainstay of Tasmania, although
no doubt it is the most pleasant means of earning a
livelihood. I have already mentioned sheep ; as
good wool is to hand, and as the mountains, lakes
and streams are likely before long to be much utilised
in the production of electric power, there is a move
ment to extend the woollen mill industry. Besides,
there is an extremely rich belt of mineral country.
I heard of two companies, one dealing with tin and
the other with copper, which has disbursed over
£5,000,000 in dividends. Further, there are enor
mous iron deposits.
It has rather impressed me that Tasmania has
not become more a place of residence for compara
tively well-to-do folk, and why those people who

TASMANIA 273
are constantly looking round for parts of the world
to be developed with advantage do not avail them
selves of the attractions which the island offers. It
is mountainous and it is beautiful. It has fine rivers
and good fishing. The climate is like that of the
south-west of England. Living is comparatively
inexpensive. In the towns of Hobart and Launces
ton there is a pleasant and cultured society. A
good many Anglo-Indians, having reached the pen
sion age, have settled, and many of their fellows are
likely to follow. To the man who does not care for
London life and who is fond of the country, and
the good things the country brings, £400 in Tas
mania is calculated to go about as far as £1,000 in
England. At present Tasmania is an agricultural country.
It is gradually becoming a mining country, and the
time is approaching when it will be a considerable
industrial country. I have mentioned the water
power available ; this will be of an immense advan
tage in securing cheapness of production — in balanc
ing, as it were, the high cost of labour with the cheap
ness of driving power, and, therefore, being able to
produce an article at a cheaper price than in any of
the continent States, where also labour is expensive,
but where water cannot be utUised to any extent in
electric power stations.
Those who have given close study to the question
believe there is a considerable future for the woollen
trade in the island. At present there are only three
or four mills at work , but the demand is so great that
the machinery is kept going all the twenty-four hours

274 AUSTRALLV
of the day, and orders have so accumulated that
they cannot be satisfied for many months. Nowa
days the mass of Tasmanian wool is exported to
Europe. Though, of course, it is not the same wool
which comes back in clothing, still the purchaser
has naturally to pay more for European goods than
he would have to pay for goods which could be sup
plied nearer home. Besides, there is a protective
duty of some 25 per cent, on imported woollens.
The Commonwealth annually imports £3,000,000 of
manufactured woollens. The demand will increase
as population grows, and Tasmania, with her natural
advantages — particularly of water, which is most
necessary in the manufacture of wool — is zealously
anxious ultimately to secure the bulk of this trade.
Were I a capitalist I think I would invest money in
woollen mills in Tasmania.
As I have mentioned, there is much being done in
mining minerals. I doubt if there is any other
area so rich in minerals. At present they are only
being tapped. There are regions yet to be explored,
wild, rugged, hard country, and prospectors find
their labour most arduous. The enthusiasm of men
and the appliances of science overcome difficulties
when valuable ores are unearthed, and fortunes are
to be obtained quickly. Tin, copper, silver, lead,
gold are all being developed. Not much is yet done
with iron, but on the north-west coast, what will
perhaps turn out to be the biggest iron mine in Aus
tralasia has been discovered. The ore is of first
quality, containing 95.2 per cent, of iron peroxide.
A hole has been pierced by a 260-feet drive, and fully

TASMANIA 275
forty million cubic yards of ore are revealed.
Money, however, is required further to work this
ore. The Government do not allow private individuals
to become sole possessors of mineral-bearing land.
The land is held by the Crown, and it allows it to
be worked under lease, the price ranging from £1
per acre for gold-mining, 10s. per acre where gold is
associated in small proportion with other metals,
2s. 6d. per acre for coal, slate, free stone and lime
stone, and 10s. per acre for other metal. The value
of minerals produced is weU over £2,000,000 a year,
whilst between six and seven thousand persons are
engaged in the industry. Therefore, although Tas
mania is mainly known to the outer world as famous
for its apples, the annual export trade of its fruit is
not yet £500,000, whereas, as I have just indicated,
the annual produce of mineral wealth is over
£2,000,000. There is no free land to be obtained in Tas
mania. But there is land suitable to every pocket,
provided there is something in that pocket. The
price varies from 5s. to £1 per acre for uncleared
ground, up to as high as £40 for an improved pro
perty. There is a sufficiency of rain, so that the
dread of Australians, the drought, never worries the
people of Tasmania.
British people with means are showing a strong
disposition to embark upon orchard rearing. It is
a Ufe which appeals to those who lack the physique
to engage in the heavier agricultural works. Some
20,000,000 acres are now given over to the growing

276 AUSTRALIA
of fruit. In general farming, however, Tasmania
should appeal to the Englishman, because conditions
are very much as at home. As it is fairly easy for
the man with energy to get ahead in Tasmania and
be his own master, agricultural labour is naturally
scarce. Therefore, it is hardly the place for what
might be called the gentleman farmer, who super
intends and who has a number of employees under
him. Rather it is a country which should appeal to
the sturdy yeoman and his sons, who are able and
willing to do the farm work themselves, without
being overmuch dependent upon labour from out
side. The little community — especially when one re
members it is hardly more than half a century since
it really came into being — has accomplished much
in its short lifetime. About £10,000,000 have been
laid out in public works, including railways, har
bours, bridges, and the like.
Tasmanians, finding Ufe easy and agreeable, are
like their neighbours on the continent of Australia,
extremely fond of having a good time. Though
there are many touches of British home life, there
is a greater freedom, what might be called a larger
democratic spirit than in the old land. Owing to
the scarcity of labour, and the difficulty to get ser
vants, the girls of a household generally have to do
their full share of the work, and are none the worse
for it.
I am indebted, in regard to much of the informa
tion I give in this chapter, to a couple of personal
friends who visited the island and who supplied me

TASMANLV 277
with information collected on my behalf, because,
owing to personal reasons, I was obliged to return
to England hurriedly before I had the opportunity
of visiting Tasmania. They agreed with all I had
gathered elsewhere about the charm of the life, the
amiability of the people, and the ease with which a
man of grit can make a very excellent living. The
people who ought not to go out to Tasmania are
clerks and shop assistants. There are plenty of
those there, as there are in other countries, and the
remuneration, compared with that given to a
mechanic, is poor.

CHAPTEE XXIV
THE GREAT LONE LAND
'" In the bright spring morning we left them all-
Camp and cattle, and white and black —
And rode for the Range's westward faU,
Where the dingo's trail was the only track."
Maby Hannah Foott.
There lies before me as I write a pink-covered publi
cation, entitled "Territoria," advertising the advan
tages of the Northern Territory of South Australia.
There is a map, and by the side of it are certain
significant figures The Northern Territory is 560
miles wide and 900 miles long, and has an area of
523,620 square miles. It is four and a half times
the size of Great Britain, two and a half times the
size of France, one-fifth larger than New South
Wales and Victoria together, and comprises nearly
one-sixth of the continent of Australia. Then the
startling figures of the white population: 1,110.
This great land has not as many people in it as
an English viUage. It has 335,116,800 acres of
land, and yet not a thousand acres are in tillage.
There is no other region of the earth habitable by
man so sparsely populated.
The Northern Territory is called the Cinderella
of Australia. Is there any prospect of the beautiful
prince coming along? That has yet to be seen.
278

THE GREAT LONE LAND 279
Now, in reading this pleasantly written book, I
occasionally halted, rubbed my eyes and wondered
how it was that the Territory should have been
missed by the millions of the world seeking for a
fresh place to settle? "Of all the unsettled parts
of the earth it is the land of promise, only requiring
facilities for an industrious, energetic European
immigration." Further, it is proclaimed to be
magnificent in its resources, so that perhaps "no
part of the uninhabited globe possesses a climate so
suitable for the easy production of human life." As
I turn the pages my amazement increases, for here
I read of magnificent harbours, of plenitude of rain
— the thing for which all Australians devoutly pray.
The magnificence of the climate, subtropical but
undoubtedly healthy, "and this we challenge any
detractor to gainsay." "It has many great rivers;
it abounds in minerals. There are millions of acres
of rich agricultural lands only waiting the advent
of a railway to make it the home of millions of white
people ; its vast stretches of uplands are clothed with
Australia's best grasses, capable of supporting mil
lions of cattle, horses and sheep; it is an open,
unguarded door for the teeming millions of the east.
It is within ten days' steam of the great Asiatic
markets and a week nearer to the European markets
than is Sydney or Melbourne."
To read this book one would conclude that the
Northern Territory is the emigrant's El Dorado.
Yet not only is the white population small, but it is
decreasing. Why is this?
The history of the Northern Territory is not a

28o AUSTRALIA
bright chapter. It lay practically ignored until
South Australia, in a burst of ambition, annexed it
The future was rosy. The few men who had pene
trated it, or who had gone up the rivers, told of
the fine pasturage and how the country was fitted by
nature for the growth of all tropical products such
as cotton, sugar, rice and coffee. The South Aus
tralians, chockful of good intent, saddled themselves
with debt and proceeded to lay the lines for gigantic
development. Expeditions were dispatched to find
a suitable site for a capital city. It was found, but
had to be abandoned. Officials quarrelled with one
another and had to be withdrawn. The Government
had accepted money from intending settlers, but sur
veys were delayed, were inaccurate, and those
who had handed money over to the Government
clamoured for its return. An endeavour was made
to appease them by offering them larger stretches of
country. As there was no success there was much
grumbling. South Australia awoke to find herself
shackled with debt and an enormous annual expendi
ture for the administration of a land which yielded
little return. South Australia, in vulgar parlance,
had, in undertaking the government of the Northern
Territory, "bitten off a bigger piece than it could
chew." In time gold was found. There came the inevit
able rush. Disaster eventuated, and most of the
companies formed were over -capitalised. Much of
the machinery was useless ; most of the mining
managers were incompetent. Then came the con
struction of the over-land telegraph line from

THE GREAT LONE LAND 281
Adelaide to Port Darwin. It was thought that the
expenditure of £120,000 upon this line of wire, doing
something to open up the country, would be of
advantage. It was of very little advantage, and the
cost was well over £400,000. Next came the pro
ject for the construction of a trans-continental rail
way. If only there were a railway, settlers would
find easy means to reach rich lands. The scheme
was "to let private builders come in, and, in return
for constructing a metal way through the heart of
the continent, receive large grants of land. On
this, however, the South AustraUans took fright.
They dreaded great private companies having a land
monopoly. They shied at the prospect of investors
in other countries drawing huge dividends out of
the good country. Changes of government were
frequent ; shilly-shallying was the rule ; the mighty
project has been hung up for many years. But in
the north, from Palmerston, near Port Darwin, steps
were taken to run a railroad south to as far as Pine
Creek. It was hoped that European labour would
be secured to construct the way. But British labour
was dear, and it was chary. Then it was thought
that sturdy European labourers could be obtained
from Silesia at wages of about 2s. a day, and that
after their services in building the line were con
cluded they could be got to settle on farms made over
to them at something like a gift. This fell through.
The upshot was the employment of Chinese
labourers, who cleared out when their work was
finished. So there was a railw-ay running through
land with no settlers. Settlers would not come, or.

282 AUSTRALIA
if they came, they speedily departed. The railway
has been a financial failure.
Still, investigators reported on the fine possi
bilities of the country. At the end of their reports,
however, they generally added that, however suit
able the Territory was to grow tropical products, the
climate was too bad for Europeans. The South
Australians recognised this, and there was general
acquiescence in the belief that, whilst white men
should have the management, the manual labour
could only be done by coloured folk. The inclination
was towards securing Indian coolies. The mass of
Australia's population, however, being in the tem
perate part of the country, took up the "white
Australia " cry, and let it be known that it was
their intention to preserve the whole of Australia
for white men, and that on no account would
coloured labour be allowed. With the advent of
the Commonwealth, a "white Australia" became the
policy of the country. That white labour could be
utilised in tropical regions was shown by the em
ployment of white men in Queensland. Port
Darwin, however, is much nearer the equator than
is Mackay in Queensland, where white labour is
growing sugar. Perhaps, though I doubt it, white-
tended sugar in Queensland will be a success —
though by import duties and bonuses the all-white
policy is adding over £300,000 a year to Australia's
sugar bill — but it will mean there will be little
chance of the Northern Territory becoming a great
sugar-producing country, because Queensland will
be able to supply Australia's needs and the Terri-

THE GREAT LONE LAND 283
tory will not be able to export because the price of
white labour will raise the price so that it cannot
compete with sugar produced in other parts of the
world. Valiant have been the efforts made during the
last quarter of a century to turn this great lone land
into productivity. The climate is wearing ; it saps
energy from European muscles. There are great
swamps, and ague is in the air. Considerable
stretches of the country are poor and sandy and,
quite unsuitable for agriculture. Yet there are
stretches where the soil is rich and capable of grow
ing sugar, cotton, coffee, tobacco and rice. But,
alas, some of the most strenuous endeavours to win
prosperity from the Territory have resulted in
ghastly failure. The dry season is long, and, whilst
in the wet season there is plenty of rain, there are
seven months of the year when little rain falls.
"It is distressing," reported Mr. G. E. McMinn,
the Acting Government fiesident, "to stand by and
see capital and energy literally thrown away."
Various companies sought for success, but failure
dogged their steps. Here is one report : "Both cane
"and maize grew well until the end of January,
"when, unfortunately, the crop was eaten down by
"large numbers of rats, and within a fortnight of
" the time that the maize was fit to gather they took
"everything before them."
When good soil is touched, and the drought
months are not too prolonged, the fecundity of
growth can only be compared to the beanstalk of
the story-book of our very early youth. I must

284 AUSTRALIA
say I received most conflicting reports about the
possibilities of the country. On one side it was all
glow. On the other side it was all gloom. If I
accepted the optimist's illustration, I would lay
myself open to a charge from the unfortunate men
who have lost money of having some sinister motive
to boom a country that was accursed. If I repeated
the harrowing stories of failure which lie before me,
I am well aware that the optimist would say I was
depreciating a country which I had not properly
investigated, and that, at any rate, I was not giving
a new land a fair chance.
That is always the trouble in Australia. It is
the land of extremes. It is the best land in the
world and it is the worst land. Whichever line a
student of affairs like myself may take up is subject
to attack from the other side. Foolish it may be,
but it is necessary to steer the middle course, which
will, I trust, give outsiders an adequate and fair
idea of the position of affairs ; but it leaves the writer
exposed to bombardment from both pessimists and
optimists for either overstating or understating the
case. Happily, I have a broad back.
Now, with the plenitude of rain in certain
months there is a luxuriance of growth. I honestly
believe that, under favourable conditions, there are
few parts of the earth where so much rubber, coffee,
sugar and cotton could be grown. The mischief is
tbat a sufficiency of rain cannot be depended upon.
Thus it comes about that we get such divergent
stories about the Territory. A settler is fortunate
in his selection and he is fortunate in his climate;

THE GREAT LONE LAND 285
he does well, and those who say it is an unhappy
land are called unpleasant names. Other settlers
may, however, find equally good land, but the rain
is inadequate; ruin comes to them, and they are
not hesitating in their declaration that all the rosy
reports about the Territory were little short of lies.
And when you try to balance the excellences with
the deficiencies, and find yourself in a tangle of
contradictions, there is one fact which forces you
to a particular conclusion, namely, that the white
population is decreasing.
That there is a future in tropical agriculture for
this lone land I am convinced, especially along the
banks of the fine rivers, and, if, as will come in
time, a system of irrigation be instituted. This will
have to be brought about if a white population in
any numbers is to be attracted to the Territory.
Also, when more complete surveys have been made,
so illimitable is the land that great areas well fitted
for the cultivation of tropical products will be found.
But whenever they are found there will always
heave up the problem : How can cheap labour be
secured so that plantations may be worked at a
profit? There, with the existing population pledged
to a white Australia, one bumps against a stone
wall. There is wealth in the Territory for white
men, and for the benefit of the whole of the Aus
traUan community. Although I fully concur with
the eagerness of the Australian people to keep their
continent for white people, I cannot, recognising
that so much of the Northern Territory lies within
the fierce tropics, see a fitting solution unless a

286 AUSTRALIA
virtue is made of necessity, and Indian coolie labour
is introduced to do that work which the white man
is physically unsuited to do, and which, if he could
do, would be at a cost making the products of his
labour an unmarketable commodity in other parts
of the world.
Many Australians with whom I conversed on
this matter, and whose point of view I thoroughly
appreciated, look to the time when gradually,
through generations, a white population would
become acclimatised to live under tropical con
ditions. Well, there is a possibility; but human
beings are not so quickly acclimatised, and even
were we sure such a thing could happen, it is so
far off that it is unwise to nurse that idea at the
present time. The mistake that is made is that
Australians living in the pleasant zone are disposed
to think that conditions which obtain in Melbourne
are applicable to the region lying at the back of
Palmerston. There is, however, an immediate future for a
vast development of the pastoral industry. Again,
I do not ignore the failures there have been in this
direction. The failures, howeve'r, have not been due
to lack of nutriment for cattle, but because the
pastoralists have been restricted in their markets.
They have had no railway communication to take
their goods to the millions in the south, and the
steamer service to provide communication with Asia
or Europe has not been very good. These things
are interdependent ; if the Territory began to
flourish, there is little doubt that an adequate

THE GREAT LONE LAND 287
steamer service would soon be provided by some
enterprising firm. It is quite clear that in the
uplands, with an adequacy of rain, there is plenty
of food stuff to carry literally millions of horses
and cattle and sheep. Yet, with a dwindling popu
lation, the Government have to realise that whatever
is done must be done quickly, or the Northern
Territory will lose whatever good name it possesses,
and will be pushed back half a century in comparison
with the growth of other parts of the Common
wealth. If coloured labour is not to be introduced,
let it be frankly recognised that the Territory is a
grazing country.
Australia has to remember that a determined
competitor in the very things she produces is
advancing by leaps and bounds in the Republic of
the Argentine. She will be able to occupy the
position which she is legitimately ambitious to hold
if she puts sentiment on one side, looks at the facts,
and acts upon those aione.
Some Australians with whom I talked thought
that the British Government should, at its own
expense, but for the benefit of the Empire, trans
plant some of our surplus population to the Northern
Territory instead of allowing them to drift to the
United States and to the Argentine. I sincerely
hope the British Government will do nothing of the
kind. The only men who could be persuaded to
go out to the Northern Territory would be those
who are unable to hold their own in the great
struggle for existence in England, and who have
not the means to carry them across the Atlantic.

288 AUSTRALIA
Such men, in too many cases lacking physical
stamina, would be a ghastly failure in the Territory,
where the conditions of life are different, and where
the climate is also so different from that of the old
country. The South Australians, though they have
muddled in places in their administration of the
Territory, have, on the whole, done their best. South
Australia has not a large population itself, and the
drain of expenditure in administering the Territory
is more than it can bear. So there is a strong
movement toward handing over the Northern Terri
tory to the Commonwealth, with a condition that a
transcontinental line is constructed between Port
Darwin and the existing line in South Australia
which communicates with Adelaide.
Such a line would do much to develop the
country. Here comes the objection, put forward by
other States, to find money which would not directly
benefit them, but which would be a source of ad
vantage to the State of South Australia. The
present condition of affairs — 544 persons arriving in
Port Darwin in 1908 and 747 leaving, the imports
decreasing by £10,000 compared with the former
year, and the exports decreasing by over £100,000
— is not a bright outlook. The sub-collector of
customs at Port Darwin, in his report, stated : "The
causes of the decrease in imports and exports are
general depression, loss of population, and want of
energy. There is immediate and pressing necessity
for the adoption of some active, intelligent and con
sistent policy that will have the effect of introducing

THE GREAT LONE LAND 289
population to develop the country's natural re
sources." Australians, naturally enough, do not want this
Territory to be moribund and to sink to decay.
The Territory must be treated as a tropical country.
The Australians are as anxious as any people I know
to do what is right. They have lofty ideals. They
are anxious for all people to have a happy liveli
hood, and that the distress which marks so many
of the older countries should be kept back. Aus
tralia cannot get white settlers into the Territory,
and she will not have black. It has been costing
South AustraUa £130,000 a year to keep the
Territory empty.
A railway is needed. If the electors of Western
Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland
and Tasmania refuse to pay for it, as they may well
do, then private enterprise should be allowed to
come in. It is no good for the mob to criticise
the Government and demand, "Why is not some
thing done ? " when the only things which could be
done are met with resistance at every turn. No
garish, over-coloured picture need be presented to
the world of the capabUities of the Territory. But
we have a right to look to other parts of the earth's
surface — Canada, for instance — and see how tracts
which, until a comparatively few years ago, were
regarded as waste places are now thrilling with
well-being. Boldness as well as caution is a good
quality in the development of a new country.

CHAPTER XXV
SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS
" Not understood, we gather false impressions
And hug them closer as the years go by ;
Till virtues often seem to us transgressions.
And thus men rise and fall, and live and die.
Not understood." Thomas Bbaceen.
I MUST have made indifferent studies of human
nature in Australia if I failed to realise that some
of the things I have written will rouse resentment
in many quarters. I am sorry if it should be so ;
but it cannot be helped. I have admired honestly
and I have criticised freely — the admiration being
unstinted, and the criticism with no other intention
than to afford what little service I can in pointing
out the obstacles which are likely to hamper the
progress of the Commonwealth.
Some of my pages I have penned with pain.
But I owe a duty to those readers in various parts
of the world who are good enough to accept my
descriptions as those of a man who at least en
deavours to be fair. Openly, and without any
hesitation, I can write that, if I were a younger
man, and if I had not ties elsewhere, and I knew
as much about Australia as I do now, it is the land
to which I would willingly go to live : because the
290

SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 291
people are so charming, because, in so many places,
the climate is so beautiful, and, above all, because
Australia is wrestling bravely with mighty problems,
local, national and imperial, in which I am whole
heartedly interested.
I have sufficient affection for the Australians and
appreciation of their ability to know that, one of
these days, they will reach the goal upon which
their eyes are so steadily fixed. There are many
Australians very pessimistic about their own country.
I am an optimist.
Countries, like individuals, have their weak
spots as well as their fine attributes. To my mind
it shows pettiness of spirit and narrow thinking for
any Australian to imagine that he is doing his
country good by objecting to attention being directed
to any weed in the garden. The amusing thing
about it is that, whilst some Australians object to a
visitor passing any judgment upon what he sees,
they consider themselves perfectly at liberty to pass
offensive judgment upon him, and particularly the
country from which he comes. Nowhere in the
world, in the newspapers of Europe or in the anti-
British press in the United States, have I read such
gross and offensive language in regard to Britain
and British people as I have read in some of the
Australian publications. We do not mind ; no doubt
much of it is true ; I hope it does us good.
If I have pointed to some of the smudges on
the fair page of Australia's progress, I trust I have
done something to remove the ignorance prevailing
outside Australia about the land. The lack of know-

292 AUSTRALIA
ledge, not only in Britain but in the United States
and Canada, about Australia, is astonishing. What
is believed about Australia is generally wrong. The
lamentable impression abroad in the public mind is
that the Commonwealth is little other than a bleached
and waterless desert. If I have done something to
slay that error, this book has not been written in
vain. The difficulty always is to get people, in a distant
land, to regard another country from that other
country's standpoint. It so happened that one day
whilst I was writing the foregoing pages I lunched
with a Canadian. He had never been to Australia,
and therefore his opinions were free and unfettered.
"Why, Australia," he said, "is not in the same
street with Canada ! It has not the population ; it
has not the agricultural possibilities ; it is nothing
but a barren waste, where sheep die from drought."
That night I dined with an Australian who had
never been to Canada. The conversation turning
on the Dominion, he exclaimed: "I cannot imagine
why there is so much enthusiasm about Canada,
a place which has six months of appalling winter,
and where you are likely to die in the snow. Now,
Australia  " and so on in the usual vein.
When all is said and done — beyond all the
criticisms, all the back-biting, all the provincial
jealousies — there is one outstanding fact : Australia
is going to be a great nation.
When the population grows and the national
spirit develops, what Australia's position will then
be in the Empire I do not venture to guess. Some

SOME GENERAL OBSERVATIONS 293
of the clearest thinkers with whom I talked, loyal
Imperialists, told me plainly that when Australia is
strong enough she will cut the thread which acts
as a sort of painter tying her to the mother country.
She will stand alone. Among the proletariat that
is the drift of opinion to-day.
It is not the opinion, however, of the other
classes of the community. They see, as the people
of the United Kingdom should see, that in these
days of Federations and of other Powers waxing
strong, all parts of the Empire, Australia and
Canada, South Africa and New Zealand, Great
Britain and the lesser colonies, are all interdepend
ent upon one another. They have the same
heritage ; they have the same ideals ; the same blood
flows in their veins. Each will be strong in know
ing it has the support of the others ; each will be
weak if it attempts to stand alone. We are begin
ning to appreciate that in England. It must also
be appreciated in Australia.

INDEX

Aberdeen, 115
Adelaide, the population and re
finement of, 94 ; 110, ill, 112,
162, 191
Amusements. (See sports)
Andromeda, the, 211
Apple growing in Tasmania, 272,
275
Arbitration Courts, 202, 205;
and Wages Board, 209; and
Trade Unions, 209; and
Hunter Steamship Company,
210; and Resolute, 211; and
Andromeda, 211; and laws
concerning labour, 212; re
sults of, 213
Asiatic labour, 203, 206
Asiatics, dislike of, 21S
Ballarat, 36
Bendigo, 36
Betting, State system of, 40
Birth-rate, decline of, 124
Brisbane, 109, 111, 242
British Immigration League of
Australia, work of, 30, 31
Broken Hill, 109, 175
Buttner, Dr. Alexander, 54, 55
Canada, comparison with, 9, 58,
169, 178, 257-269
Canned fruits, industry in
Victoria, 235
Cattle-breeding in Western Aus
tralia, 14S

Chaxters Towers, gold mines at,
255
China in relation to Australia,
216
Chinese labour, employment of,
281
Climate, of Sydney, 7; of
Queensland, 118; of Western
Australia, 135; effect on
morals, 124; of Tasmania,
273; of Northern Territory
of South Australia, 279
Coalfields, in Victoria, 238;
QueenBland, 240
"Cockney" in Australia, 43-45
Collarendabri, 111
Coolgardie, 140, 144
Dairy farming, in Western Aus
tralia, 138; in New South
Wales, 175; in Victoria, 232,
233; in Queensland, 248
Darling Downs as grazing
country, 243
Darwin, Port, 113
Deakin, Mr. Alfred, 19; aa
President of the Land Settle
ment Division of the Immi-
gyration League of Australia,
226; as Minister of Water
Supply of Victoria, 237
Death-rate in Victoria, 229
Defence, questions of, 17, 19, 156
Denmark compared with. Vic
toria, 228

293

296

INDEX

" Dreadnought " farm scheme,
31
Drought, repute of, 2; absence
of, in Victoria, 237; in
Queensland, 243-244
Dudley, Earl of, 155, 161
Education, systems of, 188
"Experiment farm and cot
tage," 73, 138
Explorers: Bass and Flinders,
Evans and Oxley, Hamilton
Hume and Allan Cunning
ham, Charles Sturt, Mac
MiUan, A. C. Gregory, Ed
ward John Eyre, Burke and
Wills, Gosse and Ernest
Giles, 47; Hannan and Flan
nigan, 140
Factories, 185-187
Factory Acts, 203
Fauna, native, 48-50
Federation : Parliament of, 14,
154, 158 ; date of, 155 ; council
of, 156
Fitchett, Dr., 24
Fitzroy, Sir Charles, 155
Flora, native, 50, 51
Foreign settlers, 57
Forrest, Sir John, 130, 131, 146
Fremantle, 148
Fruit-growing in Western Aus
tralia, 135, 136; in Victoria,
233; in Tasmania, 272, 275
Garden State of Australia, 224
Geelong, 36 ; Immigration
Settlement at, 82-85
Gippsland, 227; transformation
of, 231
Golden mile, the, 144

Goldfields, 129, 140 ; in Victoria,
237 ; in Queensland, 254
Gordon, Mr. David J., 96
Government, State systems of,
152
Hackett, Dr., 130, 131
Hay, statistics, 76
Horse-breeding in Victoria, 234
Horse-racing, 40
House of Representatives, 158
Hotels, 36, 183
Hunter Eiver, 115
Hunter Steamship Company, 210
Immigrants, difficulties of, 82;
Italian, 219-221; and Queens
land, 244
Immigration, problem of, 21-33,
182; statistics of, 28, 61;
work of British League of
Australia, 30, 31 ; Eestriction
Acts, 32; to Western Aus
tralia, 32
Imperialism, 11-20
India, native labour in Aus
tralia, 221 ; in relation to Aus
tralia, 222
Irrigation in Western Australia,
146; in Victoria, 227; in
Queensland, 243
Italian emigrants, 219, 221
Japan in relation to Australia,
22, 216
Jealousy, inter-State, 12, 120
Kalgoorlie, 140-150
Kanaka labour in Queensland,
249, 251
Kidman, Mr. Syd, the cattle
king, 245

INDEX

297

Kimberley, 148
Knibbs, Mr. G. H.. 61
Labour legislation, problems of,
201; question, 209
Lamington Heights, 144
Land, price of, 66, 137, 168, 173;
settlement ou, 72, 80;
statistics, 75-86; New South
Wales system, 87, 88, 166,
172; taxes, 90; in South Aus
tralia, 93, 97; in Western
Australia, 133, 148; in Vic
toria, 226; in Queensland,
246 ; in Tasmania, 275
.Light, Colonel, 94
Living, cost of, 36; in New
South Wales, 175
Lofty, Mount, 95
Macarthur, Captain John, 65
McMinn, Mr. C. E., 283
Maize, statistics, 75
"Mallee" country, 81, 227;
clearing the, 231
Melbourne, 1, 6, 110, 111, 117;
inconveniences of Port of,
224 ; population of, 225
Minerals of Western Australia,
148; of New South Wales,
175; of Queensland, 240, 254;
of Tasmania, 271, 272, 274
Morality of young Australia, 123
Mount Morgan, gold mines at,
254
Mundaring reservoir, 147
Murray, Eiver, 96
Muswellbrook, 111
Mutton, frozen, 68; exportation
of, 69, 234; poor quality of,
69-71; exportation from New
South Wales, 177

Newcastle, 91
New South Wales, land ques
tion, 87-90, 165-179; govern
ment of, 151-153, 156, 161;
area of, 166 ; products of, 167 ;
climate of, 167 ; population of,
175 ; cost of living in, 175 ;
dairying in, 175; sheep breed
ing in, 176
Newspapers, 41
"Nile of Australia," 96
Northern Territory, 92; unin
habited, 216; question of in
vasion, 218; of South Aus
tralia, 278; size of, 278;
climate of, 279; history of,
280 ; gold mining in, 280 ; em
ployment of Chinese labour,
281; rainiall in, 283; Indian
coolie labour in, 286; and
British Government, 287
Oats, statistics, 75
Parliament, the Federal, 14,
154, 158; State, 14, 161
Perth, 111, 112, 129, 130, 146
Population, slow increase of,
10 ; increase of, 24 ; from 1899-
1908, 28; problems of, 52-63;
distribution of, 78; of West
ern Australia, 129
Port Darwin, 113
Potatoes, statistics, 75
"Potentialities," 35
Queensland, Government of,
153, 156, 161 ; climate of, 219,
240; age of, as a Stat«, 239;
precious metals of, 240, 254;
ports of, 242 ; lack of rivers
in, 243; drought in, 243, 244;

2q8

INDEX

and immigrants, 244; price of
land in, 245, 248; sugar
plantations in, 249; Sugar
Works Guarantee Act in, 250;
Kanaka labour on sugar
plantations in, 249, 251; gold
mines in, 254, 255
Babbits, the pest of, 49, 50
Eailways, 12, 102-115; statistics
of, 103 ; gauge of, 109 ; incon
venience of, 109-111 ; Western
Eailway, 91; South Western
Eailway, 91
Eainfall, importance of, 2; in
Victoria, 229 ; in Northern
Territory, 283
Bates, corporation, 163
Eeid, Sir George, 30, 59
Eenmark, 96, 97
Beaulute, the, 211
Eiverina district, 89
Euse, James, the first settler, 72
Schools, 188, 189; in Queens
land, 190; in Western Aus
tralia, 190 ; in Tasmania, 190 ;
in Victoria, 191 ; in New South
Wales, 192; in South Aus
tralia, 197
Senate, the, 158
Settlement question, 72-91
Sheep, breeding, 64-66, 149, 175,
177; shearing, 66-68; treat
ment of, before slaughter, 69-
71, 111 ; in New South Wales,
176; in Victoria, 227; in
Queensland, 246; in Tas
mania, 272
South Australia, 92-101 ; climate
of, 98, 99 ; government of, 152,
163, 156, 162

South Western Eailway, 91
Sugar cane statistics, 76
Sugar, plantations in Queens
land, 249; Works Guarantee
Act, 250
Sports and amusements ; Horse-
racing, 40; cricket, 40;
theatres, 41
Swan Eiver, 130, 139
Sydney, 1, 6, 110, 111, 115. 165,
191, 210
Sydney Harbour, 6, 165
Tasmania, population of, 270;
size of, 270; industries in,
271; trade of, 271; apple
growing in, 272, 275; sheep
rearing in, 272; wool industry
in, 272 ; minerals of, 271, 272,
274; climate of, 273; future
of the woollen trade in, 273;
expenditure on public works,
276
Taxes. 163, 164
Theatres, 41
Towns, drift of population to,
3, 59
Trade Unions, 184, 201. 209
Travelling, inconvenience of.
109-111; cost of. 114
IJnited States, comparison with,
61
Victoria, Government of, 152,
153, 156, 224; population of,
225; land question in, 226;
sheep in, 227; irrigation
works in, 227 ; compared with
Denmark, 228; exports of.
228; rainfall in, 229; death-
rate in, 229; wheat in, 232;
dairying in, 232, 233; wool

INDEX

299

industry in, 233; exportation
of frozen meat from, 234;
horse breeding iu, 234; fruit
growing in, 235 ; export of
fruit from. 235 ; canned fruit
industry in, 235 ; openings for
export in, 236; drought in,
237; gold in, 237; coalfields
in, 238
Vines, statistics, 76

Wade, Mr., Premier of N.S.W..
88
Wages Boards, 202-209
Wages, rates of, 167
Western Australia, 128-138 ;
isolation of, 12, 112; irriga

tion of, 146; Government of,
153
Western Eailway, 91
Wharf Labourers' Union, 210
Wheat, exportation of, 174;
statistics, 75, 232
"White Australia," a, 214, 282;
ambition for a, 217
Wimmera Plain, compared with
Manitoba, 231
Wines, 98-100
Wool, exportation of, 64, 68,
177; value of, 64; industry in
Victoria, 233 ; industry in
Tasmania, 272; future of
trade iu Tasmania, 273
Yass, the future of, 16