Australasian Democracy Part 4

A supplementary proposal put forward in Victoria {131} is that, upon subjects which cannot be referred in a clear and simple manner to the electors, differences should be followed by a dissolution of both Houses, and, if an agreement is still impossible, by their joint meeting as one Chamber. In New Zealand, a Bill recently introduced by the Premier, but not pa.s.sed through the House of Representatives, provided that, if a measure had been twice within fourteen months pa.s.sed by one House and rejected by the other, the House which had pa.s.sed it might call upon the Governor to convene a joint meeting of the two Houses, which should finally dispose of it by approval, rejection, or amendment. It will be noticed that the Council might thus secure the enactment of a measure which was opposed by the majority of the popular representatives.

The antagonism of the two Houses in Victoria would seem to be to a great extent a reflex of an antagonism between town and country. The population of the Province is estimated to have been 1,180,000 in 1895, that of Melbourne and its suburbs 439,000, or 37 per cent. of the whole. Under these conditions, and owing to the greater cohesion of compact electorates, a strong feeling has arisen in the rural districts that Melbourne has a disproportionate voice in the affairs of the Province, and that the balance should be redressed by the action of the Council. It is also believed that the abolition of the plural vote would lead to equal electoral districts which would increase the supremacy of the capital {132} and the power of the Labour Party. At the present time they hold fifteen seats, all of which are urban or suburban, and, though discredited by the collapse of the Trades Unions, are not without influence upon the Government.

The percentage of the total population contained in Melbourne and its suburbs rose from 26 in 1861 to 43 in 1891, mainly as the result of the high protective tariff which aimed at making Victoria the princ.i.p.al manufacturing centre of Australia. Upon the consequent establishment of a large number of factories, the Government were soon compelled to intervene in the interests of the workers, and pa.s.sed in 1873 the first Act dealing with the supervision of factories and workrooms. It defined a factory as any place in which not less than ten persons were employed in manufacturing goods for sale, and provided that such places should be subject, as to building, sanitation, &c., to regulations made by the central Board of Health, and that no female should be employed therein without the permission of the Chief Secretary for more than eight hours in any one day. The measure failed in its purpose through the indifference of the Munic.i.p.alities, which were charged with its entire administration. They appear to have been negligent in exercising the powers entrusted to them, and to have allowed themselves to be served by officers who were unacquainted with their duties. In the following years several measures were pa.s.sed which {133} were consolidated by the Factories and Shops Act of 1890. Some new points of great importance had been introduced, which applied, however, only to cities, towns, and boroughs, unless they were extended to any shire at the request of its Council: the definition of a factory was amended so as to include all places in which four white men or two Chinamen were employed in manufacturing goods for sale; such places had to be registered, subject to the approval of the premises by the Local Council, and the employers were bound to keep a record showing the names of the persons employed in the factory, the sort of work done by them, and the names and addresses of outside workers; the employment of children under thirteen years of age was prohibited; machinery had to be fenced in in order to prevent accidents, and persons in charge of steam-engines and boilers, with a few exceptions, had to obtain certificates of competency. As regards the enforcement of these and other provisions, inspectors were authorised to enter a factory at any reasonable time, to make any pertinent inquiry and examination, to demand the production of any certificate or doc.u.ments kept in pursuance of the Act, and, generally, to exercise such other powers as might be necessary for carrying it into effect. Proceedings for offences against the Act were to be taken before two or more justices, who, upon a conviction, would be guided by a prescribed scale of fines and penalties. Finally, retail shops were {134} dealt with by a provision which limited the hours during which they might be kept open; but certain categories of shops were explicitly excluded, and Munic.i.p.al Councils were given the power of altering the hours upon a pet.i.tion of a majority of the shopkeepers.

The absence of finality in such legislation was soon shown by the demand for further restrictions, which was met by the Government by the customary expedient of the appointment of a Royal Commission. The census of 1891 had given the number of persons employed in connection with the manufacturing industries as 96,000, of whom less than a half were in registered factories. The remainder were working in shires, in laundries and dye works, in workrooms other than Chinese in which less than four persons were employed, or in their own homes. The Commission consequently, in the pursuance of their instructions to "inquire and report as to the working of the Factories and Shops Act, 1890, with regard to the alleged existence of the practice known as sweating and the alleged insanitary condition of factories and workrooms," had a wide field of investigation, but turned their attention princ.i.p.ally to the industries in which the circ.u.mstances of the workers were believed to be most unfavourable. In the clothing industry they found that, beyond the common grievance of slackness of trade, those employed in factories had little to complain of in the matter of {135} wages, but that among the outworkers, owing to the depression, compet.i.tion had reduced the rate of pay to the lowest level compatible with continued existence. They were informed of many cases, which have been corroborated by factory inspectors and others, of women who, working from twelve to fourteen hours a day, were unable to earn more than ten or twelve shillings in a week. It was contended that, as in other countries, the compet.i.tion was rendered more acute by those who were not dependent upon the work for a livelihood. Another result of this compet.i.tion was seen in the policy pursued by several large firms which had closed factories built at a heavy cost and were relying upon their operations being carried on by contractors, because they had been unable to produce goods at the factory at the rate at which they could be turned out by those who employed the services of outworkers. An attempt had been made by the women to protect their interests by the formation of a Tailoresses' Union, which, after a fitful existence, collapsed in 1893. Since that time, in the absence of any form of combination, contractors had been able to play off the outworkers against the inworkers and against each other. It may here be noted that, according to a recent report of the Chief Inspector of Factories, the inquiry caused the rate of payment to be lowered in consequence of the publicity given to the very small wages paid by some firms engaged in the clothing trade.

{136}

In the course of their inquiries into the furniture trade, the Commissioners found that the Chinese, by evasions of the Factory Act, their poor way of living, long hours of labour and acceptance of low wages, had practically ruined the European cabinet-makers. Their compet.i.tion was confined to that branch of the industry, but had indirectly affected it as a whole. Statistics showed that in 1886 there were 64 registered European furniture factories employing 1,022 male hands, while in 1894 the number of factories had decreased to 46 and of employes to 320. On the other side, the number of Chinese employed as carpenters and cabinetmakers had increased from 66 in 1880 to 320 in 1886, and decreased to 246 in 1894. It appeared that the Chinese, having ousted the European workmen from the industry, had engaged in a keen compet.i.tion among themselves, which had reduced prices to such a low level that many manufacturers had been compelled to close their factories and dismiss their workmen. These latter had commenced to make articles of furniture on their own account, and were reputed to be in a pitiable state of dest.i.tution. The Commissioners came to the conclusion that, while the unsatisfactory condition of trade had contributed to the distress of the European cabinetmakers, the compet.i.tion of the Chinese had been the greatest factor in bringing about the existing state of affairs.

Their recommendations were embodied in a {137} measure introduced in 1895 and pa.s.sed in the following session, but limited in its operation, by the action of the Council, to a period of four years. Its most important provisions aim at the protection of the workers in those industries in which they are least able to protect themselves. The desire of the Government was to get persons as far as possible to work in factories and to deal with the difficulty of outworkers by a system of permits. Clause 13 of the Bill prohibited the making up of apparel outside a factory except by those who had received a permit from the chief inspector, which was not to be given unless he were satisfied that the person applying for it was prevented by domestic duties or bodily affliction from working inside a factory or workroom. Employers were to keep a record showing the work done by holders of permits, their names and addresses, and the amount of remuneration, which was to be forwarded periodically to the chief inspector, and might be published in the Government Gazette at the discretion of the Governor in Council. The number of outworkers would be reduced to a minimum, and the fear of publicity would act as a check upon their employers. A further protection was afforded to makers of furniture and of clothing or wearing apparel, including boots and shoes, by clauses under which the Governor in Council was authorised to appoint special Boards, consisting of a chairman and four members, of whom two were to be representatives {138} of occupiers of factories and workrooms in which such articles were prepared or manufactured, and two of the persons employed in wholly or partly preparing such articles. The Board was to determine the lowest rate which should be paid to the employes, whether working inside or outside a factory. The a.s.sembly added another clause which authorised the appointment of similar Boards for the determination of the hours of labour in any manufacturing industry, but the Council refused to accept it, and also rejected the clause which prohibited outside work by others than holders of permits. They introduced amendments which provided that the discretionary publication of particulars in the Gazette should be limited to cases in which an employer had been convicted for some contravention of the Factories and Shops Acts, and that the special Wage Boards should be elective, in the belief that it would be dangerous to vest the power of appointment in the Governor in Council, since it would actually be exercised by the Chief Secretary. The Government agreed to the former of these amendments, as the value of the right of publication was lessened by the Council's acceptance of the principle of the Wage Boards; but upon the other points of difference a conflict ensued between the two Houses, which resulted in the final decision that the Boards are to be elective, and that outworkers will not be required to obtain a permit, but, if engaged in the manufacture of clothing or {139} wearing apparel, must register their names and addresses with the chief inspector, for the confidential use of the Department, and must answer all questions put to them by inspectors as to the names of their employers and the rate of remuneration. The Chief Secretary had explained in the a.s.sembly that the Government desired to obtain the registration of outworkers in order that they might know from the individuals themselves the addresses at which they were working, and whether they were being paid in accordance with the prices fixed by the Boards. It is also provided that a sub-contractor, equally with the occupier of a factory, must keep the prescribed record of all work given out by him.

The furniture trade, as has been seen, is one of those for which the Governor in Council may cause special Boards to be elected; but it has been realised that, in the cabinet-making branch, owing to their superior numbers, the Chinese would obtain a controlling voice. This difficulty was met by an amending Bill which authorised the nomination of these Boards. Other sections of the Act also aim at the protection of the white workman: one Chinaman is to be deemed to const.i.tute a factory, and no person employed in a factory or workroom in the manufacture of any article of furniture is to work on a Sunday, after two o'clock on a Sat.u.r.day, or between five o'clock in the evening and half-past seven in the morning on any other day of the week. Furniture made in Victoria is to be stamped legibly {140} and indelibly in such a manner as to show whether it was manufactured by white or Chinese labour. It is noteworthy that, through the Boards which will fix the minimum rate of pay in the baking and furniture trades, the Victorian Government are making their first attempt to regulate the labour of men; in the other trades affected by these Boards women form the vast majority of the workers.

The general provisions of this Act as they affect factories include greater stringency in the sanitary requirements, in the limitation of the hours of labour of women and boys, and in the precautions against accidents. Laundries and dye-works are const.i.tuted factories, and the powers of inspectors are in several respects strengthened.

The sections dealing with shops also deserve a word of notice. The necessity for further legislation was based by the Chief Secretary on the ground that under the existing law Munic.i.p.al Councils were not bound to give effect to pet.i.tions received from a majority of shopkeepers, and could only bind their own districts. Besides, the penalties imposed for contravention of any law or bye-law had, in many cases, been so small that shopkeepers had been able to ignore it with practical impunity. He therefore proposed that pet.i.tions should in future be addressed either to the Governor or to the local authorities, that a metropolitan district should be const.i.tuted so as to render possible uniformity in the hours of closing shops, and that the penalties should be on a {141} fixed scale. These proposals were embodied in the Act, as were others which provided that a.s.sistants in shops should have a weekly half-holiday, and that women and boys should not be employed for more than a fixed number of hours in a week or day, nor for more than five hours without an interval for meals, and should have the use of adequate sitting accommodation. These provisions, however, were not to apply to the categories of shops excluded from the operation of previous Acts unless extended to them under regulations made by the Governor in Council. Soon after the pa.s.sage of the Act a strong feeling arose among the shopkeepers of Melbourne and its suburbs that, as a.s.sistants had to receive a weekly half-holiday, shops should be closed upon one afternoon in the week; but opinions differed as to whether the day should be Sat.u.r.day or Wednesday. The shopkeepers in the city were disposed to favour the former, those in the suburbs were divided in their views.

The Act should be regarded as a humane attempt to minimise the sufferings of the outworkers and to improve the conditions of labour of the toiling ma.s.ses of the population. The appointment of the special Boards is regarded with sympathy even by those who doubt the possibility of enforcing a minimum wage in the case of persons whose compet.i.tion is intensified by the fear of starvation. Two general considerations suggest themselves: that a vast discretionary power is vested in the Executive, {142} and that the inspectors will be confronted with a task of hopeless magnitude. On the first point it is to be noted that the Governor in Council, acting naturally upon the advice of the Chief Secretary, may not only exercise the powers already mentioned, but may extend the provisions of the Act or any of them to any shire or part of a shire, and make regulations upon a large number of subjects connected with the efficient administration of all the Factories, and Shop Acts. As regards the inspectors, who are eleven in number, it is to be feared that, though they may invite the co-operation of the police, they will be unable adequately to supervise factories, watch the labour of the single Chinaman, protect the home-worker from the tyranny of the contractor, and a.s.sure to a.s.sistants in shops the conditions to which they are legally ent.i.tled.

They will undoubtedly be fettered by the unwillingness of the workers to supply information which may lead to the loss of their employment.

The correlative of protection, which princ.i.p.ally benefits the manufacturer, is the direct encouragement of the enterprise of the producer. In this respect successive Governments have displayed an eagerness which has not always been confined within the limits of prudence. The borrowed capital sunk in the construction and equipment of the Victorian Railways is about 36,730,000, which returned in the year 1895-6 a net profit on working of 855,000, being a deficit of 584,000 upon 1,439,000, the {143} annual charge for interest upon the loans; but a large proportion of this deficiency was due to the failure of the wheat crop and the consequent decrease in the amount of goods carried along the lines. Recent returns show that several lines not only do not pay any interest on the capital expenditure, but do not earn even as much as is disbursed in working expenses. The report of the Railway Inquiry Board shows that the a.s.sembly was actually disposed at one time to sanction the expenditure of a further sum of 41,000,000 upon the construction of new lines; but the _Age_ newspaper published a series of articles which showed clearly that national insolvency would follow the approval of expenditure on such a gigantic scale. The exposure attained its object, but involved the proprietor, Mr. David Syme, in actions for libel, brought by the Railway Commissioners, which extended, with intervals, over a period of four years. Finally, he was proved to have been entirely justified in his language, but was saddled with an enormous bill of costs as the reward of his patriotic efforts on behalf of the community. The danger that similar proposals might be carried in the future was lessened in 1890, when the Standing Committee was appointed as a check upon the extravagant tendencies and culpable pliability of individual members.

Again, in connection with water supply and irrigation, the expenditure has been on an extravagant scale. The Melbourne Waterworks are {144} justified by the requirements of the metropolis, but those of Geelong and of Bendigo and adjacent areas commenced in 1865, and constructed at a capital cost of 1,427,000, show an annual deficit of 35,000; and other national works which cost 830,000 are dependent for a return upon irrigation trusts, most of which are unable to meet their own liabilities. Apart from this direct expenditure, the State has advanced 2,438,000 to local bodies, urban and rural waterworks trusts and irrigation trusts. Adding together these different amounts, we find the total direct and indirect expenditure of the State to have been 4,695,000, and we learn from the report of a recent Royal Commission that the annual revenue is about 68,000, or less than 1- per cent. upon the capital. As the money bears an average interest of 4 per cent., the loss to the consolidated revenue is at the rate of 120,000 a year. The expenditure was based upon the principle that the national credit should be pledged in order that farmers and land and property owners might be a.s.sisted to provide works of water supply which would accelerate the permanent settlement of many parts of the Province. Loans had been granted to munic.i.p.alities before 1881, but in that year the question was treated comprehensively by the Water Conservation Act, which authorised the const.i.tution of trusts for the construction of works of water supply for domestic purposes and the use of stock. In 1883 the Act was amended so as to include trusts {145} formed for the promotion of works of irrigation. The Urban Trusts and local bodies generally have met their obligations satisfactorily, with the exception of some of the latter, which, instead of striking higher rates or increasing the charge for the water, appear to have hoped that the State would step in and relieve them of their liabilities. The Rural and Irrigation Trusts also have attempted to throw the duty of paying interest on the cost of the works upon the taxpayers of the whole province. In the latter case the Public Works Department cannot be absolved from blame. It is clear from the report of the Commission that money was advanced to Irrigation Trusts without an adequate preliminary investigation of the amount of water available or of the number of settlers who would make use of it. "The public mind was excited at the time, and the gospel of irrigation was preached from one end of the Colony to the other. The farmers had been suffering from a cycle of dry seasons, the price of produce was high, and the prospect of insuring their crops against the exigencies of climate by means of irrigation appears to have overruled all prudential considerations.

Schemes were hastily conceived and as hastily carried out. The question as to whether the cost of the undertaking would be commensurate with the benefits to be derived therefrom, or whether the land could bear the burden that would be placed upon it, was apparently lightly considered, if considered at all." But, according to an official who {146} had been concerned in the matter, the Department, far from readily concurring in or urging on schemes, had done its utmost to restrain the popular enthusiasm. Continued pressure had been exercised by deputations, generally supported by the Member for the district, which tried to induce Ministers to set aside formalities in view of the great necessity for water and of the great benefit that would ensue. The lavishness of the Department, whatever may have been its cause, was equalled by that of the Trusts, which in most cases expended the loan money as expeditiously as possible without regard to the requirements of the district or the supervision of the undertakings; they did not realise that they would ever be called upon to provide for meeting the interest on the moneys advanced to them.

There can be no doubt that the Government overrated the knowledge and ability of the Trusts, and their recognition of the responsibility involved in the control of large sums of public money. The Royal Commissioners recommended that, after Parliament had decided what concessions should be made, the enforcement of the monetary obligations should be transferred from the Department to the Audit Commissioners, who should be vested with powers enabling them to take action to recover arrears due to the State. They believed that, in the absence of such a change, the Department, being subject to political pressure, might make further concessions, and again allow matters to drift into an unsatisfactory condition.

{147}

The next instance of national expenditure in the promotion of enterprise comes under a different category: the State has, since 1878, devoted to the encouragement of the gold-mining industry the sum of 800,000, which was not intended to give a direct return upon the outlay so much as to maintain the pre-eminence of Victoria among the gold-producing Provinces of Australasia. Of this amount 455,000 was expended in boring, the remainder in subsidies to mining companies and prospecting parties. But, as in the case of railways and works of water supply, the Government were confronted by the extreme difficulty of providing safeguards against the misapplication of the funds.

Direct control by the Minister of Mines was proved neither to yield good results nor to be satisfactory to the Minister, as he was subjected to continual pressure from Members of Parliament.

Prospecting Boards were, accordingly, appointed in the seven mining districts into which the Province is divided, each Board consisting of five members, the surveyor of the district, a member of the Mine-owners' a.s.sociation, a member of the Miners' a.s.sociation, a member of the local mining board, and a representative of the munic.i.p.alities.

These men were authorised to allocate all votes, and, according to a statement of the present Minister, as they represented different interests in the mining and different localities, they took a parochial view of their duties and developed "a kind of unconscious log-rolling"

{148} which caused the grants, in many cases, to be devoted to entirely unprofitable objects. The expenditure of the 800,000 is believed to have been of the greatest value to several mining companies, but has produced a direct return of only 11,526, an amount which would have been smaller had not the Minister threatened dividend-paying companies with the forfeiture of their leases unless they repaid their loans to the State.

The Government have also attempted to increase the export of such articles as b.u.t.ter, wine, cheese, and frozen meat, for which a large market is believed to be obtainable in Great Britain. Their policy has been to foster these industries by means of bonuses to producers, subsidies to owners of factories, and the free use of cold storage at refrigerating works, and to enforce a certain standard of quality as a necessary condition of their a.s.sistance. As the industry progresses the bonus is reduced and finally withdrawn, and charges are made for cold storage which are sufficient to reimburse the State for its outlay. Such a course has already been pursued in the most successful case, that of b.u.t.ter, in which the value of the amount annually exported has risen from 51,000 in 1889-90 to 876,000 in 1895-6. In this manner the State is not permanently engaged, but initiates its expenditure at the highest point and gradually releases itself from the obligation.

In 1893 the Government were confronted with {149} a large amount of misery among the working cla.s.ses, much of it undeserved, which had resulted from the collapse of many land companies and banking and building a.s.sociations. An artificial prosperity, caused by the inflation of metropolitan values, had created a demand for the services of a disproportionate number of artisans, who, upon the inevitable reaction, were thrown suddenly out of employment. Under these circ.u.mstances the Ministry were called upon to do something to relieve the distress, and pa.s.sed a new Land Act which offered favourable terms, in the way of tenure and monetary advances, to those who were willing to settle upon the land. They were enabled to take it up either individually or in a.s.sociations of not less than six persons who desired to live near each other. At the expiration of a year after the pa.s.sage of the Act 4,080 applications had been received, of which 2,122 had been approved, 993 rejected, and 965 were under consideration; and, in order that the benefit might be immediate, the land had been made available as speedily as possible and applicants had not been compelled to wait until blocks had been surveyed. In view of the conditions under which the settlements were formed it is not surprising to learn from subsequent official reports that the favourable antic.i.p.ations have, in numerous instances, not been realised, owing to the unsuitability of the soil, the inexperience or physical incapacity of the settlers, or the absence {150} of a local demand for labour or of a market for the surplus produce. Many of the a.s.sociations have been disbanded as the members were unable to work together harmoniously; and those that are still in existence have, in almost every case, abandoned the co-operative principle and are working their blocks on individual lines. In 1896 the number of resident settlers was 2,127, who, with their wives and families, formed a total population of 8,802; they had received, during the three years, advances from the Government to the amount of 57,000.

The Act of 1893 also provided for the establishment of Labour Colonies.

The movement in this direction originated with a few people at Melbourne, who saw the futility of periodical doles to the dest.i.tute, which were of merely temporary a.s.sistance to them and did not place them in the way of earning a permanent livelihood. It was also felt that, in the absence of any system similar to the English poor-law, which, whatever its evils, relieves the conscience of the community, ministers were subject to continual pressure, which compelled them to inst.i.tute public works for the sole benefit of the unemployed. In 1892 the distress was met, as far as the public were concerned, by the subscription of a large sum of money, which was distributed through the agency of the local branch of the Charity Organisation Society; but, in the following year, the distress being still more acute, {151} the idea of a Labour Colony rapidly gained ground and was met by the Government by the grant of an area of 800 acres at Leongatha, some 80 miles from Melbourne, which enabled the promoters of the scheme at once to commence their operations. At the outset it had been intended that the funds should be obtained, partly by private subscription, partly by _pro-rata_ contributions from the national exchequer; but, in the absence of popular response, the Government deemed it advisable, at the commencement of 1894, to take over the entire administration of the colony, and appointed, as Honorary Superintendent, Colonel Goldstein, who had been actively identified with the undertaking. Colonel Goldstein states that the main purpose of the colony, which is based on a German model, is to give temporary work at unattractive wages to the able-bodied unemployed in order that they may be prevented from pa.s.sing over the narrow line which separates poverty from pauperism. At first the aged and infirm were admitted, but it was found that employment could not be obtained for them and that their presence affected the value of the colony as a means of instruction for a cla.s.s of men in whom it is necessary to arouse a spirit of responsible independence.

They are, moreover, provided for by benevolent asylums and other charitable inst.i.tutions which receive large subsidies from the Government. Consequently men beyond the age of 55 years are now only received in {152} exceptional cases. All applicants are registered, and, if their alleged dest.i.tution is believed to be genuine, are forwarded by rail to the colony, where they receive free board and lodging. The colonists are subjected to strict discipline, work for a week without pay upon probation, and then earn wages which rise to a maximum of 4s. a week; they receive no money while at the colony, but may draw certain necessaries, or, if married, cause their wages to be remitted to their wives. The work is so arranged that the capabilities of the colonists may be used to the best advantage and that they may be fitted as far as possible for agricultural employment, which is obtained for them by means of a Labour Bureau established at the colony. At the expiration of six months, or upon an acc.u.mulation in their favour of a credit balance amounting to 30s., colonists must, subject to occasional exemptions, seek employment elsewhere, and may not be re-admitted under a period of six weeks. In this manner the men either obtain outside employment while resident at the colony or leave it possessed of a sum of money which renders them better able to search for it; they have the alternative of applying subsequently for re-admittance. The results obtained during the three years have been of a most satisfactory character; 1,832 men have pa.s.sed through the colony since its inception, of whom only 124 have been dismissed for faults, and none for insubordination; 573 have had {153} remunerative work found for them, and the remainder have earned sufficient ready money to enable them to set out in search of employment. There have been 566 re-admissions of 307 men who have returned from one to eight times. "The majority of the men," says Colonel Goldstein, "are of the shiftless sort, who cannot do anything for themselves. As Leongatha is 80 miles from Melbourne, we seldom see the genuine loafer there. The men who go are willing enough to work when shown how, but they seem unable to rouse themselves into any sort of vigour, to say nothing of enthusiasm, until they have been there a considerable time....

Numerous instances could be given indicative of the generally helpless nature of the men. There can be no doubt that employers, during the depression, will first reduce their worst men. Of these, many have sufficient energy to shift for themselves; the rest drift to the labour colony. Most of them have suffered severely from privation and poverty, and probably have had their dejected condition further dispirited by semi-starvation.... After a few months' stay it is surprising to see the difference in their appearance, and, what is more to the purpose, their discovery that a new kind of life is opened to them. Bush-work gives them a healthier feeling of self-dependence than they ever enjoyed before, especially so for men who have a trade behind them ready when the chance comes." The total outlay has amounted to 11,276, {154} which has been expended mainly upon farm appointments, implements, and permanent improvements, and is represented by a.s.sets of the value of 10,861. The net cost must be regarded as exceedingly small in view of the fact that, as the great majority of the colonists are artisans and quite unused to bush or farm work, their labour is necessarily slow and expensive, and that, as soon as a man begins to be useful, he is selected for some private employer. The Labour Colony has, it is maintained, apart from the benefits conferred upon hundreds of individuals, paralysed the agitation of the unemployed; as long as it is in existence no able-bodied man need starve.

Finally, a measure, pa.s.sed in 1896, aimed at the protection of pastoralists, farmers, and other cultivators of the soil by providing machinery by which the State might grant loans to them, upon adequate security, at a low rate of interest, with a sinking fund extending over a long period of years.

The salient features of Victorian legislation are the strong note of humanity and the confidence in the wisdom and efficiency of State action. If this confidence has sometimes been misplaced, there is no reason to suppose that the Victorians have imposed upon themselves a burden that they are unable to bear. They are an energetic race, who have not only developed the resources of their own country, but have obtained large interests in New South Wales and Queensland. If in the past {155} they were too much inclined to draw bills upon futurity, they have had a sharp lesson which has taught them the necessity of retrenchment and compelled them to reduce their annual expenditure by a third of the total amount. It is impossible to form an unfavourable estimate of the prospects, or of the high average prosperity, of a population of less than 1,200,000 persons, which includes 185,000 freeholders and has acc.u.mulated at the Savings Banks 7,300,000 divided among nearly 340,000 depositors.

{156}

VI

_THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA_

Const.i.tutional history--The relations of Church and State--Natural impediments to development--The construction of railways--The scarcity of water--The promotion of the mining and other industries--The absence of parties in Parliament.

Western Australia received the privileges of Responsible Government many years after the other Australasian Provinces; otherwise, its const.i.tutional development has proceeded upon similar lines. The first Governor was appointed in 1829, and administered the affairs of the country with the a.s.sistance of an Executive Council. Two years later a Legislative Council was established which consisted solely of the members of the Executive Council, but it was subsequently widened by the admission, at first, of unofficial nominee members, afterwards of a sufficient number of elected members to form a majority of the whole body. Then an agitation sprang up in the Province in favour of Responsible Government, and in 1889, after a unanimous vote of the Legislative Council, a Const.i.tution {157} Bill was submitted by the Government, considered by the Council, and forwarded to the Secretary of State for the Colonies. In the House of Commons it met with considerable opposition, on the ground that the Crown Lands of the Province should not be handed over to a population of only 46,000 persons. But, upon a favourable report of a Select Committee and representation made by the Agents-General of the other Australasian Provinces, the point was decided in the sense desired by the Province, and, as the Bill pa.s.sed rapidly through the House of Lords, it received the Royal a.s.sent in August, 1890.

Under the Const.i.tution the Executive power is vested in the Governor, who acts by the advice of a Cabinet composed of five responsible Ministers. They are, at the present time, the Colonial Treasurer and Colonial Secretary, the Attorney-General, the Commissioner of Railways and Director of Public Works, the Commissioner of Crown Lands, and the Minister of Mines. The Premier, Sir John Forrest, holds the offices of Colonial Secretary and Colonial Treasurer, and the Minister of Mines, the only Minister in the Upper House, controls the Postal and Telegraphic Departments.

The Legislative authority is vested in the two Houses of Parliament, the Legislative Council and the Legislative a.s.sembly. The Council consists of twenty-one members, of whom a third retire every two years.

They are elected upon a property {158} qualification, and must have been resident for at least two years in the Province. The a.s.sembly consists of thirty-three members, who must have resided at least one year in the Province, and are elected upon a wider franchise for the period of four years. No remuneration is paid to the members of either House, but they receive free pa.s.ses over all Government Railways and, by courtesy, over those belonging to private companies.

The limitations upon the power of legislation possessed by the Parliament of Western Australia are similar to those imposed upon the Legislatures of other Australian Provinces, except that the protection of the aborigines has been placed in the hands of an independent Board, nominated and controlled by the Governor. It receives for the execution of its duties 1 per cent. of the annual revenue of the country, but cannot carry them out without the active support of Government officials. The existence of this Board is strongly resented by Western Australians as an unjust reflection upon them, and as an imputation that they cannot be trusted to deal in a just and humane manner towards the natives; and the Premier, voicing the unanimous opinion of both Houses, has attempted, hitherto without success, to secure the repeal of the obnoxious section of the Const.i.tution Act.

The att.i.tude of the Government in regard to the relations between Church and State as affecting the endowment of religious bodies and the a.s.sistance {159} given to denominational schools was, until recently, that grants should annually be voted by Parliament. But the trend of public opinion has been in the direction of secular education and the termination of the payments made to the Churches. The matter was, accordingly, during the session of 1895, dealt with by the Ecclesiastical Grants Abolition Act and the a.s.sisted Schools Abolition Act. Previously the payments to the Churches had been at the rate of about 3,500 per annum, of which the Church of England received 2,000, the Roman Catholics 1,000, and the Wesleyans and Presbyterians 360 and 160 respectively. The grants have been commuted at ten years'

purchase, and the capital amount is to be paid _pro rata_ out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund in two equal instalments to the recognised heads of each religious denomination. This Bill was pa.s.sed, with universal approval, through both Houses of Parliament, but a like unanimity was not manifested in regard to the Education question. In fact, early in the session, the Premier had stated that he had no immediate intention of dealing with it, but his hands were forced by popular opinion, as manifested by the result of several elections fought upon that issue. Consequently, after a resolution pa.s.sed by both Houses that "It is expedient that the a.s.sisted" (denominational) "Schools should no longer form part of the public Educational system of the Colony," and on the report of a Joint Committee, a Bill was introduced by the Premier into the {160} a.s.sembly fixing the sum to be paid as compensation, in lieu of grants in aid, at 20,000. In 1894 one-third of the children being educated in the Colony were attending the a.s.sisted Schools, at a cost to the country of 2,093 for the a.s.sisted, and 11,356 for the Government Schools. The Bill was hotly discussed; the Opposition divided over the amount, and were only beaten by one vote, and it was finally decided that the compensation should be 15,000. The whole of this money will be paid to the Roman Catholics, who had alone taken advantage of the system. There is a High School at Perth established by statute; otherwise little has been done in the direction of secondary education, and Western Australia has no University. The advantages of primary education have been extended as far as possible; any district which can guarantee the attendance of fifteen children can claim the erection of a school and the appointment of a teacher; but it is clear that, in a very spa.r.s.ely inhabited country, no system can be devised which will reach the whole population.

The policy of the Ministry has been, in the main, one of loans and public works. They were called upon, at the inauguration of Responsible Government, to administer an area of nearly a million square miles, thinly populated and penalised by great natural drawbacks, such as the scarcity of good harbours, the difficulty of inland communication, and the absence over large tracts of country of a {161} sufficient supply of water. These drawbacks the Government have, in various ways, done their best to overcome.

The princ.i.p.al ports of Western Australia are--on the south Albany and Esperance Bay, on the west Bunbury, Fremantle, and Geraldtown, and on the northwest Cossack and Broome. The most important of these are Albany, a fine natural harbour, which is the point of call of the ocean liners, and Fremantle, the port of Perth. All have been improved, as far as conditions would permit, by dredging operations and the construction of piers and jetties, but very extensive works, for which the sum of 350,000 has already been allotted, are being carried out at Fremantle, in the hope of making it a good and commodious harbour for all cla.s.ses of ocean vessels. In the interests of safe navigation, lighthouses have been erected at various points along the coast.

As the rivers are mostly filled only during the rainy season, and unnavigable for any distance even for small boats, the methods of internal transit are limited to road and rail. The Government have regarded the construction of roads as a matter of national rather than of purely local importance, and have expended upon them large sums of money. They are at present engaged in opening up stock routes to the North and between the Murchison and Coolgardie Goldfields. Their railway policy has been to render accessible the different resources of {162} the country. The South-Western Railway from Perth to Bunbury, Busselton, and Donnybrook traverses country suitable for the growth of cereals and for mixed farming. Its course is along the foot of the Darling Range, which is covered with valuable forests of jarrah.

Parliament has recently sanctioned two extensions: to Collie, an important coalfield, and to Bridgetown, the centre of an agricultural area. The Eastern Railway, starting from Fremantle, pa.s.ses through Perth and taps an important district adapted for general agriculture, fruit-growing, and viticulture; it connects with the Yilgarn Railway, which has now been completed to several points upon the Coolgardie Goldfields, and will be dependent for its returns upon their prosperity, as it pa.s.ses through vast areas of arid scrub. The Northern Railway consists of short lines from Geraldtown, which pa.s.s through country suitable, in parts, for the growth of cereals, in others, for pastoral purposes; it is to be continued to Cue, on the Murchison Goldfield. The above are all Government railways, built under private contract and equipped and managed by the State. There are also two large private companies, the Great Southern Railway, connecting Albany with Beverley, the terminus of the Eastern Railway, and the Midland Railway, connecting Geraldtown with Perth at points on the Northern and Eastern Railways. They were built upon the land-grant system, at a time when the Government were anxious to extend the railways, {163} but were not in a position to incur the cost of their construction. This system is not likely to be adopted again, as both Companies have pursued an ungenerous policy in regard to the alienation of their lands, while the Midland Company were unable to complete their undertaking without the a.s.sistance of the Government, which, in return for a mortgage of the whole line, guaranteed for them the interest and princ.i.p.al of a loan of 500,000. In fact, during the session of 1896, the Government, after negotiations with the Great Southern Railway Company, obtained the authority of Parliament for the negotiation of a loan for the purchase of all its interests, including the permanent way, rolling stock, buildings, and unsold lands.

In the southern and western portions of the Province water is plentiful. The northern portion is subject to terrible drought, such as that which a few years ago almost ruined the squatters and caused the loss of three-quarters of a million sheep. But the attention of the Government has been mainly turned to the eastern division, which includes the Yilgarn, Coolgardie, and Dundas Goldfields, and has an average annual rainfall of about ten inches, and it is in this portion of the country that the heaviest expenditure was incurred during the year ending June 30, 1895. Thirteen large and two small tanks were completed on the Coolgardie Goldfields with a capacity of 13- millions of gallons and at a total cost of nearly 38,000. Wells were {164} sunk, bores put down in the search for water, condenser plants erected, and new soaks opened up at advantageous places throughout the district.

Wells have also been sunk, and reservoirs constructed, on the Murchison and Pilbarra Goldfields, and in other parts of the country. But the greatest undertaking in this direction will be the construction of vast works for the supply from a distance of water to the Coolgardie Goldfields. Parliament has authorised the required loan, and may therefore be presumed to concur with the Ministry in the belief that the necessary water cannot be obtained on the spot by artesian bores or otherwise. The future of Western Australia is bound up with that of the goldfields. Should they fail through lack of water, recent immigrants would leave the country, and their departure would cripple, if not ruin, the agricultural industry, and cause immediately a heavy fall in the revenue. Under these circ.u.mstances, the scheme of the Government, even though it entails a very large expenditure, might be justified as being essential to the continued prosperity of the Province. A similar argument may be applied to the large sums spent upon the railways, since they, as well as the waterworks, should be remunerative; but when we find Parliament sanctioning, in one session, applications for loans amounting to seven millions--and bear in mind the smallness of the population--we cannot but fear that the Province is beginning to borrow recklessly and may expose itself to the {165} financial troubles which have overtaken some of its Eastern neighbours.

So much for the natural difficulties and the attempts made, and about to be made, by the Government to overcome them; but they have recognised that the heavy expenditure upon public works would be unjustifiable in the absence of simultaneous efforts to encourage the occupation and cultivation of the land and the development of the mineral resources; and they have, therefore, while not embarking upon a policy of direct subsidies for the payment of the pa.s.sages of immigrants, offered every inducement to people to come to the Province of their own accord. Intending settlers or companies can obtain, upon favourable terms, land for pastoral or agricultural purposes, mineral leases, and concessions giving them the right to cut timber upon the State forests. A miner can acquire, on the annual payment of ten shillings, a miner's right, ent.i.tling him to take possession of, mine, and occupy, unoccupied Crown Lands for gold mining in accordance with the Mining Regulations. The general conditions dealing with the alienation of Crown Lands are laid down in the Land Regulations, under which the Province has been divided into six districts, in order that different terms may be made in accordance with the varying quality and capabilities of the soil in different parts of the country. Pastoral leases may be obtained at a rent ranging from five shillings to 1 a year for 1,000 acres. {166} Agricultural land is in most parts of the country sold at ten shillings an acre, to be paid either directly or by annual instalments; but the t.i.tle to the land is not given until certain stated improvements have been carried out upon it, in order to prevent its being held in an unimproved condition for speculative purposes, and residence is encouraged by the enforcement of a larger expenditure in improvements upon occupiers who do not live upon their estates. As a further inducement to settlers, the Government have set apart special agricultural areas, which they cause to be surveyed before selection and marked out in blocks; they offer, under the Homesteads Act, 1893, free grants of land not exceeding 160 acres in extent, subject to stringent conditions as to residence and expenditure upon improvements; and they have established an agricultural bank which is authorised to make advances to farmers and other cultivators of the soil. The policy of the Government has had considerable success, as the total area of cultivated land rose from 86,000 acres in 1886 to 193,000 acres at the end of 1894. But farmers have had to contend with great difficulties in the work and expense required for the clearing of the land, and in the absence of a market for their produce. A distinct improvement, however, has obtained since the advent of a large population upon the goldfields, whose wants they may hope to supply.

It must be admitted that Sir John Forrest and his colleagues have had matters entirely in their favour. {167} The credit of the Province has steadily improved, in view of its mining operations; for the same reason the railways have shown the most satisfactory returns, and the receipts from the Customs, under a tariff levied primarily for purposes of revenue, but partially protective in its incidence, have increased by leaps and bounds. Again, in Parliament the Ministry have met with but little opposition. Upon the inauguration of Responsible Government, the Premier had the prestige of former office under the Crown, and found himself face to face with an a.s.sembly which had no experience in the principles of Party Government. The members were intimately acquainted with each other, and criticism of the Ministry was resented as a personal insult. The so-called Opposition made no serious attempt to overthrow the Government, partly because, in the dearth of men of both ability and leisure, there was no material for the formation of an alternative Ministry; partly because they were in agreement with them upon most of the questions that came up for discussion. The policy of the construction of public works out of loans was generally acceptable, and soon justified itself by results, owing, to a great extent, to the development of the goldfields. Mines had been worked in Western Australia for a considerable time, but attracted little attention until the great discoveries at Coolgardie and in its neighbourhood. These came at a most opportune moment. A large amount of capital in Europe was seeking {168} profitable employment; the stagnation of business in the Eastern Provinces of Australia had brought hardship upon the labouring population and made them anxious to seek work elsewhere; and the success of the South African Mines had caused the British public to look favourably upon mining speculations. As a result, mines were successfully floated in London and in Australia, immigrants poured in from the Eastern Provinces, mercantile firms established branches at Perth and at other centres, and the revenue obtained from the Customs and from the Railways and other public departments increased to an unparalleled extent. But the increase of revenue naturally caused a large increase in the work of the departments concerned, and they failed signally to meet the additional demands upon them.

The Telegraphic and Postal Department obtained an evil pre-eminence through its irregularity and untrustworthiness, and caused much inconvenience and monetary loss, owing to the delay in the delivery of letters and telegrams. Complaints were also rife against the Railway Department, as imported machinery lay for months at Fremantle, because the Government had not sufficient trucks in which to take it up the line to its place of destination. It must be remembered, however, that the public services had been organised to meet the needs of a far smaller population and were called upon to carry out work which had increased at a {169} rapidity which could not be foreseen. A certain amount of difficulty was, under these circ.u.mstances, bound to occur, as the Government would not have been justified in launching into heavy additional expenditure until they had reasonable a.s.surance of the permanence of the goldfields and of the consequent increase of business.

Hitherto the Government of Western Australia has been that of a huge land development company; const.i.tutional questions have been in the background. But a tendency is already perceptible among recent immigrants to demand manhood suffrage, payment of members, and other items of democratic legislation to which they have been accustomed in the Eastern Provinces. This movement, however, will be checked by the conservative instincts of the native population, and by the general belief that the Ministry have guided the destinies of the province wisely during the crucial years which have succeeded the inauguration of Responsible Government.

{170}

VII

_DISCURSIVE NOTES ON TASMANIA_