Chapter I: Preface

The following pages have been written from the point of view of the year 1896, the greater part of which I spent in Australia. During the earlier months of the present year I was in New Zealand, but I was unable to continue my survey of general Australasian affairs.

A result of the limitation that I was compelled to impose upon myself will be observed in the apparent antiquity of the chapter dealing with Australian Federation; but this is not so great as might have been anticipated, the new Federal Convention having drafted a Bill which is based, to a large extent, upon that of 1891. For purposes of comparison I have, with the kind permission of the London agents of the Melbourne _Argus_, included an article in which that newspaper has summarised the provisions of the new Federal Constitution Bill.

I have also included a brief account of a visit to the Coolgardie goldfields which, though alien in purpose from the remaining chapters, may not be without interest as a record of personal impressions {viii} of a Province which has but recently felt the effects of a budding prosperity.

It has been suggested to me that I should attempt to discuss Australasian problems with reference to their applicability to Great Britain; but I have preferred to leave this task, of which the importance cannot be overstated, to persons of greater experience, and to confine myself to a record of Australasian action and to a comparison of the points of similarity or the reverse between the several Provinces. It will be seen, however, that, in some cases, as when dealing, for instance, with the results of payment of members and with the powers and privileges of Australasian Upper Houses, I have noted differences of conditions which must render deductions by analogy a matter of extreme difficulty.

The terms "Liberal" and "Conservative" are used to denote, respectively, the more and the less advanced parties in Australasian politics, and must not be taken to imply differences in opinion similar to those prevailing in Great Britain.

In conclusion, I would only say that my studies would have been impossible in the absence of kindly communicativeness on the part of politicians of all shades of opinion; and, on the social side, that I retain warm feelings of gratitude towards the committees of clubs and numerous acquaintances who extended to me the cordial hospitality of kinship.

H. DE R. WALKER.

23, CORK STREET, W.,
_July 25, 1897_.

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CONTENTS

I.

_LIBERALISM AND LABOUR IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA._

PAGE

Contrast between Western Australia and the Eastern
Provinces--The Constitution of South Australia--The alliance
between Liberalism and Labour--Joint action in the face of
financial depression: Village Settlements, Progressive
Taxation, the direct encouragement of production--The
advocacy of an Elective Executive--The State and
Religious Instruction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

II.

_DEMOCRACY AND ITS SAFEGUARDS IN NEW SOUTH WALES._

The necessity for safeguards against financial extravagance
and political pressure--The Crown Lands Act--The
appointment of independent Railway Commissioners--The
Standing Committee on Public Works--The Public Service
Board--The unemployed, their numbers and treatment--The
democratisation of the constitution--The Labour
Party, its history, successes and aspirations . . . . . . . . 34

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III.

_PROBLEMS OF QUEENSLAND._

The agitation of Central and Northern Queensland for
separation from the South--The "Kanaka" traffic--White and
coloured labour on the plantations--The Sugar Works
Guarantee Act--The irregularity of employment in the
sugar and pastoral industries--The conditions and opinions
of the shearers--Assistance to dairymen and producers
of frozen meat--The Labour Party, its history and
prospects--Criticisms of the Government--The principles of
State action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

IV.

_THE LAND POLICY OF NEW ZEALAND._

Differences of conditions between Australia and New
Zealand--The Public Works policy--Taxation on land--The
Land Act of 1892--The Land for Settlements Acts--The
Government Advances to Settlers Acts--The encouragement of
settlement--The co-operative construction of Public
Works--The unemployed--Continuity of policy . . . . . . . . . 82

V.

_CHARACTERISTICS OF VICTORIAN LEGISLATION._

Comparisons between the Australasian Upper Houses--Conflicts
between the two Houses in Victoria--The proposed obviation
of deadlocks--The utility of the Legislative Council--The
antagonism between Town and Country--The Factory Acts, their
justification and provisions--State Socialism: Railways,
Irrigation Works, the encouragement of Mining, Subsidies
and Bonuses, State advances to Settlers--The Unemployed and
the Leongatha Labour Colony . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121

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VI.

_THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA._

Constitutional 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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156

VII.

_DISCURSIVE NOTES ON TASMANIA._

The restriction of the immigration of coloured races--Betting
and lotteries--The adoption of a modification of Hare's
System of Voting--Conflicts between the two Houses of
Parliament--Finance and Taxation--Land Grant Railways . . . . 170

VIII.

_FEMALE SUFFRAGE_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

IX.

_THE EVOLUTION OF A FEDERAL GOVERNMENT_ . . . . . . . . . . . . 212

X.

_SALIENT FEATURES OF THE AUSTRALASIAN DEMOCRACY._

Indirect effects of the discovery of gold--Causes of the
financial crisis--The origin and extent of State
Socialism--The thriftiness of the working classes--Labour
Representation in Parliament--Parliamentary Government--Direct
Taxation--Conciliation and Arbitration in Industrial
disputes--Protection and its corollaries--The feeling
towards Great Britain--General conclusions . . . . . . . . . . 244

XI.

_A VISIT TO THE COOLGARDIE GOLDFIELDS IN MARCH, 1896_ . . . . . 303

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 317

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