THE NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 SERIES
 
 EDITORS OF THE SERIES: 
 
 REV. W. H. WITHROW, M.A., D.D., F.R.S.C. 
 
 CHARLES G. D. ROBERTS, M.A., F.R.C.I. 
 
 J. CASTELL HOPKINS, F.R.S.L. 
 
 T. G. MARQUIS, B.A. 
 
 RKV. T. S. LINSCOTT, F.R.C.I.
 
 THE 
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA 
 
 IN THE 
 
 NINETEENTH CENTURY 
 
 BY 
 
 T. A. COGHLAN 
 
 Honorary Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society, Statistician of New 
 South Wales; 
 
 T. T. EWING 
 
 Member of the Legislative Assembly of New South Wales. 
 
 WITH WHICH ARE INCORPORATED, BY PERMISSION OF THE GOVERN- 
 MENTS OF NEW SOUTH WALES AND THE OTHER PRINCIPAL 
 COLONIES, CERTAIN STATISTICS AND OTHER MATTER 
 PREPARED FOR THE OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 THE LINSCOTT PUBLISHING COMPANY 
 
 TORONTO AND PHILADELPHIA 
 
 W. & R. CHAMBERS, LIMITED 
 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH 
 1903 
 
 > 
 
 V " 
 
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 -i '"*
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year One Thousand Nine 
 Hundred and Two, by the Bradley-Garretson Co., Limited, in the Office 
 of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington. 
 
 Entered, according to Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year One 
 Thousand Nine Hundred and Two, by the Bradley-Garretson Co., Limited, 
 in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture. 
 
 Att Rights Reserved.
 
 ;DIA 
 \ \o 
 
 C 
 
 CONTENTS- 
 
 PART ONE. 
 INTEODUCTOEY AND GENEEAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA AND ARRANGEMENTS MADE FOK 
 FOUNDING A COLONY. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 First Discoverers of Australia uot Known. Chinese and 
 Malays had Knowledge of the Continent in the 
 Thirteenth Century. Marco Polo's Early Visit. Tradi- 
 tions of Terra Australis. Portuguese Claim to be the 
 First Discoverers. Expedition of Philip the Third of 
 Spain Early in the Seventeenth Century. Discovered 
 the New Hebrides Group. The Portuguese Pilot, De 
 Quiros. De Torres, the Commander. Mutiny of the 
 Crew. Other Early Explorers. The Natives a Brave 
 and Warlike People. Fought the Invaders. The First 
 English Navigator to Sight Australia was William 
 Dampier. Made the First Exploration of the Coast. 
 Great Voyage of James Cook, 1769-70. Astronomical 
 Observations. The Discovery of many Places Including 
 Botany Bay. Great Variety of New Plants Discovered. 
 Cook's Vessel, the Endeavour, Nearly Wrecked. The 
 Naming of New South Wales. Cook's Report in Eng- 
 land Turned all Eyes to Australia. Botany Bay De- 
 cided upon as a Place to Send Convicts 1
 
 ?i CONTENTS. 
 
 PART TWO. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 MM 
 
 A Colony in New South Wales Determined upon in 1787, 
 by Viscount Sydney, Secretary of State for the Colonies. 
 A Fleet Sails from England, May, 1787. Arrives in 
 Botany Bay, January, 1788. A more Unsuitable Site for 
 a New Settlement could Hardly have been Chosen. 
 Captain Arthur Phillip, R. N., Governor, Determines 
 to Explore the Coast. He Reaches Port Jackson. Its 
 Surroundings. Sydney Cove Decided on as the Site for 
 the Colony. The Colonists Meet a French Exploration 
 Party. A Flag-staff Erected and a Union Jack run up 
 at Sydney Cove. An Attempt to Raise Wheat Fails. 
 The Little Community on the Brink of Starvation. 
 Another Batch of Colonists. Ships Sent to Cape 
 Colony andBataviato Procure Provisions. The Colony 
 Snatched from the very Brink of Destruction by Famine. 
 Other Difficulties with which the Colonists were Be- 
 set. Attempts of Convicts to Escape from the Colony. 
 Captain Phillip an Ideal Governor of a Penal Colony. . 11 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES AS A PENAL COLONY. 
 
 Captain Hunter Succeeds Phillip as Governor. Brings 
 out a Number of Free Settlers. Farming Becomes a 
 Success. Population in 1800 over 6,000. Discovery of 
 Coal. The Discovery of Bass Strait. Philip Gidley 
 King the Next Governor. Constitution of the New 
 South Wales Corps. The Officers Become Importers of 
 Rum. Even Set up Private Stills. The Importers' In- 
 dignation with King. A Serious Mutiny among the 
 Prisoners. The Initiation of Wool-Growing by John 
 Macarthur. King Succeeded in 1806 by William Bligh. 
 Given Strictest Injunction to Stop the Trade in Spirits.
 
 CONTENTS. vii 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Order Issued to Stop it. The Government Opposed by 
 the New South Wales Corps Throughout the Whole 
 Period of Bligh's Rule. The Climax of the Contest. 
 The Arrest of Macarthur. Major Johnston Called upon 
 by the Inhabitants to Place the Governor under Arrest. 
 Bligh put in Close Confinement. Set Free on Pro- 
 mising to Proceed to England. Major-General Mac- 
 quarie Despatched to the Colony as Governor. His 
 First Act to Arrest Johnston and Send him to England. 
 The Colony Enters a Stage of Progress. Abolition of 
 the Rum Traffic Followed by a Marked Improvement 
 in the Morals of the Population. Macquarie Assisted 
 in his Endeavours by his Wife. The Favour with which 
 he Treated the Beneficial " Emancipists." Macquarie 
 Retires in 1821 to the Regret of the Entire Population. 
 He is Followed by Sir Thomas Brisbane. Explora- 
 tion of the North-Eastern Coast Line. Immigration of 
 Free Settlers Encouraged by Sir Thomas Brisbane. An 
 Important Change Soon Wrought in the Colony. Cen- 
 sorship of the Press Abolished, Oct. 15, 1824. Trial by 
 Jury Introduced about the Same Period. An Act 
 Passed by the Imperial Government in 1823 Provided 
 that the Governor should Nominate a Legislative Coun- 
 cil of Seven Members. Major-General Ralph Darling 
 Becomes Governor. He Nearly Succeeds by a Series of 
 Blunders in Destroying the Beneficial Result of the 
 Efforts of his Predecessors. Further Explorations. 
 The French Suspected of Plans to Form Settlements in 
 Australia. In 1831 the Population was Over 51,000, Ex- 
 ports 500,000. Sir Richard Bourke the Real Founder 
 of the Present Free Institutions. Immigrants Arrive 
 in Large Numbers. The First Vote in Aid of Immigra- 
 tion made at Bourke's Suggestion. The Amount Given 
 by the Colony Doubled by the British Government. 
 Sir Richard Bourke's Great Achievement. The Estab- 
 lishment of Religious Equality and the Breaking up of 
 the Monopoly of Government Aid Enjoyed by One Com- 
 munity. A Statue Erected to Bourke in Sydney. The 
 Famous Expeditions of Sir Thomas Mitchell. The Ad- 
 ministration of Sir George Gipps. The Abolition of
 
 viii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Transportation. The Introduction of a New Constitu- 
 tion 18 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS OF 1843 AND DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 
 
 Withdrawal of British Money and Fall in the Price of 
 Sheep Cause Financial Distress. Sir Geo. Gipps was 
 Succeeded as Governor by Sir Charles Augustus Fitz- 
 roy. Fretful Agitations Concerning the Transporta- 
 tion Question. Discovery of Gold. Formation of the 
 Colonies of Victoria and Queensland. Great Influx of 
 People from all Parts of the World to Gold Fields. 
 The Effects of this Great, Great Boom. Growth of 
 the Desire for Self -Government. The Controversy 
 before the Desire was Granted. Draft of the New Con- 
 stitution. Form of Government Adopted. Composi- 
 tion and Members of the First Government. Interrup- 
 tion of Communications with England, by Russian 
 War. First Railway Line from Sydney to Paramatta 
 Opened. Death of the Surveyor-General, Sir Thomas 
 Livingstone Mitchell, also Rear- Admiral Phillip Parker 
 King. Great Floods of 1857, Followed by very Severe 
 Droughts. Wreck of the "Dunbar" and the "Cath- 
 erine Adamson." Construction of Better Light-houses. 
 First Electric Telegraph Line Established. Rush to 
 the Gold Field of Queensland. Distress at the New 
 Gold Fields 33 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS AND THE CHINESE TROUBLE. 
 
 Unsettled State, at First, of the Governing Bodies, under 
 the System of Responsible Government. The Various 
 Ministries and their Measures. The Reform Measure, 
 Granting Greater Electoral Equality and the Adoption 
 of the Voting by Ballot System. Better Condition of 
 the Miners and the Granting of 3000 for the Relief of 
 the Flood Sufferers. Outbreak among the Cattle of 
 the " Cumberland Disease." Conviction of John Tawell
 
 CONTENTS. ix 
 
 PAQK 
 
 of Murder and his Execution. Disagreement of the 
 Ministry with the Governor and its Resignation. De- 
 parture of the Governor and Reconsideration of its Res- 
 ignation by the Cabinet. Sir John Young Succeeds as 
 Governor. Sir John Robertson Introduces his Land 
 Bill. Sir John Robertson becomes Secretary for Land 
 and Works. Introduction and the Passing of the Crown 
 Lands Alienation Bill by Parliament. Mr. Henry 
 Parkes and Mr. W. B. Dalley sent by Government to 
 England. Trouble between Chinese and Europeans 
 Causes Riots. A Bill was Passed which Restricted the 
 Freedom of the Chinese Entering the Colony. Discus- 
 sion Leading up to and the Passing of " Grants in Aid 
 of the Public Worship Prohibition Bill," in 1862. Res- 
 ignation of Went worth as President of the Legislative 
 Council, Succeeded by Sir Terence Aubrey Murray. 
 Conference at Melbourne of Delegates from New South 
 Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania, March, 
 1863 48 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BUSHRANGINQ EPOCH. THE O'FARRELL CASE. 
 
 The Prevalence of Bushrangers. Bushranging Act. 
 Fights of the Authorities with the Bushrangers. A 
 Season During which Non-appearance of the Bush- 
 rangers was Noticeable. Revival of the Pest and Murder 
 of Dr. Wardell. Trial and Execution of some of the 
 Gang. Capture of the Jewboys' Gang and Their Exter- 
 mination. Steady Increase of Bushranging. Special 
 Measures Adopted to Cope with the Evil. Trial of 
 Alexander and Charles Ross and William O'Connor. 
 Hold up of the Coach at Engowra, 15th June, 1862. 
 Gang Overtaken and Chief Members Captured with 
 Booty. Capture of the Clarkes and their Execution. 
 The Educational System up to 1848. Mr. Parkes' 
 School Bill, 1866. The Earl of Belmore Succeeded Sir 
 John Young as Governor, 1868. Visit of Duke of Edin- 
 burgh and Attempted Assassination by H. J. O'Farrell. 
 " Bill for the Better Security of the Crown and Govern-
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 ment of the United Kingdom and for the Better Sup- 
 pression and Punishment of Seditious Practices and At- 
 tempts " Passed Unanimously. The " Kiama Ghost." 
 Defeat of the Martin Ministry. Report of the " Select 
 Committee." Mr. Parkes' Amendment to the Report. . 64 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES FKOM 1869 TO 1888. 
 
 Some Direct Effects of the Robertson Land Acts. Mate- 
 rial Prosperity. Faith as to the Future of the Colony 
 and its Fruit. Great Influx of Money to the Colony. 
 Conference Seeking for Customs Union. Intercolonial 
 Exhibition, 1870. General Election. Convention of 
 January, 1867. Arranging of the Customs Duties. 
 Death of William Charles Went worth, 1874. Excite- 
 ment Caused by the Release of Gardiner the Bush- 
 ranger. Inducements to Emigrants. Governmental 
 Extravagance and Embarrassment. Annexation of the 
 Fiji Islands. Death of Sir Charles Cowper, 1875. Sir 
 Hercules Robinson Resigns the Governorship. Prepara- 
 tion for the International Exhibition of 1879. Coalition 
 Government under Sir Henry Parkes Formed in 1878. 
 Trials of the Various Governments. The Parkes- 
 Robertson Administration. Great Increase of Chinese. 
 Chinese Restriction Act. Close Watch on Vessels for 
 Chinamen. Intercolonial Conference on the Chinese 
 Question. Sending of the New South Wales Contin- 
 gent to the Nile Expedition. Rt. Hon. Baron Carring- 
 ton becomes Governor, 12th December, 1885. Death of 
 Sir James Martin. Controversy over the Filling of the 
 Chief-Justiceship. Bulli Coal Mine Explosion, 1887. 
 Royal Commission on Explosion Reports 83 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 RECENT HISTORY. LABOUR TROUBLES. 
 
 Height of Prosperity in 1884. Suspension of Several 
 Southern Collieries, During 1885-86. Years of Great In- 
 dustrial Depression and Labour Troubles, Death of Rt.
 
 CONTENTS. xi 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Hon. W. B. Dalley in 1888. The Great Strike of 1890. 
 Sailing of the "Royal Tar" in 1893 to Monte Video. 
 Failure of the Colony. The Labour Party's Platform. 
 Growth of the Labour Party. Death of Sir John Robert- 
 son, 1891. Resignation of the Earl of Jersey as Govern- 
 or, 1893. The Run on the New South Wales Savings 
 Bank, Financial Crisis, 1893. Suspension of Various 
 Banks Nearly Causes a Panic. Government Declares 
 Bank Notes Legal Tender, and Allays the Panic. 
 Death of Sir Alfred Stephen, 1894, and Sir William 
 Montague Manning, 1895. Sir William Robert Duff, the 
 Governor of the Colony Dies March, 1895. The Case of 
 Geo. Dean, Ferry-boat Captain. Royal Commission to 
 Look into the Affair. Confession of Dean's Lawyer, 
 and its Outcome. Death of Sir Henry Parkes, April 
 27th, 1896 103 
 
 PART THREE. 
 VICTORIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 Landing of George Bass in Western Port, 1798. Landing 
 of Lieut. Grant in the " Lady Nelson," 1801. Discovery 
 of Seals on Schnapper Island by him. Grant First Tills 
 the Soil of Victoria. Lieut. Murray, Six Months after, 
 Finds Abundant Crops. First Victorian Harvest-Home. 
 Grant Explores Port Phillip. A Brush with the Na- 
 tives. Colours of Great Britain and Ireland Hoisted. 
 Discoveries by Mr. Grimes, Surveyor-General of New 
 South Wales in 1803. Despatch of H. M. S. " Calcutta," 
 and Transport " Ocean " to Port Phillip. Unfavourable 
 Report Given by the Commander, Collins. Convicts 
 Sent Out, and Give Trouble. Collkis Leaves in 1804. 
 First Overland Journey from New South Wales to Port
 
 xii CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Phillip. An Effort Once More Made to Plant a Colony 
 at Western Port 118 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE HENTYS AT PORTLAND BAY. 
 
 Timidity about Occupying New Territories. Coming of 
 the Hentys from Tasmania to Victoria. They Receive 
 a Government Grant of Land. The Hentya Import 
 Sheep, Cattle, Pigs. Progress Made at Portland Bay. 
 Mr. Blair Appointed as Police Magistrate in 1840. Meet- 
 ing between Surveyor-General of New South Wales and 
 Edward Henty. Captain Start's Explorations on the 
 Murray River. Major Mitchell's Voyage of Discovery. 
 His Discovery of Henty's Settlement 126 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 BATMAN AND FAWKNER. 
 
 Association Promoted by John Batman of Tasmania to go 
 to Western Port. Landed at Port Phillip and Got into 
 Intercourse with the Natives. John Pascoe Fawkner 
 Arrives at Port Phillip later, also. The Two Rivals 
 Clash with Each Other. With the Rapid Growth of the 
 District, the Feud Dies Out. Fawkner Publishes the 
 First Newspaper. Governor Bourke Appoints a Police 
 Magistrate Over the District. Founding of Melbourne. 
 A Magistrate was Appointed to the Batman Settle- 
 ment 183 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 Mr. Charles Latrobe Appointed in 1839 Superintendent of 
 Port Phillip. Discoveries by Macmillan and Strzelecki. 
 Slight Troubles with the Blacks and Bushrangers. 
 The Disposal of Crown Lands. Crown Land Sales Act of 
 1842. Effect of the Act. The Separationists. Consti- 
 tution Act of 1850. Port Phillip District becomes an In- 
 dependent Colony. Mr. Latrobe First Governor of the 
 Colony 138
 
 CONTENTS. xiii 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Gold Discovery in both New South Wales and Victoria in 
 1851. February 6th, Black Thursday. Strzelecki's Re- 
 port on the Vale of Clwydd. Rush of People to the 
 Gold Mines. Government Efforts to Regulate the 
 Miners. Accommodation for the Emigrants. Difficul- 
 ties of " Travelling " to the Mining Districts. Finding 
 of the "Canada Gully" Nugget. Scenes at the Mining 
 Camps. Human Streams to Ballarat, Bendigo and Forest 
 Creek 143 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 EUREKA STOCKADE. 
 
 Riots and General Difficulty with the Miners. Delegates 
 From Mining Centres Air their Grievances before the 
 Governor. Sir Charles Hotham Succeeds Mr. Latrobe 
 as Governor. Miners Hail him with Delight. Killing 
 of a Miner Causes Disturbances. Soldiers and Police- 
 men in Readiness to Prevent Trouble. A Reform 
 League at Ballarat. A Commission Appointed to Re- 
 port on Gold Fields. Mischievous Agents Stirring 
 up Strife among Miners. Great Disaffection among 
 the Miners. Commissioner Johnstone Pelted with 
 Stones. Thousands of Armed Miners in Readiness. 
 Captain Thomas Attacks the Rioters and Disperses 
 them. On General Mickle's Arrival, Martial Law was 
 Proclaimed for a Few Days. Electoral Privileges 
 Granted to the Miners. Trial of the Eureka Prisoners.. 149 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 The Governor Carries Out Promised Reforms of the 
 Finances. At Work Drafting the New Constitution. 
 The Victorian Bill Receives the Royal Assent 23rd No- 
 vember, 1855. Governor Hotham Dies, and is Succeeded 
 by Sir Henry Barkly. Philosophical Institution of Victoria 
 and its Works. An Expedition Sent out under Robert;
 
 xiv CONTENTS. 
 
 MOT 
 
 O'Hara Burke with W. J. Wills as Surveyor. Expedi- 
 tion itself a Failure. Sir Henry Barkly is Succeeded 
 as Governor by Sir Charles Darling, in 1863. Con- 
 flicts between the Advocates of Free Trade and Pro- 
 tection. Sir Charles Darling Recalled on the Ground 
 of Political Partiality. Rt. Hon. J. H. J. Manners Sut- 
 ton is Appointed Governor in his Stead. Black Wednes- 
 day. Payment of Members Bill and Appropriation 
 Bill. Arrival of Premier Berry and Professor Pearson 
 in England. End of the Deadlock 155 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 
 
 Capture of the "Kelly Gang* at Glenrowan Hotel, and 
 their History. Coalition Ministry under Mr. James 
 Service in 1883. The Public Service Commissioners Ap- 
 pointed to Regulate Promotions upon Equitable Prin- 
 ciples. Members of Legislative Council Increased to 48 
 in 1888, and of the Assembly to 95. Victoria Reached its 
 Highest Point of Prosperity in 1888. Financial Crisis 
 in 1893, Many Banks Suspend Payments. Activity in 
 Railroad Building. Commerce on the Murray River. 
 Natural Resources 161 
 
 PART FOUR. 
 QUEENSLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 BEGINNINGS OP SETTLEMENT. 
 
 Surveyor-General John Oxley and his Expedition in the 
 "Mermaid" to Moreton Bay, 1823. Adventures of 
 Thomas Pamphlet. Pamphlet and Oxley Row up the 
 Brisbane River. Report on Moreton Bay Favourable. 
 Oxley Establishes a Penal Settlement at Red Cliff Point.
 
 CONTENTS. XY 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Oxley is Succeeded by Captain Logan. Increase of 
 the Convict Population and Growth of the Settlement. 
 Logan's Explorations and Tragic Death, 1830. Dis- 
 covery of Darling Downs by Allan Cunningham ; his 
 Further Discoveries. Abandonment of Moreton Bay as 
 a Penal Settlement, 1839 16G 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 Regulations Restricting the Settlement. Explorations of 
 Andrew Petrie and Patrick Leslie. Emigration to the 
 Darling Downs. Stuart and Sydenham Russell and 
 their Explorations. Governor Gipps Visits Moreton 
 Bay in 1842. First Sale of Crown Lands. Expeditions 
 by Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt. Experiences with the 
 Natives. Sir Thomas Mitchell Explores Much of Tropi- 
 cal Australia. Further Expeditions of Dr. Leichhardt. 
 Kennedy's Ill-fated Expedition in 1848. Death of 
 Kennedy at the Hands of the Blacks. Queensland Gov- 
 ernment Set Aside Certain Tracts of Land for the 
 Blacks. Chinamen as Shepherds 171 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 Moreton Bay Gains Political Independence. First Gov- 
 ernor Sir Geo. Ferguson Bowen. Composition of the 
 Legislative Council and the Legislative Assembly. Ed- 
 ucation. Acts Making Provision for Municipal Govern- 
 ment. Scarcity of Cheap Labour. The Land Act. 
 Expeditions of Burke and Wills. Growth of Agricul- 
 ture. Financial Crisis in 1865. Country Bordering on 
 a Panic. Issue of Treasury Bills and Notes to Pre- 
 vent Financial Ruin. Growth of Sugar Industry by 
 1869. New Land Act. Discovery of Great Mineral 
 Wealth. Miners, after Arriving, in Great Distress. 
 Further Discoveries of Gold, also Tin and Copper and 
 Coal. Phenomenal Discoveries on Mount Morgan 178
 
 xvi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Activity of France and Germany among the Islands. 
 French Claims in Regard to the New Hebrides in 1883. 
 Convention of 1891. Sudden Death of a Member, 
 Hon. J. M. Macrossan. Federal Bill Drafted and then 
 Referred to Various Colonies. Queensland Local Parlia- 
 ment Rejects Federal Enabling Bill. Promotion of the 
 Aims of the Separation League. France's Penal Settle- 
 ment in New Caledonia. Queensland Annexes the Un- 
 claimed Part of New Guinea and Germany Seizes the 
 Other Part. Importation of Kanakas for Cheap Labour. 
 Growth of Polynesian Labour. Problem of the 
 Chinese Emigration. Maritime Strike in 1890. General 
 Strike of Shearers. New Australia Movement. Rapid 
 Progress of the Colony 183 
 
 PART FIVE. 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 Edward Gibbon Wakefield's New Scheme for Colonising. 
 South Australian Land Company Formed in 1831. 
 In 1834 South Australia Association was Formed. Bill 
 for the Colonisation of South Australia. Colonel Tor- 
 rens was Appointed Chairman of Board of Commis- 
 sioners. The Other Officers. Captain Hindmarsh Ap- 
 pointed Governor. First Settlement on Kangaroo 
 Island. Arrival of Governor Hindmarsh. Quarrel be- 
 tween Governor, Commissioner and Surveyor-General. 
 Governor Hindmarsh Recalled and Colonel Gawler Suc- 
 ceeds him. Condition of Adelaide on the Arrival of the 
 New Governor. Characteristics of the New Governor.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 MM 
 
 Bad Condition of the Colony. Slump in Land Specula- 
 tion. Natural Resources First Used to Any Extent. 
 Captain Grey Succeeds Colonel Gawler as Governor. 
 Discoveries During Gawler's Regime. Loan of 150,000 
 to Colony from the Imperial Government. Governor 
 Grey's Aims. Marked Advance in Agricultural Pur- 
 suits. Discoveries of Rich Copper Mines at Kapunda 
 and Burra-Burra. Stimulation of Enterprise. Colonel 
 Robe becomes Governor. Very Unpopular and was 
 Recalled Again. Sir Henry Edward Fox Young Suc- 
 ceeds as Governor in 1848. Wise Administration. Ef- 
 forts to Establish Navigable Route up the Murray. Es- 
 tablishment of Effective Road System and District 
 Councils . 190 
 
 CHAPTER XXH. 
 
 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Beginnings of Responsible Government by the Constitu- 
 tion Act. Difficulties of the Various Ministries First 
 under Self-government. The Torrens Act. Beginning 
 of Railways and Public Works. Exploring Expeditions 
 and their Success. Governor Macdonnell is Succeeded 
 by Sir Dorninick Daly, 1862. Settlement Founded at 
 Escape Cliffs in Adam Bay. Settlement Finally Moved 
 to Port Darwin. Strangway's Act ; Sir James Fergusson 
 becomes Governor. Construction of Transcontinental 
 Telegraph Lines from Adelaide to Port Darwin. Steady 
 Growth of the Colony. Bold Policy of Public Works. 
 Proposal for the Further Development of Colony. Con- 
 struction of New Railways. Founding of Adelaide Uni- 
 versity. Financial Crisis. Plentiful Rain and Valu- 
 able Mineral Discoveries Raise the Crisis. Earl of 
 Kintore First Australian Governor to Cross Continent. 
 Death of Sir Thomas Elder in 1886. State Advances 
 Bill, Passed 1896. Establishment of a State Bank. 
 
 Granting of the Franchise to Women 203 
 
 B
 
 xviii CONTENTS. 
 
 PART SIX. 
 
 TASMANIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIH. 
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Tasman, Cook and other Navigators Visit Tasmania. 
 First Settlements in Van Diemen's Land 1803, at Ris- 
 don. Lieutenant Collins Forms a Settlement at Sul- 
 livan's Cove, now Hobart. Port Dalrymple Founded. 
 First Clash with the Natives at Risdon and Port 
 Dalrymple. Norfolk Islanders Removed to Van Die- 
 men's Land. Famine makes Necessary the Release 
 of Many Convicts. Bushranging in the Island. 
 Davey Resigns and is Succeeded by Col. Sorell. Sorell 
 Encourages Sheep-farming. Legislative and Execu- 
 tive Councils Established by Imperial Government. 
 Governor Arthur Suppresses Bushranging. Progress 
 of Island under Rule of Governor Arthur 209 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES AND NATIVE DIFFICULTY. 
 
 Bushranging under Governors Collins and Davey. 
 Sorell puts down Bushranging. Michael Howe's Career. 
 Recrudescence of Bushranging. Vigorous Measures 
 of Arthur to Suppress the Bushrangers. Fieudishness 
 of Bushrangers. Reprisals of Natives. Governor 
 Arthur's Plan to Secure the Aborigines. Failure. 
 George Augustus Robinson Succeeds where Force 
 Failed. Last of the Native Race 222 
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 Sir John Franklin Lieutenant-Governor. Social and 
 Intellectual Life of Hobart. Stream of Convicts to the 
 Islands Arouses Opposition of Free Settlers. Franklin's
 
 CONTENTS. jnx 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Convict Policy not a Success. Depression in the Colony. 
 Recall of Franklin, 1843. Sir Eardley Wilmot Suc- 
 ceeds Franklin. Dangerous Proportion of Convicts to 
 Free Settlers in the Colony. Proposal of Governor to 
 Increase the Duties. The " Patriotic Six " Resign. Re- 
 call of Wilmot. Governor Denison Restores the " Patri- 
 otic Six." Agitation against Transportation. Anti- 
 Transportation League. Transportation Policy Aban- 
 doned. Van Dieinen's Land becomes Tasmania 232 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 Sir Henry Young Succeeds Wilmot. Prosperity of the 
 Colony. Legislative Council Attempts to Exercise 
 Tyrannical Powers. Responsible Government in Tas- 
 mania. Educational and Municipal Institutions. Pub- 
 lic Works Policy Agitation. Industrial Conditions in 
 1870. Railways and Railway Troubles. Mineral Re- 
 sources of Tasmania. Position and Prospects of the 
 Colony. Tasmania Favours Federation 242 
 
 PART SEVEN. 
 WESTEKN AUSTKALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 FROM FIRST SETTLEMENT TO ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 Major Lockyer Forms a Settlement at King George's 
 Sound. Swan River Settlement. Liberal Terms as to 
 Land Grants. Difficulties and Discouragements of the 
 Early Settlers. Progress of the Colony. Troubles with 
 the Natives Occur. Population Grows Slowly. Trans- 
 portation Petitioned for and Granted. Convicts Em- 
 ployed by Governor Hampton to Build Roads. Pearl 
 Shell Beds Discovered at Nickol Bay. The Natives and 
 the Pearling Industry 253
 
 XX CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Governor Weld Succeeds Governor Hampton. Isolation 
 of Settlements Lessened by Coasting Steamers, and by 
 Telegraph Lines. First Railway of the Colonies. Great 
 Progress of Colony under Governor Weld. Agitation 
 for Responsible Government Entered upon by Chief 
 Secretary Barlee. Governor Robinson Succeeds Weld 
 and the Agitation for Responsible Government Drops. 
 Under Governor Ord, the Agitation is Renewed. 
 Frequent Changes of Governor Places Administration 
 in the Hands of the Executive Council. Legislative 
 Council Secures Control of Finances of Colony. Gov- 
 ernment Abandons the Policy of State-Built Railways. 
 Responsible Government for Western Australia " One 
 and Undivided." First Ministry under New Constitu- 
 tion, 1890. Western Australia 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 
 
 Gold Discoveries in Victoria Lead to Search for Gold in 
 the Colony. Hargraves' Unfavourable Report, 1862. 
 Gold Discoveries in the Kimberley District, 1885. Yil- 
 garn and Pilbarra Gold-fields Discovered. Gold Dis- 
 coveries Cause Movement of Population to Western Aus- 
 tralia. Messrs. Bayley and Ford Discover the Famous 
 Coolgardie Gold Fields, 1892. Other Fields Discovered. 
 Table Showing Gold Productions. Trade Returns. 
 The Future of Western Australia Depends upon Gold 
 Fields. Coal of Colony Inferior in Quality. Agitation 
 re Federation 278 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 " Western Australia has never Given up the Subject of 
 Exploration." Expedition of Captain Grey and Lieu- 
 tenant Lushington in the Glenelg River Country. Cap-
 
 CONTENTS. xx i 
 
 PAGE 
 
 tain Grey Explores the Country between Shark Bay 
 and Perth. Coastal Surveys of Captains Wickham and 
 Stokes. Eyre Travels Overland from South Australia 
 to Western Australia, 1841. Mr. J. S. Roe, " the Father 
 of Australian Explorers," Explores 1800 Miles of the 
 Colony, 1848. Assistant-Surveyor Austin Reports the 
 Neighbourhood of Lake Austin " one of the finest gold- 
 fields in the world." Discoveries of Pastoral Land by 
 A. C. and F. T. Gregory. Necessity for New Pasture 
 Lands Leads to many Exploring Parties from 1860 to 
 1900. In 1869, Mr. John Forrest began his Memorable 
 Series of Explorations. Exploring Expeditions of War- 
 burton and Gosse. Giles, after Two Failures, Crosses 
 from Adelaide to Perth. The Sad Expedition of Mr. 
 L. A. Wells to the East Murchison and Fitzroy Rivers 
 District. Expeditions of Hiibbe and Carnegie 289 
 
 PART EIGHT. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 
 
 1788-1821. 
 
 Chief Industries of this Period. Australia only Intended 
 for a Penal Settlement. No Operation of Industrial 
 Forces. Power of the Governor. Government the Main 
 Employer of Labour. What Composed the Labouring 
 Classes. Harshness and Callousness of the General 
 Orders the First Thirty Years. Regulations Defining 
 the Hours of Toil, Price of Wages and Employment of 
 Labour. Prices Paid for Various Kinds of Labour. 
 Convicts and Soldiers Allowed to Hire themselves out 
 after Hours. Great Transportation from England and 
 Ireland in 1817. Voluntary Emigration almost Ceases. 
 Imperial Government also Places Restrictions upon 
 Emigrants. Manner in which Wages were Paid. The 
 Average Market Rates of Certain Goods. British Sea- 
 inen Forbidden to go on Board of a Foreign Vessel.
 
 xxii CONTENTS. 
 
 PACK 
 
 Duty on Foreign Goods Brought into the Colony. 
 Regulations Defining the Bate of Interest to be Given. 
 Manufacturing Establishments. Trade of the Period. 
 Trade Restrictions. Extortion by Traders. Condition 
 of the People. Condition of the Currency. Bank of New 
 South Wales Opened for Business, April 8th, 1817. Ex- 
 tent of Land and Population when Major- General Lachlan 
 Macquarie Entered upon the Government of the Colony, 
 January 1st, 1810. The Island of Tasmania 309 
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 SECOND 1NDUSTKIAL PERIOD, 
 
 1821-1838. 
 
 New Discoveries of the Second Period. Colonisation of 
 the Various Colonies. Labour Legislation of this Period. 
 Encouragement of Assisted Emigration. Wages of 
 the Various Kinds of Labourers in this Period. Select 
 Committee of 1838. Government Fixes Rations to be 
 Given to Servants. Ruling Rates of Provisions in 1823- 
 24. High Price of Corn, 1827. The Australian Agricul- 
 tural Company. Prices of Various Grains. Good Crop 
 of Grain after the Drought, in Van Diemen's Land. 
 Selling by Auction of Public Stores of Grain. Rentals 
 very High. Principal Articles of Manufacture. Sell- 
 ing of Surplus Products of Coal Mines, May, 1822. Re- 
 peated Efforts to Reduce Currency to a Fixed Standard 
 of Sterling Value. Decision of the Lords Commissioners 
 of the King's Treasury as to the Currency. The Govern- 
 or's Announcement on the Currency. Bank of Austra- 
 lia Instituted in 1826 and Savings Bank in 1832 824 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 
 
 1838-1852. 
 
 Favourable Auspices on the Opening of this Period. 
 Abolishment of System of Assigning Prisoners to Set- 
 tlers. Master and Servants Act. Employment of
 
 CONTENTS. xxiii 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Coloured Labour. Labour Questions. Great Increase 
 in Wages in 1839. Fall in "Wages in 1841. Failure of 
 Crops in 1838-39. Decline in the Price of Wool. Gen- 
 eral Speculative Activity during Opening Years. 
 Withdrawal of British Money, Together with Govern- 
 ment's Actions Caused Impending Ruin. Large List of 
 Insolvents of 1843. Great Boom in Land. The Inevi- 
 table Crash. Existing State of Affairs Renders Great 
 Sacrifices Compulsory. Commercial Relations with 
 Hong Kong and British India. Fisheries Exports for 
 1839-40. Discovery of Copper. Policy Pursued by 
 Legislature in Reference to Labour Question. 
 The Great Employers, the Real Rulers of the Country. 
 The Anti-Transportation League. Emigration from 
 Australia to California, 1849. Wages Paid in this Period. 
 Great Depression in Trade. Discovery of Gold 
 Changes Condition of Things, 1851-52. The Industries 
 of this Period. Manufactures of this Period 340 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 FOUKTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 
 1852-1858. 
 
 Labour Question at the Commencement of this Period. 
 Effect of Gold Booms on the Population of the Different 
 Colonies. General Financial Embarrassment. The 
 Government and the Mining Element. Class of People 
 who Emigrated to the Colonies. Prices for Labour 
 During the Gold Booms. Prices for Provisions and 
 Clothing. Effect of the Golden Era on the Social Wel- 
 fare of the People. Increase in the Pastoral Industry 
 and the Discovery of " Salt-Bush." Increase in Trade. 
 Great Decrease of the Fishing Industry. Victoria Ranks 
 as the First of all Colonies. Growth of Melbourne. 
 Building of Railroads. Steam Communications with 
 England. Restless State of the Country between 
 1859-62. Renewed Attention to Agriculture. Condi- 
 tion of the Working Classes 363
 
 xxiv CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 FIFTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 
 
 1858-1872. 
 
 MM 
 
 Bad Effect of Floods and Droughts on the Country. 
 Great Commercial Depression towards the End of the 
 Period. Victoria takes The Lead in Agriculture. Build- 
 ing of Telegraph Lines. Influx of Chinese. Dislike of 
 Chinese by Miners. Marked Decline in Rates of Wages. 
 Intercolonial Conference at Melbourne, 1863. Slow 
 Progress in Railway Construction. The Bushranging 
 Epoch 376 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 
 
 1872-1893. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 
 NEW SOUTH WALES : 
 
 Output of Gold in 1872. Expansion of Agriculture. 
 Opening up of the Country. Expenditure for Public 
 Works. Great Purchase of Public Lands. Favourable 
 Conditions which Attracted Great Numbers of Men. 
 General Increase in Wages. Influx of Great Amount 
 of Capital. Substantial Progress of the Colony. Re- 
 duction of Expenditure on Public Works and its Effects. 
 Fall in Price of Wages. Increase in Output of Gold.. 382 
 
 VICTORIA : 
 
 Marked Improvement in Price of Wages. Decline of 
 Wages again in 1893. Prosperity among the Working 
 Classes, 1875-90. Progress in Agriculture. Introduc- 
 tion of Capital by Government from England. General 
 Financial Condition. The Surplus of Capital Causes 
 Great Land Speculation 388
 
 CONTENTS. 
 CHAPTER XXXVH. 
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD. 
 
 QUEENSLAND : SOUTH AUSTRALIA : TASMANIA AND WESTERN 
 AUSTRALIA. 
 
 QUEENSLAND : 
 
 PAOK 
 
 Material Progress very Satisfactory. Trade Returns of 
 1871 and in 1881. Foreign Labour Element During the 
 Period. Improvement in the Price of Wages. Intro- 
 duction of Foreign Capital. Surplus Capital. External 
 Trade ................................................ 394 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIA : 
 
 Enterprise of South Australia. Introduction of Foreign 
 Capital, by Government Loans. Discovery of the 
 Broken Hill Silver Fields. Rise in Price of Wages. 
 Dearth of Labour ..................................... 898 
 
 TASMANIA : 
 
 Amount of Capital in the Colony. Importation of British 
 Capital by Tasmanian Government. No Existence of 
 Large Industries. Lowest Point Touched by Tasmania. 
 
 Sound Footing of all Tasmanian Interests ............ 400 
 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA : 
 
 Existence of Penal Settlements in Western Australia. 
 Dependence on Increase of Population to Gold Rushes. 
 
 Withdrawal of Imperial Expenditure Adversely affects 
 Trade. No Perceptible Change in Wages until 1875. 
 Rapid Improvement in Wages on Discovery of Gold. 
 Amount of Gold Exported from 1891 to '98. Discover- 
 ies of Gold the Instrument or Means by which Capital 
 Came into the Colony. Districts in which the Gold was 
 to be Found. Shipping of the Colony. Imports for the 
 Various Years of the Period ............... . . * ......... 402
 
 iX vi CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1890 AND THE BROKEN HILL STRIKE 
 OF 1892. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Unrest in Labour Circles. Difficulties between the Em- 
 ployers and the Employed. The Shearers' Union. The 
 Rules it Tried to Lay upon the Pastoralists. Commit- 
 tees Representing the Two Parties Hold a Meeting at 
 Town of Blachall. Events Leading up to the Strike. 
 Labourers' Union Side with the Shearers' Union. Strike 
 Committee Formed. Gradual Increase of Discontent. 
 Shutting Down of the Broken Hill Mines, September 6th, 
 1890. Heavy Drain upon the Funds of the Trades Union. 
 First Serious Disturbance. Attack upon Australian 
 Agricultural Company. Intimidation Used by the 
 Strikers. Attempts Made to Break Blockade. Reading 
 of the Riot Act. Culminating Point of the Sydney Dis- 
 turbance. Disturbances at Greta and Bulli. Queens- 
 land Labour Federation Orders the Execution of Present 
 Contracts. Rejection by the Shearers' Union of a Pro- 
 posal by the Pastoralists' Union, January, 1891. Chief 
 Events of Strike of 1891, in Queensland. Pastoralists 
 Obtain Labour from Victoria. Necessity for the Gov- 
 ernment to Draft Police and Military to the Disturbed 
 Districts. Found Necessary to Read the Riot Act at 
 One Station. Arrests on Charges of Arson and Con- 
 spiracy. Wild Vapourings of the Strikers. Attempts 
 to Connect Leaders of the Strikers' Union with them. 
 Sentence of the Barcaldine Strike Committee to Penal 
 Servitude. End of the Strike in Failure 406 
 
 THE BROKEN HILL STRIKE. 
 
 Miners Refuse to Agree to Proposals of the Mine Owners. 
 Miners go out on Strike. Directors bring up Free 
 Labour, under Police Escort. Collapse of the Strike. 
 Six of the Leaders Tried and Imprisoned. The Release 
 of the Prisoners Desired by the Unionists 414
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PART NINE. 
 AUSTRALASIA OF TO-DAY. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 FEDERATION. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Proposals for Federation of the Colonies Postponed. 
 First Meeting of the Federal Council. Conference of 
 1890 Adopts an Address to the Queen. Commencement 
 of the National Australian Convention. Resolutions 
 Drawn up by the Council. Approval of the Framing 
 of a Federal Constitution. Unofficial Conference at 
 Gorowa. Convention at Bathurst, 1896. Enabling Acts 
 Passed by Various Parliaments. First Session of the 
 Federal Convention Began 22nd March, 1897. Conditions 
 of the Convention Bill. How the Bill was Viewed by 
 the Colonies. Voting on the Bill by the Colonies. New 
 South Wales' Objection to Federal Union. Conference 
 of the Premiers, 1899, at Melbourne. Result of the Con- 
 ference. New South Wales again Votes on the Bill, 
 this time Favourably. Acceptance of Amended Bill by 
 Colonies 417 
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 Federation not Consummated till 1900. The Part Played 
 by Australia in South Africa a Factor in Uniting the 
 Different Provinces. Troops sent to the Boer War from 
 every Province. Their Part in the War. Mr. Edmund 
 Barton undertakes to form a Cabinet. The Cabinet. 
 The Premier. Inaugural Celebration of the Australian 
 Commonwealth. The Queen's Message. The Rapid 
 Growth of Australia. Mr. James Brunton Stephens' 
 Prophetic Lines on " The Dominion of Australia." His 
 "Australia Federata." Stead's Warning Note. The 
 Future of Australia. The Visit of the Duke and
 
 xxviii CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Duchess of Cornwall and York. The First Parliament 
 of United Australia opened May 9, 1901 433 
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 GENERAL PROGRESS OF AUSTRALIA AND TASMANIA: 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 Early Settlement of Australia. Statistics Showing the 
 Growth of Australia. Population of Chief Cities. Dif- 
 ferent Nationalities Represented in Australia. Condi- 
 tion of Life in Australia. Progress of Shipping and 
 Growth of Trade. Statistics Showing Trade of Chief 
 Cities. Statistics Showing Exportation of Wool. Value 
 of Pastoral Property and Stock. Statistics Showing 
 the Value of Exports in Meats and Dairy Produce. 
 Area of Land under Cultivation during Certain Years. 
 Figures Representing Year of 1899 for Permanent 
 Grasses. Annual Yield of the Mines. Statistics Show- 
 ing Value of Products of Mines, Fields, Farms, Forests 
 and Workshops. Revenue of Government of Colonies 
 Showing Statistics. Principal Sources of Revenue. 
 Public Debt of Colonies. Annual Interest on Public 
 Debt. Total Deposits in all Banks. Extent of the 
 Railway System. Progress of Telegraph Construction. 
 Post-Office Statistics. Social Condition of the People. 
 Statistics Concerning Population, Crime and Educa- 
 tion ,. 444
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA IN THE 
 CENTURY. 
 
 PART ONE. 
 INTRODUCTORY AND GENERAL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA AND ARRANGEMENTS MADE 
 FOR FOUNDING A COLONY. 
 
 IT is impossible to say who were the first dis- 
 coverers of Australia, although there is evidence that 
 the Chinese had some knowledge of the continent as 
 far back as the thirteenth century. The Malays also 
 would seem to have been acquainted with the 
 northern coast; while Marco Polo, who visited the 
 East at the close of the thirteenth century, makes ref- 
 erence to the reputed existence of a great southern 
 continent. There is in existence a map dedicated to 
 Henry the Eighth of England, on which a large 
 southern land is shown, and the tradition of a Terra 
 Australia appears to have been current for a long 
 period before the land itself was known to authentic 
 history. 
 
 In 1503, a French navigator named Binot Paul- 
 myer, Sieur de Sonneville, was blown out of hig
 
 2 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 course, and landed on a large island, which was 
 claimed to be the great southern land of tradi- 
 tion, although Flinders and other authorities are in- 
 clined to think that it must have been Madagascar. 
 The Portuguese also advance claims to be the first 
 discoverers of Australia, but so far the evidence can- 
 not be said to establish their pretensions. As early 
 as 1598, Wytfliet describes the Terra Australis as 
 the most southern of all lands, and proceeds to give 
 some circumstantial particulars regarding its geo- 
 graphical relation to New Guinea, venturing the 
 opinion that, were it thoroughly explored, it would 
 be regarded as a fifth part of the world. 
 
 Early in the seventeenth century, Philip the Third 
 of Spain sent out an expedition from Callao, in 
 Peru, for the purpose of searching for a southern 
 continent. The little fleet comprised three vessels, 
 and had the Portuguese pilot, De Quiros, as navi- 
 gator, and De Torres, as admiral, or military com- 
 mander. They left Callao on the 21st of December, 
 1605, and in the following year discovered the is- 
 land now known as Espiritu Santo, one of the New 
 Hebrides group, which De Quiros, under the impres- 
 sion that it was indeed the land of which he was in 
 search, named " La Austrialia del Espiritu Santo." 
 Sickness and discontent led to a mutiny on De 
 Quiros' vessel, and the crew, overpowering their of- 
 ficers during the night, forced the captain to navigate 
 his ship to Mexico. Thus abandoned by his consort, 
 Torres, compelled to bear up for the Philippines to 
 refit, discovered and sailed through the strait that 
 bears his name, and may even have caught a glimpse 
 of the northern coast of the Australian continent. 
 His discovery was not, however, made known until 
 1792, when Dalrymple rescued his name from
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA. 3 
 
 oblivion, bestowing it on the passage which separates 
 New Guinea from Australia. De Quiros returned 
 to Spain to re-engage in the work of petitioning the 
 king to despatch an expedition for the purpose of 
 prosecuting the discovery of the Terra Australis. 
 He was finally successful in his petitions, but died 
 before realising his dream of discovery, and was 
 buried in an unknown grave in Panama. 
 
 During the same year in which Torres sailed 
 through the strait destined to make him famous, a 
 little Dutch vessel called the Duyfhen, or Dove, set 
 sail from Bantam, in Java, on a voyage of discovery. 
 This ship entered the Gulf of Carpentaria, and 
 sailed south as far as Cape Keerweer or Turnagain. 
 Here some of the crew landed, but being attacked 
 by natives, made no attempt to explore the country. 
 In 1616 Dirk Hartog discovered the island bearing 
 his name. In 1622 the Leeuwin, or Lioness, made 
 some discoveries on the south-west coast ; and during 
 the following year the yachts Pera and Arnhem ex- 
 plored the snores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. Arn- 
 hem Land, a portion of the northern territory, still 
 appears on many maps as a memento of this voyage. 
 Among other early Dutch discoverers were Van 
 Edels; De Witt; Poel, who, in 1629, explored the 
 Gulf of Carpentaria; ]STuyts, who in the Guide 
 Zeepaard sailed along the south coast, which he 
 called, after himself, Nuyt's Land ; and Pelsart, who 
 in the Batavia was wrecked on Houtman's Abrolhos. 
 Pelsart's crew mutinied, and he and his party suffered 
 greatly from want of water. The record of his voy- 
 age is interesting from the fact that he was the first 
 to carry back to Europe an authentic account of the 
 western coast of Australia, which he described in 
 any but favourable terms. In 1642, Abel Janszen
 
 4 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Tasman took up the work of Dutch discovery, and 
 added Tasmania (long known as Van Diemen's 
 Land) and New Zealand to the geographical knowl- 
 edge of the day. He subsequently made a voyage 
 to the Gulf of Carpentaria, and examined the north- 
 ern coast. 
 
 The first English navigator to sight the Australian 
 continent was William Dampier, who made a visit 
 to these shores in 1688, as supercargo of the Cygnet, 
 a trader whose crew had turned buccaneers. On his 
 return to England he published an account of his 
 adventures, which resulted in his being sent out in 
 the Roebuck, in 1699, on a further voyage of dis- 
 covery. To him we owe the exploration of the coast 
 for about 900 miles from Shark Bay to Dampier's 
 Archipelago, and thence to Roebuck Bay. He ap- 
 pears to have landed in several places in search of 
 water. His account of the country was quite as un- 
 favourable as Pelsart's. He described it as barren 
 and sterile, and almost devoid of animals, the only 
 one of any importance being a strange creature some- 
 what resembling a racoon, which advanced by great 
 bounds or leaps instead of walking, using only its 
 hind legs and covering twelve or fifteen feet at a 
 time. This is the first notice of the kangaroo which 
 has come down to us. Between Dampier's first and 
 second voyage Vlamingh visited the south-west coast, 
 and entered and named the Swan River, so called 
 from the number of black swans seen in the locality. 
 
 The great voyage of James Cook, in 1769-70, was 
 primarily undertaken for the purpose of observing 
 the transit of Venus, but he was also expressly com- 
 missioned to ascertain " whether the unexplored part 
 of the southern hemisphere be only an immense mass 
 of water, or contain another continent." The vessel
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA. 5 
 
 fitted out for the voyage was a small craft of 320 
 tons carrying twenty-two guns. She was built origi- 
 nally for the coal service, with a view rather to 
 strength than to speed. Chosen by Cook himself, 
 she was renamed the Endeavour, in allusion to the 
 great work which her commander was setting out to 
 achieve. Mr. Charles Green was commissioned to con- 
 duct the astronomical observations, and Sir Joseph 
 Banks and Dr. Solander were appointed botanists to 
 the expedition. After successfully observing the 
 transit from the island of Tahiti or Otaheite, as 
 Cook wrote it, the Endeavour's head was turned 
 south, and then north-west, beating about the Pacific 
 in search of the eastern coast of the great continent 
 whose western shores had been so long known to the 
 Dutch. Circumnavigating and minutely surveying 
 the coast of New Zealand, Cook then stood due west, 
 in order to carry out the instructions given him. 
 
 After a voyage of nearly three weeks, Cook, on 
 the 19th of April, 1770, sighted the eastern coast 
 of Australia, at a spot which he named Point Hicks 
 after his first lieutenant, who discovered it. This 
 he placed in latitude 38 south and longitude 148 
 50' east ; but no such headland has since been identi- 
 fied, and it is thought that Cook must have been de- 
 ceived in some manner by the sandhills of the 
 Ninety-mile Beach. Four leagues farther to the 
 north-east he discovered and named Ram Head, but 
 the first important point observed was a bare and 
 sandy headland, to which he gave the name of Cape 
 Howe. After passing and naming Mount Drome- 
 dary, the Pigeon House, Point Upright, Cape St. 
 George, and Red Point, Botany Bay was discovered 
 on the 28th April, 1YYO, and as it appeared to 
 offer a suitable anchorage, the Endeavour entered
 
 6 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the bay and dropped anchor. The ship brought-to 
 opposite a group of natives, who were cooking over 
 a fire. Cook and his crew, unacquainted with the 
 character of the Australian aborigines, were not a 
 little astonished that these natives took no notice of 
 them or their proceedings. Even the splash of the 
 anchor in the water, and the noise of the cable run- 
 ning out through the hawse-hole^ in no way disturbed 
 them at their occupation, or caused them to evince 
 the slightest curiosity. But when the captain of 
 the Endeavour ordered out the pinnace and prepared 
 to land, the natives threw off their nonchalance ; for 
 on the boat's approaching the shore, two men, each 
 armed with a bundle of spears, presented themselves 
 on a projecting rock and made threatening signs to 
 the strangers. It is interesting to note that the in- 
 genious " Wommera," or throwing stick, which is 
 peculiar to Australia, was first observed on this oc- 
 casion. As the men were evidently determined to 
 oppose any attempt at landing, a musket was dis- 
 charged between them, in the hope that they would 
 be frightened by the noise, but it produced no effect 
 beyond causing one of them to drop his bundle of 
 spears, of which, however, he immediately repos- 
 sessed himself, and with his comrade resumed the 
 same menacing attitude. At last, one cast a stone 
 towards the boat, an act which earned him a charge 
 of small shot in the leg. Nothing daunted, the two 
 ran back into the bush, and presently returned fur- 
 nished with shields made of bark, with which to pro- 
 tect themselves from the firearms of the crew. Such 
 intrepidity is certainly worthy of passing notice. 
 Unlike the American Indians who supposed Colum- 
 bus and his crew to be supernatural beings, and their 
 ships in some way endowed with life, and who were
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA. 7 
 
 thrown into convulsions of terror by the first dis- 
 charge of firearms which they witnessed, these Aus- 
 tralians were neither excited to wonder by the ship, 
 nor overawed by the superior number and unknown 
 weapons of the strangers. Cook examined the bay 
 in the pinnace, and landed several times ; but by no 
 inducements could he prevail upon the natives to 
 hold any friendly communication with him. 
 
 The well-known circumstance of the great variety 
 of new plants here obtained, from which Botany 
 Bay derives its name, should not be passed over. 
 Before quitting the bay the ceremony was performed 
 of hoisting the Union Jack, first on the south shore, 
 and then near the north head, formal possession of 
 the territory being thus taken for the British crown. 
 During the sojourn in Botany Bay the crew had to 
 perform the painful duty of burying a comrade a 
 seaman named Forby Sutherland, who was in all 
 probability the first British subject whose body was 
 committed to Australian soil. 
 
 After leaving Botany Bay, Cook sailed north- 
 ward. He saw and named Port Jackson, but for- 
 bore to enter the finest natural harbour in Australia. 
 Broken Bay and other inlets, and several headlands, 
 were also seen and named, but the vessel did not 
 come to an anchor till Moreton Bay was reached. 
 Prevented by the wind from entering the harbour, 
 Cook continued his voyage, taking notes, as he pro- 
 ceeded, for a rough chart of the coast, and landing 
 at Bustard and Keppel Bays and the Bay of Inlets. 
 He had passed over 1,300 miles without the occur- 
 rence of any event worthy of being chronicled, when 
 suddenly one night at ten o'clock the water was 
 found to shoal, without any sign of breakers or land. 
 While Cook was speculating on the cause of this
 
 8 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 phenomenon, and was in the act of ordering out the 
 boats to take soundings, the Endeavour struckheavily 
 and fell over so much that, in order to lighten her, 
 the guns, spare cables, and other heavy gear had at 
 once to be thrown overboard. As day broke attempts 
 were made to float the vessel off with a rising tidej 
 but these were unsuccessful. The water was pouring 
 so rapidly into the hold that with four pumps con- 
 stantly going the crew could hardly keep it in check. 
 At length one of the midshipmen suggested the de- 
 vice of " fothering," which he had seen practised 
 in the West Indies. This consists in passing a sail 
 attached to cords, and charged with oakum, wool and 
 other things, under the vessel's keel, in such a 
 manner that the canvas may be drawn by suction 
 into the aperture and so partially prevent the inrush 
 of water. This was performed with great success, 
 and the vessel was floated off with the evening tide. 
 The land was soon after made, near the mouth of a 
 small stream, which Cook called the Endeavour 
 River. A headland close by he named Cape Tribula- 
 tion. The ship was steered into the river, and there 
 careened and thoroughly repaired. Cook, having 
 completed the survey of the east coast, to which he 
 gave the name of New South Wales, sighted and 
 named Cape York, tie northernmost point of Aus- 
 tralia, and took final possession of his discoveries 
 from latitude 38 south northward to latitude 10^ 
 south, on a spot which he named Possession Island, 
 thence returning to England by way of Torres 
 Straits and the Indian Ocean. 
 
 The favourable reports brought to England by the 
 Endeavour on her return and the graphic account of 
 his voyage published by Cook, turned all eyes to 
 Australia, or New Holland, aa it continued to be 
 called.
 
 DISCOVERY OF AUSTRALIA. 9 
 
 Since the battle of Worcester in 1651 until the dec- 
 laration of independence in IT 7 6, the North Amer- 
 ican plantation had been used as a receptacle both 
 for political prisoners and for offenders against the 
 laws of England. Judge Jeffries drove a brisk trade 
 in slaves convicted for a consideration, and the Vir- 
 ginia cotton-fields were worked by real and alleged 
 felons sold at so much a head by speculative shippers 
 to the colonial planters. Even after the revolt of the 
 Thirteen States convicts were transported to Amer- 
 ica, and transportation warrants still exist, among 
 the records of the Home Office, dated 1783 and 1784, 
 and addressed to the superintendent of the hulks in 
 the River Thames, requiring him to deliver certain 
 convicts under his charge, to the contractor for con- 
 veyance to North America. When, however, the in- 
 dependence of the Union was, by the provisions of 
 the Peace of Versailles, recognised by England, 
 the overcrowded conditions of the gaols compelled 
 the authorities to deport elsewhere the criminals who 
 were fast becoming a danger and an embarrassment. 
 The coasts of Africa were first tried and many con- 
 victs were sent thither. The unhealthiness of the 
 climate was, however, so great and the mortality so 
 appalling that transportation to that country was 
 completely given up in the year 1785, and a new 
 depot was looked for. Sir Joseph Banks and others 
 holding influential positions, being deeply interested 
 in the British occupation and settlement of the 
 newly discovered lands in the South Seas, were at 
 this time continually bringing before the public and 
 the authorities the desirability of establishing a col- 
 ony at Botany Bay, the fertile and beautiful terri- 
 tory discovered in 1770 by Captain Cook. The 
 revolt of the American colonies and the impossibility
 
 10 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of sending thither any more convicts from Great 
 Britain and Ireland, the failure of the African 
 coasts as a receiving depot for transported felons, 
 together with the overcrowded condition of the Eng- 
 lish gaols, forced the attention of the Government 
 in the direction of the eastern shores of New Hol- 
 land, which Banks, Matra, and Young advocated as 
 a suitable field for British colonisation. Hence the 
 first proposal of a definite character for the coloni- 
 sation of Australia arose from the necessity of util- 
 ising the continent in a manner similar to that in 
 which the North American plantations had been 
 utilised previous to the recognition by the English 
 Government of their independence. 
 
 The difficulty in disposing of their criminal pop- 
 ulation was, however, only one of the causes which 
 determined the British Government to found the 
 colony of New South Wales; for it is now abun- 
 dantly clear that all concerned felt that they were 
 engaged in founding a new home in the Southern 
 Hemisphere for the British people, and that visions 
 of even greater progress than has yet been attained 
 filled the minds, not only of Viscount Sydney and 
 Governor Phillip, but also of many reflecting persons 
 in the colony itself after it had been established.
 
 PART TWO. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 IT was in the early part of 1787 that Viscount 
 Sydney, Secretary of State for the Colonies, deter- 
 mined to plant a colony in New South Wales, and by 
 May of that year the first fleet had been assem- 
 bled. It consisted of the 20-gun frigate Sirius, the 
 armed tender Supply, three store ships the Golden 
 Grove, Fishbum and Borradale; and six transports 
 the Alexander,, Scarborough, Lady Penrhyn, 
 Prince of Wales, Friendship, and Charlotte. The 
 largest of these vessels measured only 450 tons, and 
 the smallest no more than 270 tons. On board the 
 six transports were packed, according to the state- 
 ment made by Collins in his history, no fewer than 
 564 men and 192 women, all prisoners who had been 
 sentenced to expatriation. There were also 168 ma- 
 rines and 10 officers, commissioned and non-commis- 
 sioned. These, with 5 medical men, a few me- 
 chanics, and 40 women wives of marines together 
 with 13 children the offspring of the convicts 
 made up the total number of persons despatched to 
 found the colony. Captain Arthur Phillip, R.N., 
 was placed in command of the expedition, and given
 
 12 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 a commission as Governor and Captain-General of 
 New South Wales. Second in command was Cap- 
 tain John Hunter, of the Sinus, and Mr. David 
 Collins accompanied the expedition as Judge-Advo- 
 cate. 
 
 The fleet sailed in May, 1787, and after calling at 
 Rio Janeiro, arrived in Botany Bay in the beginning 
 of January, 1788. A cursory examination con- 
 vinced Captain Phillip that a more unsuitable site 
 for a new settlement could hardly have been chosen 
 than the shores of this inlet. Despite the profusion 
 of new plants which had so delighted Banks and 
 Solan der, the neighbourhood of Botany Bay was by 
 no means fertile. The scarcity of good water was a 
 further disadvantage, while the bay itself was so 
 shallow as to forbid the near approach of ships to 
 the shore. It was, besides, exposed to the full swell 
 of the Pacific, and was without bays, creeks, or coves 
 to afford shelter. The Governor accordingly deter- 
 mined to explore the coast in search of a more suita- 
 ble site for the settlement. After proceeding with 
 three of the boats about nine miles, he found himself 
 abreast of the entrance to Port Jackson, which Cook 
 had only seen from a distance, and had marked on 
 his chart as a harbour for boats. Undeterred by this, 
 Phillip rounded the South Head, and soon saw 
 opening before him the whole expanse of one of the 
 finest harbours in the world. For miles to the west 
 stretched the peaceful waters of Port Jackson, which 
 must have delighted the explorers, disheartened as 
 they had been by the appearance and surroundings 
 of Botany Bay. In place of the stunted scrub which 
 formed the greater part of the vegetation of that 
 locality, Port Jackson was found to be surrounded 
 by a thick forest of noble trees, which extended to
 
 FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 13 
 
 the water's edge, and promised an abundant supply 
 of timber for building purposes. And in place of 
 the open roadstead at Botany, a succession of bays 
 and inlets opened on the astonished gaze of the 
 hardy navigators as they proceeded up the harbour. 
 Deep water was found to extend to the very base 
 of the rocks, thus obviating any necessity for expen- 
 sive wharves, the construction of which must have 
 occupied the little community for many months to 
 the neglect of more immediately pressing wants. 
 The Government's choice of the site of the present me- 
 tropolis of Australasia was determined by the fact 
 that, about six miles from the entrance, an appar- 
 ently perennial stream of the purest water was 
 found discharging itself into a beautiful sandy inlet, 
 which was named Sydney Cove, in honour of the 
 statesman under whose auspices the enterprise had 
 been undertaken. Before finally deciding on this 
 site, Captain Phillip spent three days in exploring 
 the various bays, but was confirmed in his original 
 choice by the fact that no such stream of water had 
 been found elsewhere, though numerous positions 
 equally suitable in other respects presented them- 
 selves. 
 
 Returning immediately to Botany, preparations 
 were made for bringing the colony round to Sydney 
 Cove. As the fleet was standing out of the bay, an 
 interesting incident occurred two strange vessels, 
 evidently making for the entrance, were descried in 
 the offing. Captain Phillip went out in the Supply 
 to meet them, and they proved to be a French ex- 
 ploring party under the command of Jean Frangois 
 Galaup, Comte de la Perouse, their vessels being the 
 frigates Astrolabe and Boussole. After an inter- 
 change of courtesies, the French were left to refresh
 
 14 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and refit in Botany Bay. They stayed there till 
 March, 1788, and buried one of their company on 
 shore Father Le Peceveur, of the Order of St. 
 Francis, the naturalist of the expedition, who died 
 of wounds received in an encounter with the natives 
 of the South Seas. His tomb is still extant at La 
 Perouse, near the north head of Botany Bay, where 
 also a monument was placed, in the year 1825, to the 
 memory of the commander of the expedition, who 
 was shipwrecked and whose crew were murdered at 
 Vanikoro, one of the Santa Cruz islands. The mon- 
 ument was erected by Messrs. De Bougainville and 
 Ducampier, commanding the French war vessels 
 Thetis and Esperance, then lying in Port Jackson. 
 
 On Captain Phillip's arrival in Sydney Harbour 
 on the memorable 26th January, 1788, the ships an- 
 chored in the Cove, and preparations were at once 
 made for landing the colonists. The clearing of the 
 ground in the vicinity, and along the banks of the 
 little stream, was commenced, and when a sufficient 
 space had thus been obtained a flagstaff was erected, 
 and the Union Jack run up. After the firing of 
 three volleys by the marines, the Governor read his 
 commission, and addressed words of counsel, warn- 
 ing, and encouragement to the prisoners, the cere- 
 mony closing with general festivity. Arduous la- 
 bour succeeded this formality, for it was well under- 
 stood that unless the settlers could raise supplies for 
 themselves, the existence of the colony would be pre- 
 carious, as the store of provisions in their possession 
 was calculated to last only a very short time. 
 
 Accordingly, ground was cleared at the head of 
 Farm Cove, adjoining the settlement, and an at- 
 tempt was made to raise wheat, but time has shown 
 that the soil in the immediate neighbourhood of Syd-
 
 FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 15 
 
 nej is not suited to the cultivation of this cereal, 
 and even if a good crop had been obtained, the colo- 
 nists must have starved while it was maturing. ~No 
 food worth mentioning was procured from the land, 
 and the little community was on the brink of star- 
 vation, when a ship arrived with another batch of 
 colonists, but without stores. This brought matters 
 to a climax, whereupon Governor Phillip sent the 
 Sinus to Cape Colony, and the Supply to Batavia, 
 to procure provisions, which, however, could only be 
 obtained in insufficient quantity, so that in a few 
 weeks after the return of these vessels the state of 
 affairs became as bad as before, and starvation again 
 stared the colony in the face. Under these circum- 
 stances, every one, including the Governor himself, 
 was placed on short allowance, and even the sheep 
 and cattle which had been reserved for breeding pur- 
 poses were killed for food. In this state of affairs 
 the Governor bethought himself of Norfolk Island, 
 whither, shortly after his arrival, he had sent Lieu- 
 tenant Philip Gidley King, of the Sirius, to estab- 
 lish a branch colony. A detachment of 200 convicts, 
 with a guard of 70 marines was, therefore, de- 
 spatched to the island. On arrival, it was found that 
 King and his men had cleared a considerable 
 area of land, and, had succeeded in raising an 
 abundant crop. But the Sirius, in which the new de- 
 tachment sailed, was wrecked on a reef off the island, 
 so that no supplies were procured thence at that time. 
 When the prospects of the settlement at Sydney 
 Cove had reached their gloomiest, three store-ships 
 arrived, and snatched the colony from the very brink 
 of destruction by famine. This tided over the diffi- 
 culty, and so great a privation of food was never 
 again experienced. Fresh difficulties, however, beset
 
 16 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the settlers through the arrival of some shiploads of 
 prisoners, most of whom were in a sick and dying 
 condition. Of 1,700 men and women who had been 
 embarked, 200 died on the voyage, and several hun- 
 dred more were found to be in extremis on arrival. 
 In the midst of these horrors, the Governor's respon- 
 sibilities were further increased by the attempts of 
 some of the prisoners to escape from the colony. 
 Some took to the bush ; others stole boats and put to 
 sea, intending to reach the Dutch settlements in the 
 Indian Ocean. Daring as these latter attempts may 
 appear, one at least was successful: two men and a 
 woman, in an open boat, succeeded in reaching 
 Timor, where they were imprisoned and sent back to 
 Sydney on the first opportunity. Numerous efforts 
 were made to escape from the settlement by land, 
 the ignorance of the convicts being such that many 
 imagined they could walk overland to China, and 
 not a few perished in the bush while making the at- 
 tempt. 
 
 Governor Phillip's health gave way under the 
 cares and anxieties of his office, and in 1792 he re- 
 turned to England, where he received a pension in 
 reward for his exertions in founding the colony, and 
 where he died at an advanced age. A statue of Phil- 
 lip, erected at the public expense in the Botanic 
 Garden of Sydney, commemorates the hundredth 
 anniversary of the foundation of the settlement at 
 Port Jackson. 
 
 Captain Phillip was in many ways an ideal gov- 
 ernor of a penal colony, and he and his immediate 
 successors performed duties of a very opposite char- 
 acter. It must be remembered, in studying the his- 
 tory of the early settlement of Australasia, that the 
 relations of the Governor with those under his
 
 FOUNDATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES. 17 
 
 charge were immediate and very personal. He was 
 not only the commandant of a penal settlement, he 
 was the patriarch and bread-provider of a strug- 
 gling colony. No intermediaries stood between him 
 and the humblest complainant. Even in the twen- 
 ties he was more accessible than a modern police 
 magistrate. The early Governor, therefore, was 
 more than the head gaoler of a penal settlement. 
 He was dictator, chief justice, court of appeal, par- 
 liament, storekeeper and census taker. He jour- 
 neyed from district to district in his little realm on 
 certain appointed days, numbered his people, ques- 
 tioned and exhorted them, and carried back with him 
 to headquarters the list of their grievances. The his- 
 tory of Australasia in its early days is the history of 
 its governors, and, as will be seen, the prosperity or 
 otherwise of the country depended very much on the 
 character of the person who ruled it.
 
 18 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES AS A PENAL COLONY. 
 
 AFTER the departure of Captain Phillip, Major 
 Grose and Captain Paterson, officers in charge of 
 the military, administered the government until the 
 arrival of his successor. In 1795, Captain Hunter, 
 who, after the loss of the Sirius, had gone to Eng- 
 land, arrived as the second Governor. With the ar- 
 rival of Hunter affairs took a new turn. He brought 
 out a number of free settlers, mostly farming men: 
 and some fine alluvial land having been discovered 
 on the banks of the Hawkesbury, farming was suc- 
 cessfully begun, and in a short time more than 6,000 
 acres were under crops of wheat and maize. The 
 attempts to introduce cattle were for a time unsuc- 
 cessful, but in 1796 a herd of sixty head was dis- 
 covered at the " Cowpastures " near Camden. 
 These were descendants of some cattle that had 
 strayed from the settlement several years before. 
 Though their quality was found to have deteriorated, 
 they proved a very welcome addition to the live 
 stock of the settlement. In 1800, when Captain 
 Hunter left the colony, the population was over 
 6,000 ; attempts had been made to penetrate into the 
 interior but without success ; the Hunter River and 
 its coal mines had been discovered, and the mines 
 were being worked by a detachment of prisoners ; the 
 city of Newcastle had been founded; and the New 
 South Wales Corps, a military body enlisted for
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 19 
 
 service in the colony (the first detachments of which 
 had arrived in 1790), formed an efficient garrison 
 and guard over the more refractory prisoners. Dur- 
 ing Governor Hunter's term of office, Bass and Flin- 
 ders minutely examined the coast to the south of 
 Sydney, in a small hoat only 9 feet over all; and 
 the former discovered the strait which bears his 
 name, thus proving Tasmania to be an island, and 
 not the southern extremity of the continent, as had 
 previously been supposed. 
 
 The next governor was Philip Gidley King, pre- 
 viously mentioned as the lieutenant of the Sirius, 
 who had been despatched by Phillip to found a set- 
 tlement on Norfolk Island. Though all fears of 
 famine had now disappeared, Governor King soon 
 found himself involved in difficulties of a scarcely 
 less distressing nature. To explain these it will be 
 necessary to describe the constitution of the New 
 South Wales Corps. This body had been specially 
 raised for service in the colony, the officers of the 
 King's regiment not unnaturally objecting to be sent 
 to such a far distant settlement, where they knew 
 that they would find no intellectual occupation, and 
 where their sole work would consist in acting as a 
 prison guard, or, at most, in making a few raids, in 
 reprisals for the alleged misdeeds of the ill-used, 
 and often sorely provoked, aborigines. As a military 
 guard of some sort was necessary, this corps was 
 raised, and a few enterprising spirits many of 
 whom had never served before were induced to 
 accept commissions, with the view of obtaining 
 grants of land and making their fortunes in the col- 
 ony. Unfortunately, the readiest means to this end 
 were f oun'd in the import trade, and, as rum was in 
 great request, the officers of the New South Wales
 
 20 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Corps became importers of that spirit in large quan- 
 tities and even set up private stills in defiance of a 
 Government order. Governor King, who was spe- 
 cially commissioned to put a stop to the traffic, pro- 
 ceeded to act with great promptitude, and his vigor- 
 ous proceedings in sending away thousands of gal- 
 lons of spirits and wine created a storm of indigna- 
 tion among the importers, and greatly embittered the 
 officers of the New South Wales Corps against the 
 Government. 
 
 During King's time a serious mutiny broke out 
 among the prisoners. The more tractable of these 
 were " assigned " as servants to the settlers, and 
 engaged in working the farms and squattages; but 
 the more reckless characters, made desperate in 
 many instances by the treatment they received, were 
 worked on the roads, in chain-gangs. A party of 
 over 300 of these chain-gang men was employed at 
 Castlehill, on the road between Parramatta and 
 Windsor. These- men, taking advantage of the small 
 number of their guard, abandoned their work, man- 
 aged to remove their irons, seized some firearms, and 
 marched towards the Hawkesbury, expecting to be 
 reinforced by the men employed in the neighbour- 
 hood. But Major Johnston, second in command of 
 the New South Wales Corps, pursued them with 
 only twenty men, and on coming up with them, 
 charged with such impetuosity that the mutineers 
 were fain to lay down their arms and beg for mercy. 
 Three or four of the ringleaders were afterwards 
 hanged, but the rest were permitted to return to 
 their duty on undertaking to be of good conduct 
 for the future. 
 
 An event of the utmost importance to the colony 
 also took place under the administration of Gov-
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 21 
 
 ernor King. This was the initiation of wool-grow- 
 ing. John Macarthur, who had held a commission 
 as captain in the New South Wales Corps, procured, 
 with great trouble and by much perseverance, some 
 Spanish merinos, and having obtained a grant of 
 10,000 acres of land across the Cowpasture River, 
 which estate he named " Camden," commenced 
 sheep farming on a large scale. In a short time his 
 enterprise showed every sign of a successful issue, to 
 the great benefit of the colony generally, and to his 
 own personal advantage. In spite of these evident 
 signs of material progress, however, Governor King 
 was so worn out with the conflicts caused by his en- 
 deavours to suppress the rum traffic, and was in such 
 constant collision with the officers of the New South 
 Wales Corps on that account, that he seized the first 
 opportunity of leaving the colony, and was suc- 
 ceeded in the government in 1806 by William Bligh, 
 a post-captain in the navy. 
 
 Governor Bligh was a distinguished naval officer. 
 His wonderful voyage after the mutiny of the 
 Bounty had caused the Imperial Government to en- 
 tertain a high opinion of his conduct, as well as of 
 his courage and determination. His services were 
 numerous, and he had been publicly thanked by 
 Lord Nelson, after the bombardment of Copenhagen, 
 for the gallantry and skill which he displayed on 
 that occasion. Hence he was selected as a fit man 
 to crush the clique of officers engaged in the rum 
 traffic, and to purify official life in the colony. King 
 had been only partially successful in this direction, 
 and the British Government gave the strictest in- 
 junctions to Captain Bligh to stop the trade in 
 spirits. Accordingly, in February, 1807, he issued 
 the following general order : " His Excellency, the
 
 22 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Governor, laments to find by his late visit through 
 the colony that the most calamitous evils have been 
 produced by persons bartering, or paying, spirits for 
 grain of all kinds, and the necessaries of life in gen- 
 eral, and to labourers for their hire; such proceed- 
 ings depressing the industrious and depriving the 
 settlers of their comforts. In order, therefore, to 
 remedy these grievous complaints and to relieve the 
 inhabitants, who have suffered by the traffic, he feels 
 it his duty to put a total stop to this barter in future, 
 and to prohibit the exchange of spirits or other li- 
 quors as payment for grain, animal food, wearing 
 apparel, or any other commodity whatsoever, to all 
 descriptions of persons in the colony and its depend- 
 encies." 
 
 This order is in itself sufficient to indicate to what 
 fearful lengths the " rum currency " had been car- 
 ried. Naturally it would have been expected that 
 all respectable people, the military and ex-military 
 especially, would have joined the Governor heart and 
 soul in his efforts to put a stop to the traffic, and 
 induce a more healthy state of things. Such, how- 
 ever, was not the case; and in the struggle which 
 continued throughout the whole period of Bligh's 
 rule, the Governor encountered the fiercest opposi- 
 tion from the "New South Wales Corps. Other mat- 
 ters embittered the relation between the Governor 
 and the colonists, and in these Bligh was not so 
 obviously in the right as in his attempt to put down 
 the contraband traffic in spirits. The contest 
 reached its climax on the arrest of John Macarthur, 
 whose efforts to promote the growth of wool have 
 been alluded to. That gentleman had become spe- 
 cially obnoxious to the Governor ; and, as he was also 
 the chief trader in the community, he was selected
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 23 
 
 as a scapegoat for the sins of the rest. Mr. Macar- 
 thur had been part owner of a vessel that traded to 
 Tahiti for salt pork and other articles for the supply 
 of the colony. While this vessel was lying in Port 
 Jackson, he received a summons from Mr. Atkins, 
 the Judge-Advocate that is, Chief Justice to ap- 
 pear before him to answer to a complaint on the 
 part of the crew of his vessel, of withholding from 
 them their wages, in consequence of which they al- 
 leged that they had been compelled to break through 
 the port regulations by coming ashore without a 
 special order. Macarthur returned an answer in 
 writing, explanatory of his conduct in the matter, 
 but did not obey the summons by appearing in 
 person. This was construed to be an act of contu- 
 macy, which some attributed to a feeling of personal 
 resentment towards the Governor, engendered by the 
 action of the latter against the " rum currency." 
 A warrant was accordingly issued for Macarthur's 
 apprehension, and on the 25th January, 1808, he 
 was brought before the Judge-Advocate and a mili- 
 tary jury of six, consisting of officers of the New 
 South Wales Corps such being at the time the 
 composition of the Supreme Court of the colony. 
 Mr. Macarthur objected to the Judge- Advocate sit- 
 ting on his trial, on the ground that the latter bore 
 him personal ill-feeling, for which assertion it would 
 appear that there was some foundation, especially 
 as Atkins' adviser throughout the whole proceed- 
 ings was one George Crossley, a transported attor- 
 ney, who is believed to have been an enemy of Mac- 
 arthur. Although the defendant's objection was sus- 
 tained by the six military officers, the Judge-Advo- 
 cate refused to abdicate his position, and the Gov- 
 ernor declined to supersede him for which indeed
 
 24 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 he had no authority, Atkins having been appointed 
 by the British Government. 
 
 At this juncture, the Governor summoned the six 
 officers to his presence to explain their conduct in 
 supporting Macarthur's protest and refusing to sit 
 with the Judge-Advocate, but they declined to obey. 
 During the next day several messages were sent to 
 Major Johnston, the commandant, at his residence 
 at Annandale, asking him to confer with the Gov- 
 ernor as to the conduct of his subordinates. That 
 officer, however, declined to come to town on the 
 plea of ill-health. This was an evident subterfuge, 
 for between 6 and 7 P.M. on the same day (the 
 anniversary of the foundation of the colony) he sud- 
 denly made his appearance in the Barrack Square, 
 where, if we may believe his statements, he found 
 everything in a state of ferment and confusion, and 
 himself beset with the clamours of a number of the 
 leading inhabitants, civil as well as military, calling 
 upon him to put the Governor under arrest. He ac- 
 cordingly marched at the head of his regiment, with 
 drums beating and colours flying, to Government 
 House, and Bligh was put in close confinement in his 
 own residence. Johnston thereupon took over the 
 government, his first act being to suspend the Judge- 
 Advocate, the Commissary, the Provost-Marshal, 
 the Chaplain, and other principal officials, and to 
 appoint others to act in their place. 
 
 Major Johnston continued to administer the gov- 
 ernment till his lieutenant-colonel (Foveaux) super- 
 seded him, as the senior officer in the colony, and 
 eventually Colonel Paterson came from Tasmania 
 and assumed the direction of affairs. Both these 
 officers approved Johnston's proceedings, but the 
 latter set Bligh at liberty, after a detention of twelve
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 25 
 
 months, on condition of his proceeding straight to 
 England in a vessel which was then ready to sail. 
 Bligh promised to do so, but on his way called at 
 Tasmania, where the military authorities attempted 
 to detain him ; he was, however, successful in escap- 
 ing their hands. 
 
 News of the events had meanwhile reached Eng- 
 land, and the Government, being very much con- 
 cerned at the proceedings of the military, despatched 
 Major-General Macquarie to the colony as Gov- 
 ernor. His instructions were to reinstate Governor 
 Bligh for twenty-four hours and to send Johnston 
 home under close arrest. Bligh could not be rein- 
 stated, as he had left Sydney; so Macquarie's first 
 act was to arrest Major Johnston, who was subse- 
 quently tried by court-martial in England and sen- 
 tence^ to be cashiered. The leniency of the sen- 
 tence was such as to call forth special remark by the 
 Prince Regent, in a minute appended to the proceed- 
 ings, distinctly stating that it was not to be drawn 
 into a precedent. Johnston afterward returned to 
 the colony, and died at his estate at Annandale. 
 
 With the arrival of Governor Macquarie, the col- 
 ony entered on a stage of decided progress. The 
 final abolition of the traffic in rum was followed by 
 a marked improvement in the morals of the popula- 
 tion. Schools were established, and the children, 
 who had hitherto grown up in perfect ignorance, 
 were taught to read and write, and instructed in 
 useful handicrafts. An impetus was given to explo- 
 ration, and the dwellings of the settlers in the 
 bush were much improved by the efforts of the Gov- 
 ernor during the annual tours which he made 
 through the colony. Churches and public buildings 
 were erected, asylums founded, and a better tone
 
 26 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 was given to society generally by the exertions of 
 this philanthropic governor, ably seconded by the 
 endeavours of his high-minded wife, who did much to 
 improve the condition of women and children in the 
 colony. Among the many beneficial works under- 
 taken by Macquarie by far the most important was 
 the road over the mountains, via Lapstone Hill and 
 Mount Victoria, to Bathurst. After many attempts 
 to penetrate the Coast Range, it had been at last suc- 
 cessfully crossed, in 1813, by Blaxland, Wentworth 
 and Lawson, names memorable in the annals of the 
 colony. 
 
 Almost as beneficial as his efforts to instruct the 
 population in religion and morality, and to open 
 up the country, was the favour with which Macqua- 
 rie treated the " emancipists," that is, those _ con- 
 victs who had become free by serving out their sen- 
 tences. When it is remembered that the majority 
 of those transported had been guilty of petty offences 
 only, or of acts which in the present day would 
 scarcely be deemed offences at all, the Governor's 
 determination to give every encouragement in the 
 way of official recognition to emancipists must be 
 strongly commended. To transport a person for a 
 petty offence, to ostracise him for the rest of his 
 life, and to extend the social ignominy to his chil- 
 dren, was in the highest degree unjust; and Gov- 
 ernor Macquarie, as a humane man, set his face 
 against the custom. In religious matters also he 
 showed a largeness of mind in advance of public 
 opinion, by removing, as far as lay in his power, the 
 religious disability under which a large section of 
 the colonists laboured. In 1821, after a longer term 
 of office than has been allotted to any other Austra- 
 lian governor, " L. Macquarie, Esq.," as he modestly
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 27 
 
 styles himself in the inscriptions on the public 
 buildings he erected discarding the prestige attach- 
 ing to his military rank left the colony, to the 
 regret of the entire population, and was succeeded 
 by Sir Thomas Brisbane. 
 
 The new Governor trod in the steps of his predeces- 
 sor. He carried on the work of exploration, and in 
 1823 despatched Mr. Oxley, surveyor-general, to 
 survey Moreton Bay, Port Curtis, and other parts of 
 the north-eastern coast-line. Following up the infor- 
 mation furnished by a castaway named Pamphlett, 
 Oxley discovered a river debouching into Moreton 
 Bay, which he named after the Governor. Upon the 
 banks of this river was afterwards founded the town 
 of Brisbane, which has become the capital of the 
 colony of Queensland. The Murray and Murrum- 
 bidgee Rivers were discovered soon afterwards by 
 Hovell and Hume, who had formed an exploring 
 party under the auspices of the Governor. The im- 
 migration of free settlers was much encouraged by 
 Sir Thomas Brisbane, the result being the arrival 
 of numbers of young men, many possessing capital, 
 who became squatters, and soon wrought an impor- 
 tant change in the colony, by causing the costly gov- 
 ernment farms to be broken up. As a consequence, 
 the wants of the community were better as well 
 as more cheaply supplied by private enterprise. 
 Censorship of the press, which had been strictly en- 
 forced up to this time, was abolished by Governor 
 Brisbane by proclamation dated 15th October, 1824. 
 Trial by jury was introduced about the same period, 
 by which the privilege of being tried by his peers 
 was extended to every man, the assessors to the judge 
 before that time having been chosen exclusively from 
 officers in the army. Sir Francis Forbes, the first
 
 28 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 chief justice, was mainly instrumental in introduc- 
 ing this great and salutary change in the adminis- 
 tration of the law. The first normally constituted 
 jury sat at the November quarter sessions of 1824. 
 An act had also been passed by the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment, in 1823, which conferred another most impor- 
 tant privilege on the colony. It was provided that the 
 Governor should nominate a Legislative Council of 
 seven members, by whose advice he was to be guided. 
 Previous to the appointment of his council, the Gov- 
 ernor had been virtually absolute, the only check 
 upon his power being the public opinion of the colo- 
 nists, and the authority of the British Government 
 as represented by the Secretary of State for the Col- 
 onies. This council of seven was really the nucleus 
 around which have gathered our present Constitu- 
 tion and the liberties we now possess. It was the 
 first step in which, says the proverb, all difficulty 
 consists; and yet it was only after much agitation 
 that even this initial effort was allowed to be made. 
 The next Governor was Major-General Ralph Dar- 
 ling, who, finding the colony in the state of progress 
 above described, by a series of blunders nearly suc- 
 ceeded in destroying the beneficial result of the ef- 
 forts of his predecessors. Arriving in Sydney in 
 1825, he soon became involved in very serious dis- 
 putes with the colonists and the press. In order to 
 meet the criticisms of the latter, a number of acts 
 were passed by the council, which had the effect of 
 stifling obnoxious comments for the time. One good 
 result which sprang indirectly from these arbitrary 
 acts was the enlargement, in 1828, of the Legislative 
 Council from seven to fifteen members. The Bush- 
 ranging Act was passed by this council to put down a 
 prevalent nuisance the gangs of escaped prisoners
 
 A PENAL COLONY. 29 
 
 who infested the principal roads and robbed all 
 comers without distinction. 
 
 The work of exploration made some progress in 
 Governor Darling's time, the famous journeys of 
 Captain Charles Sturt having been undertaken with 
 his sanction. Other explorers were Allen Cunning- 
 ham, Hume, and George Macleay, son of Alexander 
 Macleay, the Colonial Secretary of that day. 
 
 It was strongly suspected at this time that the 
 French had an idea of forming settlements in Aus- 
 tralia. French ships constantly appeared off the 
 coast; ostensibly fitted out for the purpose of 
 making geographical discoveries, but really, it was 
 believed, to found a colony in any Australian terri- 
 tory which they might find unoccupied. To frus- 
 trate this suspected design, Darling despatched two 
 expeditions, in 1826, to King George's Sound and 
 to Western Port, in which neighbourhoods it was 
 surmised the French were hovering. To show the 
 extent to which these fears, chimerical as they may 
 now appear, prevailed at the time, it will be suffi- 
 cient to quote the Governor's instruction to the offi- 
 cers in charge of the expeditions. He says: 
 " Should you find the French already in occupation, 
 you will, notwithstanding, land the troops, and sig- 
 nify to the Frenchmen that their continuance with 
 any view of establishing themselves or of colonisation, 
 will be considered an unjustifiable intrusion on his 
 Britannic Majesty's possessions." No Frenchmen, 
 however, were found at either of the places named, 
 and settlements were therefore promptly formed at 
 Western Port and at King George's Sound and on 
 Swan River, in Western Australia. When Governor 
 Darling left the colony in 1831, much progress had 
 been achieved, in spite of the newspaper war and his
 
 30 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 personal unpopularity; the population had reached 
 over 51,000 for the whole of New South Wales, and 
 the value of the total exports was 500,000. 
 
 The unpopularity of Governor Darling gave a fac- 
 titious advantage to his successor, Sir Richard 
 Bourke, even before his sterling qualities had be- 
 come known. Sir Richard Bourke may be said to 
 have been the real founder of our present free insti- 
 tutions, as under his rule the foundations of the con- 
 stitution we now enjoy were well and firmly laid, 
 on the solid basis of full and equal rights to all, 
 whatever their sect or belief and whether emancipist 
 or originally free. Immigrants began to arrive in 
 large numbers, under the policy of assisted immigra- 
 tion, which was then initiated. The first vote in aid 
 of immigration was made by the Legislative Council 
 at Bourke's suggestion, and the British Governor 
 doubled the amount given by the colony. Under 
 that system the first batches of immigrants to arrive 
 were fifty young women from an orphan school in 
 Cork, and fifty-nine mechanics from Scotland, whom 
 the Rev. Dr. Lang introduced for the purpose of 
 building the Australian College. 
 
 But the great achievement of Sir Richard 
 Bourke's administration was the establishment of 
 religious equality, and the breaking up of the mono- 
 poly of government aid enjoyed by one communion. 
 For his services in the cause of liberty, in this and 
 other instances, a movement was set on foot after his 
 departure which took place in 1837, twelve months 
 after the passing of the Church Act to erect a 
 statue to him in Sydney. Mr. Westmacott was com- 
 missioned to design a figure of Sir Richard in 
 bronze, which, together with a granite pedestal, ar- 
 rived in Sydney in 1842. It was erected where it
 
 A PENAL COLONY. SI 
 
 now stands, at the Macquarie Street entrance to 
 the Domain, opposite to the Public Library, and was 
 unveiled on the llth April, 1842. This was the 
 first statue ever set up in Australia. 
 
 It was no more than a fitting tribute to the virtues 
 of the Governor, and serves even now as a reminder 
 of the new order of things which he introduced. 
 
 The famous expeditions of Sir Thomas Mitchell, 
 who had succeeded Oxley as surveyor-general, were 
 undertaken during Bourke's tenure of office. The 
 first was to the north, as far as Liverpool Plains; 
 in the second, the country between the Bogan and 
 the Macquarie was surveyed ; and in the third the 
 course of the Darling was traced, from its source to 
 its junction with the Murray. In the fourth Mitch- 
 ell discovered the rich lands of Victoria, which so 
 enraptured him that he called the country Australia 
 Felix. 
 
 The administration of Sir George Gipps was 
 marked by the abolition of transportation. The sys- 
 tem of assigning convicts as servants to the settlers 
 had ceased in 1838, and transportation itself was 
 abolished by an Order in Council in 1840, though 
 an attempt was made to revive it nine years later. 
 For many years previous to its abolition, the system 
 of transportation was viewed with great disfavour 
 by the colonists, and a powerful league was formed 
 as early as 1830 to bring about its cessation. 
 During the fifty-three years when !N"ew South Wales 
 was open to receive British prisoners, the number 
 of convicts who landed in Sydney was about 82,250, 
 of whom 70,040 were males and 12,210 females. At 
 the census of March, 1841, there were in the colony 
 19,397 persons 15,760 males and 3,637 females 
 originally bound but free by emancipation or the
 
 32 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 expiration of their period of servitude; and 26,977 
 persons 23,844 males and 3,133 females whose pe- 
 riod of servitude had not expired. It would there- 
 fore appear that out of the total number of convicts 
 sent to the colony, 46,374 remained at the abolition 
 of the system of transportation, while 35,876 had 
 either been removed by death or had left the settle- 
 ment. 
 
 The great event of Governor Gipps' time was 
 undoubtedly the introduction of a new constitution, 
 by the establishment of a reformed Legislative Coun- 
 cil composed of thirty-six members, twelve nomi- 
 nated by the Crown, and the remainder elected by 
 those who were placed on the electoral roll, a small 
 property qualification being required. The new 
 Council met on the first of August, 1843.
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 33 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 INDUSTRIAL CEISIS OF 1843 AND THE DISCOVEET 
 OF GOLD. 
 
 SOON after the introduction of the new Constitu- 
 tion a great commercial crisis followed, so that the 
 subject of paramount importance which engaged the 
 attention of the Legislature was the financial condi- 
 tion of the colony. The cessation of transportation 
 had, of course, caused the withdrawal of large sums 
 of British money, which used to be spent on public 
 works and in maintaining the prison establishments, 
 and the military necessary to guard them; and the 
 distress thus caused was added to by an unwise in- 
 terference on the part of the Imperial Government 
 with the land laws. The price of sheep fell in the 
 most alarming manner, Is. per head being a common 
 price. Mr. O'Brien, who occupied a run in the 
 Yass district, at length hit upon the happy idea of 
 boiling down sheep for tallow, for which at the 
 time there was a good market in Europe; and the 
 price of sheep was thus raised to 3s. or 4s. per head, 
 five shillings or six shillings' worth of tallow being 
 obtainable by the process of boiling down. The meat- 
 canning industry was started at the same time, but 
 was not financially a success, although the preserved 
 meats were of excellent quality. 
 
 The Legislative Council, imagining that the very 
 existence of the colony was threatened by the pre- 
 vailing state of things, sought to " avert ruin "to
 
 34 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 use their own expression by " pledging the public 
 credit," but the Governor refused the royal assent to 
 the bill passed for that purpose. It was then pro- 
 posed to issue Treasury Bills, but the Council would 
 not entertain the idea. The failure of the Bank of 
 'Australia, the liabilities of whose shareholders were 
 unlimited, brought affairs to a crisis, and it was pro- 
 posed to relieve the shareholders of their liability by 
 a bill empowering the bank to dispose of its assets 
 by a public lottery. No attempt was made to defend 
 lotteries in general, but it was contended that if the 
 goods of proprietors of the bank were seized under 
 executions, the bailiff would be seen in possession 
 of one house in ten in Sydney, and that the result 
 would be a panic, which would annihilate the value 
 of property. Under pressure of such an argument 
 as this the Lottery Bill passed, but was disallowed 
 by the British authorities. The necessity of the 
 case was so urgent, however, that the lottery took 
 place, and was successfully completed before the law 
 officers of the Crown could interfere to prevent it. 
 Desperate diseases require desperate remedies, and 
 the lottery was, no doubt, in the main beneficial. 
 
 Sir George Gipps was succeeded as Governor by 
 Sir Charles Augustus Fitzroy, in whose tenure of 
 office occurred several of the most important events 
 in the history of Australia. These, in the order of 
 their happening, were the final abolition of transpor- 
 tation in 1849 ; the separation of Victoria in 1851 ; 
 the discovery of gold in the same year, and the estab- 
 lishment of responsible government in 18556. 
 
 Prisoners had ceased to be sent to New Southi 
 Wales in 1840, but owing to the great depression of 
 trade which prevailed during the rule of Governor 
 Gipps, station properties, in 1849, so depreciated in
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 35 
 
 value as to threaten ruin to their holders. Many of 
 the squatters thought that a revival of the system of 
 assigned servants would be beneficial to their in- 
 terests, and, as it happened, the Imperial Govern- 
 ment wished at that time to possess once more a large 
 penal colony. Two powerful interests, therefore, 
 were allied in an effort to re-establish transportation 
 and the system of assigned servants. To meet this 
 threatening combination, a number of public meet- 
 ings were held in Sydney under the auspices of the 
 Anti-Transportation League, and an overwhelming 
 expression of popular opinion, most vehemently ad- 
 verse to the scheme, was given; nevertheless the 
 British Government, under the advice of Sir Charles 
 Fitzroy, persisted in their endeavours to force pris- 
 oners upon the unwilling inhabitants of the colony. 
 Several ship-loads of convicts were accordingly sent 
 out, and an attempt was made to land them in the 
 first instance at the new settlement of Port Phillip, 
 now the city of Melbourne. The settlers there, how- 
 ever, would not tolerate the proceeding, whereupon 
 the ships were compelled to leave for Sydney and 
 Moreton Bay, now Brisbane. One of the vessels, 
 named the Hashemy, cast anchor in Port Jack- 
 son, and there at once ensued a serious contest 
 between the inhabitants and the Executive. Imme- 
 diately upon the fact becoming publicly known that 
 the Hashemy was off the Heads with convicts on 
 board, the people of the metropolis were lashed into 
 a fever of excitement, and a great public meeting 
 was forthwith convened to consider what steps 
 should be taken in this pressing emergency, as it 
 then was universally considered. The result was 
 that the Government saw fit to forbid the landing of 
 the prisoners at that time, not caring to face the oblo-
 
 36 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 quy and public indignation which the adoption of 
 any other course would certainly have brought upon 
 them. As, however, the Hashemy could not be 
 sent back, and as her prisoners could not perma- 
 nently remain on board, a compromise was entered 
 into. The prisoners were removed from the ship, 
 and a large batch sent to Moreton Bay, in order that 
 the settlers in that district might have an opportu- 
 nity of hiring them. The remainder were allowed to 
 be hired to various persons in the colony, though it 
 was stipulated that the men should not be landed in 
 Sydney, nor employed in the county of Cumberland. 
 The Legislative Council afterwards proceeded to 
 take action in the matter, and a resolution was pro- 
 posed to the effect " that an address be presented to 
 Her Majesty, praying that the Order in Council 
 which declared New South Wales a colony to which 
 convicts might be sent be at once revoked." The 
 adjournment of the Council was, however, agreed to 
 before the motion could be put. In consequence of 
 this partial shelving of the question an overwhelm- 
 ing public meeting was held, which petitioned the 
 Council to use its utmost endeavours to prevent the 
 revival of transportation in any form. The petition 
 in a short time was signed by over 35,000 persons 
 (more than two-thirds of the population of the me- 
 tropolis). There was no resisting this manifestation 
 of public opinion, and the pro-transportation mem- 
 bers temporarily withdrew from the Council, where- 
 upon the motion just mentioned was carried unani- 
 mously, and the address to the Queen was accord- 
 ingly transmitted. The Order in Council was re- 
 voked, and transportation to New South Wales was 
 thus, after many years of fretful agitation, abso- 
 lutely and finally abolished. The discovery of gold
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 37 
 
 which shortly followed gave a new impetus to Aus- 
 tralian society, and by developing the industry and 
 wealth of the country rendered a return to the 
 " prison time " for ever impossible. 
 
 The first agitation for the formation of the Port 
 Phillip district into a separate colony took place 
 towards the close of Governor Gipps' administration, 
 and the claim of the trans-Murray residents to gov- 
 ern themselves was ably advocated by Dr. Lang, one 
 of the six members returned by the district since 
 known as the Colony of Victoria. The entire popu- 
 lation of what is now known as New South Wales, 
 Victoria, and Queensland did not, at that period, 
 exceed 150,000, of which the Port Phillip district 
 contributed only 30,000. Their distance from the 
 seat of government, nevertheless, justified the de- 
 mand of the Victorians for separation, which was 
 conceded in 1851, to their great permanent benefit. 
 A few years subsequently, on the 1st December, 
 1859, ISTew South Wales was again dismembered, 
 losing its northern province, which was constituted 
 a separate colony, under the name of Queensland. 
 
 The discovery of gold in 1851 was by far the 
 most important event which had yet occurred in the 
 annals of the country. For many years previous to 
 1851 it was known that small quantities of gold had 
 been found in the Bathurst district, and a colonist 
 offered, during the administration of Sir George 
 Gipps, to conduct the Government surveyors to a 
 spot where he said gold existed in payable quan- 
 tities. The project was, however, discouraged. The 
 colony was at that time enjoying a period of great 
 prosperity, the depression of previous years having 
 been successfully tided over; and it was probably 
 thought unadvisable by the authorities to disturb 
 
 E 
 
 116014
 
 38 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the settled industries of the colony, by the incite- 
 ment to speculation which the gold fever would 
 generate. 
 
 A few years passed away, and the recollection 
 of the supposed gold discoveries was still fresh in 
 men's minds. The prosperous days with which 
 Governor Gipps' administration closed gave place 
 to less fortunate times. Wages were low and work 
 scarce, when suddenly the tale of the gold discovery 
 was on every tongue. In the early part of 1851 
 nuggets began to arrive in Sydney. They had been 
 found in the vicinity of Bathurst, and their inspec- 
 tion by the public raised a wave of excitement, which 
 affected all classes. It is not surprising that the 
 prospect of amassing a fortune in a few months 
 which seemed indisputable from the presence of so 
 many specimens of gold should have induced hun- 
 dreds of people of all ranks to abandon their employ- 
 ments, and set out for Bathurst. Nor could news of 
 such a nature be confined within the colony, and be- 
 fore many months had elapsed, the presence of gold 
 in Australia was known all over the world. Then 
 followed a mighty rush, from every quarter of the 
 globe, of the most enterprising spirits, and those 
 physically the most capable of enduring the un- 
 known hardships before them, a circumstance on 
 which Australians in the future will have occasion 
 to congratulate themselves, for the splendid physique 
 of the early colonists, already manifested in their 
 sons and daughters, must undoubtedly become the 
 inheritance of succeeding generations. 
 
 The effect produced on society by this most for- 
 tunate discovery was unpleasant enough at first. 
 Stations throughout the colony were left without 
 hands, and all ordinary occupations were threatened
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 39 
 
 with extinction, in consequence of the general exodus 
 to the gold-fields. The squatters even petitioned the 
 Government asking that martial law might be pro- 
 claimed, and all gold-digging peremptorily prohib- 
 ited, in order that the regular industrial pursuits of 
 the country should not be interfered with. The 
 Governor, however, refused to accede to this mani- 
 festly absurd request. So great a change in the 
 circumstances of the country as ; that wrought in so 
 short a time by the gold discovery could not fail to 
 affect many persons prejudicially. But after a few 
 years affairs resumed their normal course, and gold- 
 mining found its level as one of the ordinary indus- 
 tries of the country. The great and permanent 
 benefit which resulted from the influx of an enter- 
 prising population, the increase of wealth, and the 
 consequent development of many other industries, 
 cannot be overrated. Nothing, since the introduc- 
 tion of wool-growing, has tended to develop its re- 
 sources and to make so widely known the great ad- 
 vantages which Australia offers to the overcrowded 
 populations of the Old World, as the discovery of 
 gold in 1851. Since that era the country's progress 
 has been by leaps and bounds, and Australia, which 
 was before regarded as merely a far-off dependency 
 of Great Britain, now takes a place amongst the 
 nations of the world, and is in a fair way of realis- 
 ing the prophetic visions of future greatness which 
 inspired its founders. 
 
 For several years before the discovery of gold 
 there had been growing up among the colonists a 
 strong desire for a large measure of self-govern- 
 ment. The position of the colony as a Crown de- 
 pendency was a galling one, especially when the 
 population became so largely increased through the
 
 40 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 outbreak of the gold-diggings. It was felt that the 
 old system, which might have sufficed for the govern- 
 ment of the people when their numbers were few, 
 was quite unsuitable for so large a community as 
 New South Wales had now become. Hence the 
 agitation that had already been commenced in fa- 
 vour of a free constitution was continued with ever- 
 increasing force. 
 
 In 1851 an act was passed by the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment (13 and 14 Vic., ~No. 39) in accordance with 
 which the dependency of Victoria was erected into 
 a separate colony, and provision was made to con- 
 fer a constitution on New South Wales. The colony 
 had, however, reached a stage when it was felt that 
 its social conditions and increased responsibilities 
 demanded a larger measure of political freedom 
 than the Imperial Government at that time were 
 willing to concede. The constitutions which had 
 been framed for the colonies by the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment were not, however, expected to be lasting; it 
 was intended to extend the principle of representa- 
 tion slowly and gradually, instead of granting it in 
 full measure at a period when the country was not 
 ripe for it. There can be no doubt that the Colonial 
 Office was wiser than the colonists in this matter, 
 and, in arranging that each local legislature should 
 draw up the constitution for its own colony, it was 
 ensuring, if not the best possible constitution, at 
 least that which would prove the most acceptable 
 to the colonists themselves. The intention of the 
 home authorities was, however, greatly misunder- 
 stood; accordingly, when in 1852 a Select Commit- 
 tee of the Legislative Council was appointed to pre- 
 pare a constitution for the colony, the first result 
 of its labours was the despatch of a remonstrance
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 41 
 
 to the Secretary of State, aimed not so much against 
 the old form of government as against the amended 
 form of constitution proposed to be conferred upon 
 the colony by the Imperial Parliament. Wentworth 
 and the other " patriots," as they were termed, were 
 over-zealous and wished to anticipate by a few years 
 the very constitution, the bestowal of which was 
 actually meditated by the British Government. 
 After much correspondence and the receipt of a 
 despatch from the Secretary for the Colonies, Sir 
 John Pakington, practically conceding all that the 
 colonies demanded, a committee of the Legislative 
 Council was appointed to draft the new Constitu- 
 tion. The committee comprised Messrs. W. C. 
 Wentworth, E. Deas-Thomson, Charles Cowper, 
 James Macarthur, Alexander Macleay, James Mar- 
 tin, Terence Aubrey Murray, Thurlow and Dr. 
 Douglas. 
 
 To provide for the legislative assembly or lower 
 chamber was an easy matter, and it was provided 
 that there should be fifty-four members, the quali- 
 fication for the franchise being fixed as follows: 
 All inhabitants of full age being native-born or 
 naturalised subjects of the British Crown, and not 
 having been convicted of any crime or, if con- 
 victed, pardoned and having paid all rates and 
 taxes for which they were liable, were placed in the 
 condition precedent required for either voting or 
 being elected to the Assembly, but they were re- 
 quired, in addition, to be qualified in the following 
 respects : As the owner of a freehold estate of 100 ; 
 as householders, lodging occupiers, or leaseholders 
 for three years at 10 per annum. To these were 
 added boarders at 40 per annum, persons receiving 
 100 a year salary, and pasture-license holders for
 
 42 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 one year. Ministers of religion were declared in- 
 capable of being elected to the legislature. Subse- 
 quent alterations to the Constitution Act removed 
 that restriction, and made the principle of universal 
 manhood suffrage the basis of the electoral system 
 of the colony, though non-resident property holders 
 were also given the franchise under certain condi- 
 tions. A still later amendment of the constitution 
 established the principle of one man one vote, thus 
 doing away with the property qualification so care- 
 fully established and strenuously advocated by the 
 original framers of the constitution. 
 
 The composition of the Legislative Council was a 
 much more difficult matter to settle. Several of the 
 committee, as well as a large portion of the colo- 
 nists, were in favour of an elective chamber, such as 
 was afterwards adopted in Victoria, while limiting 
 membership to those who possessed at least 5,000 
 worth of real property; but Wentworth, and some 
 of his supporters, in their desire to copy the English 
 Constitution in its absolute integrity, wished to have 
 a House of Lords with an hereditary qualification. 
 The Assembly was to represent the people as a 
 whole ; the Council was to watch over the interests 
 of persons of superior wealth who were supposed 
 to have a greater stake in the welfare of the country. 
 Wentworth actually proposed that an hereditary 
 nobility should be created, leaving the Crown to 
 decide whether or not to give the first holders of a 
 title a seat for life, and the aristocracy to be thus 
 established should in future elect a certain number 
 of their order, to form the higher branch of the 
 legislature. 
 
 The publication of the aristocratic clause of the 
 committee's report caused a great outcry in Syd-
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 43 
 
 ney, and the holding of two indignation meetings, 
 at the latter of which the speakers included Messrs. 
 Parkes, Flood, Denihey, Mort, Piddington, Kobert 
 Johnson, and Montefiore, and Archdeacon McEn- 
 croe. The outcry was so great that the clauses had 
 to he abandoned, hut though the aristocratic pro- 
 visions of the measure were dropped, the principle 
 of nominee membership to the Upper Chamber was 
 retained. The bill was then strongly attacked by a 
 considerable section of the public, on the ground that 
 the members of the Legislative Council under the 
 new constitution should be elected instead of being 
 nominated by the Crown. But the nominee prin- 
 ciple was considered essential by the framers of the 
 bill for the purpose of reproducing the constitution 
 of the British Parliament as closely as possible, and 
 as a large majority of the Council shared these views 
 the bill was passed as it stood, and power was given 
 to the Governor to nominate persons to the new 
 Legislative Council, which was to consist of not less 
 than twenty-one members. 
 
 The framers of the constitution were anxious that 
 the government of the country should still further 
 resemble that of the British Isles by the adoption 
 of the principle of responsible government. Up to 
 that time the persons who administered the affairs 
 of the colony were appointed either by the Governor 
 or by the Secretary of State, and it was not to be 
 supposed that such a condition of affairs could be 
 continued under the new system, especially as the 
 entire revenues of the colony were placed at the dis- 
 posal of the parliament about to be created. To 
 the constitution, with its dominant principle of 
 responsible government, the British Government 
 readily assented, and the constitution was formally
 
 44 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 inaugurated by the Governor-General, Sir William 
 Denison, on the 19th December, 1855. From that 
 date New South Wales has been an imitation on a 
 small scale of the United Kingdom, having an elec- 
 tive assembly corresponding to the House of Com- 
 mons and a nominated Council, with the execu- 
 tive government responsible to parliament alone. 
 
 The first ministry under responsible government 
 did not last long, but its membership is worthy of 
 being recorded as marking the first great step in the 
 establishment of self-government in the mother col- 
 ony of Australia. The ministry comprised Stuart 
 Alexander Donaldson, Colonial Secretary; Thomas 
 Holt, Colonial Treasurer; William Montagu Man- 
 ning, Attorney-General ; John Bayley Darvall, 
 Solicitor-General ; George Robert Nichols, Auditor- 
 General; and William C. Mayne, Representative of 
 the Government in the Legislative Council. Nichols 
 was also Secretary for Lands and Works in the ad- 
 ministration. 
 
 On the outbreak of war with Russia, the British 
 Government found it necessary to press into their 
 service every vessel capable of conveying troops and 
 munitions of war to the Crimea. This had inter- 
 rupted regular communication between England 
 and Australia, but in 1855 communication was re- 
 established, and the same year witnessed an event of 
 even more importance, for on 26th September, five 
 years after the first sod was turned, the railway line 
 from Sydney to Paramatta was declared open for 
 trafiic and the first train steamed out of the Sydney 
 terminus amid the shouts of the populace, who had 
 assembled in thousands to witness the event. 
 
 On the 5th October, 1855, died at Sydney, Sir 
 Thomas Livingstone Mitchell, Surveyor-General of
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 45 
 
 the colony and the most successful of all the long 
 line of Australian explorers. It is said that his end 
 was hastened by grief at the ingratitude of the Gov- 
 ernment and at the slight which he considered had 
 been put upon him in submitting to his juniors the 
 question of his fitness to take charge of the work of 
 railway construction then being undertaken by the 
 Government. Mitchell was a soldier who had served 
 with distinction in the Peninsular war, and his at- 
 tainments as a scholar were of a high order. He was 
 born in Stirlingshire, Scotland, on the 16th June, 
 1792. Shortly after Sir Thomas Mitchell's death 
 another distinguished Australian passed away, 
 namely, Rear Admiral Phillip Parker King, son of 
 the third Governor of New South Wales. Admiral 
 King's services to Australia are now well-nigh for- 
 gotten ; but he did excellent work in connection with 
 the maritime exploration of the continent, and his 
 surveys are still famed for their accuracy and com- 
 pleteness. 
 
 The year 1857 was in many respects a most dis- 
 astrous one for the colony. The Hunter and 
 Hawkesbury River districts were visited by floods 
 of extraordinary height and continuance. Much 
 property was lost, houses swept away, cattle and 
 horses drowned, and crops, both harvested and stand- 
 ing, were destroyed. Along the coast there were 
 numerous shipwrecks, due to the violence of the 
 storms which raged with more or less vehemence for 
 three months. The deluge was, however, restricted, 
 in area, for in October of the same year, that is, only 
 two months after the cessation of the floods in the 
 Hawkesbury and Hunter Rivers, there was a 
 drought of marked severity extending over a large 
 area of the country, and which did not break up un- 
 til the following February.
 
 46 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The annals of the year 1857 are marked by a still 
 more tragic event the loss of the ship Dunbar with 
 120 persons on board, only one of whom was saved. 
 The passengers were for the most part colonists of 
 standing, who were returning to their homes after 
 visiting the land of their birth. The unfortunate 
 event took place on the 20th August at the " Gap," 
 a break in the cliffs quite close to the South Head of 
 Sydney Harbour. About two months after the tra- 
 gedy of the Dunbar the Catherine Adamson was 
 driven ashore near the inner North Head, and 
 twenty-one lives were lost. The loss of the Dunbar 
 was certainly due to the defective lighting of the 
 entrance to the port and led to the construction of 
 efficient lighthouses more worthy than the old ones 
 to mark the entrance to Port Jackson. 
 
 The anniversary of the foundation of the colony 
 (26th January, 1858) was chosen as the occasion 
 for opening the electric telegraph line from Sydney 
 to Liverpool, a distance of twenty-two miles. This 
 was the first line in use in the colony. Money for 
 the construction of public works was not plentiful, 
 and in many ways New South "Wales lagged behind 
 the recently established colony of Victoria. The 
 construction of a line from Sydney to Melbourne 
 had been talked about as far back as 1845, but it 
 was not until the end of the year 1858 that the con- 
 nection was actually completed. 
 
 Ever since the discovery of gold the state of fer- 
 ment into which the population was thrown was so 
 great that any rumour of a " find " was sufficient to 
 attract large numbers to the place where the gold 
 was said to be. These rushes were small or large 
 according to the persistence of the rumours, or the 
 luck of the persons first on the field. Towards the
 
 INDUSTRIAL CRISIS, 1843. 47 
 
 middle of 1858 the discovery of a rich field in 
 Queensland was reported. The find was made at 
 Canoona, a cattle station situated some seven miles 
 distant from the present town of Rockhampton. 
 The extent of the discovery was greatly exaggerated, 
 but large numbers of persons were attracted from 
 the southern colonies, especially from Victoria and 
 New South Wales. Kepple Bay, which had hither- 
 to been visited only by occasional coasters, became a 
 port of importance, and a town sprang up like magic 
 at the scene of the rush. In a few months ten thou- 
 sand miners, with the attendant population usually 
 found at a gold rush, were on the field. The Ca- 
 noona diggings, though its fame was noised abroad, 
 had but a short life. Years afterwards very great 
 quantities of gold were obtained within a radius of 
 thirty miles, but at the time of the so-called Port 
 Curtis rush, the payable gold found was confined 
 to a small area, which was speedily worked out, and 
 no new discoveries were made. The plight of the 
 unfortunate miners was pitiable. Starvation stared 
 them in the face, and the governments of Victoria 
 and ]STew South Wales were compelled to intervene 
 and remove the utterly stranded to their homes in 
 the south. But the change did not provide them 
 with work, and the wretchedness of some of those 
 brought to Sydney was so extreme that the Govern- 
 ment was compelled to grant them further assist- 
 ance. In time many of the men drifted back to the 
 older gold-fields, and a series of small finds in vari- 
 ous parts of the colony and the important discoveries 
 at Burrangong relieved the strain upon the govern- 
 ment at Sydney and left it free to attend to the ne- 
 cessities of the new-born parliamentary system.
 
 48 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK V. 
 
 THE BOBERTSON LANDS ACTS AND THE CHINESE 
 TROUBLE. 
 
 THE people of the colony, or rather their parlia- 
 mentary representatives, did not readily adapt them- 
 selves to the system of responsible government in- 
 troduced in 1856. The first two years were filled 
 with legislative strife, and it did not seem possible 
 to form a stable administration from the material 
 available. The first, or Donaldson, Ministry sur- 
 vived three months, and its successor, the first Cow- 
 per Ministry, did not last even as long. The Parker 
 Ministry, which followed that of Cowper, fell after 
 a term of eleven months, so that within the first 
 sixteen months of responsible government there 
 were three ministries, and the opportunity for legis- 
 lation afforded even to the one with the most length- 
 ened existence was therefore very small. The fourth 
 Ministry the second of Charles Cowper had the 
 comparatively long life of two years, during which it 
 was instrumental in passing a reform measure esr 
 tablishing greater electoral equality. The number 
 of members of the Assembly was increased to 78 
 and the franchise extended to every adult male who 
 had resided in the colony for not less than six 
 months, and, what was even more important, the 
 principle of vote by ballot was adopted. The new 
 parliament elected under the reform measure met in 
 1859. The following year saw the Legislature set-
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 49 
 
 ting aside the sum of 3,000 towards the relief of 
 the sufferers from the destructive floods which af- 
 flicted the colony in the early part of 1860, but the 
 country was relieved of the support of the miners 
 and others made destitute by the failure of the Port 
 Curtis " rush," alluded to in the previous chapter, 
 as the gold-fields recently discovered were able to ab- 
 sorb all the miners needing employment. There 
 was, however, not much life in the old-established 
 industries, the pastoral industry in particular being 
 greatly affected by the outbreak amongst cattle of an 
 infectious disease called, from its place of origin, 
 the Cumberland disease. This was long the dread 
 of stockholders and was not stamped out without 
 great loss and the expenditure of much money. 
 
 Sir William Denison's period of office terminated 
 in January, 1861. He was the last of the adminis- 
 trators of the old type, and had found it hard to 
 adapt himself to the role of a constitutional Gov- 
 ernor. Denison's last official act of importance was 
 one which gave rise to strong adverse criticism both 
 in Parliament and in the press. John Tawell, a man 
 of considerable landed property in the colony, had 
 been found guilty of the murder of a woman with 
 whom he had had illicit relations; he was con- 
 demned to death and executed. The crime and its 
 punishment occurred in England and created a great 
 sensation. In ordinary course the property of the 
 murderer would have been forfeited, but the friends 
 of Tawell's widow had sufficient influence to have 
 his lands put in trust for the benefit of Mrs. Tawell 
 and her children. The trustees selected as their 
 agent in ISTew South Wales, George Cooper Turner, 
 the Civil Crown Solicitor, who disposed of the prop- 
 erty and levanted with the proceeds of the sale. The
 
 50 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 influence behind Mrs. Tawell was sufficiently strong 
 to induce the Secretary of State to take the extra- 
 ordinary course of instructing the Governor of New 
 South Wales to make a re-grant to the heirs of Ta- 
 well. The Governor demurred to this at first, but 
 his instructions were peremptory, and notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition of the Ministry and against the 
 advice of the law officers of the Government, Sir 
 William Denison had the re-grant drawn up by a 
 private solicitor. To make the document effective 
 it was necessary that the great seal of the colony 
 should be affixed to it. Accordingly, the Governor 
 asked the Colonial Secretary for the seal; this he 
 refused to deliver and at the same time to continue 
 in office; the Governor was insistent, and the Min- 
 istry resigned, and the Great Seal coming into the 
 hands of the Governor it was affixed to the re-grant 
 and the transaction completed. Sir William Deni- 
 eon was on the eve of leaving for India, and hav- 
 ing gained his point he requested the Ministry to 
 withdraw their resignation, and on fully considering 
 their position they did so, as it was obviously im- 
 proper that the colony should be thrown, at such a 
 time, into the turmoil of a political crisis. The 
 affair created a great deal of discussion and was the 
 subject of a motion in Parliament, but the matter 
 was dropped, as Sir William Denison was out of 
 reach of censure and the Ministry had taken the 
 only constitutional course open to them. 
 
 During Denison's term of office the Kev. Samuel 
 Marsden died at the age of ninety-four years. He 
 had left England when he was about twenty-five 
 years of age, and had spent the best part of seventy 
 years in the colony. He was originally a black- 
 smith, but had become an ordained clergyman of
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 51 
 
 the Church of England. The necessities of pioneer 
 life in Australia required that he should also be a 
 magistrate and a farmer, and by choice Marsden 
 became a missionary both in New Zealand and in 
 New South Wales. No one has claimed for him any 
 great talent except for organisation, but no one has 
 denied to him the praise due to indomitable energy, 
 singleness of purpose and strong missionary zeal. 
 
 On the 10th December, 1859, the northern part 
 of New South Wales was erected into a separate col- 
 ony under the name of Queensland, the Royal Let- 
 ters Patent creating the new colony being issued on 
 the preceding 13th May. The colonists in the old 
 settled districts were greatly opposed to the sepa- 
 ration, as was also the Parliament of New South 
 Wales. The Governor, Sir William Denison, 
 strongly advised his superiors against the step, but 
 without avail, as the policy of the Colonial Office at 
 that time favoured the dismemberment of the large 
 colonies. Time has shown that the Colonial Office 
 was wiser than the local parliament, for the sepa- 
 ration of Victoria and Queensland has been for the 
 manifest benefit of these important provinces. 
 
 Sir William Denison was succeeded by Sir John 
 Young, afterwards raised to the peerage under the 
 title of Lord Lisgar. He was a man of distinguished 
 talent, but his tenure of office occurred at a time 
 when it was not possible for him to use his intel- 
 lectual qualifications to any great advantage, as the 
 position of the Governor with a Ministry respon- 
 sible to Parliament does not call for the exercise of 
 much originality. 
 
 At this time the men who shaped the destinies of 
 the colony during the next quarter of a century were 
 beginning to take their proper position in the eyes
 
 52 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of the country. Among these men was Mr. (after- 
 wards Sir) John Robertson. He had entered Par- 
 liament on the establishment of responsible govern- 
 ment, and in his address to the electors he had de- 
 clared in favour of manhood suffrage and equal elec- 
 toral divisions, vote by ballot, abolition of state aid 
 to religion, national education and free selection of 
 public lands before survey. Robertson soon had an 
 opportunity of testing the feeling of Parliament in 
 regard to the last mentioned subject. The Parker 
 Ministry had introduced a bill dealing with the sale 
 and occupation of Crown lands, and he proposed 
 new clauses providing for " free selection over the 
 public lands of the colony surveyed and unsurveyed." 
 This meant the introduction of a principle entirely 
 novel in the land legislation of the country, and 
 Robertson's amendment was defeated, whereupon he 
 moved that the bill be considered that day six 
 months. There were provisions in the bill obnoxious 
 to the grazing interests, and the squatting repre- 
 sentatives supported Robertson's motion, which was 
 carried and the bill was lost. Robertson, however, 
 supported the Government in their proposal to in- 
 crease the rent of runs, as the grazing leases were 
 called, but this proposal was also defeated. Mr. 
 (afterwards Sir) Charles Cowper came into office 
 for the second time on the 7th November, 1857, and 
 on the retirement of one of his colleagues he offered 
 the post of Secretary for Lands and Works to Mr. 
 Robertson, who accordingly took office on the 13th 
 January, 1858. One of the new minister's first acts 
 was to issue regulations which, amongst other things, 
 provided that all future pastoral leases were to be 
 issued subject to whatever conditions Parliament 
 might impose; the object aimed at being to make
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 53 
 
 certain that when legislation regarding the condi- 
 tional sale of lands came to be made, the area leased 
 subsequent to the date of the Robertson regulations 
 (22d February, 1858) would be open to free selec- 
 tion. The Cowper Ministry were instrumental in 
 passing several useful measures, but before being 
 able to give effect to their land policy they were 
 defeated and surrendered their offices. The Foster 
 Ministry succeeded. The Land Policy of the new 
 Government was embodied in a bill which proposed 
 to grant the right of selecting land to any applicant, 
 but such selection was to be confined to certain pro- 
 claimed areas. The bill was, however, not proceeded 
 with, as the Government, being defeated in an at- 
 tempt to make the Legislative Council elective, re- 
 signed after holding office for a little over four 
 months. Mr. Cowper not being a member of the 
 Legislative Assembly when the Foster Ministry fell, 
 Mr. Robertson was called upon to form a Ministry, 
 and his former chief took office under him. The first 
 business of the new administration was the introduc- 
 tion of a Crown Lands Alienation Bill, the main 
 principle of which was " free selection before sur- 
 vey," which was in effect the right of any person to 
 select for purchase a portion of land in any part of 
 the country, provided such land had not already 
 been granted or sold by the Crown or reserved for 
 special purposes; the area purchasable by any indi- 
 vidual being limited to 320 acres. The proposal 
 was bitterly opposed by the squatting party whose 
 runs, hitherto practically secured by the terms of 
 their lease, were now to be left open to the inroads 
 of others wishing to take up land in small areas. 
 Debates in the Legislative Assembly were long and 
 heated and the Ministry were defeated and appealed 
 
 F
 
 54 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 to the people. The country everywhere supported the 
 Ministry, which in the new Parliament had a com- 
 manding majority, and its Lands Bill was passed 
 with little opposition. In the Legislative Council 
 the opponents of " free selection " mustered very 
 strongly, and the verdict of the people was likely 
 to be defeated. In this extremity the Ministry ad- 
 vised Sir John Young to swamp the Council and the 
 Governor accepted the advice tendered. The pro- 
 ceeding was, however, ill-advised, as the term for 
 which the Members of the Council had been ap- 
 pointed was about to expire, and it would be within 
 the power of the Governor, with the advice of the 
 Cabinet, when renewing the Council, to appoint 
 only such persons as were known to be favourable to 
 the Land policy approved of by the people. The 
 Council were deeply affronted at the course contem- 
 plated by the Government, and though the new 
 members were actually appointed they did not take 
 the seats. Sir William Burton, the President of the 
 Council, at the first meeting after the " swamping," 
 rose and deliberately left the Chamber, followed by 
 the Members, so that the new appointees could not 
 be sworn in. The Council did not meet again, and 
 the passage of the Land Bill had perforce to be de- 
 ferred until a new Council could be formed. 
 
 Parliament was prorogued on the llth May, 1861, 
 and the Governor and his advisers had to face the 
 very difficult task of forming a new Legislative 
 Council. The Premier, Mr. Cowper, naturally 
 turned for aid to Mr. William Charles Wentworth, 
 the author of the Constitution, and Wentworth ac- 
 cepted the position of President of the Council, the 
 other twenty-six Members were carefully selected, 
 and the choice of the Governor gave general satis-
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 55 
 
 faction. Parliament was called together on the 3d 
 September, 1861, and the formal business being 
 'disposed of, two Bills embodying the Agrarian 
 Policy of the Government were introduced. These 
 were the Crown Lands Occupation Bill and the 
 Crown Lands Alienation Bill. An attempt was 
 made to defeat the principle of free selection be- 
 fore survey, but it failed, as both Houses were over- 
 whelmingly in favour of the new policy, and the 
 two bills were pressed through Parliament and be- 
 came law. 
 
 The new principles of Land Legislation embodied 
 in the Robertson Lands Acts were in a certain sense 
 due to the development of ideas in a community 
 which, with little success, had tried various other 
 modes of settling the people on the soil; free selec- 
 tion before survey would not have been conceded by 
 the older class of settlers if any less sweeping meas- 
 ure could have been devised. But another impor- 
 tant factor was at work. The population brought 
 to the colony by the discovery of gold was, however, 
 a class entirely different to the old settlers, and with 
 them came new ideas. They were accustomed to 
 roam over the whole territory, seeking for the 
 precious metal, and, by a natural process of reason- 
 ing, they arrived at the determination that those 
 amongst them who wished to purchase land from the 
 State, 'should have the same freedom of selection as 
 was allowed to the gold digger. 
 
 The New Agrarian Legislation was intended to 
 benefit the men of small means, and its authors 
 talked very confidently about the future yeoman 
 population, who would possess the bulk of the land. 
 The actual results achieved fell far short of these 
 anticipations, and there were many gross abuses due
 
 56 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 to the Act and its administration, but for twenty 
 years it remained the law of the land. The main 
 principles of the Acts of 1861 have been greatly 
 modified by subsequent legislation, but for all that, 
 there can be no doubt that the effects of this legis- 
 lation have on the whole been beneficial to the 
 country, and no other system would have so ade- 
 quately met the requirements of the country at the 
 time the Robertson Acts were passed. 
 
 The country was in the mood for democratic legis- 
 lation, a circumstance due to no slight extent to the 
 leavening influence of the gold diggers, who were 
 as a class essentially democratic, and several im- 
 portant measures found their way through Parlia- 
 ment. 
 
 The gold-fields had drawn away from the rural 
 industries) as well as from the towns, a large 
 portion of the best class of labour, and there was 
 urgent need of additional population. Parliament 
 recognised the situation by voting a sum of 5,000, 
 for the purpose of drawing the attention of the pop- 
 ulation of Great Britain and Ireland to the advan- 
 tages offered by the colony to persons of energy, even 
 to those without capital. It was determined to ap- 
 point two lecturers and immigration agents, to pro- 
 ceed to the Mother Country for the purpose indi- 
 cated, and the choice of the Government fell upon 
 Mr. (afterward Sir) Henry Parkes and Mr. W. B. 
 Dalley opposite types of men, but both well quali- 
 fied for their missions. 
 
 Allusion has already been made to the effect which 
 the discovery of gold at Burrangong had upon re- 
 lieving the distress consequent upon the unsuccessful 
 " rush " to Port Curtis in Queensland. The Burran- 
 gong or Lambing flat gold-field proved to be remark-
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 57 
 
 ably rich, and amongst those attracted to it were some 
 hundreds of Chinese. European and Chinese min- 
 ers have rarely agreed upon mining fields and 
 Burrangong was no exception. The Chinese were 
 accused of " picking the eyes " out of the field, which 
 was another way of saying that so far as regards the 
 faculty of discovering places likely to contain gold, 
 the Chinese were superior to the whites. There 
 were no charges that could be made against the Chi- 
 nese, which could not with justice be made against 
 an equal number of Europeans, and the disturbance 
 was therefore purely a racial one, the forerunner 
 of many another of the same kind. The feeling 
 against the Chinese found vent in public meetings 
 at which very fiercely worded resolutions were 
 passed. From mere words the miners proceeded to 
 action. After one of these public meetings at which 
 the question was raised, " whether Burrangong was 
 a European or a Chinese territory," the crowd, with 
 the band playing and threatening shouts, rushed the 
 quarters of the unfortunate Chinese, who fled panic- 
 stricken. Some tents were burned and a drunken 
 man galloped wildly through the camp knocking 
 down several of the aliens as they fled. The 
 drunken rioter was stopped by the police and locked 
 up. For a while the mob acquiesced, but subse- 
 quently demanded his release. The police were only 
 eight in number and, according to the police esti- 
 mates, the miners numbered from 4,000 to 5,000, and 
 the authorities were obliged to give way. The Gold 
 Commissioners, who at an earlier period of the riot 
 cautioned the miners against the use of violence, sub- 
 mitted to the farce of releasing the culprit on sub- 
 stantial bail being forthcoming, which was not long 
 in being found. Next day the rioter appeared be-
 
 58 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 fore the Commissioner, who was also a magistrate, 
 and after being reprimanded for his offence was 
 discharged without further punishment. 
 
 The Europeans were not disposed to let the matter 
 rest without gaining their point viz., the expulsion 
 of the Chinese. They formed a Miners' Protective 
 League, with the twofold object of maintaining order 
 on the field, and of expelling the obnoxious alien. 
 The field was in the hands of the Miners' League, 
 which had practically superseded the regular govern- 
 ment; and when the authorities in Sydney became 
 aware of the condition of affairs at Burrangong, they 
 at once despatched fifty mounted men to the field. 
 This force proved entirely inadequate to quell the 
 disturbances. The ill-usage of the Chinese con- 
 tinued ; their claims were jumped and many of them 
 were without the means of procuring food. The re- 
 sources of the Government, for the suppression of an 
 outbreak of rioting in a place so far from the seat 
 of government, were small, but to the fifty troopers 
 already sent were added about twenty others. 
 Fortunately there were Imperial troops available, 
 and 130 officers and men of the 12th Regiment, 
 as well as forty-four of the Royal Artillery, with two 
 twelve-pound field-pieces, were sent to the scene of 
 the disturbances. The situation was explained by 
 the Premier, Mr. Charles Cowper, to the Legislative 
 Assembly, and as there was a difficulty regarding 
 the delegation of authority, it was announced that 
 the Premier would go to Burrangong and endeavour 
 to settle matters. Mr. Cowper left Sydney on the 
 27th February, or four days after the despatch of 
 the troops, and on the following day Mr. John Rob- 
 ertson, in a temperate address, explained to Parlia- 
 ment the intentions of the Government. The princi-
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 59 
 
 pies of law and order would be maintained and main- 
 tained at any cost. Extreme measures would not be 
 taken unless they were necessary for the preserva- 
 tion of the public peace, but the Government would 
 be above all things moderate, causes of irritation 
 would be avoided as well as anything calculated to 
 provoke the miners to violence, and the affair would 
 be settled without bloodshed, if such were possible. 
 
 Mr. Cowper on his arrival at Burrangong ad- 
 dressed the miners, and was cordially received; a 
 day or two afterwards he spoke at Stoney Creek. 
 His words were to the same effect as those uttered 
 by Mr. Robertson in his place in Parliament, but 
 the Premier added that when order was restored, and 
 affairs were in a normal condition, the whole sit- 
 uation could be reviewed, and the miners afforded 
 euch satisfaction and redress as the circumstances 
 seemed to warrant. The Premier returned to 
 Sydney almost immediately. His wise action in 
 visiting the scene of the riots had prompt effect in 
 quelling the disturbances and preventing a repetition 
 of the unfortunate affair of the Eureka Stockade. 
 The Chinese took advantage of the calm to slip away 
 to other fields or to abandoned diggings, and an 
 important find of gold being reported at Tipperary 
 Gully, a large proportion of the miners at Burran- 
 gong abandoned their claims for the new fields, and 
 the few Chinese left behind remained unmolested. 
 Thus ended the most serious difficulty that arose in 
 the early days of responsible government. 
 
 There had been a Chinese difficulty in Victoria, 
 which had been met by the passing of an Act mate- 
 rially restricting the freedom of these Asiatics in 
 entering the colony, and the New South Wales Gov- 
 ernment took the Victorian legislation as a model,
 
 60 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and introduced a Bill embodying its main principles. 
 No vessel was allowed to carry more than one Chi- 
 nese for every ten tons of the ship's tonnage under 
 a penalty of 10 imposed upon the owner, master 
 or charterer for each Chinese passenger in excess. 
 There was also a tax of 10 to be paid by each Chi- 
 nese landing, as well as a license or poll of 4 per 
 annum during his residence in the colony; added 
 to this there was prohibition of naturalisation. The 
 Bill was somewhat amended in the Council and be- 
 came law on the 27th November, 1861. The Chi- 
 nese question in 1861 arose out of a settled dislike 
 for all coloured races on the part of the mining popu- 
 lation; in subsequent years there was a revival of 
 agitation, but in it the share of the miners was small, 
 as the Chinese were no longer their formidable com- 
 petitors. Having disposed of the Chinese question 
 the Government revived their gold-fields Bill, which 
 had been dropped owing to the paramount impor- 
 tance of passing their Land legislation. The Bill 
 thus revived was speedily passed into law. 
 
 Two important matters closely allied next monop- 
 olised the attention of Parliament. These were the 
 question of Church and School Lands and of State 
 aid to religion. Sir Thomas Brisbane, who was 
 Governor from 1821 to 1825, had received instruc- 
 tions from London to reserve one-seventh of the 
 Crown lands in each country, for the purpose of 
 Church and Schools' establishments. These instruc- 
 tions were not fully carried out, but reservations to 
 the extent of 454,060 acres had been made. These 
 lands had been administered by the Clergy and 
 School Lands Corporation, until that body was abol- 
 ished in 1833, when the lands became vested in the 
 Crown. In the early sixties, these lands had become
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 61 
 
 valuable, and the question of ownership was revived, 
 and party feeling ran very high. The Government 
 had appropriated the revenue from these lands, with- 
 out the sanction of Parliament ; it was contended that 
 this was improper and contrary to the constitution, 
 and that the money should be treated as ordinary 
 revenue and appropriated only by a vote of Parlia- 
 ment. There were many fierce debates about the 
 matter, but no satisfactory solution was arrived at, 
 and ultimately the determination of the matter was 
 taken up by the Imperial Government. On the 28th 
 May, 1862, the Government laid before the Legisla- 
 tive Assembly a copy of the opinion of the Law 
 Officers of the Crown in England, respecting the 
 Church and School Estates. This opinion was to 
 the effect that these lands were not waste lands of 
 the Crown, being dedicated for a particular purpose 
 viz., the promotion of religion and the education of 
 youth. In sending the despatch to the Legislature, 
 the Governor pointed out that the disposal of these 
 lands was a matter for the determination of the local 
 Legislature and the Crown had no wish to interfere, 
 farther than to see that due respect was paid to the 
 interests already acquired by individuals. The 
 status of these estates having been thus determined, 
 much of the interest in their disposal died out and 
 attention was directed to the questions of State aid 
 to religion. Under the law then existing, salaries 
 were paid to the Bishops and Clergy of the Church 
 of England, and of the Koman Catholic Church and 
 the Clergy of the Presbyterian and Wesleyan 
 Churches. This was repugnant to the feelings of a 
 large number of persons, not only of the denomina- 
 tions not subsidised, but of those actually in receipt 
 of State aid, and several attempts were made to
 
 62 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 abolish all grants in aid of religion. There were, 
 however, very strong advocates of a continuation of 
 the system, and most persons having vested interests 
 were opposed to any change. The matter was set- 
 tled by a compromise. The " grants in aid of the 
 Public Worship Prohibition Bill " was passed to- 
 wards the end of 1862 ; it continued their stipends 
 to all clergymen then in receipt of State aid, but 
 prohibited any further payment by the State for 
 the maintenance of religion or public worship. In 
 1863, the payments to clergymen were 32,726 and 
 the number of clergymen 161; in 1899 there were 
 still thirty-six persons receiving State aid whose 
 annual stipend amounted to 5,863. 
 
 The principle of a nominee Legislative Council 
 had never found general acceptance, and even Went- 
 worth, to whose influence the establishment of the 
 Council on a nominee basis was largely due, had 
 come round to the opposite opinion and favoured an 
 elective House. 
 
 But the President was unable to win the Council 
 to the adoption of his views, and when the Bill, for 
 the reconstruction of the Council on an elective basis, 
 reached that body it was shelved by being referred to 
 Select Committee; which at the close of the session 
 brought up progress report to the effect that they 
 had discussed the question, but had not had time to 
 mature their views. Wentworth very shortly after- 
 wards resigned his position as President of the 
 Council, and was succeeded by Sir Terence Aubrey 
 Murray, who was at the time Speaker of the Legis- 
 lative Assembly. 
 
 At the suggestion of Sir Dominic Daly, the Gov- 
 ernor of South Australia, a conference of delegates 
 from New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia
 
 ROBERTSON LANDS ACTS. 63 
 
 and Tasmania met in Melbourne in March, 1863, to 
 discuss certain matters of common interest to the 
 various colonies. The views of the conference were 
 embodied in a series of resolutions of a practical 
 kind, but like the resolutions passed at many another 
 conference on Australian affairs, they met with but 
 scant consideration at the hands of the various leg- 
 islatures.
 
 64: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 BIJSHRANGING EPOCH. THE o'FARBELL CASE. 
 
 HIGHWAY robbery is invariably practised in 
 young countries where communication is difficult 
 and means of transit restricted. To the natural 
 facilities for highway robbery in New South Wales 
 and Tasmania was added in the early years of set- 
 tlement a large convict element, many members of 
 which were adepts at all kinds of villainy, and some 
 at least were highwaymen in England, before be- 
 ing transported to Australia. The bush gangs of the 
 early days were constantly recruited by the addition 
 of escaped prisoners, and ticket-of-leave men tired 
 of the surveillance to which they were subjected as 
 long as they remained in the settlements. As early 
 as 1830 the evil became so great that the whole com- 
 munity was pervaded by a feeling of general alarm, 
 and the Legislative Council passed a " Bushranging 
 Act " almost unique in its severity. The bush- 
 rangers, who were chiefly escaped convicts, plied 
 their nefarious trade sometimes in twos and threes, 
 sometimes in large gangs, levying toll not only on 
 isolated settlers, but on stores and hotels along the 
 more frequented roads. Sometimes even the police 
 were attacked. On one occasion a regular battle 
 was fought between a gang of bushrangers over fifty 
 in number and a party of settlers. This occurred at 
 Campbell's River near Bathurst. The same gang 
 attacked the police and killed several of them ; rein-
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. 65 
 
 forcements were sent and another engagement took 
 place on the River Lachlan, but with no decisive re- 
 sult. The matter was so serious that a detachment 
 of Imperial troops was sent up from Sydney, to 
 which the whole gang surrendered, and ten of them 
 were hanged. To prevent a recurrence of outrages 
 such as these the Bushranging Act was passed. 
 Amongst other things it provided that all suspected 
 persons might be apprehended without a warrant; 
 that any one carrying arms might be arrested, and 
 any one suspected of having them might be searched ; 
 that armed with general warrants to search, the po- 
 lice might enter or break into any house by day 
 or night, seize firearms found therein and arrest the 
 inmates. When convicted, robbers and house- 
 breakers were to be condemned to death and executed 
 on the third day thereafter. These provisions were 
 vigorously enforced and bushranging disappeared 
 almost immediately, and at a convenient season the 
 Act was repealed. The elements of the bushranging 
 class were in the colony, and the conditions of set- 
 tlement favoured a revival of the pest. A few years 
 after the events just referred to, on the 7th Sep- 
 tember, 1834, Dr. Wardell, a prominent citizen and 
 politician, was killed in his own grounds at Peters- 
 ham near Sydney. One of the gang of bush- 
 rangers turned King's evidence, and two of the mur- 
 derers were tried, convicted and executed. There 
 were other crimes of a like kind, but no general re- 
 vival of bushranging until about the year 1840. 
 The previous year had been one of crop failure, and 
 provisions were dear, and there was considerable 
 destitution. Mr. John Kennedy Hume, a well- 
 known colonist, was shot dead by bushrangers at 
 Gunning; the chief of the gang was caught and exe-
 
 66 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 cuted. The bushrangers in the district had become 
 so numerous and daring, that Mr. Henry O'Brien, 
 a magistrate of Yass, being joined by a number of 
 settlers, made an effort to rid themselves of the 
 offenders. Mr. O'Brien's party coming up with the 
 bushrangers, a fierce encounter ensued ; the chief of 
 the gang was shot, and another having been wounded 
 blew his brains out. Two of the bushrangers were 
 captured, one hanged himself in his cell and the 
 other was executed. A determined gang of ruffians ; 
 headed by a man named Davis, and known as the 
 Jewboy's gang, were destroyed by a party of settlers 
 led by Mr. Day. The band was surprised at Dough- 
 boy Hollow near the town of Murrurundi, and the 
 leader and five others were captured and brought 
 to justice. 
 
 For a time the country was free from systematic 
 bushranging, but after the gold discoveries there was 
 a recrudescence of the pest in its worst form. The 
 evil kept on increasing, and in 1862 and 1863 it 
 became a menace to the colony, so many bushrangers 
 were there abroad, and so many aiders and abettors 
 had they in secret. The Government felt called 
 upon to take special measures to cope with the evil, 
 and notice was sent to the country magistrates in- 
 structing them that all offences connected with bush- 
 ranging would thereafter be tried by Special Com- 
 mission, and rewards were offered for the appre- 
 hension of the leading outlaws. The police force 
 was also strengthened and suspected persons were 
 kept under observation. The trial by a Special 
 Commission prevented sympathisers obtaining a 
 position on the jury, by which the captured bush- 
 rangers would be tried, and was a necessary step, a3 
 in. some districts to obtain a conviction by a local
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. 67 
 
 jury would have been impossible. Amongst the first 
 cases tried were those of Alexander and Charles Ross 
 and William O'Connor, who were found guilty of 
 robbery under arms and firing at and wounding Mr. 
 Henry Stephens. The three were sentenced to 
 death. A few days later a public-house kept by a 
 man named Cirkel was " stuck up " by four bush- 
 rangers. The landlord was deliberately murdered by 
 one of the gang, named O'Meally, because he was sus- 
 pected of having given the police information in re- 
 gard to the movements of the bushrangers. This gang 
 was one of the most infamous that ever infested the 
 bush. The four concerned in Cirkel's robbery and 
 murder were Frank Gardiner, Johnnie Gilbert, John 
 Dunn and the ruffian O'Meally. Gardiner, the leader 
 of the gang, was a man about thirty years of age, and 
 had been sentenced, when a mere youth, to five years' 
 imprisonment for horse-stealing in Victoria. He was 
 confined in Pentridge, from which he escaped after 
 serving only a few months of his sentence. Coming 
 to ISTew South Wales he speedily got into trouble, 
 being convicted on two separate charges of horse- 
 stealing and sentenced to seven years' hard labour. 
 He was released before the expiry of his sentence 
 and obtained a ticket-of-leave, which he forfeited for 
 being absent from his district, it being strongly sus- 
 pected that he was engaged in cattle-stealing. He 
 was not arrested, and appeared shortly afterwards 
 at the head of a gang of ruffians whose violence ter- 
 rorised the inhabitants of a large and thriving dis- 
 trict. The robberies of Gardiner's gang were very nu- 
 merous. They were known to have " bailed up " six 
 mail-coaches from which they obtained large booty, 
 while the robbery of scores of travellers on the public 
 highway is also laid to their charge. Johnnie Gil-
 
 68 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 bert, one of Gardiner's gang, was in years a mere boy. 
 Born of respectable parents, he took to bushranging 
 not from criminal instinct, but because, like hundreds 
 of the bush lads, he looked upon the bushranger as 
 a hero of romance. Besides the three concerned 
 with Gardiner in the shooting of Cirkel there were 
 several other members of the gang viz., Ben Hall, 
 John Bow, John Piesley, Alexander Fordyce, Henry 
 Manns and Daniel Charters. Piesley was caught 
 after a short career, tried and executed for murder 
 in 1862, and Charters turned informer. There was 
 a great deal of spurious public sympathy with Hall, 
 who was an undoubted ruffian. He was originally 
 a small squatter in the Lachlan district, but for years 
 he was suspected of being an accomplice of Gardiner, 
 with whom he was known to be on friendly terms. 
 The constant surveillance of the police, joined with 
 the reported infidelity of his wife, made him desper- 
 ate, and he openly joined the gang, and became the 
 most daring and reckless of them all. When Gar- 
 diner abandoned bushranging and left the colony, 
 " Ben " Hall, as he was always called, became chief 
 of the bushrangers. 
 
 The most remarkable robbery of this gang was 
 that of the gold escort from the Lachlan. This took 
 place at Engowra on the 15th June, 1862. The 
 coach was driven by John Fagan and was escorted 
 by three police. The bushrangers concerned in the 
 affray were eight in number; they lay in wait for 
 the escort at a difficult point in the road, and as 
 the coach drove up they fired a volley, then making 
 a rush they were able to disarm the police and make 
 them prisoners. During the affray one of the police 
 was severely wounded. The booty obtained by the 
 bushrangers was over 5,500 ounces of gold , valued
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. 69 
 
 at 21,000, besides coin and bank-notes to the value 
 of 7,490. This was divided into eight parts, five 
 were allotted at once, and the other three parts were 
 placed on a packhorse and the gang rode off. When 
 news of the outrage reached the police, a well- 
 equipped party started in pursuit, and the pack- 
 horses of the bushrangers becoming exhausted at the 
 foot of the Weddin Mountains, the police were able 
 to come up before the gang were able to remove their 
 plunder. The spoil recovered at that time amounted 
 to 1,239 ounces, but 200 ounces were subsequently 
 obtained on the person of Manns, one of the gang 
 who was shortly after arrested. Besides Manns, 
 three others Fordyce, Bow and John McGruire 
 were also captured, and the four men were tried by 
 Special Commission. Their trial afforded a strik- 
 ing instance of the difficulty in obtaining the con- 
 viction of undoubtedly guilty persons, where their 
 crime was bushranging or horse or cattle stealing. 
 After three days' trial the jury failed to agree, and 
 were consequently discharged and a new jury em- 
 panelled, and Manns, Fordyce and Bow were found 
 guilty and sentenced to death. Fordyce's sentence 
 was commuted to imprisonment for life, and, before 
 the death sentence on the other two men could be 
 carried into effect, a number of petitions containing 
 some 15,000 or 16,000 signatures was received by the 
 Governor, praying that the lives of Bow and Manns 
 might also be spared. The prayer of the petitioners 
 was acceded to in Bow's case, but Manns was exe- 
 cuted. 
 
 The bushranging evil had become so great that 
 every available policeman in the colony was sent to 
 the infested districts, and very large rewards were 
 offered for the capture of any member of the gang, 
 
 G
 
 70 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 dead or alive. Many civilians also joined in the 
 pursuit, and to their prowess was due the end of 
 several of the desperadoes. Mr. Robert Lowe shot 
 Heather, Mr. Keightly killed Burke and Mr. David 
 Campbell shot O'Meally. There were many other 
 encounters in which civilians behaved with great 
 gallantry, while the police were ever on the alert. 
 In spite of the continued efforts of the Government 
 the work of suppressing bushranging was very slow ; 
 indeed it was years after the disappearance of the 
 chief actors that the evil entirely disappeared. 
 
 Gardiner, the ringleader of the principal gang 
 and the organiser of the most daring raids, growing 
 tired of the life, escaped into the neighbouring 
 colony of Queensland and opened a store on the road 
 from Rockhampton to the Peak Downs, and success- 
 fully carried on business for two years. He was 
 captured by the merest chance: his description had 
 appeared in most of the local papers and the casual 
 perusal of an old newspaper led to his identification. 
 Gardiner was brought to Sydney, tried on various 
 charges of robbery under arms and wounding with in- 
 tent, and, being found guilty, received sentences 
 amounting to thirty-two years. He served but ten 
 years of his sentence, being released upon strong 
 pressure being brought to bear on the Governor of 
 the day. 
 
 On the retirement of Gardiner, his place at the 
 head of the gang was taken by Ben Hall, under 
 whose leadership many outrages were committed. 
 One of the most daring was the sticking up of the 
 Gundagai mail, when Gilbert shot Sergeant Parry, 
 who, deserted by his companion, attempted to defend 
 his charge. This was one of the last affrays with 
 which Gilbert was connected. Accompanied by
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. ft 
 
 Dunn, Gilbert took refuge one night at the home- 
 stead of a farmer, who, without losing any time, sent 
 word to the police. Three constables hastened to the 
 scene and engaged the bushrangers, who endeavoured 
 to escape. Dunn was able to get away, but Gilbert 
 was shot by the police. At the time of his death the 
 young outlaw was only twenty-three years of age. 
 Dunn was captured later on the Marthaguy Creek; 
 he resisted arrest and shot one of his captors and 
 was himself wounded. He was afterwards tried in 
 Sydney, and being convicted was executed. 
 
 Ben Hall grew tired of the reverses of his gang, 
 and determined to follow Gardiner's example and 
 leave the colony. Having separated from Gilbert 
 and Dunn, he made preparations for his departure. 
 He applied to a relative to whom he had entrusted 
 the proceeds of some of his numerous robberies, 
 but the man was unwilling to give up the plunder, 
 and on pretence of going to the town of Forbes to 
 draw the money from the bank in which he said it 
 was deposited, the relative informed the police of the 
 bushranger's hiding-place. The place was sur- 
 rounded, and the following morning when Ben Hall 
 unsuspectingly quitted his concealment, he was fired 
 on by the police and his body riddled with bullets, 
 not less than thirty-four wounds being counted. 
 There was a reward of 1,000 on the head of Ben 
 Hall ; half the sum was given to the informer and 
 half was divided amongst the police by whom he was 
 shot down. Hall's death occurred on May 5th, 1865, 
 about a week before Gilbert met his end. 
 
 While Hall and his crew were disturbing the 
 country in the vicinity of Forbes a still greater ruf- 
 fian than any who had yet appeared was troubling 
 the districts nearer the Victorian border. This was
 
 72 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Daniel Morgan. His murderous exploits were most 
 daring and are unequalled in the annals of Austra- 
 lian crime. His depredations extended over three 
 years, and were not confined to New South Wales, 
 for, in April, 1866, he made a raid into Victorian ter- 
 ritory, where he was shot and killed, as he was about 
 to leave Peechelba Station near Wangaratta, which 
 he had " stuck up " the previous day. Morgan's 
 death occurred in April, 1865, and the whole colony 
 seemed relieved when the terrible outlaw's end be- 
 came known. 
 
 Shortly before the dispersion of the Ben Hall gang, 
 an outbreak of bushranging of a very formidable 
 character occurred in the Yass, Braidwood and 
 Manaro districts. The brothers John and Thomas 
 Clarke were the principals, and they were aided by 
 a large body of sympathisers, spies and bush tele- 
 graphs. The Clarkes belonged to a noted family of 
 horse and cattle thieves, and had a criminal history 
 before they appeared before the country as high- 
 waymen. 
 
 Together and separately they kept the whole 
 country in which they operated in a state of terror. 
 Their murders were numerous, and some of them 
 most wanton. The Government seemed powerless to 
 stop their career of crime, and the offer of certain 
 special constables to effect their arrest was gladly 
 accepted. The special constables were Carrol, 
 Phegan, McDonnell and Kennagh, and were sent to 
 Jindera, at which place it was known that the 
 Clarkes were being harboured. The unfortunate 
 constables were foully murdered, but it has never 
 been disclosed by what means or by whom the deed 
 was done; but there can be hardly any doubt that 
 the murderers were the Clarkes, but it is improb-
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. 73 
 
 able that in this crime they were unaided. The 
 Government proclaimed a reward of 5,000 for in- 
 formation leading to the arrest of the persons con- 
 cerned in the murder of the four constables, but with- 
 out response. Some months subsequently the two 
 Clarkes were arrested by the police after a severe 
 encounter and, having been tried and convicted, 
 were hanged at Sydney on the 25th June, 1867. 
 
 With the disposal of the Clarkes bushranging on 
 a large scale disappeared from IsTew South Wales, 
 but it was several years before the pest was com- 
 pletely stamped out. During the seven years that 
 bushranging was most prevalent, over thirty police 
 were wounded in the execution of their duty, and 
 many of them died of their wounds. A large num- 
 ber of civilians were also wounded, and the murders 
 of some twelve are on record, but it is probable there 
 were others not discovered. Twenty-three bush- 
 rangers were either shot or hanged during the same 
 period. 
 
 The attention of Parliament had been early 
 directed to the evil, for on the 19th August, 1863, 
 Mr. James Martin, afterwards Chief-Justice of the 
 colony, moved, " That in the opinion of this House 
 the alarming state of insecurity for life and property, 
 which has so long prevailed throughout the country 
 districts, is in a high degree discreditable to Her 
 Majesty's Ministers in this colony, and secondly, 
 that the conduct of Her Majesty's Ministers in this 
 colony in the appointments, to the magistracy, and 
 generally in connection with the administration of 
 justice had been such as to call for the strong con- 
 demnation of this House." The motion was not 
 and did not deserve to be carried, but it truly ex- 
 pressed the prevailing opinion in regard to the state
 
 74: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of the country. The Government and the police were 
 not to blame. The police were few in numbers, but 
 on almost every occasion on which they met bush- 
 rangers, they behaved with great gallantry. They 
 had to cope with an organised system of espionage 
 and their movements were known to the bushrangers, 
 while those of the bushrangers were rarely reported 
 to the police, except by persons actually suffering 
 from their violence. The means of rapid communi- 
 cation did not exist in the districts infested by the 
 outlaws, and in the whole colony, at the height of 
 the trouble, there were only forty-five telegraph 
 stations compared with over 900 in the year 
 1900. 
 
 Almost all the bushrangers in the early days were 
 escaped convicts or ticket-of-leave men, and in later 
 times, when the convict element had disappeared, few 
 of the bushrangers were natives of the country. The 
 outbreak of lawlessness had a very serious effect 
 upon the country. The spectacle of a large number 
 of armed men, ranging the country almost uncheck- 
 ed, murdering, pillaging, and rioting, had an un- 
 fortunate effect upon the minds of those whose history 
 and environment conduced to crime, and during the 
 sixties New South Wales had an unenviable record 
 of serious offences. The presence of bushranging 
 had also a prejudicial effect upon the minds of per- 
 sons outside the colony, and operated to diminish 
 the immigration which the very liberal land laws 
 tended to attract to the colony. The violent end 
 which overtook nearly all the outlaws soon convinced 
 would-be criminals that bushranging was not all 
 romance, and if New South Wales did not gain 
 many immigrants from the United Kingdom, it 
 speedily attracted them from the neighbouring
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. ?5 
 
 colonies where the resources of the country were best 
 understood. 
 
 A great many of the immigrants took up land 
 in the Riverina, and became fairly prosperous. Geo- 
 graphically the Eiverina belongs to Victoria, and 
 the settlers in that district, trading as they did with 
 Melbourne, looked upon that city as their proper 
 metropolis. There was at first some talk of cutting 
 off the Riverina from New South Wales and annex- 
 ing it to Victoria, but such proposal was not seri- 
 ously entertained. On the 2nd September, 1863, 
 a petition was presented to the Assembly from in- 
 habitants of the Riverina district praying for the 
 establishment of their district as a distinct one with 
 defined boundaries, on the same footing as that of 
 Port Phillip before separation. On the same even- 
 ing a similar petition to the Governor, with the Co- 
 lonial Secretary's reply thereto, was laid upon the 
 table. The letter of the Colonial Secretary was to 
 the effect, that the Government were not prepared 
 to recognise the necessity of defining any portion 
 of the existing Colony of New South Wales as a dis- 
 tinct province; and that the appointment of a Gov- 
 ernment Superintendent would impede rather than 
 expedite the transaction of public business. This 
 view was the one taken by the members of the Leg- 
 islature, and although the separation of Riverina 
 from New South Wales was still agitated in the 
 district itself, it was not seriously entertained either 
 in England or in Australia. 
 
 Until the year 1848 the educational system of the 
 colony was purely denominational, the Government 
 granting to the heads of religious bodies assistance 
 in proportion to the sum expended by them for edu- 
 cational purposes. As early as 1834, attempts had
 
 76 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 been made to secure a modification of the system in 
 force, and in 1839 a grant was made for the purpose 
 of imparting instruction, free from sectarian in- 
 fluence, to the children of those who objected to de- 
 nominational education. In 1844 a committee of 
 the Legislative Council reported in favour of the 
 Irish National School system, and four years later 
 an Act was passed constituting two Boards, to one of 
 which was entrusted the administration of denomi- 
 national education, and to the other the undenomi- 
 national or, as it was called, the national system. 
 Although this dual system existed for eighteen years, 
 it was never favoured by the people of the colony, 
 and in 1866 Mr. Parkes, seeing the trend of public 
 opinion, introduced his Public Schools Bill, which, 
 while providing for the continuance of the two 
 classes of schools, did away with the anomaly of two 
 rival boards and placed all schools, receiving aid 
 from the State, under the control of a Board to be 
 appointed by the Government and styled the Council 
 of Education; the denominational schools being 
 governed by the Council in conjunction with the 
 various religious bodies, by whom they had been 
 founded. The Bill contained various restrictions on 
 the opening of new denominational schools, and was 
 looked upon with disfavour by the heads of the two 
 chief religious bodies, as it was evidently the fore- 
 runner of a completely secular system. 
 
 Sir John Young retired from his position as Gov- 
 ernor on the 24th December, 18 67, and was suc- 
 ceeded on the 8th January, 1868, by the Earl of Bel- 
 more. Shortly afterwards the Duke of Edinburgh, 
 second son of Her Majesty Queen Victoria, arrived 
 in the colony. Loyal addresses were adopted by 
 both Houses of the Legislature, and the various local
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. Y7 
 
 bodies vied with one another in expressing their 
 loyalty, while the whole population was anxious to 
 do honour to the Prince. This generous feeling was 
 rudely interrupted by an attempt on the Prince's 
 life. The would-be murderer was Henry James 
 O'Farrell, a person of weak intellect, who, at public 
 picnic at Clontarf, near Sydney, fired a pistol at his 
 victim, wounding him in the back. The police se- 
 cured O'Farrell, but they had extreme difficulty in 
 preventing the people from lynching him on the 
 spot, so great was their fury. When the facts in 
 regard to the attempt on the Prince's life became 
 known the greatest anger prevailed. The wildest 
 rumours were circulated, and O'Farrell's action was 
 asserted to be the outcome of a widespread conspir- 
 acy. On the 18th March 1 that is to say, six days 
 after the attempted assassination the Premier, Mr. 
 Martin, moved in the Legislative Assembly, and the 
 leader of the Opposition seconded, a motion for the 
 suspension of the standing orders, with the object of 
 passing through, in all its stages, a Bill " for the 
 better security of the Crown and Government of the 
 United Kingdom, and for the better suppression and 
 punishment of seditious practices and attempts." 
 The Bill was readily assented to by both Houses, 
 and became law the next day after it was intro- 
 duced. The Treason Felony Act, as it is called, is 
 best described in the language of its author: it was 
 " sufficiently large to include any attempt to depose 
 the Queen, establishing a republic, putting down 
 the Courts of Law, or any designs which may ex- 
 ist here or elsewhere for any such purpose as those." 
 The Act was accepted in a panic of outraged loyalty, 
 but it soon found critics. In the Legislative As- 
 sembly the question of the Act and its administra-
 
 78 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 tion was raised on a motion for adjournment, for 
 the discussion of the case of one Bartholomew 
 Toomey, who was tried and acquitted of an offence 
 tinder the Act, for saying that " the Prince had no 
 business to come to the country and that it served 
 him right." It was on this occasion Mr. William 
 Forster declared, that in his opinion the Act was an 
 eternal disgrace to the Parliament that passed it 
 an opinion which has been endorsed by a later gener- 
 ation. But amongst public men Mr. Forster stood 
 almost alone. The entire community was delirious 
 with excess of loyalty ; both Houses voted addresses 
 expressive of horror at the crime, of loyal attach- 
 ment to the Royal family, and of solicitude for the 
 welfare of the Duke of Edinburgh. Indignation 
 meetings were held and the most extravagant pro- 
 fessions of loyalty made. For the moment party poli- 
 tics disappeared. A reward of 1,000 was offered by 
 the Government, for such information as would lead 
 to the arrest and conviction of any person alleged to 
 be an accomplice of the man O'Farrell. At the 
 magisterial enquiry held shortly after his arrest, 
 O'Farrell stated that "the task had been set him 
 by some persons whom he did not name, and al- 
 though he had failed he was not sorry that he had 
 failed." It is now certain that these statements were 
 not true and that he had not any accomplices. 
 
 Some time after the Prince had left the colony, 
 and his would-be assassin had been executed, Mr. 
 Henry Parkes, who was at that time Colonial Secre- 
 tary, in the course of a speech delivered at Kiama, 
 declared " that he held in his possession and could 
 produce at any moment evidence, attested by affi- 
 davits, which left on his mind the conviction that, 
 not only was the assassination of the Duke of Edin-
 
 BUSHRANGING EPOCH. 79 
 
 burgh planned, but that some one who had a guilty 
 knowledge of the secret and whose fidelity was sus- 
 pected had been foully murdered." This evidence 
 he declared would carry conviction to the mind of 
 any other impartial person. Such a statement, com- 
 ing from an important and responsible adviser of the 
 Crown, created a profound impression, not only on 
 the people of New South Wales, but on the whole of 
 Australia. The good faith and loyalty of a large 
 section of the community was virtually impugned, 
 and the most intense sectional bitterness prevailed, 
 which men of goodwill and of all political parties 
 subsequently tried in vain to remove. No one 
 now believes that Mr. Parkes' statements had any 
 foundation in fact, although his good faith, in mak- 
 ing them, cannot be doubted. He was misled by offi- 
 cials, a number of whom on occasions of this kind can 
 always be found to feed the flames of discord. The 
 so-called revelations made at Kiama ultimately be- 
 came a subject of much discomfort to their author, 
 having passed into the vocabulary of party politics 
 under the contemptuous appellation of the " Kiama 
 Ghost." Mr. Parkes resigned from the Ministry 
 some few months after his Kiama speech ; the occa- 
 sion of his withdrawal being a difference with his 
 colleagues, over the dismissal of Mr. W. A. Duncan, 
 from the position of Collector of Customs. This 
 officer had been suspended by the Colonial Treasurer 
 for alleged insubordination, and was restored to his 
 position by the succeeding administration. The with- 
 drawal of Mr. Henry Parkes proved the destruction 
 of the Martin Ministry, which was defeated on a 
 motion of Mr. John Kobertson. The new Ministry 
 met Parliament on the 8th December, 1868, and on 
 the 15th of the same month Mr. William Macleay
 
 80 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 moved for a select committee to enquire into and 
 report upon the existence of a conspiracy for the pur- 
 pose of treason and assassination, alleged by a former 
 Colonial Secretary (Mr. Parkes) to have subsisted in 
 "New South Wales; and to receive all evidence that 
 might be tendered or obtained concerning a murder, 
 alleged by the same person to have been perpetrated, 
 by one or more of such conspirators, the victim of 
 which murder was said to be unknown to the police. 
 On the 3d February, 1869, Macleay brought up 
 the report of the Select Committee and a fortnight 
 later moved, " That the House having duly con- 
 sidered the report of the said Select Committee 
 resolved as follows : (I.) That there is no evidence 
 to warrant the belief that the Government was aware 
 of any plot or intention to assassinate His Royal 
 Highness the Duke of Edinburgh, before his arrival 
 in this country or at any time previous to the attempt 
 on his life. (II.) That it does not appear that any 
 extraordinary precautions were taken for the preser- 
 vation of the life of His Royal Highness, either on 
 the occasion of his landing, or at any period during 
 his stay in this country, up to the moment of his 
 attempted assassination. (III.) That there is no 
 evidence to warrant the belief that the crime of 
 O'Farrell, who attempted to murder the Duke of 
 Edinburgh, was the result of any conspiracy or or- 
 ganisation existing in this country, or, as far as the 
 Government had or have any knowledge, the result 
 of a conspiracy or organisation existing elsewhere. 
 (IV.) That there is no evidence whatever of the 
 murder of any supposed confederate in the alleged 
 plot (V.) That the foregoing resolutions be em- 
 bodied in an address to the Governor, with the request 
 that His Excellency will forward the same to Her
 
 BUSHEANGING EPOCH. 81 
 
 Majesty's Secretary of State for the Colonies." The 
 report of the committee amounted to a direct con- 
 demnation of Mr. Parkes and he met the foregoing 
 resolutions by an amendment as follows: " (I.) 
 That the report of the Select Committee appointed on 
 the 15th December, 1868, to enquire into the exist- 
 ence of a conspiracy for purposes of treason and 
 assassination, presented by the Chairman on the 3rd 
 inst., contains numerous statements and inferences 
 not warranted by the evidence, and is made an instru- 
 ment of personal hostility against a member of this 
 House, in disregard to the authorised objects of the 
 enquiry, and manifestly for party purposes. (II.) 
 That the evidence shows that several principal officers 
 of the Government who from their official position 
 and experience were best qualified to form a correct 
 judgment of the occurrences, and the state of public 
 feeling during the time of the excitement, previous 
 and subsequent to the attempt to assassinate the Duke 
 of Edinburgh were and are still of opinion, that 
 meetings of seditious persons were held in the colony j 
 that the criminal O'Farrell was not alone and un- 
 aided in his attack upon the life of His Royal High- 
 ness; and that persons openly sympathised with the 
 attempted assassination. (III.) That the evidence 
 showed that rumours of intended violence towards His 
 Royal Highness more or less definite were in circula- 
 tion before the 12th March, 1868 ; and that some such 
 rumours have proceeded from sources unknown to the 
 Government at the time, and that, therefore, they 
 supply independent evidence in support of the state- 
 ments of the official witnesses. (IV.) That the im- 
 portant results of the enquiry set forth in the pre- 
 ceding second and third resolutions and also other 
 matters of serious moment, which ought to have been
 
 82 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 faithfully represented to this House, have either 
 been set aside altogether or improperly and preju- 
 dicially dealt with in the report. (V.) That this 
 House expresses its disapprobation of the said re- 
 port, and directs that it be expunged from the pro- 
 ceedings of the Select Committee." The amendment 
 was carried by a large majority. 
 
 The consideration by Parliament of the O'Farrell 
 affair practically ended with the motion of Mr. 
 Parkes, but the ill-feeling engendered by the attack 
 upon the Prince and the subsequent action of Parlia- 
 ment and of the Executive, lived for many years in 
 the public life of the colony and embittered the 
 private relationship of no inconsiderable part of the 
 community. Happily the ill-feeling has now passed 
 away and the unfortunate incidents surrounding the 
 attempt on the life of the Duke of Edinburgh are 
 well-nigh forgotten*
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 83 
 
 CHAPTEK VII. 
 
 NEW SOUTH WALES FKOM 1869 TO 1888. 
 
 ABOUT the year 1869 the colony began to experi- 
 ence some of the direct effects of the Robertson Lands 
 Acts. There was considerable increase in the land 
 under crop, and the pastoral industry received ex- 
 tensive development and there was a welcome return 
 of material prosperity, which awoke in the minds of 
 politicians a firmer faith in the future of their 
 colony. It was not, however, until a few years later, 
 spurred on by the reproaches of the Governor, Sir 
 Hercules Robinson, that their faith began to bear 
 fruit in works, and Parliament sanctioned various 
 schemes for opening up the interior. The confidence 
 displayed by the Government of the colony appears 
 to have had a stimulating effect on private investors, 
 and, as pointed out in the chapter dealing with indus- 
 trial history, money was poured into the country in 
 very large amounts, especially from 1874 onwards. 
 
 With their broader life all the colonies began to 
 feel the necessity for uniformity of legislation in 
 matters of mutual interest, and at the instance of the 
 Government of Tasmania, a conference was convened 
 at Melbourne in June, 1870, at which representatives 
 of Tasmania, South Australia, and Victoria attended. 
 The main object sought to be accomplished was the 
 establishment of a Customs union amongst the various 
 colonies and the removal of the restrictions imposed 
 upon intercolonial trade. The difficulties sought to
 
 84 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 be overcome were the result of the opposite fiscal 
 policies pursued by the different colonies; and it 
 must have been evident to the Premiers and Treas- 
 urers in conference, that nothing short of an actual 
 federation, with an uniform customs tariff, would do 
 away with the inconveniences and anomalies of which 
 traders and residents in the border districts were con- 
 stantly complaining. The conference was not fol- 
 lowed by any direct result, but it may be said to 
 have paved the way to the renewal of the agreement 
 made some years before between Victoria, South 
 Australia, and New South Wales. 
 
 The new spirit of enterprise, which had come to tho 
 citizens of the colony, and especially of the metrop- 
 olis, was exhibited in the proposal to celebrate the 
 year 1870 by the opening of an intercolonial exhibi- 
 tion. That year was the centenary of the discovery 
 of New South Wales by Captain Cook, and there was 
 a general feeling in Sydney, that so notable an anni- 
 versary should not be passed over in silence. The 
 Government were lukewarm and afraid to incur the 
 expense and responsibility which the enterprise en- 
 tailed, so the matter was left to the initiative of the 
 citizens themselves. Fortunately the Agricultural 
 Society of Sydney showed more public spirit than 
 the Government, and the Municipal Council of Syd- 
 ney joined in the enterprise by erecting a suitable 
 building on one of the public parks. The exhibi- 
 tion was very successful, and several of the neighbour- 
 ing colonies contributed to its success by sending a 
 large number of well-chosen exhibits. 
 
 Early in 1872 a general election took place, which 
 resulted in the complete overthrow of the Govern- 
 ment, but defeat at the polls has been the common fate 
 of most administrations in New South Wales, that
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 85 
 
 have appealed to the people, and the elections of 1872 
 were not otherwise remarkable, except for the renewal 
 of the agitation for the separation of Riverina. The 
 people in the border districts laboured under many 
 disabilities. The majority of them were either 
 natives of Victoria or of South Australia, or had 
 resided in one or other of these colonies on their first 
 coming to Australia, and they naturally looked upon 
 Melbourne with more favour than the more remote 
 capital of the province to which they belonged. The 
 wish of the border people was for annexation to Vic- 
 toria, but as such a step would have raised the fierce 
 opposition of New South Wales, the agitation was 
 directed towards separation as an independent prov- 
 ince. In January, 18 6 Y, a convention had been 
 entered into between the colonies of New South 
 Wales and Victoria with a view of obviating the col- 
 lection of customs duties along the River Murray. 
 The arrangement was for five years from 1st Feb- 
 ruary, 186T, and the Government of Victoria under- 
 took to make a yearly payment to New South Wales 
 of the estimated annual balance, that would be paya- 
 ble to that colony, after allowing for the duties paya- 
 ble to Victoria on goods imported from New South 
 Wales. But as goods coming into New South Wales 
 by way of the Murray River from South Australia 
 touched at Victorian ports and were said to be so 
 mixed up with Victorian produce that the Victorian 
 customs officials were unable to distinguish one from 
 the other, the Victorian Treasury arranged to pay the 
 duties for both colonies, the amount being fixed at 
 60,000. To adjust matters the Government of New 
 South Wales undertook to continue collecting duties, 
 on produce from South Australia, but handing over 
 the amount so collected, less the cost of collection to 
 
 H
 
 86 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Victoria. The agreement lapsed on 1st February, 
 1872, and the border duties were again collected to 
 the intense irritation of all engaged in the border 
 trade. Mr. Henry Parkes took office as Premier on 
 the 14th May, 1872, and within a month a Bill was 
 submitted to Parliament, making provision for free 
 intercourse between Victoria and New South Wales 
 across the Murray River. The Bill was passed by a 
 commanding majority in the Legislative Assembly, 
 but was shelved on a division of nine to eight by the 
 Council. Ultimately an Act was passed by which 
 authority was given to the Government, to make a 
 convention with the neighbouring colonies of Victoria 
 and South Australia, under which free admission 
 would be granted to all goods coming from these 
 colonies into New South Wales, in consideration of a 
 like concession being granted to goods exported from 
 New South Wales and the payment of lump sums, 
 by Victoria and by South Australia, equal to the 
 estimated amount of the duties remitted by New 
 South Wales in favour of these colonies. In accord- 
 ance with the authority thus given an arrangement 
 was made for the suspension of duties, on both sides 
 of the Murray, such agreement to hold for a period 
 of three years, and during such period there was to be 
 paid to New South Wales by Victoria the sum of 
 54,500 per annum and by South Australia of 
 13,500. It was further arranged that if the duties 
 in New South Wales should be, at any time during 
 the period covered by the agreement, reduced, re- 
 pealed, or increased, the amount payable to .that col- 
 ony should be adjusted to meet the new conditions; 
 but on any such alteration by New South Wales, it 
 was to be optional for the other two colonies to retire 
 from the agreement. The convention lasted untij
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 87 
 
 January 31st, 1874, when Victoria retired from it, 
 in consequence of an alteration made in the rates 
 of duty in force in New South Wales, but South 
 Australia remained a party to it until its expiry, and 
 by further convention renewed the agreement for 
 six months and again for twelve months. 
 
 The action of the Legislative Council in shelving 
 theBorder Duties Bill, when passed by an overwhelm- 
 ing majority of the Assembly fresh from a general 
 election, led to one of the many contests that have 
 taken place between the two Houses of Legislature. 
 The action of the Council was strongly condemned 
 not only in the districts affected but also by public 
 opinion throughout the colony. On the 27th March, 
 1873, a bill " to amend the constitution and to pro- 
 vide for the representation of the people in the 
 Legislative Council," passed the Assembly and was 
 forwarded to the Council; but that body refused to 
 consider it on the ground that legislation affecting 
 the constitution of the Council should originate in 
 that Chamber. 
 
 On the 30th March, 1874, there died at Wem- 
 bourne, in Dorsetshire, England, William Charles 
 Wentworth, in many ways the most notable person 
 whom Australia has yet produced. He was the 
 founder of the Sydney University and the author of 
 the constitution of New South Wales, and was very 
 prominent in political life before the advent of re- 
 sponsible government. In accordance with his 
 wishes, his body was brought to the colony and deposi- 
 ted in a vault at Vaucluse. A public funeral was ac- 
 corded to the remains of the deceased statesman and 
 was carried out with every mark of respect from the 
 people of Sydney, who lined the streets through which 
 the cortege passed.
 
 88 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The career of Frank Gardiner has been given in 
 outline in the previous chapter. Shortly after the 
 arrival in the colony of Sir Hercules Robinson, 
 numerously and influentially signed petitions were 
 presented to him, praying for Gardiner's release, on 
 the ground of the desire to reform evinced by the 
 prisoner's conduct, both before and after his capture. 
 There was an implied promise that after serving ten 
 years of his sentence, Gardiner's case would be re- 
 considered with a view to his release, and the Gov- 
 ernor felt bound in honour to carry out his promise. 
 Accordingly, he addressed a minute to the Executive, 
 in which he pointed out that the prisoner had been 
 already sufficiently punished and could be with safety 
 released, on condition of his leaving Australia. The 
 Governor deprecated the retention of a man in prison 
 in obedience to mere popular clamour, which he be- 
 lieved to be both unreasonable and unjust. It was 
 indispensable for prison discipline that every hope 
 held out to prisoners should be scrupulously ful- 
 filled, or broken only on grounds, the sufficiency of 
 which would be apparent even to prisoners' minds. 
 The Governor declared he could see no such grounds 
 in the present case, and he was convinced that the 
 bad moral effect upon the whole body of prisoners, 
 which would result from disappointing, without suf- 
 ficient reason, an expectation raised by Her Majesty's 
 representatives, would be infinitely greater than the 
 inconvenience which would be likely to result from 
 keeping faith with the prisoner and allowing him to 
 leave the country. 
 
 The prerogative of mercy was at the time exer- 
 cised by the Governor alone, though it is probable his 
 ndvisers were in full accord with him in regard to its 
 exercise in this case, Gardiner was accordingly re-
 
 PROM 1869 TO 1888. g$ 
 
 leased, but the Governor's action raised a storm of 
 indignation which might have been anticipated, as 
 the memory of the bushranger's outrages were still 
 fresh in the minds of the people. Nor was the word- 
 ing of the Governor's minute calculated to soothe the 
 popular anger. The minute had been laid before 
 Parliament, and a motion was moved censuring the 
 action of the Governor's advisers and the Governor 
 himself. There was a very angry discussion in 
 Parliament upon the motion, which was only lost on 
 the casting vote of the Speaker. m The dissolution of 
 Parliament immediately followed, and, when the new 
 Parliament met, a motion of censure was moved, in 
 the form of an address to the Governor and couched 
 in the same terms as those of the motion on the same 
 subject, made in the previous Parliament. The ad- 
 dress was as follows : " We desire with reference to 
 the important matter which led to the dissolution of 
 the late Parliament, most respectfully to express our 
 regret that your Excellency's Responsible Ministers 
 should have advised you to communicate to the Legis- 
 lative Assembly, your minute to the Executive 
 Council, dated the 23d June, with reference to the 
 release of the prisoner Gardiner. Because it is in- 
 defensible in certain of its allegations, and because, 
 if it is considered to be an answer to the respectful 
 and earnest petitions of the people, it is highly un- 
 desirable to convert the records of this House into a 
 means of conveying censure and reproof to our con- 
 stituents; and if it refers to the discussion in this 
 Chamber, then it is in spirit and effect a breach of 
 the constitutional privileges of Parliament." 
 
 The motion of censure was carried and the Min- 
 istry resigned. Sir Hercules Robinson now found 
 himself in a very difficult position. Under ordinary
 
 00 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 circumstances he would have sent for the leader of 
 the Opposition, Mr. John Robertson, but Sir Hercules 
 was anxious to avoid having for his chief adviser the 
 mover of the vote of censure which reflected more 
 upon his own action than on his Ministers. The 
 Governor therefore turned to Sir William Manning, a 
 distinguished member of the Legislative Council, and 
 asked him to form a Ministry. This Sir William 
 Manning attempted to do, but without success, and 
 the Governor had perforce to entrust the task to Mr. 
 John Robertson. After the re-election of the new 
 ministers an attempt was made in the Legislative 
 Assembly to censure the Governor, for his action in 
 sending for a member of the Council to form a new 
 Ministry, but the House negatived the motion and 
 the Gardiner affair and its attendant complications 
 passed out of sight. 
 
 The Government of Mr. Henry Parkes had in- 
 augurated a vigorous public works policy, which was 
 continued and extended by succeeding ministries. 
 In the year 1872 the expenditure on public works was 
 a little more than half a million sterling, five years 
 later it was three times as much, and ten years later 
 the sum expended was nearly three and a half mil- 
 lions. Most of this expenditure was provided for out 
 of loans, but the huge revenue derived from land 
 sales enabled the Government to supplement very 
 largely their expenditure of borrowed money. The 
 practice of assisting people in Great Britain to emi- 
 grate to the colony, which had fallen into desuetude 
 in 1869 and the following years, was revived, and in 
 the ten years commencing with 1877, the passages 
 of 51,455 persons were paid from England to Sydney. 
 A large proportion of the immigrants were adult 
 males, and the Government were almost compelled to
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 91 
 
 continue their public works policy, in order to pro- 
 vide employment for these persons and the incomers 
 from the adjacent colonies whom the lavish Govern- 
 ment expenditure had attracted to New South Wales. 
 Considering the objects to which the money was de- 
 voted, it must be conceded that the public works policy 
 of the Government was very extravagant, and, like 
 all governmental extravagance on a large scale, its end 
 was labour congestion and financial embarrassment. 
 It will not be necessary to discuss the matter further 
 at this place, as the general question of the immediate 
 and ulterior effects of the financial policy of the 
 Government is treated at length in another chapter. 
 For a period of fifteen years the colony had an 
 appearance of great prosperity, much of which was 
 in every way genuine but much also was delusive. 
 
 A notable event of the Governorship of Sir Her- 
 cules Robinson was the annexation of the Fiji Islands. 
 The group had virtually become a British colony, and 
 the formal annexation was made with the concurrence 
 of the king, chiefs and people. 
 
 Allusion has been made frequently in these pages 
 to Sir Charles Cowper; he had in 1870 resigned the 
 premiership of the colony to become its Agent Gen- 
 eral in London. Sir Charles Cowper's death in 18Y5 
 removed one of the chief actors in the stirring days 
 of the initiation of Responsible Government, whose 
 services are apt to be overlooked by the present gen- 
 eration which profits by them. 
 
 ! A Bill was introduced on the 2nd December, 1873, 
 by Mr. Terry to limit the duration of future parlia- 
 ments to three years. It was quietly passed through 
 the Legislative Assembly ; many members, who would 
 otherwise have opposed it, refrained from doing so, 
 in the confident expectation that the Bill would be
 
 92 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 thrown out by the Council. In this they wexe dis- 
 appointed, for the Council passed the Bill with little 
 debate and it became law on the 6th February, 1874. 
 The average duration of all parliaments under Re- 
 sponsible Government has been two years and four 
 months, nor has the average sensibly declined since 
 the life of Parliament has been limited to three years. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson retired from the Governor- 
 ship of the colony on March 19th, 1879, and his 
 going away was greatly regretted by all classes of the 
 community, for he was not only a good Governor, but 
 the most eloquent public speaker who had ever been 
 in the colony. He was moreover an enthusiastic 
 sportsman and entered with great avidity into the out- 
 door life of the people. Sir Hercules Robinson's 
 advice had much to do with the forward policy in 
 public works, which was entered upon shortly after he 
 became Governor, but Sir Hercules remained in the 
 colonies sufficiently long to see the policy, excellent 
 within the limits proposed by him, carried to a 
 vicious extreme, and instead of confining the ex- 
 penditure of borrowed money to reproductive works 
 of a public character, he saw the various Governments 
 pledging the resources of the country, in order to 
 find the means for the construction of works of a 
 useless or ephemeral nature and for the placation of 
 the unemployed. 
 
 Sir Hercules Robinson was appointed to ISTew 
 Zealand, and before leaving, his wife laid the founda- 
 tion stone of the building aptly named the Garden 
 Palace, in which it was proposed to hold the first 
 international exhibition of Australasia. The success 
 which had attended its previous exhibitions induced 
 the Agricultural Society to even a more ambitious 
 effort. Invitations were accordingly issued to various
 
 F&OM 1869 TO 1888. 93 
 
 countries to take part in an international exhibition 
 during the year 1879. The promises to exhibit were 
 so numerous that the Agricultural Society speedily 
 realised that, if faith were to be kept with those who 
 proposed to send exhibits, the exhibition would have 
 to be on a magnificent scale and would be far beyond 
 its power to cope with. Parliament had voted 
 10,000 to the Society for the purpose of assisting it 
 in its enterprise, which was everywhere understood to 
 be under the auspices of the Government. To recede 
 would have been impossible, so the Government de- 
 termined to go on and take the management of the ex- 
 hibition out of the hands of the Society and place it 
 under the control of an honorary commission, com- 
 prised of such leading business men and producers as 
 were willing to act. Having become engaged in the 
 enterprise .the Government pushed on with their prep- 
 arations with great earnestness. The construction of 
 the buildings was placed under the direction of Mr. 
 John Young, an experienced contractor, and a very 
 handsome and commodious building was rapidly 
 erected on an exquisite site in the inner domain, ad- 
 joining Government House and the Botanical 
 Gardens. The exhibition was in every way a success, 
 notwithstanding that the cost to the Government was 
 over a quarter of a million sterling. Every civilised 
 country was represented, and visitors from all parts 
 of the world attended. The resources of ~New South 
 Wales were displayed to advantage and became 
 widely known, with the result that there was almost 
 immediately a great quickening of trade and many 
 persons who came merely as sightseers remained in 
 Sydney to prosecute the lucrative business which they 
 found awaiting them. 
 
 On the 20th December, 1878, Sir Henry Parkes
 
 94 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 assumed office as Premier for the third time, having 
 formed a coalition government with Sir John Robert- 
 son as vice-president of .the Executive and represent- 
 ative of the ministry in the Legislative Council. The 
 two knights had been very strong opponents and 
 their joining hands created a great deal of surprise 
 and evoked much adverse criticism. At this dis- 
 tance of time it is hard to conceive what else could 
 have been done in the interests of staple government. 
 On the fall of the Robertson ministry in March, 1877, 
 Sir Henry Parkes took office, but so evenly were 
 parties divided that his ministry maintained its 
 position for not more than five months, being dis- 
 placed by one led by Sir John Robertson. This min- 
 istry survived only four months, being beaten upon a 
 vote of want of confidence moved by Mr. Farnell. 
 The Governor sent for Sir Henry Parkes, but Sir 
 Henry failed to form a ministry and the task was 
 undertaken by Mr. Farnell. The Farnell ministry 
 held its place for just twelve months, when it was 
 defeated on its land policy. The Governor asked Sir 
 John Robertson to carry on the Government of the 
 country, but although Sir John formed a ministry it 
 was not sworn in, as the Assembly virtually refused 
 to permit it to transact any business. He therefore re- 
 linquished the task, and on the same day the Speaker 
 of the Assembly announced that Sir John Robertson 
 had resigned his seat. The veteran statesman ex- 
 plained as his reason for resigning, that the existence 
 of three parties in the Assembly was fatal to the pos- 
 sibility of good government and therefore he had 
 decided to retire from Parliament. The Governor 
 then arranged with Mr. Farnell to resume the duties 
 of Government, but the minis.try was at once met 
 with an adverse vote and finally retired from office.
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 95 
 
 Sir Henry Parkes having been sent for, formed a 
 ministry with the aid of Sir John Robertson. The 
 Parkes-Robertson ministry held office for a little over 
 four years, and during its career passed many im- 
 portant measures through Parliament. On the 12th 
 November, 1879, Sir Henry Parkes introduced a 
 Bill " to make more adequate provision for Public 
 Education." It repealed the Public Schools Act of 
 1866, dissolved the Council of Education, vesting its 
 powers in a Minister of Public Instruction. The 
 main features of the measure were the suppression 
 of denominational schools and the provision for the 
 compulsory attendance at school of children between 
 the ages of six and fourteen years. One hour in 
 each day was set apart when children might be in- 
 structed by a teacher of their own persuasion, but no 
 child was to receive instruction if the parents or 
 guardians objected. The Public Instruction Act was 
 strongly opposed by a section of the adherents of the 
 Church of England and by the bulk of the Roman 
 Catholics, but was supported by the majority of the 
 people of the colony ; its third reading being carried 
 in the Assembly by a majority of forty-two to six, 
 and it became law on the 21st April, 1880. While 
 the Bill dealing with public instruction was being 
 dealt with, opportunity was taken to settle the vexed 
 question of Church School lands. A Bill was intro- 
 duced vesting the management of these lands in the 
 Legislature and applying the income derived there- 
 from for the purpose of public instruction. The Bill 
 provoked a great deal of opposition, not so much in 
 Parliament as amongst those who felt that vested in- 
 terests were affected. Counsel was heard at the bar 
 of the Assembly in support of a petition presented 
 against the Bill by the president of the Church of
 
 96 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 England Synod, and the same advocate appeared be- 
 fore the Legislative Council. Some amendments 
 were made by the Council and in part accepted by 
 the Assembly and the Bill ultimately became law. 
 
 For some reason of which the public was not aware, 
 the year 1878 showed an alarming increase in the 
 number of Chinese entering the colony; the influx 
 continued and appeared so formidable in 1881, that 
 in alarm Parliament passed the Influx of Chinese 
 Restriction Act, imposing a tax of 10 on every 
 Chinese entering the colony, and limiting the number 
 of Chinese passengers to be carried by a vessel to one 
 for every 100 tons. It is probable this Act was not 
 as strictly enforced as it might have been, for in 
 spite of its drastic provisions only a temporary check 
 was given to the alien immigration. In 1881, the 
 year in which the Act was passed, the Chinese arrivals 
 were 4,465, in 1882 the number fell to 1,007, but 
 thereafter rapidly increased so that in 1887 the ar- 
 rivals were 4,436. The continued influx of Chinese 
 led to a demand for further restrictive measures and 
 a closer application of the existing law. With this 
 latter in view, a strict watch was kept on vessels 
 coming to Newcastle and Sydney with Chinese on 
 board, and one of the first results of the awakened 
 activity was that the master of the S.S. Chelydra 
 was fined 1,000 for having on his vesselmore Chinese 
 than the law allowed. The anti-Chinese agitation 
 soon attained formidable dimensions, and was not 
 confined to New South Wales, but spread to all the 
 colonies. In Sydney the agitation had a direct effect 
 upon the Government and compelled it to somewhat 
 precipitate action. A monster meeting was held on 
 3rd May, 1888, in the Town Hall to protest against 
 the further influx of Chinese; and strongly worded
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 97 
 
 resolutions were carried. On the two following days 
 two vessels arrived in Sydney harbour, bringing a 
 large number of Chinese passengers, and the Premier, 
 Sir Henry Parkes, directed that they should be pro- 
 hibited landing. In doing so he exceeded his powers, 
 as it is plain the law could not be set aside at the will 
 of the Executive. The Chinese appealed to the 
 Courts, and the Government were compelled to give 
 way and permit their landing. This served merely 
 to increase the public ferment. On 25th June a great 
 anti-Chinese indignation meeting and procession was 
 organised and wild words were uttered; open rebel- 
 lion, defiance of the Governor, " cutting the painter," 
 and ignoring treaty rights were freely advocated. 
 Some ten days subsequently an Intercolonial Confer- 
 ence on the Chinese Question was held at Sydney, 
 under the presidency of Sir Henry Parkes. The 
 Conference were united in the opinion that the influx 
 of Chinese should be made as difficult as possible. 
 It was not deemed advisable absolutely to prohibit 
 the immigration; but it was considered that the 
 numbers privileged to land should be so limited that 
 an effective check would be given to inroads of the 
 aliens. The Parliament of New South Wales was 
 already considering a Bill when the Conference was 
 summoned, and ultimately it passed an Act which 
 went even farther in the direction of restriction than 
 recommended by the Conference. By this measure 
 vessels are prohibited from carrying to the colony 
 more than one Chinese passenger to every 300 tons ; 
 and such Chinese as wish to land are required 'to 
 pay a poll-tax of 100; they are not to engage in 
 mining, without express authority under the hand 
 and seal of the Minister for Mines ; nor are they per- 
 mitted to take advantage of the Naturalisation Act,
 
 98 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Chinese, who by birth are British subjects, do not 
 come under the provision of this restrictive legis- 
 lation; but they have to pass the educational test 
 prescribed by the Immigration Restriction Act of 
 1898. The penalty for the breach of the Chinese 
 Restriction Act is 500. 
 
 Although the measure has operated greatly to 
 restrict Chinese immigration, it is believed that a 
 number of Chinese find their way into New South 
 Wales by the " back doors " of the other colonies. 
 In 1887 the number of Chinese immigrants into New 
 South Wales was 4,436; in 1888, it had fallen to 
 1,848 ; and in 1889, to 7, and in 1899 the number was 
 36, most of whom were naturalised or British sub- 
 jects by birth. All fear of a Chinese trouble in New 
 South Wales has, with the legislation of 1888, en- 
 tirely disappeared, and tinder its operation the alien 
 population of the colony tends greatly to decrease. 
 
 In the year 1885 New South Wales gave a great 
 proof of its attachment to the Empire, and indirectly 
 of its resources, by the despatch of a military con- 
 tingent to the British army serving in the Soudan. 
 This army had been working up the Nile, with the 
 object of rescuing General Gordon who was shut up 
 in Khartoum. The fate of the gallant Gordon was 
 a matter of profound interest in the colony and the 
 acting Premier, the Hon. W. B. Dalley, cabled to 
 London offering the armed assistance of New South 
 Wales. This offer was accepted and the British 
 Government suggested the landing at Suakim, within 
 seventy days, of a force of artillery and infantry, 
 together with the necessary supply of horses. By 
 dint of great exertion, everything was got ready in 
 time, and on March 3rd, 1885, the Australian con- 
 tingent, as it was called, sailed from Sydney in the
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 99 
 
 steamships Iberis and Australasian. This was the 
 first military support ever given by these colonies to 
 the Mother Country. The plan of campaign for the 
 Egyptian expedition was altered and the assistance 
 of the little army of New South Wales volunteers 
 was not required, and the expedition returned to Syd- 
 ney, four months after its departure, without having 
 seen much service. The impression produced upon 
 the public mind of Great Britain was very great, nor 
 had that impression faded when the outbreak of war 
 in South Africa gave the opportunity for all the col- 
 onies to unite in a splendid offer of troops, which the 
 British Government gladly accepted. 
 
 Lord Augustus Loftus was succeeded by the Rt. 
 Hon. Baron Carrington as Governor of the colony, 
 on 12th December, 1885. Lord Carrington's admin- 
 istration was marked in its first year by a very un- 
 fortunate event. Nine youths were condemned to 
 death for the crime of rape. The correctness of the 
 verdict was not questioned, but it was believed by 
 many that the trial itself was unfairly conducted. 
 The offenders were all very young, and very great 
 efforts were made to obtain a reprieve. Many peti- 
 tions were signed pleading for mercy, and a deputa- 
 tion consisting of the Church of England Bishop, the 
 Roman Catholic Archbishop, Sir Henry Parkes, and 
 the Hon. W. B. Dalley, supported by a large number 
 of prominent citizens, pleaded with the Governor, but 
 without avail. Four of the youths concerned paid 
 with their lives the penalty of their offence. During 
 the agitation the Governor found himself in a po- 
 sition of great difficulty. He was the person vested 
 with the prerogative of mercy and his inclination was 
 for a reprieve, but his responsible advisers recom- 
 mended that the law should take its course, so
 
 100 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 did the judge who tried the case. A large section 
 of the community were shocked at the scandal of the 
 trial and took care that the Governor should hear 
 their views; while another section, perhaps still 
 larger, approved of an example being made of the 
 unfortunate youths, because crimes against women 
 were then very prevalent. Two results followed the 
 execution of the Mount Rennie offenders. Juries 
 have since become loath to convict for rape, where they 
 fear the death penalty will be enforced, and secondly 
 there has been a change in the functions delegated by 
 the Crown to the representative of Majesty in these 
 colonies. The prerogative of mercy, almost the last 
 vestige of real power left to a Governor, is now ex- 
 ercised on the advice of the Executive Council, just 
 as are the other formal acts of the King's repre- 
 sentative. 
 
 Sir James Martin, thrice premier and afterwards 
 Chief -Justice of the colony, died in November, 1886. 
 He was a native of Ireland, but had been brought by 
 his parents to the colony when about a year old. 
 He became interested at an early age in the politics 
 of the country and was thrice premier and attorney- 
 general and once attorney-general but not premier. 
 The filling of the high office made vacant by Sir 
 James Martin's death gave occasion to a most un- 
 seemly controversy. Sir Julian Salomons was 
 offered and accepted the appointment, but relin- 
 quished it almost immediately, without even taking 
 his seat on the bench, in consequence of an open 
 letter addressed to him by one of his fellow judges, 
 Sir William C. Wyndeyer. On the 2Yth of Novem- 
 ber, 1886, upon the resignation of Sir Julian Salo- 
 mons the Chief-Justiceship was offered and accepted 
 by the Hon. F. M. Parley, who still retains the
 
 FROM 1869 TO 1888. 301 
 
 position with the added dignity of Lieutenant Gov- 
 ernor. 
 
 On the 23rd of March, 1887, there occurred a 
 most disastrous accident at the Bulli Coal Mine, 
 about forty-five miles south of Sydney. A large 
 number of miners were at work in the mine when a 
 terrific explosion took place resulting in the loss of 
 81 lives. Most of the men entombed were married 
 and had families, and the accident sent a thrill of 
 horror throughout the whole community. Subscrip- 
 tion lists were at once opened, not only in ~New South 
 Wales, but in Victoria and the other colonies, and 
 the sum of 43,538 was thereby obtained; an amount 
 sufficient to allow of grants being made to all children 
 of tender years, made orphans by the accident, and 
 of annuities to the women who had lost their hus- 
 bands or breadwinners. 
 
 Some time after the accident a Royal Commission 
 was appointed to enquire into its cause and in due 
 time made its report, which contained various ex- 
 cellent recommendations ; but it was not for ten years 
 afterwards that a law was passed which so regulated 
 the working of mines, that the possibility of a similar 
 accident occurring is now reduced to a minimum.
 
 102 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 EECENT HISTOEY. LABOUB TROUBLES. 
 
 THE tide of prosperity in New South Wales was 
 at its full in the year 1884. In the following year, 
 however, there were not wanting signs that hard 
 times were in store for the country. After some 
 twelve years of good but slightly falling prices, 
 there was, in 1885, a fall of 12 per cent, in the 
 prices of domestic exports as compared with those 
 obtained in the previous year. This was accom- 
 panied by unpropitious seasons and would inevitably 
 have caused a depression, but a lavish expenditure 
 by the State, both from revenue and from loan pro- 
 ceeds, enabled an appearance of prosperity to be 
 maintained for a year or two longer. 
 
 In 1886 employment became scarce and wages 
 began to fall in spite of every effort made by labour 
 organisation to maintain the old rates. During 
 1885 and 1886 there was a suspension of work in 
 several of the Southern collieries in some cases ex- 
 tending to twelve months, owing to strikes and lock- 
 outs. In 1886 towards the end of August the New- 
 castle miners to the number of 6,000 went out on 
 strike. Various attempts were made to arrive at a 
 settlement, and a conference between the owners and 
 the miners' representatives was held, but without 
 avail. Then came picketing and rioting, and the 
 differences between the parties were made harder to 
 adjust by the trial and sentence of several of the
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 103 
 
 miners, for their share in the disturbances. The 
 Government took a lenient view of the miners' case 
 and released the offenders, but no satisfactory ar- 
 rangement was come to and the strike continued until 
 the middle of November, when an agreement was 
 patched up. But the arrangement was only a tem- 
 porary one, for in the middle of the following year 
 the industrial war broke out anew, and the New- 
 castle miners threw down their tools and remained on 
 strike for more than six months, the unfortunate 
 dispute not ending until the close of January, 1890. 
 In 1890 prices were again inclined downwards and 
 there was the greatest unrest in industrial circles; 
 large numbers of men were unemployed, chiefly by 
 reason of the falling off in the expenditure upon pub- 
 lic works. Everything industrial pointed to coming 
 labour troubles, while the conditions of trade pointed 
 to the certain defeat of the labour organisations. 
 There were several strikes in the first half of the 
 year 1890, but these were important only as showing 
 the general tendency of labour matters, and as pre- 
 luding the great events which were about to happen. 
 The Right Hon. W. B. Dalley, who was acting pre- 
 mier when the Soudan contingent was despatched, 
 died on the 28th October, 1888, at the comparatively 
 early age of fifty-five years. Mr. Dalley was born 
 at Sydney, where also he was educated. He entered 
 political life as one of the members for Sydney when 
 he was only twenty-five years of age, and for thirty 
 years remained prominent in political circles, al- 
 though, such was his temperament, he preferred not 
 to be a member of the Legislative Assembly. Mr. 
 Dalley occupied a seat in the Assembly for some six 
 years, but was a member of the Legislative Council
 
 104 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 for a much longer period ; he was four times a minis- 
 ter of the Crown, thrice as Attorney-General. 
 
 In 1890 the labour organisation thought them- 
 selves able to strike a blow, which would enable 
 them to secure their own terms from employers, and 
 out of this confidence grew the " great strike," so 
 called from the number of trades and the large area 
 involved. The great strike paralysed trade through- 
 out the whole of eastern Australasia from August to 
 October, 1890, and was of far-reaching importance; 
 but as it is dealt with at length in the chapter dealing 
 with the industrial history of the period it does not 
 call for a detailed description at this place, especially 
 aa the strike affected not New South Wales alone but 
 every member of the group. 
 
 From the great strike originated two movements 
 of very opposite character, having for their object the 
 benefit of the working classes. These were the estab- 
 lishment of a labour colony of Australian Bush- 
 workers in Paraguay, and the formation of a politi- 
 cal labour party. The idea of emigrating to Para- 
 guay, and the founding a colony on communistic 
 principles, originated with a number of enthusiasts 
 headed by William Lane, a Brisbane journalist, a man 
 of keen intelligence and unquestioned integrity. A 
 large number of bushworkers, all excellent colonists, 
 eagerly caught at the idea and joined the proposed 
 expedition, and Mr Lane with the utmost courage 
 faced all the difficulties of the situation, raised the 
 necessary funds and made excellent arrangements 
 for the despatch of the expedition. The advance 
 guard set sail in the Royal Tar from Sydney on 
 the 16th July, 1893, and safely arrived at Monte 
 Video; other contingents followed and established 
 themselves on the lands reserved for them by the
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 105 
 
 Paraguayan Government. Everything seemed to 
 favour the successful issue of the enterprise, but 
 though the settlement still exists it has proved a 
 complete failure. The colonists who left Australia 
 fully determined to succeed where others had failed, 
 and to preserve a community of interests and prop- 
 erty, are now split up into various factions with as 
 little of the " common brotherhood " about them as 
 if they had remained in Australia. Some of the 
 colonists were able to escape from the destitution to 
 which the settlement was reduced, but a large number 
 of others found their promised land a prison and 
 were forced to remain starving and disillusioned, 
 until they were assisted back to Australia by the 
 Government of Queensland. 
 
 The strikes of 1890 were perhaps the most com- 
 pletely organised efforts to coerce capital yet at- 
 tempted, and their failure taught the labour leaders, 
 that however perfectly labour may be organised, it 
 is powerless to defeat organised capital. The recog- 
 nition of this fact was the first step to a change in 
 tactics, and the Labour Party determined to secure 
 direct representation in Parliament and obtain by 
 legislation what strikes and physical force failed to 
 accomplish. For several years attempts haxl been 
 made by men prominent in labour circles to enter 
 Parliament; those who succeeded were, however, 
 not distinguishable from the ordinary members of the 
 party they happened to support. When the labour 
 leaders proposed to contest the general election of 
 1891 it was agreed by their candidates, that those 
 elected should stand aloof from the other parties and 
 act together to attain certain defined objects, as well 
 as generally to secure for the wage-earner a better 
 return foi his labour, than was possible under existing
 
 106 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 conditions. The direct objects of the party were em- 
 bodied in a manifesto in which the influence of a 
 single-tax wing was strongly marked. The mani- 
 festo or platform was as follows : 
 
 (I.) Electoral reform to provide for the abolition 
 of plural voting; the abolition of money deposits in 
 parliamentary elections, extension of the franchise 
 to sailors, shearers, and general labourers by means 
 of a provision for the registration of votes ; extension 
 of the franchise to policemen and soldiers ; abolition 
 of the six months residential clause as a qualification 
 for the exercise of the franchise; single member 
 electorates and equal electoral districts on adult pop- 
 ulation basis; all parliamentary elections to be held 
 on one day, and that day to be a public holiday, and 
 all public-houses to be closed during the hours of 
 polling. (II.) Free, compulsory, and technical 
 education, higher as well as elementary, to be ex- 
 tended to all alike. (III.) Eight hours to be a legal 
 maximum working day in all occupations. (IV.) 
 A Workshop and Factories Act, to provide for the 
 prohibition of the sweating system; the supervision 
 of boilers and machinery, and the appointment of 
 representative working men as inspectors. (V.) 
 'Amendment of the Mining Act; to provide for all 
 applications for mineral leases being summarily 
 dealt with by the local wardens; the strict enforce- 
 ment of labour conditions on such leases; abolition 
 of the leading system on all new gold-fields ; the right 
 to mine on private property; greater protection to 
 persons engaged in the mining industry, and inspec- 
 tors to hold certificates of competency. (VI.) Ex- 
 tension to seamen of the benefits of the Employers' 
 Liability Act. (VII.) Kepeal of the Masters and 
 Servants Act and the Agreements Validating Act.
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 107 
 
 (VIII.) Amendment of the Masters and Appren- 
 tices Act and the Trades Union Act. (IX.) Es- 
 tablishment of a Department of Labour, a national 
 bank, and a national system of water conservation 
 and irrigation. (X.) Elective Magistrates. (XL) 
 Local Government and decentralisation ; extension 
 of the principle of the Government as an employer, 
 through the medium of local self-governing bodies 5 
 the abolition of our present unjust and injurious 
 method of raising municipal revenue by the taxation 
 of improvements effected by labour. (XII.) The 
 Federation of the Colonies of Australia on a national 
 as opposed to an imperialistic basis. (XIII.) 
 The recognition in our legislative enactments of 
 the natural and alienable rights of the whole 
 community to the land upon which all must live, 
 and from which by labour all wealth is produced 
 by the taxation of that value which accrues to 
 the land by the presence and needs of the community, 
 irrespective of improvements effected by human ex- 
 ertion; and the absolute and indefeasible right of 
 property on the part of all Crown tenants in improve- 
 ments effected on the holdings. (XIV.) All Gov- 
 ernment contracts to be executed in the colony. 
 (XV.) Stamping of Chinese made furniture. 
 (XVI.) Any measure that will secure for the wage- 
 earner a fair equitable return for his or her labour. 
 
 The Labour Party contested the general election 
 of 1891 fully prepared and its success more than 
 answered its expectations. The number of seats in 
 the Assembly was 141, and of these the party secured 
 35, the supporters of the Government and the Oppo- 
 sition dividing the remaining seats nearly equally. 
 
 It is evident therefore so long as the Labour 
 Party worked as one body, they could control the
 
 108 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 business of Parliament by throwing the weight of 
 their votes into one scale or the other, for the fiscal 
 differences of the Government and the Opposition 
 were such as to make a coalition between the parties 
 quite impossible. It was not long, however, before 
 the Labour Party itself split on the fiscal issue, and 
 the protectionists made a gain of eight of their num- 
 ber. Then again the party made an attempt to 
 coerce the Parkes' ministry over the question of the 
 working hours of miners, but Sir Henry Parkes re- 
 fused to be coerced and gave up office. This brought 
 about the return to power of Sir George Dibbs. Of 
 the original 35 members of the Labour Party 18 
 voted with the new ministry and 17 with the Free 
 Trade opposition. The party of Sir George Dibbs re- 
 tained office from the 23rd of October, 1891, until the 
 dissolution, governing the country by a very slender 
 majority. The election of 1894: proved unfavour- 
 able to the Government and Sir George resigned on 
 the 2nd August, 1894, being succeeded by Mr. G. H. 
 Reid. The elections were also adverse to the Labour 
 Party. The fiscal question had divided its members 
 nearly equally and further disorganisation was 
 caused by differences on the Single-Tax question. 
 The party was reorganised and a remedy applied 
 which prevented the disunion, by which, the very 
 existence of the party was threatened. The newly 
 constituted party took what is called the solidarity 
 pledge, and on every occasion when the matter at 
 issue is important, the manner in which the vote of 
 the party will be cast is determined in caucus and 
 the whole of the party vote as the majority may de- 
 cide. A. new programme was drawn up, one more 
 possible of realisation than that originally formu- 
 lated, and, on this programme and pledged to soli-
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 109 
 
 darity, the Labour Party went to the poll. As stated 
 the result was a great reverse, the strength of the 
 party was reduced to nineteen in a House of 125 
 members. At the same time the principle of soli- 
 darity signally triumphed. The members of the 
 former Parliament who had betrayed their party, or 
 who had refused to give the pledge required, were 
 nearly all rejected; those remaining true to the party 
 and the solidarity pledge being in almost all cases 
 again returned. The lesson of their first parlia- 
 mentary experience was taken to heart; and since 
 the election of 1894, the Labour Party has presented 
 a united front to the other two sections and have on 
 various occasions shown their power and the knowl- 
 edge how to use it. Very recently the party, by 
 casting nineteen votes en Hoc, threw out of office the 
 free trade premier whom they had supported for 
 over five years, and whose position would not other- 
 wise have been assailable. The Labour Party have 
 not by any means succeeded in carrying the whole 
 of the measures they have made " planks " in their 
 platform ; they have, however, obtained several im- 
 portant pieces of legislation, which, but for the deter- 
 mination of the party, would not have become law. 
 Some part of the success of the party is undoubtedly 
 due to their wise choice of a leader, Mr. James Mc- 
 Gowan being a man of essentially moderate views, 
 whose counsels have been always in favour of the 
 attainable, and of proceeding in political matters so 
 as not to alarm, unduly, the susceptibilities of the 
 more conservative part of the population. 
 
 On the 8th May, 1891, the colony lost, by death" 
 one of its most distinguished men, Sir John Robert- 
 son, who for nearly forty years occupied a large 
 space in the political life of the colony. Sir John
 
 110 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Robertson's chief claim to the gratitude of the 
 country depends upon his Lands Acts of 1861, but 
 during the years which he held office, he was asso- 
 ciated with a great many important legislative 
 enactments, and had the unusual fortune of seeing 
 all the important projects he advocated on his en- 
 trance to public life become the law of the colony. 
 Sir John was a native of Essex, England, but arrived 
 in the colony when barely four years of age. He 
 died at the advanced age of seventy-five years. 
 
 The Earl of Jersey resigned his Governorship on 
 the 28th February, 1893, after the short administra- 
 tion of two years. The departure of Lord Jersey was 
 greatly regretted by the people of the colony, who 
 saw in him the type of Governor most pleasing to 
 them. Lord Jersey was succeeded by Sir William 
 Robert Duff, who arrived in the colony on the 29th 
 May, 1893. 
 
 On the llth February, 1892, there was a run on 
 the New South Wales Savings Bank, a semi-govern- 
 ment institution. This was the result of a malicious 
 and absolutely groundless rumour. The Government 
 notified that the bank had its support and the run 
 ceased. Twelve months afterwards occurred the 
 most serious financial crisis that Australia has ex- 
 perienced, a crisis which shook the credit of the col- 
 ony to its foundations, but which was not alto- 
 gether unexpected. The Government of New South 
 Wales had prepared a Bill for the regulation of 
 Banking, but, after mature consideration, it was not 
 considered advisable to introduce the Bill, lest its 
 stringent provisions should have the effect of has- 
 tening the fall of certain institutions whose collapse 
 appeared inevitable. The crisis was an Australian 
 one, but most severely felt in the three eastern colo-
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 
 
 nies and in Tasmania. The first to feel the awaken- 
 ing of the public distrust were the building societies 
 and land companies, and a number of these, from 
 the loose and unprincipled way in which their busi- 
 ness had been conducted, were unable to resist the 
 drain on their resources, and their fall undermined 
 the position of kindred societies that otherwise would 
 have been perfectly safe. Bank after bank sus- 
 pended payment and panic was in the air. Sir 
 George Dibbs was premier at the time, and, with 
 the consent of Parliament, took the bold step of de- 
 claring bank-notes legal tender and of advancing to 
 any one who applied legal tender Treasury Notes 
 to the extent of half the amount of such person's 
 current account locked up in the suspended banks. 
 These Treasury Notes were payable in gold at the 
 expiration of five years from time of issue. The 
 action of the Government tended greatly to allay the 
 panic, as will be seen from the fact that although 
 the Treasury might have been called upon to advance 
 2,400,000 against current accounts, the sum actu- 
 ally applied for was only 358,000. It was long, 
 however, before public confidence fully recovered 
 from the staggering blow which it received at the 
 bank crisis, and it is admitted that were it not for 
 the courageous action of Sir George Dibbs at every 
 phase of the crisis, the effects would have been still 
 more deplorable. 
 
 In 1894 occurred the death of Sir Alfred Stephen, 
 thirty-five years a judge and twenty-nine years 
 Chief-Justice of New South Wales. He was born 
 at St. Kitts in the West Indies in the year 1802, and 
 was therefore 92 years of age at the time of his 
 death. Sir Alfred Stephen was several times Ad- 
 ministrator of the Government of New South Wales
 
 112 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and in 1875 was appointed Lieutenant-Governor, a 
 post which he held at his death. He was the recip- 
 ient of many honours from the Crown, and was with- 
 out doubt one of the most distinguished figures in 
 the history of Australia. Early in the following 
 year another notable personage passed away, viz., 
 Sir William Montague Manning, Chancellor of the 
 University of Sydney and a member of the Legisla- 
 tive Council of "New South Wales. Sir William 
 Manning was solicitor-general at the time respon- 
 sible government was introduced, and was for many 
 years a judge of the Supreme Court. 
 
 In March, 1895, died Sir William Kobert Duff, 
 Governor of the colony in succession to the Earl of 
 Jersey. Sir Robert was sixty years of age at his 
 death and had been in the colony less than two years. 
 It is noteworthy that he is the first Governor of New 
 South Wales who died in office. 
 
 Reference has been made to the outcry raised 
 against the administration of justice and the action 
 of the judge in the Mount Rennie case. Some nine 
 years later, the same judge presided over the trial 
 of a case of attempted murder, and his conduct of the 
 trial provoked a cry of indignation even greater 
 than took place in 1886, when the lads concerned in 
 the Mount Rennie affair were condemned. George 
 Dean, an ignorant and obscure ferry boat captain, 
 growing tired of his wife, to whom he had been 
 married a few years only, attempted to get rid of her 
 by the aid of poison. The attempt was somewhat 
 clumsy, and the case appeared clear to the magis- 
 trate who conducted the preliminary investigation. 
 Dean was committed to take his trial in the Supreme 
 Court and his defence was undertaken by a solicitor 
 earned Meagher. Mr. Justice Windeyer presided
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 113 
 
 at the trial and Dean was found guilty and sentenced 
 to be hanged. The jury however recommended him 
 to mercy, on the ground that he had been instrumen- 
 tal in saving several persons from drowning. Before 
 the Executive Council could deal with the case, there 
 arose a strong public agitation, not merely for the 
 commutation of the condemned man's sentence, but 
 for his release, on the ground that he had had an 
 unfair trial. The cause of George Dean was taken 
 up in the most extraordinary way and by many 
 representative persons. He was speedily trans- 
 formed from a murderer into a hero. Had he not 
 at the risk of his life saved the lives of his fellows ? 
 Was the theory of wife poisoning compatible with 
 his fine, open, engaging countenance? His manly 
 bearing? His previous good conduct? The agita- 
 tion prevailed, and although the judge was absolutely 
 convinced of the prisoner's guilt, his sentence was 
 commuted to imprisonment for life. This however 
 did not satisfy Dean's friends and the agitation con- 
 tinued. Not only was Dean not deserving of death 
 at the hands of his country, but he was a deeply 
 injured man, whose wife and mother-in-law had ad- 
 ministered poison to the wife herself, in order to 
 secure the hanging of the unfortunate husband. The 
 judge came in for the most severe castigation, and it 
 was unfortunate that there were incidents connected 
 with the trial which savoured of unfairness towards 
 the prisoner, and so his friends claimed for Dean 
 his unconditional release. The persons clamouring 
 for Dean's release were in a position to make their 
 voices heard, for Meagher, the prisoner's solicitor, 
 who had since the beginning of the agitation and 
 on the strength of his advocacy of the claims of in- 
 jured innocence, been elected to Parliament, was
 
 114 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 able to plead his cause before the highest tribunal 
 of the land. A Royal Commission was appointed 
 to re-open the case, which after hearing much fresh 
 evidence, especially in regard to the character of the 
 parties, came to the conclusion that George Dean 
 was not guilty. So the man was pardoned and 
 released. 
 
 Shortly after his release had been ordered it trans- 
 pired that Meagher, George Dean's solicitor, had said 
 that he was aware of his client's guilt and the matter 
 was mentioned in the Legislative Council, and after- 
 wards Sir Julian Salomons, to whom Meagher had 
 disclosed the fact that he knew Dean was guilty, 
 moved the adjournment of the Council and made an 
 important statement to the House with regard to the 
 matter. Meagher replied in the Assembly to Sir 
 Julian's speech, and flatly denied having made any 
 admissions whatever touching his client's guilt, while 
 Dean followed this up with an affidavit in which he 
 solemnly protested his innocence. The Attorney- 
 General, having proof of Dean's guilt and feeling 
 certain of his position, issued warrants for the ar- 
 rest of Messrs. Crick and Meagher on a charge of 
 attempting to defeat the ends of justice. Mr. 
 Crick easily cleared himself, and Meagher, by a 
 statement made in his place in Parliament, con- 
 fessed that he had deceived his partner and the 
 country and expressed his sorrow for his conduct. 
 Meagher resigned his seat in the Assembly and was 
 further punished by being struck off the roll of 
 solicitors. George Dean having received a pardon 
 for his attempted murder could not therefore be sent 
 back to gaol for that crime, but he was rearrested for 
 perjury in connection with his affidavit and, being 
 found guilty, was sent to penal servitude for four-
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. 115 
 
 teen years. The Dean case is distinguishable from 
 other criminal cases from the fact that it was the 
 means by which several promising careers were 
 wrecked, and by which the reputations of several 
 persons who stood high in the political life of the 
 country were imperilled. 
 
 Sir Henry Parkes died on 27th April, 1896. He 
 was for many years before his death the most con- 
 spicuous figure in the public life of Australia, and 
 had administered the affairs of ISTew South Wales 
 for a longer period than any other person. Born at 
 Stoneleigh in Warwickshire he had very little 
 schooling, having been compelled at a very early age 
 to earn his own living. The want of early education 
 he made up for by constant study and wide reading, 
 so that in his after life he was amongst the best in- 
 formed persons in the colony. He was twenty-four 
 years of age when he left his native country to settle 
 in Australia, and his early experience of colonisation 
 was extremely bitter, as he arrived in ~New Soutli 
 Wales shortly before the acute crisis of 1843, and 
 necessity compelled him to follow any occupation 
 however uncongenial at which he could earn a liveli- 
 hood. In 1848 he made his first appearance in 
 politics as one of the secretaries of the committee 
 which secured the election of Robert Lowe, afterwards 
 Lord Sherbrooke, as representative of the town of 
 Sydney in the Legislative Council, and in 1849 he 
 became closely identified with the agitation for the 
 abolition of transportation. His entrance on the 
 possession of political power may however be dated 
 from the year 1850, when Mr. Parkes began the pub- 
 lication of the Empire newspaper, which he carried 
 on for seven years. The Empire from a literary and 
 political point of view was very ably conducted. Mr.
 
 116 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Parkes soon became a person of great consequence. 
 He strongly opposed Wentworth's constitution and 
 allied himself with men of strong democratic lean- 
 ings, and was one of the first men of importance to 
 encourage the demand for an eight-hour day. In 
 1853 he made an unsuccessful attempt to enter the 
 old elective Legislative Council as a member for 
 Sydney, but next year he was successful. Thence- 
 forward he was in the front rank of politics, but the 
 political career of Sir Henry Parkes does not need 
 recounting as it is written in the history of this col- 
 ony. Sir Henry Parkes was knighted in the year 
 1877, a similar honour being conferred upon his old- 
 time opponent, John Robertson. 
 
 Sir Henry was a very voluminous writer on politi- 
 cal subjects, but besides he published several volumes 
 of poetry, as well as a lengthy work of semi-auto- 
 biographical character entitled Fifty Years of the 
 Making of Australian History. Sir Henry Parkes 
 often claimed that his name was affixed to more 
 acts of Parliament than any other person's, and 
 his boast was a just one. Of all the laws of major 
 importance with which his name was associated, he 
 was most proud of the Municipalities Act, the Volun- 
 teer Act, Public Instruction Act, and the Railways 
 Act, all very comprehensive measures. 
 
 The Government of Sir George Dibbs gave way in 
 1894 to one formed by Mr. G. H. Reid. The new 
 ministry had difficulties with the Legislative Council 
 almost from the start of its career; the Council 
 differing with the Government in regard to its policy 
 of direct taxation. Mr. Reid's ministry succeeded 
 in passing several measures of primary importance. 
 Of these the principal ones were a Customs Ac.t in- 
 troducing a policy of extreme free trade j Acts im-
 
 LABOUR TROUBLES. J J 7 
 
 posing Land and Income taxes; a Public Service 
 Act placing the appointment and promotion of offi- 
 cers of the State in the hands of three commission- 
 ers independent of political control; a Crown Lands 
 Act, and the Federal Enabling Act. Mr. Keid lost 
 office in September, 1899, having held his post for 
 five years and one month, a longer period than any 
 previous premier; he was succeeded by Mr. W. J. 
 Lyne, under the auspices of whose government the 
 "New South Wales contingent was sent to South 
 Africa.
 
 PART THREE. 
 VICTOEIA. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 
 
 VICTORIA has the distinction of containing the 
 first portion of Australia sighted by Captain Cook 
 in 1770. From Point Hicks, however, he turned 
 northwards, and for nearly thirty years the south- 
 eastern corner of the continent remained undis- 
 turbed by visits from white men. At the beginning 
 of the year 1798, however, George Bass, in a whale- 
 boat manned by six sailors, after touching at Ram 
 Head and rounding Wilson's Promontory, where he 
 encountered the strong tides which suggested to him 
 the existence of the strait which now bears his 
 name, cast anchor in Western Port. Having re- 
 paired his craft, he made some examination of the 
 harbour. The scarcity of fresh water was a great 
 difficulty, the only supply discoverable being fur- 
 nished by a winding creek on its eastern side. Dur- 
 ing his stay only a few blacks were seen and a few 
 kangaroos ; " but black swans went by hundreds in a 
 flight, and ducks a small but excellent kind by 
 thousands." 
 
 Three years later, Lieutenant Grant, in the Lady
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. H9 
 
 Nelson, visited Western Port. At his arrival he 
 found Schnapper Island (so named by him) " cov- 
 ered with seals, numbers of which on our approach 
 precipitated themselves into the sea, whilst others 
 remained on the rocks, making a very disagreeable 
 noise, somewhat like the grunting of pigs. They 
 were of large size, many of them being nearly equal 
 to that of a bullock." The whole of the coast, in 
 fact, abounded with these animals and soon became 
 the resort of sealers. Grant gave a more favourable 
 description of the surrounding district than many 
 succeeding voyagers. He found an extensive and 
 level country, where the soil was rich and the grass 
 abundant. In his opinion there was no land about 
 Sydney or Parramatta better adapted for agriculture. 
 Grant, indeed, may be regarded as the pioneer of 
 farming in Victoria. Having discovered on the 
 coast a beautiful well-wooded island, he conceived 
 the idea of clearing a space and planting a garden 
 upon it. The sole implement of husbandry possessed 
 by his people was a coal shovel ; but as the soil was 
 loose and easily worked, the shovel proved equal to 
 the task. Various seeds were sown, and when, six 
 months later, Lieutenant Murray, who succeeded to 
 the command of the Lady Nelson, returned to 
 Western Port, he visited the island, which Grant had 
 named Churchill Island, and held the first Victorian 
 harvest-home. The wheat was found to be in full 
 vigour, " six feet high and almost ripe." The onions 
 had also "grown into seed," but the potatoes had 
 disappeared, having evidently been devoured by bush 
 animals. " I never," Murray says, " saw finer 
 wheat or corn in my life, the straw being very 
 nearly as large as young sugar-cane." Victorians, 
 who very properly pride themselves upon the present
 
 120 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 advanced state of agriculture in their colony, may 
 recall with, pleasure this first attempt at wheat 
 growing. 
 
 Having sent his lieutenant, Bowen, to investigate 
 the entrance of Port Phillip and having received a 
 favourable report from him, Murray removed from 
 Western Port, and on the 15th February, 1802, 
 guided the Lady Nelson, all her sails set, into a 
 vast land-locked hay, which he called Port King, but 
 which is now known as Port Phillip. Murray, 
 whose log is more than usually interesting, described 
 the southern shore as consisting of " bold high land 
 not clothed, as all the land of Western Port is, with 
 thick bush, but with stout trees of various kinds," 
 in some places " falling nothing short in beauty and 
 appearance to Greenwich Park." To the east were 
 mountains, one of which he called Arthur's Seat, in 
 memory of the hill overlooking Edinburgh. Getting 
 out of his boat, he went ashore and " walked through 
 woods for a couple of miles. The ground was hard 
 and pleasant to walk upon," and no undergrowth im- 
 peded their progress. The next day he made further 
 explorations and had a brush with a party of treach- 
 erous aboriginals. " On the 8th March the United 
 Colours of Great Britain and Ireland were hoisted 
 on board and on Point Patterson, and at one 
 o'clock, under a discharge of three volleys of small 
 arms and artillery, the port was taken possession of 
 in the name of His Majesty George the Third, etc." 
 The lieutenant naively adds : " Served double allow- 
 ance of grog." 
 
 Owing probably to the failure of provisions and to 
 the fact that his boats were unseaworthy Murray was 
 unable to make a thorough survey of the harbour. 
 That was reserved for Flinders, who, in the Investi-
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 121 
 
 gator, entered Port Phillip on the 27th April of the 
 same year. At first he supposed it to be Western 
 Port, although the narrow entrance did not corre- 
 spond with the description given by Bass. In the 
 course of his survey Flinders failed to find any 
 " runs of fresh water." In 1803, however, Mr. 
 Grimes, surveyor-general of New South Wales, 
 found several streams, and " in particular a small 
 river falling into the northern head of the har- 
 bour." The river was no doubt the Yarra, and is 
 marked in the chart subsequently prepared by Flin- 
 ders. 
 
 In recording these preliminaries to the settlement 
 of Victoria, it is necessary to bear in mind that at the 
 beginning of the nineteenth century England was 
 in the midst of a life and death struggle with Na- 
 poleon. No actual fighting occurred in Australian 
 waters, but it is quite clear the British authorities 
 had to keep a watchful eye on the movement of 
 all French vessels in the South Seas. It is equally 
 clear that the various expeditions fitted out by Na- 
 poleon had more than scientific objects in view. 
 French rivalry and the danger of French annexation 
 were solid facts and had to be reckoned with by the 
 early colonists of Australia. That the danger was 
 not of a more serious character can only be ascribed 
 to two things to pure luck, and the destruction of 
 the French naval power by Nelson. 
 
 It was the fear of French aggression constantly 
 pressed upon the motive of the Colonial Office by 
 Governor King, that led to the first attempt to plant 
 a colony in Victoria. Acting on King's advice, the 
 Imperial Government despatched in 1803 H.M.S. 
 Calcutta and the transport Ocean with 299 convicts; 
 the whole expedition being under the command of
 
 122 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Colonel David Collins, formerly Advocate-General 
 of New South Wales. Collins, who had almost a free 
 hand in the choice of a site, decided to give Port 
 Phillip a trial. The Calcutta arrived there on the 
 10th October, and found the Ocean already at anchor. 
 Before landing, Collins spent two days exploring the 
 bay, and the impression he formed was extremely un- 
 favourable. The soil was pronounced sandy and un- 
 fit, for cultivation; water could be procured only by 
 soakage into perforated casks sunk in the sand ; and 
 hostile blacks were reported to be in great strength 
 at the head of the bay. It was easy for a man of his 
 turn of mind to conjure up difficulties. His orders, 
 however, obliged him to land and discharge the store- 
 ship. The spot selected, now known as Sorrento, was 
 a series of sand-hills, by no means calculated to allay 
 the morbid apprehensions which he had entertained 
 from the beginning. A camp was formed and then 
 fresh troubles arose. The convicts were not easy to 
 manage. Some of them escaped into the bush. 
 Among the escapees was one William Buckley, who 
 was found thirty years afterwards living in a state of 
 savagery. 
 
 Collins' reports were so gloomy and so disparaging 
 that Governor King sanctioned the removal of the 
 settlement either to Port Dalrymple, or to the Der- 
 went. Collins made all haste to strike camp and de- 
 part from a spot where he had been a prey to morbid 
 misgivings, which found utterance in predictions 
 that sound strangely in modern ears. 
 
 " When all the disadvantages," he wrote, " at- 
 tending the bay are publicly known, it cannot be sup- 
 posed that commercial people will be very desirous of 
 visiting Port Phillip." This foreboding can only be 
 matched by the parting shot of a lieutenant on the
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 123 
 
 Calcutta, who wrote that the " Kangaroo seems to 
 reign undisturbed lord of the soil a dominion which, 
 by the evacuation of Port Phillip, he is likely to re- 
 tain for ages." 
 
 The failure of Collins' expedition was not an un- 
 mixed evil. It certainly gave Port Phillip an evil 
 reputation which it by no means deserved, but it 
 saved Victoria from the stain of convictism. 
 
 The evacuation took place in 1804, and but for the 
 visits of sealers and whalers, the Port Phillip region 
 was left severely alone for the next twenty years. 
 The authorities, it is true, always had an uneasy feel- 
 ing that France might pounce upon a district which 
 England had failed to occupy effectively. They con- 
 tented themselves, however, with simply watching 
 the course of events. The sealers and whalers planted 
 stations along the coasts and the trade prospered ; but 
 it was none of their business to open the eyes of the 
 Government to the possible value of -the country; 
 even if they had any views on the subject, which is 
 doubtful. Very little was done until Hamilton 
 Hume and Captain Hovell, in 1824, made the first 
 overland journey from IsTew South Wales to Port 
 Phillip. On November 16th they arrived at the 
 banks of a broad serpentine river, the approach to 
 which was rendered difficult by a succession of la- 
 goons. This was the white man's first sight of the 
 Murray. Four days later they succeeded in crossing 
 it by means of a boat " hastily constructed of wicker 
 covered with tarpaulins." Their course then lay 
 across tributaries of the Murray and various spurs 
 of the Dividing Range, until, from Mount Hodo- 
 meter, they beheld a wide panorama of plain and 
 forest country, extending to the utmost verge of the 
 horizon. Pursuing their journey southward over the
 
 124: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 plains, they suddenly found themselves in view of 
 the sea. The land in the immediate vicinity they 
 described as excellent, but clear of timber. The 
 " water near the shore was covered with wild fowl ; " 
 among them many ducks and black swans, which 
 enabled them to replenish their larder. 
 
 It is more than probable that both the explorers 
 were under the impression that the point reached was 
 on the shores of Western Port. Hume's letters show 
 that he, as well as his companion, at first entertained 
 this idea. Afterwards, however, he gave out that he 
 did not share the mistake into which, he said, Hovell 
 alone had fallen. The wordy warfare between the 
 explorers is not cheerful reading and is not of much 
 interest now. Their actual achievement, on the 
 other hand, was of the utmost importance. The ex- 
 pedition disclosed the existence of much fine sheep 
 country and removed the condemnation under which 
 Victoria had lain since the attempt of Collins. 
 
 Partly as a result of the glowing reports brought 
 back by Hume and Hovell, and partly as a result of 
 renewed apprehension of French design, Governor 
 Darling made an effort to plant a colony at Western 
 Port. The expedition consisted of a party of con- 
 victs, in charge of Captains Wright and Wetherell, 
 who were accompanied by Hovell, the explorer. 
 They landed on Phillip Island, where they found a 
 party of sealers ; but afterwards removed their camp 
 to the eastern side of the port. At first they were 
 disposed to think well of the locality, but many dis- 
 advantages were discovered. The shores were sur- 
 rounded by mud flats and the country inland was 
 reported to be sterile, swampy, and impenetrable. 
 Captain Wright informed the Governor that Western 
 Port did " not possess sufficient capabilities for colon-
 
 VOYAGES OF DISCOVERY. 125 
 
 isation on a large scale." It is but fair to the 
 memory of Hovell to say that, in a report furnished 
 by him, a much more hopeful view of the situation 
 was taken. The abandonment of the settlement can- 
 not in justice be ascribed to him.
 
 126 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK X. 
 
 THE HENTYS AT PORTLAND BAT. 
 
 THAT Port Phillip should have been so long ne- 
 glected is somewhat singular, especially in view of 
 the danger of French annexation. But there was in 
 those days and for many years to come a strange tim- 
 idity exhibited by the Imperial Government in re- 
 gard to the occupation of new territories. It was 
 thought, and not without some show of reason, that 
 sporadic settlements at great distances from each 
 other would be expensive and difficult to manage ; and 
 Colonial Governors agreed with Secretaries of State 
 in discouraging them. Their principal endeavour, 
 indeed, was to concentrate the colonists as much as 
 possible. Even the extension of the pastoral popula- 
 tion inland was regarded with disfavour. In 1834 a 
 proposition made by Colonel Verner, M.P., for the 
 purchase of land at Twofold Bay was rejected, and 
 Lord Aberdeen, in a despatch to Sir Kichard Bourke, 
 the Governor of New South Wales, spoke strongly 
 against the further dispersion of the colonists. 
 
 But what the State, wedded to a policy of caution, 
 refused to countenance or aid, was at that very time 
 being carried out by private enterprise. Indeed the 
 history of British colonisation suggests that, instead 
 of it being true that trade follows the flag, the exact 
 contrary is the truth. A book might easily be writ- 
 ten, upon unauthorised builders of Empire, and the
 
 THE HENTYS. 127 
 
 history of Australasia would present several good 
 examples. 
 
 For some years past, as has been seen, the coasts 
 of what is now called Victoria were the hunting 
 grounds of many sealers and whalers. Although they 
 kept to the shores, they may in a sense be regarded as 
 voortreklcers of settlement. The permanent occu- 
 piers of the whaling-stations were a wild, daredevil, 
 semi-barbarous crew; noted rum-drinkers, outlaws 
 from the pale of respectable society ; but for all their 
 sodden ways, they were bold adventurers and pio- 
 neers, about whom it is a pity we know so little. It 
 was this rum-drinking " horde " that spread the fame 
 of the land at the northern end of Bass Strait, and 
 so whetted the appetite of enterprising Tasmanians. 
 Between 1830 and 1840 an exodus from Tasmania 
 set in towards Victoria. " The Hentys led this in- 
 vasion; Batman and Eawkner carried it on in an- 
 other direction." Tasmania was indeed the mother 
 of Victoria. 
 
 The Henty family deserves more than a passing 
 mention. The father, Thomas Henty, was a Sussex 
 farmer and banker, who kept nocks of merino sheep, 
 originally purchased at the sale of George III.'s 
 flock. As a sheep-owner he had had several business 
 transactions with Australian colonists; and in 1829 
 he sent three of his seven sons to join the newly- 
 founded settlement in Western Australia. They 
 took with them a large establishment; no less than 
 forty servants, and a considerable quantity of stock, 
 which entitled them to a grant of over 80,000 acres 
 of land. They were, however, disappointed in the 
 quality of the land assigned to them, and, after wast- 
 ing much of their capital, they proceeded in 1832 to 
 Tasmania. There they were soon joined by their
 
 128 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 father, who also paid a brief visit to Western Aus- 
 tralia. On the way thither he is said to have called 
 at Portland Bay, which impressed him as a suitable 
 place for settlement. 
 
 When the Hentys reached Tasmania they found 
 that the system of making fpee grants of land had 
 been abolished the year before, and that there was, 
 consequently, little scope for operations on a large 
 scale. This circumstance caused them to turn their 
 attention to Portland Bay, the country in the vicinity 
 of which they appear to have explored. Memorials 
 were presented to the Home Government asking per- 
 mission to acquire property there, but before the ques- 
 tion was dealt with, Edward and Stephen Henty had 
 chartered a ship and conveyed live stock, implements 
 and labourers to Portland Bay. The die was cast, 
 the promoters of the enterprise knowing that they ran 
 the risk of receiving no protection or authorisation 
 from the Government. All that Mr. Henty now 
 sought was a pledge that should Portland Bay ever 
 become a Government colony, his possession should 
 be confirmed. This pledge Lord Aberdeen refused to 
 give, although he held out some hope that Mr. 
 Henty's " pretensions to any land, actually brought 
 into cultivation and surrounded by a fence, might be 
 favourably regarded at a future occasion." This 
 was in 1835, and in fulfilment of the vague promise 
 then made, the Messrs. Henty received in 1846 a 
 grant of land in or near the town of Portland, esti- 
 mated at the time to be worth 2,000. 
 
 The success which attended the enterprise is clear 
 proof of the ability and pluck of the founders of 
 Portland. They imported, in small sailing vessels, 
 sheep, cattle, pigs; they cultivated the ground; and 
 to sheep-farming and agriculture they added whaling,
 
 THE HENTYS. 129 
 
 which at first was a profitable industry. So rapid 
 was the progress made that six years after the com- 
 mencement of operations, they estimated the value 
 of their improvements to be 15,000. They had six 
 separate stations, three of which were in the open 
 country about sixty miles inland. Their house at 
 Portland Bay contained twelve rooms; and round 
 the homestead clustered barns, stores, stables, black- 
 smith's shop, carpenter's shop, dairy, etc. At that 
 time fifty-three persons were employed on their 
 estate. They had also cleared a considerable area of 
 land, and made a good road to their inland stations, 
 in the course of which three rivers had to be bridged. 
 
 When in 1840 Mr. Blair was sent as police magis- 
 trate to Portland Bay, he reported that the town- 
 ship contained at least 100 souls, and that the popula- 
 tion of the entire district amounted to 600. During 
 the preceding twelve months forty-nine vessels had 
 visited the port, and Mr. Blair anticipated that 1,700 
 bales of wool were likely to be shipped that year. 
 
 It was this settlement that Major Mitchell found 
 in 1836 to be the only outpost of civilisation in a 
 country whose natural attractions had drawn from 
 him the title Australia Felix. It was a red-letter 
 day when the surveyor-general of New South 
 Wales, issuing from the hitherto untrodden interior, 
 shook hands with Edward Henty in the blacksmith's 
 shop at Portland Bay. 
 
 Six years previously Captain Sturt had made his 
 famous journey down the Murray to the sea. But 
 his expedition was almost wholly riverine, and con- 
 sequently threw little light upon the country between 
 the lower Murray and the path followed by Hume. 
 Mitchell, after confirming Sturt's opinion that the 
 Darling joined the Murray, crossed the latter river
 
 130 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 just below its junction with the Murrumbidgee, and 
 entered upon a memorable tour of discovery. With 
 every step he took his elation grew higher and higher, 
 and his narrative is, in consequence, full of a cheery, 
 almost poetic, optimism that contrasts pleasantly 
 with the deadly monotony so characteristic of Aus- 
 tralian tales of exploration. The reflections that oc- 
 curred to him when seated on the top of Pyramid 
 Hill may be taken as a fair specimen of the enthusi- 
 asm with which this goodly country inspired him. 
 " The scene," he says, " was different from anything 
 I had ever before witnessed, either in New South 
 Wales or elsewhere, a land so inviting and still with- 
 out inhabitants. As I stood, the first intruder on the 
 sublime solitude of these verdant plains as yet un- 
 touched by flocks and herds, I felt conscious of being 
 the harbinger of mighty changes there; for our steps 
 would soon be followed by the men and animals for 
 which it seemed to have been prepared." Crossing 
 and naming the Lodden and Avoca, delighted at 
 every stage by the sight of beautiful streams and val- 
 leys and grassy forest-land, he skirted the Dividing 
 Range, and on July 18th feached the headwaters of 
 the Wimmera. Twelve days later he struck the Glen- 
 elg; and launching his boats, proceeded down the 
 river through country " the finest imaginable, either 
 for sheep or cattle or cultivation." 
 
 On the 27th August the expedition reached the 
 sea, where Mitchell was disappointed at finding a 
 sandy bar instead of a good harbour. Still supposing 
 himself the only white intruder on these fertile wilds, 
 he returned to his depot up the Glenelg, and then 
 made a journey on horseback to the east. From 
 Mount Napier he obtained his first view of Portland 
 Bay, about fifteen miles distant. What he found
 
 THE HENTYS. 131 
 
 there on the following day and his surprise thereat 
 may be best described in his own language. " Pro- 
 ceeding round the bay with the intention of exam- 
 ining the head of the inlet and continuing along the 
 shores as far as Cape Bridgewater, I was struck 
 with the resemblance to houses that some supposed 
 grey rocks under the grassy cliffs presented; and 
 while I directed my glass towards them, my servant 
 Brown said he saw a brig at anchor ; a fact of which 
 I was soon convinced, and also that the grey rocks 
 were in reality wooden houses. We ascended these 
 cliffs near the wooden houses, which proved to be 
 some deserted sheds of the whalers. One shot was 
 heard as we drew near these sheds, and another on 
 our ascending the rocks. I then became somewhat 
 apprehensive that the parties might either be, or sup- 
 pose us to be, bushrangers, and to prevent, if possible, 
 some such awkward mistake, I ordered the men to 
 fire a gun and sound the bugle ; but on reaching the 
 higher ground we discovered not only a beaten track, 
 but the track of two carts, and while we were fol- 
 lowing up the latter a man came towards us from 
 the face of the cliffs. He informed me in answer to 
 my questions that the vessel at anchor was the Eliza- 
 beth of Launceston; and that just round the point 
 there was a considerable farming establishment be- 
 longing to the Messrs. Henty, who were then at the 
 house." 
 
 He was kindly received by the Hentys, and dur- 
 ing his stay was greatly impressed by the flourishing 
 condition of the settlement. " A good garden 
 stocked with abundance of vegetables already smiled 
 on Portland Bay ; the soil was very rich on the over- 
 hanging cliffs, and the potatoes and turnips produced 
 there surpassed in magnitude and quality any I
 
 132 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 had ever seen elsewhere. I learned that the bay was 
 much resorted to by vessels engaged in the whaling 
 industry, and that upwards of 700 tons of oil had 
 been shipped there that season. Messrs. Henty were 
 importing sheep and cattle as fast as vessels could 
 bring them over." 
 
 On the return journey Mitchell made a detour to 
 the east, discovering more valuable country, ready to 
 the hand of the coloniser. From Mount Macedon he 
 recognised Port Phillip and the intervening coun- 
 try around it, " at a distance afterwards ascertained 
 to be upwards of fifty miles from Indented Head, 
 which proved to be the first cape I saw. At that 
 vast distance I could trace no signs of life about the 
 harbour." He does not appear to have been aware 
 of the events which were taking place at Port Phillip 
 and which will be described in the next chapter.
 
 BATMAN AND FAWKNER. 133 
 
 CHAPTEE XL 
 
 BATMAN AND FAWKNER. 
 
 IN the same year in which the Hentys settled at 
 Portland Bay an association was formed in Tasmania 
 to obtain land for pastoral purposes in the Port Phil- 
 lip district. The promoter of this company was John 
 Batman, a native of Parramatta, who since 1821 
 had resided in Tasmania, where he had distinguished 
 himself hy capturing the noted bushranger Brady. 
 In 1827 he had applied for leave to join Wright's 
 settlement in Western Port, proposing to ship there 
 stock to the value of 5,000. His application was 
 dismissed, but when the success of Henty's venture 
 got to be known, he determined to act without official 
 authority, in the hope that his intended occupation 
 would be respected by the Government. His plan was 
 to open up communication with the natives and ob- 
 tain from them grants of land ; and it does not seem 
 to have occurred to him that the Government might 
 question the validity of any contracts made between 
 himself and the natives. 
 
 Accompanied by a few white men and some New 
 South Wales aborigines, he left Launceston on the 
 12th May, 1835. Bad weather ensued, and the voy- 
 age to Port Phillip took nineteen days. He landed 
 first at Indented Head, where he soon satisfied him- 
 self that the adjoining country was well adapted for 
 sheep-rearing. On the second day he endeavoured to 
 get into touch with some blacks whose fires had been 
 
 K
 
 134: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 seen the previous evening. On arrival at the spot it 
 was found that the natives had departed. The ex- 
 plorers thereupon gave chase, and ultimately came 
 up with a party of twenty women and twenty-four 
 children, to whom they made a liberal present of 
 blankets and trinkets, hoping thereby to enlist the 
 friendly feeling of the tribe to which they belonged. 
 Some days after, the Rebecca was sailed up the bay 
 to the mouth of the Yarra, where the party landed. 
 Following the left bank of the river, they came upon 
 parklike pasture lands, which must have gladdened 
 the heart of Batman, who was an experienced pastor- 
 al ist. Two days they marched through similar coun- 
 try, till at last they came up with the tribe they were 
 in search of. The meeting place is usually located 
 on the banks of the Merri Creek, but authorities dif- 
 fer on the point. Friendly relations having been 
 established, Batman explained to his own satisfaction 
 and apparently to the satisfaction of the natives the 
 nature of the proposals he had to make. It was his 
 desire, he said, to purchase from them a tract of 
 country upon which he and his family might settle 
 with flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. In return 
 for the land he undertook to pay them an annual 
 tribute, in addition to the purchase " money," which 
 consisted of blankets, knives, etc., so arranged as to 
 whet the appetite of the simple black fellow. Little 
 persuasion was required. With alacrity and evident 
 light-heartedness, the chiefs attached their marks to 
 a contract which had been drawn up in skeleton be- 
 fore Batman left Launceston. By this deed they 
 were supposed to have made over to Batman's com- 
 pany a tract of country extending from Merri Creek 
 to Indented Head, in all about 600,000 acres. It is 
 hardly necessary to say that they had no idea of the
 
 BATMAN AND FAWKNER. 135 
 
 meaning of the contract, and that for the same dis- 
 play of gifts they would have signed their own death 
 warrant. Batman, however, seems to have been un- 
 aware of the humour of the situation. 
 
 Elated with this stroke of business, he rejoined 
 the Rebecca, which was lying at anchor in the Yarra, 
 and after selecting a site which he considered suit- 
 able for a village, he returned to Indented Head. 
 There he left some of his party, with instructions, 
 no doubt, to warn off possible interlopers. The 
 leader himself repaired to Tasmania to report the 
 success of his negotiations and to enlist the interest 
 of Governor Arthur in the proposed settlement. 
 
 During his absence a rival expedition appeared in 
 Port Phillip. This had been organised by John Pas- 
 coe Fawkner, originally for the purpose of taking up 
 land in the vicinity of Western Port. The expedi- 
 tion, which, owing to the illness of Fawkner, was led 
 by Captain Lancey, not finding that district to its 
 liking, went round to Port Phillip, which was entered 
 on the 16th August, 1835. On the 29th the Enter- 
 prise, the craft in which they sailed, proceeded up 
 the Yarra for about eight miles, when some falls 
 prevented their further progress by water. This 
 spot, the same as that already selected for a village 
 by Batman, was surrounded by picturesque undu- 
 lating country, lightly timbered, and parklike in 
 appearance. Having landed their belongings, the 
 immigrants lost no time in setting to work to clear 
 the ground for a camp. In the midst of their work 
 they were interrupted by the unexpected appearance 
 of one of Batman's party, who ordered them off the 
 ground as the property of the Association. They 
 refused to go, and Batman's representative withdrew. 
 He returned again with others of the party, prepared
 
 136 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 to eject their rivals by force. After some altercation, 
 the Fawknerites agreed, on the receipt of 20, to 
 cross to the other side of the stream. Not long after- 
 wards, however, Fawkner arrived with more men 
 and re-occupied the site from which his followers 
 had retired. By that time it was apparent that Bat- 
 man's claim could not be regarded as valid. 
 
 The feud between the rival settlers was not of long 
 duration. Both were soon swamped by the inrush of 
 colonists, who cared nothing for the original com- 
 panies and their claims. Once started, the settlement 
 advanced with a rapidity surprising even in colonial 
 history. At the end of the year 1835 it consisted of 
 " two weather-boarded huts, with brick chimneys, 
 and eight or ten sodden erections." The population 
 numbered about fifty, and the live stock comprised a 
 few horses, 100 head of cattle and 1,400 sheep. In 
 the middle of the year 1838 the place had grown out 
 of recognition. " Brick buildings were numerous, 
 some boasting two and even three stories." Hotels 
 had sprung up; streets were macadamised; banks 
 and agencies of all kinds were established. On every 
 side were evidences of an almost feverish activity 
 and enterprise. The first newspaper owned by 
 Fawkner came out on January 1st, 1838 ; but the 
 first nine issues being in manuscript, the circulation 
 was limited to one copy, which was displayed at 
 Fawkner's Hotel for the benefit of the public. 
 
 For a time all the new arrivals came from Tas- 
 mania, bringing their cattle and sheep by sea. But 
 Hume and Mitchell had shown the way to the no- 
 madic pastoralists of the north, who soon began to 
 pour their flocks and herds across the Murray. In 
 those days they were known as the " overlanders." 
 Attacked thus from north and south, the Port Phillip
 
 BATMAN AND FAWKNER. 137 
 
 territory was in a few years overspread by settlers, 
 chiefly sheep-farmers. 
 
 In the meantime the authorities in Sydney, unable 
 to restrain the movements just recorded, were obliged 
 to take steps to put the settlement on a legal basis 
 and to regulate the acquirement of land. It was im- 
 possible for the Government to recognise the treaty 
 which Batman had made with the natives. As Pro- 
 fessor Jenks puts it, " either Port Phillip was Brit- 
 ish territory or it was not. If it was, the aborigines 
 could make no title without the consent of the Crown ; 
 if it was not, the settlers would have no claim to Brit- 
 ish protection might indeed be treated as political 
 enemies." 
 
 Under these circumstances Sir Richard Bourke 
 issued (August, 1835) a proclamation in which he 
 claimed that the Port Phillip settlement was within 
 the limits of New South Wales. He warned the 
 settlers that treaties made with the aboriginal na- 
 tives were null and of no effect against the Crown, 
 and that all persons found in possession of lands 
 without licenses would be considered trespassers and 
 punished accordingly. After the lapse of a year, 
 during which the southern colonists continued to 
 exist very well without the machinery of law or gov- 
 ernment, Mr. Stewart was despatched from Sydney 
 with instructions to examine into the condition of 
 Port Phillip. On his arrival he found that the settle- 
 ment consisted of 177 white persons, who occupied 
 about " 100 miles of country." Scattered over this 
 area were 100 head of cattle, 57 horses, and 26,500 
 sheep. The result of this enquiry was that the Gov- 
 ernor formally declared the district open for colon- 
 isation, and appointed Mr. William Lonsdale to act 
 as Police Magistrate. The Home Government con-
 
 138 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 curred, practically giving Bourke a free hand, and 
 thus abandoning its academic objections to the fur- 
 ther dispersion of the colonists. 
 
 In 1837 Bourke paid an official visit to the settle- 
 ment, in the course of which he laid out the site of 
 Melbourne, which had hitherto been known as the 
 " Settlement " or by the curious title Bearbrass. In 
 the report to the Secretary of State he recommended 
 the appointment of a Lieutenant-Governor or Com- 
 mandant; advice which was shortly afterwards car- 
 ried into effect. 
 
 In the following year a magistrate was appointed 
 to the Batman settlement at Corio Bay, a settlement 
 that ultimately grew into the town of Geelong. Bat- 
 man after a short struggle had abandoned his claims, 
 and the Government allowed the Association to pur- 
 chase lands to the value of 7,000. In 1836 the 
 Association ceased to exist
 
 SEPARATION FKOM NEW SOUTH WALES. 139 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 SEPARATION FKOM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 IN July, 1839, Mr. Charles Latro.be was gazetted 
 Superintendent of Port Phillip, with powers that 
 would have been more correctly covered by the term. 
 Lieutenant-Governor. During the early years of his 
 administration the progress of the colony continued 
 to be rapid, and so uneventful that it is difficult to 
 fasten upon points of general interest. For some 
 time the population doubled itself every year, and 
 flocks began to roam over the greater part of the 
 territory. From New South Wales numbers of squat- 
 ters passed south of the Murray. They were an en- 
 terprising race, most of them of good family, " offi- 
 cers of the army and navy, graduates of Oxford and 
 Cambridge." Such men brought a new element into 
 bush life. 
 
 Systematic exploration was not neglected. In 
 1840 Angus Macmillan discovered the fertile district 
 now known as Gippsland; Strzelecki, after tracing 
 the Murray to its source in the Australian Alps and 
 discovering and naming Mount Kosciusko, traversed 
 the Omeo district, and then crossing the Dividing 
 Range explored the magnificent country between the 
 mountains and the sea. Adventurous squatters soon 
 followed in the wake of the explorers'. 
 
 The native question in Victoria was never really 
 serious. At one time, it is true, isolated outrages 
 were not uncommon. Huts were plundered, sheep
 
 140 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 carried off, shepherds murdered. But the blacks 
 soon ceased from troubling, and no difficulties such 
 as arose in Tasmania and Queensland interfered 
 with the peaceful occupation of Victoria. In 1840 
 stations or villages had been laid out along the road 
 from Sydney to Melbourne and police protection se- 
 cured to travellers; the aborigines were, of course, 
 not the only or the chief danger, for bushranging 
 had already made its appearance. 
 
 One of the principal difficulties the Port Phillip 
 settler had to contend- with was the land question. 
 The first land sales had been regulated by the policy 
 laid down by Lord Ripon in 1831, in pursuance of 
 which Crown lands could only be disposed of by pub- 
 lic auction. The Government fixed a minimum price 
 and the land went to the highest bidder. The Co- 
 lonial Land and Emigration Commissioners, how- 
 ever, wedded to the system in vogue in South Aus- 
 tralia, where land was allotted to applicants without 
 competition, at the uniform price of 1 per acre, 
 recommended that the fixed price system should be 
 put into practice at Port Phillip also. Their recom- 
 mendations were accepted. The land regulation of 
 1840 authorised the continuance of the auction sys- 
 tem in towns, the minimum price being fixed at 200 
 per acre. Beyond the town areas, however, there was 
 to be no competition, but land was to be sold to appli- 
 cants in order of application at 1 per acre. Sir 
 George Gipps was strongly opposed to this measure. 
 He pointed out that by applying it to suburban land 
 round Melbourne and Geelong, the Government would 
 lose over a million sterling. His reasoning was soon 
 confirmed. An English gentleman, Henry Dendy, 
 purchased from the Commissioners 8,000 square 
 miles of land, on the understanding that he might
 
 SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 14J 
 
 select it anywhere outside the limits of Melbourne. 
 Although this claim was valid in law, the Govern- 
 ment refused to allow the transaction and forbade for 
 the time being the further sale of suburban land. 
 Owing to Gipps' vigorous action, the 1840 Regula- 
 tion gave place to the Crown Lands Sales Act of 
 1842, which restored the system of public auction. 
 
 One clause in the new Act that forbidding the 
 sale of any land at less than 1 per acre gave rise 
 to widespread opposition. The newly-created Legis- 
 lative Council of 1842 took the matter up, the op- 
 ponents of the clause declaring that so high a price 
 would cripple the expansion of the colony. The Gov- 
 ernor was not to be moved by their arguments. He 
 pointed out that to give to a small number of settlers, 
 mere advance guards of a future population of mil- 
 lions, a moral claim to the whole land of the colony, 
 would be perpetrating a great injustice upon future 
 generations. It would inevitably create a " tyranny 
 of landowners," on a scale never before witnessed. 
 The obnoxious clause, as a matter of fact, interfered 
 in no way with the sale of land of Port Phillip ; on 
 the contrary, between 1847 and 1850 the sales in- 
 creased enormously. 
 
 In 1842 an act had been passed allowing Port 
 Phillip to be represented by six members in the 
 Legislative Council of New South Wales. On the 
 occasion of the first election, no fewer than four 
 of those elected were residents of Sydney; a fact 
 that boded ill for the permanence of the arrangement. 
 From the outset there was a strong desire for separa- 
 tion from ISTew South Wales. To have to send their 
 representatives all the way to Sydney was bad 
 enough; but to have to entrust its interests to Syd- 
 ney politicians was an arrangement that could not
 
 142 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 be expected to please a thriving and ambitious col- 
 ony. The Separationist cause, curiously enough, 
 was warmly supported by Dr. Lang, who, in 1844, 
 moved in the Legislative Council that steps be taken 
 for " the speedy and entire separation of the district 
 of Port Phillip from the territory of ISTew South 
 Wales, and its erection into a separate and independ- 
 ent colony." The motion was rejected by nineteen 
 votes to six, the minority including Mr. Robert Lowe 
 (afterwards Lord Sherbrooke). Memorials and pe- 
 titions were then addressed to the Home Government, 
 the colonists losing no opportunity of urging their 
 claims to independence. 
 
 The agitation reached a climax in 1848, when the 
 electors of Port Phillip having induced the local can- 
 didates to withdraw, went through the farce of elect- 
 ing Earl Grey, Secretary of State for the Colonies, as 
 member for Melbourne. Although legal opinion 
 pronounced this election valid, the Governor refused 
 to be a party to what he regarded as insolent bravado. 
 "No notification was made in the Gazette, and a new 
 election was ordered, this time Geelong being selected 
 as head polling-place. The result was that the va- 
 cancies were filled. The agitation, however, forced 
 the hands of the Government, and an article was em- 
 bodied in the Constitution Act of 1850, by virtue of 
 which article the Port Phillip district became an in- 
 dependent colony, with the title of Victoria. At that 
 period its population was over 76,000 and its exports 
 amounted to 760,000. Mr. Latrobe was appointed 
 first Governor of the colony.
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 
 
 H3 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. 
 
 UP to 1851 the development of Victoria had been 
 purely pastoral. That year, however, brings to us 
 a new era, in which the conditions prevailing both in 
 "New South Wales and Victoria were transformed by 
 the most potent of all magics the discovery of gold. 
 
 At the opening of this annus mirdbilis a disaster 
 occurred which is still remembered with bitterness. 
 On the 6th February, Black Thursday, a great fire, 
 fanned by a hot wind, carried devastation over hun- 
 dreds of miles of country. Before the rush of the 
 flames people fled from their homes panic-stricken; 
 horses and cattle stampeded, and were joined by mul- 
 titudes of terrified bush animals, all seeking to escape 
 the devouring conflagration, which scorched up acres 
 of forest at a breath. The streets of Melbourne, we 
 are told, were littered by ashes from the burning 
 forests of Mount Macedon, nearly fifty miles distant. 
 A curious prelude to the events that followed ! 
 
 Long before the so-called discovery in 1851 by Mr. 
 Hargreave, gold was known to exist in various parts 
 of the eastern colonies ; but the fact does not seem to 
 have created more than a passing curiosity. Strze- 
 lecki, in 1839, reported the existence of an " aurif- 
 erous sulphuret of iron " in the Vale of Clwydd ; 
 and a resident of Sydney, the Rev. W. B. Clarke, 
 declared as early as 1841 that gold existed in Aus- 
 tralia.
 
 14* 
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The authorities, however, fearing the effect upon a 
 large convict population, discouraged the publication 
 of such reports. But it is clear that the existence of 
 gold was known to a good many persons, who for 
 more or less selfish motives kept the results of their 
 prospecting a profound secret. The Scotch shepherd 
 who for years had been picking grains of gold from 
 the rocks in Wellington valley was probably only one 
 of many clandestine fossickers. In 1849 a Victorian 
 shepherd brought to Melbourne a piece of quartz con- 
 taining 16 oz. of gold, which, he said, he had picked 
 up in the Pyrenees. At that time the rush to Cali- 
 fornia had set in, and the exodus from Australia 
 threatened to become serious unless some local at- 
 tractions were provided. More attention was there- 
 fore given to the rumours then in circulation, and 
 search parties were sent out in all directions. In 
 1851 the sum of 200 was offered for the discovery 
 of a gold mine within 200 miles of Melbourne. 
 Thereupon discovery followed discovery with start- 
 ling rapidity; July 5th at Anderson's Creek, Au- 
 gust 8th at Buninyong, September 8th at Ballarat, 
 and on December 10th at Bendigo. At these places 
 and others fortunes so it seemed in the first flush of 
 excitement were to be made in a few hours. 
 
 Governor Latrobe made haste to issue a proclama- 
 tion protecting the rights of the Crown. Regula- 
 tions were issued copied from those in force in the 
 northern colony and licenses were offered for sale. 
 But in the wild scramble and full tide of immigra- 
 tion, the Governor's proclamation fell on ears that 
 heard not. There was no Government machinery in 
 existence capable of coping with the sudden emer- 
 gency, and as a consequence many mistakes were 
 made. The methods adopted of issuing and inspect-
 
 4 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. /145^ 
 
 ing licenses were far from being prudent or concili- 
 atory. The inrush of people continued and in- 
 creased. By the autumn of 1852 over 70,000 men 
 were digging for gold in Victoria. A little later 
 40,000 men might have been seen camped on the 
 banks of the Yarrowee; 25,000 round Mount Alex- 
 ander, and 40,000 more at Bendigo. Among this 
 multitude there were many Tasmanian convicts, 
 many gaol-birds and criminals from every country in 
 the world. But it would be a mistake to suppose that 
 the digging population consisted largely of this type ; 
 on the contrary, the adventurers who poured into 
 Melbourne in those days were for the most part the 
 picked men of all classes ; men who combined pluck 
 and determination with the power to endure the pri- 
 vations that always fall to the lot of diggers in a new 
 country. 
 
 To a government so wholly unprepared as that of 
 Victoria, it was an immense, task to control or to at- 
 tempt to control the invading hordes, many of whom 
 were lawless, and all of whom had a contempt for 
 official bungling. Latrobe was powerless and badly 
 advised. " Digger-hunts," held twice a week to dis- 
 cover unlicensed diggers, were the source of intense 
 irritation among all classes of miners. Many of the 
 officers charged with the enforcement of the license 
 regulation were indiscreet, not to say brutal. The 
 sight of fifty handcuffed diggers no uncommon 
 sight may have delighted the inexperienced cadet; 
 in the crowd it roused only the angriest passions. 
 To add to the flame, the Government was foolish 
 enough to propose the increase of the licensing fee 
 from thirty shillings to 3 per month. It was urged 
 that this was the only feasible means of meeting the 
 increased expenditure involved in maintaining order
 
 46 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 upon the gold-fields. Further, it was hoped that un- 
 successful miners, unable to pay the double fee, would 
 be induced to return to occupations which, since the 
 outburst of the gold fever, had been utterly neglected, 
 to the no small inconvenience of all classes. All 
 along Latrobe had had misgivings. He was soon to 
 see that the increase of the fee was a huge blunder. 
 From all quarters, from the towns as well as the 
 gold-fields, a furious clamour arose. The fee was 
 denounced as a tyrannous impost, and violent har- 
 angues were delivered to thousands, in all the great 
 centres of mining. A reign of anarchy seemed im- 
 minent. At Forest Creek, one of the speakers, ad- 
 dressing a vast gathering of 14,000 men, urged a 
 refusal to pay any fee whatever. It was ultimately 
 decided not to pay the increased fee and to resort to 
 force in self-defence. At Geelong a similar meeting 
 was held and violent diatribes were launched against 
 the Government. Latrobe, having no means of check- 
 ing the disorder, was obliged to surrender. The 
 Gazette notice was withdrawn, the Government pro- 
 claiming, as if from the housetops, its own weakness 
 and vacillation. 
 
 At this stage it may be as well to recall the " form 
 and features " of the " roaring days " in Victoria. 
 The port of Melbourne was like a vast camp where 
 thousands arrived every week. They were a motley 
 host, speaking a babel of languages. Yellow men 
 from Canton, Malays from Singapore, mingled with 
 adventurers from every country of Europe, from 
 America, from the islands of the " Seven Seas." 
 Ship after ship emptied its human cargo, and then 
 lay idly in the harbour, crewless and masterless. In 
 April, 1852, forty-seven ships lay deserted in the 
 stream, unable to find men for the homeward journey.
 
 DISCOVERY OF GOLD. /^ 147 
 
 One unprotected vessel was robbed of gold dust valued 
 at 25,000 sterling. In the general confusion such 
 outrages might be perpetrated with impunity. Law- 
 less spirits, chiefly escaped convicts from over the 
 Straits, were abroad. They rooked the " new-chum " 
 and " stuck-up " the successful miner, or, banded 
 together in ruffianly gangs, waylaid and robbed the 
 gold-escorts. 
 
 In Melbourne there was not accommodation for a 
 tithe of the people disgorged by constantly arriving 
 ships. Tents were pitched in all the open spaces, 
 and these canvas towns were often the scenes of in- 
 decent orgies and acts of rowdyism. Many of the 
 newcomers were destitute and suffered great hard- 
 ships, until shelters were erected for them at the pub- 
 lic expense. For years the stream of immigration 
 continued. Fifteen thousand arrived by sea in the 
 latter half of 1851, 90,000 odd in 1852, and in the 
 three following years nearly a quarter of a million. 
 
 The roads leading from the capital to the mining 
 centres presented scenes scarce equalled in fiction. 
 These roads were for the most part little more than 
 bush-tracks. With the continual going and coming 
 of hundreds of drays and thousands of pedestrians, 
 they became, in wet weather, ever-broadening quag- 
 mires, in which drays and waggons sank up to the 
 axles. Men, women, and even children trudged 
 along, often carrying on their backs such tools as 
 were deemed necessary to extract the gold from the 
 soil. Every imaginable type was represented, every 
 imaginable costume. In the great throng were men 
 of every social layer; men of every profession and 
 trade down to footpads and criminals eager for the 
 slitting of throats. Excitement was on every face; 
 for the wildest rumours were rife of fortunes won at
 
 us 
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 a blow of the pick. And some of these rumours 
 were true. As witness the finding of the Canada 
 Gully nugget, which weighed 1,620 oz. 
 
 The scene on the fields was strangely picturesque. 
 Thousands of tents and huts dotted the landscape. 
 During the day an army of sun-burned, bearded men 
 burrowed the earth or wheeled and cradled the golden 
 dirt; at night they sat round their camp-fires, talk- 
 ing, smoking, singing; or swelled the throng that 
 frequented the stores and grog shanties, which latter 
 were countless and did a " roaring " trade. A week 
 before, perhaps, what was now a vast encampment 
 had been but a typical Australian gully, untenanted, 
 save by a few bush animals. 
 
 In the towns and in the country districts outside 
 the limits of the diggings all the minor industries 
 were at a standstill. Everybody who could armed 
 himself with pick and shovel and joined the multi- 
 tudes proceeding to Ballarat, Bendigo, or Forest 
 Creek. Although enormous wages were offered, serv- 
 ants and labourers were often unprocurable. Car- 
 penters and blacksmiths were greatly in demand at a 
 pound or twenty-five shillings a day. Cartage to the 
 fields amounted to as much as 100 a ton. A few f ar- 
 eighted men made fortunes by catering for the wants 
 or vices of the miners, who spent money with the ut- 
 most freedom. Grog shanties, dancing and gambling 
 saloons sprang up like mushrooms and throve on the 
 hard-won earnings of the diggers. In many cases, 
 perhaps in the majority of cases, the lucky digger, 
 before quitting the field, fell among speculators and 
 thieves, and the Croesus of yesterday often found 
 himself the Lazarus of to-day.
 
 EUREKA STOCKADE. 149 
 
 CHAPTEK XIV. f 
 
 EUREKA STOCKADE. 
 
 IN 1852 a despatch was received from the Home 
 Government instructing Mr. Latrobe to place the 
 gold revenue at the disposal of the Legislature. A 
 suggestion, was also made that additional revenue 
 might be raised " either by an export duty on gold or 
 by a royalty." At Latrobe's earnest request rein- 
 forcements were despatched. Fifty police arrived 
 and a man-of-war was ordered round from Sydney. 
 An Export Duty Bill was introduced, but it was 
 shelved almost immediately, owing to the outbreak of 
 further disorder at Forest Creek, where at a mass 
 meeting it was resolved to pay no license fee at all, 
 should an export duty be levied. Again the Govern- 
 ment surrendered. Its helplessness enabled dema- 
 gogues, agitators, and miscreants of all sorts to play 
 upon the passions of the mob. Every act of the 
 Government or of the police was construed into an 
 act of tyranny. At the Owen's River a man was 
 killed by the accidental discharge of a policeman's 
 firelock. Result, a riot and more violent oratory. 
 The police were in the habit of burning tents, the 
 occupants of which were found in possession of pri- 
 vate stills. At Forest Creek they burnt one belong- 
 ing to innocent men ; whereat a public meeting was 
 called and notices were posted, some of which ran 
 thus: "Down with oppression! Diggers, avenge 
 your wrongs ! Cry ' No quarter I ' " The magis- 
 
 L
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 trates hastened to make reparation. The informer 
 received five years for perjury and the owners of the 
 tent were awarded damages. The demagogues, how- 
 ever, balked in their designs, accused the authorities 
 of bribery. 
 
 In August, delegates from all the various mining 
 centres waited upon the Governor. They poured out 
 their grievances and made " demands," some of which 
 were reasonable, but were tendered in a dictatorial 
 manner. Latrobe said that he would consider, but 
 that he had no power to alter existing laws. At a 
 public meeting convened by the Mayor of Melbourne, 
 the delegates gave free vent to their troubles, Some 
 of them threatened that if their demands were not 
 granted a hundred thousand diggers would ring Mel- 
 bourne round with fire; and orderly citizens saw 
 with regret that these sentiments evoked much sym- 
 pathy from the audience. The delegates Returned 
 and reported that the capital was with the miners. 
 Shortly afterwards Mr. Latrobe published his reply 
 to the deputation. He argued the questions in dis- 
 pute, and ended by producing a mild homily which 
 nobody heeded. He said that the law must be kept, 
 and at the same time instructed the gold commission- 
 ers to refrain from compulsory measures in enforc- 
 ing it. The Government was at its wits' end, yet it 
 found resolution enough to despatch 150 soldiers to 
 Bendigo and to land marines to guard the gaols in 
 Melbourne. Further reinforcements were getting 
 ready to start from Hobart and also from Sydney. 
 Had these steps been taken earlier, the trouble would 
 have vanished, and the Government would have been 
 able to carry out reforms in a peaceful manner. La- 
 trobe was obviously unsuited to deal with the times. 
 For long he had been anxious to escape from an office
 
 EUREKA STOCKADE. 151 
 
 which required a more resolute head than his ; it was, 
 therefore, a relief to him when he was acquainted 
 with the appointment as Governor of Sir Charles 
 Hotham, a distinguished naval officer, known to be 
 strong as well as urbane and polite. 
 
 Hotham was received with much rejoicing in Mel- 
 bourne, and also on the gold-fields, which he lost no 
 time in visiting. At Bendigo the miners unyoked his 
 horses and dragged his carriage into the town, and 
 the air resounded with expressions of loyalty. Few 
 at that time recognised the determined character of 
 the new Governor, who had not walked a quarter- 
 deck in vain. 
 
 It was no sinecure he had taken up. At his ar- 
 rival the Treasury showed a deficiency of a million 
 a result due to extravagant expenditure. The dig- 
 gers shirked the payment of license fees, so that the 
 revenue from that source was small. In July the 
 Governor called the attention of the chief com- 
 missioner to this irregularity, and in September he 
 directed the assistant commissioners should make a 
 bi-weekly search for unlicensed miners. This was 
 regarded as a most unwise step, calculated to provoke 
 rather than to allay the ferment. 
 
 A few days after a miner was killed in a struggle 
 at Ballarat. Bentley, the keeper of a low public- 
 house, his wife and a man named Farrell were ar- 
 rested; but though the evidence was strong against 
 Bentley, he was acquitted, through the agency, it 
 was currently reported, of the presiding magistrate. 
 The acquittal was like the spark to the powder maga- 
 zine. Bentley's house was rushed by thousands of 
 infuriated men, who looted it and then burnt it to 
 the ground. The police were just able to save Bent- 
 ley from being lynched.
 
 152 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Apprised of the circumstances, the Governor of- 
 fered a reward for the murderer, and Bentley, to- 
 gether with his male accomplices, was convicted and 
 sentenced to hard labour on the roads. The pre- 
 siding magistrate, who seems to have been a corrupt 
 creature, was dismissed. But prompt as he had been 
 to admit that a wrong had been done, Hotham never- 
 theless took measures to prevent popular outbreaks 
 by placing on the spot 450 soldiers and policemen, 
 under the command of Captain J. W. Thomas. 
 Some of the rioters, moreover, who had taken part 
 in burning Bentley's house were sentenced to short 
 periods of imprisonment. 
 
 At Ballarat a Reform League was formed, with 
 the avowed object of removing the power that " tyr- 
 annised " over them, and deprived them of represen- 
 tation. The Governor, nothing daunted, proceeded 
 to appoint a commission to report on the adminis- 
 tration of the gold-fields; and when a deputation 
 demanded the release of three men imprisoned on ac- 
 count of the Bentley fracas, they were met with a 
 polite but firm refusal. On the subject of repre- 
 sentation for miners, the Governor explained that a 
 bill conferring the suffrage on all holders of a miner's 
 right had been sent to England, and offered to allow 
 them to elect a representative, whom he would nomi- 
 nate to the Council. This offer was rejected with 
 scorn, and the Governor could do no more. 
 
 In the meantime mischievous agents went in and 
 out among the miners stirring up disaffection and dis- 
 tributing red ribbons. At Ballarat, on the arrival of 
 a detachment of troops, the mob maltreated some of 
 the soldiers. A flag of insurrection was hoisted at a 
 mass meeting. A German named Verner suggested 
 the burning of licenses, and immediately a heap of
 
 EUREKA STOCKADE. 153 
 
 miners' rights was ablaze. Other speakers de- 
 nounced the marching of soldiers with fixed bayonets 
 into a peaceable country. 
 
 On the 30th November Commissioner Johnston e 
 was pelted wi,th stones while endeavouring to ex- 
 amine licenses, and the crowd grew so threatening 
 that the military had to be summoned. Scattered for 
 a moment, the crowd now began to make prepara- 
 tions for a more determined struggle. Peter Lalor, 
 well and favourably known afterwards in Victorian 
 politics, was elected leader and commenced to drill 
 the insurgents. Those that could not procure guns, 
 manufactured pikes ; and delegates were sent to other 
 places to muster recruits. Thousands of armed dig- 
 gers paraded before the camp, where Captain Thomas 
 coolly bided his time. Strong parties were told off to 
 intercept reinforcements expected from Melbourne. 
 Random shots were fired into the camp. On the 
 2nd, Thomas was informed that an entrenchment 
 and stockade were being formed in Eureka Street, 
 with the intention of giving a warm reception to 
 General Mickle, who was advancing from Melbourne 
 with a detachment of soldiers and marines. He 
 therefore determined to deliver an attack next morn- 
 ing. At half-past two on Sunday morning he as- 
 sembled his men, 100 mounted and 176 foot soldiers, 
 and at three o'clock led them forth with the simple 
 statement that they might have to use their weapons. 
 As soon as they were on the march, signal shots were 
 fired by sentinels posted by the rioters on the road 
 leading to the stockade. On reaching it the column 
 spread out in skirmishing order. They had no sooner 
 done so than a shower of bullets was poured upon 
 them from the entrenchment and from behind a bar- 
 rier of ropes, stakes, and overturned carts. The
 
 154: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 charge was sounded, and with one determined rush 
 the stockade was captured and the insurgent flag 
 hauled down. Captain Wise of the 40th Regiment 
 was mortally wounded; four soldiers were killed; 
 thirty of the diggers were killed and 125 were taken 
 prisoners. 
 
 The emeute was at an end, and both parties be- 
 gan to argue about the honours of war, each party 
 contending that it was outnumbered by the other. 
 However that might be, the victory was decisive. 
 The leaders, some of whom were mere braggarts, 
 fled; and when General Mickle arrived he found 
 little to do except to proclaim martial law for a few 
 days, and make arrests of such of the ringleaders as 
 could be found. 
 
 Agitation of a somewhat noisy character was con- 
 tinued in Melbourne, but the Governor pursued his 
 own course, refusing to make concession to demon- 
 strations of physical force, but ready to adopt con- 
 stitutional means to ameliorate the wrongs of the 
 miners. After the report of the gold-fields commis- 
 sion had been received, steps were at once taken to 
 abolish license fees and to replace them by miners' 
 rights, each of which cost a pound per annum. Elec- 
 toral privileges were conferred upon the mining 
 population, and two members each were assigned to 
 Bendigo, Ballarat, and Castlemaine. In the mean- 
 time, the Eureka prisoners were brought up for 
 trial, but as no jury could be got to convict them, 
 they were acquitted amid scenes of the wildest en- 
 thusiasm. So ended a painful but picturesque 
 incident, brought about largely by official timidity 
 and delay and by regulations harshly administered.
 
 EESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 155 
 
 CHAPTEK XV. 
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVEKWMENT. 
 
 TBANQUILXITY having thus been established upon 
 the gold-fields, the Governor found time to carry out 
 his proposed reform of the finances of the colony. 
 For years past there had been scandalous misman- 
 agement. The estimates of 1855 showed an expen- 
 diture of more than two millions in excess of the 
 revenue. A committee was appointed to investigate 
 this singular state of affairs, and the result was the 
 reduction of the anticipated deficit to 53,668. 
 
 For some time past a committee had been at work 
 in Victoria drafting a new constitution. Here, as in 
 the other colonies, the bi-cameral system was recom- 
 mended. The colonies differed from each other 
 and the Mother Country in details, and these differ- 
 ences, apparently trifling, have led to curious diver- 
 gences in their political history. In Victoria, mem- 
 bers of the Upper House or Legislative Council were 
 to be elected for ten years, but every two years a 
 certain number had to retire and submit themselves 
 to re-election. The Assembly was more democratic, 
 the electoral qualifications being the possession for 
 six months of freehold worth 5 a year or of lease- 
 hold worth 10 a year, or of a salary of 100 a year. 
 Even the mining population, fluctuating and hetero- 
 geneous as it was, received the franchise, the sole 
 condition being the possession of a miner's right. It 
 was provided that all money bills should originate in
 
 156 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the Assembly, and that they could be rejected but not 
 altered by the Council. The Victorian Bill received 
 the Royal Assent on the 23d November, 1855. 
 
 The death of Governor Hotham took place almost 
 at the same time as the granting of Responsible 
 Government. He found the colony on his arrival 
 on the verge of a civil war. When he died Eureka 
 Stockade with all the bitterness that had caused it 
 was fast becoming a picturesque memory : the Augean 
 stables of finance had been cleaned; municipal insti- 
 tutions had been inaugurated; the first railways 
 opened; the Melbourne University founded, and 
 steps taken to provide a popular system of education. 
 Ho,tham was succeeded ,by Sir Henry Barkly, a man 
 of great tact and ability, qualities very much needed 
 in the early days of Responsible Government. 
 Changes were soon ma'de in the new constitution. 
 These all tended in the direction of a more thorough- 
 going democracy. In a few years manhood suffrage 
 and voting by ballot were established and the small 
 property qualifications for Members of the Assembly 
 were abolished. 
 
 In 1857 the Philosophical Institution of Victoria 
 began to busy itself with schemes for the exploration 
 of the continent. Hitherto Victoria had done little 
 to second the efforts of the other colonies in this 
 direction. In 1858 an anonymous enthusiast offered 
 100 to a Victorian exploration fund on condition 
 that a further sum of 200 should be subscribed 
 during the year. The specified sum having been 
 subscribed, the Government voted 6,000 for the fund 
 and spent 3,000 more on the purchase of camels. 
 An expedition was then organised and placed under 
 the leadership of Robert O'Hara Burke, with W. J. 
 Wills as surveyor, neither of whom had much experi-
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 157 
 
 once in exploration. The aim of the expedition was 
 to cross the continent from sea to sea. Before leav- 
 ing settled country Burke quarrelled with Landells, 
 his second in command, and this was prelude to a 
 series of mistakes and misunderstandings which 
 ended in final disaster. At Menindie he left a por- 
 tion of the party in charge of a man named Wright, 
 whilst he himself pushed forward until he came to 
 the banks of Cooper's Creek, where, attracted by good 
 pasture and abundance of water, he formed a depot. 
 Here he waited for Wright, who had been instructed 
 to come on more leisurely; but as Wright did not 
 appear, Burke decided to advance without further 
 delay. Leaving four of the party at the depot, he 
 set out accompanied by Wills and two others, 
 and supplied with provisions for three months. This 
 was on the 16th December, 1860. After traversing 
 a portion of Sturt's Stony Desert, they struck the 
 Diamantina; and then proceeding over well-grassed 
 plains, with numerous water-holes, they at length 
 reached the Flinders and the Sea. 
 
 The return journey was more difficult. Provi- 
 sions were running short, the camels were failing, 
 and constant rains made travelling slow and weari- 
 some. One of the party died, and when the surviv- 
 ors reached the depot in a half -starving condition on 
 the 21st April, 1861, it was only to find it empty. 
 Brahe, who had been left in charge, had that very 
 morning departed to meet Wright, who partly 
 through sickness and partly through bad management 
 hadnot yet arrived. Thus abandoned Burke decided 
 to make for some cattle stations in South Australia, 
 and a letter stating his intention was buried in the 
 hole in which they had found the provisions left for 
 them by Brahe. When Brahe returned to the camp
 
 158 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 there was no sign that anybody had been there in his 
 absence. Giving his leader up for lost, he hurried 
 back to Melbourne. In the meantime Burke, Wills, 
 and King, foiled in their attempt to reach the cattle 
 station, returned once more to the depot. For a time 
 death was warded off by friendly blacks, who sup- 
 plied them with a small quantity of nardoo and a few 
 fish. 
 
 But their strength gradually failed and first Wills 
 and then Burke succumbed. King managed to 
 exist until rescued by Howitt's party. So ended 
 an expedition that had been dogged by ill-luck from 
 the beginning. The bodies of Burke and Wills were 
 recovered and brought back to Melbourne, where they 
 were buried on the 28th December, 1862, the funeral 
 being one of the most impressive scenes ever wit- 
 nessed in the capital. 
 
 The administration of Sir Charles Darling, who 
 succeeded Sir Henry Barkly in 1863, was character- 
 ised by an angry conflict, between the advocates of 
 free trade and the advocates of protection, and this 
 conflict led to a protracted quarrel between the Coun- 
 cil and the Assembly. The great majority of the 
 people were in favour of a protective tariff and 
 the popular Assembly represented the views of the 
 majority. The Council, on the other hand, supported 
 by an influential minority, were as strongly in favour 
 of free trade, and rejected a Bill, which had been 
 passed by the Lower House for the purpose of in- 
 troducing protective duties. The Assembly then 
 adopted the expedient of tacking the measure on to 
 the Appropriation Bill, but the Council was still ob- 
 durate and rejected both. Thereupon the Govern- 
 ment began to collect duties on the authority of the 
 Lower House alone, and also to borrow money for
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 the payment of the Public Service. This action was 
 pronounced illegal by the Supreme Court and an- 
 other attempt was made to pass the Tariff Bill, but 
 again to no purpose. A dissolution, followed by a 
 new election, showed an overwhelming majority in 
 favour of the Tariff Bill, which, however, was for 
 the third time thrown out by the Council, and the 
 deadlock continued to the great discomfort of Civil 
 Servants whose salaries were nearly three months in 
 arrears. After more wrangling a further confer- 
 ence between the two Houses was agreed upon, with 
 the result that the Tariff Bill was passed. Before 
 the termination of the conflict the Governor was re- 
 called on the ground of his having shown political 
 partiality. He was succeeded by the Rt. Hon. J. H. 
 J. Manners Sutton (afterwards Viscount Canter- 
 bury), who acted as Governor until the year 1873. 
 The fiscal policy was now settled, and though there 
 were no less than six changes of ministry during his 
 term of office (nearly seven years), the political un- 
 rest does not appear to have interfered with the 
 steady progress of the colony. A new Education 
 Act, drafted by Mr. Wilberforce Stephen, came into 
 force in 1873, and provided free, compulsory, and 
 secular education of an elementary character. 
 
 During the rule of Sir George Ferguson Bowen 
 the old quarrel between the Upper and Lower Houses 
 broke out again ; this time on the subject of payment 
 of members. The amount was tacked on to the Ap- 
 propriation Bill, which the Upper House promptly 
 rejected. As a consequence there were no funds for 
 paying the Public Servants, and on January 8th, 
 1873, known as " Black Wednesday," all heads of 
 departments, judges of county courts and many 
 other officials received notice of dismissal. This
 
 160 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 revolutionary proceeding created something like a 
 general panic, to allay which the Upper House 
 passed two Bills one a Payment of Members Bill, 
 and the other an Appropriation Bill. The Assembly, 
 however, soon after asserted its dignity by introduc- 
 ing a Referendum Bill, which was intended to des- 
 troy the power of the Council " as a co-ordinate 
 branch of the Legislature." On the rejection of this 
 by the " Lords," the Assembly voted money to send to 
 the Secretary of State for the Colonies a deputation, 
 consisting of the Premier and Professor Pearson of 
 the Melbourne University. About the same time 
 Governor Bowen was recalled, and his place was 
 taken by the Marquis of Normanby. 
 
 Premier Berry and Professor Pearson had in the 
 meantime arrived in England and laid before the 
 Imperial authorities the constitutional difficulties in 
 which Victoria was involved. Whilst declining to 
 intervene, Sir Michael Hicks-Beach, at that time 
 Secretary of State for the Colonies, wrote a despatch 
 in which he advised the Victorian Assembly to re- 
 frain from tacking foreign matter to Bills of Supply, 
 and gave an assurance that the Imperial Government 
 would never alter the Constitution at the instance of 
 one branch of the Legislature. The despatch ap- 
 pealed to the reasonableness of both parties and had 
 much to do in putting an end to what was becoming 
 a chronic state of deadlock.
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 EECENT HISTORY. 
 
 SHORTLY after the arrival of the Marquis of "Nor- 
 manby, the " Kelly Gang " was captured after a 
 desperate fight at Glenrowan Hotel. The outlaws 
 forming the " gang " may be regarded as the last of 
 the bushrangers and they surpassed all other Austra- 
 lian bushrangers in the extent of their operations. 
 The narrative of their deeds of daring which is not 
 wanting in romantic interest is too long to be given 
 here. Beginning as common horse and cattle lifters, 
 they gradually advanced through all the degrees of 
 highway robbery and outrage. Having established 
 themselves in the mountain country lying between 
 Greta and the King River, they made sudden raids 
 upon outlying settlers, disappearing as quickly and 
 secretly as they came. A reward was offered for 
 their capture, and parties of police endeavoured to 
 .track them down. One such party, consisting of four 
 men, camped one evening on the Stringybark Creek. 
 Whilst engaged in preparing their " billy " tea, they 
 were suddenly surprised by the " gang." Three of 
 the policemen were shot dead; the fourth mounting 
 his horse dashed away, followed by several bullets, 
 which wounded the horse so severely that it had to 
 be left behind. The trooper contrived to make his 
 way to Mansfield. Alarmed by this outrage the 
 police redoubled their efforts, and drew a cordon 
 round the mountain haunts of the bushrangers, who
 
 162 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 had many friends among the settlers in the surround- 
 ing country. Aided thus, the bandits managed to 
 hold out for some weeks and then succeeded in break- 
 ing through the line of police. They lost no time in 
 getting to work. After capturing the homestead of 
 a squatter and locking up the occupants they made 
 a dash upon the township of Euroa. There " Ned " 
 Kelly and Steve Hart entered the National Bank, and 
 having made prisoners of the manager, his family 
 and clerks, quietly pocketed 2,000 in notes and cash. 
 The ordinary robber would have stopped there, but 
 Ned Kelly combined freakish strategy with unpar- 
 alleled daring. The bank prisoners, 14 in number, 
 were then packed in a buggy, a spring cart, a baker's 
 waggon and conveyed to a station " stuck up " a few 
 hours before. There they were added to the prison- 
 ers already under lock and key, and told not to stir 
 if they valued their lives, till seven o'clock. The 
 desperadoes then disappeared and were not heard of 
 for weeks. 
 
 In the meantime the Government increased the 
 reward for their capture to 8,000 and arrested 21 
 persons suspected to be accomplices of the outlaws. 
 The " gang " replied by robbing a bank at Jerilderie, 
 in New South Wales. On the 28th June, 1879, a 
 detachment of police proceeding in a special train 
 to Glenrowan, narrowly escaped destruction, ,the 
 " gang " having taken up the rails. The end of their 
 singular career was, however, rapidly approaching. 
 Having taken possession of an hotel at Glenrowan, 
 they were surrounded by a strong party of police, 
 who maintained a hot fire upon the building through- 
 out the night. Ned Kelly, cased in armour, was 
 captured in the open ; Byrne was shot towards morn 
 ing and the two other outlaws perished in the build-
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 163 
 
 ing which had been set on fire by the police. The 
 leader of the " gang " was tried and hanged. His 
 capture had cost the Government no less thau 
 50,000. 
 
 In the meantime the old antagonisms in politics 
 were dying out. With the fall of the third Berry 
 Ministry, Sir Bryan O'Loghlen came to power and 
 remained premier till 1883. So little of the old 
 bitterness remained that Mr. James Service was then 
 able to form a coalition Ministry, comprising able 
 men of all parties. Two very useful pieces of leg- 
 islation mark the Service Government. One was the 
 abolition of political control in the management of 
 the state-owned railways, and the other was the 
 abolition of political patronage in the Public Service. 
 Public Service Commissioners were appointed to 
 regulate appointments and promotion upon equitable 
 principles, " without favour or recommendations," 
 other than merit and fitness. In 1888 the members 
 of the Legislative Council were increased to 48 and 
 of the Assembly to 95. In that year Victoria 
 reached the highest point of prosperity. Of all the 
 colonies she proved most attractive to the immigrant 
 and to the foreign capitalist seeking profitable in- 
 vestment for money. A period of inflation began 
 which, in 1893, ended in a financial crisis in which 
 banks failed and business was paralysed. So great 
 was the panic that the Government proclaimed five 
 bank holidays, hoping thereby to relieve the strain. 
 To no purpose however, as the run continued and 
 many banks were obliged to suspend payment. The 
 effects of this financial collapse were widespread, and 
 .Victoria is only now recovering from the shock. 
 
 In this brief survey of Victorian history during 
 recent years, the reader may find it difficult to single
 
 164 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 out any events or movements that suggest a definite 
 evolution. The fact is that, setting aside the federal 
 movement which Victoria has always received with 
 enthusiasm, the Legislature of the colony has of late 
 restricted itself to improving the means of internal 
 communication, to fostering local industries, and to 
 effecting economies in the Public Service. The 
 smallest colony of the group, with the single exception 
 of Tasmania, Victoria nevertheless possesses the great- 
 est length of railway. Her activity in this direction 
 has, indeed, been viewed with a certain amount of 
 suspicion by New South Wales. For, by extending 
 her railway system to various points on the Murray, 
 she has secured a large share in the river trade of the 
 Mother Colony; and there seems to be little doubt 
 that in years to come still more of the Riverina 
 traffic will be diverted towards Melbourne. 
 
 Victoria, without having the opportunities for pas- 
 toral expansion possessed by New South Wales, has 
 the advantage of a compact territory, traversed by 
 mountain ranges which mitigate, to some extent, the 
 severity of those droughts, which, from time to time, 
 afflict the greater part of Australia. Climate and in 
 a large measure the soil are well adapted to agricul- 
 ture. In 1891 more than one-third of the agricul- 
 tural produce of Australia was raised in Victoria; 
 and though there has been a falling off in recent 
 years, she still occupies the first place in wheat-grow- 
 ing and wine industry. 
 
 Her mineral wealth lies chiefly in gold. It has 
 been estimated that up to 1890 no less than 254,- 
 157,000 worth of gold had been extracted from the 
 various gold-fields of Victoria that is, about 60 per 
 cent, of the total output of Australasia. It is doubt- 
 ful, however, whether this is adequate compensation
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 165 
 
 for the absence of extensive coal-beds, without which 
 it is difficult to see how the colony can ever be con- 
 spicuous in manufactures: and yet the protective 
 policy she has pursued for years would seem to indi- 
 cate a strong desire to foster manufactures. Predic- 
 tion is always more or less rash ; but it may be safe to 
 hazard the opinion that the main sources of Victorian 
 wealth will in the future be found to lie more and 
 more in agricultural and pastoral pursuits. Gold- 
 mining, although the phenomenal returns of the early 
 days can never again be hoped for, will still continue 
 to furnish employment for a considerable population 
 and return interest upon a large amount of usefully 
 invested capital. 
 
 M
 
 PART FOUR. 
 
 QUEENSLAND. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIL 
 
 BEGINNINGS OF SETTLEMENT. 
 
 IN 1823 Surveyor-General John Oxley was sent 
 northward in the cutter Mermaid to report upon 
 Moreton Bay, Port Curtis and Port Bowen as possi- 
 ble sites for a new penal settlement. Sydney and its 
 dependent penal stations were overcrowded, and an 
 outlet was deemed necessary for " refractory and 
 incorrigible " criminals, who, it was argued, were 
 subject to many temptations in districts where free 
 settlers were numerous. Oxley first of all visited 
 Port Curtis, but finding it unsuitable for his pur- 
 pose, went south and cast anchor in Moreton Bay. 
 Immediately afterwards a crowd of natives were 
 seen making down to the shore ; among them a very 
 tall man of lighter colour than the rest. This 
 proved to be Thomas Pamphlet, who, with three 
 others, had left Sydney some months previously in 
 an open boat to bring cedar from the Five Islands 
 (a popular name for Illawarra). Driven out of 
 their course by a violent gale, they were finally, after 
 suffering many privations, to which one of their num- 
 ber succumbed, wrecked on Moreton Island. They
 
 BEGINNINGS OF SETTLEMENT. 167 
 
 had so lost their reckoning that they imagined them- 
 selves to be somewhere on the coast south of Sydney. 
 The natives treated them with much kindness, the 
 men hunting and fishing, and the women collecting 
 " dingowa " or fern-root for them. But the casta- 
 ways, grown weary of a life of semi-savagery, had, 
 six weeks before the arrival of Oxley, set out north- 
 ward in the hope of reaching Sydney overland. 
 Pamphlet, after journeying fifty miles, returned 
 footsore and weary to the friendly tribe ; and his two 
 companions were not long in following his example 
 Finnegan having already returned, and Parsonjs, 
 the third man, finding his way back some months 
 later. 
 
 Guided by Pamphlet, Oxley rowed in a whale- 
 boat up the Brisbane River for a distance of fifty 
 miles. Before returning he ascended Termination 
 Hill, from the summit of which he obtained a fine 
 view of the surrounding country. What he saw con- 
 firmed him in the belief then current that the Bris- 
 bane River, as well as other rivers west of the Divid- 
 ing Range in ISTew South Wales, issued from the 
 great lake or inland sea in the centre of the continent. 
 
 His report upon Moreton Bay was so favourable, 
 that in September, 1824, he was despatched with a 
 squad of soldiers and thirty prisoners to make prep- 
 arations for establishing the penal settlement. The 
 site selected was on the northern shore of the bay, at 
 a spot known as Red Cliff Point. Extensive build- 
 ings were erected, but the position was soon aban- 
 doned for a better site on the Brisbane River, where 
 the capital of Queensland now stands. The original 
 settlement still retains its original nickname, Hum- 
 pybong, a corruption of Umpie Bong (dead 
 houses).
 
 168 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Oxley was succeeded by Captain Logan, a man of 
 resolute character, under whom the system was car- 
 ried out with a rigour that made his name odious. 
 The convict population was rapidly increased, and 
 building and clearing operations were conducted 
 with the utmost vigour. Massive barracks were 
 erected for the prisoners in what is now the principal 
 street of Brisbane. In addition to his official 
 duties, Captain Logan found time to make experi- 
 ments in agriculture and to explore the country. The 
 ridiculous story that he sowed the prepared rice of 
 commerce is probably an invention, since he is ad- 
 mitted to have had some botanical knowledge. His 
 experiments in cotton growing were highly success- 
 ful. As an explorer he discovered the Logan River 
 and rowed up the Bremer, on the banks of which 
 he found an outcrop of limestone as well as traces of 
 coal. From the lime-kiln established by him on the 
 Bremer came most of the lime used in the construc- 
 tion of buildings at the settlement. 
 
 Logan came to a tragic end in 1830. With a 
 small party consisting mostly of prisoners, he had 
 gone out on a minor exploring expedition, and was 
 not seen again alive. His body was found pierced 
 by a spear and battered by waddies. Although the 
 deed was at the time commonly ascribed to the 
 blacks, it seems not unlikely that the real perpetra- 
 tors were convicts, either escapees living with the 
 blacks or the convicts of his own party. 
 
 It was during his regime that Allan Cunningham 
 discovered the Darling Downs. In April, 1827, he 
 left the Segeoihoe Station on the Upper Hunter, and 
 crossing the Dividing Range travelled northward 
 over country till then unexplored. He discovered 
 and named the Gwyder and Dumaresq, and finally
 
 BEGINNINGS OF SETTLEMENT. 169 
 
 found himself in a beautiful pastoral country sepa^ 
 rated from Moreton Bay by a range of mountains. 
 It consisted of well-watered flats and downs of rich 
 black soil, which even in the middle of winter were 
 covered with abundance of good grass. Cunningham 
 halted for some time in this pastoralists' paradise and 
 endeavoured to find a practicable route across the 
 mountain to the sea. In the course of his explora- 
 tions he observed a " singular deeply excavated part 
 of the range," which seemed to offer what he desired. 
 On closer examination it proved to be blocked up by 
 great masses of fallen rock and by a jungle of twin- 
 ing plants. Having noted the position of the gap 
 Cunningham retraced his steps to the Hunter River. 
 In the following year he set out from Moreton Bay 
 with the intention of locating the pass. His first 
 attempt was a failure ; but a second expedition, start- 
 ing from Limestone Station, came upon the Gap, 
 which was found to be more accessible than was an- 
 ticipated. 
 
 Between 1830 and 1835 the bond population was 
 gradually reduced. Governor Bourke, like his pre- 
 decessor, Sir Ralph Darling, had formed a poor 
 opinion of the advantages offered by Moreton Bay 
 as a penal settlement. So strongly was he impressed 
 by this idea that in 1839 it was determined to 
 abandon the penal establishment. 
 
 The story of convictism in Queensland is but a 
 repetition of horrors with which the readers of For 
 the Term of his Natural I/ife are sufficiently 
 familiar. The prisoners may have been bad, but the 
 harsh, despotic discipline brutalised them to the low- 
 est degree. Floggings and other severities of daily 
 occurrence drove men to the gallows, the sole refuge 
 of despair. Women, young and old, were forced to
 
 170 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 work in the fields, some of them loaded with chains. 
 Revolting as such treatment was, it must be remem- 
 bered that it was the fault of the time which could 
 tolerate a death penalty for over two hundred 
 offences.
 
 EXPLORATIONa 
 
 CHAPTEE XVIIL 
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 ABOUT the middle of the year 1840 free settlers 
 began to arrive at Moreton Bay, the regulation re- 
 stricting settlement to the district within a radius of 
 50 (fifty) miles of Brisbane, though not withdrawn, 
 being allowed to become a dead letter. The history 
 of the colony for the next twenty years is little more 
 than a narrative of exploration and pastoral expan- 
 sion. 
 
 The country lying in the vicinity of Moreton 
 Bay had now been thoroughly examined. Among the 
 foremost local explorers was Andrew Petrie, who had 
 come to the settlement in 1835, in the first steam- 
 boat to visit Moreton Bay. In one of his coastal 
 expeditions he found two escaped convicts living 
 with the blacks. One of them had forgotten his 
 native language. Probably a considerable number 
 of convicts had contrived to escape: some were, no 
 doubt, killed and eaten, but others, like those dis- 
 covered by Petrie, were hospitably treated by their 
 savage hosts. 
 
 West of the mountains Patrick Leslie, soon to be 
 followed by others, had squatted on the well-grassed 
 downs discovered by Cunningham. All the settlers 
 of this class were pioneers and explorers combined. 
 'A natural love of adventure and the need of " fresh 
 fields and pastures new," for flocks that multiplied 
 apace, were the incentives that urged them forward.
 
 172 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Patrick Leslie is a type common enough in the pio- 
 neer days of Australia; but the exigencies of such 
 colonial history as has been written have rendered it 
 impossible to do more than allude to men who played 
 a most important part in the settlement of the 
 country. 
 
 In February, 1840, Patrick Leslie, on receiving 
 particulars from Allan Cunningham of his route to 
 the Darling Downs, set out from Mclntyre's Station, 
 New England. His intention had been to cross the 
 mountains into the valley of the Clarence, but unable 
 to find a path he went north to the Darling Downs. 
 Thoroughly satisfied with the country, he returned to 
 Falconer's Plain, where he busied himself collecting 
 stock, bullock teams, drays, and all the o.ther im- 
 pedimenta which made up a pioneer caravan. The 
 hands, twenty-two in number, were all ticket-of-leave 
 men or convicts. " As good and game a lot of men 
 as ever existed," wrote Leslie, " who never occasioned 
 us a moment's trouble: worth any fifty men I have 
 ever seen since." This was the bright side of convict- 
 ism. Leslie arrived at the Condamine without the 
 loss of a " single animal, or breaking a bullock 
 chain." This success was the signal for the migra- 
 tion of other squat.ters, who rapidly filled up the 
 Downs with their flocks and herds. These first 
 comers were notable men, many of them university 
 men, full of pluck and enterprise and able to rough 
 it with the most seasoned bushmen. The same breed 
 may be seen at work in the uplands of Rhodesia at 
 the present day. 
 
 The brothers Stuart and Sydenham Russell, who 
 were closely associated with the settlement of the 
 Darling Downs, were unflagging explorers. They 
 traced the Condamine for a hundred miles, and in
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 173 
 
 the course of their explorations lighted upon the 
 Cecil Plains, a splendid grazing country. Stuart 
 Eussell afterwards turned his attention to the coast. 
 In an open boat he proceeded first to Wide Bay, and, 
 in a subsequent journey, to the Boyne River. His 
 Genesis of Queensland, despite a singularly dis- 
 jointed style, is one of the best books ever written 
 of pioneer days in Australia. 
 
 In 1842 Governor Gipps paid a visit to Moreton 
 Bay. At that time there were numerous squattages 
 within fifty miles of the town, and the flocks of the 
 pastoralists had increased enormously. From the 
 date of this visit a period of rapid progress began. 
 The Moreton Bay district was formally declared 
 open to free selection, and the first sale of Crown 
 lands took place on July 7th, 1842. The squatters 
 on the Downs, instead of having to convey stores and 
 sheep by way of the Hunter River, found a nearer 
 route to the sea through Cunningham's Gap, now 
 made passable by bullock drays. All the convicts 
 had by this time been removed, a police magistrate 
 had been appointed, and in 1843 the settlement was 
 represented in the Legislative Council. 
 
 About this time Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt appeared 
 on the scene and began to organise an expedition to 
 explore the northern portion of the continent. On 
 the 1st October, 1844, he set out from Jimbour on the 
 Darling Downs. Keeping well to the east, he discov- 
 ered in succession the Dawson, Mackenzie, and Bur- 
 dekin Rivers. From the headquarters of the latter, 
 he crossed the watershed separating the eastern 
 rivers from those flowing into the Gulf of Carpen- 
 taria, and skirting round the gulf arrived, after a 
 journey lasting ten months, at Port Essington. 
 
 Two events of th journey one a tragedy and the
 
 174: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 other a comedy are worth recording. During their 
 march round the gulf, the camp was suddenly at- 
 tacked one evening by a party of blacks. The ex- 
 plorers were totally unprepared, and before their 
 guns could be capped, a shower of spears fell in their 
 midst, wounding Calvert and Roper, and killing 
 Gilbert, the naturalist. A shot or two scared the 
 blacks, and the par.ty had then the mournful task of 
 burying their dead comrade. Hitherto they had not 
 been molested by the natives: a fortunate circum- 
 stance, for Leichhardt, preoccupied with his scientific 
 pursuits, paid little attention to the discipline of his 
 party. 
 
 On another occasion, a black fellow, apparently in 
 a fit of abstraction, appeared in their midst as they 
 sat round their camp fire. Quickly realising that he 
 had made a mistake, the black " swarmed " up a tree, 
 where he set up a howling and sobbing, which ceased 
 only when the party moved to a distance and so 
 gave him an opportunity to escape. 
 
 Leichhardt on his return became the hero of the 
 Lour. Verses were written in his honour, and a 
 privately subscribed present of 200, supplemented 
 by a Government donation of 1,000, was made to 
 him the latest " Prince of Explorers." 
 
 Before Leichhardt had returned, the energetic Sir 
 Thomas Mitchell had left Buree, with a well- 
 equipped party, intending to carry out an extensive 
 exploration of tropical Australia. In the course of 
 a twelvemonths' tour, he traversed much valuable 
 country and discovered many hitherto unknown 
 rivers among others, the Balonne, the Culgoa, the 
 Maranoa, the Warrego, and the Barcoo. It was on 
 this expedition that Edmund Kennedy received his 
 training as an explorer.
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 175 
 
 !Not to be outdone by Mitchell, Leichhardt now con- 
 ceived the bold project of crossing the continent from 
 east to west. His first attempt was a ludicrous fail- 
 ure: for in spite of the success of his first journey, 
 he was wanting in many of the qualities necessary 
 to the explorer. On this expedition he took with 
 him enough live stock goats, sheep, bullocks, mules, 
 and horses to feed an army. He had not gone far, 
 however, when a series of mishaps compelled him to 
 return. Dissension arose among the members of the 
 party : fever broke out : and finally most of the live 
 stock strayed or had to be abandoned. 
 
 Nothing daunted he set out again (1848). The 
 party, which consisted of six whites and two blacks, 
 was, judging by current reports, very inadequately 
 equipped. A letter written by Leichhardt on the 
 banks of the Cogoon was received; but that was the 
 last news of him and his party. They vanished in 
 some of the many ways in which men can vanish in 
 a trackless desert. Their disappearance gave rise to 
 a whole library of surmise and to the despatch of 
 several search parties. The surmise was useless : the 
 search parties found no trace of Leichhardt, but 
 added greatly to our knowledge of the interior of the 
 continent. Some years later a convict named Gar- 
 but originated a plausible story of the finding of the 
 lost explorer. He said that in the interior, far be- 
 yond the outposts of settlement, was a colony of 
 felons and escaped convicts. Upon these Leichhardt 
 had lighted and had been kept as a sort of hostage. 
 The fabrication gained some notoriety for Garbut. 
 
 During the same year that saw Leichhardt's plunge 
 into the unknown, Kennedy's ill-fated, expedition 
 landed at Rockingham Bay. Its object was to ex- 
 plore the country northwards to Cape Yorke; and
 
 176 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 this country is so different from that which usually 
 figures in tales of Australian exploration, that the 
 expedition merits more than a cursory mention. 
 Hitherto explorers had fought with drought and 
 heat and with plains which furnished food neither 
 for man nor beast. Kennedy's route led through 
 dense tropical jungles', where lawyer vines and cling- 
 ing trees abounded, dame was tolerably plentiful, 
 water always within reach; yet their progress was 
 slow and toilsome in the extreme. The energies of 
 the party were taxed to the utmost not only by for- 
 ests, but by marshes and estuaries which had to be 
 crossed or avoided; by mountains which had to be 
 climbed; and by fierce aboriginal tribes, men who 
 hung like vultures on their steps. When provisions 
 began to run short Kennedy left eight of his fol- 
 lowers at Weymouth Bay, whilst he himself, accom- 
 panied by three white men and a black boy, pushed 
 northward in the direction of Port Albany, where 
 he hoped to find the schooner Ariel waiting for 
 him. Ill-luck still pursued him. One of the white 
 men fell ill, another accidentally shot himself; there 
 was no alternative but to leave them behind in charge 
 of the third. Kennedy and the faithful Jacky Jacky 
 succeeded in reaching the Escape River. Albany 
 Island was in sight, but the blacks dogged their 
 steps through the woods, and before the goal could 
 be reached, Kennedy fell pierced with a native spear. 
 Jacky Jacky buried him and then made his way to 
 Port Albany, where he found the Ariel at anchor. 
 The schooner, with the black fellow on board, has- 
 tened south to Weymouth Bay to rescue Carron and 
 Goddard sole survivors of a party of eight from 
 the clutches of the blacks. 
 
 The death of Kennedy at the hands of the blacks 
 and the attacks made by them on shepherds and trav-
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 177 
 
 ellers in more settled districts furnish a motive 
 but scarcely an excuse for the severe treatment of the 
 aborigines which continued in some parts of Queens- 
 land up to a comparatively recent date. The blacks 
 there were more virile than their southern relations 
 and were ever ready to exact a tooth for a tooth and 
 an eye for an eye. Outrages by them were in many 
 cases simply reprisals for what they regarded as 
 similar outrages perpetrated upon them by white 
 men. The native police established to hunt down 
 their offending brethren revelled in the barbarous 
 work and appear to have been guilty of many acts 
 of an atrocious character. The settlers themselves 
 too often regarded the aboriginals as a species of 
 vermin. " Battues " for the dispersal of tribes were 
 usually formed, it is true, in retaliation for the kill- 
 ing of a shepherd or the slaughter of cattle, but little 
 discrimination was exercised in seeking out or pun- 
 ishing the real offenders. Whatever the provoca- 
 tions may have been and no one denies that there 
 were serious provocations it is difficult to palliate 
 many of the acts of the pioneers. In the end the 
 Queensland Government made some amends by re- 
 serving certain tracts of country for the blacks, 
 whose ultimate extinction, however, is only a matter 
 of a brief period. 
 
 Among other features of Queensland history be- 
 tween 1840 and 1859 may be mentioned the early 
 importation of Chinese to act as shepherds. From 
 the commencement of the settlement the squatters as 
 a body had been in favour of convict labour, and 
 when the supply from that source failed them, they 
 prepared the way for that yellow invasion which, in 
 one phase or another, will probably remain for all 
 time a subject of much importance to Australia.
 
 178 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XIX. 
 
 SEPAEATIOW FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 
 
 To the casual observer there has been in the Aus- 
 tralian colonies a marked development in the pro- 
 vincial spirit. No sooner was a new settlement 
 formed than an outcry arose for separation and po- 
 litical independence. As early as 1851 the Moreton 
 Bay district petitioned to be allowed to set up house- 
 keeping on its own account, and the boon was granted 
 in 1859. At that time the population was only about 
 25,000, of which Brisbane contained 7,000. The 
 pastoral industry was the only one worthy of the 
 name: even that was in its infancy. Agriculture 
 was confined to a little maize growing. Roads 
 hardly existed and shipping facilities were conspicu- 
 ous by their absence. 
 
 The first Governor was Sir George Ferguson 
 Bowen, who had been private secretary to Mr. Glad- 
 stone and had also acted as Colonial Secretary to the 
 Ionian Islands during the British protectorate. The 
 first Parliament met in May, 1860. The Legislative 
 Council consisted of gentlemen appointed for five 
 years by the Governor of New South Wales and of 
 others nominated by the Governor of Queensland 
 with a life tenure. The Assembly was elected on 
 the basis of a ten-pound annual lodger's tenancy, and 
 any person on the roll could be a member. 
 
 Mr. G. W. Herbert, afterwards Permanent Tinder 
 Secretary to the Colonies, held the position of First
 
 SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 179 
 
 Minister and Colonial Secretary to the first ministry. 
 During his administration much useful legislation 
 was passed. A system of primary education was es- 
 tablished and secondary education was provided for 
 by a system of endowments of Grammar Schools. It 
 is a noteworthy feature of Australian Governments 
 that one of their first considerations has been the 
 establishment of schools for the people, and each 
 colony prides itself with too much complacency 
 perhaps upon the perfection of its system. 
 
 In 1861 Acts were passed making provision for 
 municipal government and for the transfer of real 
 estate on the Torrens System. The great want of 
 the colony was population and especially a supply of 
 reasonably cheap labour. To remedy this want steps 
 were taken to encourage immigration. To immi- 
 grants who paid the cost of their passage land orders 
 were granted to the amount of 18 for each adult. 
 This arrangement, unfortunately, lent itself to prac- 
 tices which had not been contemplated. A perni- 
 cious traffic arose in land orders which shrewd specu- 
 lators purchased for a small sum from needy .arrivals. 
 The result was that only a small proportion of the 
 immigrants established themselves on the land: the 
 majority contrived to pick up a living in the town or 
 swelled the ranks of the unemployed. This condi- 
 tion of affairs was to some extent improved by the 
 passing of a Land Act which created a system of agri- 
 cultural and settlement reserves, which were open 
 to selection at 1 per acre. In a few years immigra- 
 tion had increased the population by 46,422. 
 
 Settlement in the north and west made rapid prog- 
 ress. The squatters were ever on the move, dis- 
 covering new lands for themselves or following the 
 tracks of explorers who had now traversed almost
 
 180 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the whole of the territory. The Burke and Wills 
 expedition, followed as it was hy the despatch of 
 numerous relief parties, opened up immense tracts 
 of good pastoral country ; and soon flocks and herds 
 were to be found as far north as the Gulf of Carpen- 
 taria. The growth of sugar and cotton, encouraged 
 by bounties and facilities for acquiring land, became 
 important industries. Between 1867 and 1874 ten 
 million pounds of cotton were exported ; but when the 
 bonus system was abandoned, the industry speedily 
 collapsed. Before 1870 a good beginning had been 
 made with the laying of railway and telegraph lines ; 
 to carry on which large sums of money had to be 
 borrowed. But a period of extravagant outlay on 
 public works was followed in 1865 by a depression, 
 which interfered seriously with the progress of the 
 colony. The crisis was severe. Banks and building 
 societies failed, hundreds of private insolvencies fol- 
 lowed, and thousands of workmen were thrown out 
 of employment. Among the latter a large number 
 of navvies, who seized upon a train going to Ipswich 
 and afterwards marched upon Brisbane. The 
 wildest rumours were circulated as to their inten- 
 tions, and large numbers of special constables were 
 sworn in to protect the city. The navvies, consisting 
 of 125 half -starving men, were joined, on their ar- 
 rival, by the unemployed of Brisbane ; but a supply 
 of food and the commencement of relief work 
 obviated any disturbance they may have meditated. 
 In the meantime the Government had taken meas- 
 ures to stave off financial ruin. Treasury Bills at 
 short date and bearing .ten per cent, interest were is- 
 sued, and 100,000 treasury notes, of one pound each, 
 were put in circulation. These devices served to 
 relieve the strain and enabled the Government to
 
 SEPARATION FROM NEW SOUTH WALES. 181 
 
 tide over the crisis. During the whole of this finan- 
 cial trouble, there was the greatest instability in 
 politics. Ministry succeeded ministry with ludic- 
 rous rapidity, but in spite of this instability and de- 
 pression, an upward tendency soon began ,to manifest 
 itself. A new Land Act gave greater facilities for 
 settlement, and the sugar industry was steadily 
 growing into importance. In 1869 twenty-eight 
 sugar-mills were at work. But by far the most 
 hopeful sign was the discovery of great mineral 
 wealth. At the time of the gold rushes in the early 
 fifties Queensland, like other colonies, suffered a 
 great loss of population, the existence of treasrure 
 nearer home being still unsuspected. The first gold 
 discovery was made (1855) at Canoona, a station on 
 the Fitzroy River. The alluvial deposit, however, 
 was soon worked out, but not before reports of its 
 richness had attracted a great fleet to Keppel Bay. 
 A large number of the thousands who hurried to the 
 spot were soon in the direst straits and had to be re- 
 moved at the expense of the Governments of New 
 South Wales and Victoria. 
 
 In 1867 a miner, by name James Nash, found 
 payable gold in the Wide Bay district. The usual 
 " rush " set in, and the finding of a nugget contain- 
 ing 3,000 worth of gold raised the excitement to 
 fever heat. Many localities in the neighbourhood 
 were found to be rich in gold. The town of Gympie, 
 which sprang up on the field, has continued to be a 
 valuable mining centre. It was this discovery that 
 helped so much to avert the financial crisis referred 
 to above. Equally rich finds, moreover, were made 
 elsewhere. Ravenswood, the Cape River, the Gil- 
 bert, the Etheridge, Charters Towers, and Cloncurry 
 were a;.l found within the next few years to be aurif-
 
 182 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 erous. Nor was gold the only mineral discovery. 
 Tin was found at Stanthorpe, copper ore in the 
 Burnett district, opal in northern and central Queens- 
 land, and extensive beds of coal in the Wide Bay 
 district. 
 
 In 1872 Mr. W. Hann, at the head of a scientific 
 party, discovered gold on the Palmer River. Fur- 
 ther prospecting showed that the whole district was 
 gold-bearing, and vessels bearing thousands of eager 
 gold-hunters, were soon swarming into the estuary of 
 the Endeavour River. Among the diggers was a 
 horde of Chinese, whose presence gave rise to much 
 friction with the European miners. To prevent the 
 recurrence of similar disturbances the Government 
 passed an Act excluding the Yellow men from all gold 
 areas until a certain time should have elapsed after 
 the discovery. 
 
 The most phenomenal discovery of the time was 
 that of Mount Morgan, a veritable mountain of ore. 
 It is situated in the Rockhampton district, not far 
 from the scene of a former " rush." The land had 
 originally been taken up by a selector, who, finding it 
 unsuitable for grazing purposes, had been glad to part 
 with it to three brothers of the name of Morgan, for 
 the sum of 640. He had actually been making 
 dykes of stones wheeled in a barrow from the " moun- 
 tain," and had no suspicion that these same stones 
 were studded with gold and other minerals. The 
 new proprietors are said to have extracted as much 
 as 20 or 30 from single cartloads of the grey rock, 
 and this with the rudest appliances. A few years 
 later the mine was estimated to be worth 8,000,000.
 
 EECENT HISTORY. 183 
 
 CHAPTEE XX. 
 
 EECENT HISTORY. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the events of the last twenty-five years 
 are too near to be viewed in their right proportions 
 and true perspective, it is nevertheless possible to 
 point to certain definite tendencies in the recent poli- 
 tics and industrial developments of Queensland. 
 Amid the mass of trivial details chronicled from day 
 to day, one may distinguish here and there facts that 
 have more than a passing interest and significance. 
 If we set aside for a moment the coming and going 
 of Governors, the ups and downs of party politics, 
 and the alternation of droughts and floods, we shall 
 find that much of what is really important in the his- 
 tory of Queensland in the last quarter of the century 
 belongs equally to the history of Australia as a whole. 
 Even the vexed question of Polynesian labour, which 
 at first sight seems- purely local, is but part of a 
 larger problem, in the solution of which all the colo- 
 nies are interested. 
 
 Whilst the Government of Queensland, therefore, 
 in common with the governments of the other colo- 
 nies, devotes most of its attention to domestic and 
 economic matters, it has been drawn by force of cir- 
 cumstances to take an interest in those broader 
 questions which affect the destiny of the whole Con- 
 tinent. Of these Federation and the Pacific Ques- 
 tion are the most important. The activity of France 
 Germ an v among the islands was a rude awaken-
 
 184 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ing to those who fancied the isolation of Australia 
 rendered it secure from international troubles. It 
 was suddenly realised that something must be done 
 to extend and maintain British influence, and this 
 could be done only by the united action of all the 
 colonies. 
 
 The Pacific Question stimulated more than any- 
 thing else the already growing interest in Federation. 
 The history of the Federal movement is treated at 
 length in another chapter, but it may be well to re- 
 sume briefly the part that Queensland played in the 
 movement. When the Conference of 1880 was ad- 
 journed from Melbourne to Sydney, it was joined 
 by representatives from all the self-governing colo- 
 nies, Queensland among the rest. Several matters- of 
 moment were discussed, but it was not till 1883, 
 when public opinion was excited by French claims 
 in regard to the New Hebrides, that a Federal Coun- 
 cil was legally constituted, with power to take com- 
 mon action. Delegates from the northern colony 
 also attended the 1891 Convention, and the sudden 
 death of one of them, the Hon. J. M. Macrossan, cast 
 a gloom over the whole proceedings. A Federal Bill 
 was drafted and then referred to the various colonies, 
 but as one critic has said, it proved to be, for the 
 time being at any rate, " too wise to secure popular 
 enthusiasm." No strong current of public feeling 
 was created and the measure was shelved for a more 
 convenient season. In 1896 the apparent indiffer- 
 ence of Queensland was shown by the rejection in 
 the local Parliament of the Federal Enabling Bill, 
 owing to the disagreement of the two Houses on the 
 question of Amendment. For this reason Queens- 
 land was unrepresented in the next meeting of the 
 Convention. However, the growing enthusiasm of
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 185 
 
 the other colonies extended northward, and a refer- 
 endum held on September 2nd, 1899, disclosed the 
 fact that a majority of the people of Queensland 
 were in favour of the Amended Bill. This bill was 
 laid before the Imperial Parliament. 
 
 It may appear singular that on the very eve of 
 Federation there should still have existed in Nor- 
 thern Queensland a desire for separation. The two 
 things, however, are not really incompatible. The 
 cry for separation was not much more than a demand 
 for local self-government. Just as Melbourne had 
 objected to being governed by Sydney, so Central 
 and Northern Queensland objected to being ruled 
 from so remote a centre as Brisbane. For a long 
 time the centralisation of power and influence in the 
 southern corner of the colony had rankled in the 
 minds of the people of the north. Townsville, where 
 a Separation Convention had been held in 1884, was 
 the centre of the agitation. In the following year a 
 committee was formed in London to promote the aims 
 of the Separation League. Five years later Sir S. 
 W. Griffith, the then Premier, went so far as to pro- 
 pose the division of the colony into three semi-inde- 
 pendent States. The question, however, was to be 
 settled with Federation. 
 
 It was about the year 1880 that Australia began 
 to perceive the importance of her interests in the 
 Pacific. North and east lay belts and clusters of 
 islands, which foreign nations were regarding with 
 longing eyes, partly for purposes of commerce, and 
 partly for the sake of obtaining convenient strategic 
 positions. France, Germany, and the United States, 
 especially the two former, had recently awakened to 
 the necessity for a stronger colonial policy. Already 
 France had penal settlements in New Caledonia, to
 
 186 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 which she sent large numbers of recidivistes or re- 
 lapsed criminals, and Germany was suspected of en- 
 tertaining designs on New Guinea and the adjacent 
 islands. The proximity to her shores of foreign and 
 possibly hostile nations was a subject that deeply 
 concerned the whole of Australia, but Queensland 
 was naturally the first of the colonies to realise the 
 magnitude of the danger. 
 
 From the commencement of the seventeenth cen- 
 tury the Dutch had been frequent visitors to New 
 Guinea, but they had formed no permanent settle- 
 ments. British ships had surveyed the coast, but no 
 definite steps were taken until 1873-4, when Fiji 
 was ceded to the Crown. In the former year Captain 
 Moresby, in H.M.S. Basilisk, had hoisted the Union 
 Jack in New Guinea, and read a proclamation tak- 
 ing possession of the island in the name of the Queen. 
 A year later Sir Henry Parkes, at that time Colo- 
 nial Secretary of New South Wales, urged upon 
 Governor Robinson the advisability of making an ef- 
 fort to colonise New Guinea, and about the same 
 time an expedition was fitted out by the Hon. William 
 Macleay to explore the south-west of the island. 
 Representations on the subject were also made to 
 Lord Carnarvon, who, however, declined to commit 
 himself to any decided action. In the refusal he was 
 to some extent justified by the want of unanimity 
 among the colonies themselves; but it should be re- 
 membered that at this period, the Imperial Govern- 
 ment, dominated by what is called the Little Eng- 
 land Spirit, had steadily set its face against the an- 
 nexation of new territory. 
 
 During the visit of Captain Moresby, the black- 
 smith of the Basilisk reported the discovery of gold 
 a few miles inland. The report, which proved to ba
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 187 
 
 well-grounded, exercised the usual attraction on rov- 
 ing gold-seekers. Before 1880 parts of New Guinea 
 and certain of the adjacent islands were occupied by 
 a motley crowd of diggers and traders who formed a 
 sort of Alsatia on the outskirts of Queensland. To 
 keep law and order among these people Sir Arthur 
 Gordon, High Commissioner for the Western Pacific, 
 appointed, at the request of the Queensland Govern- 
 ment, a resident magistrate at Thursday Island, and 
 a warship was stationed at Port Moresby. Annexa- 
 tion was, however, still postponed. At length the 
 colony grew tired of waiting, and Mr. Mcllwraith, 
 the Colonial Treasurer, instructed Mr. Chester, po- 
 lice magistrate at Thursday Island, to proclaim the 
 annexation to Queensland of that part of New 
 Guinea unclaimed by the Dutch. This proceeding 
 was not approved by the Imperial Authorities and 
 the annexation was repudiated. In 1884, how- 
 ever, Lord Derby proclaimed a protectorate over a 
 part of New Guinea, and Germany, thereupon, seized 
 $he remainder. In 1886 the British Government 
 gave way to the pressure of public opinion in the 
 colonies, and a treaty was signed by virtue of which 
 the southern portion of the island became English, 
 the northern portion German, and the western por- 
 tion Dutch. Dr. McGregor, the first administrator 
 of the British section, arrived in 1888. 
 
 Queensland was interested in the islands and is- 
 landers from other and, as many think, less credita- 
 ble reasons. The expansion of the sugar industry 
 created a demand for cheap labour, and to supply 
 this demand Kobert Towns had brought to the col- 
 ony, on his own responsibility, a shipload of Kana- 
 kas. Other planters followed his example, and the 
 traffic in Polynesian labour grew so great that the
 
 18$ PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Government took the matter up; but, owing to the 
 strong political interest of the sugar industry, it was 
 unable to do more than regulate the traffic. The 
 early " blackbirding " cruises gave rise to scandals 
 which did much to discredit a system, which the 
 white workmen of the colony have always opposed 
 with extreme bitterness-. The question is one upon 
 which the public is still much divided. The white 
 workers, for obvious reasons, do not relish the compe- 
 tition of cheap alien labour; and the planters con- 
 tend that, but for this cheap labour, industries like 
 the growing of sugar-cane would be impossible. 
 
 These interests, doubtless great in themselves 1 , are 
 but details in the great problem of the effect of the 
 presence of inferior races upon national life. 
 
 Chinese immigration excited even more hostility; 
 and for this reason, that the Yellow man, being much 
 higher in the scale of civilisation than the Kanaka, 
 is able to compete with the white man in almost every 
 department of industry. In 1877 it was estimated 
 that about 19,000 Chinese were distributed through- 
 out the colony. It is evident that the influx of 
 Chinese forms a much more serious problem than the 
 employment of Kanakas upon sugar plantations. 
 Existing legislation restricts the immigration to one 
 Chinese per 500 tons of the burden of the vessel 
 carrying them. 
 
 The year 1890 furnished a crisis in the industrial 
 history of Australasia. First of all occurred the 
 Maritime Strike which began in Sydney and rapidly 
 extended to the other colonies. This was followed 
 in all the colonies by a general strike of shearers. 
 Conferences of employers and pastoralists \v^re held 
 and a settlement was arrived at; but the discontent 
 with existing labour conditions was widespread and
 
 RECENT HISTORY. 
 
 deeply-rooted. It took shape in the " New Austra- 
 lia " movement. Several hundred enthusiasts set 
 sail for Paraguay, where they had obtained land for 
 a settlement; but their experiment in socialism has 
 proved a failure. Whilst this crusade was being 
 carried out, violence was resorted to by. some of the 
 more reckless spirits in Queensland and elsewhere. 
 The organisation of labour and the formation of in- 
 dependent labour parties in the- various Parliaments 
 of the Australian group have been among the results 
 of this agitation. 
 
 In spite of many troubles, the progress of the col- 
 ony continues to be rapid. The population has in- 
 creased by leaps and bounds. In 1860 it was 28,- 
 000; in 1870, it was 115,000; and ten years later 
 it had increased to 213,000. The estimated popula- 
 tion of 1899 is about half a million, and there is no 
 doubt that these figures will be greatly increased in 
 the near future, for the resources of the colony may 
 fairly be described as almost boundless, as Queens- 
 land is destined to be amongst the greatest of all the 
 colonies of Great Britain.
 
 PART FIVE. 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 FOUNDATION OF THE PROVINCE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA. 
 
 SOUTH AUSTRALIA was the outcome of a theory. 
 The scheme for its settlement originated in the fer- 
 tile brain of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, who, from 
 residence in New South Wales and association with 
 men like Lord Durham and Charles Buller, had 
 amassed a considerable fund of knowledge concern- 
 ing English methods of colonisation. Two methods 
 were in vogue colonisation by convict settlement 
 and colonisation of the happy-go-lucky order which 
 let things drift and only succeeded, after many fail- 
 ures, by dint of a certain bull-dog tenacity character- 
 istic of the race. In his " Letter from Sydney," 
 Wakefield denounced these methods, and propounded 
 a new scheme which was to avoid the errors of the 
 past. In New South Wales, he pointed out, there 
 were no social gradations; no leisured class; no op- 
 portunity for culture. Land was too easily procura- 
 ble : with the result that the labourer was soon trans- 
 formed into the landowner, and so became the rival 
 and, from a material point of view, the equal of his 
 master. This state of affairs was repugnant to Wake- 
 field's sense of decency and old-world harmony. He
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 101 
 
 was disconcerted by the crude conditions that pre- 
 vailed in the colony, and he did not approve and did 
 not really understand the bewildering transforma- 
 tions which are inevitable in new countries. His 
 scheme was intended to alter all that and to " substi- 
 tute systematic colonisation for mere emigration." 
 He wished, in fact, to transplant a complete section 
 of English society, with all its old-established social 
 distinctions'. By no means a visionary, he was never- 
 theless too feudal and too exclusive for the rough 
 practical work of colonisation. His contention that 
 colonies are but extensions of the Mother Country is, 
 however, full of suggestiveness and bids fair to be 
 realised in an all-embracing yet elastic Imperialism 
 undreamt of by Wakefield and his contemporaries. 
 
 He was not content with generalities. He de- 
 scended to minute and apparently practical details. 
 The prime causes of the evils he regretted in N"ew 
 South Wales were convictism and cheapness of land. 
 He contended, therefore, that transportation should 
 cease and that a high price should be put on land, 
 so that only persons of means should be able to be- 
 come landowners. A portion of the proceeds arising 
 from the sale of land should be devoted to immigra- 
 tion and especially to procuring a supply of labour. 
 His experience had shown him that, whilst in the 
 Mother Country there was a surplus, in new settle- 
 ments there was always a dearth of cheap labour. 
 The supply, however, must be carefully regulated. 
 
 The scheme attracted much attention and appealed 
 to powerful interests. Its author and his friends 
 used the press to the best advantage. Articles ap- 
 peared in all the leading journals, and pamphlets 
 were sown broadcast. About that time news came 
 of Sturt's journey down the Murray to Lake Alex-
 
 192 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 andrina. Kangaroo Island had, moreover, for some 
 time past, been the resort of sealers. The attention 
 of the schemers, therefore, was naturally drawn to 
 South Australia. 
 
 In 1831 a South Australian Land Company was 
 formed. It included many well-known persons, but 
 its negotiations for a charter were fruitless. It 
 asked too much nothing less than sovereign control 
 over all the country between New South Wales and 
 Western Australia. The movement was not crushed, 
 however. In 1834 the South Australian Association 
 was formed and under its auspices negotiations were 
 reopened with the Government. Backed by influ- 
 ential support, the Association succeeded in pushing 
 through Parliament a Bill for the colonisation of 
 South Australia. 
 
 The Act was a comprehensive measure and em- 
 bodied most of the essential principles of Wakefield's 
 scheme. It provided for the appointment of three 
 or more Commissioners who were to be responsible 
 for emigration and the disposal of lands. One of 
 these was to reside in the colony and to act under the 
 Crown, as Commissioner of Public Lands. Nomi- 
 nally a Crown officer, he was nevertheless to receive 
 his instructions from the Commissioners in London. 
 The administration of public affairs was to be in the 
 hands of a governor, appointed by the Crown. The 
 powers of these various functionaries were ill-de- 
 fined, a circumstance that led to much trouble in the 
 future. Two important provisions of the Act stipu- 
 lated (1) that English felons should at no time and 
 under no circumstances be transported to the colony, 
 and (2) that a constitution should be granted so 
 soon as the population numbered 50,000. 
 
 The regulations concerning the disposal of land
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 193 
 
 were the most remarkable features of the Act. The 
 minimum price of land was fixed at twelve shillings 
 per acre, but the Commissioners were allowed to in- 
 crease the minimum price at their discretion. The 
 price at any given period, however, was to be uniform. 
 The proceeds of such sales were to be devoted to 
 aiding the emigration of suitable persons, of both 
 sexes, under thirty years of age. 
 
 To ensure the good faith of the Association, it was 
 decided that the Act should be in abeyance until a 
 security of 20,000 had been deposited in the Treas- 
 ury by the Commissioners and, further, until land 
 had been purchased to the value of 35,000. These 
 conditions having been complied with, arrangements 
 were soon completed for carrying out the scheme. 
 Colonel Torrens was appointed chairman of the 
 Commissioners in England, and Mr. Fisher resident 
 Commissioner in the colony; Captain Hindmarsh, a 
 naval officer, was selected to fill the position of Gov- 
 ernor, whilst Colonel Light was appointed Surveyor- 
 General. This was in 1836. 
 
 Kangaroo Island, already the home of a few seal- 
 ers, was selected as the site of settlement, and on July 
 27th, 1836, the Dulce of York, with the first batch of 
 immigrants, arrived in Nepean Ray. Colonel Light, 
 who followed shortly afterwards, considered Kan- 
 garoo Island unsuitable. After making an exten- 
 sive examination of the coast of the mainland, he, at 
 length, fixed upon a spot on the Torrens River, about 
 seven miles from Holdfast Bay ; and contrary to the 
 wishes of many of the immigrants the settlement was 
 removed thither. Nine other vessels arrived during 
 the year, and on December 28th Governor Hind- 
 marsh arrived in the Buffalo. He read his commis- 
 ion to the assembled settlers and the founding of
 
 194 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the colony was celebrated with much rejoicing and 
 junketing. 
 
 Formal ceremonies over, the colonists had ample 
 leisure to consider the situation. It was soon dis- 
 covered that all the elements of a nice family squab- 
 ble were present. The powers of Governor, Com- 
 missioner, and Surveyor-General enabled each of 
 them to claim supremacy. Mr. Fisher, believing 
 that his authority was independent of the Governor, 
 soon began to act the sullen Achilles. Then the 
 Governor quarrelled with Colonel Light on the sub- 
 ject of the site chosen for the settlement. NOT were 
 these the only troubles that afflicted the exponents of 
 " Systematic emigration." The carrying out of the 
 surveys was necessarily a slow process, and new arri- 
 vals were obliged to camp anywhere. Under those 
 circumstances there was little to do except to enter 
 lustily into the family quarrel. At length in March, 
 1837, the first land sales were held. Town lots real- 
 ised from 3 to 13 ; but few cared to take up land 
 at any distance from the camp. Disregarding Wake- 
 field's warnings, the capitalists began to traffic in 
 allotments land speculation was indeed the chief 
 industry and, worst of all, the labourers, imported 
 as necessary adjuncts of the landowner, did as little 
 work as they could, and demanded what were consid- 
 ered exorbitant wages. The settlement lived almost 
 entirely on its capital, and nobody seemed in a hurry 
 to found productive industries. But for the " over- 
 landers " who brought sheep and cattle from New 
 South Wales, starvation would have stared the colo- 
 nists in the face. 
 
 Hindmarsh so embroiled himself with the other 
 officials, that his recall was rendered necessary. He 
 was succeeded in 1838 by Colonel Gawler. The new
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 195 
 
 Governor found " scarcely any settlers in the coun- 
 try; no tillage; very little sheep and cattle pastur- 
 ing; the two landing places of the most indifferent 
 description; the population shut up in Adelaide, 
 existing principally upon the unhealthy and uncer- 
 tain profits of land-jobbing." The township was a 
 collection of huts, mostly of stone. Even the Gov- 
 ernor's dwelling was " of mud put between laths," 
 with a thatch roof. The architect had forgotten a 
 fireplace, to remedy which defect a chimney was 
 built outside near the front-door. All kinds of food 
 were exceedingly dear. The only trade was in 
 whalebone and oil : of pastoral and agricultural prod- 
 ucts there were none. The population was 3,680, 
 and as little or no business was being carried on, it 
 is easy to imagine the confusion and distress that 
 prevailed. Gawler began with the determination to 
 put things straight ; but his discretion and his power 
 were not equal to his resolution. " From the mo- 
 ment of his arrival," it has been said, " he gave the 
 impression that he intended to go ahead. A caval- 
 cade of horsemen went to meet and welcome him on 
 the road between the landing-place and the city, but 
 he shot past it at a hand-gallop on a blood horse he 
 had borrowed. This little incident illustrates, in 
 every particular, his entire career. He was firm in 
 his saddle, he cared little for anybody, he travelled 
 fast, and he borrowed freely." 
 
 The Treasury was empty, the expenditure being 
 out of all proportion to the revenue, and crowds of 
 labourers who were to have formed the " bold peas- 
 antry " of the schemers were starving. Gawler did 
 his best to induce the settlers to take up country 
 holdings and begin the cultivation of the soil. He 
 also incurred heavy expenditure in providing em-
 
 196 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ployment for labourers. Things went merrily for 
 a time. But retribution soon came. Gawler's bills 
 upon the Home Government were dishonoured, and 
 at the end of three years (1839-40-41) a deficit of 
 281,842 was piled up. The immediate effect of 
 the repudiation of the bills was a " slump " in land 
 speculation. Everybody was eager to sell out, and 
 many who still had a little capital left were glad to 
 seek homes in the other colonies. In the end, tribu- 
 lation was good, for it taught the colonists a much 
 needed lesson in energy and self-reliance. Go-ahead 
 overlanders settled among them, and, just when the 
 prospect seemed blackest, it was discovered that the 
 country was excellent for wheat-growing. Sheep- 
 farming, too, was becoming a promising industry. 
 
 But the muddle into which the finances of the 
 colony had fallen aroused the serious attention of 
 the Imperial authorities. Wiseacres abused now the 
 Governor and now the Wakefield system. The net 
 result of their criticism was Gawler's unceremo- 
 nious recall and the appointment of Captain Grey in 
 his place. Gawler, it should be said, departed not 
 only damaged in reputation but ruined in pocket, for 
 he had squandered most of his own fortune in trying 
 to avert the utter bankruptcy of the colony. He 
 had given considerable attention to exploration. It 
 was during his regime that Edward John Eyre, after 
 making fruitless attempts to penetrate to the centre 
 of the continent, accomplished the feat of travel- 
 ling overland to Albany in Western Australia. His 
 route was round the Great Australian Bight. He 
 and his party suffered all the evils that could fall to 
 the lot of the explorer. Burning sand and rock, arid 
 desert, weary stretches of waterless country, a pest 
 of flies, and last of all the treachery of black follow-
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 197 
 
 ers ending in the murder of Eyre's sole white com- 
 panion, and the subsequent flight of the murderers 
 with most of the provisions. Such were some of 
 the features of Eyre's memorable journey. 
 
 With the advent of Grey a new period in South 
 Australian history begins. The original scheme was 
 overhauled and remodelled. The Commissioners 
 were dispensed with and the Secretary of State was 
 now entrusted with the government of the colony. 
 Grey's orders were to carry out drastic retrench- 
 ment ; and, to help him out of the financial trouble, 
 the Imperial Government granted the colony a loan 
 of 155,000, which was afterwards " converted into 
 a free gift." Further loans were granted to cover 
 Gawler's bills as well as to meet the bills Grey found 
 it necessary to draw to provide for pauper immi- 
 grants who continued to arrive. Grey had a diffi- 
 cult and a very unpopular part to play : he played it 
 with resolution and was regarded by many as belong- 
 ing to the worst type of Downing Street tyrant. In 
 a sense he was quite autocratic. His sole superior 
 was the Secretary of State : in the colony itself there 
 was no power to control or revise his actions. It can 
 hardly be denied, however, that his despotism was 
 on the whole salutary. It aimed at two things 
 chiefly: (1) the termination of expensive relief 
 works, and (2) the dispersal of the labouring popu- 
 lation among the pastoralists and farmers, who 
 needed them badly. He succeeded in cutting down 
 the expenditure by nearly two-thirds, though not 
 without a struggle, which for a long time embittered 
 his relations with the people. The fact that many 
 so-called landowners were ready to sell out at almost 
 any price, enabled a better class of settlers to take 
 up land in the country. By this means a portion 
 
 o
 
 198 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of the indigent population that hung round the 
 township were provided for. Others, goaded by the 
 lash of necessity, were induced to proffer their 
 services to squatters and farmers. When Grey 
 arrived more than half the people lived in Ade- 
 laide, when he left two-thirds of them lived in the 
 country. 
 
 The beneficent results of his high-handed proceed- 
 ings were not long in showing themselves. Although 
 low prices prevailed for staple commodities, there 
 was a marked advance in agriculture and in pastoral 
 pursuits; and this upward tendency was hastened 
 by the opportune discovery of rich copper mines at 
 Kapunda and Burra-Burra. When the mine at 
 Burra-Burra ceased working in 1877, ore to the 
 value of five million sterling had been extracted. 
 These discoveries, followed as they were by the inflow 
 of capital, stimulated enterprise, provided for many 
 of the unemployed, and in general proved the salva- 
 tion of the colony. The Home authorities had lost 
 all confidence in its future, and had instructed Grey 
 to make arrangements to transport labourers em- 
 ployed on Government relief works to Sydney. Grey 
 quietly ignored these instructions, to carry out 
 which would have involved a heavy expenditure. He 
 pointed out the objections to the proposal and the 
 discovery of mineral wealth more than justified his 
 disobedience. When he retired from office in 1845 
 the population was 21,759, and the revenue, though 
 still below the expenditure, was increasing in a sat- 
 isfactory manner. 
 
 During the time of Gawler and Grey the settlers 
 experienced some difficulty with the blacks who com- 
 mitted various murders and robbed squatters and 
 pverlanders of sheep and cattle. The settlers organ-
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 199 
 
 ised punitive expeditions, but Grey, who everywhere 
 endeavoured to treat native races with humanity and 
 forbearance, discountenanced the levying of war upon 
 the blacks. Eyre, the explorer, was appointed pro- 
 tector of the aborigines, and from that time outrages 
 were of rare occurrence. 
 
 Exploration was actively prosecuted. The Sur- 
 veyor-General, Captain Frome, examined the country 
 around Torrens and made an unsuccessful attempt 
 to reach the centre of the continent. In 1844 Sturt 
 set out with the same intention. Good pastoral 
 country was found, but the expedition, after en- 
 countering the Central Australian Desert in its worst 
 moods, was obliged to turn back without having ac- 
 complished its object. 
 
 The next Governor, Colonel Eobe, had a brief and 
 troublous reign. He was a soldier; manly, but not 
 overburdened with tact or ability of the kind re- 
 quired in a Governor. Of all Australian rulers he 
 was probably the most silent. His one public 
 speech in reply to a deputation consisted of the 
 words " I have no remarks to make, gentlemen." 
 Had he refrained in other matters his reputation 
 would be unique. He imposed an unpopular royalty 
 on minerals, and excited much hostility by devoting 
 public funds to the support of religion. Thereupon 
 even the nominee Council deserted him, leaving him 
 the sole target for angry remonstrance and abuse. 
 Under these circumstances the Home Government 
 recalled him. His mistakes did not affect the prog- 
 ress of the colony, which made rapid advances, es- 
 pecially in wheat-growing. Questions of govern- 
 ment, it may be worth while to observe, although 
 fiercely debated, have on the whole exercised but a 
 small influence on the real development of the col-
 
 200 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA, 
 
 onies. Parliaments debate and wrangle, but busi- 
 ness goes on independently, in the lines of least 
 resistance. Party questions are regarded as external 
 things in which everybody is interested, indeed, but 
 interested somewhat in the same way as in a game of 
 cricket or football. 
 
 Sir Henry Edward Fox Young, who arrived in 
 1848 was the first civilian Governor to be sent to 
 South Australia. With a population of nearly 40,- 
 000, and a revenue that increased in three years from 
 32,433 to 82,411, the colony was no longer in the 
 swaddling stage; indeed it was already clamouring 
 for a popular government. At any rate, Downing 
 Street thought that the day of the purely military 
 administrator was over. Young busied himself with 
 schemes for the opening up of the country. One of 
 these schemes was the attempt to open the Murray 
 for navigation and to remove the bar at its mouth. 
 A reward of 4,000 was offered to the first person 
 who should take an iron steamer up the Murray to its 
 junction with the Darling. This feat was accom- 
 plished by a Mr. Cadell, but the reward was by no 
 means equal to his outlay. The effort to clear away 
 the bar was a signal failure. The Lower Murray, in 
 fact, has never been of much value as a commercial 
 highway. The establishment of an effective road 
 system and of district councils for local government 
 purposes gives Governor Young a better claim to 
 grateful memory. 
 
 On the discovery of gold in the eastern colonies, 
 South Australia suffered a temporary withdrawal 
 of population, chiefly of the labouring class. For a 
 time all industries were stagnant. But the estab- 
 lishment of an escort route between Bendigo and 
 'Adelaide diverted to South Australia some of the
 
 FOUNDATION OF PROVINCE. 201 
 
 wealth of the Victorian gold-fields. Enterprising 
 squatters and others, moreover, soon realised that 
 money was to be made by catering for the wants of 
 the mining population.
 
 202 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXII. 
 
 BEPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 THE year 1851 marks the end of the old system 
 of government, consisting of an administrator and a 
 nominee council. A legislature of one chamber, 
 composed of 16 elected and 8 nominee members was 
 now created. To this Legislative Council, as it was 
 termed, was given the control of " all expenditure 
 chargeable to the general revenue." The Governor 
 still retained control over the revenue arising from 
 the sale or lease of public lands. 
 
 In 1853 the population of the colony had reached 
 79,000, and by the Act under which it was founded, 
 a Constitution was promised as soon as the inhabit- 
 ants should number 50,000. The new Legislative 
 Council now occupied itself in drafting a Constitu- 
 tion. The Bill provided for a nominee Tipper 
 House, members of which were to hold office for life, 
 and for a Lower House to be elected every three 
 years on a low suffrage. The chambers were to 
 possess equal authority except on the question of 
 Money Bills, which could originate only in the 
 Assembly. Public opinion, however, was so strongly 
 opposed to the nominee principle that the original 
 Bill was set aside. It was not till October, during 
 the Governorship of Sir Richard MacDonnell, that 
 the revised bill returned to the colony with ths 
 Royal assent. The Constitution Act provided a 
 Legislative Council and an Assembly. Both of these
 
 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 203 
 
 were elective. The members of the Upper House 
 were to be elected by the whole colony, voting as one 
 constituency. The Council was not subject to dis- 
 solution, but one-third of its members were to retire 
 every fourth year. The qualifications of electors for 
 the Council were a 50 freehold; or a lease having 
 three years to run; or a right of purchase of the 
 annual value of 20 ; or tenancy of a house having 
 an annual value of 25. Every male adult, twenty- 
 one years of age, who had resided six months in the 
 colony, had a right to vote in the election of members 
 for the Assembly. Parliaments were triennial, but 
 could be dissolved by the Governor. 
 
 As in other colonies, some difficulties were experi- 
 enced at the outset of responsible government. The 
 first ministries were more or less makeshifts: the 
 first collapsed in less than four months, the second 
 lasted nine days, and the third twenty-nine days. 
 But after that something like stability prevailed. 
 The fourth Parliament passed a measure which has 
 proved a boon wherever it has been adopted. This 
 was the Torrens Act, framed by Mr. R. R. Torrens. 
 By means of it the transfer of real property was 
 simplified to a remarkable extent. Instead of a com- 
 plicated series of legal documents, one for each 
 change of ownership, the Torrens Act devised a 
 simple method of registration and endorsement, by 
 which every change of ownership was shown upon the 
 original title deed. 
 
 With the establishment of responsible government 
 South Australia commenced many useful public 
 works. The railway line connecting Adelaide with 
 its port was completed. Another line was formed 
 from the capital to Gawler and thence to Kapunda. 
 The first telegraph line was laid between Adelaide
 
 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and the Port, and within a few years telegraphic 
 communication was established with Melbourne. 
 The mystery of the interior was soon to be cleared up. 
 Expeditions under Babbage and Warburton were un- 
 successful in their primary object the discovery of 
 gold but brought back valuable information. None 
 of these, however, had reached the centre of the con- 
 tinent. That feat was reserved for McDouall Stuart, 
 who had been draughtsman with Sturt's famous 
 Central Australian Expedition. Two attempts were 
 unsuccessful so far as his main object crossing the 
 continent was concerned; but he succeeded in 
 reaching a point some distance north of Central 
 Mount Stuart. On New Year's Day, 1861, he set 
 out again and raced Burke and Wills for the Gulf 
 of Carpentaria. On July 24th, 1862, the sea was 
 sighted. " The beach," says Stuart's diary, " was 
 covered with soft blue mud. It being ebb-tide, I 
 could see for some distance, and found it would be 
 impossible to take the horses along it. I therefore 
 kept them where I had halted them, and allowed half 
 the party to come on to the beach and gratify them- 
 selves with a sight of the sea, while the other half 
 remained to watch the horses until their return. I 
 dipped my feet and washed my face and hands in 
 the sea, as I had promised the late Governor, Sir 
 Richard MacDonnell, I would do if I reached it." 
 
 Stuart was rewarded by the grant of 1,000 square 
 miles of grazing country and 3,000 in cash ; but the 
 privations he had undergone had undermined his 
 strength, and he did not live long to enjoy the hon- 
 ours that a grateful colony heaped upon him. 
 
 At the termination of MacDonnell's period of office 
 the population was 126,830. The revenue was con- 
 siderably over half a million ; the area of land under
 
 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 205 
 
 cultivation had trebled in the last ten years; the 
 number of sheep had doubled; and the exports in 
 1862 were valued at 2,145,796. 
 
 Sir Dominick Daly, who succeeded MacDonnell, 
 ruled the colony from 1862 until his death in 1868. 
 The year after his arrival the Northern Territory 
 was included in the province of South Australia, 
 and steps were taken to form a settlement on the 
 north coast. Escape Cliffs in Adam Bay was selected 
 as the scene of operations, and a number of emigrants 
 went thither by sea from Adelaide. The settlers 
 were not impressed with the locality, and exercised 
 to the full the British privilege of grumbling and 
 quarrelling among themselves. The Government 
 then despatched J. McKinlay, the explorer, to report 
 on the situation generally, and especially to find a 
 more suitable site for the settlement. He conducted 
 an expedition to the East Alligator River; but 
 there he was caught in a sudden flood, from which 
 he escaped with difficulty in a punt covered with 
 the hides of the horses he had with him. The 
 smell of the hides attracted a disagreeable retinue 
 of sharks and alligators. McKinlay's mission did 
 not help the infant colony out of its difficulties. 
 Finally, on the recommendation of Mr. Goyder, the 
 Surveyor-General, it was removed to Port Darwin. 
 Here was founded the township of Palmerston, 
 which the transcontinental telegraph line and the 
 discovery of gold in the Northern Territory have 
 made a place of permanent importance. 
 
 For some time past the system in vogue for dis- 
 posing of the waste lands of the colony had been 
 productive of serious evils. It had encouraged a 
 class of speculators, who attended the land sales and 
 bought up as much as they could in the hope of ob-
 
 206 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 taining speculative prices from persons genuinely 
 desirous of settling on the land. To some extent 
 these abuses were remedied by Strangway's Act, by 
 virtue of which land could be sold on credit, the 
 full amount being payable in four years. This sys- 
 tem, which limited selection to 640 acres, was a great 
 improvement, although the residential provisions 
 were liable to be evaded. 
 
 Daly was succeeded by Sir James Fergusson, a 
 man experienced in affairs and parliamentary gov- 
 ernment. His regime is marked by the initiation 
 of a vigorous public works policy, and especially 
 by the construction of the transcontinental telegraph 
 line which connected Adelaide with Port Darwin. 
 Tliis work, rendered difficult by the immense distance, 
 nearly two thousand miles, over which material had 
 to be transported, and by the absence of timber along 
 the route, was completed in two years. 
 
 In the last twenty-five years of South Australian 
 history there has been little that is striking or pic- 
 turesque. For the most part it is but the record of 
 an industrial development, which has been marked 
 by none of those extraordinary circumstances which 
 characterise the progress of the eastern colonies. 
 No sensational gold discoveries have been made, and 
 though the colony possesses valuable copper mines, 
 her assets consist chiefly in wheat, in vineyards, in 
 flocks of sheep and herds of cattle. A rapidly in- 
 creasing area is devoted to the growth of vines, 
 South Australia ranking next to Victoria in the pro- 
 duction of wine. The wheat industry, though it has 
 fallen off in late years, is very important. Climate 
 and soil combine to produce a fine quality of grain, 
 well known in the European markets. 
 
 The bold public works policy initiated by Sir
 
 REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT. 207 
 
 James Fergusson was continued by succeeding ad- 
 ministrations. Mr. James Penn Boucaut, a lawyer 
 and politician of conspicuous ability, who became 
 premier in 1874, proposed to raise a loan of 
 3,000,000, with a view to developing the resources 
 of the colony more thoroughly. To meet the inter- 
 est on this sum he proposed to levy stamp, probate 
 and succession duties; but this proposal did not 
 commend itself to both Houses, and the Boucaut min- 
 istry retired in favour of a cabinet at the head of 
 which was the Hon. John Colton. The latter, by 
 abandoning the taxation proposals for a time, was 
 able to raise a loan of three millions and to begin 
 the policy projected by his predecessor. Many new 
 railways were constructed, and the overland tele- 
 graph line to Western Australia was, in 1877, ex- 
 tended as far as Eucla, near the head of the Bight. 
 Shortly after the arrival of Sir William Jervois at 
 the end of that year, it had reached Perth. The fol- 
 lowing year the first sod of the transcontinental rail- 
 way from Port Augusta to Port Denison was laid. 
 At present it has reached Oodnadatta, 737 miles 
 from Adelaide. In the same year was laid the foun- 
 dation of the Adelaide University. 
 
 The period of active expansion was followed by a 
 financial crisis. It was due partly to wild 'specula- 
 tion in land, and partly to low prices of staple prod- 
 ucts, the failure of harvests owing to drought, and 
 the closing of some of the mines. The depression 
 was not of long duration, however. A copious rain- 
 fall and valuable mineral discoveries were the prin- 
 cipal agents in restoring confidence and prosperity. 
 
 Several South Australian Governors have inter- 
 ested themselves in the exploration of the interior. 
 To the Earl of Kintore, however, belongs the honour
 
 208 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of being the first of them to cross the continent. In 
 1881 he took ship to Port Darwin, and returned 
 to Adelaide overland along the telegraph route. In 
 1886 died Sir Thomas Elder, than whom Australia 
 has had no greater benefactor. He introduced the 
 breeding of camels into the colony, fitted out several 
 expeditions at his own expense, founded a conserva- 
 torium of music at Adelaide, and at his death left 
 a large sum to be divided among various public in- 
 stitutions. 
 
 Although the Government -of South Australia has 
 principally concerned itself with the development of 
 the resources of the country, it has nevertheless taken 
 a sympathetic interest in Federation. It has also, in 
 imitation of New Zealand, indulged in certain novel 
 experiments in legislation. In 1896 the State Ad- 
 vances Bill was passed and a state bank was shortly 
 afterwards established. Another innovation was put 
 into force in the same year. This was the granting 
 of the franchise to women. At the general election 
 in April, 1896, sixty per cent, of the women enrolled 
 took advantage of their right to vote. The results 
 in no way bore out the predictions of the opponents 
 of the measure. 
 
 These two measures, the State Advances Bill and 
 the Adult Suffrage Bill, are typical of two tendencies 
 which may be traced in the politics of all the Aus- 
 tralasian colonies : a tendency to enlarge the functions 
 of the State and an equally strong tendency to make 
 government more and more democratic. It is still 
 too early to speculate as to the ultimate effect of 
 these tendencies.
 
 PART SIX. 
 
 TASMANIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 
 
 TASMANIA was discovered by the celebrated Dutch 
 navigator, Abel Jan Tasman, in the year 1642, and 
 was named by him Van Diemen's Land in honour 
 of Anthony Van Diemen, Governor of the Dutch 
 East Indies, by whose orders he had undertaken his 
 voyage of discovery into the southern seas. The 
 name given to the country by its discoverer was borne 
 by it until the year 1853, when it was changed to 
 Tasmania in memory of its discoverer. For one 
 hundred and thirty years after its discovery the 
 island was unvisited by Europeans. In 1772 two 
 French vessels Mascarin and Marquis de Castres, 
 commanded by Captain Marion du Fresne entered 
 Storm Bay, the very harbour which had sheltered 
 Tasman in 1642. Next year Captain Furneaux, 
 commanding the Adventure, one of the vessels of 
 Captain Cook's expedition for the prosecution of dis- 
 coveries in high southern latitudes, entered the same 
 bay, having been separated from the Resolution, 
 which Captain Cook commanded. In 1777 Captain 
 Cook himself, on his last voyage, and commanding 
 the Discovery, visited Storm Bay and remained there
 
 210 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 some few days, being very well received by the na- 
 tives. In 1788 Lieutenant William Bligh, on his 
 way to Otaheite, visited Adventure Bay, the inlet of 
 Bruni Island, named after Furneaux's ship. He 
 planted some fruit trees, maize and vegetables, and 
 left an inscription stating when and by whom this 
 was done. The trees were in a flourishing condition 
 in 1792, when. D'Entrecasteaux visited the bay. 
 In 1789 Captain J. H. Cox, in the brig Mercury, 
 sighted the south-east coast and discovered Oyster 
 Bay. In April, 1792, Admiral Bruni D'Entrecas- 
 teaux and Captain Huon de Kermadec, in charge of 
 the expedition in search of the ill-fated La Perouse, 
 entered Storm Bay, and remained there for nearly 
 one month exploring and surveying the embouchures 
 of the Huon and Derwent Rivers, Bruni Island, 
 Port Esperance and other inlets. Admiral D'En- 
 trecasteaux returned in January of the following 
 year in order to complete the surveys he had begun. 
 This expedition carried with it a number of scientific 
 men, and a thorough examination of the country was 
 made; indeed, all subsequent voyagers to this part 
 of Van Diemen's Land were greatly indebted to 
 the French navigators for the thoroughness of their 
 work. Two years later Captain Hayes, in the Duke 
 and Duchess, entered the Derwent and gave it the 
 name it bears, superseding the appellation Riviere 
 du Nord conferred upon it by D'Entrecasteaux. For 
 many years after its discovery Tasmania was consid- 
 ered to be part of the Australian Continent, and it 
 was not until 1798 that its insularity was estab- 
 lished. In that year Captain Hibbs, commanding 
 the Norfolk, having on board Lieutenant Flinders 
 and Surgeon Bass, of H.M.S. Reliance, sailed 
 through the straits which now bear Bass' name, and
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 211 
 
 thus proved Tasmania to be an island. In 1802 a 
 scientific expedition, fitted out by the French Gov- 
 ernment, and consisting of the ships Geographe and 
 Naiuraliste, with the corvette Casuarina, under the 
 command of Commodore Baudin, explored the south- 
 ern and eastern shores of the island. The great at- 
 tention paid by the French to the new-found lands 
 of the southern seas caused great disturbance in the 
 minds of the authorities both in Sydney and in Lon- 
 don, and it was determined that Van Diemen's Land 
 should be found occupied, should the French attempt 
 to establish a colony on the shores of the inlets they 
 had been surveying so diligently. Accordingly, in 
 the year 1803, " in order to establish His Majesty's 
 right to the island," Lieutenant Bowen was sent to 
 form a settlement on the Derwent ; with him were a 
 small party of soldiers and some convicts. The spot 
 selected for a settlement Risdon was on the left 
 bank of the Derwent, about eight miles above the 
 present site of Hobart. Some time previously Gov- 
 ernor King, of Sydney, had despatched Colonel 
 David Collins to establish a post at Port Phillip, 
 mainly for the purpose of protecting the seal fisheries 
 and forestalling the French. When Collins found his 
 position at Port Phillip untenable, he was in doubt 
 as to whether he would remove his party to Port 
 Dalrymple, on the opposite shore of the strait, or to 
 the Derwent. There were many reasons to be urged 
 in favour of the northern port as the principal place 
 of settlement for the new colony; one having great 
 weight was the protection it would afford to the Brit- 
 ish sealers in Bass' Straits, who feared the interfer- 
 ence of American whalers and sealers, whose enter- 
 prise had carried them so far south. Lieutenant- 
 Go yernor Collins caused Port Dalrymple to be exam-
 
 212 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ined, but, in spite of the favourable report of his 
 subordinates, decided, with the concurrence of his 
 superior at Sydney, to remove to the southern part 
 of the island. Collins accordingly removed his people 
 to the Derwent, and with admirable judgment se- 
 lected Sullivan's Cove as the site of his settlement. 
 This was on the opposite shore to Bisdon and on the 
 spot where Hobart now stands. The two settle- 
 ments of Collins and Bowen continued for some 
 time independent of one another, until ordrers were 
 received from Sydney for their amalgamation. 
 Governor King, if left to himself, would have been 
 content with the establishment at Hobart as suffi- 
 cient protection against the French, but the British 
 Government was greatly alarmed at the despatches it 
 had received from Australia, urging the occupation 
 of various points in the straits and on Van Die- 
 men's Land, to prevent the intrusion of the French, 
 with whom they were at war. The London authori- 
 ties therefore ordered the occupation of Port Dal- 
 rymple, and the transference of part of the establish- 
 ment then at Norfolk Island, with a proportion of the 
 settlers andconvicts to that place. Accordingly, Gov- 
 ernor King despatched to Port Dalrymple Colonel 
 Paterson as Lieutenant-Governor, and with him a 
 small establishment of convicts and soldiers from 
 Sydney, to which were subsequently added various 
 detachments of convicts and others. There were, 
 therefore, in 1804, two settlements in Van Diemen's 
 Land at opposite ends of the island, and a question 
 of jurisdiction immediately arose between the two 
 Lieutenant-Governors. Colonel Collins claimed that 
 his appointment as Lieutenant-Governor extended to 
 the whole of Van Diemen's Land, and that, there- 
 fore, the northern settlement was within his juris-
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 213 
 
 diction. This claim Paterson wholly repudiated, 
 and in this he was upheld by Governor King, who 
 issued a general order dividing the island into two 
 independent governments, to be known respectively 
 as the counties of Cornwall and Buckingham, the 
 dividing line to be the 42d parallel of south lati- 
 tude, each government to be subordinate only to him- 
 self as Governor-in-Chief of New South Wales and 
 its dependencies. 
 
 The colonists at once undertook the usual occupa- 
 tion of pioneers, and were able to avoid some of the 
 difficulties experienced in the parent settlement at 
 Sydney. Some shipments of stock were made from 
 Sydney and some from Calcutta at considerable ex- 
 pense, and though a large number of stock died 
 shortly after landing, the remainder throve well on 
 the abundant pastures of the island. 
 
 Policy dictated that encounters with the natives 
 should, as far as possible, be avoided. The blacks 
 were timid, but inclined to be friendly ; and the re- 
 lations of the two races would undoubtedly have been 
 very amicable, were it not for an untoward accident 
 arising out of the culpable ignorance of Lieutenant 
 Moore, who held command at Risdon during the ab- 
 sence of his superior officer, Lieutenant Bowen. A 
 large party of natives, men, women and children, 
 appeared close to the settlement; they were armed 
 for the chase, and were engaged in hunting kanga- 
 roo. Lieutenant Moore, mistaking the intentions 
 of the natives, and seeing that the men were armed, 
 thought to forestall an assault by attacking them. 
 The soldiers were hastily formed and ordered to fire, 
 which they did with such execution that fifty of the 
 unfortunate blacks, including many women and 
 children, were slain. !No explanation of the unfortu- 
 
 p
 
 214 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 nate mistake could be made to the natives, who saw 
 in the act of the colonists mere wanton aggression, 
 and thenceforward there was relentless war between 
 the two races. At the other end of the island the 
 relations with the blacks were also unfortunate. The 
 day after taking possession 12th November, 1804 
 Paterson's camp was approached by a body of 
 natives 80 strong, and some small presents were 
 made to the chief; the natives, however, wished to 
 appropriate everything in the camp that their fancy 
 lighted upon, and in self-protection the officer in 
 charge was compelled to force them out of the camp ; 
 but presently they returned and attempted to throw 
 a sergeant on guard into the sea, and otherwise mal- 
 treated two soldiers. Being fired upon, they made 
 off, leaving in the hands of the settlers one of their 
 number dead and another severely wounded. 
 
 The two settlements were for a long time without 
 regular means of communication by land, and it was 
 considered a remarkable feat when Lieutenant Lay- 
 cock made, in eight days, the overland journey be- 
 tween Hobart and Launceston. Several years before 
 Van Diemen's Land was taken possession of, the 
 British Government had ordered the evacuation of 
 Norfolk Island, but it was not until 1803 that the 
 order was actually received on the island, and even 
 then the greatest reluctance was displayed in carry- 
 ing it out. The inhabitants of Norfolk Island, who 
 numbered about one thousand, were very adverse to 
 leaving their homes, and five years were occupied 
 in completely removing them. Most of the settlers 
 were emancipated convicts and owned small free- 
 holds, in exchange for which lands were allotted to 
 them in Van Diemen's Land or in New South Wales, 
 as they preferred, and they were removed at the
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 215 
 
 public expense. On the whole they were dealt with 
 most liberally. The place where most of them lo- 
 cated themselves was Van Diemen's Land, and the 
 new settlers called their location New Norfolk and 
 Norfolk Plains, in memory of their much-loved 
 island-home. The removal of the Norfolk Island set- 
 tlers occurred at a very unfortunate time, so far as 
 the infant colony of Van Diemen's Land was con- 
 cerned. The colony was far from producing suffi- 
 cient food-stuffs for its own requirements, and the 
 mother colony of New South Wales, to which it 
 looked for help in time of trouble, was suffering 
 from adverse seasons, and could give it little aid. 
 The climate of the island is mild and the seasons 
 regular, and for the small population of the early 
 days there was abundance of good land; neverthe- 
 less, the settlers suffered many severe privations, and 
 for a time they were on the brink of starvation; 
 provisions were reduced very low, and so great were 
 the fears of the authorities, that they took the extra- 
 ordinary step of enfranchising the convicts and 
 arming some of them, so that they might obtain from 
 the wilds of the forests the food which they could 
 not receive from the public stores. The period of 
 scarcity lasted for more than two years, and was 
 only ended by the arrival of a cargo of wheat from 
 India at a time when the colonists had ceased any 
 longer to hope for succour. 
 
 Lieuten ant-Governor Collins died in 1810, and 
 several military officers in turn administered the gov- 
 ernment pending the appointment of another gov- 
 ernor. It was during this period that Governor Mac- 
 quarie visited the settlements to see with his own eyes 
 the state of affairs in his dependency. He at once 
 saw that there was no justification for the continu-
 
 216 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ation of two governments, one at Hobart and the 
 other at Port Dalrymple, and accordingly he placed 
 the government of the whole island under one head. 
 In 1811 Colonel Davey was appointed Lieutenant- 
 Governor, and applied himself to the task of govern- 
 ment with such alternation of firmness and weak- 
 ness, as might have been expected from a man who 
 spent his nights (like the Regent Orleans) in sys- 
 tematic dissipation. The community adopted its 
 tone from the Governor; Government officials, high 
 and low, lived in open lawlessness with the female 
 convicts; wives were bought, sold, and exchanged 
 as if they were chattel property. Sheep and rum 
 were the only currency, 'and Van Diemen's Land as 
 a colony made very slight progress, although there 
 was a certain show of prosperity about Hobart itself, 
 which gained no little importance from its nearness 
 to the whale fisheries. But as regards the country 
 districts, the condition of affairs was deplorable. 
 Nor was Davey entirely responsible. The necessi- 
 ties of the famine years which caused the liberation 
 of so many desperate ruffians, to enable them to live 
 with as little assistance as possible from the public 
 stores, had a very serious effect on the infant settle- 
 ment. Many of the released convicts naturally re- 
 fused to return to servitude, and being unable, if 
 willing, to follow lawful occupations, they organised 
 themselves into bands and terrorised the country 
 districts, plundering and ravaging right up to the 
 streets of Hobart. The Governor issued various 
 proclamations against brigandage, and dealt severely 
 with such of the outlaws as came into his hands, but 
 it was not to be expected that much attention would 
 be paid by the convicts to the threats and commands 
 of a Governor, who himself showed so little respect
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 217 
 
 for morality and the common decencies of civilised 
 life. The impunity with which the bushrangers car- 
 ried on their nefarious trade was a standing invita- 
 tion to the other convicts to escape from servitude 
 and take to the bush, a matter very easy of accom- 
 plishment, as the guards were few and their duties 
 many. The Tasmanian convicts were of the worst 
 class, they were in many instances the irreformable 
 criminals of the mother colony, sent on to Van Die- 
 men's Land as a further punishment. The brutal- 
 ity of the outlaws became at last so aggressive that 
 Davey, in desperation, put the whole colony under 
 martial law, a proceeding quite beyond his powers 
 as Lieutenant-Governor, and which was disallowed 
 by Macquarie as Governor-in-Chief. Davey refused 
 to continue in his position when his judgment in so 
 important a point was overruled, and sent in his 
 resignation. After Davey came Colonel Sorell as 
 Lieutenant-Governor, a man of entirely different 
 type. Davey had landed at Hobart in his shirt- 
 sleeves and called at the first house he passed and 
 asked for a drink. Colonel Sorell's landing was for- 
 mal and official, and he was in most respects the 
 opposite of his predecessor. Almost his first care 
 was to suppress bushranging, and he succeeded so far 
 as to relieve the settlers of the constant dread of 
 pillage and ill-usage under which they laboured dur- 
 ing the last years of Davey's administration. Almost 
 every convict in Van Diemen's Land was a possible 
 outlaw, and the bushranging trouble was never 
 wholly conquered by Sorell, and, as will be seen, re- 
 vived later on in all its violence. 
 
 For sheep-farming Sorell did a great deal, and act- 
 ing on the advice of settlers acquainted with the 
 mother colony, he procured three hundred lambs
 
 218 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 from flocks of merinos which John Macarthur had 
 bred in Camden, in New South Wales. Sorell also 
 encouraged immigration by granting to eligible set- 
 tlers grants of land and the loan of seed and stock. 
 He also encouraged religion and education, so greatly 
 neglected by his predecessor, and under his rule a 
 newspaper was published, and the beginning of a 
 public works policy may be found in the attention 
 paid by him to opening up roads to the various places 
 of settlement. Regular fortnightly communication 
 was established between Hobart and Launceston, the 
 time of journey taken by the mail being seven days 
 to cover 133 miles. In 1821 the island colony de- 
 pastured 170,000 sheep and 35,000 cattle, and 15,000 
 acres were under tillage. With a population of only 
 7,400 persons, Van Diemen's Land was able to ex- 
 port both wheat and wool, and the future looked 
 extremely bright. Lieutenant-Governor Sorell was 
 recalled in 1824, greatly to the regret of all classes 
 of settlers. To Lieutenant-Governor Sorell suc- 
 ceeded Colonel Arthur in 1824, and in the following 
 year Van Diemen's Land was granted by the Im- 
 perial Government, Executive and Legislative Coun- 
 cils with advisory and legislative functions. The 
 Executive Council comprised four members, and the 
 Legislature seven members, all nominated by the 
 Crown. The Governor of New South Wales was still 
 superior to the Lieutenant-Governor of the island, 
 whose functions were given to him to be exercised 
 in the absence of the Governor, but as the rulers of 
 New South Wales did not visit the island, the au- 
 thority implied by the name of Governor-in-Chief 
 was never exercised. The last years of Sorell's ad- 
 ministration had been attended with some relaxation 
 of discipline. The Governor had dealt effectively
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 219 
 
 with the bushranging on his first assuming control of 
 affairs, but towards the end there was a revival of 
 outlawry. The administration of convict affairs, 
 in reality the chief business of the Governor, was not 
 altogether successful in Sorell's hands. It is prob- 
 able that experience showed him that it was useless 
 to attempt to reform criminals associated together 
 as they were in and around Hobart, and he contented 
 himself with the careful performance of his routine 
 duties. Lieut enant-Governor Arthur's mind was of 
 a different type. His pervading idea was the main- 
 tenance of discipline, and though much has been said 
 of the barbarities committed during Arthur's twelve 
 years' rule, it is certain that he was able to make 
 the detention of the better class prisoners less brutal- 
 ising than it was in the time of his milder prede- 
 cessors. Towards the incorrigible offender Arthur 
 was unrelenting he was severity itself. Having 
 cleared the country of bushrangers, he turned his at- 
 tention to affairs of administration. He found 
 much to complain of in the official management of 
 affairs, and set about remedying them without hesita- 
 tion and without fear. He suspended and removed 
 all officials who thwarted him, or with whom he had 
 reason to be dissatisfied, and from them and their 
 friends arose cries of protestation at the Governor's 
 tyranny. He also speedily came into collision with 
 the free settlers and landowners, the latter especially 
 did he estrange. The land regulations drawn up in 
 England, to come into force in 1831, provided for 
 the sale of Crown lands at not less than five shillings 
 an acre ; by distributing land-grants freely and with- 
 out payment, before the regulations could take effect, 
 the Governor for a time destroyed the sale value of 
 other lands, to the indignation of the owners. The
 
 220 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 free settlers were merely tolerated by Arthur; 
 their intrusion into a penal colony was a misfortune, 
 and tended to destroy the subordination of the popu- 
 lation to the executive, as the free settlers could not 
 be dealt with in the same way as the convicts. There 
 were virtually two sets of principles to be observed 
 in the government of the island. As many of the 
 settlers were ex-convicts, those formed a special class 
 midway between the men who had come to the colony 
 free and the convicts actually in servitude, and some- 
 times one principle and sometimes another was ap- 
 plied to them in the administration of the law. It 
 would appear that Arthur's line of action was agreed 
 to by the Home Government from the first, as he 
 steadily persevered in it to the end. The colony 
 had been visited in 1824 by Governor Macquarie, of 
 Sydney, who on his return spoke enthusiastically of 
 the climate and resources of the island, and many 
 settlers were induced to take up their abode there. 
 Under Arthur's strong rule, life and property be- 
 came absolutely secure, and maugre the political dis- 
 advantages associated with that rule, free colonists 
 found Van Diemen's Land a very desirable place to 
 live in. This new free element was a constant 
 trouble to Arthur. With the convicts he knew how 
 to deal ; the emancipists had too uncertain a position 
 to be able to give him much anxiety, but the criticisms 
 of a free people nnd a free press had to be treated in 
 a different mode. But Arthur was essentially auto- 
 cratic. The press criticisms he met with a license fee 
 and a stamp duty of three pence per copy and a 100 
 penalty for publication without a license. But this, 
 though an arbitrary step, was but following an Eng- 
 lish precedent. As Arthur's local legislature was 
 formed of nominees he had practically full control
 
 DISCOVERY AND SETTLEMENT. 221 
 
 of the machinery of legislation, and within certain 
 limits could change the law as he wished. The 
 people's only remedy was agitation and appeal to the 
 Home Government, and they agitated and appealed 
 until they at last won the same rights as were en- 
 joyed by their fellow colonists in the other colonies ; 
 but from Arthur they gained very little. Under his 
 long rule the face of the country brightened, settle- 
 ment was widely extended, and communication by 
 roads greatly facilitated, for the Governor employed 
 all the convicts not assigned to settlers, and not so 
 unmanageable as to need being kept under restraint, 
 in road-making and on other public works. A large 
 amount of capital was attracted to the country. 
 The Van Diemen's Land Company obtained large 
 grants of land in the north-west of the island 
 350,000 acres in all, of which 100,000 acres were at 
 Emu Bay and Circular Head. Other land grants 
 were given, but on a lesser scale, and large impor- 
 tations of live stock were made. When Governor 
 Arthur's term of office expired the population of the 
 island had increased threefold, trade had risen from 
 75,000 to nearly one million, and the public reve- 
 nue had increased in proportion. Pleased with his 
 services in Tasmania the Crown created him a baro- 
 net and conferred upon him the Governorship of 
 Canada.
 
 222 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXIV. 
 
 BUSHKANGING TROUBLES AND NATIVE DIFFICULTY. 
 
 EVERY Australian colony has had its bushranging 
 period, but in Van Diemen's Land this was almost 
 coeval with settlement. It has already been narrated 
 how in the days of famine Colonel Collins re- 
 leased the convicts from their servitude in order that 
 they might obtain their own sustenance by hunting. 
 As Collins might have expected and probably did 
 expec.t, many of these did not return to their chains, 
 preferring the hardships of the bush to the lash of 
 the taskmaster. Tasmania, like the mainland of 
 Australia, does not afford sustenance for the human 
 family unless the soil be cultivated, and the convicts 
 who remained in the bush naturally took to plunder 
 to support themselves, and the formation of the 
 country favoured the escape of the plunderers. 
 Even before Collins died bushranging had become a 
 pest, and to such an extent did it prevail that agri- 
 culture was greatly impeded. The outlaws roamed 
 the country in organised gangs, burning and destroy- 
 ing in the most wanton way. Brutal by nature, and 
 made more brutal by the convict discipline of Nor- 
 folk Island and Van Diemen's Land, they became 
 if possible even more depraved by the license they 
 were able to indulge in after their escape from cus- 
 tody. Their horrible treatment of the aborigines 
 will be referred to later on, and as they gained con- 
 fidence by impunity, their treatment of the whites
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES. 223 
 
 was equally bad, and many settlers were so terrified 
 by the treatment they had received, or by what had 
 happened to their neighbours, that they abandoned 
 their farms. The success of the outlaws was so 
 complete that several persons of better class joined 
 their ranks, and the community was in despair. The 
 disallowance of Lieutenant-Governor Davey's procla- 
 mation of martial law, which has been alluded to in a 
 previous chapter, had the happy result of bringing 
 about his resignation and the succession of Colonel 
 Sorell. The new administrator's first work was to 
 put down bushranging. Large rewards were of- 
 fered for the capture of a bushranger, and private 
 persons freely subscribed to the fund out of which 
 the rewards were paid. The license prevailing in 
 official circles, and in the convict gangs, was put an 
 end to; all communication with the outlaws was 
 stopped, and all convicts likely to attempt to escape, 
 or who were well disposed towards the outlaws, were 
 confined to the settlement at Macquarie Harbour. 
 Promises of pardon were made to men still in servi- 
 tude as an inducement for them to engage in the 
 pursuit of the bushrangers, and outlying settlements 
 were strictly guarded. The first effect of these 
 measures was to prevent the recruiting of the outlaws 
 by the accession of escaped convicts, and one after 
 another the bands were broken up, and their mem- 
 bers killed or captured, but not without great loss 
 of life to thie pursuers. One of the last to fall was 
 Michael Howe, the worst of all these ruffians who 
 disgraced the name of man, who added to crimes 
 innumerable and abominable the basest ingratitude 
 to those who befriended him. An interesting sketch 
 of the career of this notorious scoundrel is given in 
 Heaton's Dictionary. Howe was at one time a sea-
 
 224 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 man of the Royal Navy, and afterwards the owner 
 of a small coasting vessel. He was transported from 
 England for highway robbery, and arrived in Van 
 Diemen's Land in 1812. He was assigned as a serv- 
 ant shortly after his arrival, but on the first op- 
 portunity he escaped to the bush and joined a gang 
 of outlaws commanded by a desperado named White- 
 head, and numbering about twenty. The gang 
 attacked and sacked the town of New Norfolk, and 
 marched on to Pitt Water, burning and destroying 
 the houses, haystacks, and other property of all the 
 farmers who were obnoxious to them. Returning, 
 they again attacked New Norfolk, which was defend- 
 ed by .the settlers assisted by some soldiers. The set- 
 tlers were again worsted, but Whitehead was seri- 
 ously injured, and finding himself unable to move 
 and unlikely to recover, asked Howe to shoot him 
 and cut off his head, so that the settlers would not 
 receive the reward placed by the Governor upon it. 
 This Howe did, and assumed command in White- 
 head's stead. The depredations of the gang con- 
 tinued with additional vigour until their fastnesses 
 were betrayed to the police by a native girl, belong- 
 ing to the gang, who had been captured by the sol- 
 diers. This girl had been Howe's companion, and 
 he was accustomed to leave his companions for short 
 periods and retire to some mountain fastness with 
 her. These hiding places were disclosed to Howe by 
 the girl, to whom he was apparently much attached. 
 Howe gave himself up to Captain Nairne on an 
 assurance of present safety, and a promise of his 
 intercession for pardon. The outlaw did not remain 
 long in 'restraint, bu,t escaping from his guard again 
 took to the bush. He found his gang broken up, only 
 two men remaining. One of these, named Watts, ar-
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES. 225 
 
 ranged with a stock-keeper named Drewe to betray 
 him, and, taking Howe unawares, they effected his 
 capture, and having bound his hands behind him 
 the captors proceeded to bring their man into Hobart, 
 with the hope of obtaining the price put on Howe's 
 head. On the way Howe managed to get his hands 
 loose, and springing upon Watts, seized his knife 
 and stabbed him fatally, then taking his gun shot 
 Drewe dead on the spot. The reward for the cap- 
 ture or killing of Howe was increased, and freedom 
 and a passage to England was offered if the captor 
 were a convict. The bait was too tempting to be 
 long resisted. A convict named Worral, conspiring 
 with one of Howe's mates and a soldier named Pugh, 
 attempted the capture. After a desperate struggle 
 with Howe the men, not being able to take him alive, 
 dashed his brains out. In a pouch which Howe car- 
 ried was found a record of his crimes, and the names 
 of his many accomplices as well as of the receivers 
 of stolen, property. It was asserted by Howe at 
 the time he gave himself up, that some of the police, 
 apparently the most eager in pursuit of him, were 
 really his accomplices, and shared with him the gains 
 of his nefarious trade. It is now well known that 
 during the bushranging period the interests of jus- 
 tice were betrayed by those who were charged with 
 the mission of preserving the peace. The constables 
 were prisoners of the Crown, and it was their in- 
 terest to detect, or pretend to detect, crime, thus 
 obtaining a claim to quicker liberation. The most 
 atrocious perjuries were at times committed by the 
 police, deliberately implicating innocent persons, and 
 it was ascertained without doubt that in many cases 
 they received a share of the booty. The destruction 
 of the bushrangers was followed by a period of great
 
 226 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 progress, but outrages again commenced towards the 
 close of Governor Sorell's rule, and when Governor 
 Arthur took office he found there was a recrudes- 
 cence of bushranging in its worst form. As before, 
 the bushrangers were escaped convicts, and owing 
 to the merciless severity with which Arthur admin- 
 istered the laws, many other convicts took to the bush, 
 preferring death by starvation to the horrors of the 
 convict system. In the year 1825, which was about 
 twelve months after Arthur's arrival, over one hun- 
 dred armed convicts were at large, and a reign of 
 terror was again established. Every outlying home- 
 stead was loopholed for defence, and muskets primed 
 and loaded stood ready for the defenders, who left 
 one or more of their number on the watch lest they 
 should be surprised by armed marauders. So great 
 was the daring of the outlaws that one desperado 
 named Brady, at the head of a mounted gang, seized 
 the town of Sorell, a place a few miles west of Port 
 Dalrymple, locking up in the gaol the soldiers they 
 found there and liberating the prisoners. The con- 
 dition of affairs became so bad that it became a ques- 
 tion whether the authority of the Crown would cease 
 over a great part of the island. Governor Arthur 
 determined to make the most strenuous personal 
 efforts to put an end to the organised brigandage, 
 and, getting together a strong body of soldiers and 
 civilians under his own leadership, he systematic- 
 ally hunted the outlaws down, and in 1826 the 
 plague was once more stamped out and the law again 
 prevailed. Many of the bushrangers were shot down 
 in their tracks, and during 1825 and 1826 one hun- 
 dred and three who were captured were executed. 
 
 Van Diemen's Land had a native difficulty almost 
 from the first days of settlement. Allusion has al-
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES. 227 
 
 ready been made to the unfortunate slaughter of the 
 natives at Risdon. In this affair where fifty lives 
 were lost the blacks were innocent of all wrongdo- 
 ing; the disaster occurred owing solely to the 
 ignorance and panic of Lieutenant Moore and the 
 settlers. This outrage was in no way atoned for, 
 and begat the most bitter and relentless hostility in 
 the native mind. It might be supposed that time 
 would have softened the feelings of the natives 
 towards the settlers, but their ill-treatment was so con- 
 tinuous that the healing effects of time had no chance 
 of operation. When Lieutenant-Governor Collins 
 released the convicts to save them from famine, and 
 enable them to live by the chase, he added a new 
 scourge to the natives. Many of the convicts were 
 the scum of the gaols, who looked upon the aborig- 
 ines as fair game, and used them accordingly. 
 Their babes were murdered in cold blood, their 
 maidens brutally violated, and their wives stolen 
 or lured from them by these fiends in human guise. 
 The authorities did their best to put an end to this 
 troubled state of affairs, but presently found them- 
 selves unable to protect the white settlers and the 
 aborigines were left to their fate. Governor Davey 
 did his best for the natives, but his best was very 
 little. The bushrangers were not likely to pay heed 
 to the proclamations and notices which Davey so 
 freely issued. It is probable they were treated as in- 
 tended, by way of a joke, as, indeed, one remark- 
 able document, issued in the name of the Governor, 
 appeared to be. This notice took the form of a picto- 
 rial exposition of the British laws relating to the 
 crimes of theft and nturder and showed the punish- 
 ments inflicted on white and black alike for the 
 offences. A more evil set of men than the bush-
 
 228 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 rangers never before roamed 'at large in a British 
 colony. Deaf to all the instincts of humanity, 
 they shrank from the commission of no crime; they 
 recoiled from the perpetration of no act of fiendish 
 cruelty. We are told by those who recorded the 
 doings of the time that " The wounded were brained ; 
 the infants cast to the flames ; the bayonet was driven 
 into the flesh ; the social fire round which the natives 
 gathered to slumber became, before morning, their 
 funeral pile." Sometimes the younger and better- 
 looking of the aboriginal women were spared, but it 
 was only to fill the offices of drudge, slave, concubine, 
 and instrument of lust to their ruthless and brutal 
 possessors. Thus goaded to desperation the aborigines 
 meditated awful reprisals, and met force with craft, 
 murder with secret bloodshed, plunder with cunning 
 ambuscades and adroit pillage. But, unhappily for 
 them, the superstitious natives dreaded the darkness 
 as do children. They threw themselves at night 
 upon the ground around the watchfires which re- 
 vealed their whereabouts to their unsleeping enemies, 
 and, thus exposed, were surprised and slaughtered 
 as they slept. Colonel Sorell, who followed Davey, 
 did what he could to protect the unfortunate race 
 who continued to be outraged, murdered, and de- 
 bauched by white settlers and escaped convicts. 
 The problem was, however, a large and difficult one, 
 and Sorell's resources insufficient to cope with the 
 evil in an effectual and a humane manner, and things 
 were, perforce, when his term of office expired, very 
 much as he found them when he took up the reins 
 of government, except that the number of bushrangers 
 had been somewhat diminished, and for every outlaw 
 removed there was one less persecutor of the natives. 
 But the outrages upon the natives were no,t solely tho
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES. 229 
 
 work of the escaped convict ; on the contrary, the free 
 white very often, it is true, an emancipated con- 
 vict was sometimes as bad as the bushranger, but 
 his excuse for his conduct was reprisal for outrages 
 committed by the natives, nor can it be denied that 
 the black man readily learned to imitate the crimes of 
 the white, and no outlying homestead in the colony 
 was safe from plunder, or its inmates safe from 
 outrage. The natives in time acquired some sort 
 of organisation, and at one time they submitted to 
 be led by Mosquito, an Australian aboriginal, whom 
 the Sydney authorities had sent to Van Diemen's 
 Land for safe-keeping. Under Mosquito's guidance 
 the aboriginals vied with the white outlaws in every 
 species of outrage. Mosquito was captured and exe- 
 cuted, but his death did not affect the conduct of 
 the natives, and Governor Arthur found it necessary 
 to take vigorous action, determining to succeed where 
 others had failed. Martial law was proclaimed, 
 reserves were set apart for the use of the natives, 
 and a reward of 5 offered for every adult and 2 
 for every child captured and brought in without 
 suffering any hurt. Capture parties were organised 
 and the settlers enthusiastically took up the native 
 hunt. Many aborigines were secured but not without 
 many fa.tal results. Even the best intentioned colo- 
 nists came into serious conflict with the natives, and 
 the Governor determined to end the struggle by an 
 elaborate scheme by which the natives were to be 
 driven into a corner of the island and then kept in 
 restraint. Governor Arthur's plan was to draw a 
 military cordon across the island, from St. Mary's 
 on the east coast of Deloraine, half-way across the 
 island, and then southward to the Derwent. The 
 persons engaged in the operation numbered about 
 
 Q
 
 230 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 2,000, of whom 800 were soldiers and police, TOO 
 convict servants, the rest being free settlers. Elab- 
 orate measures were taken to secure the success of 
 the operation, and twenty-six depots for provisions 
 were established. When everything was arranged 
 the word was given to move forward. For two 
 months the long line advanced, gradually contracting 
 its flanks and pushing forward the apex, and it was 
 calculated that the result of the movement would be 
 to drive the blacks into Forestier's Peninsula, out 
 of which there was no escape. The cordon was so 
 drawn that its left rested on the sea, and its right 
 on the Dcrwent River, and none of the blacks could 
 escape except through the line of beaters. The 
 tedious operation was at last completed and the 
 parties closed in on the narrow isthmus joining the 
 peninsula to the mainland, and to the extreme 
 chagrin of the Governor not one of the aborigines 
 was found to have been driven into the carefully 
 selected trap. The sole result of the expedition was 
 the capture of one old man and a boy. After this 
 disastrous failure, which cost the Imperial Govern- 
 ment upwards of 30,000, the Governor's consent 
 was won to allowing a humble bricklayer of Hobart, 
 George Augustus Robinson, to attempt, by kind- 
 ness and conciliation, what the capture parties had 
 failed to accomplish. The Governor allowed Robin- 
 eon one hundred pounds a year, and gave him full 
 authority to look after the interests of the natives. 
 With a few friendly natives Robinson went unarmed 
 to every part of the island, exhibiting the greatest 
 courage and constancy in his difficult enterprise. 
 The blacks showed him the utmost respect and con- 
 fidence, but it was nearly four years before he 
 was able to induce the remnants of the tribes to trust
 
 BUSHRANGING TROUBLES. 231 
 
 themselves to the good faith of the whites. Robin- 
 son's journey was undertaken on foot; indeed, the 
 greater part of the country inhabited by the natives 
 was not otherwise approachable, and he is stated to 
 have walked over 4,000 miles. When the blacks 
 were mustered their numbers were found not greatly 
 to exceed two hundred, so great havoc had a few years 
 made in their ranks. The blacks were placed in 
 Flinders Island, the largest of the Bass Straits group. 
 There, despite the kindness and generous treatment 
 meted out to them, robbed of their patrimony, they 
 soon withered away. The settlement at Flinders 
 Island was formed in 1835, and in 1847 it had 
 dwindled to forty-four. This remnant was removed 
 to Oyster Cove, on the mainland, on 3rd March, 
 1869 ; William Lanne, the last male survivor of the 
 race, died at Hobart, and seven years later Turganini, 
 the daughter of the chief of the once warlike and 
 powerful tribe of Bruni Island, also passed away. 
 Thus perished the sole survivor of a gentle race of 
 savages, whose horrible treatment by the early settlers 
 of Van Diemen's Land is a foul blot on the records 
 of the British race.
 
 232 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXV. 
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 
 
 SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, who succeeded Colonel Ar- 
 thur in the government of Van Diemen's Land, was a 
 man of entirely different type. He had seen much 
 service, having served on board the Bellerophon 
 at Trafalgar as signal midshipman, and at the battle 
 of New Orleans in 1814. In 1819 he was in com- 
 mand of an overland expedition from Hudson's Bay 
 to the Arctic Ocean; in 1825 he did other important 
 work in the Arctic Seas, and after leaving Van 
 Diemen's Land was to become still more famous 
 for his Arctic expedition in command of the 
 Erebus and Terror, in which expedition he sacri- 
 ficed his life. The people of the colony wel- 
 comed Franklin with the greatest cordiality, being 
 greatly flattered that a man so distinguished should 
 have accepted the post. Hobart, in Franklin's time, 
 became a great intellectual centre, and during his 
 stay was visited by John Gould, the ornithologist; 
 by Captains Ross and Crosier, of the Erebus and 
 Terror, returning from their Antarctic expedi- 
 tion, with whom was Dr. Hooker, the great botanist ; 
 by Charles Darwin, then at the beginning of his 
 great career; by Count Strzelecki, the explorer; 
 and by the savants of the French Antarctic expedi- 
 tion, in the Zele and Astrolabe. Lady Frank- 
 lin lent her husband the cordial assistance of her 
 earnest nature, and did much to promote the social
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 233 
 
 and intellectual life of the colonists. The in- 
 tellectual position amongst the Australian cities 
 achieved by Hobart in Franklin's time was not 
 wholly lost when he retired from the colony, and 
 to this day the Royal Society of Hobart stands high 
 in the estimation of kindred bodies. Franklin's 
 efforts for the improvement of the settlers were at- 
 tended with success, and he contrived to win popular 
 opinion to his side. He gave publicity to the pro- 
 ceedings of the Legislative Council, and lent the in- 
 fluence of his strong personality in favour of prog- 
 ress. Tinder happier circumstances Franklin would 
 have been an ideal governor, but he was out of place 
 as the head of a huge convict settlement, and his 
 position required that he should carry out the policy 
 of the Home Government in regard to transportation. 
 In 1840 transportation to !N"ew South Wales ceased, 
 and the convict stream was diverted to Van Diemen's 
 Land. The number received yearly was about 3,000. 
 This was a far larger number than could be absorbed 
 by the colony, and colonists of all classes grew 
 alarmed. The flow of free immigration fell off as 
 the convict stream increased, and the colonists felt 
 that so long as the colony was made the receptacle 
 for the gaol scourings of England, self-government 
 would be denied them. They therefore rose in 
 energetic protest against a continuance of transporta- 
 tion and demanded the concession of responsible 
 government. Neither boon was then granted, and 
 the agitation continued without interruption for 
 ten years longer until they were both finally con- 
 ceded. In dealing with the convicts Franklin was 
 not successful. Governor Arthur had acted upon the 
 principle that a certain residuum of the convicts were 
 irreclaimable, and to treat them with consideration
 
 234: PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 was futile; the dread of punishment was the only 
 motive that would influence them to refrain from 
 crime or bring them to subordination. Franklin's 
 nature led him to think that kindness would beget 
 gratitude, and gratitude would beget reform, and 
 he was disposed to try what a change of system 
 would bring about. To this course, also, he was 
 constantly urged by his secretary, Captain Macon- 
 ochie, who carried tenderness to excess. Governor 
 Arthur had taken infinite pains to perfect his 
 Draconian system of convict policy; the men who 
 could be trusted were assigned to settlers ; those who 
 required strict watching were disposed amongst the 
 road gangs, while the worst offenders, the incor- 
 rigibles, the thrice convicted, were relegated to the 
 restraints of Port Arthur, where it must be owned 
 the sound of the lash might be heard all day long. 
 Franklin's rule of mildness was not relished by the 
 prison officials, most of whom had been trained 
 under Governor Arthur, and was never really put 
 into effective operation, for Franklin's sentimen- 
 tality could not make way against the inexorable facts 
 of the situation. In the end the officials triumphed, 
 though Franklin's influence was always to be counted 
 on where mercy was possible. Towards the end of 
 Franklin's governorship the colony began to suffer 
 from the depression which afflicted Victoria and New 
 South Wales. By some this was said to be due to 
 the influx of convicts, but it is not a very probable 
 explanation, seeing that the influx of convicts brought 
 with it a large expenditure of money. The depres- 
 sion was due to causes outside Australia, and was 
 accompanied by a fall in the prices of the principal 
 productions of the colonies, and was not effectively 
 removed until the discovery of gold transformed
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 35 
 
 tlie old order into a new and brighter one. Franklin 
 was recalled to England in 1843. It has been the 
 lot of many high officials in these colonies to be the 
 victims of intrigues; no service, however meritori- 
 ous, is able to secure an officer from the malice and 
 resentment of inferior minds, where such have access 
 to the ear of those in authority. Franklin had dis- 
 missed the Colonial Secretary of the colony (Mr. 
 John Montague) for insubordination. Montague 
 was able to get to England before Franklin's ex- 
 planation reached the Colonial Office, and he laid 
 various charges against the Governor which were 
 readily swallowed by the officials, with the result 
 that Franklin was recalled, and his explanation 
 heard afterwards. 
 
 Sir John Franklin had not left Hobart when his 
 successor, Sir Eardley Wilmot, arrived. The new 
 Governor was fated to be in direct conflict with the 
 colonists during the greater period of his term of 
 office. The horrors of the Norfolk Island convict 
 establishment have been depicted by more than one 
 master hand, and they need not be here recounted. 
 Captain Maconochie's rule of mildness had com- 
 pletely broken down, and had been succeeded by 
 an administration which was stern and merciless, 
 if not cruel and revengeful. The lash and other 
 forms of gaol discipline were enforced with a fre- 
 quency and a callousness that destroyed their effect. 
 The Norfolk Island men had, it was thought, 
 reached the depths of depravity when they were re- 
 ceived on the island, but a brief residence thereon 
 proved that there were still greater depths to 
 which man might fall. The horrors of the island 
 became eo notorious as to awaken the British Gov- 
 ernment to the necessity of closing the prison, and
 
 236 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 they hastily ordered the transference of the prisoners 
 to Van Diemen's Land. This was done during Wil- 
 mot's term of office, and many of the colonists uu- 
 reasoningly blamed the Governor for an act in regard 
 to which he had not the least responsibility. Van 
 Diemen's Land was now a convict land to an extent 
 that no other colony had ever been before. In 1838, 
 out of a population of 30,000 there were over 18,000 
 convicts. When the Norfolk Island prisoners, num- 
 bering about 2,000, arrived in the colony it is prob- 
 able that there were at least 30,000 convicts in the 
 island, for during the previous years prisoners had 
 been arriving at the rate of 3,000 a year. To a cer- 
 tain section of the colonists the increase in the convict 
 element, with the attendant large expenditure of Im- 
 perial funds, was a great advantage, but the great ma- 
 jority of the people were absolutely opposed to the 
 system, as from a moral point of view they feared the 
 effect that the degrading spectacle of convict life 
 would have upon their children, and they foresaw 
 that the permanent progress of the colony would be 
 arrested unless they were able, not only to prevent a 
 further influx of convicts, but dispose of many of 
 those already in the country. In 1845 there were 
 employed in different parts of the colony more than 
 twenty gangs of probationers, numbering from one 
 hundred to four hundred in each gang, besides the 
 large number at Port Arthur, and in private em- 
 ploy. The free colonists were panic-stricken at the 
 growing proportions of the fixed penal establishments 
 throughout the island, and the agitation to put a stop 
 to further importations of convicts from other parts 
 of the Empire grew most intense. The colonists 
 were greatly dissatisfied with the action of the Im- 
 perial Government in another important particular.
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 237 
 
 That Government had been accustomed to spend 
 some 300,000 on the maintenance of the penal es- 
 tablishments in Van Diemen's Land. From the very 
 beginning there had been in the minds of the Im- 
 perial authorities charged with prison affairs, an 
 idea that in due time the Australian penal settle- 
 ments might be made self-supporting. To give 
 effect to this idea the Secretary of State for the Col- 
 onies determined that instead of employing convicts 
 in making roads and carrying out public works as 
 heretofore, they should be employed in clearing and 
 cultivating lands. The crops raised were to be con- 
 sumed by the convicts, and the surplus sold in the 
 open markets to the detriment of the farmers, who 
 thus were cut off from a valuable part of their market 
 and exposed to a disastrous competition for what re- 
 mained. Agriculture greatly declined and free im- 
 migration ceased and the revenue from Crown lands 
 shrank greatly, as there were few sales. The 
 colony might have kept free from debt had it been 
 possible to cut expenses down, but this could not be 
 done. The local cost of maintaining the large police 
 and gaol establishments, needed to deal with the ab- 
 normal social conditions of the population, was more 
 than the finances of the colony could stand, and it 
 was plunged into a debt of 100,000, while the 
 revenue was fast diminishing. In this extremity 
 the Governor proposed to raise the duties on imports 
 from five to fifteen per cent. This proposal was 
 strenuously opposed by the colonists and by the in- 
 dependent nominees in the Legislative Council, six 
 of whom, afterwards known as the patriotic six, re- 
 signed their seats rather than acquiesce in the im- 
 position of fresh burthens under an irresponsible 
 system of government, and as a protest against the
 
 238 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 conduct of the Governor, in borrowing money from 
 the banks and spending it without the authority of 
 the Legislature. The financial difficulty was got 
 over by a compromise, the British Government agree- 
 ing to contribute 24,000 a year towards the main- 
 tenance of police and gaols, the local revenues 
 being charged with half that sum. 
 
 Sir Eardley Wilmot furnished another example 
 of the ready way in which interested and mendacious 
 accusations from subordinate officials are received 
 by those who hold political power. In October, 
 1842, he was suddenly recalled from his Govern- 
 ment, in consequence of secret accusations made 
 against his private character. These accusations 
 were repelled by the Chief Justice and two hundred 
 and fifty leading members of the community, but 
 without effect on the Colonial Office. The unfor- 
 tunate Governor died soon afterwards of a broken 
 heart, in consequence of the cruel assault upon his 
 fair name. 
 
 The Government was administered by Mr. Charles 
 J. Latrobe in the interval between the departure of 
 Sir Eardley Wilmot and the arrival of his successor, 
 Sir William Thomas Denison. The new Governor's 
 rule was to be one of conciliation. One of his first 
 acts was to restore the " patriotic six " to their seats 
 in the Council, Governor Wilmot's nominees having 
 been induced to retire. This victory of the colonists 
 made them all the more determined to maintain 
 vigorously the anti-transportation movement, and 
 their efforts were greatly strengthened by the organ- 
 isation of a league which ultimately extended to all 
 the colonies and became a powerful factor in de- 
 termining the ultimate victory. The Colonial Office 
 depended largely upon Denison's advice in regard
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION.. 939 
 
 to transportation and the concession of responsible 
 government to the colony ; a self-opinionated man, 
 he failed to estimate the strength of popular feeling 
 against transportation, and lent the weight of his 
 judgment to those who considered that the advantage 
 to the country of a large supply of cheap labour, and 
 a large Imperial outlay within the colony, more than 
 outweighed the moral and economic disadvantages 
 attending the presence of a large convict population. 
 He also advised very strongly against the concession 
 of responsible government. For several months the 
 people of the colony had indulged themselves with 
 the hope that transportation was over, but to their 
 dismay, on the 12th November, 1848, the ship Rat- 
 cliff, with two hundred and forty-eight criminals 
 on board, arrived at Hobart; in the following year, 
 twenty ships carrying 1,860 convicts anchored in the 
 Derwent and added their wretched freight to the 
 population of the colony. The remonstrances of the 
 Australian people were lost upon the Colonial Office. 
 Attempts had meanwhile been made to land prisoners 
 from England at Cape Town, at Melbourne, and at 
 Sydney. At the two first-named ports the landing of 
 the convicts was successfully resisted, and at Sydney, 
 though they were landed, it was understood that no 
 further attempt would be made to add to the number 
 already in the colony. It was clear to the people of 
 Van Diemen's Land that their colony was likely to 
 be made the receptacle for the incorrigible criminals 
 of the United Kingdom. The anti-transportation 
 league, with the Reverend John West of Launceston 
 (afterwards of Sydney, and editor of the Sydney 
 Morning Herald} at its head, renewed its exertions, 
 and they at last began to bear fruit. In 1850 a Bill 
 was passed by the Imperial Parliament providing for
 
 240 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the establishment of Legislative Councils in Van 
 Diemen's Land, South Australia, and Victoria. 
 Each Council was to consist of twenty-four members, 
 and it was provided that one-third of them were to be 
 nominated bj the Crown, and two-thirds to be elected 
 by the people. The elections which followed in Van 
 Diemen's Land brought in sixteen members pledged 
 to oppose further transportation of convicts to the 
 colony, and when the Council met, an address to the 
 Queen was carried, remonstrating strongly, but 
 respectfully, against the influx of criminals. The 
 enthusiasm and perseverance of the reformers now 
 bore fruit. The Governor, it is true, in forwarding 
 the address intimated his total dissent from its 
 prayer, a compliance with which would, he believed, 
 be calamitous to the best interests of the colony, with- 
 out improving the moral condition of the people. Sir 
 William Denison's advice was, however, not ac- 
 cepted in London, for upon the Aberdeen Ministry 
 coming into power their first important act of office 
 was to announce that transportation had absolutely 
 ceased, and the official declaration of the change was 
 made in the colony in May, 1853. Great rejoic- 
 ings followed the happy event, and the 10th August, 
 1853, was set apart to commemorate it. The same 
 day was memorable also as the fiftieth anniversary 
 of the foundation of the colony, and there was a 
 general determination that it should be the beginning 
 of a new era. As a sign of the change to be, the 
 people determined that the name Van Diemen's 
 Land, with all its evil associations, was no longer to 
 be used, and that the colony should henceforth be 
 called Tasmania after its discoverer, and they hoped 
 that the change would be a happy omen of its future 
 progress.
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 241 
 
 Tasmania owes, directly, little to the discovery of 
 gold, but indirectly a great deal. The extraordinary 
 richness of the Victorian gold-fields attracted the 
 attention of the whole world, and Tasmania, by 
 its proximity to Victoria, was at once most power- 
 fully affected. All kinds of produce reached fab- 
 ulous prices and were exported to Victoria in such 
 quantities that the value of exports rose from 
 666,790 in 1851, to 1,509,883 in 1852, and 
 1,756,316 in 1853. Migration of population from 
 Tasmania to Victoria at once took place in alarming 
 numbers. In 1842 it is estimated that there were 
 in the colony nearly 40,000 adult males, but, such 
 was the migration to the gold-fields, that in 1855 the 
 adult males left in the colony did not much exceed 
 22,200. It is believed that the great body of ticket- 
 of-leave men took advantage of this movement and 
 left the colony; large numbers of convic.ts also ab- 
 sconded, greatly to the relief of Tasmania, which 
 thus got rid of a class which, had it remained, would 
 have been a pernicious leaven in so small a popula- 
 tion.
 
 242 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 BESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 SIR WILLIAM DENISON was appointed to the 
 Governorship of !N~ew South Wales and left Tasmania 
 at the close of 1854. His going was felt as a great 
 relief by the colonists, by the majority of whom he 
 was cordially and justly disliked. To him succeeded 
 Sir Henry Fox Young, a man of entirely different 
 character, who very speedily contrived to win the 
 good-will of the people whom he governed. It was in 
 Sir Henry Young's term that an order was passed 
 by the Queen's Privy Council which ratified the 
 popular change of the colony's name to Tasmania, and 
 from 1st January, 1856, the odious appellation " Van 
 Diemen's Land " disappears from the public records. 
 The colony was in a most prosperous condition, of 
 which it gave a striking proof by raising, by private 
 subscription, 25,000 for the relief of the widows 
 and orphans of soldiers who fell in the Crimea. 
 The colony had lost heavily to Victoria by the emigra- 
 tion of adult males during the height of the gold 
 rush, and the Government now felt in a position 
 to do something to replace those who had gone. A 
 system of immigration was initiated, and a superior 
 class of farm servants and agricultural labourers 
 were brought to the colony chiefly from Great 
 Britain. Some of these after a short stay in the 
 country were enticed to Victoria by the continued
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT* 243 
 
 report of gold discoveries, but the majority remained 
 in Tasmania and secured homes for themselves under 
 the favourable Land laws of the colony. 
 
 In 1854 the Legislative Council was enlarged from 
 twenty-four to thirty-three members. The promise 
 of representative institutions had been made to the 
 colony and the old Council was, therefore, practi- 
 cally moribund, as it was only a question of a few 
 months when it would be superseded by a parlia- 
 ment directly responsible ,to the people. One of the 
 last acts of the Council was an unseemly struggle due 
 to an assertion of its claim to certain extravagant 
 powers, dangerous for any popular assembly to 
 possess, and which, if acknowledged, would have been 
 of little use to an expiring institution. The Council 
 had instituted an enquiry into the working of the 
 penal department, a department which had been 
 grossly mismanaged, and was thought to be corrupt. 
 Properly conducted, the enquiry might have led to 
 important results and much-needed reforms; but at 
 the very outset the Council was led into an un- 
 seemly controversy in regard to its powers, and al- 
 lowed itself to be so far in the wrong that the penal 
 officials not only escaped the threatened enquiry, 
 but were able to pose as ill-used persons upon 
 whom the Council attempted to exercise tyrannical 
 powers. 
 
 The Council's Committee summoned Dr. Hamp- 
 ton, Comptroller-General of the penal department, 
 to give evidence before it. Hampton refused to at- 
 tend, and there were ways by which his presence 
 might have been secured, had the Council been in a 
 constitutional frame of mind. But the Council 
 would not consider the action of Dr. Hampton other 
 than as an affront to its dignity, and as it claimed the
 
 244 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 full powers and privileges of the British House of 
 Commons, the Speaker issued a warrant for Hamp- 
 ton's arrest. Kelying upon the advice of the Crown 
 Law officers Hampton resisted arrest as being illegal, 
 and served upon bQth the Speaker and the Sergeant- 
 at-Arms writs of Habeas Corpus. Not being other- 
 wise able to effect its purpose the Council applied 
 to the Governor to authorise the police to arrest 
 Hampton, but instead of complying Sir Henry 
 Young, very properly, attended its sittings and read 
 the members a severe lecture on the nature and con- 
 sequences of their conduct, which he described as an 
 attempt to substitute tyranny for law. Following 
 up this rebuff the Governor prorogued the Council. 
 The matter, however, did not end here, but was car- 
 ried to the Supreme Court, and afterwards to the 
 Privy Council, at both of which tribunals Dr. Hamp- 
 ton was successful. This action of the Legislative 
 Council had the effect of enabling a very necessary 
 enquiry to be burked, and of casting a good deal of 
 ridicule upon representative institutions. 
 
 Tasmania was the first of the Australian colonies 
 upon which responsible government was conferred. 
 For in 1855 the Queen assented to " an Act to estab- 
 lish a Parliament in Van Diemen's Land and to 
 grant a civil list to Her Majesty." Before the con- 
 stitution could come into operation it was necessary 
 that the old Legislature should, as its final act, pass 
 an electoral law to carry out the provisions of the 
 Imperial Statute. This was done, and the elections 
 took place in September, 1856. Both the Council 
 and the Assembly were elective, the former compris- 
 ing fifteen, and the latter thirty members. Most of 
 the members of the old Council found places in the 
 new Parliament. The Parliament was opened by
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 245 
 
 commission on the 2nd December, 1856, and .the first 
 Ministry consisted of the following members: 
 
 Colonial Secretary and Premier. . . .William Thomas Napier 
 
 Champ. 
 
 Colonial Treasurer Thomas Daniel Chapman. 
 
 Attorney-General Francis Smith. 
 
 Solicitor-General John Warrington Rogers. 
 
 Minister for Lands and Works Henry Frampton Anstey. 
 
 Without Portfolio William Edward Nairn. 
 
 This Ministry lasted only four months and its succes- 
 sor only two months, but stability soon came to the 
 cabinets of the colony. Henceforward the history 
 of Tasmania ceases to present any striking incidents. 
 The first years of responsible government were de- 
 voted to the development of the resources of the 
 country, and to passing legislation of a democratic 
 character, which the old Legislative Council had 
 shelved. Amongst works of utility undertaken 
 shortly after the introduction of responsible gov- 
 ernment were the lighting of Hobart with gas and 
 the supplying of Launceston with water. In 1857, 
 also, the new Government House was completed at 
 a cost of 120,000, an enormous outlay for so small 
 a colony, but the Government had a fine revenue, 
 and so long as the gold-fields in Victoria lasted the 
 Tasmanian colonists felt themselves secure of a good 
 market and the Government of a handsome revenue. 
 Tasmania has never forgotten the traditions of the 
 literary epoch which came in with Franklin's rule, 
 and one of their earliest efforts after they acquired 
 the right to govern themselves was to establish a 
 University. The proposal made by the Rev. R. D. 
 P. Harris, in 1855, to form a University was not 
 carried out, but a Bill was passed appointing a Coun- 
 cil of Education with power to confer the degree of 
 
 R
 
 246 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 associate of arts, and having also the gift of two 
 scholarships, each of the value of 200 per annum, 
 tenable for four years at an English University. In 
 1859, Parliament turned its attention to the question 
 of establishing rural municipalities, and the settle- 
 ment of the vexed question of State aid to religious 
 denominations. In 1836, Governor Franklin had 
 been led to promise a grant of an endowment to all 
 religious bodies in a position to comply with cer- 
 tain conditions, and though a modification of Frank- 
 lin's settlement was found inevitable, the arrange- 
 ment still subsisted at the time responsible govern- 
 ment was instituted. Parliament in 1859 agreed to 
 abolish State aid, but the claims of persons then in re- 
 ceipt of grants were to be respected, and it was de- 
 cided that these grants should be commuted for a 
 round sum, and it was estimated that 100,000 
 would be sufficient for the purpose. The Bill em- 
 bodying this was passed, and the sum required was 
 authorised to be raised by loan, but the matter re- 
 mained in abeyance for ten years, when the Act re- 
 ceived the Royal Assent. 
 
 Sir Henry Young retired from the Government 
 of the colony in 1861, and was succeeded by Col- 
 onel Thomas Gore Browne, C.B. Governor Young 
 was very popular, and the necessity for his departure 
 was very much regretted by the Tasmanian people, 
 who throughout his rule made comparison between 
 Young and his methods and his predecessor and his 
 methods, much to the disadvantage of the latter. 
 Throughout Governor Browne's term of office there 
 was constant agitation for a forward policy in 
 public works, but the colony was suffering a re- 
 action from the palmy days of the Victorian 
 gold-fields, and the Treasurer found it difficult to
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 247 
 
 make ends meet. The fine climate and acknowl- 
 edged resources of the colony were not able to draw 
 population, so long as the more showy attractions of 
 the gold colonies were offering, and from 1860 to 
 
 1870 the population increased only by 13,000 per- 
 sons, and none of this increase was due to immigra- 
 tion. The necessity of checking the exodus of popu- 
 lation and of bringing settlers to the colony was al- 
 ways before the Ministry and Parliament, and a law 
 was passed in 1867, granting to heads of families, 
 paying their own passage to Tasmania from Europe, 
 a grant of land valued at 18 for each person over 
 fifteen years of age in his family, and a grant valued 
 at 9 for each person under fifteen years. The 
 law was extensively advertised but brought very 
 few people to the colony. About the same time 
 50,000 acres in the County of Devon were set 
 apart for the settlement, under certain conditions, 
 of retired officers from India. A good many 
 officers availed themselves of the offer made to them 
 and formed a very desirable addition to the popula- 
 tion of the country. In 1868 Sir Thomas Gore 
 Browne's term of office expired. He was in many 
 ways an ideal Governor, and during his seven years 
 of rule was able to do many things for the social 
 advancement of the colonists. Colonel Browne was 
 succeeded by Mr. Charles Du Cane, who arrived in 
 the colony on 12th January, 1869. The year 1870 
 was remarkable as the lowest point touched by Tas- 
 mania as regards industrial conditions since it be- 
 came a free colony; the external trade in that year 
 being only 1,441,625, as compared with 2,030,580 
 in 1860. In January, 1868, the railway line from 
 Launceston to Deloraine was commenced, and in 
 
 1871 it was completed and opened for traffic by Gov-
 
 248 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ernor Du Cane. The arrangements in regard to the 
 line were of a very peculiar character and extremely 
 unbusiness-like. The funds for the construction of 
 the line were mainly provided by the State, not more 
 than 50,000 out of 450,000 being found by the 
 promoters. Interest was to be paid to the Govern- 
 ment, and the debt was a first charge on the earnings 
 of the line, but there was an arrangement under 
 which if the earnings were insufficient to pay the in- 
 terest, landowners agreed to make good the shortage, 
 by a special rate to be levied on their property. 
 Contrary to all anticipations the earnings proved 
 insufficient to meet working expenses and interest. 
 Accordingly, the Government took the line over from 
 the Company and proceeded to levy a special rate, 
 amounting to 15,000 a year upon the district served 
 by the railway. The property owners refused to 
 pay, alleging that the projection of the main line of 
 railway, joining Hobart and Launceston, the interest 
 on the construction of which was guaranteed by the 
 colony as a whole, absolved them from their obliga- 
 tions, as in the matter of railway construction all 
 parts of the country should be served alike. Legal 
 proceedings were commenced by the Government for 
 the recovery of the rates due, and sixty-five magis- 
 trates of the northern district petitioned the Governor 
 to order the suspension of these proceedings, and to 
 direct that no further action be taken in regard to the 
 collection of the rates. The Governor had, of course, 
 no power in the matter, and the Cabinet decided that 
 the rates should be paid, whereupon twenty-six of 
 the magistrates resigned their commissions. The 
 Government recovered verdicts in all cases, and 
 1,200 distress warrants were issued. Most of 
 them were executed and a large amount of moveable
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 249 
 
 property seized and conveyed to Launceston, for the 
 purpose of sale. Frequent riots occurred, property 
 was rescued from the bailiffs, or its removal resisted. 
 A good deal of damage was done to the town of 
 Launceston by the exasperated settlers whose goods 
 had been seized, and the whole country-side defied 
 the law. At last the Government gave way and took 
 no further action to collect the tax, and in the follow- 
 ing year an Act was passed unconditionally releas- 
 ing the landowners of .their obligations in regard to 
 the special rates. 
 
 On 4th December, 1871, Mr. James Smith found 
 the rich deposit of tin at Mount Bischoff, and this 
 important discovery marks the beginning of a new 
 era in Tasmania. The discovery of tin drew the 
 attention of the people to the investigation of the 
 rich mineral resources of the colony. The search of 
 explorers was speedily rewarded, for soon after the 
 Mount Bischoff discovery other rich deposits of tin 
 in the north-east of the island were found, and at 
 the same time payable gold was discovered in several 
 districts. More recently rich deposits of silver were 
 found at Mount Zeehan, Hazlewood River, Mount 
 Dundas, and the discovery of a rich belt of copper- 
 bearing country from Mount Lyell to the Rocky and 
 Savage Rivers was a crowning triumph, and served 
 to revolutionise the character of the mining industry 
 of the colony. The knowledge that the colony pos- 
 sessed such vast stores of natural resources had an 
 important influence in promoting its developments 
 in other directions. The Government was en- 
 couraged to enter upon an extensive scheme of rail- 
 ways and other public works necessary to open up 
 the Crown lands and promote settlement, with the 
 effect that whereas in 1871 there were few roads
 
 250 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and no railways, in 1890 there were 5,659 miles 
 of road, and 463 miles of railways, and in 1898, 495 
 miles of railways. Governor Du Cane yielded up 
 his office in November, 1874, and was succeeded by 
 Mr. F. A. Weld, who had been for six years Gov- 
 ernor of Western Australia. Mr. Weld was a man 
 of great business capacity, and to his good counsels 
 much of the expansion of Tasmanian public works 
 is due. The colony was unfortunately troubled with 
 short-lived ministries, a very bad condition of af- 
 fairs for a growing colony, which, above all things, 
 requires a stable public policy free from extrava- 
 gance; whereas weak ministries, while they inter- 
 rupt the settled policy of the country, are prone to 
 extravagance owing to the necessity of spending 
 money on public works for the purpose of concili- 
 ating those whose support they require. 
 
 Governor Weld remained in office until May, 
 1880, when he was appointed Governor of the Straits 
 Settlements, Lieutenant-General Sir J. H. Lefroy 
 being temporarily appointed. General Lefroy held 
 office from October, 1880, to December of the fol- 
 lowing year, and was succeeded by Sir Robert G. C. 
 Hamilton, previously Under Secretary for Ireland. 
 Sir Robert remained as Governor until October, 
 1892, and was followed by Viscount Gormanston, 
 who arrived in the colony in August, 1893. 
 
 With an area of only 26,200 square miles, and 
 without a commanding trade position, it cannot be 
 expected that Tasmania will ever rank as a great 
 colony, but its position amongst the progressive 
 States of Australia is certainly assured. For many 
 years the Tasmanian-born youths, as soon as they 
 reached the verge of manhood, betook themselves 
 across the Straits to Victoria and other colonies on
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 251 
 
 the mainland, and it was a constant reproach to the 
 colony that it could not contain its own children. 
 This state of affairs has now altogether passed away, 
 and the colony offers attractive inducements for set- 
 tlers, which will undoubtedly be increased since 
 Federation is established. From the small number 
 of 114,762 in 1880, the population had increased to 
 145,290 in 1890, and 183,300 in 1899, and during 
 late years has advanced at a yearly rate of nearly 
 three per cent. Hobart and Launceston, the princi- 
 pal towns, are yearly becoming more attractive and 
 vie with almost any of the other Australian cities in 
 the beauty of the situation and surroundings. The 
 shipping entered and cleared now represents a move- 
 ment of six and a half tons per inhabitant per an- 
 num, which is undoubtedly a very large tonnage for 
 a country not in the direct line of the shipping 
 routes. 
 
 The export of Tasraanian produce amounts to 
 10, 4s. per inhabitant, the total for 1898 being 
 1,800,000. Tasmania has a smaller revenue and 
 expenditure both absolutely and relatively than any 
 of the other colonies of the group, and is burthened 
 with a less amount of public debt, although an in- 
 debtedness of 8,413,000 must be considered largo 
 for 183,000 people. 
 
 None of the colonies entered so strongly into the 
 idea of Australian Federation as Tasmania, and 
 none polled so overwhelmingly in its favour, only 
 1,500 votes being cast against the proposal at the 
 second referendum. In this course the people were 
 well aware that they were taking grave risks and sur- 
 rendering cherished hopes. The ablest press writers 
 and financiers, together with the accomplished Tas- 
 raanian Statistician, pointed out the dangerous
 
 252 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 effect that federation would have upon the finances 
 of the colony, but the people were willing to incur 
 the risk and, for the sake of Australian union, make 
 even the harder sacrifice of surrendering the hope 
 that Hobart might be the chosen capital of the Com- 
 monwealth,
 
 PART SEVEN. 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 FKOM FIRST SETTLEMENT TO ABOLITION OF TRANS- 
 PORTATION. 
 
 THE French vessels Thetis and L'Esperance, com- 
 manded by De Bourganville and Ducampier, were, in 
 1825, cruising about the southern coas,t of Australia, 
 and as France was at that time strongly suspected of 
 having designs upon some portions of the Continent, 
 the Governor of New South Wales sent a few soldiers 
 and convicts, under the command of Major Lockyer, 
 to form a settlement at King George's Sound, and so 
 shut out the French should they wish to land there. 
 King George's Sound is an excellent port, and lies 
 close to the direct route of all vessels trading between 
 Europe and Australia, and was chosen more on ac- 
 count of its strategic position than the possibilities 
 of its becoming a place of commercial importance. 
 The inferiority of the country round King George's 
 Sound for agricultural purposes was well known in 
 Sydney, and with the intention of finding a more 
 suitable location for settlement, the New South 
 Wales Government despatched Captain James Stir- 
 ling, in January, 1827, to examine the country 
 in the vicinity of the Swan River. Captain Stirling
 
 254 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 sailed in H.M.S. Success, and had with him Mr. 
 Charles Frazer, the Colonial Botanist, who had in- 
 structions to make a critical examination of the 
 country, as the New South Wales Government were 
 anxious that a mistake should not be made in the 
 selection of the site of the proposed settlement. 
 
 The country along the banks of the Swan River 
 was carefully examined, and surveys of the islands 
 and shore line made by the ship's officers. The re- 
 port which the expedition was able to give of the 
 country was so favourable, that the Sydney Govern- 
 ment had no hesitation in deciding upon the Swan 
 River as a suitable place for settlement. Captain 
 Stirling was sent to England with the recommenda- 
 tions of the New South Wales authorities in regard 
 to the proposed location of the settlement, and to 
 him was given the charge of its organisation. The 
 business of taking formal possession of the country 
 had, however, first to be performed, and Captain C. 
 H. Fremantle was sent from the Cape of Good Hope 
 for that purpose, and on 2nd May, 1829, his vessel, 
 the Challenger, anchored off the mouth of the Swan 
 River and took formal possession in the name of 
 His Majesty King George the Fourth of " all that 
 part of New Holland which is not included within 
 the territory of New South Wales." 
 
 The first Order in Council having reference to the 
 new settlement at Swan River was dated December, 
 1828, about six months prior to the visit of the 
 Challenger. This order offered very advantageous 
 terms to persons proceeding to the new settlement at 
 their own expense during the year 1829. For every 
 three pounds invested in the colony by each settler 
 was given the right to claim forty acres of Crown 
 lands, with 200 acres added for every servant, male
 
 ABOLITION OP TRANSPORTATION. 255 
 
 or female, whose passage out he paid. A condition, 
 however, was attached to the grant to the effect that 
 any lands which were not sufficiently reclaimed or 
 satisfactorily improved should revert to the Crown. 
 A later Order in Council extended the time for free 
 grants until the end of 1830, but the original terms 
 were restricted in various minor ways, with a view 
 to securing genuine settlement. Great inducements 
 were held out to retired or pensioned officers*, and 
 settlers entitled to half-pay or pensions were consid- 
 ered as having a special amount of invested capital, 
 and treated accordingly in the distribution of lands. 
 The tempting offers made by the British Government 
 were eagerly availed of, the more especially as there 
 was an implied condition that convict labour would 
 not be introduced into the new colony. 
 
 On 2nd June, 1829, the hired transport Parmelia, 
 443 tons, commanded by J. H. Luscombe, arrived in 
 Cockburn Sound. On board were Lieutenant-Gov- 
 ernor Stirling, his family, and other intending set- 
 tlers to the number of sixty-nine. A few days later 
 TI.M.S. Sulphur arrived with a small detachment 
 of the 63rd Regiment under Captain F. C. Irwin. 
 With the landing of these emigrants the history of 
 Western Australia as a British colony begins. 
 Closely following the Parmelia and the Sulphur, a 
 number of other vessels arrived, bringing immigrants 
 and live stock. Excluding the military and their 
 families, there had arrived up to the end of 1830 
 about 1,767 persons with stock, as follows: Horses, 
 101; cattle, 583; sheep, 7,981; pigs, 66; goats, 36; 
 and a large assortment of poultry. The value of 
 property introduced and upon which land grants 
 were claimed was, according to Mr. Malcolm A. C. 
 Prazer, 73,260, and the area claimed in respect
 
 256 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 thereof at the rate of 40 acres for every three pounds 
 in value, was 976,805 acres; there was also intro- 
 duced miscellaneous property in respect of which no 
 land grants could be claimed to the extent of 21,021, 
 making the total value of property imported in twelve 
 months 94,281. 
 
 Under the prodigal provision of the Order in Coun- 
 cil in regard to land grants, the best land was speedily 
 taken up, and a colonist who arrived in November, 
 1830, only seventeen months after the arrival of 
 the Parmelia, wrote as follows : " The only land 
 available for present purposes is on and near the 
 banks of the rivers (viz., the Swan and Canning). 
 All this is now allotted on both sides of each river, 
 almost to their source;" and, writing again on the 
 8th December, in the same year, he said : " All the 
 lands up the Swan and Canning have been long since 
 granted, but some of the grantees have left the col- 
 ony, and their lands may be resumed by the Govern- 
 ment if not occupied at the expiration of the year." 
 
 There were no roads made in the new settlement 
 for some time after the arrival of the first ships, and 
 the bush tracks were too heavy for ordinary traction. 
 The only means of transport was by water, and there 
 was a good deal of disappointment in the minds of 
 many settlers, who anticipated that not only would 
 land be granted them on the easiest of terms, but 
 good roads would be formed to their homesteads by 
 the G-overnment. It is possible that already there 
 was some regret that a body of convict labour was 
 not available for the construction of roads and other 
 public works, as was the case in the eastern colonies, 
 where all the main roads were carried out at the 
 public expense. Many of the early arrivals were per- 
 sons quite unqualified for pioneering; unaccustomed
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 357 
 
 to suffer hardships and privations, ignorant of agri- 
 culture, unused to isolation, they soon began to com- 
 plain, and their reports to England were gloomy 
 in the extreme. The new settlement was one which 
 largely depended upon the good repor.ts of its pio- 
 neers for an accession of population, and these re- 
 ports were uniformly lacking. Many persons left 
 the colony in disgust, but they were able to retain 
 possession of such land as had been granted to them, 
 so that those who arrived afterwards were unable 
 to get land in favourable localities. For this reason 
 population became thinly distributed over a wide 
 area, which was a double disadvantage, for most of 
 the settlers were sociably inclined and greatly suf- 
 fered from their enforced isolation; while the dis- 
 tance at which the homesteads were scattered ren- 
 dered road-making out of the question, as there was 
 little labour available even for the main roads. 
 
 Notwithstanding the withdrawals, the majority of 
 the early settlers possessed stout hearts. Unfitted 
 though they were for the stern work of the pioneer, 
 as a body they struggled unflinchingly on. They 
 were, of course, greatly discouraged on their first ar- 
 rival by the apparently infertile nature of the soil, 
 which had been represented to them as exceptionally- 
 good, and also by the unlooked-for difficulties that 
 beset the novice at every turn. Some of those who 
 lost heart did not, however, return to England, but 
 proceeded to the eastern colonies, where the con- 
 ditions of existence fell into more beaten channels. 
 But the greater number worked on, digging and 
 ploughing, reaping and sowing, and tending their 
 stock. We are told that the progress made by the 
 new colony during the first five years of its .existence 
 was by no means inconsiderable. According to the
 
 258 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Commandant, Captain Irwin, Fremantle had grown 
 during that short space of time " into a small but 
 neat town, with wide streets, some of which had been 
 macadamised." Perth had many good houses of 
 wood and brick, officers' quarters and soldiers' bar- 
 racks, a gaol, a church, and substantial shops and 
 stores; while settlement had crept along the river 
 flats. Above the islands, over which the " Perth 
 Causeway " was subsequently thrown, the Messrs. 
 Hardy and Clarkson had established farms and gar- 
 dens and comfortable homesteads. Higher up, at 
 Guildford, the farming people brought out by Mr. 
 Peel were turning the rich soil of their " little vil- 
 lage " to profitable account. The real settlers were 
 glad enough to see the grumblers depart, and the 
 Governor, Captain Stirling, was able to inform the 
 Home authorities that the settlers were struggling 
 manfully, maintaining a cheerful confidence in the 
 qualities of the country and a general belief in the 
 future prosperity. 
 
 Governor Stirling had two terms of office: the 
 first running from June, 1829, to September, 1832 ; 
 and the second from August, 1834, to the close of the 
 year 1838. It was during his second term of office 
 that the native difficulty became acute. There had 
 been disturbances of a minor character almost from 
 the beginning of settlement in November, 1830 ; one 
 black was killed and three wounded while attempt- 
 ing to commit a robbery, and in retaliation the tribe 
 to which the natives belonged killed a white man. 
 In December of the same year a native was killed 
 while robbing a garden at Melville, and a few days 
 afterwards the natives surrounded the owner's house 
 and killed his servant. In January, 1832, a settler 
 named Gaze was killed. These outrages cannot be
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 259 
 
 deemed very astonishing, when it is considered that 
 the blacks had been deprived of their usual hunting 
 and fishing grounds by the whites, andwere much ex- 
 asperated at the destruction of the game by the set- 
 tlers. In 1835, especially in September and October, 
 the natives along the Murray River became extremely 
 troublesome, and a pitched battle was fought between 
 the blacks and the settlers at a place called Pin- 
 jarrah. The Governor had placed himself at the head 
 of the settlers and attacked the natives, who had 
 mustered in large numbers, killing some thirty of 
 them ; on the side of the whites Captain "White was 
 killed and several wounded. The result of the af- 
 fair was the cessation of the raiding by the blacks 
 and the establishment of something like friendly re- 
 lations between the two races at all events in the 
 country around Perth. 
 
 The affairs of the colony were administered 'after 
 Governor Stirling's departure by Governor Hutt, 
 Lieutenant-Coloniel Clarke and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Irwin. During their government little progress was 
 made ; in 1843, when the first census was taken, the 
 population had only reached 2,900, a ridiculous re- 
 sult after thirteen years of colonisation, and consid- 
 ering that there were 1,800 persons in the settlement 
 in the first year. In 1848 there were 4,622 people in 
 the colony, and even the best disposed colonists were 
 inclined to say that their efforts at colonisation were 
 a failure. 
 
 It was at this time that the people decided to 
 petition the British Government to send them the 
 convicted prisoners, the attempted re-introduction of 
 whom into the eastern colonies was causing so much' 
 dissatisfaction. As it happened, the Imperial Gov- 
 ernment was looking for some place oversea for tho
 
 260 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 deportation of convicted prisoners, hence the colo- 
 nists of Western Australia had not much trouble in 
 obtaining a complaisant answer to their prayers. On 
 the first of June, 1850, the first shipment of convicts 
 arrived in the Scindian, and there were on board a 
 guard of 50 pensioners and 138 women and children. 
 The convict period lasted about eighteen years, dur- 
 ing which time about 10,000 persons were sent from 
 England to Western Australia. During the earlier 
 years of the system the convicts who were transported 
 did not belong to what may be really termed the 
 " criminal class " at all. They were not typical and 
 irredeemable gaol-birds. Indeed, some of the " ship- 
 ments " were selected with a peculiar and paternal 
 care, and with a kindly view as to the requirements 
 of labour-starved colonists. These offenders were in 
 most cases agricultural labourers, who had been con- 
 victed of various inconsiderable offences against the 
 game laws just the men to make useful assistants 
 in the work of colonisation, and later admirable set- 
 tlers themselves. The convicts sent out were not, of 
 course, all of this class, and a fair number of the 
 worst type of criminals were undoubtedly contrib- 
 uted from the overcrowded prisons of the Mother 
 Country. 
 
 There is now hardly any question but that the in- 
 troduction of convicts into Western Australia was 
 not attended with any great harm to the community, 
 and in many ways was beneficial. Some people affect 
 to trace the present high rate of crime in the colony 
 to the " convict taint " ; to these it may be an- 
 swered, that the convicts of Western Australia left 
 few descendants behind .to whom an hereditary tend- 
 ency to crime could have been transmitted, while 
 persons transported, to the country and still remain-
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. g61 
 
 ing there and mixing with the general community are 
 singularly few, and do not figure largely in the police 
 returns. If an argument drawn from analogy be of 
 any force, then Tasmania, which received the largest 
 number and the worst class of convicts, ought to 
 rank high in the scale of criminality, yet the facts 
 are directly opposite, for no part of Australia is so 
 free from serious crime as the island colony. 
 
 At the beginning of the convict period the prison- 
 ers were employed in erecting buildings in Perth and 
 Fremantle, but when Governor Hampton took office 
 in 1862 he employed them on works of a more useful 
 character. Hampton had been in the service of the 
 Imperial authorities in Tasmania, and thoroughly 
 understood the management of prison labour, and 
 one has only to look at the roads of the colony for 
 evidence that he used the material at his command 
 to the very best advantage. When Hampton left 
 Western Australia in 1868 it was arranged that no 
 more British convicts should be sent there, but those 
 already in detention remained in the colony to serve 
 their sentences, so that the Imperial expenditure con- 
 tinued, but on a diminished scale. The effect was 
 very soon visible in the trade of the colony and in the 
 condition of general business, which both greatly de- 
 clined. Here it may be well to look at the population 
 figures for a series of years, as from these may be 
 obtained a fairly just view of the effect which the 
 transportation system and its withdrawal had upon 
 the progress of population. 
 
 Population. Annual Increase. 
 
 1830 1,767 
 
 1840 2,311 54 
 
 1850 5,886 358 
 
 I860 15,227 934 
 
 1870 25,084 986 
 
 1876 27,321 878 
 
 1880 29,019 424 
 
 S
 
 262 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 In no period was the increase of a substantial 
 kind, but during the transportation days, there was 
 a larger movement of free population than either 
 before or afterwards, until the gold discoveries 
 changed the whole aspect of affairs. 
 
 Settlement had spread between the years 1850 and 
 1860 to various points along the coast, and in 1861 
 a discovery was made which gave promise of a great 
 accession to the wealth of the colony. This was the 
 finding ef pearl shell beds in the vicinity of Nickol 
 Bay by Mr. Pemberton Walcott, one of Mr. F. T. 
 Gregory's party in 1861. Operations were first con- 
 fined to the locality named, and the shells obtained 
 from the reefs when laid bare by the low tides, or 
 collected by diving in shallow water without the aid 
 of any apparatus. The shallower inshore banks 
 having for the most part become worked out, a little 
 search led to the discovery of a practically inexhaust- 
 ible supply of shell in deeper waters, and boat div- 
 ing was resorted to. Up to this time the pearl divers 
 were almost entirely aborigines and the employers 
 were mostly landholders upon whose holdings the 
 blacks lived. It is admitted that, taken as a class, 
 the blacks were well treated; the masters needed 
 cheap labour, and it would have been folly for them 
 to have irritated the blacks, who were the only 
 source from which such labour could be supplied. 
 Colonists in other parts of Western Australia had 
 hostile encounters with the blacks from the beginning 
 of their settlement, but at Nickol Bay the natives 
 gave little, if any trouble, the settlers doing every- 
 thing to win their good-will. Before the pearling 
 industry was begun the squatters had already taught 
 the aborigines about their holdings, what was neces- 
 sary they should know in regard to the herding of
 
 ABOLITION OF TRANSPORTATION. 263 
 
 sheep and general station work, the natives taking to 
 these occupations with the greatest relish, learning 
 also to love the white man's food and the white man's 
 ways. But the business of a sheep station slackens 
 off at certain seasons of the year, and the aborigines 
 camped on a squatter's run were not disposed to move 
 away when their services were no longer needed, and 
 so lose the advantage of the white man's food; nor 
 could the squatter afford to let them go, as by so do- 
 ing there was a possibility that he might lose their 
 services altogether. The pearling industry offered 
 an opportunity of employing the blacks all the year 
 round, and by combining pearl-fishing with sheep- 
 grazing, the squatters had two profitable openings 
 for the employment of their black retainers. The 
 landholders or squatters and the blacks lived together 
 in peace for several years, and this amity would 
 have lasted much longer but for the fact that the 
 profitable nature of the pearling industry became 
 much talked about. Persons who were not pastor- 
 alists established themselves on the pearling grounds, 
 and sought black labour on the same terms as those 
 on which the pastoralists were able to obtain it, that 
 is, for a nominal wage. Some blacks came to them, 
 but not in numbers sufficient to man their boats, and 
 .the master pearlers began to seek for labour amongst 
 the wandering tribes not under the protection of the 
 landholders. Sir T. Cockburn-Campbell states that 
 " nigger-hunting amongst the wild blacks became not 
 unknown, nor other practices decidedly irregular." 
 This is a very mild description of the operations of 
 the class of speculative pearlers who were bent upon 
 getting their labour at the least possible cost, and 
 whose black divers were nearly all impressed and 
 retained in service only by force.
 
 264 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA.. 
 
 In consequence of the new element introduced 
 into the industry, and the abuses which were de- 
 clared to have arisen, the Government was compelled 
 to pass legislation regulating the contracts made be- 
 tween the two races, and designed to protect the inter- 
 ests of the blacks. But the conditions under which 
 the industry was carried on were such that the mod- 
 ern device of a mutual agreement, enforceable at 
 law, could not be applied to the pearling industry. 
 The aborigines speedily learnt that the squatters 
 whom they had considered the representatives and 
 embodiment of British dominion, were, like them- 
 selves, the subjects of a greater power, and were not 
 more privileged in the eyes of the law than their 
 servants, black or white; and this knowledge made 
 them in many cases so overwhelming and quarrelsome 
 that they became useless to their masters. The diffi- 
 culty was not one that could be got over. The Gov- 
 ernment could not abandon the blacks to the gener- 
 osity of the whites, many of whom were worthy to be 
 trusted, but some of whom were little better than 
 slave-drivers. Nor could the whites carry on an in- 
 dustry in which discipline was so necessary with 
 men who, though little better than savages, had yet 
 the privileges of citizens when it came to be a differ- 
 ence or dispute with their employer. The unsuita- 
 bility of the aborigines for the pearling industry, 
 when working under the protection of the law, has 
 not had any effect upon the development of the fish- 
 eries; the places of the aborigines have been taken 
 by Malays, and the industry continues to prosper, 
 and the average value of the take during the past 
 ten years has rarely fallen as low as 50,000, and has 
 sometimes exceeded 100,000 per annum.
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 265 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 
 
 To Governor Hampton succeeded Mr. Frederick 
 A. Weld, whose term of office extended from Septem- 
 ber, 1869, to the close of 1874. Governor Weld was 
 a man of excellent abilities, and had considerable 
 experience in administration in New Zealand. He 
 arrived in Western Australia when it was practically 
 a huge prison. In every respect the conditions that 
 make for progress were wanting. He thought that he 
 perceived the causes that tended to keep the colony 
 in a state of backwardness, and determined to apply 
 a remedy. In the first place he set about breaking 
 down the barriers which isolated the country he had 
 come to govern, from the outside world. At the time 
 of his advent in the colony, the monthly mail steam- 
 ers that called at King George's Sound were the one 
 means of regular communication with the rest of the 
 world. But, says an observer of the period, if the 
 colony as a whole had few media through which to 
 maintain her relations with her neighbours, the isola- 
 tion of her individual settlements was almost equally 
 deplorable. Any one who landed at Albany could 
 get to Perth by two routes. He could, for instance, 
 Avait at the place of debarkation until chance enabled 
 him to take a passage by some small and inconvenient 
 coaster, and, risking the dangers of the Leeuwin, 
 reach the capital from Fremantle. On the other 
 Land, he could travel by road in a freight-trolley or
 
 266 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 a dray; but the road was metalled only in patches, 
 and consisted mainly of long stretches of heavy sand, 
 miles of ironstone boulders, long jolting leagues of 
 ruts and hollows and, if the weather were propi- 
 tious, and things went well, the journey lasted for 
 five days. Governor Weld determined to alter all 
 this, and never rested till he had placed steamers on 
 the West Australian coast. 
 
 One result of the initiation of this coastal inter- 
 communication was the beginning of a brisk trade, 
 that steadily grew brisker, between these formerly 
 isolated little seaports. The first steamer was 
 wrecked off the Margaret River, with some loss of 
 life; and then Messrs. Lilly & Company, and later 
 the Adelaide Steamship Company, entered the busi- 
 ness. As opportunity permitted the operations of 
 steamship companies spread, until all the inter- 
 mediate ports between Albany and Cambridge Gulf 
 were regularly and efficiently served. 
 
 Governor Weld's next demand was the establish- 
 ment of a system of electric telegraph. He had man- 
 aged to connect his far separated coastal outposts 
 by means of the steamship ; but this did not content 
 him. He wished to unite by means of the electric 
 wire the scattered hamlets of the interior. He had 
 many difficulties to overcome, but before his depar- 
 ture, at the end of 1874, he had the satisfaction of 
 seeing at least all the principal centres of population 
 connected by telegraph lines. Having carried the 
 colonists along with him so far, he determined they 
 should go farther. By the aid of his Legislature, 
 which had now been made two-thirds elective, he 
 induced the Colonial Office to consent to the raising 
 of a loan to provide funds for the construction of the 
 colony's first railway. This was a line from Cham-
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 267 
 
 pion Bay to Northampton, where there were rich 
 lead deposits and copper in great quantities. Un- 
 happily for the speculation, before the railway was 
 completed, the price of lead fell to so low a figure 
 that very little ore was mined and the railway failed 
 to pay working expenses. The contractor also in- 
 volved the colony in costly difficulties and disputes, 
 and the colonists' first venture in the field of rail- 
 way construction was neither profitable nor encour- 
 aging. Nevertheless, the Northampton line was no 
 sooner completed than work was commenced upon 
 another line which, starting from Fremantle, went 
 on to Perth and Guildford, and crossing the Darling 
 Range, tapped the rich farming lands beyond. 
 
 Governor Weld did many other things to advance 
 the interests of the colony, and the enterprise of the 
 Governor seemed reflected in the people. During 
 his term of office various industries, notably mining, 
 were developed; a partially representative legisla- 
 ture was established ; municipal institutions were in- 
 troduced; an Education Act was passed, and, as 
 already mentioned, telegraph lines were constructed 
 and steamship communication opened up along the 
 coast. 
 
 Western Australia was, however, phenomenally 
 slow in throwing off the swaddling clothes of in- 
 fancy, particularly when the period of its emergence 
 is considered with relation to the advancement made 
 by the sister provinces. Governor Weld is largely 
 and honourably associated with much of its social and 
 political progress. He arrived in the colony at a 
 time when political aspirations had begun to awaken, 
 and the people evinced a desire to partake more 
 directly in the management of their affairs, and he 
 stimulated the new political awakening to the ut- 
 most. Though eager and anxious to minister to the
 
 268 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 progress and welfare of the people over whom he 
 ruled, his schemes for their advancement were fre- 
 quently thwarted by the Colonial Office. This caused 
 his recognition of the fact that his position with the 
 Downing Street authorities would be far stronger if 
 he were backed by representatives of the people. In 
 the year 1870 he was permitted to carry out his ideas 
 so far as to secure a Legislature partly elected and 
 partly nominated, just as was found in the other 
 colonies prior to the introduction of responsible gov- 
 ernment. But Governor Weld was not the only po- 
 litical authority in the colony. His chief secretary 
 had acquired, through the favour of the Governor 
 and by his own abilities, a position very little differ- 
 ent from that of a responsible minister. The Gov- 
 ernor freely made use of the ability and energy of 
 his assistant in forwarding the projects he had at 
 heart. Mr. Barlee very naturally felt a great dis- 
 inclination to return to the subordinate position he 
 had previously filled, and consequently conceived the 
 idea of placing himself in a still higher position by 
 becoming Premier of the colony under responsible 
 government. Governor Weld had, however, only a 
 year before expressed a decided opinion, in a de- 
 spatch to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, 
 that Western Australia was not ripe for that form of 
 Constitution; nevertheless, he allowed himself to be 
 persuaded not to offer opposition to the wishes of 
 his lieutenant. 
 
 The energetic Colonial Secretary next set to work 
 to gain converts to his view among the members of 
 the Legislative Council, with whom he had great 
 influence and authority. Several of them were young 
 men, whose introduction into public life had been 
 made under Barlee's auspices, and they felt that so
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 269 
 
 capable a leader might be safely trusted with the 
 conduct of the experiment of self-government. 
 Resolutions were accordingly passed in 1874, request- 
 ing the Governor to introduce a Constitution Bill, 
 conferring responsible government upon ,the colony. 
 To this His Excellency gave his consent ; but differ- 
 ences of opinion at once arose as to the details of the 
 measure, and the Legislature was dissolved. 
 
 To Governor Weld succeeded, in January, 1874, 
 Mr. William C. F. Robinson, a man with entirely 
 different views from his predecessor as to the proper 
 policy to be pursued in regard to the agitation for 
 responsible government. The Colonial Office was 
 against making the concession, not being disposed to 
 hand over the administration of nearly one million 
 square miles of territory to the representatives of 
 the 27,000 persons who then made up the whole 
 white population of the colony. The task of the 
 Governor, in discouraging the agitation, would have 
 been no easy one were it not that Mr. Barlee, the 
 most prominent politician and the person who con- 
 ceived that he had the most to gain from respon- 
 sible government, accepted an appointment as Gov- 
 ernor of Honduras, and the party of progress was 
 left without a leader sufficiently weighty to counter- 
 balance the views of the Colonial Office. It is doubt- 
 ful, however, whether there was at the time a truly 
 popular demand for responsible government. The 
 population numbered only 27,000 altogether, of 
 whom 5,000 were in Perth, and anything in the 
 nature of a popular appeal from so scattered a popu- 
 lation was well-nigh impossible. It is probable that 
 there were few well-informed persons in the colony 
 desirous of seeing responsible government introduced 
 for its own sake. With a Governor like Weld, whose
 
 270 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ideas were progressive, the colonists would probably 
 have been well content without responsible govern- 
 ment, which was sought chiefly as the best means of 
 enabling the progressive policy begun by Governor 
 Weld, and carried out with such conspicuous success, 
 to be continued. The originator of the movement 
 having departed, and as no one was left of sufficient 
 experience to replace him, the agitation for respon- 
 sible government for the time lost its importance, 
 although a section of the press still continued to ad- 
 vocate it. 
 
 The great question having been shelved for the 
 time being, a sort of political indifference came upon 
 the colony during the remainder of Governor Robin- 
 son's term of office; even the one great exploratory 
 expedition of the time was due to Sir Thomas Elder's 
 munificence, and is therefore to be put to the credit 
 of South Australia, to which colony Sir Thomas 
 Elder belonged. Governor Robinson quitted office 
 in August, 1877, and in November his successor, 
 Major-General Sir Harry Ord, arrived. 
 
 Governor Ord had to deal with a renewal of the 
 agitation for responsible government which his pre- 
 decessor had managed to quench. It must not be 
 supposed that the agitation was any more a popular 
 one than that occurring a few years before ; although 
 it was essentially the expression of the views of the 
 persons most entitled to be heard on questions affect- 
 ing the welfare of the country. The basis of the agi- 
 tation was the impossibility of getting the Colonial 
 Office to understand that the wishes of the colonists, 
 in regard to progressive legislation, and a forward 
 public works policy, were entitled to respect, and 
 that the less the Colonial Office interfered in the 
 domestic concerns of the colony, the better would it
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 271 
 
 be governed. The Legislative Council rejected a 
 motion in favour of responsible government ; but this 
 course was prompted by a desire not to hamper the 
 Home Government, as the real views of the Council 
 were probably favourable to Home Rule. Following 
 the rejection of the resolution in regard to respon- 
 sible government, a motion was passed virtually 
 censuring the Colonial Office, and intimating that un- 
 less its policy of obstruction was abandoned, the de- 
 mand for responsible government would inevitably 
 have to be conceded. The remonstrance of the 
 Council had good effect upon the Colonial Office, and 
 there was henceforward no undue interference with 
 the affairs of the colony. 
 
 Major-General Ord was succeeded in April, 1878, 
 by Sir W. C. Robinson. Governor Robinson's pre- 
 vious term of office had lasted but two years and eight 
 months, and his present term of office was still 
 shorter. From the departure of Governor Weld to 
 the granting of responsible government, a period of 
 less than sixteen years, there were nine Governors 
 and administrators, and from this fact alone it may 
 be rightly concluded; that the Governors ceased to 
 play an important part in the administration of the 
 colony, which practically drifted into the hands of 
 the Executive Council, at whose meetings the Gov- 
 ernor was enjoined to preside whenever possible. 
 The Executive Council, in the last years preceding 
 the advent of responsible government, consisted of the 
 Governor as President, five official Members, and one 
 unofficial Member, and all the great offices of the 
 State were represented, viz., the Colonial Secretary, 
 the Attorney-General, the Treasurer, the Surveyor- 
 General and the Director of Public Works. 
 
 The most noteworthy incident in Sir W. C. Robin-
 
 272 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 son's second term of office was the control which 
 the Legislature secured over the finances of the col- 
 ony. The Legislative Council had heretofore only a 
 nominal control; the estimates of expenditure were 
 submitted to it, but merely pro forma, as the obliga- 
 tions represented by them were already incurred, and 
 any change or reduction, which, however, could not 
 be made effective without the consent of the Gov- 
 ernor, would amount to repudiation. The Legislature 
 having voted an address to the Queen concerning the 
 policy of spending public money by the Governor 
 and the Executive, without the consent of the repre- 
 sentatives of the people, the Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies directed the Governor to have a Bill 
 introduced into the Legislative Council, securing to 
 that body full control of the finances and empower- 
 ing it to set up a Committee of Finances to act for 
 it during recess. The control of the purse thus as- 
 sured gave the Council the control of the Govern- 
 ment, which it very speedily assumed. It was hoped 
 that the people of the colony would now be satisfied 
 with the form of Government they enjoyed and 
 would not further press their claims to full self-gov- 
 ernment, but the event was far otherwise, and it 
 became plainly evident that the concession of re- 
 sponsible government could not now be delayed many 
 years. 
 
 To Sir W. C. Robinson succeeded Sir Frederick 
 !Napier Broome, whose period of service lasted from 
 2nd June, 1883, to December, 1889, with an interces- 
 sion of seven months in 1884-5 Avhen Mr. A. C. 
 Onslow acted as administrator. Western Australia 
 is the only colony which deliberately departed from 
 the principle of government ownership of its rail- 
 ways. The first railways, as already mentioned,
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 37-3 
 
 were constructed by the State, but the Government 
 could not see its way to add to its already large in- 
 debtedness, by raising further loans for railway pur- 
 poses, much as it felt that such railways were needed. 
 The system of land-grant railways was devised to 
 meet the threefold object of affording facilities of 
 transit, introducing capital, and promoting settle- 
 ment. The Legislative Council by resolution au- 
 thorised the Executive to make arrangements for the 
 construction of certain lines on the land-grant system, 
 and in accordance with this authority an agreement 
 was signed by Sir Frederick Broome on behalf of 
 the Government of Western Australia, and Mr. An- 
 thony Hordern on behalf of an English syndicate, 
 for the construction of a line from Albany to Bev- 
 erley, a distance of 243 miles ; the line is called the 
 Great Southern Railway. Another agreement was 
 made for the construction of a line from near Guild- 
 ford on the Eastern Railway, to a place called Walk- 
 away, a distance of 2YY miles; this was called the 
 Midland Railway. In both cases the land granted 
 by the State was 12,000 acres per mile. The lines 
 were constructed in accordance with .the agreements 
 made, although there were many difficulties encoun- 
 tered before the Midland line was opened for traffic. 
 Since the arrangements were made for the construc- 
 tion of these lines, the changed conditions of the 
 country have modified its policy, and the Govern- 
 ment has abandoned the principle of land-grant rail- 
 ways. It has, indeed, gone further and has acquired 
 the Great Southern Railway from its owners, and 
 will probably acquire the Midland Railway also. 
 
 There had always been an influential party op- 
 posed to the introduction of responsible government 
 on any terms, but it is probable the colony as a
 
 274 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 whole -was against its introduction on the terms upon 
 which the British Government were willing to make 
 the concession that is, the creation of the settled 
 area in the south-west corner of the Continent into 
 an independent colony, the remaining portion of the 
 territory to be governed as a Crown colony. During 
 the second administration of Governor Broome the 
 demand for responsible government, silent for a time 
 through the lukewarmness of the majority of the 
 Legislative Council, again became pressing. For- 
 merly the cry was for responsible government only, 
 now the demand was for such a government for 
 " Western Australia one and undivided." The 
 colony was, however, for some time far from unani- 
 mous, but the influence of a popular Governor told 
 in favour of the movement, and by the end of 1886 
 public opinion of all classes could be counted on as 
 favourable to Home Rule. 
 
 By an almost unanimous vote of the Legislative 
 Council in July, 1887, a resolution was agreed to 
 affirming the principle of self-government, and the 
 Governor was requested to take the necessary steps 
 to carry ou,t the wishes of the Legislature. The Gov- 
 ernor, acting upon the instructions of the Colonial 
 Office, determined to proceed only when it was quite 
 certain that the constituencies were in favour of the 
 change, and in December, 1888, the Legislative 
 Council was dissolved and a new Council elected in 
 January following. This gave the constituencies an 
 opportunity of deciding whether or not they would 
 accept the proposed constitution. Their answer was 
 unmistakable. When the Council re-assembled the 
 resolution in favour of responsible government was 
 carried without dissent, and a Constitution Bill was 
 immediately introduced, and after some amendment
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 275 
 
 passed and forwarded to the Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies. To explain the measure and ensure its 
 passage through the Imperial Parliament, the West- 
 ern Australian Legislative Council authorised three 
 delegates to go to London. The delegates selected 
 were Sir Frederick Napier Broome (the Governor), 
 Mr. S. H. Parker, and Sir Thomas Cockburn-Camp- 
 bell. The local Legislature was not misinformed of 
 the state of public opinion in England, in regard to 
 the proposed constitution, when they decided to send 
 strong representatives to explain the measure, for 
 very marked opposition was shown to it at every 
 stage of its passage through Parliament. The oppo- 
 sition was centred upon the clauses giving the entire 
 control of the Crown lands to the local Parliament. 
 It was held by a large number of members of the 
 British House of Commons, that these lands were the 
 common heritage of the British people, and should 
 be retained and made available for the settlement of 
 the surplus population of the Mother Country. To 
 hand over a million square miles of territory, much 
 of which enjoyed a temperate climate, to a handful 
 of people for the population of the colony did not 
 then exceed 45,000 persons was a piece of folly 
 verging upon a political crime. The delegates did 
 their best to explain matters, but with little apparent 
 effect. Their opportunity came, however, when the 
 Bill was referred to a Select Committee, of which 
 Baron de Worms was chairman. The Committee 
 took a good deal of evidence, and agreed to recom- 
 mend to the House of Commons that the Bill should 
 be passed substantially as required by the local Leg- 
 islature. This recommendation was adopted, and 
 the Parliament about to be created was made equal in 
 all respects to the Legislatures of the other Austra-
 
 276 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 lian colonies, and had, .therefore, full control of the 
 public lands. Nor was the triumph of the delegates 
 lessened by the curtailment of the Western Austra- 
 lian territory which, as its people demanded, was 
 left " one and undivided." The Bill enabling Her 
 Majesty to grant a constitution to Western Australia 
 passed through both Houses of the Imperial Parlia- 
 ment and was assented to on the 15th August, 
 1890. 
 
 The first Ministry under the new Constitution 
 assumed office on the 20th December, 1890, and con- 
 sisted of the following Members: 
 
 Sir John Forrest Colonial Treasurer and Premier. 
 
 George Shenton Colonial Secretary. 
 
 Septimus Burt, Q.C Attorney-General. 
 
 William Edward Marmion. .Commissioner of Crown Lands. 
 
 Harry Wbittall Venn Commissioner of Railways and 
 
 Director of Public Works. 
 
 The Forrest Ministry was still in power in 1900, 
 ten years after its formation, but of its original mem- 
 bers the Premier alone remained in office. 
 
 The Constitution granted to Western Australia 
 was in all important respects like those of the east- 
 ern colonies. Parliament was to be composed of an 
 elective Assembly and a nominated Council, but in 
 regard to the Council it was provided that as soon 
 as the population of the colony reached 60,000 the 
 members of that branch of the Legislature should 
 also be elected. The limit named was reached by 
 the middle of 1893, and an Act was then passed giv- 
 ing effect to the elective provisions of the Constitu- 
 tion. Sir Frederick Napier Broome, as already nar- 
 rated, left for England at the close of 1889 in order 
 to assist in passing the Constitution Bill through the
 
 RESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT. 377 
 
 House of Commons. Sir Malcolm Frazer adminis- 
 tered the Government pending the arrival of Sir Wil- 
 liam C. F. Robinson, who had been appointed Gov- 
 ernor of the colony for the third time.
 
 278 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 
 
 THE examination of the surface of Western Aus- 
 tralia for traces of gold was begun as soon as the 
 discoveries in Victoria became noised abroad, and 
 has continued without intermission ever since. It 
 will not be necessary to trace every expedition which 
 set out; this has been done by Mr. Malcolm A. 0. 
 Frazer in his excellent Year Book of Western Aus- 
 tralia, from which most of the following particulars 
 have been extracted. 
 
 In 1862 the Government named Mr. E. H. Har- 
 graves, a practical miner who had discovered the 
 New South Wales gold-fields in 1851 to search for 
 precious minerals throughout the settled districts of 
 the colony, for a period of six months or longer if 
 necessary. Landing at Albany, he prospected the 
 country as far as Northam and through the Darling 
 Range. He made a very unfavourable report, stat- 
 ing that the formation of the area over which he 
 travelled was of such a character, that gold would 
 never be found in large or payable quantities; in- 
 deed, so confirmed was he in his opinion that in 
 January, 18G4, he wrote an article on " The non- 
 auriferous character of the rocks of Western Aus- 
 tralia," which was published in the Journal of the 
 Royal Geographical Society of that year. Har- 
 graves, however, expressed the opinion that the 
 colony was rich in copper, lead and iron, Nothing
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 379 
 
 daunted by this unfavourable report, the Government 
 encouraged prospecting by the offer of most substan- 
 tial rewards. Time after time the hopes of the 
 colonists were raised by reports of important discov- 
 eries, but up to 1884 all proved illusive. In the 
 year named the Kimberley District was favourably 
 reported on by Mr. Hardman, the Government Geolo- 
 gist, and the question of its systematic examination 
 was taken up by the Legislative Council, in August, 
 1885, but while the matter was being debated, a 
 party consisting of Messrs. Hall, Slattery, and others, 
 chiefly miners from the eastern colonies, had already 
 arrived in the Nor'-West. They first found gold on 
 one of the branches of the Elvire, where in a few 
 days they took out ten ounces. From thence they 
 prospected the Margaret and Ord Rivers, finding 
 good colours in almost every prospect hole. 
 
 The Legislative Council, in June, 1886, were con- 
 gratulated by Governor Broome " on the discovery 
 of an extensive gold-field of rich promise in the Kim- 
 berley District," and on the 16th August, at that 
 session, the first " Gold-fields Mining Bill " was 
 passed. 
 
 The question as to who was the first discoverer of 
 the Kimberley gold-fields came up before the Legis- 
 lative Council. Mr. Carr-Boyd claimed to have dis- 
 covered a rich reef and to have sent several cwt. of 
 the stone to Melbourne before the Hall party ap- 
 peared in the district ; he applied to the Colonial Sec- 
 retary to have his claim recognised, and the reward 
 offered for the discovery of a payable gold-field paid 
 to him, but after examination the Government made 
 an award of 500 to Hall, Slattery and party. 
 
 The Kimberley Gold-field was proclaimed on the 
 19th of May, 1886, and prospectors rushed from all
 
 280 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 parts of Australia, and by the end of June there 
 were probably 1,500 to 2,000 men scattered over the 
 auriferous area. During the year 1886 many rich 
 reefs were discovered throughout the district, and 
 several parties obtained enough gold from the sur- 
 face rock, by the primitive dollying process, to more 
 than pay expenses. Prospecting over the more 
 southern parts of the colony was carried on with 
 renewed vigour, and in 1887 the Yilgarn Gold-fields 
 were discovered, the Government distributing 1,000 
 amongst the discoverers. Next year the Pilbarra 
 Gold-field was proclaimed, and so many rich patches 
 were found upon the fields of this district that a 
 rush set in from the eastern colonies, and prospect- 
 ors were scattered over the whole interior of the 
 colony from Kimberley to Yilgarn, and many minor 
 finds were made, some of them being very rich. The 
 finds in the Murchison District became so important 
 that in 1891 the district was also proclaimed a gold- 
 field, the Government as usual granting a reward 
 to the discoverers. 
 
 The year 1891 was rich in gold finds. The Cue 
 field, covering a large extent of country, was dis- 
 covered by Messrs. Cue and Fitzgerald, and the rich 
 finds becoming known, it was not long before there 
 were a number of men on the spot. The field proved 
 exceptionally rich, and in a short time a large amount 
 of gold was secured by " specking " and " dry-blow- 
 ing." Rich gold-bearing reefs were found at various 
 points throughout ,the district, notably at the " Is- 
 land," in Lake Austin, where, in addition to rich 
 quartz, a channel was found containing cement, from 
 which for some time marvellous returns were 
 obtained. 
 
 The first discovery on the Yalgoo field was matfe in.
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 
 
 281 
 
 1890 in the Nancarrong Hills, near the Yuin Sta- 
 tion, where gold was found in a reef on a low range 
 of hills five miles east of the station. From one 
 place gold to the value of over 15,000 was dollied 
 from the cap of the reef. 
 
 The exceptional rich finds created a great sensa- 
 tion throughout Australia. The people of the other 
 colonies flocked to Western Australia in great num- 
 bers, and the scenes enacted recalled to old miners 
 the events of 1852. The following table showing the 
 movement of population during ten years will illus- 
 trate the effect of the gold finds : 
 
 Year. Immigrants. 
 
 1889 2,850 
 
 1890 3,567 
 
 1891 6,346 
 
 1892 7,440 
 
 1893 8,928 
 
 1894 25,858 
 
 1805 29,523 
 
 1896 55.215 
 
 1897 49,387 
 
 1898 32,709 
 
 T, - .... Excess 
 
 Emigrants. of Immig rants. 
 
 Total 221,823 
 
 2,272 
 
 1,996 
 
 2,661 
 
 2,968 
 
 3,705 
 
 9,892 
 
 11,129 
 
 19,266 
 
 26,787 
 
 28,756 
 
 109,432 
 
 578 
 
 1,571 
 
 3,685 
 
 4,472 
 
 5,223 
 
 15,966 
 
 18,394 
 
 35,949 
 
 22,600 
 
 3,953 
 
 112,391 
 
 Still more sensational finds were yet to be made 
 which brought the gold-fever to the highest pitch. 
 Mr. Frazer very well describes the great find at Bay- 
 ley's Reward claim, and the excitement consequent 
 thereon in the official account already alluded to. In 
 the month of April, 1892, Messrs. Bayley and Ford 
 left Perth on a prospecting expedition. They pro- 
 ceeded to Mount Kenneth, about 250 miles to the 
 north-east; here they lost their horses, and had to 
 walk back to Newcastle, where they bought fresh 
 ones, and again started with the intention of making
 
 282 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 for the Marring country, where gold had been found 
 by Speakman the previous year, but they met " the 
 fellows rushing back," who reported the place was 
 very poor, and not worth spending any time in. 
 After these discouraging reports, Bayley and Ford 
 headed for Southern Cross. Purchasing supplies 
 enough to last seven or eight weeks they started east- 
 ward on Hunt's old track made in 1864-65 and 
 after a tedious trip, when they were very near the 
 now famous field, were forced to turn back to the 
 Gnarlbine soak for water. After resting two days 
 they started in a north-easterly direction. They 
 found the country so boggy that their progress was 
 very slow; presently they reached the native well 
 Coolgardie where they camped. Finding the place 
 covered with grass they let their horses out to graze 
 while they went " specking " across the flats. Here 
 Ford picked up a half-ounce nugget, and before next 
 day they found over twenty ounces of gold. During 
 the next three or four weeks they secured by speck- 
 ing and dry-blowing over 200 ounces. Their pro- 
 visions giving out they were forced to go back to 
 Southern Cross for a fresh supply. They were care- 
 ful, however, not to say anything about the discov- 
 ery they had made, but hurried back, and on the 
 first Sunday afternoon after their return, while fos- 
 sicking about, discovered the reef which soon became 
 known all over the mining world ; that evening they 
 picked up and dollied with a tomahawk from the cap 
 of the reef over 500 ounces of gold, one slug weighing 
 over fifty ounces, and early the next morning they 
 pegged out a prospecting area on the reef. Shortly 
 after Messrs. Foster and Baker, who had tracked 
 them from Southern Cross, appeared upon the scene, 
 and in a short time they secured over 200 ounces.
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 283 
 
 Meantime, Bayley quickly made his way back to 
 Southern Cross, carrying 554 ounces, which he ex- 
 hibited to Warden Finnerty on the 17th September, 
 and applied for a lease of the discovery claim. The 
 field was then declared open and Bayley, on the 
 20th, again left Southern Cross for Coolgardie, not 
 alone, but accompanied by a coach, by teams, and a 
 host of horsemen, leaving Southern Cross almost de- 
 serted. The news quickly spread throughout the 
 colony. The West Australian of the 21st Septem- 
 ber said : " In Perth and Fremantle every one seems 
 to be either carrying tents, picks, shovels, and dishes 2 
 or otherwise preparing for the road." At York 
 there was a great excitement over the departure of 
 200 eager gold-seekers; they travelled by coaches, 
 teams, horses, camels, and on foot, all bound for the 
 land of gold. 
 
 Kalgoorlie, or Hannan's, was discovered in the 
 latter part of June, 1893, by Messrs. Flannigan and 
 Hannan, who were on the road to Mount Yuille with 
 a party of about 150 men. They camped two days 
 on or near the spot where the find was subsequently 
 made, waiting for teams which had gone back to 
 Coolgardie for water; but rain falling, the party 
 started on their way again, leaving Flannigan and 
 Hannan behind. By chance Flannigan found some 
 nuggets and induced Hannan to remain with him; 
 in a few days they picked up 100 ounces, and one of 
 the men went back to Coolgardie and applied for a 
 reward claim. A rush immediately set in, and in a 
 few days fully 500 men were on the ground. A 
 large amount of alluvial gold was won and many 
 reefs discovered. 
 
 Siberia was discovered by Messrs. Frost and Bon- 
 ner in October, 1893, and in the stampede which
 
 284 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ensued to the new finds, after the discoverers had 
 applied for the reward claim, several lives were lost 
 from heat and thirst. Many started out on the long 
 trip so ill provided with food and water, that they 
 would undoubtedly have perished, had it not been 
 for the succour received from parties subsequently 
 despatched for their relief. 
 
 Bulong (I.O.TJ.) was discovered in May by two 
 hitherto unsuccessful prospectors, who were thinking 
 of returning to Perth. One of them pointed out a 
 gully near by where he had previously found colours ; 
 proceeding to the spot, in a short time they un- 
 earthed, among others, a seventy-ounce nugget. 
 Within a week the gully was pegged out from end 
 to end, and over 500 miners were at work. 
 
 The Londonderry find was made in June by a 
 prospecting party, consisting of Messrs. Carter, Daw- 
 son, Mills, Gardiner, Elliott and Huxley, who had 
 been out many months without finding gold, and 
 were on their way back to Coolgardie ; quite by acci- 
 dent rich quartz was picked up by two of the party, 
 and after a brief search the outcrop of a reef was 
 exposed, from which, during the first three or four 
 days, they took out between 4,000 and 5,000 ounces. 
 One specimen, " Big Ben," was estimated to contain 
 gold to the value of 3,500 or more. On the 23rd 
 June they applied for the reward claim and de- 
 posited in the Bank at Coolgardie 4,280 ounces of 
 gold. 
 
 The Wealth of Nations was discovered in July 
 by Mr. J. G. Dunn, an old prospector, representing 
 a syndicate of well-known West Australians. When 
 only twenty-eight miles from Coolgardie, he found 
 the outcropping of the reef. Upon breaking into the 
 cap, the quartz appeared to be glittering with gold;
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 285 
 
 one of the first pieces taken out contained fully 800 
 ounces. In a few days he secured gold to the value 
 of over 20,000. In an incredibly short time after 
 the lease was applied for, hundreds of men were 
 upon the spot and several rich finds were made, two 
 nuggets being secured, weighing respectively 197 
 ounces and 147 ounces. 
 
 Many other wonderful discoveries were made, and 
 in 1898, so far as the production of gold is con- 
 cerned, Western Australia took first place amongst 
 the Australian colonies. The phenomenal increase 
 in its production is shown by the following compari- 
 son: 
 
 Year. oz. Year. oz. 
 
 1891 30,311 1896 281,265 
 
 1892 59,548 1897 674,994 
 
 1893 110,890 1898 1,050,184 
 
 1894 207,130 1899 1,643,877 
 
 1895 231,513 
 
 The effect of the gold discoveries in bringing 
 people to the colony has already been illustrated 
 by the table showing movement of population; the 
 great inflow was, of course, since 1890. The follow- 
 ing additional figures will show how small was the 
 growth of population until the stimulus of the gold 
 fever was applied to it. 
 
 Year. Population. Year. Population. 
 
 1860 15,227 1890 46,290 
 
 1870 25,084 1895 101,235 
 
 1880 29,019 1899 171,030 
 
 In the thirty years elapsing from 1860 to 1890 
 the number added to the population was only 31,063, 
 while in the next nine years the addition was 124,-
 
 286 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 740. Another excellent index of the progress of 
 the colony is furnished by the trade returns. The 
 imports and exports at ten years' intervals from 1861 
 were: 
 
 Year. Imports. Exports. 
 
 1861 147,913 95,789 
 
 1871 226,656 209,196 
 
 1881 404,831 502,770 
 
 1891 1,280,093 799,466 
 
 1898 5,241,965 4,960,006 
 
 The combined trade of the last year amounts to 
 10,210,971, equal to 61, 16s. 5d. per head, a pro- 
 digious figure scarcely to be paralleled in the com- 
 merce of .the world. 
 
 The future of Western Australia, as far as it is 
 possible to foresee, is primarily dependent upon the 
 permanence of its gold. The present annual output 
 is about seven millions sterling. The mines in sev- 
 eral localities, notably at Kalgoorlie, have every ap- 
 pearance of permanence, still the depth which they 
 have reached (about 1,100 feet) is not sufficient to 
 justify the final expression of a positive opinion. 
 The history of mining in all parts of the world fur- 
 nishes repeated warnings against definite statements 
 being made with regard to the future of gold-mining, 
 still it is difficult not to believe that Western Aus- 
 tralia, possessing as it does, a gold-bearing belt ex- 
 tending right across the continent, will furnish not 
 only permanent mines, but many new fields and pro- 
 duce great quantities of gold for a very considerable 
 period. 
 
 The timber resources are very considerable and 
 should prove a source of permanent wealth under 
 judicious management. 
 
 The agricultural resources compared with the
 
 GOLD DISCOVERIES. 287 
 
 eastern colonies are limited. A very short distance 
 inland from the coast the rainfall becomes too small 
 to permit farming operations being engaged in with 
 reasonable security, and although in some favoured 
 localities the soil is sufficiently good to give a rea- 
 sonable return to the farmer, still even here there 
 are vast areas of almost valueless land. 
 
 The rainfall in the southern portion of the 
 colony militates against any very extensive opera- 
 tions in connection with pastoral enterprise ; towards 
 the north, however, better conditions in many in- 
 stances prevail. 
 
 The area in which coal has been discovered in 
 Western Australia is somewhat limited in extent, 
 and the coal is of inferior quality. Although it may 
 be used for manufacturing or household purposes, 
 and in the locomotives of the State railways with 
 fair success, coal mining in Western Australia is an 
 industry which requires all the aid the State can give 
 it, and the advantage of the freight charged on the 
 coal from the eastern seaboard, to hold its own 
 against the Newcastle and Illawarra deposits. It 
 appears tolerably certain that the coal in Western 
 Australia will not play a very important part in 
 the development of that colony. 
 
 Politically Western Australia has been very much 
 agitated on the question of Federation. The Uit- 
 landers or " T'other siders," as the recent arrivals 
 are locally called, are a majority of the population. 
 They were almost to a man in favour of Australian 
 Union. A considerable number of the older resi- 
 dents desired isolation, fearing the effect upon their 
 products of Free-trade between the colonies. The 
 former class, however, were in so great a majority 
 that their weight was very speedily felt. It was gen-
 
 288 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 erally conceded that if the Bill under which the east- 
 ern colonies were federating had been submitted to 
 the people of Western Australia, it would have been 
 carried by an overwhelming majority.
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 THE Registrar-General of Western Australia in 
 his Year Book of that colony, which he has given 
 the author liberty to draw upon for information, pre- 
 faces his account of the exploration of his colony 
 with a very apt quotation from the Rev. J. E. Teni- 
 son Woods, S. J. : " Since the time of its first foun- 
 dation, Western Australia has never given up the 
 subject of exploration. Unlike the other colonies, 
 which have always gone into the matter by fits and 
 starts, there have been always continuous expeditions 
 from Perth. . . . The first of the colonies to wake 
 up again to the importance of examining the interior 
 was, as usual, the indefatigable colony of Western 
 Australia." These words are in every respect true, 
 for the work of exploring in Western Australia be- 
 gan almost on the landing of the first settlers and 
 has never been allowed to flag. The official year 
 book records nine expeditions during 1830, and of 
 these the most important was that led by Mr. R. 
 Dale, who discovered the Avon River, and explored 
 the country round it as far as the site of the present 
 town of York. He travelled eastward as far as 
 Mount Caroline. In 1831 some moderately good 
 pastoral and agricultural country was discovered by 
 Captain Bannister, who made an overland journey 
 from Perth to King George's Sound. This expedi- 
 tion made no other important discoveries, but the
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 track followed by Captain Bannister at once became 
 the recognised route between the two settlements. 
 This was followed by much good work by explorers 
 and surveyors, but no large expedition took the field 
 for some little time, as the discoveries already made 
 required all the attention of the colonists. 
 
 In 1837 an expedition, under Captain George 
 Grey and Lieutenant Lushington, was sent out from 
 England to investigate the truth of the report as to 
 the existence of a large river on the N.W. coast, 
 flowing into the sea near Dampier's Archipelago. 
 From 2nd December of that year to 21st April, 
 1838, they explored the Hanover Bay district, dis- 
 covering the Glenelg River. During January, 1839, 
 while occupied in searching for a settler named Mr. 
 George Eliot, who had been lost in the bush for three 
 weeks, but who eventually found his way to Port 
 Augusta, Grey thoroughly explored the country be- 
 tween the Williams and Leschenault. From 17th 
 February to 21st April, 1839, Grey explored the 
 country between Shark Bay and Perth, finding ex- 
 cellent country for mineral, pastoral and agricultural 
 purposes, and discovered and named many rivers on 
 the coast north of Perth, such as the Gascoyne, 
 Murchison, Irwin and Arrowsmith. Having lost 
 the boats which had been previously used, his party 
 was compelled to return on foot to Perth, a distance 
 of some hundreds of miles. A few of them, who 
 were too exhausted to push on as far as the capital, 
 were happily rescued by Mr. J. S. Roe, who, as 
 soon as intelligence of their position had been re- 
 ceived, had undertaken an expedition from Pertli 
 for that purpose. Although Grey's journey had 
 been on the whole an unfortunate one, he was able to 
 give a glowing account of the country through which
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 291 
 
 he passed, and his report was later on endorsed by 
 Mr. George Fletcher Moore, whom the authorities 
 sent out to examine the coastal districts. 
 
 Attention was most directed to the North- West 
 coasts and important coastal surveys were success- 
 fully made by Captains Wickham and Stokes during 
 the years 1838 to 1841. Sailing in H.M.S. Beagle, 
 they discovered and named King's Sound and the 
 Fitzroy River. 
 
 In 1841, from the 31st January to 27th July, a 
 journey, which ranks amongst the greatest feats of 
 human endurance, was accomplished by Mr. Edward 
 John Eyre. In an attempt, begun in the previous 
 year, to cross overland from Adelaide to Western 
 Australia, this explorer had been foiled, chiefly by 
 want of water. Having sent back the majority of 
 his party, he started from Fowler's Bay, South Aus- 
 tralia, with one companion, Baxter, and a black boy 
 named Wylie, to reach King George's Sound or per- 
 ish in the undertaking. A short distance south- 
 west of Eyre's Patch (126 east longitude), two 
 natives, who were accompanying them, murdered 
 Baxter at night, and stole the greater part of the 
 provisions. Eyre and his black boy were left to 
 accomplish a journey of some hundreds of miles 
 through an unknown country with forty pounds of 
 flour and four gallons of water. This they suc- 
 ceeded in doing after undergoing the severest hard- 
 ships. This journey of Eyre's, being the first suc- 
 cessful attempt to cross from South Australia to the 
 new colony in the west, was of considerable geo- 
 graphical importance. It may be mentioned here 
 that this enterprise would probably have never been 
 concluded but for their happily meeting with Cap- 
 tain Bossiter, of the French whaler Mississippi, who
 
 202 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 rendered them every assistance and kindness when 
 reduced to their last extremity of hunger, thirst, and 
 fatigue. This providential encounter occurred some 
 three weeks' march from Albany. 
 
 In the same year (1841) large Jarrah and Karri 
 forests were discovered by Mr. William Nairne 
 Clarke, who journeyed in a whale-boat from Albany 
 to Deep Kiver, Nornalup Inlet, and Point D'Entre- 
 casteaux. 
 
 In 1842 Mr. H. Landor made the discovery of 
 excellent and extensive grazing country to the south- 
 east of Beverley. So far the colonists had only 
 found good country in the narrow fringe of country 
 skirting the coast. Beyond that was the desert, and 
 effort after effort was made to pass through this 
 desert and reach the fertile country which it was 
 hoped would lie beyond. 
 
 In 1843 a small private party, consisting of 
 Messrs. Landor and Lefroy, made a short excursion 
 from York, and were absent for about a fortnight. 
 They found no large extent of favourable country, 
 nor did they reach the great inland sea of which the 
 natives had persistently spoken; they found, how- 
 ever, several shallow depressions, most of them with 
 salt water lying in them, which geographers have 
 dignified with the name of lakes. 
 
 Two expeditions were promoted by Governor Hutt 
 during his term of office, in one of which he person- 
 ally took part, viz., from Fremantle to Australind 
 in company with Captain Stokes and Mr. J. S. Roe. 
 The second was under the command of Lieutenant 
 Helpman on board .the colonial steamer Champion, 
 and was subsequent to the expedition of Gregory in 
 1846. Lieutenant Helpman, who was accompanied 
 by one of the Gregorys', landed at Champion Bay,
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 293 
 
 and thence travelled to the River Arrowsmith, where 
 they examined the coal searn and brought back a load 
 of the coal. 
 
 In 1846 Mr. A. 0. Gregory, with his brothers 
 Messrs. Frank T. and Charles Gregory, set out from 
 Bolgart Springs in search of good pastoral country. 
 After examining the hills forming the watershed of 
 the coastal rivers, they turned westward and traced 
 the headwaters of some of the streams discovered 
 by Grey in 1839. At the head of the Arrowsmith 
 they found several Seams of coal. In 1848 Mr. A. 0. 
 Gregory examined the Murchison district, and in 
 December of the same year the Governor, Captain 
 Fitzgerald, accompanied him to the district to in- 
 spect the mine working the outcrop of galena which 
 lie had discovered during his previous journey. 
 
 On the 14th September, 1848, Mr. J. S. Roe, 
 sometimes called " the father of Australian explor- 
 ers," commenced his celebrated journey, in the course 
 of which he explored 1,800 miles of the colony. He 
 was accompanied by Mr. A C. Gregory and five 
 others with twelve horses and provisions for three 
 months. They suffered very great privations, on one 
 occasion being without water for three days. They 
 returned to Perth in February of the following year, 
 and they reported that they could find no country to 
 the eastward which was fit for occupation. They 
 added much to the knowledge possessed of the 
 country, and were able to report that extensive coal-, 
 fields existed at the Fitzgerald River, 
 
 Mr. R. Austin, the Assistant Surveyor, was sent 
 out in charge of an exploring party in 1854, the dis- 
 covery of gold being the chief, and of godd pastoral 
 and agricultural land the secondary object of tftte ex- 
 pedition, which et out from Mombekine, near 
 
 u
 
 294 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Northam, on the 10th July, and travelled in a north- 
 easterly direction over a great extent of salt marsh 
 country, discovering several mountains and salt 
 lakes. Unfortunately no less than fourteen of their, 
 horses died from the effects of eating the poisonous 
 box-plant, and Austin was forced to make for Shark's 
 Bay, to which place a brig had been despatched to 
 render the party any assistance they needed. Hav- 
 ing lost their horses, they were obliged to abandon 
 much of their provisions and suffered untold hard- 
 ships in their journey to the sea. To the heroism of 
 the leader was due the fact that so many of the party 
 succeeded in reaching the settlement, after suffering 
 privations which had daily thinned their ranks, and 
 which might have caused a leader less courageous to 
 have given way to despair. 
 
 Austin described the belt of country round Mounts 
 Kenneth and Magnet, and in the neighbourhood of 
 Lake Austin, as probably " one of the finest gold- 
 fields in the world." Events have justified this 
 opinion, for in the last few years gold to the value 
 of a million sterling has been obtained from this 
 district. 
 
 The Denison Plains to the south of the Kimberley 
 gold-fields were discovered in 1856 by Mr. A. C. 
 Gregory, nnd in the following year Mr. F. T. Greg- 
 ory completed the survey of the Murchison River. 
 
 Mr. F. T. Gregory was successful in finding some 
 good pastoral land in the Gascoyne district, in 1858. 
 This discovery gave a much-needed impetus to set- 
 tlement in the colony. Gregory started from the 
 Geraldine and followed the course of the Murchison 
 to Mount Gould. He then struck the headwaters of 
 the Gascoyne and traced its course to Shark's Bay. 
 The success of .this expedition led to others being
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 295 
 
 fitted out, and in 1861 Mr. F. T. Gregory again set 
 forth. This time the undertaking was organised by 
 the Imperial as well as by the Colonial Government, 
 and was also aided by private subscription. Having 
 safely landed their horses and provisions at Nickol 
 Bay, the party successfully explored the country 
 round the headwaters of the Ashburton, Fortescue, 
 De Grey, and Oakover Rivers, and good pastoral 
 country was reported. The members of the expedi- 
 tion suffered severely in their efforts to penetrate 
 the desert sand ridges of the coast, but were well re- 
 paid by the splendid results of their heroic enter- 
 prise. 
 
 About the year 1860 it became evident that the 
 discovery of new pasture lands was essential to the 
 progress of the colony. The vast tracts of country 
 lying to the east and north of the sparse coastal set- 
 tlements were as yet absolutely unknown; and most 
 of the good land within reach of these settlements 
 was either occupied or unavailable. The colonists, 
 therefore, set themselves strenuously to spy out the 
 land and ascertain its resources. The result of their 
 efforts, extending over nearly half a century, has been 
 that numerous expeditions have crossed and recrossed 
 the immense territory which stretches from Shark 
 Bay to the boundaries of South Australia. A great 
 portion of this has been proved to be desert, appar- 
 ently worthless ; but some grass country has also been 
 discovered, and utilised for pastoral purposes. Of 
 late years, too, the discovery of gold has led to many 
 encroachments upon the desert itself. 
 
 In July, 1861, and again in June, 1865, E. A. De- 
 lisser, a squatter, explored the south-east corner of 
 the colony. Entering from, Fowler's Bay in South 
 Australia he discovered rich grass lands which have
 
 200 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 since been occupied, and have proved excellent pas- 
 turage. 
 
 During July and August of 1861 Messrs. B. D. 
 Clarkson, C. E. and A. Dempster and C. Harper 
 explored the country east of North am. They made 
 their furthest point at Georgina's Range, having 
 traversed a great portion of what is now known as 
 the Yilgarn Gold-field; the chief result of their 
 journey was that they proved that it was possible to 
 pass with safety through the dense scrub and salt 
 lake country hitherto deemed impassable. 
 
 Mr. Henry Maxwell Lefroy headed an expedition 
 in 1863. His purpose was to test the district east 
 of York, with the object of discovering suitable land 
 for sheep-farming. He crossed over a large portion 
 of the present Coolgardie Gold-fields and was able to 
 report the existence of good agricultural land, but 
 owing to the scarcity of water no settlement was then 
 made. 
 
 In the following year Mr. C. 0. Hunt, leaving 
 York on the 10th July, passed over the present site 
 of Coolgardie and travelled 400 miles east of his 
 starting point, when he was compelled to return to 
 the neighbourhood of Lake Lefroy. The result of 
 his journey was disappointing, as this and preceding 
 journeys seemed to confirm the general opinion that 
 agricultural or pastoral settlement was impossible 
 outside the coastal fringe. In the year 1865 Travar- 
 ton C. Sholl explored the country to the south of 
 Camden Harbour. He inspected the Glenelg Basin, 
 ascended and named Mt. Page (now Mt. Humbert), 
 and having discovered the Berkelman River, he 
 crossed the Leopold Ranges and found a large tract 
 of good pastoral country. 
 
 Early in the next year Assistant Surveyor James
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 297 
 
 Cowle, having explored the country between Roebuck 
 Bay and Port Walcott, reported the discovery of a 
 considerable area of land fit for grazing purposes. 
 
 In the same year Mr. E. T. Hooley, who in 1864 
 had made an unsuccessful attempt to find a practi- 
 cable stock route between Champion Bay and the 
 Gascoyne, journeyed in safety from Champion Bay 
 to Port Walcott and back. 
 
 The practically unknown country lying round the 
 headwaters of the Harding, Ashburton, Sherlock, 
 and Fortescue Rivers was opened up for settlement 
 by the explorations of Mr. R. J. Sholl and his son Mr. 
 Travarton C. Sholl during the year 1866. In 1869 
 Mr. Forrest (now Sir John Forrest, P.C.) began 
 that memorable series of explorations which has 
 proved so important to the colony. His first expedi- 
 tion was unsuccessful as regards its main object, 
 viz., the discovery of traces of Leichhardt, for the 
 fate of that explorer still remains a mystery, but Mr. 
 Forrest succeeded in penetrating to a considerable 
 distance beyond Mt. Margaret, reaching latitude 28 
 41' south and longitude 122 50' east. The follow- 
 ing year the same explorer with his brother made 
 his memorable journey from Perth to Adelaide via 
 Eucla. Mr. Forrest completed in five months an 
 expedition which had taken Eyre a year to accom- 
 plish. The explorers on leaving Perth travelled in 
 safety to Esperance Bay, where a schooner, the Adur, 
 met them with supplies. They still kept near the 
 coast till they reached Israelite Bay, a distance from 
 Esperance Bay of nearly 130 miles. Leaving the 
 coast they made for longitude 126 24', where Eyre 
 had noted a water supply. Thence Forrest made an 
 excursion northward and found good grazing land 
 but no permanent water. Leaving the oasis, they
 
 298 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 succeeded in reaching Eucla in safety, but suffered 
 greatly en route from thirst. At Eucla they were 
 again provisioned by the schooner, and Forrest made 
 a short excursion inland and discovered that the in- 
 terior, which had been considered a sandy desert, was 
 in reality sometimes beautifully grassed, and though 
 there seemed to be no surface water, yet in many 
 places it was procurable at moderate depth. 
 
 From Eucla Forrest travelled through South Aus- 
 tralian territory to Adelaide, which he reached on 
 the 27th August, 1870, having set out from Perth on 
 the 30th of March. His report of the Western Aus- 
 tralian country was more satisfactory than that of 
 Eyre, who had declared it to be practically waterless 
 and little better than a desert. 
 
 In 1871 Mr. A. Forrest went out 600 miles in 
 search of new pastoral country. Having reached 
 latitude 31 south and longitude 123 37' east, his 
 party were compelled to make for the coast. Their 
 course led them to Mt. Ragged, and having discov- 
 ered a tract of good country which has since been oc- 
 cupied, they returned to Perth via Esperance Bay. 
 
 Two attempts were made in 1873 to travel from 
 South Australia overland to Perth. The first of 
 these, led by Mr. William Christie Gosse, Deputy 
 Surveyor-General of South Australia, was uusuccess~ 
 ful. Travelling from Alice Springs he entered 
 Western Australia, near the Tomkinson Mountains, 
 and obtained some knowledge of the country in the 
 vicinity ; he then explored the Cavenagh and Barrow 
 Kanges, but owing to the arid nature of the country, 
 Gosse found it impossible to penetrate further and 
 returned to his starting point. 
 
 The second and more successful attempt was made 
 by Major Peter Egerton Warburton, who journeyed
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 299 
 
 from the Macdonnell Ranges in South Australia to 
 the headwaters of the Oakover River. Little was 
 learnt from this expedition, for the members of it 
 were so occupied with their own hardships, that they 
 were unable to make accurate observations of the 
 country through which they passed. The opinion 
 given was that the country was a sterile one in which 
 horses could not possibly exist, and that there were 
 no permanent watercourses. This was the first ex- 
 pedition which was provided with camels. It should 
 have attained more important results; but owing to 
 constant delays provisions fell short, sickness broke 
 out, and Warburton was forced to push through as 
 rapidly as possible, and by travelling by night he 
 succeeded in safely reaching his destination. War- 
 burton on this journey discovered the Johanna 
 Springs, lately invested with a melancholy interest, 
 as the appointed rendezvous which the ill-fated Wells 
 and Jones of the Calvert Expedition failed to reach. 
 Again in 1874 Mr. John Forrest and his brother 
 Alexander set out from Perth. Their official in- 
 structions were " to obtain information concerning 
 the immense tract of country from which flow the 
 Murchison, Gascoyne, Ashburton, De Grey, Fitzroy 
 and other rivers falling into the sea on the western 
 and northern shores of the colony." Part of their 
 plan also was to ascertain the nature of the interior 
 of the colony, and whether a practicable route to the 
 advanced setlements in South Australia could be dis- 
 covered. Going northward to Yuin they then fol- 
 lowed the Murchison as far as the Robinson Range, 
 thence south-east to Mounts Bartle and Russell and 
 north-east by the Kimberley and Frere Ranges till 
 they reached the Weld Springs, where they found an 
 unlimited supply of clear fresh water. So far much
 
 300 PROGRESS OJF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of the land had proved good, and well adapted for 
 grazing purposes, but as soon as they left Weld 
 Springs they encountered a succession of waterless 
 stretches of spinifex country. Happily for the fate 
 of the expedition, timely discoveries of small fresh 
 water supplies were made notably at Alexander 
 Spring. The expedition reached a point within one 
 hundred miles of Gosse's furthest west, and, under 
 ordinary conditions, might have hoped to have 
 reached known country in a few days; but so great 
 was the dearth of water that, but for the foresight 
 and perseverance of their leader, the expedition 
 would certainly have been compelled to return on 
 their own tracks. Pushing forward through more 
 spinifex country and crossing several rocky ranges, 
 they arrived at Barlee Springs. They made a halt 
 at Fort Mueller, one of the explorer Giles' depots. 
 During the rest of the journey to the known country 
 at the Peake Telegraph Station, similar difficulties 
 were encountered. This journey of John Forrest 
 was one of the most noteworthy made in the cause of 
 Australian exploration, and though both Gosse and 
 Warburton were better equipped than Forrest, yet his 
 expedition proved of much greater value ; for hie was 
 able to give a full and true account of the country 
 through which he passed. Whilst agreeing with all 
 previous explorers as to the impossibility of settle- 
 ment in the spinifex country, fye was nevertheless 
 most hopeful as to the possibilities of the Murchison 
 district, beyond the country already occupied. 
 
 While Forrest, Warburton and Gosse were engaged 
 on these expeditions the well-known and experienced 
 explorer Giles made three attempts to cross from 
 [Adelaide to Perth, and so to examine the supposed 
 'desert of Central Australia. The first attempts were
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 301 
 
 unsuccessful, but the third ranks next to Forrest's 
 as the most successful expedition ever made for 
 opening up the interior of Western Australia. Giles 
 succeeded in reaching Perth and returned overland 
 via the Murchison to Adelaide, completing the circuit 
 in about twelve months. The success of this journey 
 was due in a great measure to the generosity of Sir 
 Thomas Elder, who provided the expedition with 
 camels; and the superiority of these animals over 
 horses for desert travelling was so amply demon- 
 strated that their employment for similar work was 
 thereafter invariably adopted. It was on the 23rd 
 of May, 1875, that Giles set out on his third journey. 
 For the first three months his way lay through com- 
 paratively easy country, and in August he reached 
 Boundary Dam in Western Australia. Thence he 
 took a course through the Great Victoria Desert for 
 some hundreds of miles, and he and his whole party 
 underwent all the hardships attendant on desert 
 travelling, till, after a waterless stage of 325 miles, 
 they arrived almost exhausted at Queen Victoria 
 Springs. Resting a short time there the party pres- 
 ently made their way to Ularring, where a supply 
 of water was obtained, their course having led them 
 north-east of the present Coolgardie. Still travel- 
 ling westward they reached Mt. Churchman and 
 later on Tootra, near Lake Moore, an out-station of 
 Messrs. Clunes. On the 18th November they ar- 
 rived at Perth, having travelled 2,5Y5 miles in about 
 five months. The practical results of this journey 
 were not great, yet every credit must be given to the 
 explorer who, in the face of so many difficulties, suc- 
 ceeded in accomplishing his object. A few weeks 
 sufficed for rest and re-equipment, and, on the 13tli 
 June, 1876, Giles and his party commenced the re-
 
 302 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 turn journey, the first stage being to Northampton 
 via Geraldton. Resuming their journey they en- 
 tered the Gibson Desert on the 1st June. It was 
 part of Giles' plan to discover how far west this ter- 
 rible desert extended. While traversing it they 
 suffered intensely from want of water, going 230 
 miles without finding any. Reaching the Alfred 
 and Marie Ranges they found themselves once more 
 in familiar country, and shortly after the Rawlinson 
 Mountains came in sight. 
 
 On the 23rd August the Peake Station in South 
 Australia was reached. Giles, having completed his 
 tour after suffering the most severe hardships, was 
 able to give an accurate account of the greater part 
 of the interior of Western Australia. He fully con- 
 curred with those who considered the country as 
 totally unfit for settlement. 
 
 A trip undertaken by Mr. Alexander Forrest in 
 1879 proved a most successful one, as he found some 
 of the most valuable country in Western Australia. 
 His course was generally from the De Grey River to 
 Daly Waters Station on the Adelaide Port Darwin 
 Telegraph line. The Fitzroy and Margaret Rivers 
 were followed for some distance ; the former proved 
 deep and rapid, and in the vicinity of the latter 
 the well-watered Nicholson Plains were discovered. 
 These plains Forrest considered the finest part of 
 Western Australia he had seen. Much of the 
 country he traversed has since been well stocked 
 with sheep and cattle, and holds out the promise of 
 much mineral wealth. 
 
 In 1883 Mr. John Forres.t again took out an ex- 
 ploring party. This time he was accompanied by a 
 body of surveyors, who did good work surveying the 
 country around the Fitzroy, Margaret, May, Len-
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 303 
 
 nard, and Richenda Rivers. Mr. E. T. Hardman, 
 who also accompanied the party as geologist, made a 
 complete study of the country, sufficient to enable 
 him to prepare a valuable geological map. The ex- 
 plorers landed at Roebuck Bay, examined a large 
 portion of the Kimberley district, and proceeded by 
 La Grange Bay to the Fitzroy River, and found that 
 the country as far as St. George's Range consisted 
 of rich grassy plains well watered. The Ord River 
 Plains proved exceptionally rich, consisting of 
 fertile alluvium covered with luxuriant grass. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. H. Stockdale, an experienced bush- 
 man, led an expedition from Cambridge Gulf to ex- 
 plore the country lying to the southward. He 
 succeeded in finding very good pastoral country, 
 but was reluctantly compelled to abandon two of 
 his party, whose ultimate fate has not been dis- 
 covered. 
 
 In 1884 Mr. E. T. Hardman again accompanied 
 an exploring and surveying party. They surveyed 
 the country from Mt. Pierre on the Fitzroy to the 
 junction of the Negri and Ord Rivers. The Mary 
 and Elvira Rivers were discovered and named, and 
 the present Kimberley gold-fields were favourably 
 reported on. In 1885 Mr. H. F. Johnston, who had 
 led the previous expedition, again set out. This 
 time he travelled to Cambridge Gulf. The expedi- 
 tion was able to map out the course of the Ord 
 River and traced the Bow, Eraser and Belin 
 Rivers. 
 
 In 1889-90 Mr. Ernest Favence, the well-known 
 Queensland explorer and historian, explored the 
 headwaters of the Gascoyne and Ashburton Rivers. 
 He reported rich pastoral country, and what was 
 more important still, he discovered the Cunningham,
 
 304 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Jackson and James Rivers, all important tributaries 
 of the Ashburton. 
 
 The hitherto unknown country north and west of 
 Lake Amadeus was in 1889 explored by Mr. W. H. 
 Tietkins, who discovered and named the Kintore, 
 1,500 feet high, and the Bonython Range. It is a 
 strange circumstance connected with the exploration, 
 that although the party traversed sixty miles of 
 country supposed to be contained in the area of Lake 
 Amadeus, yet they saw nothing of the lake. 
 
 Sir Thomas Elder, whose generosity in regard to 
 matters of exploration has already been mentioned, 
 again equipped an expedition, the object of which 
 was to complete the exploration of Australia, and 
 especially of Western Australia ; efforts were also to 
 be made to discover traces of Gibson, the ill-fated 
 explorer who had perished some seventeen years 
 previously. Leaving Fort Mueller, they obtained 
 water at Mount Squires and made for Queen Vic- 
 toria Springs. Here they found the springs dried 
 up and were compelled to alter their plans and make 
 a hasty journey to Eraser's Range; when about half- 
 way to the range some good but extremely dry 
 country was passed. After resting at Eraser's 
 Range, they made an attempt to examine some parts 
 of the desert they had just crossed, but were again 
 baffled by the waterless condition of the country. 
 Ultimately they reached the Murchison. On the 
 1st January, after a journey of eight months' dura- 
 tion, during which numberless perils were encoun- 
 tered, they arrived at their destination. Mr. Lind- 
 say, the leader of the party, returned to Adelaide, but 
 one of his companions, Mr. L. A. Wells, made an 
 expedition, starting from the depot at Welbundinum. 
 He travelled over 800 miles, and made discoveries
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 305 
 
 of good pastoral land and some gold-bearing country, 
 but lack of water was here again the chief character- 
 istic of the country. 
 
 It was not till 1896 that any further work of im- 
 portance was done. In this year an expedition pro- 
 moted by Mr. A. F. Calvert, under the leadership of 
 Mr. L. A. Wells, set out from Lake Way to explore 
 the country between the East Murchison and Fitzroy 
 Rivers. A depot was formed in latitude 25 54' 
 south, longitude 122 20' east, in the midst of fair 
 country provided with excellent waterholes. From 
 here an excursion was made north-east through Mt. 
 Bates, when, after a dry stage of 200 miles, water 
 was found in latitude 23 23' south and longitude 
 124 east. After resting here, they returned to 
 the depot by the route followed by Giles in 1876. 
 Travelling again from the depot, the whole party 
 reached Separation Well. Here two of the explorers 
 left their leader in order to examine the country to 
 the west-north-west. They were to meet the main 
 party some thirty miles south of Johanna Springs. 
 They proceeded some distance, but found it impos- 
 sible to continue, owing to the heavy nature of the 
 country. Retracing their steps, they found the 
 tracks of the expedition, and followed them for some 
 time, but perished from thirst before coming up with 
 their party. Some months after their bodies were 
 discovered by Wells, and their journal disclosed the 
 sad mischance that had befallen them. 
 
 From Separation Well the expedition proceeded 
 to Johanna Springs, and thence to the Fitzroy River, 
 which they met a little to the north of Mt. Tuckfield. 
 The country through which they passed, especially 
 the last 300 miles, was of the usual spinifex and 
 sand ridge variety. The lack of water and camel
 
 306 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 feed cost them five beasts and the remaining number 
 were saved only with great difficulty. 
 
 The Western Australian Government used every 
 effort to discover the fate of Wells' companions, 
 Messrs. C. F. Wells and G. Lindsay Jones, who had 
 been lost during the expedition and whose fate was 
 yet unknown. On the 19th December, just two 
 months after their disappearance, Mr. W. F. Kudall 
 headed a search party which, leaving Braeside on the 
 Oakover River, followed up that stream and its tribu- 
 tary the Davis. At Christmas Pool they met some 
 natives who guided them to a deserted camp, where 
 some footsteps supposed to be those of the missing 
 men were discernible. Nothing more was discovered, 
 and the camels failing him, Mr. Rudall had to retrace 
 his steps with all speed. Nothing daunted, he set out 
 again, but met with no success. He made two other 
 attempts, but no traces of the missing men were 
 found, though in the third trip the bodies of two 
 white men, who had evidently been murdered by 
 natives, were discovered. It was proved that 
 these were not the men searched for. In his jour- 
 neys Rudall travelled over an area of 23,000 miles, 
 and though not successful in his> main object, yet 
 he gained a great deal of valuable knowledge of 
 the physical features of much country hitherto un- 
 known. In the same year (1896), Mr. A. Mason, a 
 Government officer, explored the country lying be- 
 tween Kurnalpi and Eucla. Both Sir J. Forrest 
 and Captain Delisser had previously reported fine 
 pastoral and agricultural land in this district. 
 
 The South Australian Government sent out an ex- 
 pedition under Hiibbe about the same time. Its 
 object was to open up a stock rou,te between Oodna- 
 datta and Coolgardie. Hiibbe followed Forrest's
 
 EXPLORATIONS. 307 
 
 1874 route, through Barlee Springs to Mt. Allott. 
 Thence he travelled to Lake Wells by way of the 
 Ernest Giles' Range. A good supply of water was 
 obtained at Mackenzie's Well, and the remainder of 
 the journey to Menzies and Coolgardie was through 
 fairly well known country. The return journey was 
 made via Eucla. Near the South Australian border 
 some good country was found, but for the rest the 
 country was as usual, dry and covered with spinifex. 
 The Hon. David Carnegie equipped and led an ex- 
 ploring party in search of gold-bearing or pastoral 
 country in the great desert which lies between lati- 
 tudes 19 and 28 south and longitudes 122 and 
 129 east, which had hitherto only been crossed from 
 east to west. 
 
 Leaving Doyle's Well about fifty miles south of 
 Lake Darlot, they travelled to Alexander Spring, 
 which was found to be dry. Fortunately a soak- 
 age was found some forty-five miles from the springs 
 where they obtained water. The country was a con- 
 tinuous stretch of low sand-hills, with here and there 
 some bloodwood trees and poor shrubs on which the 
 camels fed. One man, Mr. Chas. Stansmore, lost 
 his life during this journey, being accidentally shot. 
 On the 6th December Carnegie arrived at Hall's 
 Creek, where he rested for some months. Hearing 
 of the Calvert Expedition disaster, Carnegie offered 
 to lead a search party, but relief expeditions had 
 already been started, so Carnegie remained where 
 he was till the beginning of April, 1897. The re- 
 turn journey to Coolgardie, via Alexander Springs 
 and Lake Darlot, was uneventful and little aurifer- 
 ous country was found. Altogether the expedition 
 travelled 3,000 miles in eight months and proved 
 the impossibility of opening up a stock route between
 
 308 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Kimberley and the North Coolgardie fields. The 
 only permanent water found on the journey out" 
 ward was at Helena Spring in latitude 21 20' 
 south. 
 
 A gold prospecting party headed by Mr. Hugh 
 Russell went out in May, 1897. The country round 
 the Barrow, Warburton and Cavenagh Ranges was 
 well examined. The explorers went as far as Mt. 
 Squires, but little of importance was learnt, the 
 country passed through showing the same absence of 
 water which marks so large a portion of the great 
 western colony.
 
 PART EIGHT. 
 INDUSTRIAL HISTORY. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXI. 
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 
 
 OF the great industries now carried on in Aus- 
 tralasia only wheat and maize farming, wool grow- 
 ing and coal mining date from the beginning of set- 
 tlement; and if these be excepted the principal in- 
 dustries which now exist are of comparatively recent 
 growth. Some industries, such as whaling, which 
 manifested early promise, have died out or fallen 
 into neglect, a result due as much as anything to the 
 discovery of gold in 1851, for there were few who 
 willingly followed the humdrum pursuits of trade 
 as long as the allurements of the gold-fields lasted. 
 When the precious metal ceased to be won in large 
 quantities and the population had perforce to return 
 to less exciting and perhaps more remunerative pur- 
 suits, it was almost too late to revive many industries 
 that had been abandoned. Interesting, therefore, 
 as it is to look back upon the industrial life of the 
 colonies in the early years of settlement, compari- 
 sons with .the present, day have little or no value, 
 as the conditions under which industries were car- 
 ried on in the early period were essentially different 
 from those that now obtain. In nearly every respect
 
 niO PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the record of the industrial life of Australia has been 
 one of continuous progress, and there has been a 
 steady advance in the condition of the workers, es- 
 pecially of those who may be classed as wage-earners. 
 
 The industrial history of Australia is naturally 
 divided into six completed periods, and the present 
 period, which was entered upon in 1893 ; but, as 
 may be inferred from the nature of the case, except 
 in regard to that represented by the gold rush, no 
 sharp line of division between one industrial period 
 and another can be drawn. 
 
 The first period embraces ,the interval between 
 the foundation of the settlement and the departure 
 of Macquarie ; that is to say, to 1821. Intended as 
 it. was for a mere penal settlement, there was little 
 room in the colony for the operation of industrial 
 forces, and it was long before the authorities would 
 recognise that the labourer had any rights beyond 
 that to mere subsistence. This was perhaps inevi- 
 table in a place where the great majority of the 
 labourers were either prisoners or persons who had 
 been prisoners; but the same ideas dominated the 
 policy of the ruling powers long after the free popu- 
 lation became an important factor in the industrial 
 life of the colony. 
 
 Throughout this period, and, indeed, until a much 
 later time, the spirit of the Government was that of 
 paternal interference in every concern of social life. 
 For the individual, especially the labourer, every- 
 thing was regulated. The Governor fixed the price 
 and determined the quality of the provisions con- 
 sumed in the settlement; ho made grants of land, 
 and, in order to beautify his metropolis, required 
 those who received grants within its boundaries to 
 build substantial and handsome houses thereon ; he
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 311 
 
 erected markets, and framed bye-laws for their gov- 
 ernance ; he served out lands, cattle and provisions to 
 his subjects like a tradesman purveying general 
 merchandise; he adjusted tolls, ferry dues, and 
 wharfage fees, and gave an eye to municipal matters. 
 Moreover, he gathered together the orphans in the 
 colony, and supported them out of the proceeds of 
 the duties and customs collected at the port. To 
 the labourer he strove to ensure a fixed daily wage; 
 from the labourer he sought to exact an unvarying 
 amount as the price of his loaf or of his pound of 
 meat. This was not only possible, but seemed en- 
 tirely at one with the ideas of the times, as the 
 colonist, properly so called, was looked upon as an 
 intruder whose presence, though distasteful to the 
 authorities, could not altogether be avoided. 
 
 During the whole period the Government was the 
 main employer of labour; indeed, in the earliest 
 years there was no other. Amongst individuals, 
 the military officers were the first to seek labour, and 
 to them were made over a number of prisoners, by 
 whose aid a large area of country was cleared and cul- 
 tivated. At first the Government supplied assigned 
 labourers with clothing and food; but this was soon 
 altered, and the expense of maintaining them was 
 borne by tjheir employers; indeed, this relief of the 
 public stores was the chief consideration which in- 
 duced the authorities to introduce the principle of 
 assignment. As years went on, an increasing 
 number of men whose sentences had expired became 
 available for ordinary employment, and .these, with 
 the soldiers who preferred to remain in the colony, 
 retired officers, civilians in the employ of the Govern- 
 ment, and, lastly, the few free immigrants who had 
 made their way to the settlement, formed the indus-
 
 31 2 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 trial population. For a considerable period the free 
 population was not large, and there was no need to 
 make special provision in the laws in regard to them ; 
 but as the free element grew in importance, the 
 Governor found it necessary to issue laws for the 
 purpose of regulating the relations between em- 
 ployers and the free employed. 
 
 These laws were all conceived in the spirit of the 
 primal curse, which designated work a punishment, 
 the life of man a warfare, and his time here below a 
 probation to be spent in weariness and sorrow. The 
 general orders issued during the first thirty years 
 were sufficiently harsh and callous, even when their 
 provisions were framed with especial reference to 
 the bond population, but they were scarcely more con- 
 siderate when they sought to regulate the conditions 
 governing the operations of free labour. The 
 hours of toil were established on no tender scale. A 
 day's work for stacking and carrying grain was fixed 
 at from five o'clock in the morning until seven 
 o'clock at night, less three hours for food and rest. 
 The wages to be paid for various classes of labour 
 were also arbitrarily determined. Should a labourer 
 take or demand more than the specified rates, or 
 refuse to work for such wages, he was to be set in 
 the stocks for two days and one night for the first 
 offence, and for a second or continued refusal he was 
 to undergo a penalty of three months' hard labour. 
 "No person was allowed to take work unless he could, 
 if a freeman, produce his certificate, or, if a bond- 
 man, his ticket-of-leave. For the infringement of 
 this regulation the penalty inflicted on the employer 
 was a fine of 5, and two shillings and sixpence for 
 each day on which a free labourer was employed, 
 with more than double this fine in the case of the
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 313 
 
 employment of a bondman; and for paying more 
 than the fixed rates he was liable to be imprisoned 
 for ten days, in addition to the fine. The harbour- 
 ing of a runaway apprentice involved a penalty of 
 six months' hard labour to a free man, and of one 
 hundred lashes, with other punishment, if the of- 
 fender were a prisoner. As the framer of the laws, 
 the Governor had always before him the fact that 
 the employer was often little better than the labourer 
 he employed, both, as a rule, belonging to the eman- 
 cipist class, and both, therefore, in view of their 
 common origin, deserving of somewhat similar 
 punishment for breaches of the labour regula- 
 tions, irrespective of the accident of the possession 
 of property in the one case, and the want of it in the 
 other. 
 
 The lot of the free labourer, even though he gener- 
 ally was an emancipated convict, was very severe. 
 Long were his hours of labour ; and his pay was by 
 no means commensurate with his day's toil. Agri- 
 cultural labourers were paid (four pounds) 4 for 
 clearing and hoeing an acre of ground; timber- 
 getters, for sawing one hundred feet, seven shillings, 
 and for splitting one hundred feet, one shilling and 
 sixpence to two shillings. In 1Y96 the sum paid for 
 making a pair of boots was three shillings and six- 
 pence; for a coat, six shillings; and for a gown, 
 five shillings; carpenters received five shillings, and 
 field labourers three shillings a day, without rations, 
 and these were considered high wages. In 1814 a 
 general order fixed the price for felling forest timber 
 at ten shillings per acre, and burning off at twenty- 
 five shillings per acre ; cutting down weeds and brush 
 and burning off at ten shillings per acre, and a 
 splitter's daily remuneration at two shillings and
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 sixpence. Three years later the price given for 
 felling forest timber was reduced, by an official 
 regulation, to eight shillings per acre, burning 
 off to 1 per acre, and other work in like propor- 
 tion. 
 
 In addition to the men wholly assigned to masters, 
 there was another class of labour available. The 
 prisoners who were not assigned were employed by 
 the Government; but as their day closed at three 
 o'clock, it was permissible for them to engage them- 
 selves for the remainder of the day .to a private 
 employer. A man was, therefore, free to work for 
 himself after the hour mentioned, and all that he 
 could earn " on his own hands " became his per- 
 sonal property. By general order, a prisoner's re- 
 muneration after hours was fixed at one shilling 
 per day; but it is probable that skilled men, when 
 they chose to work, found the inducement more 
 profitable than was contemplated. In some respects, 
 therefore, the lot of the prisoner was better than 
 that of the free labourer, who was compelled to clothe 
 and feed himself. In those early days of paucity 
 of labour, it was also customary to permit the soldiers 
 to engage themselves during the harvest months, and 
 a general order limited the remuneration to be given 
 to each man to fifteen shillings currency per week, 
 or one bushel of wheat per acre harvested, at the 
 worker's option. A master transgressing this order 
 was punished by fine ; and in the event of any soldier 
 demanding more than the regulation amount, he 
 could be summoned before the nearest magistrate to 
 answer for his conduct. 
 
 This regulation of prices by law was strictly in 
 accordance with the ideas of the times, the object 
 aimed at being to ensure the settlers a supply of
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 315 
 
 cheap labour, and incidentally to protect the labourer 
 against fraud on the part of the master. Its j^rin- 
 cipal effect was to prevent the worker from recover- 
 ing in the courts a greater price for his labour than 
 was stipulated in the schedule, whereas when it 
 became the interest of his employer to give better 
 terms he would do so. The rates published by the 
 Governor referred only to the various kinds of labour 
 pertaining to agriculture and the allied pursuits; 
 the wages of artificers, particularly of such as were 
 most useful in a young community, being much 
 higher. 
 
 Transportation from England and Ireland was 
 maintained during the whole of this period, and 
 reached very large proportions about the year 1817, 
 in response to Macquarie's demand for labour to 
 carry on the agriculture of ,the country and to com- 
 plete the numerous public works inaugurated during 
 his term of office. Voluntary immigration almost 
 entirely ceased with the increase in transportation; 
 indeed, it was in many ways discouraged, the British 
 Government going so far as to prohibit any person 
 from proceeding to the colony, who could not 
 prove that he was possessed of sufficient property 
 to enable him to establish himself on his arrival 
 there. 
 
 Wages were paid partly in money and partly in 
 kind. The latter at first comprised an allowance 
 of salt beef, maize, and split peas ; but the character 
 and quantity of provisions issued were subject to con- 
 siderable modification, according to the condition of 
 the stores, and especially during times of scarcity. 
 Such measures were, fortunately, not often necessary ; 
 but the occurrence of periods of want, if not of abso- 
 lute famine, had to be anticipated in a colony depend-
 
 816 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ent for its support exclusively on importations, in 
 days when ships visited the settlement only at long 
 intervals, and prospects of trading had not yet been 
 made manifest. The fact that supplies were not 
 sooner obtained from the soil of the country was 
 probably the result of ignorance rather than of 
 lethargy, for when knowledge was gained, the dif- 
 ficulties in the way of obtaining breadstuffs disap- 
 peared. 
 
 Governor Macquarie continued the rates of re- 
 muneration authorised by his predecessors; but he 
 decided that masters should pay their assigned 
 servants a yearly sum of 10 for a man and 7 for 
 a woman, including the value of slops allowed, or 
 7 for a man and 5, 10s. for a woman, when 
 clothing was supplied. It is probable that these 
 rates were already determined by custom before 
 the orders of the Governor were issued, as most 
 masters made allowances to their men at about 
 the scale named ; and that the rule was introduced to 
 meet the cases of those who made no allowance or 
 such as was insufficient to meet the wants of their 
 assigned servants. The whole tendency of the reg- 
 ulations was to allow a free labourer to earn on an 
 average ten shillings a week in addition to rations, 
 or twenty shillings a week where rations were not 
 supplied. As already remarked, there is abundant 
 contemporary testimony that, in spite of the severe 
 penalties of the law, the legal rates were not adhered 
 to, for the settlers ordinarily had to give more, 
 the labourers refusing employment at the fixed rates. 
 
 Average prices of some few articles during the 
 first twenty years of settlement are given below; 
 .and although labourers in receipt of three shilling 
 a day could afford to purchase few of the com-
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 
 
 modities mentioned, .they would probably, under the 
 necessity of accepting the barter currency of the 
 country, be compelled to take them in payment for 
 their work, notwithstanding that by special regula- 
 tion it was ordained that all wages were to be paid 
 in sterling money or in wheat, at the option of the 
 labourer. 
 
 Maize, per bushel 10 shillings 
 
 Wheat, per bushel 12 shillings 
 
 Flour, per pound 3 pence 
 
 Butter, per pound 3 shillings 
 
 Cheese, per pound 2 shillings 6 pence 
 
 Bacon, per pound 1 shilling 9 pence 
 
 Salt beef, per pound 5 pence 
 
 Salt pork, per pound 7 pence 
 
 Rice, per pound 3 pence 
 
 Potatoes, per pound 3 pence 
 
 Moist sugar, per pound 1 shilling 6 pence 
 
 Soap, per pound 1 shilling 
 
 Eggs, per dozen 2 to 3 shillings 
 
 These figures represent the average market rates, 
 but prices were subject to great fluctuation; for ex- 
 ample, wheat sold in 1817 at twenty-five shillings 
 per bushel, while maize touched sixteen shillings 
 in some other years. Fresh meat was> not plentiful, 
 as the Governors were afraid of destroying the 
 breeding stock, and at one time the penalty of death 
 was actually decreed to any person destroying the 
 wild cattle found at the " cowpastures " of Camden, 
 although these cattle were afterwards killed, as> it 
 was feared that they might deteriorate the breed 
 of stock. The settlers were at all times encouraged 
 to keep pigs; and they must have grown vegetables, 
 as American whalers, even in the earliest times, 
 were accustomed to put in to Port Jackson for a 
 supply.
 
 318 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Trade and communication were restricted, not 
 only with the view of ensuring the safe keeping 
 of the convicts, but also in the commercial interests 
 of Great Britain, and of ; the East India Company. 
 British seamen were forbidden to go on board a 
 foreign vessel under the penalty of a 50 fine, and no 
 British subject was permitted to enter into any con- 
 tract with the subjects of a foreign power under 
 pain of being sent away from the colony. Ships 
 bringing cargoes from any part of the world, unless 
 the goods had been manufactured in Great Britain, 
 were obliged to pay a duty of five per cent, ad 
 valorem on the amount of their invoices, and special 
 enactments were from time to time levelled at the 
 importation of merchandise, brought from the east- 
 ward of the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 Notes of hand for contracted debts were not rec- 
 ognisable as evidence, unless the account of the 
 articles sold, with the prices stated therein, was also 
 produced. !N"o note of hand could be drawn in 
 copper coin or in colonial currency, as such bills 
 were under an order of the Governor to be liqui- 
 dated in sterling money only, and the words " ster- 
 ling money " had to be expressed in the body of the 
 note or bill. The penalty for a breach of this regula- 
 tion was a fine of 50. A subsequent regulation 
 prohibited any person from receiving or paying any 
 note of hand that had not the words "sterling 
 money " therein expressed, under a penalty of 
 double the amount of the note inflicted on both 
 payer and receiver. Having regulated the relations 
 of employer and employed, of buyer and seller, and 
 the prices of labour and provisions, it was only fitting 
 that the rate of interest should be determined. The 
 Governor, therefore, prohibited the charging or ac-
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1621. 319 
 
 ceptanoe of more than eight per cent, interest on any 
 bill, bond, or the like, under a penalty subject to the 
 laws against usury. It is almost needless to say 
 that this regulation was without difficulty set at 
 nought by the usurers. 
 
 The settlement possessed a brewery, a pottery, a 
 tannery, a manufactory for tobacco pipes, and an- 
 other for coarse cloths and woollens. The last named 
 was established at Parramatta in order to utilise 
 the services of the women prisoners, who were also 
 employed in spinning linen out of the white flax of 
 the country. 
 
 Despite the fact that the port of Newcastle was 
 a dangerous place for vessels to enter, the exporta- 
 tion of coal was attempted, and there appears to have 
 been some trade carried on with Bengal in this 
 mineral. Among other exports were Beche-de-mer, 
 whale oil, whale bone, seal skins, kangaroo skins, 
 and lastly, what was destined to be the staple prod- 
 uct of the colony, wool. 
 
 Many of the restrictions upon trade were of a pecu- 
 liarly harassing and impolitic nature, and were cal- 
 culated greatly to discourage mercantile speculation. 
 The isolated condition of the settlement rendered 
 colonists peculiarly liable to extortion on the part of 
 traders, and to meet this the paternal government 
 issued a general order fixing the maximum prices 
 to be paid for all important merchandise prices 
 often too low to afford a fair profit to the trader. 
 As usual in such cases, the law did not benefit those 
 whom it was intended to serve, for it frequently hap- 
 pened that the entire cargo of a vessel was secured 
 by the officers of the settlement, who for a consider- 
 able period had a sort of pre-emptive right in regard 
 to importations j and articles of the first necessity
 
 320 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 were retailed bj them to the settlers at greatly en- 
 hanced prices. Another regulation of a particularly 
 oppressive character was the prohibition of any 
 trading vessel from calling at the settlements at 
 Van Diemen's Land for the purpose of disposing of 
 goods, unless it had previously called at Port Jack- 
 son. These and other abuses were in some cases 
 restricted in their operation by Macquarie, and in 
 others abolished. Soon after his arrival he did 
 away with the practice of fixing a maximum price for 
 grain and butcher's meat, but reverted to it a few 
 years later. 
 
 The people other than those of the labouring 
 class were, according to all contemporary history, 
 in a very flourishing condition, but this description 
 must not be taken too literally, as it was that of men 
 accustomed to the wretchedness of English and Irish 
 peasant life, and what would be deemed fairly com- 
 fortable by them would nowadays be looked upon 
 as far from tolerable. As regards the ordinary 
 labourer, his material condition was in every respect 
 wretched. He lived usually in a windowless hut, 
 was clothed with canvas, and his food, though plenti- 
 ful, was coarse and savourless. Of opportunities 
 for amusement, culture, or self-education, he had 
 none. Books were hardly to be obtained; morality 
 was at its lowest ebb; and religion was a matter of 
 authoritative regulation and enforced ceremonial 
 obedience. 
 
 The method of exchange prior to the year 1810 
 was mainly barter, varied to a slight extent by the 
 circulation of foreign silver and of copper coin. The 
 latter possessed twice its English value, and a general 
 order was promulgated ngainst both its import and 
 its export. Later in the history of the colony,
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 321 
 
 various expedients were resorted to by tradesmen, 
 and shopkeepers' notes were circulated for sums 
 varying from 3d. upwards, payable in Spanish 
 dollars. The standard currency really consisted of 
 paymasters' notes on the English Treasury, and 
 these were negotiable with shippers in exchange for 
 goods, a fact which assisted materially in the estab- 
 lishment of a trade monopoly by the officers of the 
 civil and military departments. There were, how- 
 ever, in circulation all descriptions of coins that a 
 trader would acquire in his visits to the East Indies 
 or the Spanish Main, and contemporary advices 
 quote the following coins and their current values : 
 
 s. d. B. d. 
 
 Guinea 1 2 Spanish dollar 5 
 
 Johanna 4 Rupee 02 6 
 
 Half-joe 2 Dutch guilder 2 
 
 Ducat 9 6 English shilling 1 1 
 
 Gold mohur 1 17 6 A copper coin of 1 oz. 2 
 
 Pagoda 8 
 
 These currency values were, however, subject to 
 considerable alteration. Labourers rarely saw coin 
 of any kind ; they were paid for their work in goods 
 at monopoly values, and their remuneration consisted 
 chiefly of rum, the price of which was determined 
 by the importers, who saved themselves from com- 
 petition by a mutual agreement, by which they were 
 bound neither to underbuy nor undersell one an- 
 other. The goods purchased by the officers from 
 speculative shippers were paid for in wheat receipts, 
 in payr_iasters' notes, and in Spanish dollars. It 
 was to prevent the depletion of silver currency that 
 the Governor in 1831 adopted the expedient of strik- 
 ing the centre out of the dollar and using the 
 *' dump " to denominate a fourth of the value of the
 
 322 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 original coin, which, however, still passed current 
 as a convenient denomination of the value of 5s. 
 (five shillings). 
 
 The currency continued very much in the unsatis- 
 factory condition described until the growing busi- 
 ness of the country allowed of the opening of a bank. 
 The proposal to establish a local bank had been 
 brushed aside in 1812 by Lord Liverpool, who in- 
 formed the Governor that silver to the value of 
 10,000 would be sent from India, in order to tide 
 the colony over its currency difficulties. This re- 
 mittance, however, far from satisfied the needs of 
 the community, and the Bank of New South Wales 
 was opened for business on the 8th April, 1817. Its 
 capital amounted to 20,000, divided into 200 
 shares. The bank was incorporated under a regular 
 charter and its affairs were controlled by a president 
 and six directors. Its paper soon became the princi- 
 pal circulating medium of the colony, and business 
 was done in the discounting of bills of short date, 
 and the advance of money on mortgage securities. 
 Government payments, for provisions purchased 
 locally, continued to be made with receipts from the 
 Commissary, which, when taken into the office, were 
 consolidated by bills on the King's Treasury. Cap- 
 tains of vessels purchasing provisions in the colony 
 drew bills on the ship-owners ; while the commercial 
 transactions of the inhabitants were conducted in 
 currency dollars, copper, tradesmen's dockets and the 
 notes of the Bank of New South Wales. It is a 
 peculiar fact, characteristic of the period, that a 
 debt of more than 300 was regarded as one of hon- 
 our, in consequence of the abuse of the privilege of 
 appeal from the local courts to the King-in-Couneil. 
 
 When Major-General Lachlan Macquarie entered
 
 FIRST INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1788-1821. 323 
 
 upon the Government of the colony on the 1st 
 January, 1810, the population numbered 10,454 per- 
 sons. The settlement surrounding Port Jackson was 
 bounded on the north, west, and south by the Blue 
 Mountains, beyond which no one had then been able 
 to penetrate, though several attempts to do so had 
 been made, and it was a general opinion that far- 
 ther than sixty miles away no land suitable for til- 
 lage was likely to be found. Along the sea the 
 colony extended from Port Stephens to Jervis Bay, 
 a distance of about one hundred and fifty-six miles, 
 and it was confidently stated that beyond these inlets 
 settlement could not expand. 
 
 Macquarie's term of office was, however, bright- 
 ened by the successful passage of Blaxland, Lawson, 
 and Wentworth to the plains beyond the mountains, 
 and the subsequent discoveries of new areas for settle- 
 ment; which finally dissipated the idea, long en- 
 tertained, that the colony would cease to exist should 
 the support it received from the British Treasury 
 be withdrawn. 
 
 The island of Tasmania, then known as Van Die- 
 men's Land, was a dependency of the mother colony 
 from its first settlement in 1803 until 1825 ; it was 
 colonised from New South Wales and was intended 
 to serve the purpose of a subsidiary penal settle- 
 ment.
 
 324 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXII. 
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 
 
 THE second period of the industrial history of 
 Australia comprises th seventeen years from 1821 to 
 1838. The area of settlement was, during the whole 
 of the period, continually being widened. In 1823, 
 Allan Cunningham found a practicable route through 
 Pandora's Pass to the rich Liverpool Plains. Dur- 
 ing the following year Lieutenant Millar formed at 
 Mo/ton Bay an establishment which afterwards be- 
 came the capital of Queensland. The first great 
 journey of exploration by Major Mitchell to the 
 north and north-west of New South Wales was en- 
 tered upon in 1831. The journey proved rich in 
 results, and added greatly to the knowledge of the 
 colony's resources. The unlocking of territory had 
 an emphatic influence on the development of the 
 country's industries, as settlement followed close on 
 the heels of the explorers, and tended to provoke in- 
 terest in the minds of English speculators, a great 
 deal of whose capital began to seek investment in 
 station properties. 
 
 South Australia was colonised in the year 1836, 
 by immigrants coming direct from England under 
 the auspices of the South Australian Colonisation 
 Company, and the first permanent settlement of Vic- 
 toria was made in 1834, the first colonists coming 
 over from Tasmania. Neither South Australia nor 
 Victoria were subject to the blight of penal colon-
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 325 
 
 isation, and these colonies, therefore, began their 
 career under more favourable conditions than did 
 either New South Wales or Tasmania. 
 
 The labour legislation of this period did not de- 
 part to any appreciable extent from earlier ideas. 
 Under the provisions of a regulation issued on the 
 17th July, 1828, servants neglecting or refusing to 
 work, or absenting themselves from their employ- 
 ment, could be sent by a magistrate to the common 
 gaol or the house of correction for a term not ex- 
 ceeding six or three months respectively, with for- 
 feiture of all wages due ; and servants spoiling, des- 
 troying, or losing property were obliged to pay double 
 the value of the article injured or lost, under a 
 penalty of being committed to gaol for a term of 
 from one to six months. On the other hand, a serv- 
 ant had remedy against an employer's ill-usage to the 
 extent of six months' wages and cancellation of the 
 agreement of service. Any person who employed a 
 servant previously retained was liable to a fine of 
 from 5 to 20, half of which was paid to the person 
 aggrieved and half to the Benevolent Society. Sub- 
 sequent labour legislation was even more repressive 
 in its character, as will be seen later on. 
 
 The comparative scarcity of free labour and the 
 high price it commanded show forcibly the unprofit- 
 able nature of bond labour, which, though available 
 for little above the cost of rations, was for some 
 considerable time a drug in the market. This was 
 especially the case during the period of extensive 
 immigration, which occurred in the early twenties. 
 The Government, therefore, was hard set to provide 
 suitable employment for the prisoners left on its 
 bands, the number of whom was constantly being 
 
 w
 
 326 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 augmented by the arrival of transports from the 
 United Kingdom. 
 
 To enable the Government to dispose of this labour, 
 it was decreed that any free settler having an order 
 from the English authorities for a grant of land 
 could, by pledging himself to employ twenty bond 
 servants, obtain a grant of 2 ; 000 acres. There were, 
 indeed, instances of settlers obtaining this quantity 
 of land even without such an order, simply upon 
 guaranteeing to relieve the Government of the ex- 
 pense of maintaining twenty men; and in 1826, the 
 weekly sum of 3s. 6d., which had been, since Decem- 
 ber, 1821, payable to the Government as hire for 
 an assigned artisan was abolished. Assignment, it 
 will be seen, was really a device adopted by the 
 Government for the maintenance of the bond popu- 
 lation with as little outlay as possible, and land was 
 given away, not so much with a view of encouraging 
 settlement, as of inducing holders to relieve the au- 
 thorities of the cost of maintaining prisoners, for 
 whom no profitable employment could be provided 
 by the Government. The continual immigration of 
 free settlers, most of whom obtained grants of land, 
 with the right of receiving an assignment of men 
 proportionate to their grant, rapidly used up the sup- 
 ply of assignable persons; the Government farms, 
 which had been established for the purpose of keeping 
 the convicts at work, were abandoned and the penal 
 settlements were broken up and their occupants dis- 
 tributed among those who wanted labour, until in 
 Governor Darling's time (1825-1831) the opposite 
 condition was reached, and it was found impossible 
 to satisfy the demand for assigned servants, and, what 
 had never before happened, the colony was left with- 
 out any reserve of labour which could be called upon
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 327 
 
 in an emergency, so that in harvest and shearing 
 times there was occasionally a great scarcity of men. 
 It was this need of hands on emergent occasions that 
 gave rise to the scheme of assisted immigration, which 
 began to take effect in 1832. 
 
 The whole of the social, economic, and political 
 literature of this period was constantly insisting upon 
 the growing disproportion between the proprietary 
 class in the colony, particularly capitalists who had 
 invested in pastoral pursuits, and the labouring class ; 
 and inducements of every description were held out 
 to the agricultural peasantry of the United King- 
 dom to emigrate to the southern promised land. 
 
 The desire for cheap labour was not the only in- 
 fluence at work in the promotion of emigration; 
 there was also an earnest wish on the part of some 
 to secure population of desirable types in order to 
 develop the resources of the country, and on the part 
 of others to afford relief to the distressed peasantry of 
 the United Kingdom. 
 
 The introduction of a system of assisted immigra- 
 tion marked a change in the ideas of the governing 
 powers since the departure of Governor Macquarie. 
 Under his regime, not only was no encouragement 
 offered to intended emigrants from England, but 
 they were positively discouraged. This change of 
 policy was due to the effect that the opening up of 
 new territory had on men's minds. So long as the 
 colony was shut in by the barrier of the Blue Moun- 
 tains, so long was it possible to keep it mainly a penal 
 settlement; but with the discovery of the western 
 plains, all hope of doing this completely vanished. 
 As the expense of a passage from England or Ireland 
 rendered it difficult for mechanics to make their way 
 to the colony, the practice of paying a bounty for
 
 328 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 immigrants of a certain class was introduced. How- 
 ever, the number of mechanics brought out does not 
 seem to have been large. The bounty was probably 
 of most advantage to persons already in the colony 
 who desired to bring out their women folk and chil- 
 dren. There was, however, as already mentioned, a 
 fair influx of non-bounty immigrants; but it is not 
 likely that these included many mechanics or labour- 
 ers. They were principally enterprising men of 
 email means, and professional men anxious to prac- 
 tise in the colony, or, failing that, to turn their hand 
 to trade or squatting. 
 
 Lord Goderich, Secretary of State for the Colo- 
 nies, being impressed about this time, 1831, with the 
 great disproportion existing between the sexes, and 
 desirous of remedying this state of things by the in- 
 troduction of a number of unmarried female immi- 
 grants, recommended the setting aside of a portion of 
 the revenue arising from the sale of Crown lands as 
 a fund from which advances might be made, by way 
 of loan, to assist in paying for the passage of desir- 
 able persons. From this time forward it became cus- 
 tomary to regard the revenue derived from the sale of 
 Crown lands as forming not a part of the income 
 of the colony, but a reserve available for the purpose 
 of meeting the expense of bringing to the colony 
 immigrant labour, of which for long years it was so 
 sorely in need. The sum contributed to each female 
 immigrant was 8, half the estimated cost of the pas- 
 sage out, the other half being made up by the immi- 
 grant herself. In the case of the funds proving de- 
 ficient, a preference was to be given to females immi- 
 grating with .their families over such as were unat- 
 tached. It was subsequently decided that a limited 
 number of mechanics should also be assisted with
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, issi-isss. 329 
 
 advances to enable them to emigrate; and agricul- 
 tural labourers were afterwards included among those 
 to whom it was considered advisable to advance 
 money by way of loan as an instalment of the pas- 
 sage money to the colony. The system, however, 
 underwent many changes from time to time, accord- 
 ing to the amount of the land fund, the need for 
 labour, and the enterprise of private settlers, and ulti- 
 mately was developed on quite different lines; but 
 throughout these changes the principle of introduc- 
 ing rural labourers and their families', single women, 
 and skilled artisans was steadily kept in view. 
 
 Under the regulations by which prisoners were as- 
 signed employers were forbidden to give their serv- 
 ants regular wages, but it is well known that there 
 were employers of assigned labourers who paid them 
 wages, and that printers received as much as a guinea 
 and even more per week on account of their masters 
 being under the impression that night work could 
 not otherwise be enforced. Butchers, blacksmiths 
 and others received 5s. per week, besides food and 
 clothing; the printers, however, maintained them- 
 selves. The wages paid to free labour in the first 
 years of Brisbane's administration was, for artisans 
 and mechanics, from 5s. to 7s. per day without ra- 
 tions; and for agricultural labourers in 1828, from 
 20 to 30 per annum with rations, and in some 
 cases even 50. In the towns especially, artisans, 
 such as carpenters, could at this time earn 50s. per 
 week; but wheelwrights and blacksmiths received 
 about 36s. per week, and unskilled labourers from 3s. 
 to 5s. per day. Compositors could obtain from 35s. 
 to 50s. a week; but clerks and professional men had 
 few opportunities to obtain employment. 
 
 In 1830, the services of artisans of various classes
 
 330 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 appear to have been greatly wanted, and for some 
 years afterwards every description of labour was in 
 brisk demand, although the remuneration of skilled 
 mechanics remained unaltered. The quotation of 
 daily rates, however, is apt to be misleading, as few 
 mechanics secured, even if they sought it, employ- 
 ment during the whole year. It is probable that 
 common labourers did not earn more than from 4s. 
 to 5s. per week with rations and lodgings, and me- 
 chanics of the highest qualifications did not average 
 more than 2 per week the year round. 
 
 The wages of a shepherd appear to have been from 
 20 to 30 per annum, and of a shepherd's watch- 
 man, 20 per annum. A ploughman's remuneration 
 for six months' work was quoted in 1835 at 20. 
 The Select Committee of the Legislative Council, 
 which sat in 1835, reported, after taking much evi- 
 dence, that good mechanics could earn from 30s. to 
 40s. per week, and farm labourers from 7s. 6d. to 
 10s. per week with rations. One of the witnesses 
 examined by the Committee stated that he paid ship- 
 wrights, coopers, and blacksmiths from 7s. to 8s. 
 and sailmakers 6s. a day, adding, " We consider 
 these wages too high, but find it impracticable to 
 reduce them, as rather than take less the men will 
 go out of work ; and they can afford to do so, because 
 the wages of three or four days will suffice to main- 
 tain them for a week." Another witness said he 
 paid millwrights, blacksmiths, and engine-drivers 
 42s. per week, and that a good carpenter could earn 
 3, 3s., and a stoneman from 3 to 4 per week. 
 All the witnesses were agreed as to the difficulty of 
 inducing labourers to move into the country districts 
 a difficulty that told so severely against the agri- 
 cultural and pastoral industries that in 1838 another
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD. 1821-1838. 331 
 
 Select Committee was appointed to consider the ques- 
 tions of labour and immigration. 
 
 In contemporary evidence, however, the allusions 
 to the difficulty of obtaining good men and to the high 
 wages enjoyed by mechanics should be accepted with 
 some caution. In a population numbering not much 
 over one hundred thousand, the demand for good men 
 must have been limited, while the presence of bond 
 labour and the necessity of finding employment for 
 it may be expected to have interfered very seriously 
 with the regularity of the work to be obtained by free 
 men. There was probably in the country districts a 
 demand for skilled labourers in excess of the supply ; 
 but the wages such men could earn did not offer an 
 inducement at all commensurate with the discomforts 
 and dangers which they expected to encounter. 
 
 Prior to the year 1827, tea and sugar were 
 almost invariably included as part of the rations 
 issued to servants; but owing to the straitened cir- 
 cumstances of the settlers, the result of unfavourable 
 seasons, and a fall in the price of live stock, the place 
 of these was taken by milk. The weekly ration, as 
 fixed by Government, was as follows: 12 Ibs. wheat 
 or 9 Ibs. seconds flour, or in lieu thereof, at the dis- 
 cretion of the master, 3 Ibs. maize meal and 9 Ibs. 
 wheat or 7 Ibs. seconds flour ; 7 Ibs. beef or mutton, or 
 A\ Ibs. salt pork ; 2 oz. salt, and 2 oz. soap. Any arti- 
 cles beyond these which the master might supply were 
 considered as indulgences, which he was at liberty to 
 discontinue whenever he might think proper. In 
 1828 the crop of the colony was found insufficient; 
 for its needs. Grain had consequently to be im- 
 ported, and a scarcity of breadstuffs was apprehended. 
 The Governor, therefore, published a general order, 
 in which the rations issued to labourers in the public
 
 332 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 service were reduced to 7 Ibs. of bread ; and all per- 
 sons and settlers having in their employ assigned 
 servants were earnestly recommended to adopt a 
 similar scale, and to make up for the reduction by 
 increasing the ration of meat. 
 
 The prices of provisions fluctuated considerably, 
 and especially was this the case in reference to such 
 as had to be imported. Locally produced provisions 
 of all kinds were, however, generally plentiful at 
 moderate prices, the ruling rates in 1823-24 being 
 as follows : 
 
 s. d. s. d. 
 
 Butter, per pound 2 3 to 2 10 
 
 Cheese, per pound 1 3 
 
 Fresh pork, per pound 6 to 8 
 
 Fresh beef , per pound 6 to 8 
 
 Mutton, per pound 6 to 8 
 
 Bread, per pound 3| 
 
 Fowls, per pair 3 4 
 
 Wheat, per bushel 8 
 
 Maize, per bushel 6 
 
 Barley, per bushel 5 
 
 Potatoes, per cwt 8 
 
 Eggs, per dozen 1 10 
 
 In New South Wales the great drought, which began 
 in 1827, sent corn up to a very high figure, and 
 forced settlers to dispose of their live stock in order 
 to buy grain for the support of their households and 
 establishments. All provisions, with the exception 
 of meat, which became very cheap indeed, rose in 
 price, and the crisis was accentuated by the collapse 
 of the sheep and cattle speculation inaugurated a 
 few years previously, about the time of the formation 
 of the Australian Agricultural Company. The 
 price of wheat from month to month ranged from 7s. 
 (seven shillings) to 14s. 9d. (fourteen shillings and 
 nine pence) per bushel; of maize from 7s. (seven
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 333 
 
 shillings) to 10s. 6d. (ten shillings and six pence) 
 per bushel; of barley from 4s. (four shillings) to 
 Ds. 6d. (nine and six pence) per bushel; of hay from 
 10 to 17 per ton; and of straw, from 20s. (twenty 
 shillings) to 35s. (thirty-five shillings) per ton. 
 The drought appears to have been almost general, 
 and in the words of a writer of the time, it had 
 " blasted the whole country," while the future pros- 
 pect of subsistence diet was confined to a little water 
 and an abundant supply of meat, which was being 
 retailed at If d. (one penny three farthings) a pound. 
 Fortunately for the colonists on the mainland, the 
 proximity of Van Diemen's Land, where an excep- 
 tionally good crop had just been gathered in, pre- 
 vented many of the dire effects that must have 
 followed in the wake of long-continued famine prices 
 for grain. Pork was quoted at 8d. (eight pence) 
 per lb., and all vegetables were advanced to twice 
 their ordinary price, while they had deteriorated by 
 half their usual quality. 
 
 The Governor, true to the traditions of his office, 
 sought to meet the rigours of a season of drought by 
 a general order, dated the 30th September, 1828, in 
 which, with the view of enabling the bakers the better 
 to meet the demands of the public, and of keeping 
 down the price of bread as far as the means of the 
 Government would permit, he signified his intention, 
 until the ensuing crop should be available, of put- 
 ting up to auction sale a portion of the wheat in the 
 public stores on each successive market day, in lots of 
 Uventy-four bushels each, for the accommodation of 
 the small dealers. These sales were to be conducted 
 for ready money, and the profit, if any, after defray- 
 ing the cost of the wheat and the charges incurred by 
 the Government in procuring it, was to be appropri-
 
 334 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ated to a fund for the supply to poor settlers of s-eod- 
 maize. Fat cattle at this time were quoted at 3 per 
 head, wethers and male lambs at 15s. (fifteen shil- 
 lings) each, female lambs at 2, and ewes at 2 and 
 3. During 1834, wheat fell as low as 3s. (three 
 shillings) per bushel, and rose in the latter part of 
 the year as high as 14s. (fourteen shillings). Prices 
 were, however, subject to much fluctuation, par- 
 ticularly those for articles which were not produced 
 in the country. The long delay of a ship from China 
 with tea, or from the Mauritius with sugar, some- 
 times produced a rise of 100 to 200 per cent, in the 
 price of these articles, to be followed on the arrival 
 of the vessels by a relapse to ordinary rates. In 1832 
 bread was sold at 7d. (seven pence) to 8d. (eight 
 pence) per 2-lb. loaf, and flour at 14s. (fourteen 
 shillings) to 15s. (fifteen shillings) per 100 Ibs. In 
 1835 beef was 2d. (two pence) per lb., sugar 2d. 
 (two pence half-penny) and tea 2s. (two shillings) 
 per lb. In times of flood or drought, flour has been 
 known to rise from 15 to 50 per ton; and wheat to 
 20s. (twenty shillings) per bushel. In 1834 the price 
 of flour was 33s. per 100 Ibs., and the reputed 2-lb. 
 loaf sold at Sd. ; maize was 3s. 6d. per bushel ; beef, 
 by the quarter, l|d. per lb. ; mutton by the carcase, 
 2d. per lb. ; pork and veal, 3d. ; salt beef, 2f d. ; 
 bacon, Is. 2d. ; potatoes, from 10s. to 12s. per cwt. ; 
 tobacco, 6d. per lb. ; mould candles, 8d. ; " dips," 
 5d. ; soap, 4d. ; salt pork, 5d. ; fresh butter, Is. lOd. ; 
 salt butter, Is. 4d. ; cheese, 6d. ; the 4-lb. loaf, Is. 2d. ; 
 fowls, 2s. per pair; ducks, 3s. 6d. per pair; geese 
 and turkeys, 4s. each; and eggs, Is. 3d. per dozen. 
 Ration bread was frequently made from the meal 
 of barley, rye, oats, buck-wheat, Indian-corn, peas, 
 beans, rice, and potatoes; and the different classes
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 335 
 
 of bread were distinguished as " Standard Wheaten 
 Bread/' "Household," and "Mixed." 
 
 Rentals in those days were high. In 1834 houses 
 in Sydney, built on leases of ten years, and the whole 
 expense of erecting which, including the lease-rent, 
 did not exceed 200 each, were taken as soon as they 
 were completed at a weekly rental of 25s. (twenty- 
 five shillings). In 1835 the rent of a house of two 
 rooms in Sydney was from 5s. (five shillings) to 10s. 
 (ten shillings) per week, and a cottage of two or 
 three rooms commanded 14s. (fourteen shillings) 
 per week rental. Few houses were supplied with 
 water, so that an additional outlay was involved to 
 meet this necessity; yet, single men could obtain 
 board and lodging for 10s. 6d. (ten shillings and 
 six pence) per week, though the amount generally 
 varied between 12s. (twelve shillings) and 14s. 
 (fourteen shillings), if washing were included. 
 Boots, shoes, coats, hats, and other articles of cloth- 
 ing appear to have been exceedingly dear. 
 
 The principal articles of manufacture were coarse 
 woollen cloths, cabbage-tree hats, salt, candles, 
 leather, boots, and drain-pipes and other earthen- 
 ware. 
 
 The export of wool rose very rapidly; in 1822, it 
 was 172,880 Ibs. ; in 1825, it was 411,600 Ibs. ; and 
 in 1829, it was 1,005,333 Ibs. 
 
 The surplus produce of the coal mines at New- 
 castle, after the wants of the Government establish- 
 ments had been supplied, were authorised by a Gov- 
 ernment order, dated the 9th May, 1822, to be sold 
 at the pits, to those wishing to purchase, at a fixed 
 rate of 10s. 6d. (ten shillings six pence) per ton, 
 and the proceeds of such sales were collected at the 
 Customs, as the cargoes came to be discharged in
 
 336 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Sydney. From the commencement of the year 1828 
 the revenue from these sales was directed to be paid 
 over to the Commissariat Department as a contribu- 
 tion towards the maintenance of the bond population. 
 The annual production of coal was usually about 
 4,000 tons. 
 
 During this period repeated efforts were made to 
 improve the condition of the currency and reduce it 
 to a fixed standard of sterling value and denomina- 
 tion. Up to 1826 the circulating medium was 
 mainly Spanish dollars and notes of the Bank of 
 New South Wales expressed in Spanish dollars. 
 A Government order, dated the 5th February, 1823, 
 directed that the public accounts should be kept in 
 dollars and cents, and this order remained in force 
 up to the end of the year 1826. It continued, how- 
 ever, to be the almost universal practice in the colony 
 to express all rates and sums, in the first instance, 
 under British denominations, thereby rendering it 
 necessary, before any sum could be brought to ac- 
 count as prescribed in the general order, to calculate 
 the amount in dollars, and the inconvenience of the 
 operation was further increased by the variation in 
 the nominal value of the dollar. In ordinary busi- 
 ness transactions this coin was rated at 5s. ; in pay- 
 ment of the salaries of civil officers, at 4s. 4d. ; in 
 the issue of pay to the military, at 4s. 8d. ; and in the 
 collection of colonial dues, at the highest rate for 
 which it was received by the latest public tenders 
 made to the Commissariat. It is readily conceiv- 
 able that so anomalous a system must have been at- 
 tended with great inconvenience. It was determined, 
 therefore, by the Lords Commissioners of the King's 
 Treasury to introduce into several colonies a uniform 
 currency of sterling denomination, and in further-
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 337 
 
 ance of such determination British silver and copper 
 money was sent to the Commissariat Department, 
 in the year 1826, to the amount of 50,200 ; in the 
 following year to the amount of 13,210; and in 
 1829 to the amount of 20,000 ; giving for the years 
 mentioned a total sum of 83,410. These remit- 
 tances, with the sums introduced by private in- 
 dividuals, which were estimated at from 40,000 
 to 50,000, furnished the settlement with a circulat- 
 ing medium of British coin amounting to 130,000. 
 Nevertheless, up to the year 1829 transactions 
 between individuals continued to be regulated partly 
 in British coinage or in Spanish dollars at the de- 
 clared sterling value of 4s. 4d., and partly with 
 reference to the former xates of the dollar, viz., 
 5s. ; or, to employ the common appellation by which 
 these two standards were distinguished, partly in 
 i: sterling " and partly in " currency." The trades- 
 man's notes of this period were almost invariably 
 expressed in " currency " denomination. 
 
 In connection with the question of the country's 
 currency it is interesting to note a general order 
 dated the 22nd September, 1828, in which the Gov- 
 ernor announced his willingness to receive the ring 
 dollars and dumps issued under the proclamation of 
 Macquarie in 1813, and to grant for them bills at 
 the same rate as for British coin on the Lords Com- 
 missioners of the King's Treasury, or to give in ex- 
 change for them British coin to the value of 3s. 3d. 
 sterling for the ring and Is. Id. for the dump ; but 
 in a general order issued in 1829, sterling value of 
 " currency " issued to troops was affixed to the 
 French 5-franc piece, the 2-franc piece, and the 
 franc; to the Sicilian dollar, or scudo, the piece-of- 
 f orty and the pieoe-of -twenty ; to the Spanish dollar ;
 
 338 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 to the United States dollar; and to the Calcutta, 
 Bombay, and Surat rupee. Indeed the elimination 
 of foreign currency seems to have been a very slow 
 process. 
 
 The period under notice was marked by consider- 
 able mercantile and speculative activity. In 1826 
 the Bank of Australia was instituted, and in 1832 
 the Savings Bank was established by the Governor, 
 the latter institution allowing interest on deposits at 
 the rate of 5 per cent, per annum, with a division 
 among the depositors of the surplus interest at the 
 end of each year. The same epoch is famous also 
 for the establishment of the Australian Agricultural 
 Company, whose immediate influence upon the 
 development of the country was not altogether of a 
 favourable nature. The Australian Marine Insur- 
 ance Company was established in 1831. 
 
 Up to the time of the advent of Sir Richard 
 Bourke the Governors had been empowered to make 
 grants of Crown lands to private individuals, and 
 charges were frequently insinuated of undue favour- 
 itism, to call it by no harsher word, and a retiring 
 Governor was severely reprimanded for making a 
 grant to his successor, who, on assuming the govern- 
 ment, made a similar grant .to his predecessor. But 
 in 1831 orders from the Colonial Office directed 
 the introduction of a new system with regard to the 
 disposal of the colony's Crown lands. All free 
 grants were to be confined to such as were made to 
 schools, churches, and other public institutions, and 
 the only other method of alienation permitted was 
 to be by sale at public auction, under a form of 
 restricted competition. Prior to the limitation of 
 the system of making grants of land, immigrants 
 were entitled to receive from the Governor one square
 
 SECOND INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1821-1838. 339 
 
 mile of territory for every 500 of capital im- 
 mediately available for its cultivation, to the ex- 
 tent of four square miles or 2,560 acres- the limit 
 within which the Governor was authorised to make 
 grants to one individual. Persons possessed of a 
 capital less than 250, clear of all expenses of reach- 
 ing the colony, were for a long time not considered 
 as eligible to receive grants of land ; but a subsequent 
 regulation extended the privilege to them, as well 
 as to natives of the colony who were of good char- 
 acter, the grant in such cases comprising from 50 
 to 100 acres in any of the districts which had been 
 set apart for the settlement of small farmers. The 
 condition of tenure was actual residence upon the 
 land granted. The regulations under which the 
 grants were made were quashed by Viscount Gode- 
 rich, afterwards Lord Ripon, who set upon all 
 alienated land in the colony a minimum price of 
 5s. (five shillings) per acre. With the institution 
 of this agrarian law, the industrial history of the 
 settlements in Australasia entered upon a new phase 
 of development.
 
 340 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 
 
 THE third period in the industrial history of 
 Australia may be said to have opened under favour- 
 able auspices. Immigration was encouraged by 
 votes of public money, and as a consequence the 
 population within five years increased by nearly 
 80 per cent., or at a rate of more than 15,000 a year. 
 Settlement in the southern portions was gradually 
 spreading, the discoveries made by Sir Thomas 
 Mitchell and others having thrown open to occupa- 
 tion large areas of country, which gave to trade of 
 all kinds a powerful impetus an impetus which was 
 accelerated by the amendment of the land laws. At 
 the beginning of the period all available Crown lands 
 could be rented under lease for the term of one year. 
 The lease was put up to public auction at a rental of 
 twenty shillings for each section of one square mile. 
 In the event of the land being sold the lessee was 
 required to surrender it on one month's notice. Un- 
 der the Government orders of 1831, all lands for 
 sale were offered at auction and the minimum price 
 was fixed at five shillings per acre, and this mini- 
 mum was maintained until 1839, when the upset 
 price was raised to twelve shillings per acre and the 
 practice introduced of varying this minimum ac- 
 cording to the presumed value of the land. The 
 minimum price was again raised in 1842 to twenty 
 shillings per acre.
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1888-1852. 34-1 
 
 This raising of the minimum price of Crown 
 lands immediately operated as a check upon the 
 land sales, the revenue derived from this source 
 rapidly dwindling away to almost nothing. In 1839 
 the sale of Crown lands realized 152,962 ; in 1840, 
 316,626; in 1841, 90,387; in 1842, 14,574; in 
 1843, 11,297; and in 1844, 7,402. It was an 
 understood thing that the money received from the 
 sale of the Crown lands was to be devoted exclusively 
 to the promotion of immigration and the replenish- 
 ment of the colony's labour supply, without which 
 cultivation could not be extended in an equal ratio 
 with the acquisition of estates by capitalists and set- 
 tlers; but when the land fund was exhausted there 
 was necessarily an end to bounty-fed immigration, 
 and Sir George Gipps, in his anxiety to raise money 
 for the purpose, embroiled himself with the squat- 
 ters by imposing upon them special agrarian legis- 
 lation, which they considered particularly grievous 
 and unjust. The previous Governor, Sir Kichard 
 Bourke, had treated the natural pasturage situ- 
 ated outside the " boundaries of location " as com- 
 monage, equally available to all desirous of mak- 
 ing use of it for depasturing their flocks and 
 herds, provided that it was not wanted by perma- 
 nent settlers, and therefore he demanded from 
 squatters making use of it, only a yearly license 
 fee of 10, to which was subsequently added, at 
 the instance of these pastoral licensees, a small fee 
 for every head of live stock depastured, in order to 
 provide for the establishment and support of a 
 border police for service in the squatting districts. 
 Under the Gipps regime, as the revenue from the sale 
 of land had failed, it was thought that the squatters 
 could be compelled to contribute to it by purchasing
 
 342 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 land at a minimum price, and thus to supply funds 
 for immigration purposes. This measure was met 
 by a counter effort on the part of the squatters, 
 who laboured, and that successfully, to obtain 
 regular leases of their squattages, with fixity of 
 tenure and pre-emptive rights. A war of interests 
 was thus created between the pastoral and agricul- 
 tural industries, which took years of agitation and 
 much legislation to allay. 
 
 The practice of assigning prisoners to settlers 
 ceased about the beginning of this period. The 
 despatch directing Governor Bourke to discontinue 
 the system was dated 26th May, 1837, and the sys- 
 tem came to an end in 1838. This event made the 
 introduction of free labourers almost imperative, 
 and led to the activity of immigration already re- 
 ferred to. A Master and Servants Act, passed 
 during the administration of Sir George Gipps, 
 throws considerable light on the condition of labour 
 during this period. The measures provided that 
 artificers, manufacturers, journeymen, workmen, 
 shepherds, labourers, and other servants, who should 
 refuse to serve the time of their engagements, or 
 return, or leave any work uncompleted, or who 
 should absent themselves therefrom, or refuse to 
 work, might, upon the oath of one or more credible 
 persons be brought before two justices of the peace, 
 and upon conviction in cases where the amount 
 due for work done did not exceed 30, be adjudged 
 to forfeit all or part of the wages due at the time 
 proceedings were instituted, and to pay a sum not 
 exceeding twice the amount of any damage incurred 
 through neglect, absence, or other cause. In de- 
 fault of payment the offender was committed to the 
 common gaol, without bail or mainprize, for any
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 343 
 
 time not exceeding three calendar months, unless 
 the amount in which he was mulct was sooner 
 paid. Masters against whom judgment had been 
 given' for recovery of wages could, upon non-pay- 
 ment, be moved against by distress and sale, and for 
 want of sufficient distress could be sent to gaol for 
 a term not exceeding three calendar months if the 
 claim was not sooner satisfied. Servants obtaining 
 advances and afterwards absconding or refusing 
 to perform the work for which they had been en- 
 gaged, could also be sent to gaol for a term not ex- 
 ceeding three calendar months, or to the house of 
 correction, with hard labour, for the same term. 
 Persons engaging servants whose engagements with 
 other persons had not expired were fined not more 
 than 20, nor less than 5 ; and the servant who could 
 be proved to have spoiled, destroyed, or lost property 
 was adjudged to pay double the value of such prop- 
 erty, and also, if a male, committed to gaol for a term 
 not exceeding three calendar months. Female of- 
 fenders were exempt from being sent to gaol under 
 the provisions of the Act. Such were the restraints 
 imposed upon both masters and workmen, and such 
 the restrictive legislation, enforced with fines and 
 imprisonment with hard labour, which the wisdom 
 of our forefathers evolved to stimulate the industries 
 of the young colony, and to ensure its development. 
 When the state was compelled, by reason of lack 
 of money, to leave the settlers' to their own efforts 
 in regard to procuring labour, various schemes were 
 propounded by which a continuous and cheap supply 
 might be obtained. The employment of coloured 
 labour from the Western Pacific islands was at 
 first greatly in favour, and several shipments of 
 natives from Tanna and the New Hebrides were in-
 
 344 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 troduced ; but the experiment proved a failure, as 
 the islanders would not apply themselves to the 
 work of shepherding at which they were set. More- 
 over, the local legislature interfered, and interdicted 
 by enactments what it regarded in the light of an 
 attempt to establish a new slave trade. The at- 
 tention of the colonists was then directed to the 
 possibility of procuring labour from the East Indies 
 or from China, but immigration from such sources 
 was deemed inadvisable or unattainable. An agita- 
 tion on the part of employers anxious to engage 
 cheap labour from India was begun, only to be 
 quenched shortly afterwards by a wave of counter- 
 agitation on the part of the free labourers of the 
 colony. The largest public meeting ever held in 
 Australia up to that time was held to protest against 
 the introduction of Hill coolies. In the city of Syd- 
 ney, more than 4,500 signatures were obtained to a 
 petition on this subject for presentation to the 
 Queen; and Lord Stanley, Secretary of State for 
 the Colonies, expressed, under date the 29th Septem- 
 ber, 1843, his disapproval of the project and refused 
 to it the sanction of the Imperial Government. 
 
 The Committee on Immigration, in its report to 
 Sir George Gipps, stated that in consequence of the 
 great dearth of labour, particularly of pastoral 
 labour, the flock-masters had been driven to exhaust 
 every expedient to increase the service derivable from 
 the number of men then employed. Three or four 
 times the ordinary and proper tale of sheep had, it 
 was reported, been placed under the charge of each 
 individual shepherd, and many squatters had been 
 forced to abandon the rearing of lambs in conse- 
 quence of being unable to provide for the care of 
 augmented flocks. The demand for labour of a
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 34.5 
 
 pastoral character appears to have been continuous j 
 and fresh employers were ever arriving and adding 
 their demands for labour to those of the existing 
 settlers. 
 
 In Sydney and other towns it was customary to 
 hire workmen on wages only, lodgings and rations 
 being their own concern; but in the country, not 
 only shepherds and pastoral workers generally, but 
 blacksmiths and wheelwrights and other artisans 
 were lodged and rationed according to a regular 
 scale. At the beginning of the period, carpenters, 
 smiths, masons, shipwrights, wheelwrights, cabinet- 
 makers, plumbers and glaziers, harness-makers and 
 shoemakers could earn 5 to 8 shillings per day ; 
 working overseers, gardeners, and wool-sorters vary- 
 ing rates from 30 to YO per annum, together with 
 lodging and rations; ploughmen, stockmen, shep- 
 herds, and brickmakers, from 15 to 25 with lodg- 
 ing and rations, the rates of wages being regulated 
 according to 'the capabilities of the workmen. 
 
 In 1839 there was a great increase in wages, 
 an ordinary mechanic being able to earn from eight 
 to twelve shillings per day, and a farm labourer from 
 20 to 30, with, of course, a hut to live in and his 
 rations ; but so far as artisans' wages were concerned 
 their increase was coincident with a rise in the price 
 of provisions. In the year 1840, contemporary 
 opinion pronounces wages as being very high; shep- 
 herds, for instance, receiving from 30 to 40 
 a year and rations ; labourers in Sydney, sometimes 
 as much as seven to eight shillings per day; and fe- 
 male domestic servants 20 a year, with board and 
 lodging. These were considered advances on the 
 wages of the old assignment times, when free labour 
 was thought to be amply remunerated at 14 to 16
 
 346 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 per year and rations. Wages fell in 1841, when 
 mechanics could be hired at seven shillings and six- 
 pence or eight shillings per day; farm servants at 
 22 per year and domestics at 12. In 1843 the 
 wages of station servants, shepherds, hut-keepers 
 and others declined to 18 per annum and even less. 
 Sheep-shearing was paid for at the rate of fifteen 
 shillings per 100, and sheep-washing at three 
 shillings per 100. The rations served out were 
 valued at 12 per annum, and comprised flour, meat, 
 tea and sugar. 
 
 In 1838 and 1839 the crops failed, and in 1840 
 they partially failed; and during these three years, 
 also, the price of wool declined from two shillings 
 to one shilling per Ib. For provisions in 1838, quo- 
 tations were as follows: 
 
 Potatoes from 7s. to 15s. per cwt. ; bread, 4^d. 
 per 2-lb. loaf; beef and mutton, from 4d. to 5d. 
 per Ib. ; cabbages, from 2d. to 4d. each ; flour, best, 
 17s. per cwt., and seconds, 13s. per cwt. 
 
 The year 1839 was, however, one of drought and 
 scarcity, and prices rapidly rose to the position 
 already indicated. 
 
 Flour ranged from 50 to 80 per ton; cattle 
 from 8 to 10 per head ; and sheep from 30s. to 2 
 per head. Clean wheat was quoted at 1, 2s. 6d. 
 per bushel; hay at 18 per ton; and fresh butter at 
 3s. 6d. per Ib. Bread was sold at 7d. per 2-lb. loaf, 
 with a subsequent rise to 8d. ; potatoes from Id. to 
 2d. per Ib. ; meat from 3d. to 5d. per Ib. ; and the 
 prices of other articles in common use were pro- 
 portionate. Sydney, in the vicinity of which were 
 the principal settlements, was at this time greatly de- 
 pendent upon Van Die.men's Land for supplies of 
 wheat and flour. Much of the grain-growing land in
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 34.7 
 
 !N"ew South Wales, especially that adjacent to Sydney, 
 had gone out of cultivation through exhaustion, and 
 the increased interest taken in the raising of stock 
 superseded agriculture to a considerable extent, and 
 a period of scarcity at once threw the parent colony 
 on the grain resources of the island. 
 
 At the beginning of the year 1840 the price of 
 flour in Sydney ranged from 30 to 41 per ton, 
 and wheat was selling at 12 shillings to 13 shillings 
 per bushel; but as the year advanced wheat went 
 steadily up in price, and the 4-lb. loaf was one shil- 
 ling and six pence (Is. 6d.). Quotations for butch- 
 er's meat in the carcase were as follows: Beef, 
 7d. per Ib. ; mutton, 5d. ; and pork, lOd. In the 
 month of August flour at Sydney mills ranged from 
 30 to 31 per ton for seconds. 
 
 There was a general decline in the prices of pro- 
 visions in 1842, when beef in ,the towns ranged 
 from 2^d. to 4d. per Ib., and mutton from 2d. to 3d. 
 The price of flour during the same period ranged 
 from 14 to 24 per ton. In 1843 meat was sold at 
 Id. per Ib., and tea at Is. 8d. per Ib. At the end of 
 the year wheat was selling in Sydney at 4s. 6d. per 
 bushel, while the prices in the other Australian 
 cities were as follows : Hobart, 3s. 9d. ; Melbourne, 
 3s. 6d. ; and Adelaide, 2s. 6d. per bushel. 
 
 House-rent and lodgings were very high-priced 
 in Sydney, although in the country districts they 
 were reasonably cheap. A house suitable for the 
 residence of a mechanic and his family cost from 15s. 
 to 18s. per week. From the census of 1841 it would 
 appear that the demand for residential accommoda- 
 tion so considerably exceeded the supply, that people 
 were compelled to take up their quarters in habita- 
 tions still in the hands of the builder, no less than
 
 348 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 809 such dwellings being occupied prior to their 
 completion. In the country districts a hut suitable 
 for the residence of an agricultural labourer cost 
 to erect about 10; but it was, of course, a very 
 inferior description of building. 
 
 Notwithstanding the salubrity of the climate, and 
 the reiteration of different writers as to the small 
 amount of clothing necessary to be worn in New 
 South Wales as compared with the United Kingdom, 
 labourers, and particularly agricultural labourers, 
 required a quantity of strong clothing, apart alto- 
 gether from any question of climate; and this in 
 the year 1840, when wages were regarded as being 
 particularly high, was fairly expensive. In 1842, 
 when wages had fallen considerably, the cost of 
 clothing still remained sufficiently high to constitute 
 a serious drain on the earnings of a man in 'receipt 
 of 6s>. to 7s. per day, or from 19 to 20 per year 
 with rations. According to a list of prices, bearing 
 date 30th June, 1842, the following quotations repre- 
 sent the cost of the most necessary articles of cloth- 
 ing, and of some other goods, on that date : 
 
 MEN'S CLOTHING. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Coloured shirts, each 033 
 
 Flush trousers, per pair 12 
 
 Moleskin trousers, per pair 12 
 
 Moleskin jackets, each 012 
 
 Straw hats, each 5 
 
 Boots, per pair 10 
 
 Socks, per pair 1 6 
 
 Vests, each 4 
 
 Shepherd's coats, each 1 10 
 
 Handkerchiefs, each 1 
 
 WOMEN'S CLOTHING. 
 
 s. cl. 
 
 Chemises, each 5 
 
 Petticoats, each 10
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 
 
 Gowns (print), each 10 
 
 Bonnets and caps (print), each 093 
 
 Shawls, each 10 
 
 Aprons, each 2 
 
 Stockings, per pair 2 6 
 
 Shoes, per pair 7 6 
 
 Stays, per pair 15 
 
 Merino dresses, each 1 5 
 
 OTHER GOODS. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 Blankets, per pair 012 
 
 Rugs, each 5 
 
 Mattresses, each 12 
 
 Clothing was, however, the only thing which the 
 yearly servant was obliged to purchase, abundance of 
 the common necessaries of life, such as meat, tea, 
 and sugar, together with a hut to live in, being pro- 
 vided by the employer. From 7 to 10 per year 
 might be allowed for the purchases of such rough 
 clothing as was necessary for bush wear; hence 
 although the cost of living had increased consider- 
 ably, the ultimate wages that remained to the 
 labourer were higher during this period than at any 
 time since the foundation of the colony. These 
 rates were not, however, long maintained. The open- 
 ing years of the period were marked by the floating 
 of assurance, auction^ steam navigation, and other 
 joint stock companies, and by general speculative 
 activity. Capital for investment on behalf of Eng- 
 lish companies and on private account was abundant. 
 The cessation of transportation, however, though it 
 ultimately proved advantageous to the community, 
 had an immediate result in stopping the expenditure 
 in the colony of large sums from the British Ex- 
 chequer, and the effects of this cessation of expen- 
 diture became visible almost simultaneously with a 
 reaction after the inflation of 1839 and the following
 
 350 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 year. Prices fell, property became depreciated in 
 value, and ruin impended. The action of the Gov- 
 ernment helped to bring matters to a crisis. The 
 proceeds of the land sales, amounting at one time to 
 fully 350,000, were lodged in the banks, and the 
 highest rates of interest were exacted ; hence the 
 banks were obliged to re-issue in discounts ,the pro- 
 ceeds of these identical sales, the original purchase 
 money for which was represented by paper. When 
 the bounty system of immigration was at its 
 height, the Government drew out their deposits 
 almost as rapidly as they had lodged .them. This 
 action obliged the banks suddenly to restrict their 
 discounts, and gave the initial downward impulse to 
 the money market. 
 
 It was the fashion of the time to attribute all the 
 reverses suffered by the colony to the cessation of 
 the system of assignment of bond labour; but this 
 was obviously not the case, although it cannot be 
 denied that the condition of affairs was temporarily 
 made more acute by the policy of Government. Re- 
 pudiation was the order of the day, and hundreds 
 availed themselves of the insolvency law, which came 
 in,to operation on the 1st February, 1842, and which 
 was designated by the satirists of the time as 
 " Burton's Purge," in allusion to the author of the 
 legislation. A list of the insolvents in Sydney and 
 its neighbourhood, from the last mentioned date to 
 the 4th August of the same year, a period of six 
 months, included the names of 392 persons and firms. 
 The liabilities of some of the estates were, consider- 
 ing the times, enormous, ranging from five to ten, 
 twenty, thirty, forty and fifty thousand pounds, 
 while one failure was for 175,235. The total 
 amount of the liabilities of these 392 insolvents was.
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 351 
 
 in round numbers, a million and a quarter sterling, 
 although many of them were able to show good assets. 
 From the 1st of February, 1842, to the 31st Decent 
 ber, 1843, the insolvents numbered no less than 
 1,135; and of these six hundred belonged to the 
 eleven months ending the 31st December, 1842, and 
 535 to the succeeding year. During 1843 a local 
 ordinance was passed for the abolition of incarcera- 
 tion for debt, and came into operation on the 1st 
 April of the same year. At Port Phillip matters 
 had reached very much the same condition as at 
 Sydney. In 1840 the community had given itself 
 up to most reckless speculation, and traders hitherto 
 respected for the caution of their methods, developed 
 the mania of gambling. There was a veritable boom 
 in land, and allotments which had brought reason- 
 able prices at the sales two years before, changed 
 hands over and over again at absurdly high figures ; 
 and it is stated on good authority that the valuation 
 of the site of the city of Melbourne was greater on 
 paper early in 1841 with a population of only 4,500 
 than just before the gold discoveries when the popu- 
 lation had reached 23,000. The inevitable crash 
 came with more than usual suddenness. Properties 
 of all kinds were forced into the market, and, as at 
 Sydney, bankruptcy became universal. 
 
 These failures caused credit to sustain a general 
 and severe shock; there was an extreme contraction 
 of the ordinary course of trade, a total absence of 
 speculation in business, and consequently, a great 
 diminution in the amount of legitimate transactions. 
 Vigorous efforts were made to realise funds for 
 the discharge of existing debts, and property was 
 forced into the, market for sale until purchasers could 
 hardly be found at any price, and the inevitable
 
 352 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 result was that persons known to be possessed of 
 large properties were unable to meet their engage- 
 ments. In most of the country districts orders on 
 Sydney agents were the medium of circulation used 
 by the settlers, and when these no longer passed 
 current, as in times of confidence and prosperity, 
 specie (which did not really exist) was demanded, 
 and thus great sacrifices were rendered compulsory, 
 because property, though of intrinsic worth, pos- 
 sessed no exchangeable value. Historians of the 
 period narrate cases of enforced sales in which sheep 
 fetched very small prices, sometimes as little as 6d. 
 being obtained for them, while cattle occasionally 
 realised as little as 7s. 6d., and valuable horses only 
 3 each. 
 
 As stated in a former chapter, the Legislative 
 Council, imagining that the very existence of the 
 colony was threatened by the prevailing state of 
 things, sought to " avert ruin " (to use their own 
 expression) by " pledging the public credit," but 
 the Governor refused the Koyal assent to the Bill 
 passed for that purpose. 
 
 It was then proposed to issue Treasury Bills, but 
 the Council would not entertain the idea. The 
 failure of the Bank of Australia, the liability of 
 whose shareholders was unlimited, brought affairs 
 to a crisis, and it was proposed to relieve the share- 
 holders by a Bill empowering the bank to dispose of 
 its assets by a public lottery. No attempt was 
 made to defend lotteries in general, but it was con- 
 tended that if the goods of proprietors of the bank 
 were seized under execution, the bailiff would be 
 seen in possession of one house in every ten in Syd- 
 ney, and the result would be a panic which would 
 altogether annihilate the value of property.
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 353 
 
 Under pressure of such an argument as this, the 
 " Lottery Bill " was passed, but was disallowed 
 by the British authorities. The necessity of the case 
 was so urgent, however, that the lottery took place, 
 and was successfully completed before the law 
 officers of the Crown could interfere to prevent it. 
 
 When matters were at their worst, and the price 
 of sheep had fallen, as a common quotation, to 
 one shilling per head, there was begun what was 
 hailed as a great discovery, viz., the boiling down of 
 sheep exclusively for tallow, for which product there 
 was then a good market in Europe. The price of 
 sheep was thus raised to 3s. or 4s. per head, 5s. or 
 6s. worth of tallow being obtained by the process of 
 boiling down. Consequently, in a brief space of 
 time tallow began to occupy a chief place as an article 
 of export with wool and coal. Other staple products 
 were sperm oil, black whale and sea-elephant oil, 
 seal skins, wattle bark, salt beef, hides, sheep skins, 
 and kangaroo skins. As showing the importance of 
 the tallow industry to the struggling settlements, it 
 may be mentioned that in 1843 the value of this 
 staple exported from Sydney and Port Phillip was 
 only 396, while seven years later the value had risen 
 to the respectable total of 320,720, representing the 
 product of 798,780 sheep and 261,000 cattle boiled 
 down. 
 
 Commercial relations were opened up during the 
 period with Hong Kong, as well as with British 
 India; and the trade, which was principally in 
 horses, was of a profitable character. For some of 
 the general exports of the colony, the prices ruling in 
 the London market in the year 1840 were as fol- 
 low: Bark (mimosa), per ton, 11 to 12; gum 
 (kino), per cwt, 20 to 30; hides, per lb., 3|d.
 
 354 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 to 4d. ; oil (southern), per tun, 24 to 25, 10s.; 
 sperm oil, per tun, 110 to 111; whalebone, per 
 ton, 135; wool, per lb., lOd. to 2s. Yd.; and cedar, 
 per foot, 4|d. to 5d. During the year 1839, the 
 exports of the product of the southern fisheries 
 comprised 12,029 tuns of black oil, valued at 41,- 
 341, despatched principally to Great Britain; and 
 12,079 tuns of sperm oil, valued at 111,280, besides 
 whalebone, 16,004. In the year 1840 the product 
 of the fisheries exported was valued at 224,144, 
 while the wool exported was valued at 566,112. 
 Towards the close of the period the whale and seal 
 fisheries became gradually diverted from Sydney 
 control into the hands of Americans, who subse- 
 quently absorbed almost the entire industry in 
 southern waters. Some of the products of the fish- 
 eries continued to find their way to Sydney and 
 Hobart for re-export after the industry ceased to be 
 prominently Australasian, but even this advantage to 
 these ports was lost shortly after the gold dis- 
 covery. Allusion has been made to the foundation 
 of South Australia. The theory of colonisation 
 propounded by the founders seemed so excellent 
 as to claim many adherents in England. The merits 
 of the theory had little chance to show themselves, 
 as from the start the settlement was in financial 
 difficulty, and within five years everything connected 
 with it was in a deplorable condition. From bank- 
 ruptcy the infant colony was saved by the discovery, 
 in 1843, of rich mineral deposits, especially of copper, 
 at Kapunda, and in 1845 the great Burra-Burra 
 mine was opened, from which about 700,000 worth 
 of copper was won in the first three years of opera- 
 tions. Every industry benefited by the discovery, 
 and in 1843, when New South Wales and Victoria
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 355 
 
 were in great straits, South Australia was entering 
 on a period of prosperity. 
 
 Although the year 1843 ushered in a period of 
 depression and long-continued distress, an inter- 
 mittent system of immigration was carried on, but 
 not nearly to the extent desired by the settlers. 
 Nevertheless, while the Legislative Council was 
 petitioning for the continuous introduction of a 
 supply of shepherds and agricultural labourers, the 
 Government was compelled to give employment by 
 way of relief to a great number of labourers. Many 
 workers left Sydney for Valparaiso and other places, 
 and a fair number departed from Port Phillip for 
 the Cape of Good Hope. "The probability is that it 
 was not labour which was hard to obtain, but 
 " cheap " labour, and to meet this demand various 
 expedients were resorted to, the one finding most 
 favour being the proposal, revived from time to time, 
 to introduce Hill coolies from India. This proposi- 
 tion was, however, not only opposed by the people of 
 the colony, but, as before stated, the Secretary of 
 State refused to it the sanction of the British author- 
 ities. 
 
 The demand for labour at this period was confined 
 almost wholly to shepherds and other pastoral workers 
 and domestics. The Governor, in despatches under 
 date of August and September, 1843, stated that in 
 Sydney considerable numbers of workmen had been 
 thrown out of employment in consequence of the 
 check the building trade had received, by the general 
 pecuniary distress and the reduction in house rents, 
 and he added that the arrival of immigrants in any 
 great numbers under such circumstances must prove 
 injurious to all parties. The policy pursued by the 
 Legislature, which represented exclusively the in-
 
 856 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 terests of the propertied class, was to promote com- 
 petition in the ranks of labour by excessive immigra- 
 tion, but as the sales of the waste-lands of the colony 
 had practically ceased and there was no other fund 
 from which the passage of immigrants could be 
 paid, the Government could not, if it so desired, 
 carry out the wishes of the Legislative Council. 
 
 Many of the large stockholders of this period were 
 enthusiastically in favour of a return to the old 
 system of the assignment of bond labour, although 
 the inhabitants of the towns were naturally just as 
 keen opponents, as the property-owners were ad- 
 vocates, of that policy. The British Government 
 would willingly have fallen in with the views of 
 the stockholders, but the objections of the rest of 
 the community had to be considered. A scheme 
 of compromise was, therefore, proposed. Offenders 
 were not to be sent direct to the colony to serve their 
 sentences, as was the case under the old transporta- 
 tion system; the direct penalty of their crimes was 
 to be enforced in the English hulks, and when this 
 was over they were given tickets-of -leave and sent on 
 a sojourn of a reformatory character to the colony. 
 The scheme pleased no section of the community, 
 although it did not lack influential local advocates. 
 In the colony it was generally argued that the adop- 
 tion of such a system must utterly destroy the value 
 of free labour and annihilate wages, while the mere 
 fact that New South Wales had managed to slip her 
 early shackles was held by many to be a sufficient 
 reason for resisting any attempt to re-impose them, 
 no matter what euphemism might be adopted to cloak 
 the movement. 
 
 A considerable number of the flock-masters held 
 the view a perfectly reasonable one that while
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 357 
 
 the morals of the probationers would be no better, 
 and probably, on account of the greater license, 
 much worse than that of the assigned servants of a 
 former day, their own punitive control over their 
 labourers would be very much less. The free immi- 
 grants, compelled to work for their living as employ- 
 ees of others, scented dangerous competitors whose in- 
 troduction into the colony might result in a depreci- 
 ated wage ; and the employers who happened to be of 
 the emancipated class saw only the revival of a caste 
 reproach, and the recrudescence of hated social dis- 
 tinctions. It must not, however, be imagined that 
 Lord Stanley and Earl Grey acted with any special 
 inconsiderateness in continuing the transportation of 
 convicts to New South Wales and Van Diemen's 
 Land. The great employers, the absorbers of 
 " abundant and cheap labour," were the real rulers 
 of the country. From their ranks were chosen 
 the members of the Legislative Council ; they had 
 the ear of the Governor ; and the Governor, in turn, 
 had the ear of the Secretary of State for the Colo- 
 nies, while the English authorities were only too 
 anxious to relieve the overcrowded condition of 
 their gaols. Two powerful interests, therefore, 
 were allied in an effort to re-establish transportation 
 and the system of assignment. To meet this threat- 
 ening combination, a number of public meetings 
 were held in Sydney under the auspices of the Anti^ 
 transportation League, and an overwhelming ex- 
 pression of popular opinion, most vehemently ad- 
 verse to the scheme, was given; nevertheless the 
 British Government, under the advice of Sir 
 Charles Eitzroy, persisted in its endeavours to force 
 prisoners upon the unwilling inhabitants of the 
 colony.
 
 858 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Several ship-loads of convicts were sent out, and 
 an attempt was made to land them at the new settle- 
 ment at Port Phillip. The settlers there, however, 
 would not tolerate the proceeding, whereupon the 
 ships were compelled to leave for Sydney and More- 
 ton Bay. One of the vessels, named the Hashemy, 
 cast anchor in Port Jackson, on the 8th June, 1849, 
 and there instantly ensued a serious contest between 
 the inhabitants and the Executive. The Executive 
 so far triumphed that the convicts were landed, but 
 as they were the last to land on Australian shores, 
 the ultimate victory was with the colonists. 
 
 With the discontinuance of the transportation 
 system, the immigrant became an object of greater 
 attention than ever before. Various schemes were 
 mooted by the sheep and cattle breeders to procure 
 labour at the old rates. One of these schemes 
 was the introduction of expired-sentence men from 
 Van Diemen's Land, and associations were formed 
 for the purpose, both in the parent colony and at 
 Port Phillip. That the efforts of the associations 
 were not ineffective is proved by the fact that in 
 1847 the number of persons leaving Van Diemen's 
 Land for the other colonies amounted to 4,787; in 
 1848, to 3,799; in 1849, to 4,617; in 1850, to 
 4,146; and in 1851, to 6,931; or a total for five 
 years of 24,280. 
 
 A curious feature of this period is to be found 
 in the return to England of expired-sentence men. 
 While the Government were vainly petitioning for 
 immigrant labour, the expense of the introduction 
 of which they were prepared partially to bear, ac- 
 climatised and experienced workers were leaving 
 the colony as rapidly as they could, and paying 
 their own passage-money to the Mother Country.
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 359 
 
 About the year 1849, the emigration from Aus- 
 tralia to California, which had set in as a result 
 of the discoveries of gold in that State, began to 
 grow more and more noticeable. In 1850, the de- 
 sire to emigrate to California had become general, 
 and the most stringent regulations were found to 
 be necessary to prevent overcrowding on the out- 
 going vessels. During the first six months of 1851, 
 twelve ships left Port Jackson, conveying to the 
 new gold-fields of America 1,684 passengers, many 
 of whom had been introduced into the colony at the 
 expense of the land fund. This migration was 
 not, however, a real exodus. Numbers of genuine 
 settlers doubtless left the country during the long 
 period of depression, dazzled by a rising star of 
 fortune in the East; but many who left the colony 
 were persons who had simply made the bounty sys- 
 tem of emigration to Australia the means of pro- 
 ceeding at a smaller cost to the gold-fields in western 
 America. In 1851, when gold was discovered also 
 in Australasia, the tide of immigration to the colony 
 not only set in, in a steady volume, but the impulse 
 to emigrate from Australia was arrested, and Cali- 
 fornia, in the matter of population, ceased to profit 
 at Australia's expense. 
 
 Wages varied very considerably during the period 
 under review. Different contemporary authorities 
 give different accounts; but the rate of wages de- 
 pended, no doubt, upon the distance of a district 
 from the seaport, and its accessibility to Sydney or 
 to Melbourne. In the Port Phillip District, for 
 instance, wages appear to have been higher at this 
 time than in IsTew South Wales proper, and they va- 
 ried very much even in the parent colony. In the 
 southern districts, during the year 1843, station serv-
 
 360 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ants, hut-keepers, and shepherds received 18 per 
 annum with rations; in the more central districts 
 shepherds' wages ranged from 15 to 20 per an- 
 num together with rations; and the wages of some 
 class of farm labourers, such as good ploughmen, 
 from 20 to 25. Domestic servants received 
 from 12 to 15 and even 20 " according to abili- 
 ties." The wages of artisans were, in 1845, quoted 
 at rates varying from 2s. 6d. a day to 4s. 6d. a day ; 
 and employment, moreover, even at such low re- 
 muneration, was exceedingly difficult to obtain. 
 In 1849, while the mechanics of Sydney were suffer- 
 ing great distress for lack of employment in their 
 respective trades, and were being roughly censured 
 by the local press because they would not go into 
 the bush and labour as hut-keepers and " rouse- 
 abouts," newly-arrived immigrants were being en- 
 gaged at the following rates : Single girls as do- 
 mestics, 5s. per week and rations; general farm- 
 labourers, from 16 to 18 per year and rations; 
 and ploughmen at from 20 to 25 per year and 
 rations, house, water and fuel found. In some cases 
 experienced shepherds, who thoroughly knew the 
 conditions of the climate, and the variations of 
 pasturage, received 30 a year and rations. In the 
 year 1850 stockmen and shepherds received from 15 
 to 18 a year; bullock-drivers and ploughmen, from 
 18 to 20; and male domestic servants from 
 17 to 22 ; in all cases, of course, inclusive of ra- 
 tions, lodgings, fuel and water. 
 
 Rations, valued at about 12 per annum, were 
 supplied to such employees as station servants, hut- 
 keepers and shepherds. The weekly ration com- 
 prised 10 Ibs. meat, 10 Ibs. flour, 2 Ibs. sugar, some 
 tobacco, and Ib. tea. If wages were low, so also
 
 THIRD INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1838-1852. 361 
 
 were provisions and the cost of living was very con- 
 siderably reduced, bread selling at 2^d. to 3d. the 
 2-lb. loaf ; meat from 1-Jd. to 2d. per Ib. ; sugar, from 
 2^d. to 3d. per Ib. ; and wheat, from 4s. to 6s. per 
 bushel; while dairy produce and vegetables were 
 plentiful and cheap and house-rents very much re- 
 duced. 
 
 About the beginning of the year 1844 some slight 
 reaction was experienced in trade, and the depressed 
 state of local interests was felt to be reviving. Con- 
 temporary writers hailed the new year as a fresh 
 starting-point for renewed enterprise and confidence ; 
 but, unfortunately, the condition of things was in 
 no way improved, and the depression shortly after- 
 wards became more pronounced than ever. Aus- 
 tralasia, however, had no exceptional experience, 
 and there is little doubt that the local disasters were 
 but the back-wash of the waves of depression which 
 rose in Europe. Throughout the whole of the eastern 
 colonies the greatest distress was felt, and many mer- 
 cantile houses whose credit had hitherto been un- 
 doubted, and who proudly dated their establishment 
 from the foundation of the settlements, were laid 
 prostrate. 
 
 Boiling-down, meat-canning, and other devices 
 were resorted to in order to revive the commerce of 
 the colony from the stagnation and lethargy into 
 which it had fallen, yet notwithstanding all expe- 
 dients affairs steadily became gloomier, prices con- 
 tinued seriously to decline, and speculation was 
 practically at a standstill. It is difficult to imagine 
 to what depths the colony might have sunk had it not 
 been for the discovery of gold in 1851, when the face 
 of everything, as if at the word of a magician, 
 became instantly changed, although the full influ-
 
 362 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ence of the discoveries was not felt until the follow- 
 ing year. 
 
 The industries during this period comprised sheep 
 and cattle-breeding, whaling and sealing, coal-mining, 
 horse-breeding, general and dairy farming and tim- 
 ber getting. Boiling down sheep and cattle for their 
 fat was, of course, only an effort to realise something 
 on depreciated stock an expedient which cannot be 
 regarded as a legitimate industry at all; while the 
 southern whale fisheries were passing into the hands 
 of the Americans. From time to time small vessels 
 were sent to collect trepang on the northern coast, 
 and this was subsequently exported to China, where 
 it commanded a ready market; but it appears that 
 the industry was not sufficiently remunerative, and it 
 was, therefore, allowed to fall off. The production 
 of tallow, just prior to the discovery of gold, was, 
 to all intents and purposes, the colony's staple in- 
 dustry. In the fall of the year 1847 a local journal 
 bewailed the fact that the production of a yearly 
 output of 10,000 tons of tallow necessitated the 
 slaughtering of 75,000 head of cattle (sufficient to 
 feed 90,000 people for one year at the proportion of 
 10 Ibs. meat per week each), and 400,000 sheep (suf- 
 ficient to feed 40,000 people). 
 
 In regard to manufactures the colonies were 
 making some progress. There were numerous mills 
 for grinding and dressing grain, 2 distilleries, 21 
 breweries, 2 sugar refineries, 18 soap and caudle 
 works, 4 tobacco factories, 6 cloth mills, 40 tanneries 
 and numerous other works necessary in a community 
 so far removed from Europe and to which the freight 
 of goods was so high.
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 363 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIY. 
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL, PERIOD, 1852-1858. 
 
 THE fourth period of Australia's industrial history 
 extends from the year 1852 to 1858, and is properly 
 the period of gold-hunting throughout the eastern 
 Australian colonies. It begins shortly after the 
 separation from the mother colony of the Port 
 Phillip District, and its formation into a separate 
 province under the name of Victoria, and closes just 
 after a subsequent dismemberment, in which origi- 
 nated the northern colony of Queensland. The whole 
 epoch may be summarised as one of rapid growth and 
 great change, ushered in with the rush for gold, and 
 ending with the subsidence of the intense excitement 
 and the stoppage of immigration. The epoch is 
 chiefly interesting politically on account of the ini- 
 tiation of responsible government in all the colonies 
 except Western Australia, and commercially, because 
 of the construction of the first railroads, and the es- 
 tablishment of steam communication with Great 
 Britain the Chusan, the first steamer from Eng- 
 land, arrived in Sydney on 31st August, 1852. 
 
 The discovery of gold not only put an end to the 
 depression of the previous period, but it prepared 
 Australasia, by the creation of fictitious values, for 
 another depression, and effected a revolution in all 
 industrial relations. 
 
 According to contemporary evidence, the supply of
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 labour in many occupations speedily became ex- 
 hausted, and there were more persons desirous of 
 hiring labourers than there were labourers to be 
 hired. The diggings drained not only Melbourne 
 and Sydney, but Adelaide, Hobart, and every other 
 Australian centre. Most branches of industry and 
 all public works were at a stand-still. As bearing 
 upon the same question, it is interesting to note that 
 the number of persons who found employment in 
 pastoral pursuits rapidly fell off, notwithstanding 
 the very considerable increase in the number of sheep 
 and cattle depastured. 
 
 The decrease in the number of hands was not due 
 to improvements effected in the management of 
 station properties, but to the desertion of shepherds 
 and persons tending cattle, who left the uneventful 
 life of the pastoralists to join in the search for gold, 
 principally in the colony of Victoria, which province 
 had absorbed from "New South Wales in the space of 
 three years over 30,000 persons, chiefly able-bodied 
 adults, who had crossed the River Murray to the gold- 
 fields of the south. From Tasmania there was even 
 a greater exodus, for it is estimated that while there 
 were nearly 40,000 adult males in the colony in 1842, 
 twelve years later the whole adult male population of 
 the settlement numbered only 22,000. From Ade- 
 laide, which had grown prosperous under the in- 
 fluence of the copper production and farming devel- 
 opment, the diggings drew over 15,000 men, and the 
 town, which needed the whole of its population, re- 
 ceived a heavy blow. Half the houses were left 
 tenantless, and the streets were almost deserted and 
 business was brought almost to a stand-still. Prop- 
 erty became unsaleable and there was general 
 financial embarrassment. The output of gold
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 
 
 reached its highest point in 1853, when gold valued 
 at 14,500,000 was won, mainly in Victoria. 
 
 It is not to be supposed that so many thousand 
 persons drawn from the four quarters of the globe 
 would all settle down peacefully to search for the 
 precious motal, or that a newly established govern- 
 ment such as was that of Victoria would find itself 
 prepared for the extraordinary condition of affairs 
 which the gold rush developed. The nature of a 
 digger's life is such that he is little disposed to brook 
 restraint, while the traditions of government which 
 those in power in Victoria were trained in were 
 arbitrary in the extreme. The most vexatious 
 restraints were placed by the authorities on the 
 miners and mining, and the miners naturally resisted. 
 The Government persisted in maintaining their reg- 
 ulations and the officials became more arbitrary in 
 putting them in force, so that the diggers were at 
 length driven to armed resistance, culminating in the 
 sanguinary episode of the Eureka Stockade, an ac- 
 count of which is given in another place. 
 
 The gold fever brought to Australia not only 
 young, stalwart, enterprising men of great endurance, 
 and capable of adapting themselves to almost any 
 conditions of life, but also multitudes of others whose 
 chief idea was that wealth could be acquired almost 
 without exertion. Unable to endure the hardships 
 of a digger's lot, without trade or profession, and 
 capable of only the lightest manual labour, they 
 mostly drifted back to Melbourne and Sydney, where 
 a large number of unemployed had gathered together 
 in 1858, when the rush to the Port Curtis gold-field 
 broke out. Joining the unemployed from the mines 
 of Victoria and ISTew South Wales, they rushed in 
 thousands to the new field, no less than 4,000 leaving
 
 366 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Sydney in the space of a month, while 6,000 went 
 from other parts of Australia. A few weeks sufficed 
 to show that the Port Curtis gold-field could not 
 maintain BO many, and in the latter part of the year 
 the majority left for the population centres of the 
 south, where they roamed the streets disappointed 
 and unemployed, until drawn away by the attraction 
 of other rushes. 
 
 The great majority of the persons who remained 
 in Australia after the excitement of the first great 
 rushes had subsided were men in every way to be wel- 
 comed as colonists. 
 
 Victoria especially gained a most desirable class, 
 the survivors of whom may now be seen in the splen- 
 did old men so frequently seen in the streets of Mel- 
 bourne. 
 
 The rates of remuneration for ordinary labour 
 during the whole period were very much higher than 
 had ever before been experienced, and many branches 
 of industry were abandoned or neglected for lack of 
 men to carry them on. In Adelaide, for instance, 
 wages were not only daily advancing, but settlers were 
 glad to hire the aborigines of the colony to gather in 
 their crops. In Victoria, carpenters, wheelwrights, 
 and bricklayers received, in 1853, 15s. per day, with 
 board and lodging; carpenters, in town without 
 board and lodging, 28s. per day, and in the country, 
 22s. 6d. ; masons, in town, without board and lodging, 
 26s. 9d. per day, and in the country 25s. ; bricklayers, 
 in town and in country, without board and lodging, 
 25s. per day; and smiths and wheelwrights, in town 
 and in country, 22s. 6d. per day. 
 
 In 1854 the rates of wages ruling were quoted aa 
 follows: Smiths, in country, 20s. per day; masons, 
 in country, 22s. 6d. ; wheelwrights, in country, 24s.,
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 367 
 
 and in town, 30s. ; carpenters, in country, 23s., and 
 in town, 25s. ; and bricklayers, in country, 25s., and 
 in town, 30s., without board and lodging, in each 
 case. 
 
 But in Victoria wages were much higher than in 
 other parts of Australia in consequence of the con- 
 tinuance of the mining boom and the absorption of 
 nearly all enterprises and all available labour in the 
 one direction of gold-getting. 
 
 To illustrate the vast change which a few years 
 had made, the rates for 1851, the year of the gold 
 discovery, and 1854, when wages were higher, are 
 here given side by side: 
 
 MALES PER DAY, WITHOUT BOARD AND LODGING. 
 Trade or calling. 1851. 1854. 
 
 8. d. S. 8. 
 
 Bricklayers 6 25 to 30 
 
 Blacksmiths 6 8 20 to 25 
 
 Carpenters 6 5 15 to 20 
 
 Coopers 6 15 to 20 
 
 Cabinetmakers 6 5 15 to 20 
 
 Farriers 6 5 12 to 15 
 
 Plumbers and glaziers 6 16 to 20 
 
 Joiners 6 5 17 to 20 
 
 Ironfounders 6 3 16 to 20 
 
 Locksmiths 6 18 to 22 
 
 Quarrymen 4 6 18 to 21 
 
 Shoemakers 6 14 to 22 
 
 Wheelwrights 6 4 18 to 20 
 
 Plasterers 7 6 25 to 30 
 
 Painters 5 13 to 16-8 
 
 Stonemasons 7 8 25 to 30 
 
 FEMALES, PER ANNUM, WITH BOARD AND LODGING. 
 
 
 
 Cooks 16 to 25 28 
 
 Housemaids 14 to 18 22 
 
 Laundresses 7 to 12 28 
 
 Nursemaids 9 to 15 18 
 
 General servants 14 to 18 28 
 
 Farm-house servants 18 25 
 
 Dairy-women 13 25
 
 368 PROGRESS OP AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The prices of all kinds of provisions and all ar- 
 ticles of clothing were, during this golden era, largely 
 increased ; indeed, there was hardly a commodity in 
 the market, whether an article of use or a luxury, 
 the price of which might not be described as 
 " fancy." In 1853 bread sold at 3-|d. to 4d. per lb., 
 but certain lines of provisions were fairly reasonable ; 
 for instance, tea was quoted at Is. 4d. per lb., sugar 
 at 3|d., fresh meat at 3d., butter at Is. 3d., potatoes 
 at 6s. per cwt., brandy at 23s. per gallon, and im- 
 ported beer at 5s. per gallon; flour, however, was 
 quoted at 3d. per lb., the price per ton ranging be- 
 tween 20 and 27. These prices were in Sydney ; 
 on the gold-fields the rates were double. 
 
 House-rent rose, of course, with the influx of 
 population, the number of persons requiring resi- 
 dential accommodation being eo much in excess of 
 habitable dwellings that the census of 1856 enume- 
 rates a large number of houses as being in occupation, 
 although still in the hands of the builder ; while 
 on all the gold-fields and the roads leading thereto 
 there was a large population whose only habitations 
 were calico tents, drays, or rough houses of bark or 
 slabs. 
 
 The eight or nine years characterised by the rage 
 of the gold-fever exercised a very great effect on the 
 economic condition of the working classes, for had 
 there been no discovery of gold it is not improbable 
 that, with respect to both the standard of living and 
 the remuneration of labour, the conditions existing 
 prior to 1850 would have long remained without any 
 great change for the better. In those days the stand- 
 ard of labour in England was the practical test of the 
 condition of the working classes in Australia, who 
 were thought well off simply because their earnings
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 369 
 
 enabled them to enjoy comforts beyond the reach 
 of their fellows in the Old World. Since the gold 
 era thisi has been changed, and the standard now made 
 for themselves by Australian workers has no refer- 
 ence to that of any other country. The attractions of 
 the gold-fields have also a marked subsequent effect 
 upon the industries of an absolutely different charac- 
 ter. Many men, of all sorts of trades and professions, 
 who were drawn to these shores by the prospect of 
 acquiring enough of the precious metal to ensure 
 their independence, remained in the country, and 
 pursued less exciting and less precarious callings, 
 while gold-miners themselves in many cases ceased 
 the exploitation of the mineral which was to have 
 made them rich, and turned their attention to the 
 winning of silver, copper, tin, coal, and other min- 
 erals. 
 
 Another effect of the gold rush must not be lost 
 eight of. Although both New South Wales and Tas- 
 mania had ceased to be places open to the reception 
 of British convicts, yet these colonies were permeated 
 with social and economic ideas begotten of the trans- 
 portation era. The men who had been convicts, or 
 were born of convict parents, were a considerable ele- 
 ment in the population, while the employers had, 
 for the most part, at one period or another of their 
 career, been masters of bond labour. A few years 
 changed all this. It was as if Australia had been 
 newly discovered; certainly the country was re- 
 colonised, and the bond population and their descend- 
 ants became a small minority of the population 
 which every year made more insignificant, until at 
 the present day it is only in out-of-the-way corners 
 that there is anything to remind the observer that
 
 870 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 New South Wales and Tasmania were at one time 
 penal settlements. 
 
 The development of the pastoral industry made 
 further and further migrations inland a matter of 
 necessity. In the first years of Australian history 
 the coastal belt only was available, but with the cross- 
 ing of the Blue Mountains, in 1813, a new horizon 
 stretched before the pastoral imagination, and with 
 each successive discovery by Oxley or Cunningham or 
 Mitchell or Humo plain was added to plain of pas- 
 ture, and the paths of the explorers were dotted with 
 chains of squattages. 
 
 In the earliest years of pastoral settlement it was 
 customary for stock-breeders to drive their herds to 
 the nearest unoccupied good country when they in- 
 creased beyond the grazing capabilities of their 
 pasturages. In this manner the river courses in the 
 western districts became stocked, 'and the country 
 bordering them occupied. The practice came into 
 vogue when cattle were decreasing in value, and 
 when, therefore, it was absolutely necessaTy to breed 
 them at the least expense. These herds were, how- 
 ever, inferior in strain ; they frequently became wild 
 and unmanageable, and it was only with the influx 
 of population during the gold-fever days, when 
 high prices were paid for meat, that they acquired 
 any value. The cattle, nevertheless, showed that the 
 interior country was good for stock-grazing, and 
 proved that the land which had hitherto been regarded 
 as a desert was very fattening pasture for they had 
 discovered " salt-bush," a fodder plant which retains 
 its vitality when other kinds of herbage have long 
 withered away. The grazing value of the river coun- 
 try, or Riverina, has never since been challenged. 
 
 There were three great waves of pastoral settle-
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 371 
 
 ment. The first, to which allusion has already been 
 made, flowed over the inland plains between the 
 colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, and South 
 Australia. The second rolled farther north, and 
 beyond the occupied country, as far as the central 
 basin of the continent. The third went still north- 
 ward to the downs of Queensland. The first migra- 
 tion of stock arose from the demand for meat made 
 by the gold-diggers. The success of this pioneer 
 movement inspired the second experiment, which was 
 prompted by the demand for wool. The third 
 essay in pastoral settlement was occasioned by the 
 increasing value of all squatting property. The 
 growth of the pastoral industry has already been ad- 
 verted to and also the influence that the gold discover- 
 ies had upon it on the one hand retarding its de- 
 velopment by depriving it of labour, and on the other 
 hand, encouraging it by the creation of a demand for 
 carcase meat. The effect of these two opposite influ- 
 ences was seen in the diminution in the number of 
 sheep depastured in 1861 as compared with 1851. 
 There was, it is true, an increase in cattle, but such 
 increase was mainly in the recently occupied coun- 
 try of Queensland, though there was some increase in 
 certain districts of Victoria specially adapted for 
 carrying large stock. 
 
 Agriculture was greatly neglected during the days 
 of the gold-fever ; indeed, in Victoria it seemed for a 
 few years as if cultivation would die out altogether, 
 but in 1855 there was everywhere a recovery and far 
 more attention was devoted to the land .than at any 
 previous period. 
 
 Population increased threefold, and trade rose with 
 a bound from less than 9 millions sterling in 1851 to 
 over 52 millions ten years later, these figures being
 
 372 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the value of imports and exports taken together in 
 the years stated, and represent 42 per inhabitant 
 in 1861 as compared with 18, 10s. in 1851. 
 
 One industry was completely blotted out by the 
 desertion of old employments following on the gold 
 discoveries. The product of the southern fisheries, 
 which in the early forties had reached the respect- 
 able total of 225,000, not counting the takes of 
 foreign ships, fell to 70,000 in 1848. This was a 
 low figure, but in 1858 the exports of the fisheries 
 had sunk to 1,450 ; in 1859 to 532 ; and in 1860 
 jto 136. With the last-named year the industry, 
 round which clusters so many historical associations 
 and which is so peculiarly reminiscent of the early 
 days of Australian settlement, practically disappears, 
 although a few trifling essays have been made, from 
 time to time, to revive it in southern waters. 
 During the period of the gold discoveries Victoria 
 acquired the leading position amongst the colonies 
 and Melbourne became the chief city of Australasia, a 
 position which her inhabitants still claim for her. 
 The growth of Melbourne was phenomenal. In 1841 
 her population was only 4,479, in 1851 it had in- 
 creased to 23,143, and ten years later to 138,916 ; nor 
 did the increase cease with the exploitation of the 
 first discoveries and the decline in the gold produc- 
 tion, for in 1871 the population of the city had grown 
 to 206,780, in 1881 to 282,947, and more marvellous 
 still to 490,896 in 1891. Very soon after the gold 
 discoveries were made the commerce of the south 
 Pacific gravitated to Melbourne, and during a single 
 month as many as 152 ships arrived in Port Phillip 
 conveying thither 12,000 immigrants. None of the 
 other colonies received such an impetus as Victoria, 
 nor will this be difficult to understand when it is
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 373 
 
 remembered that out of a total quantity of gold 
 valued at 97,472,166 won in Australasia during the 
 ten years from 1851 to 1860, Victoria's share was 
 86,342,134. 
 
 It was not until 1846 that the people of Aus- 
 tralasia began to awaken to the advantage of railroad 
 construction. Some pretence was made to construct a 
 line from Sydney to the inland town of Goulburn, 
 but the matter languished, and to Melbourne belongs 
 the honour of the first steam railway opened for 
 traffic, the line from Melbourne to Port Melbourne 
 being opened in September, 1854. Very little prog- 
 ress was made up to 1860, the total mileage opened 
 during three years being only 215, the greater part 
 of this length being in the colony of Victoria. The 
 explanation of the lack of enthusiasm displayed 
 in regard to railway construction in New South 
 Wales may perhaps be found in the fact that the 
 short line from Sydney to Parramatta, fourteen 
 miles in length, cost about 700,000, or 50,000 a 
 mile, six times as much as the original promoters 
 estimated would be required to build the line all 
 the way from Sydney to Goulburn, a distance of 134 
 miles. Reference has already been made to the open- 
 ing up of steam communication with England in 
 1852, during which year the Chusan, the Australia, 
 and the Great Britain, the last-named the largest ship 
 afloat at the time, visited Melbourne and Port Jack- 
 son. In 1856 a steam service of anything but a satis- 
 factory character was carried on by the Peninsular 
 and Oriental Company and by the Royal Mail Com- 
 pany; but the days of efficient ocean communica- 
 tion were still to come. These early essays, how- 
 ever, had no small effect in stimulating the colonists 
 to agitate for something better, and proposals were 
 
 z
 
 374 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 made for the establishment of a line of mail packets 
 via Panama, but they did not bear fruit till some 
 years later. 
 
 The years extending from 1859 to 1862 can 
 hardly be regarded as forming a distinct period 
 in the country's industrial history. During this 
 time the country was undergoing the process of 
 recovery from days of excitement and dreams of 
 chance, when the wealthy speculator of one moment 
 became the beggared adventurer of the next, and the 
 outcast of many years the millionaire of as many 
 months. The community appeared to be vaguely 
 restless, as though beginning to realise that the golden 
 era of their experience was rapidly drifting into a 
 prosaic period of sterner conditions, and slower and 
 more arduous growth. Victoria still made splendid 
 progress, but even there the yield of gold was on the 
 wane, and wages everywhere fell to about half the 
 amount current in the previous period. In New 
 South Wales employment was difficult to obtain, as 
 the industries dislocated by the desertion of em- 
 ployees, who sought fortunes at the diggings, had not 
 recovered their normal condition, while speculation 
 was quiescent. Prices of articles of ordinary con- 
 sumption fell to reasonable rates and house-rents 
 were greatly reduced. The search for gold was still 
 active in all the colonies, but, except for an oc- 
 casional rush, it was not prosecuted as a regular in- 
 dustry. 
 
 Renewed attention was bestowed upon agriculture, 
 which had been neglected in some of the colonies, and 
 the manufacturing industry made some progress. 
 The epoch closed, for the majority of the com- 
 munity, with a certain measure of hopefulness, in- 
 duced by the introduction of provisions for free
 
 FOURTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1852-1858. 375 
 
 selection before survey into the land legislation of 
 Victoria and !N"ew South Wales. The new princi- 
 ple it initiated had lasting, if not immediately ap- 
 parent, effect on the condition of the working classes, 
 giving them opportunities for employment not previ- 
 ously open to them. The main principle of the 
 measure which did so much to assist recovery from 
 the dead level conditions that prevailed at the time 
 is embodied in the following clause of the ]STew South 
 Wales Act : " Any person may, upon any Land 
 Office day, tender to the Land Agent for the dis- 
 trict a written application for the conditional pur- 
 chase of any such lands, not less than forty acres 
 nor more than three hundred and twenty acres, at the 
 price of twenty shillings per acre, and may pay to 
 such Land Agent a deposit of twenty-five per cent, 
 of the purchase money thereof. And if no other 
 application and deposit for the same land be ten- 
 dered at the same time, such person shall be declared 
 the conditional purchaser thereof at the price afore- 
 said." 
 
 The free selector of any portion of Crown lands 
 had three years' credit for the payment of the re- 
 mainder of his purchase money. Should he, after 
 that time, be unable or disinclined to make payment, 
 liberty was granted him to defer instalments for an 
 indefinite period on paying five per cent, interest 
 per annum on the principal amount remaining un- 
 paid. It was also provided that the purchaser of any 
 area of land from forty to three hundred and twenty 
 acres should be entitled to three times the extent of 
 his purchase for grazing ground, so long as it should 
 not be claimed by any other free selector. Certain 
 conditions were imposed regarding residence, which 
 came to be more honoured in the breach than in the 
 observance.
 
 376 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XXXV. 
 
 FIFTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1858-1872. 
 
 THE fifth period of the industrial history of the 
 colony, extending to the year 1872, was one when 
 the El Dorado dreams of the fifties had faded from 
 men's minds, and when the social and industrial 
 system, now existing was evolved. Few incidents 
 calling for special comment marked the history of 
 this epoch, during which the most important vari- 
 ations in the conditions of labour arose from adverse 
 seasons, vast areas having been visited by alternate 
 droughts and floods. The distress and acute suffer- 
 ing which resulted from these truly remarkable 
 vicissitudes of climate were very great, and the de- 
 struction of property was in many instances accom- 
 panied by loss of life. Australia was not inex- 
 perienced either in the matter of floods or of 
 droughts, but the record of such disasters during 
 this period was exceptional. 
 
 The alternations of inundation and drought, which 
 marked this period perhaps more than any other in 
 the history of Australasian settlement, had a most 
 baneful effect upon industry. Money was veiy dear : 
 and the finances of several of the provinces were in 
 anything but a satisfactory condition, and treasurer 
 after treasurer made ineffectual attempts to make 
 both ends meet. The bad seasons, also, had their 
 effect in aggravating the general feeling of depres- 
 sion by discouraging the flow of capital to the soil.
 
 FIFTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1858-1872. 377 
 
 During the keen distress in 1866, the unemployed in 
 Sydney were sorely pressed, and to afford relief a 
 number were sent to Haslem's creek to clear an area 
 of land for the purposes of a cemetery. At the close 
 of a year, just after the report of a special Select 
 Committee on the condition of the unemployed had 
 been published, a rush broke out in the Weddin 
 Mountains, and temporarily drew a great number of 
 the workless away from the city. Towards the end of 
 the period great depression was experienced in com- 
 mercial circles ; little enterprise was manifested in 
 the building trades, and property changed hands at a 
 depreciation in value of about 50 per cent, on the 
 original cost. In Victoria conditions were more sat- 
 isfactory than in the parent colony. In 1865 achange 
 in the fiscal policy of the country was adopted, and 
 the colony definitely adopted the protective system, to 
 which she has since adhered and in which she has 
 been followed to a more or less extent by all the other 
 divisions of Australia except New South Wales. The 
 finances of the colony were satisfactory, and Victoria 
 during this period took the lead in agriculture, a posi- 
 tion she has since maintained. Population increased, 
 and though in 1861 and some of the following years 
 there was an excess of departures over arrivals, the 
 excess was merely a temporary phase of the popula- 
 tion movement, as Victoria continued to attract pop- 
 ulation until the seventies. As South Australia un- 
 derwent some severe trials during the period, there 
 were several seasons of drought, and the appearance 
 of rust in wheat in years not droughty greatly af- 
 fected the returns of the farmers, and in consequence 
 commercial business was a good deal depressed. In 
 1873 and 1877 the overland telegraph line was com- 
 menced and completed, which must be looked upon
 
 378 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 as a great achievement for the resources of so small 
 a colony. The early years of this period were char- 
 acterised by an influx of Chinese to such an extent 
 that at one time they formed nearly four per cent, 
 of the total population, and their presence in New 
 South Wales was for long an important factor in 
 democratic and industrial legislation. With the de- 
 velopment of the colony, and the increasing richness 
 of the finds of the precious metal, these aliens poured 
 into the country in ever-increasing volume. In 1856 
 they numbered only 1,806 ; five years thereafter they 
 had risen in number to 12,988, or thirty-seven per 
 cent, of the population. In 1861 matters with re- 
 gard to Chinese immigration reached a crisis. The 
 gold-field opened up at Burrangong proved extra- 
 ordinarily rich ; a great rush set in to that place, and 
 crowds of Chinese flocked to the diggings there. The 
 miners received this influx of Asiatic fossickers with 
 very bad grace, and convened a public meeting for 
 the purpose of deciding whether " Burrangong was 
 a European or a Chinese territory." 
 
 They likewise addressed a petition to the Assem- 
 bly complaining of the swamping of the field by 
 thousands of Chinese. This agitation against the 
 alien miners resulted in continuous riotings; tho 
 unfortunate foreigners were ejected from their 
 claims, their tents were burned, and they were gen- 
 erally ill-used. The Government, determined to 
 uphold order at any cost, despatched to the scene of 
 the riots, a place called Lambing Flat, a mixed forco 
 of artillerymen with two twelve-pound field-pieces, 
 Rome men of the 12th Regiment, and some mem- 
 bers of the mounted police force. The Premier, Mr. 
 Charles Cowper, also visited the field and addressed 
 a monster meeting of the miners, sympathising with
 
 FIFTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1858-1372. 379 
 
 their grievances, but informing them that no re- 
 dress could be obtained until riot and confusion had 
 entirely ceased. When the Premier returned to 
 Sydney the excitement rapidly ceased ; a new rush to 
 a locality named Tipperary Gully lured away 6,000 
 miners from the scene of their former disputes, and 
 the Chinese departed to other fields. Thus ended the 
 first labour conflict between the Europeans and the 
 Chinese, who from that date onward to the Prohibi- 
 tion Act of 1888 became a growing menace to the 
 character of the settlement of the Australian colonies. 
 
 There was a marked decline in the rates of wages 
 during the period, particularly so with regard to those 
 paid to mechanics. In 1864 the average daily wages 
 of carpenters ranged from 8s. to 9s. in town, with- 
 out board and lodging; of smiths, wheelwrights, and 
 bricklayers, from 9s. to 10s. ; and .of masons, 10s. In 
 the country, and inclusive of board and lodging, the 
 wages of carpenters, smiths, and wheelwrights were 
 quoted at 50 to 80. per annum, and of bricklayers 
 and masons from 80 to 100 ; farm labourers, from 
 28 to 30; shepherds, from 30 to 35; female 
 cooks and laundresses, from 26 to 30 ; housemaids, 
 from 20 to 26; nursemaids, from 15 to 26; 
 general house servants, from 20 to 30 ; and farm- 
 house servants and dairy women from 18 to 26. 
 There was little change in the wages up to the end 
 of 1871, but what change there was was downwards; 
 the prices of commodities in general use steadily 
 declined and the fall in wages was really not so 
 great as the monetary fall would represent. 
 
 In March, 1863, an Intercolonial Conference wag 
 held in Melbourne, at which the colonies of ISTew 
 South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tas- 
 mania were represented. The questions discussed
 
 380 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 related to the tariff and kindred matters; inter- 
 colonial customs and their distribution; transporta- 
 tion from the United Kingdom to the Australian pos- 
 sessions; a permanent immigration fund, to be pro- 
 vided under Act of Parliament by each colony, upon 
 an equitable basis; improvement of internal rivers 
 in Australia for purposes of navigation and irriga- 
 tion; coast lighthouses, and other maritime ques- 
 tions affecting the shipping interest; fortnightly 
 ocean postal communication; Anglo-Australian and 
 China telegraph; legal questions, including the law 
 of bankruptcy, of patents, of joint stock companies, 
 of probates and letters of administration, a court of 
 appeal for the Australian colonies and a uniform 
 system of weights and measures. These questions 
 subsequently engaged the attention of the various 
 Australian Parliaments, and resulted in the carry- 
 ing into effect of much useful and needed legislation. 
 
 All the colonies were troubled with diseases in 
 their flocks and herds. Sheep were infected with 
 catarrh and scab ; pleuro-pneumonia attacked the cat- 
 tle and pleurisy made its appearance among the 
 horses. Vigorous efforts, which were attended with 
 success, were made to combat the diseases. 
 
 Railway construction proceeded very slowly, and 
 at the end of 1871 the total length of line open for 
 traffic was only 1,135 miles. This was due in a 
 great measure to the difficulty experienced by the 
 colonial Treasurers in obtaining money on favourable 
 terms and the expense of construction involved in 
 crossing the mountain barriers. 
 
 This was the great bushranging epoch of Austral- 
 asia which memorises such names as those of Frank 
 Gardiner, the Clarkes, Dunn, Johnny Gilbert, Ben 
 Hall, Morgan, Power, "Thunderbolt," and O'Mal-
 
 FIFTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1858-1872. 381 
 
 ley. New South Wales was the province most 
 troubled by these pests, where their existence was a 
 source of embarrassment to each successive Govern- 
 ment, and a standing challenge to every Ministry 
 that accepted office.
 
 882 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 
 NEW SOUTH WALES AND VICTORIA. 
 
 THE twenty-two years 1872-93 were for the wage- 
 earner in many ways the brightest period in Aus" 
 tralia's history. The preceding period had been 
 somewhat tame; population was not attracted in any 
 large numbers; land was not taken up by selectors 
 in any great quantity, nor had there been any sus- 
 tained effort to develop the resources of the country. 
 Railway construction was almost suspended; the ex- 
 penditure by the various governments on public 
 works, either from revenue or from the proceeds of 
 loans, was small; while little private capital found 
 its way to the country, except in Victoria and South 
 Australia. Agriculture gave little evidence of prog- 
 ress, and the gold yield had greatly declined. 
 There were, however, causes at work which were to 
 affect materially the progress of the country. These 
 were chiefly the revival of mining, the public works 
 policy of the governments and the investment of 
 British capital in the eastern colonies. 
 
 New South Wales. 
 
 The production of gold in 1872 reached the re- 
 spectable total of 1,643,582, due to the develop- 
 ment of the Hill End and Tambaroora mines. The
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 383 
 
 copper mines, which had not been worked before to 
 any great extent, were now systematically developed ; 
 and in the same year the rich tin deposits of the 
 country received attention. The advantage of the 
 colony as a place of settlement was recognised, es- 
 pecially by persons in the southern colonies. Pur- 
 chases of land from the State for purposes of settle- 
 ment proceeded on an extensive scale, and with in- 
 creased land sales came greater attention to primary 
 industries. Agriculture expanded ; and cattle breed- 
 ing, which had been losing importance since the Land 
 Act of 1861 came into force,, received renewed atten- 
 tion. Nor was sheep-breeding neglected, as might 
 have been expected, in favour of the rival industry, 
 for the price of wool was highly satisfactory to the 
 grower, especially during the five years ending 1875. 
 These combined causes made the outlook very bright. 
 
 About the year 1872 public attention was awak- 
 ened to the necessity of pushing on with the con- 
 struction of railways, roads, and bridges to open up 
 the interior of the country; and an expansive pub- 
 lic works policy, involving the expenditure of large 
 sums of borrowed money, was accordingly initiated. 
 In 1872 barely half a million sterling was spent on 
 public works, ten years later the amount had risen 
 to 4,100,000, the additional expenditure alone af- 
 fording employment to 17,500 men. 
 
 Coincident with the vigorous construction of pub- 
 lic works, and chiefly on the part of graziers desirous 
 of protecting themselves from the incursions of free 
 selectors, there arose a great demand for land, which 
 was readily responded to by the State, and the public 
 lands were bought up with such eagerness that in 
 the five years from 1872 to 1877 the revenue de- 
 rived from this source increased from 800,000 to
 
 384 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 over 3,000,000 and the public exchequer was over- 
 flowing. Wages were high, employment steady, 
 provisions cheap. Numbers of men, for the most 
 part young and energetic, were attracted to the 
 colony by the alluring prospects held out to them, 
 the annual increment to the population being 
 doubled within a few years. To keep pace with tho 
 demand for labour the Government maintained a 
 vigorous immigration policy, and in the ten years 
 that closed with 1885 nearly 49,000 persons were 
 assisted to emigrate from the United Kingdom, and 
 were readily absorbed into the general population. 
 In all likelihood industrial conditions would have 
 improved during this period, without any lavish ex- 
 penditure by the Government, but what was probable 
 was made certain by the favourable combination of 
 circumstances alluded to. 
 
 Wages rose rapidly and were well sustained. 
 During the best years carpenters and painters were 
 receiving Jls. per day of eight hours, plasterers and 
 bricklayers 12s. 6d., stone masons lls. 6d., and la- 
 bourers and navvies eight shillings, and during the 
 ten years ending with 1891 the wages of the trades 
 mentioned were within one shilling and one shilling 
 and three pence of the quoted rates. Nor was the ad- 
 vance in pay confined to the building trades or to 
 male labour. The wages of farm hands were slightly 
 advanced while the increase in the pay of female 
 servants ranged from forty to seventy-five per cent. 
 An important factor affecting the industrial condi- 
 tions during the whole period following 1872 was 
 the importation of private capital. During the 
 greater part of its history, New South Wales has 
 been benefited by the introduction of private capital, 
 and in the years prior to 1870 this importation was
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 385 
 
 chiefly in its most acceptable form, being accom- 
 panied by the owners. The amount of private 
 money introduced varied somewhat from year to 
 year, but even as late as 1873 it did not exceed half 
 a million sterling. In 1874 money commenced to 
 flow to the colony for investment purposes, and 
 during the fifteen years which closed with 1890 the 
 extraordinary amount of forty-four millions sterling 
 was received, 6,228,000 coming in 1885, and 
 5,392,000 in the following year. It can well be 
 imagined that the influx of so large an amount of 
 money, joined to the large expenditure by the State, 
 was felt in every branch of industry. As already 
 pointed out, wages rose twenty-five per cent, in 
 skilled trades, and from forty to fifty per cent, in 
 unskilled trades, and in some years there was not a 
 man in the colony willing to work who was unem- 
 ployed. The outlay on public works reached a max- 
 imum in 1885, when the expenditure was 5,242,- 
 807; then came a contraction and in 1888 it was 
 reduced to 2,106,027. 
 
 It will be observed from the narrative just given 
 that the largest expenditures by the State occurred 
 in 1885, the same year as that in which the largest 
 amount of private money was brought to !N"ew South 
 Wales. From 1885 the import of capital fell off 
 year by year until 1893, when it practically ceased, 
 so that the withdrawal of the State from the labour 
 market was not alleviated by support given by 
 private capital. The following is a statement of the 
 average import of private capital per annum in five- 
 year periods: 
 
 1874-78 1,728,600 1884-88 4,039,400 
 
 1870-83. 1,997,200 1889-93 1,869,000
 
 386 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The three last years of the period showed as fol- 
 lows : 
 
 1891.. ..1,338,000 1893 115,000 
 
 1892 1,667,000 
 
 There can be no doubt that during many years 
 the amount of capital brought to the colony, both on 
 public and on private account, was much larger than 
 could be profitably absorbed, and no small portion 
 of it was necessarily devoted to purposes purely 
 speculative, as evidenced in the unreal value which 
 some forms of property acquired. There was, how- 
 ever, an evil of greater consequence than a tem- 
 porary inflation of values. It will be readily con- 
 ceded that the introduction of capital within the 
 limits of absorption and the application of it to pro- 
 ductive purposes are conducive to true progress, 
 while on the contrary the over-introduction of cap- 
 ital, however applied, means arrested progress. Of 
 the twenty-two years comprising this industrial pe- 
 riod, 1885 and 1886 witnessed the largest introduc- 
 tion of capital, viz. : 11,470,807 in the former and 
 10,028,952 in the latter year. It is, therefore, not 
 astonishing to find that the value of domestic 
 produce exported in those two years, when compared 
 with population, was less than in any other year. 
 
 In spite, however, of the drawbacks just indicated, 
 flowing from an unnecessary and at times a wasteful 
 expenditure of public money, and the introduction 
 of private money beyond its requirements, New South 
 Wales made substantial progress. At no period, ex- 
 cept in the five golden years, 1853-57, were wages 
 so high, and in no period was the purchasing power 
 of money so great. The tide of improvement had 
 reached its highest level during the years 1882-85,
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 387 
 
 and began to recede in 1886, when employment be- 
 came difficult to obtain and wages began to fall. 
 In 1886-87, work in some of the southern district 
 collieries was suspended for nearly twelve months 
 owing to strikes and disputes ; in 1888 and 1889 the 
 completion of various large public undertakings and 
 the failure of the public revenue led to a reduc- 
 tion of expenditure on works to the extent of three 
 million sterling. This meant the throwing out of 
 employment of some 15,000 men, a not inconsiderable 
 portion of the unskilled labour of the country. To 
 mitigate the distress consequent on the inability of 
 the community to absorb so much labour suddenly 
 thrust upon it, the Government started relief works, 
 and an expenditure of 387,000 was incurred upon 
 them before they were abandoned. Up to the end 
 of 1891 there was little reduction in the nominal 
 rate of wages in skilled trades, though for unskilled 
 labour the rates experienced a decided decline. In 
 1893 there was a heavy fall all around, and the 
 second half of that year marks the beginning of a 
 new period under vastly changed conditions. Be- 
 tween the average of the first and that of the second 
 half of 1893 there was a fall of about ten per cent, 
 in the wages of mechanics, and a somewhat greater 
 fall in the wages of unskilled labourers. In 1894 
 there was no further fall, but employment became 
 more restricted. In 1895, however, there was an- 
 other drop, the wages of the year averaging for 
 skilled workmen twenty-two per cent, below the rates 
 of 1892, and for unskilled labourers about seventeen 
 and one-half per cent. During 1896 wages in sev- 
 eral trades rose, and since then there have been 
 some further advances, and generally more regular 
 employment than at any time since the bank crisis.
 
 388 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 In 1898 employment in the building trades was 
 plentiful and the wages of masons, bricklayers, and 
 allied trades rose to a point they had not reached 
 since 1889. One result of the crisis of 1893 has 
 been the stoppage of nearly all forms of specula- 
 tive activity; on the other hand there have been 
 important mining developments and a marked ex- 
 tension of agriculture. From 1891 to 1899 the 
 area under crop was increased by 1,360,000 acres, 
 and the output of gold by 190,000 ounces. 
 
 Victoria. 
 
 The condition of wages in Victoria may best be 
 described by reference to a few selected trades, viz. : 
 masons, plasterers, bricklayers, carpenters, black- 
 smiths and farm labourers. At the beginning of this 
 period the wages of the building trades had es- 
 tablished themselves at about ten per cent, per day, 
 being an advance of perhaps two shillings a day 
 over the rates of 1865, while farm hands were paid 
 from 15 to 20 shillings a week as compared with 12 
 to 15 shillings per week in 1865. During the five 
 years from 1870 to 1875 wages steadily improved, 
 so that few masons would work for less than eleven 
 shillings per day, while many received as high a 
 wage as twelve shillings; carpenters received ten 
 shillings and eleven shillings, according to skill, and 
 blacksmiths ten to thirteen shillings; most other 
 building trades averaged ten shillings a day. Farm 
 labourers were paid about 17s. 6d. a week with board 
 and lodging, and this remained the standard wage 
 for twenty years. From 1870 to 1890 wages re- 
 mained fairly steady, but of the series 1883 to 1887
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 389 
 
 were perhaps the best years. In 1891 there were 
 signs of a fall, although the nominal rates of previ- 
 ous years were still quoted by the trades organisa- 
 tions. In 1892 the actual wages paid were ten per 
 cent, less than in 1891, while in 1893 therewas a fur- 
 ther decline, making the total fall in two years from 
 thirty to thirty-five per cent. The wages paid per 
 day in 1893 to stone-masons and plasterers were 7s. 
 8d., to bricklayers and carpenters 6s. 8d., but for 
 blacksmiths the reduction was not so great, the nomi- 
 nal wages being about 10s. per day. There was a 
 further decline in the wages of plasterers and of 
 some other trades, but generally speaking up to the 
 end of 189 7 the lower level of wages established for 
 skilled trades in 1893 has been maintained. Farm 
 hands maintained the wages paid in 1891 up to 1894, 
 but in the succeeding year the rates current fell from 
 between 15s. and 20s. to between 12s. 6d. and 15s. 
 per week with board and lodging. The wages of 
 farm hands in 1897 were almost the same as paid in 
 1865, while the pay of skilled tradesmen with the ex- 
 ception of a few trades were lower even than those of 
 the year named. There is, however, another view of 
 the case. The purchasing power of wages was much 
 greater at the end of the period than at the begin- 
 ning, the fall in prices from 1865 to 1898 being 
 over forty per cent., and from 1870 nearly twenty- 
 seven per cent, so that one pound in 1898 would pur- 
 chase as much as 1, 13s. 4d. in 1865, or as much as 
 1, 7s. 5d. in 1870, and a wage of 6s. 8d. per day in 
 1898 would be equivalent to over 11s. in 1865, and 
 9s. in 1870. 
 
 The period from 1875 to 1890 was one of great 
 prosperity amongst the working population of the 
 colony j wages were high, and employment wag 
 
 2A
 
 390 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 easy to obtain. Even as la,te as 1891, when there 
 were symptoms of a change in industrial conditions 
 and a restriction in the expenditure of capital, the 
 unemployed numbered only about four and one- 
 half per cent, of the breadwinners of the colony. 
 From 1871 to 1881 there was marked progress in 
 agriculture, the breadth of land under crop being 
 advanced by some 600,000 acres, while the propor- 
 tion cultivated per inhabitant was increased from a 
 little over one acre to nearly an acre and three- 
 quarters. From 1881 to 1891 the area cultivated 
 per inhabitant remained constant, but as the popu- 
 lation had increased there was considerable exten- 
 sion in the total area devoted to the plough. There 
 has of late years been a marked addition both to the 
 area cultivated and to the average per inhabitant: 
 the improvement, however, has been mainly since 
 1893 when the great crisis in banking occurred. The 
 events of that disastrous period brought the coun- 
 try face to face with the necessity of increasing its 
 production, and the result has been an attention to 
 agriculture, dairying and allied pursuits, which 
 was absent in the days of inflation before the crisis. 
 Previous to 1871 all the colonies lacked capital 
 for their development; even the expenditure of the 
 State Government from the proceeds of external 
 loans was much below what the conditions of settle- 
 ment would have warranted. In the five years 1871 
 to 1875 the Victorian Government and the various 
 local Governments of the colony introduced 3,352,- 
 000, obtained by floating loans in England, and 
 during the same period a little over 1,000,000 
 was brought to the colony by immigrants who made 
 Victoria their permanent abode. A good deal of 
 private capital was sent to the colony, but a still
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 391 
 
 larger sum was sent away by residents for invest- 
 ment chiefly to the neighbouring colonies, and with- 
 drawn, from investments by non-residents. The ex- 
 cess of investments outside the colony and with- 
 drawals of capital over money sent for investment 
 on private account was about 1,400,000, so that 
 during the five years the colony received about 
 1,950,000, a sum which was readily absorbed. 
 
 During the next five years (1876-1880) the Gov- 
 ernment imported 5,229,000, and persons taking 
 up their abode in Victoria brought with them 
 1,600,000; there was also an excess of capital 
 introduced over withdrawals of other capital on 
 private account to the extent of 300,000, so that the 
 actual amount of capital introduced was 7,129,000, 
 a large sum, but not beyond the growing requirements 
 of the colony. 
 
 From 1881 to 1885 the Government and local 
 bodies raised loans to the extent of 8,519,000: the 
 immigration to the colony was not large, but it is 
 computed that 2,918,000 was introduced into Vic- 
 toria by persons taking up their abode there: there 
 were also large introductions of capital on private 
 account aggregating about 1,600,000 in excess of 
 withdrawals in the same period. The total amount 
 of capital brought to the colony was 13,000,000, 
 which gives an average of 2,600,000 a year for the 
 five years. There can be no doubt that even this 
 large sum could be readily and advantageously em- 
 ployed in the colony, if applied to productive pur- 
 suits, but in this period was begun the over-specula- 
 tion in land values which ended so disastrously a few 
 years later. 
 
 The five years 1886-1890 marked a very extra- 
 ordinary period in the history of Victoria. The
 
 392 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Government, which had been for some time in- 
 creasing its expenditure, obtained over 17,000,000 ; 
 while on private account more than twice that sum 
 was poured into the colony. It is estimated that in 
 the five years 54,790,000 was introduced, of which 
 only 6,000,000 was accompanied by persons per- 
 manently settling in the colony. So prodigious a 
 sum could not be healthily absorbed. Land spec- 
 ulations became very rife, and values rose enor- 
 mously. In 1884 the total value of property in Mel- 
 bourne and the various towns and boroughs rateable 
 for local government purposes was 41,000,000; 
 five years later, that is in 1889, the same property 
 stood at 85,000,000, and in 1891 a maximum of 
 91,000,000 was reached. The increase in rating 
 value between 1884 and 1889 was at the rate of 
 twenty per cent, per annum, and it was on the basis of 
 such increasing prices that properties changed hands. 
 The unsubstantial nature of the increase was found 
 when the banking crisis occurred. From 1891 to 
 1896 there was a decline in the capital value of rate- 
 able property in Melbourne, and the various towns 
 and boroughs from 91,000,000 to 66,000,000. 
 Since 1896 there has been a slight advance, the as- 
 sessment of a later year showing a total of 68,000,- 
 000. The inflation of values was not confined to Mel- 
 bourne or to Victoria; on the contrary it extended 
 to all the provinces except New Zealand and West- 
 ern Australia, but Melbourne being the centre of 
 Australasian finance was naturally most affected. 
 
 The introduction of capital into Victoria con- 
 tinued until the Bank crisis of 1893. The sums ob- 
 tained by the Government and local bodies from 
 England amounted to 6,500,000 in the years 1891 
 and 1892. Private capital to the amount of
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 393 
 
 8,000,000 also reached the colony either by with- 
 drawal of outside investments or by further addi- 
 tions to the already large deposits obtained in 
 England by the banks. The Bank crisis so often 
 alluded to in these pages occurred in 1893, and the 
 importation of capital both by the State and by finan- 
 cial institutions has since dropped to very moderate 
 dimensions; indeed the Government has practically 
 ceased to borrow in London. 
 
 The progress of Victoria up to the beginning of 
 the over-speculation in land was very steady. In 
 1871 the land under plough was 851,000 acres; ten 
 years later the acreage was nearly doubled ; in 1891 
 it was 2,116,000, and in 1899 only a little short of 
 3,250,000 acres. This indicates great progress, 
 and the development of agriculture, dairying and 
 mining, which took place even in the time of the 
 boom, when matters were essentially unsound, was 
 so substantial that when the financial crash came the 
 colony was able to sustain the shock and make a 
 sound and complete recovery. It may in truth be 
 said that when the people of Melbourne were en- 
 ticed away from the maxims of sound progress, the 
 rest of the colony contented itself with steady work 
 on sound lines, with the result, that beyond a short 
 period of inconvenience, it suffered very little from 
 the financial disturbance of the Metropolis.
 
 394 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVII. 
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 
 
 QUEENSLAND, SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TASMANIA, AND 
 WESTERN AUSTRALIA. 
 
 THE conditions of employment throughout Aus- 
 tralia are such that a demand for labour or the 
 prevalence of higher wages in any part of the con- 
 tinent speedily attracts labour from o,ther parts, and 
 this is not affected by the fact that the labour centres 
 are very far distant from one another. Going from 
 north to south, Brisbane is 530 miles distant from 
 Sydney by the ordinary means of communication. 
 From Sydney to Melbourne by water is 700 miles, 
 and from Melbourne to Hobart 480 miles. Going 
 westward, Adelaide is 600 miles from Melbourne 
 and Perth 1,600 miles from Adelaide; nevertheless 
 a demand for labour in Western Australia speedily 
 attracts labourers from Adelaide, Melbourne and 
 even remote Sydney. At shearing time, when labour 
 is in great demand on the sheep runs of New South 
 Wales and Queensland, there is an annual migra- 
 tion to these colonies from their southern neigh- 
 bours and New Zealand of labourers who return 
 when the season is over. Such being the mobile 
 conditions of labour, it will be readily understood 
 that the industrial conditions obtaining in the two 
 great colonies of New South Wales and Victoria 
 will be reflected in the other members of the group,
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 395 
 
 at all events in those avenues of employment not en- 
 tirely dependent on the variable results of the sea- 
 sons. What, therefore, has been said of New South 
 Wales and Victoria is in a certain sense applicable 
 to Queensland, South Australia and Tasmania, not, 
 however, to Western Australia, where labour con- 
 ditions have been subject to different influences. 
 
 Queensland. 
 
 During the whole period the material progress 
 of Queensland was very satisfactory. The neces- 
 sity for population was such that, in spite of protests 
 from the Brisbane trades, the Government contin- 
 ued to maintain a vigorous immigration policy. 
 The most ready, if not the most exact, means of 
 gauging the extent of the progress of the colony are 
 the trade returns, and taking exports and imports 
 together, their value in 1871 was 4,322,710, in 
 1881 7,603,991, in 1891 13,384,391, and in 1898 
 16,863,393. These figures are an eloquent tribute 
 to the condition of a country numbering less than 
 half a million inhabitants, and are the outcome of 
 the vast and systematic development of its pastoral 
 and mining resources joined to fair progress in agri- 
 culture. The peculiar features of the industrial 
 progress of Queensland have been already alluded 
 to in the general history of the colony. It may be 
 well to refer again to the existence of the coloured 
 labour element, in the persons of some 8,600 Pa- 
 cific Islanders, 7,800 Chinese , and 3,600 other 
 'Asiatics. The total 20,000, it is true, amounts to 
 only about four and a quarter per cent, of the whole 
 population, but of this total only 850 are females and 
 the 19,150 males are mainly adults, and represent
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 about eleven per cent, of the males over fifteen years 
 of age. 
 
 From 1870 up to about 1884 wages generally 
 were improving in both the town and country dis- 
 tricts of Queensland; then for a few years they re- 
 mained stationary, the first symptoms of a fall be- 
 ing visible in 1891. In 1893, the year of the Bank 
 failures, the decline became pronounced, and in 
 the following year the rates settled still lower car- 
 penters who received eleven shillings a day in 1892 
 were paid ten shillings in 1893, and the following 
 year about eight shillings a day was the recognised 
 wage. Most other mechanical trades were similarly 
 affected, but the wages of general labourers, which 
 were reduced in 1891 from 6s. to 5s. 6d., and from 
 7s. 6d. to 7s. according to competency, were not ma- 
 terially affected in more recent years. The indus- 
 trial condition of Queensland was very much in- 
 fluenced during this period by the introduction of 
 capital from abroad. In the earlier years the sums 
 introduced were large, but not beyond the capacity 
 of the colony to absorb. During the five years 
 1871-75, the Government raised 2,389,000 in Eng- 
 land, and private capital to the extent of 1,940,000 
 was also introduced, making a total of 4,329,000. 
 In the next five years, 1876-80, Queensland re- 
 ceived 8,028,000, an enormous sum, considering 
 that the population was not more than 150,000. The 
 money imported by the Government was 4,195,000, 
 and that invested by private persons 3,383,000. 
 Large as was the sum imported by the Queensland 
 Government, it was small by comparison with that 
 obtained by New Zealand, and the facility with 
 which the latter colony was able to raise money on 
 loan was an object lesson not lost on the other
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 397 
 
 colonies. During the five years 1881-85, the Gov- 
 ernment of Queensland obtained 6,309,000 from 
 London, while private investments in the same 
 period amounted to 13,291,000, a sum altogether 
 beyond the natural requirements of a population of a 
 quarter of a million. Included in the private invest- 
 ments, however, is the sum of 4,430,000 introduced 
 by immigrants taking up their abode permanently 
 in the colony. The large sum obtained by the Gov- 
 ernment was, however, exceeded in the five years 
 (1886-90) as its loan expenditure mounted up to 
 8,793,000. The private capital introduced, how- 
 ever, fell off largely; the sum received, allowing for 
 withdrawals to the amount of 3,360,000, was 
 2,362,000. Queensland had now received as much 
 private capital as it could conveniently employ, per- 
 haps more than sufficient, as during 1891 and 1892 
 the colony for the first time in its history showed a 
 withdrawal of capital to the extent of 3,928,000 
 in excess of capital received on private account. The 
 Government, however, were still borrowers, and in- 
 troduced 1,917,000, so that the net withdrawal of 
 capital amounted to only 2,011,000. This record 
 is not extended beyond 1892, as the following year 
 was one of utter financial confusion, which baffles 
 any attempts ,to trace the movements of private 
 capital. It may, however, be noted that the debt 
 of the Queensland Government amounts, according 
 to the latest figures, to 33,600,000, and the sums in- 
 vested on private account to 20,650,000. The posi- 
 tion of Queensland in regard to outside investors is, 
 in a large measure, disclosed by the returns relating 
 to external trade. The imports of the colony for 
 1898 amounted to 6,007,266, and the exports to 
 10,856,127, showing an excess of exports equal to
 
 398 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 4,848,861. This excess of exports represents pay- 
 ments by the Government on account of interest on 
 its loans which may be set down roughly as 1,325,- 
 000, interest on loans to private persons and return 
 from private investments which cannot be less than 
 1,700,000, and the balance incomes of absentees 
 and the repayment of indebtedness or withdrawal of 
 capital. The last two items have of late years 
 amounted to a very considerable sum. During the 
 three years 1894-96 it is stated that 10,162,000 
 was withdrawn by investors or repaid by borrowers, 
 and it is a tribute to the resources and stability of the 
 colony that this withdrawal should have been effected 
 with so small a disturbance to its financial position. 
 No member of the Australian group will enter the 
 new century with a more assured position than 
 Queensland, whose enormous resources only await 
 population for their proper development. 
 
 South Australia. 
 
 South Australia has played a very different part 
 to Queensland in regard to the industrial develop- 
 ment of the continent. South Australian enterprise 
 has been the means of opening up part of Queensland 
 and the western districts of New South Wales, and 
 latterly it has been extended to "Western Australia ; 
 on the other hand, the sister colonies have had little 
 to do with aiding the development of South Aus- 
 tralia. It has been estimated that there is as much 
 capital invested by South Australia in the other 
 colonies as there is English capital employed in the 
 colony itself. This feature of South Australian 
 finance was visible for nearly thirty years, for in the 
 five years 1871-75, although the Government of the
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 399 
 
 colony obtained 1,722,000, it would appear that 
 private money flowed out of the colony to the extent 
 of 2,661,000, much of this being invested in South 
 and West Queensland. A similar condition of affairs 
 obtained in the next five years (1876-80). The Gov- 
 ernment borrowed in England very largely, 5,217,- 
 000 being thus obtained, while private investments 
 outside the colony and withdrawals of capital on pay- 
 ment of private loans exceeded the capital introduced 
 by 1,644,000. During the years 1881-85 the Gov- 
 ernment continued borrowing, 5,895,000 being 
 raised and expended in that period; there was also 
 an importation of private capital to the extent of 
 1,000,000 or thereabouts. In the next five years, 
 1886-90, the Government was still a borrower, ob- 
 taining the large sum of 5,693,000, but private 
 investments were made by South Australian capi- 
 talists, outside their own province, to such an extent, 
 that the export of capital on private account ex- 
 ceeded the import to the amount of 3,348,000. The 
 Broken Hill silver fields were discovered in 1883, 
 and the very extensive developments which almost 
 immediately took place were due, in no slight degree, 
 to South Australian enterprise and speculation. The 
 importance of the Barrier traffic, as it is called, to 
 South Australia may be judged from the fact that 
 out of a total import trade of 7,126,385 in 1897, 
 1,008,119 represented goods from over sea passing 
 through the 'province on their way to Broken Hill 
 and the western district of New South Wales, and 
 2,243,071 goods exported from the same districts 
 and passing through South Australia on their way 
 to the sea. 
 
 Under the stimulating influence of the borrowing 
 policy of the Government, wages rose, but there have
 
 400 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 never been the great extremes in wages in South Aus- 
 tralia which have been found in New South Wales 
 and Victoria. Stonemasons, whose wages in 1870 
 were eight shillings a day, did not average more 
 than nine shillings and six pence, even in the most 
 flourishing period of the following thirty years, and 
 received this wage for only a few years (1875-84). 
 The current wage is now nine shillings a day, which 
 rate has been the average for some ten years. The 
 rates for carpenters are also higher than they were 
 thirty years ago, but, as in the other trades, wages 
 have suffered alteration, from time to time, through 
 the dearth of hands, due to the attractions first of 
 Broken Hill and latterly of Western Australia. The 
 day labourer now receives six shillings per day, 
 which is as high as his wages in 1870, and his lot 
 must be considered as greatly improved, seeing that 
 the prices of all necessaries have fallen greatly dur- 
 ing the interval. The highest wages earned by day- 
 labourers were paid in 1874 and 1875, the rate 
 being 7s. 6d. per day; from 1875 to 1891 wages were 
 generally 6s. 6d., but seven shillings were paid in 
 some years; from 1891 onward the prevailing rate 
 has been six shillings. 
 
 Tasmania. 
 
 Tasmania is one of the least indebted of the 
 Australian group, nevertheless the island colony 
 has had a fair share of attention from British and 
 foreign capitalists. From 1871 to 1875 it received 
 about 1,210,000, of which 220,000 was introduced 
 by the State, and nearly a million by private persons, 
 which must be considered a very considerable sum in 
 view of the smallness of the pooulation. During
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 401 
 
 the next five years the borrowing was on a very moder- 
 ate scale, the Government obtaining 671,000 and 
 private investments amounting to only 283,000. 
 From 1881 to 1885 the investments on private ac- 
 count continued small, not exceeding 425,000, 
 which includes moneys introduced by persons taking 
 up their abode in the country; in the same period 
 the Governmental borrowings reached 1,465,000. 
 During the next five years the Government of Tas- 
 mania was well represented in the struggle for 
 British money, the State importation being 2,557,- 
 000, and the investment by private persons 570,000 ; 
 of this last sum, however, 85,000 was introduced by 
 persons taking up their residence in the colony. 
 There was no cessation of borrowing on the part of 
 the Government during the years following 1890, 
 but for a time private investments in Tasmania prac- 
 tically ceased. The large developments in mining on 
 the west coast in 1893 and subsequent years caused a 
 fresh demand for capital which was fully obtained. 
 The adult male population of Tasmania is so small 
 in number that no industries on a large scale exist, 
 and no occupations can be cited as typical of the 
 colony. Speaking generally, it may be said that 
 1870 was the lowest point touched by Tasmania in- 
 dustrially and commercially; from 1870 wages 
 steadily improved (helped in 1883 by the discoveries 
 of gold and tin) until 1893, when the banking crisis 
 affected all phases of business and wages fell to a 
 lower point even than in 1870; but it was a tem- 
 porary check, for wages have again tended upwards, 
 and all forms of industry are now on a sounder foot- 
 ing than at any former period.
 
 402 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Western Australia. 
 
 The position of Western Australia has always 
 been very different to that of the eastern colonies. 
 The only colony with which a parallel can be es- 
 tablished is New South Wales. Both colonies had 
 a long period when bond labour was the principal 
 industrial element, and in both colonies the old order 
 of things was radically changed by the gold dis- 
 coveries. Their parallelism is, however, more ap- 
 parent than real. New South Wales began its his- 
 tory with a bond population and gladly freed itself 
 from the incubus, whereas Western Australia ac- 
 cepted the position of a penal colony after it had 
 existed for thirty years as a free settlement. New 
 South Wales had its population recruited from the 
 earliest days by a large stream of immigration, where- 
 as immigrants came to the western colony in large 
 numbers only on the discovery of gold. It is true 
 that the gold discoveries very materially affected bo,th 
 colonies, but in New South Wales gold seeking was 
 for a very short period the principal industry and 
 speedily fell in importance not only below grazing 
 and agriculture but below other industries, and lat- 
 terly below other forms of mining, whereas in West- 
 ern Australia the search for gold is not only the most 
 important industry now carried on in the colony, but 
 is likely to remain its chief source of wealth, 
 
 During the years that Western Australia remained 
 a penal colony the opportunities of free labour were 
 very limited ; but, notwithstanding the fact tha.t for 
 a time the withdrawal of Imperial expenditure in 
 connection with convicts adversely affected trade 
 and crippled various established industries, the aboli- 
 tion of transportation had in the end a beneficial
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 403 
 
 effect on labour generally. Up to the year 1874 
 wages had remained for many years without per- 
 ceptible movement, but in 1875 there was a distinct 
 improvement in all classes of labour, and the im- 
 proved rate of wages was maintained until the gold 
 discoveries, when a rapid advance was experienced 
 almost in every trade. The effect on wages cannot 
 of course be gauged by the total production of gold, 
 but the value of the precious metal exported will 
 give some indication of the impetus which trade 
 experienced under the stimulating influence of the 
 gold discoveries. The exports of gold were : 
 
 1891 115,182 1896 1,068,808 
 
 1892 226,284 1897 2.564,977 
 
 1893 421,385 1898 3,990,698 
 
 1894 787,099 
 
 1895 879,748 
 
 It was the gold discoveries alone which brought 
 capital to Western Australia. From 1871 to 1875 
 the money imported was in round numbers about 
 400,000, but nearly all on account of the Govern- 
 ment. During the next five years, 1876-80, there 
 was a withdrawal of capital on private account es- 
 timated at 161,000, but as the Government borrowed 
 365,000 there was actually a net importation of 
 204,000. From 1881 to 1885 more attention was 
 devoted to Western Australia by capitalists, and as 
 the Government continued to borrow in small sums 
 the total capital imported was larger than previously. 
 The importation by the Government in these years 
 amounted to 463,000 and on private account 265,- 
 000, making a total of 728,000. The five years 
 opening with 1886 saw an entire change in the in- 
 dustrial condition of the country. Gold was dis-
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 covered at Yilgarn in 1887, and though the early 
 finds at Eenuin and Golden Valley were of little 
 value they led to the discovery of a permanent field 
 at Southern Cross, a few miles to the southward. 
 Then came the discoveries at Mallina on the west 
 coast, where a considerable tract of country was 
 proved to be auriferous, and the rich alluvial dis- 
 coveries on the Ashburton. Early in 1891 some 
 very rich gold-bearing stone was unearthed on the 
 Upper Murchison ; the finds attracted a large number 
 of men and several splendid reefs were discovered 
 and a large quantity of alluvial gold won. In the 
 following year a most extraordinary and sensational 
 discovery of gold was made by a man named Bayley 
 at a point about one hundred miles east of Southern 
 Cross. These, and the further extensive discoveries 
 which immediately followed, gave a wonderful im- 
 petus to the colony in 1890, Western Australia in- 
 cluded only 46,290 inhabitants; in 1900, the num- 
 ber was 171,022, an increase due entirely to the gold 
 discoveries. 
 
 The shipping arriving at the ports of the colony 
 in 1861 had a tonnage of 57,456 so slow was the 
 progress of the country that the tonnage in 1871 was 
 not more than 63,922. Ten years later 145,048 
 tons of shipping entered West Australian ports and 
 533,433 tons in 1891, but in 1898 the figures stood 
 at 1,199,894 tons, not indeed all due to the expansion 
 of the local trade but largely the result of it. The 
 imports in 1861 were valued at 147,913, which 
 represents less than 9, 10s. per inhabitant; ten 
 years later it was even less per inhabitant, aggregat- 
 ing only 226,000. In 1881 there was evidence of 
 growth, aa the imports per head were valued at 
 13, 14s. 3d. ; but the total did not yet reach 405,-
 
 SIXTH INDUSTRIAL PERIOD, 1872-1893. 405 
 
 000 ; a very different condition of trade is displayed 
 by thd figures of 1891 and subsequent years, for the 
 imports in the year named rose to 1,208,093 or 25, 
 2s. 5d. per inhabitant, and in 1898 to 5,241,965 or 
 31, 15s. 4d. perinhabitant, a sum not approachedby 
 any other member of the group. Very much the 
 same tale is disclosed by the figures of exports, as 
 the following summary shows. 
 
 TotaL Per inhabitant. 
 
 8. d. 
 
 1861 95,789 6 2 10 
 
 1872 209,196 8 6 11 
 
 1881 502,770 17 8 
 
 1891 799,466 1513 9 
 
 1898 4,960,006 80 1 1 
 
 The splendid result indicated by the figures last 
 given is not due to gold alone, for the pastoral and 
 timber industries have risen in importance with the 
 progress of population, and show every sign of fur- 
 tker expansion.
 
 406 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA, 
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE GEEAT STRIKE OF 1890 AND THE BEOKEN HILL 
 STEIKE OF 1892. 
 
 THE great strike, so called from the number of 
 persons engaged in it, and the wide area over which 
 it extended, arose from no single cause. There was 
 that pervading unrest in labour circles so fatal to 
 friendly relations between employers and employed, 
 but besides general grievances several trades consid- 
 ered they had special causes of complaint. Between 
 the pastoralists and shearers there were certain long- 
 standing difficulties which negotiations had failed 
 to adjust ; while the officers and seamen of the inter- 
 colonial steamers were labouring under a sense of 
 injustice due to the non-removal of hardships, the 
 reality of which was admitted even by the steamship 
 proprietors. 
 
 The Shearers'Union was a most powerful organisa- 
 tion with branches in all the eastern colonies, and 
 it was a serious step when it announced its determina- 
 tion to allow none but union labour to be employed 
 by pastoralists. The pastoralists, though at the time 
 by no means so well organised as they became later, 
 were equally determined to employ whatever labour 
 they might choose. The Shearers' Union had pro- 
 mulgated a set of rules to be observed in shearing 
 sheds. These they wished to impose upon pastoral- 
 ists, and as early as 1887 they endeavoured to enforce
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1890. 407 
 
 them, but with little success. The relationship be- 
 tween the two bodies became increasingly strained 
 from 1887 onwards, although several attempts were 
 made to bring about an understanding. In 1889 a 
 Committee of the Pastoralists' Association of Queens- 
 land met a Committee of the Shearers' Union at 
 the town of Blachall, and drew up a form of agree- 
 ment to be observed in future, but this agreement was 
 rejected at the Queensland Shearers' meeting in 
 January, 1890. The pastoralists then set about 
 making their annual contracts for shearing during 
 the coming season without any reference to the 
 Shearers' Union, and this was met by an announce- 
 ment made at Young by the president of the Amal- 
 gamated Shearers' Union, that the shipping of wool 
 sheared by non-unionists would be blocked. This 
 was in May. Further district conferences were held, 
 but as neither side was absolutely committed to the 
 decisions of the conferences, no result followed, nor 
 did anything come of the meeting in Sydney in July 
 of the President of the Shearers' Union and the 
 Secretary of the Pastoralists' Association. The 
 pastoralists demanded that they should be allowed to 
 shear their sheep under their own agreements, during 
 the coming season, but this was refused by the 
 shearers, and as neither side would give way a strike 
 was inevitable. 
 
 The wharf labourers appeared to hold the key of 
 the situation, and any uncertainty as to their action 
 was dispelled by the official announcement that the 
 Wharf Labourers' Union had decided not to handle 
 wool shorn by non-unionists. To prepare for event- 
 ualities, a number of trades unions in sympathy with 
 the shearers formed a strike committee, and its first 
 step was, on 18th August, to call out the wharf
 
 408 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 labourers. The employers, however, were not idle, 
 and, even before the wharf labourers struck, arrange- 
 ments were being made to fill their places with non- 
 union hands. 
 
 Independently of the shearers' trouble there wero 
 other labour difficulties pending. The captain of 
 the steamship Corinna had seen fit to discharge a 
 fireman from his vessel. The unionists attributed 
 his discharge to the fact that the fireman was a dele- 
 gate to the Seamen's Union, and called upon tho 
 owners for a conference, which was refused. Before 
 the matter could be settled a dispute occurred be- 
 tween the marine officers and their employers, owing 
 to a complaint of lack of accommodation on board 
 ship, and a conference was arranged for. Shortly 
 afterwards this promise of a conference was with- 
 drawn, because the owners found that the officers 
 either had already affiliated or were about to affiliate 
 themselves with the Trades Councils, of which also 
 the Seamen's Unions were members. The ship- 
 owners contended that the action of the officers in 
 joining with the trades unionists was derogatory to 
 their positions, as it necessitated the officers and their 
 subordinates meeting on equal terms, which would 
 give rise to a condition of things entirely subversive 
 of discipline. The unionists, however, viewed the 
 matter differently, and considered the action of 
 the owners as a direct attack on the principles of 
 Trades Unionism. The marine officers struck work 
 early in August and were followed by the seamen 
 and draymen, and, as the wharf labourers had al- 
 ready struck and the shearers were refusing engage- 
 ments, the labour market was more disturbed than 
 had ever before been known. Almost immediately 
 after these events, the Newcastle miners wero
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OP 1890. 409 
 
 locked out for refusing to hew coal which they 
 thought was intended for employers engaged in the 
 strike. All the eastern colonies and New Zealand 
 were now involved in the disputes and in many- 
 trades work ceased to be carried on. 
 
 Great meetings were held in various parts of the 
 colonies, both by employers and by unionists, all 
 with the purpose of offering effective resistance to 
 the other side and eliciting public sympathy. At 
 Albany a conference of intercolonial shipowners 
 was held on 23rd August, 1890; seven days later 
 there was an answer in the form of a great labour 
 demonstration in Sydney, with a procession from the 
 Circular Quay to the Exhibition building. All 
 through September the opposing organisations were 
 conferring amongst themselves and manifestoes were 
 drawn up in a formal way and issued for general 
 information. On September 6th, an important de- 
 velopment took place; the Broken Hill mines were 
 shut down. This step was taken by the directors on 
 account of the difficulty in getting materials to and 
 from the mines owing to the stoppage of the intercolo- 
 nial trade; the miners' executive on the other hand 
 alleged that the stoppage of work was due to a desire 
 to prevent the miners contributing towards the Mari- 
 time and Shearers' Unions, and thus helping to pro- 
 long the strike. By this time all the trades unions, 
 except the Railway Associations, whose assistance 
 was needed to prevent the export of wool, were on 
 strike. To support so many persons out of employ- 
 ment was a heavy drain on the Trades Unions' funds, 
 and the strike committee, finding themselves likely 
 to be pressed for money, were solicitous lest any 
 other men than those directly concerned should come 
 out, and thus cause an unnecessary drain on the
 
 410 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 strike funds, besides alienating public sympathy 
 from the cause of the strikers. 
 
 Gangs of men were appointed by the strike com- 
 mittee to watch the wharves and prevent non-union- 
 ists reaching them, but this form of picketing was 
 not altogether successful, as the free labourers were 
 in many cases provided with food and shelter upon 
 the wharves, and remained there while the strike 
 lasted. The strikers were able, however, to effect 
 almost the entire suspension of the intercolonial 
 steamer traffic, but it soon became evident that time 
 was working on the side of the employers, and that 
 the longer a settlement was delayed, the less chance 
 was there of the dispute being settled favourably to 
 the unions. 
 
 At the beginning, the strike was conducted without 
 any show of violence, but it was soon manifest that 
 unless special precautions were exercised very great 
 disorders would ensue. The authorities in all the 
 colonies, therefore, took measures to provide addi- 
 tional police protection; in New South Wales large 
 numbers of special constables were sworn in. 
 
 The first serious disturbance occurred at New- 
 castle, where a dray laden with flour belonging to 
 an unpopular employer was upset, and an attack 
 made on the wharves of the Australian Agricultural 
 Company. This attack was repelled by the police. 
 In spite of the picketing many vessels were loaded 
 by non-unionists, much to the indignation of the 
 strikers, but in spite of the precautions taken by the 
 police, free labourers, as they began to be called, were 
 frequently assaulted in the streets of the cities, and in 
 some cases men at work were so severely injured as 
 to be compelled to relinquish their occupation. In 
 Sydney carting through the streets became iinpos-
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1890. 
 
 sible owing to the intimidation of the strikers, and 
 free labourers were compelled either to abandon their 
 work or sleep on the wharves. To break the block- 
 ade, persons connected with the shipping of wool 
 organised a train of trollies with volunteer drivers 
 to proceed with loads of wool from the Darling 
 Harbour Railway terminus to the Circular Quay. 
 Nine trollies started with a guard of mounted and 
 foot police. A dense crowd gathered and at several 
 points attempted to block the teams; in the fight 
 which ensued several of the drivers and police were 
 injured. When the wool reached the Circular Quay, 
 the disorder became so great that the authorities 
 found it necessary to read the Riot Act, and the 
 crowd was dispersed by the mounted police, a few 
 arrests being made. This was the culminating point 
 of the disturbances in Sydney, as three days after- 
 wards the wool was carried through the streets with- 
 out molestation. In the coal-mining districts there 
 still continued a great deal of intimidation. On the 
 29th September, there was a serious attack made 
 upon non-unionists at Greta, and on 9th October, 
 the military and police had to be sent to Bulli to pro- 
 tect the free labourers. The last important act in the 
 drama of the great strike was the calling out of the 
 union shearers ; this occurred at the end of Septem- 
 ber. The Queensland labour federation, however, 
 ordered the execution of all existing contracts', and 
 the Queensland shearers returned to their work, after 
 being out on strike for a week. 
 
 After a little while it was found possible in other 
 trades to fill the places vacated by the strikers, and 
 though the strike continued for a month longer, not 
 terminating until the 9th November, it was evident 
 that, with the return to work of the Queensland
 
 412 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 shearers, the cause of trades unionism was, for the 
 time, defeated. 
 
 The shearers were by no means contented to accept 
 their defeat as a final solution of their trouble with 
 the pastoralists, nor were the latter disposed to allow 
 the matter to rest, but determined to improve their 
 victory. Soon after the events just narrated 
 the Pastoralists' Union in the eastern colonies be- 
 came federated, and felt themselves strong enough 
 to impose their own conditions upon the shearers. 
 Accordingly they drew up an agreement which they 
 expected all shearers in their employ to sign. This 
 agreement was rejected by the Shearers' Union in 
 January, 1891, and the pastoralists in consequence 
 determined to employ free labour, entirely ignoring 
 the union. The Queensland shearers refused to 
 work under the pastoralists' agreement, and in ISTew 
 South Wales the local union resolved to take no part 
 in the shearing, unless the employers would consent 
 to employ only union labour. To this the pastoral- 
 ists refused to agree. Victoria remained unaffected 
 by the events of the year, and in South Australia a 
 conference was called of the two unions, and the right 
 of pastoralists to use free labour was conceded. 
 
 The chief events of the shearers' strike of 1891 
 occurred in Queensland, where the earliest shearing 
 in Australasia is done. The strikers established 
 camps in various localities, where the men could be 
 supported at the minimum of cost; and by this 
 means, aided by contributions from the trades unions 
 of the other colonies, the shearers maintained their 
 position for about five months. The pastoralista 
 proceeded to obtain the necessary labour from the 
 southern colonies, especially from Victoria. Every 
 endeavour was made by the strikers to prevent these
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1890. 413 
 
 men from Teaching their destinations, and armed 
 mobs travelled about the country intimidating the 
 free labourers, and burning and destroying the prop- 
 erty of the pastoralists. It was soon found necessary 
 by the Government to draft police and military to 
 the disturbed districts, for the protection of the 
 labourers seeking work, and for the security of prop- 
 erty. The country was very much like as if it were 
 in insurrection. At one station it was found neces- 
 sary to read the Kiot Act, and twenty-one men were 
 arrested on a charge of arson and conspiracy. In 
 many places grass was fired, fences destroyed, and 
 attempts made to burn station buildings. At Bar- 
 caldine a thousand armed men were gathered to* 
 gether in one camp, and forcible measures were em- 
 ployed by them to arrest free labourers and restrain 
 them from working. The most inflammatory 
 speeches were made by some of the managers of the 
 Barcaldine camp, and the wildest talk indulged in 
 as regards incendiarism, resistance to the Govern- 
 ment, and a general revolution. Attempts were 
 made at the time, and since, to connect the leaders 
 of the unions with these wild vapourings, for which 
 they were no more responsible than were the pastor- 
 alists for the persons on the side of the employers 
 who indulged in rabid utterances of an opposite 
 kind. 
 
 During the progress of the strike in Queensland 
 the Government determined to arrest the Barcaldine 
 strike committee on the charge of conspiracy by 
 threats, intimidation, and violence to induce labour- 
 ers to depart from their hire, etc. These acts were 
 penal, and the members of the committee were con- 
 victed and sentenced to three years' imprisonment; 
 other less important offenders were also arrested,
 
 414 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 convicted, and sentenced to shorter terms of im- 
 prisonment. 
 
 The Queensland Government stood firm against 
 the armed strikers, many of whom were not citizens 
 of the colony, and arrests continued to be made dur- 
 ing March, April, May and June. Meanwhile the 
 shearing was being steadily carried on and completed 
 with free labour alone. It was idle, therefore, to 
 continue the strike, which was accordingly declared 
 off on the 15th June. In New South Wales a few 
 stations were shorn under the Shearers' Union rules, 
 but the majority of pastoralists employed only free 
 labour, so that the strike of 1891 also ended in fail- 
 ure. 
 
 THE BEOKEW HILL STRIKE. 
 
 In July, 1892, there was considerable friction 
 between the mine owners at Broken Hill, in New 
 South Wales, and the miners. The owners expressed 
 themselves dissatisfied with the amount of work done 
 by the miners, alleging that there was a good deal of 
 time wasted, and they therefore determined to abol- 
 ish day work and substitute the contract system. 
 The miners belonged to a very powerful association 
 which had obtained concessions of a very substantial 
 character from their employers, and the association 
 declined to submit to the change of system, and a 
 general strike ensued. The Broken Hill mines are 
 so situated as to be easily picketed, and pickets 
 were established by the miners along the whole of 
 the boundaries of the principal mines. No one 
 could pass into a mine without the consent of the 
 pickets, and frequent assaults were made on officers 
 and others endeavouring to enter the mine premises 
 without leave of the strikers. The miners asked the
 
 THE GREAT STRIKE OF 1890. 415 
 
 owners for a conference, which was refused until all 
 the pickets were withdrawn. To withdraw the pick- 
 ets was to allow free labour to be brought in, and 
 there were a large number of men both in Adelaide 
 and in Melbourne ready to go to Broken Hill if they 
 could do so free from molestation. The miners 
 therefore refused to withdraw their pickets. After 
 waiting some weeks the directors of the chief mine 
 began to bring up free labourers to work the mines 
 on the terms refused by the unions. On September 
 llth, a special train arrived from Adelaide bringing 
 a number of non-unionists under a strong police es- 
 cort. A large crowd assembled to receive the free 
 labourers and stones were thrown at the train and 
 a few pistol shots fired, but under the protection of 
 the police the men were conveyed safely from the 
 train to the mine. Next day about one hundred ad- 
 ditional police were sent to Broken Hill, and under 
 their protection a large number of free labourers 
 were brought up and these were allowed to proceed 
 to the mine without hindrance from the strikers. 
 It soon became evident that the supply of labour 
 available to the mine owners was so great, that if the 
 miners on strike did not quickly come to terms, there 
 would be no places left for them. Many members 
 of the union therefore began to accept employment 
 on the terms offered, though a minority remained 
 implacable and held out till the strike collapsed in 
 November, 1892. 
 
 On account of the outrages committed on non- 
 unionists, the Government ordered the arrest of the 
 members of the defence or strike committee on the 
 ground that they had incited the strikers to commit 
 breaches of the peace. Six of the leaders were 
 brought to trial in September, 1892, on a charge of
 
 416 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 inciting to riot, found guilty, and sentenced to terms 
 of imprisonment ranging from three months to two 
 years. The verdict of the jury and the sentences 
 were received with great indignation by unionists, 
 not only in Broken Hill, but throughout the country, 
 and a great deal of pressure was brought to bear upon 
 the Ministry to release the prisoners, but Sir George 
 Dibbs, who was premier at the time, was inexorable. 
 The prisoners were compelled to serve part of their 
 sentences, those with the longer terms not being re- 
 leased for sixteen months. That the miners of 
 Broken Hill and the district considered the conviction 
 of the strike committee unjust may be gathered from 
 the fact that two of the leading members of the com- 
 mittee who were convicted now represent the district 
 in Parliament.
 
 PART NINE. 
 AUSTRALASIA OF TO-DAY. 
 
 CHAPTEK XXXIX. 
 
 FEDERATION. 
 
 THE desirability of federating the various Aus- 
 tralian colonies did not escape the attention of .those 
 who planned its first free Constitution. On the con- 
 trary, the proposal to divide the continent into self- 
 governing provinces was accompanied by a plan for 
 bringing them together for certain national purposes. 
 Unfortunately the proposals in regard to federation 
 did not appear to the colonists to be so urgent as to 
 require to be immediately dealt with, and were there- 
 fore postponed to that more convenient season, which, 
 however, never arrived. The evil of want of union 
 became increasingly evident as the colonies expanded 
 in population and wealth, but the provincial feeling 
 was also very strong, and the first steps towards union 
 came from the necessities of the Governments, rather 
 than from popular feeling. The first step towards 
 federation was the recognition of the desirability of 
 having a loose sort of union for certain purposes, out 
 of which sprang the idea of a Federal Council. By 
 many, however, the proposal for a Federal Council 
 seemed to be adverse to the more comprehensive feder- 
 ation ultimately aimed at. After much discussion
 
 418 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and the holding of several conferences, at which the 
 more important colonies were represented, the ques- 
 tion came before the Imperial Parliament, which 
 passed a measure sanctioning the formation of a Fed- 
 eral Council, to which any colony that felt inclined to 
 do so could send delegates. The first meeting of 
 the Federal Council was held at Hobart in January, 
 1886, the colonies of Victoria, Queensland, Tas- 
 mania, Western Australia and Fiji being repre- 
 sented. New South Wales, South Australia, and 
 New Zealand declined to join, but South Australia 
 sent delegates to a subsequent meeting. The Coun- 
 cil held eight meetings, at which various matters 
 of intercolonial interest were discussed. Without 
 New South Wales the Council was doomed to fail- 
 ure, and it can hardly be said that its proceedings 
 were regarded very seriously, even by those who took 
 part in them. The Council was formed as a purely 
 deliberative body, possessing neither funds nor pow- 
 ers to put its legislation into force, and it ceased 
 to exist as soon as federation was an accomplished 
 fact. 
 
 A more important step toward federation was 
 taken in February, 1890, when a Conference, con- 
 sisting of delegates from each of the seven colonies, 
 met at Melbourne. The result of the Conference was 
 the adoption of an Address to the Queen, embodying 
 certain resolutions which affirmed the desirableness 
 of an early union, under the Crown, on principles 
 just to all. The Conference suggested that the re- 
 moter Australasian colonies should be entitled to ad- 
 mission to the union upon terms to be afterwards 
 agreed upon, and recommended that steps should 
 be taken for the appointment of delegates to a Na- 
 tional Australasian Convention, to consider and re-
 
 FEDERATION. 419 
 
 port upon an adequate scheme for a Federal Con- 
 stitution. 
 
 In accordance with these resolutions, delegates 
 were appointed by the different Parliaments, and on 
 the 2nd March, 1891, the National Australasian 
 Convention commenced its sittings in the Legislative 
 Assembly Chambers, Macquarie Street, Sydney. 
 There were forty-five members accredited to the con- 
 vention, each colony sending seven, with the exception 
 of New Zealand, which had only three represent- 
 atives. Sir Henry Parkes was unanimously chosen 
 as President, and Sir Samuel Griffiths, of Queens- 
 land, as Vice-President. 
 
 The proceedings 1 of the Convention attracted the 
 greatest attention, not only in the colonies but in 
 England, and the following resolutions adopted by 
 the Convention confirmed the principles upon which 
 the proposed Federal Constitution should be based. 
 
 1. The powers and rights of existing colonies to 
 remain intact, except as regards such powers as it 
 might be necessary to hand over to the Federal Gov- 
 ernment. 
 
 2. No alteration to be made in State boundaries 
 without the consent of the Legislatures of such 
 States, as well as of the Federal Parliament. 
 
 3. Trade between the federated colonies to be 
 absolutely free. 
 
 4. Power to impose Customs and Excise Duties 
 to rest with the Federal Government and Parliament. 
 
 5. Military and Naval Defence Forces to be under 
 one command. 
 
 6. The Federal Constitution to make provision to 
 enable each State to make amendments in its Con- 
 stitution if necessary for the purposes of Federation. 
 
 Further resolutions approved of the framing of
 
 420 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 a Federal Constitution which should establish a 
 Senate and a House of Representatives the latter 
 to possess the sole power of originating money bills ; 
 also a Federal Supreme Court of Appeal, and an 
 Executive consisting of a Governor-General and such 
 persons as might be appointed as his advisers. On 
 the principles embodied in these various resolutions 
 was founded a draft Constitution Bill which was 
 adopted by the Convention, and recommended for 
 the consideration of the Parliaments and people of 
 the seven colonies. 
 
 The Bill of 1891, though universally admitted to 
 have been ably framed, aroused no popular enthu- 
 siasm, and parliamentary sanction to its provisions 
 was not sought in any of the colonies. Federation 
 soon fell into the background of politics, although 
 efforts were made by some of its zealous advocates 
 to keep the movement from utter collapse. 
 
 The most notable of these efforts was the holding 
 of a popular unofficial Conference at Corowa, New 
 South Wales, in May, 1894, at which a resolution 
 affirming the desirability of a speedy Federal Union 
 was enthusiastically carried. This Conference 
 served to arouse public interest and enthusiasm, and 
 was followed by a much more representative gather- 
 ing at Bathurst, New South Wales, which did a great 
 deal to fix public attention on the importance of the 
 movement. The Bathurst Convention, however, 
 did not take place until November, 1896, before 
 which date Mr. G. H. Reid, Premier of New South 
 Wales, had rescued the cause from the obscurity to 
 which it had been relegated by general apathy. It 
 was the opinion of Mr. Reid that a greater measure 
 of success could be secured by enlisting the active 
 sympathies and aid of the electors, and with that
 
 FEDERATION. 421 
 
 object in view lie invited the Premiers of the other 
 colonies to meet in conference for the purpose of de- 
 vising another scheme. At this Conference, which 
 was held at Hobart in the beginning of 1895, all the 
 Australasian colonies except New Zealand were rep- 
 resented, and each of the Premiers present agreed 
 to ask his Parliament to pass a Bill enabling the 
 electors qualified to vote for members of the Lower 
 House, to choose ten persons to represent the colony 
 at a Federal Convention. 
 
 To secure uniformity from the beginning, it was 
 determined by the Premiers, that the Bills embody- 
 ing the determinations of the Conference should be, 
 as far as possible, identical in their terms. Parlia- 
 ment was to be asked to sanction the holding of an 
 Australasian Federal Convention to be submitted, 
 in the first instance, to the local Parliaments for sug- 
 gested amendments, and, after final adoption by the 
 Convention, to the electors of the various colonies 
 for their approval, by means of the referendum. 
 
 Enabling Acts were passed by the Parliaments of 
 "New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, and 
 Tasmania, but Queensland held aloof from the mov&- 
 ment. Delegates to the Convention were elected by 
 the popular vote in New South Wales, Victoria, 
 South Australia, and Tasmania, and by the Parlia- 
 ment of Western Australia. 
 
 The first session of the Federal Convention was 
 opened in Adelaide on the 22nd March, 189 7, Mr. 
 C. C. Kingston, Premier of South Australia, being 
 elected President; and Sir Richard Baker, President 
 of the Legislative Council of South Australia, Chair- 
 man of Committees; while Mr. Edmund Barton, 
 Q.C., one of the representatives of the mother colony, 
 and a gentleman who had taken a deep interest in 
 
 2c
 
 422 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 the movement, acted as Leader of the Convention. 
 The Convention did not formally adopt the 1891 Bill 
 as the basis of its work, but followed the general ar- 
 rangement of that Bill, and accepted many of its 
 provisions. The final meeting of the session was 
 held on the 23rd'April,when a draft Constitution was 
 adopted, and at a formal meeting on the 5th May the 
 Convention adjourned until the 2nd September, hav- 
 ing decided to hold its second session in Sydney. 
 During the four months which intervened the Bill 
 was considered by the Parliaments of the various 
 colonies, and numerous amendments were laid before 
 the second session. While the Conference was sit- 
 ting in Sydney it was announced that Queensland 
 desired to come into the proposed union; and in 
 view of this development, and in order to give fur- 
 ther opportunity for the consideration of the Bill, the 
 Convention again adjourned. The third and final 
 session was opened in Melbourne on the 20th Janu- 
 ary, 1898, but the colony of Queensland was s,till 
 unrepresented; and, after further consideration, the 
 Draft Bill was finally adopted by the Convention on 
 the 16th March, for submission to the people, with 
 the stipulation that, if so accepted by three or more 
 colonies, it should be transmitted to the Queen by the 
 Parliaments of such colonies, with a petition for the 
 necessary legislative enactment. 
 
 The Convention Bill, as it was called, proposed 
 that immediately on the establishment of the Com- 
 monwealth the Federal Government should assume 
 the administration of the departments of Customs 
 and Excise, and, on dates to be afterwards proclaimed, 
 should also take over from the States, Posts and Tele- 
 graphs; Naval and Military Defence; Lighthouses, 
 Lightships, Beacons and Buoys, and Quarantine;
 
 FEDERATION. 423 
 
 and should have exclusive powers of dealing with 
 these services. Power was also given to the Federal 
 authority to deal with a large number of other mat- 
 ters of government, but only the services specified 
 were to be transferred without further legislation. 
 In the event of the Federal law conflicting with an 
 existing State law, it was enacted that the Federal 
 law should prevail. Within two years of the establish- 
 ment of the Commonwealth a uniform Customs and 
 Excise tariff was to be imposed by the Federal Gov- 
 ernment, and intercolonial trade would then become 
 absolutely free. As the transfer of the services speci- 
 fied would leave the federating States with a large 
 deficiency in their local finances, a provision was in- 
 serted in the Constitution making it incumbent upon 
 the Commonwealth to raise from Customs and Ex- 
 cise duties four times the sum actually needed by the 
 Commonwealth for its own purposes in the exercise 
 of the original powers conferred, and to return the 
 excess to the local Treasuries. Other sources of 
 taxation were left open to the Federal Government, so 
 that the Federal Treasurer was not absolutely com- 
 pelled to raise the whole of his requirements through 
 the Custom House. For the first five years after the 
 imposition of the uniform tariff, the surplus revenue 
 raised would be returnable to the colonies in the 
 actual proportions in which it was contributed by 
 them, to be ascertained by a system of accounts, and 
 thereafter in such manner as the Federal Parliament 
 might deem fair. To meet the special circumstances 
 of Western Australia, so largely dependent upon its 
 Custom revenue, that colony was allowed to retain 
 its intercolonial duties, in gradually diminishing pro- 
 portion, for the first five years of the uniform tariff. 
 With the consent of the States the railway systems
 
 424 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 of the colonies might be taken over by the Federal 
 authority; and the Commonwealth was also empow- 
 ered to take over the whole or a portion of the State 
 Debts, applying the surplus revenue collected from 
 Customs and Excise in payment of the interest there- 
 on. An Inter-State Commission was to be established 
 for the proper administration of the Federal laws 
 relating to trade and commerce between the States 
 of the Union. The Federal Parliament would have 
 power to forbid the imposition of preferential or dis- 
 criminating railway tariffs by the federating States, 
 should such tariffs be unjust to other States of the 
 Union, due regard being paid to the financial obli- 
 gations resting upon the States by whom the rail- 
 ways were constructed. The right to a reasonable 
 use of the waters of a river for the purpose of irri- 
 gation or conservation was preserved to the people 
 of the colony through which that river flows. 
 
 The Senate and the House of Representatives had 
 equally the power of originating Bills, with the ex- 
 ception of Bills appropriating revenues or imposing 
 taxation, the right of originating which was reserved 
 to the House of Representatives. The Senate would 
 not have the power of amending these appropriation 
 or taxation Bills, but it might return them to the 
 House of Representatives, suggesting the omission 
 or amendment of any of their provisions, and the 
 House of Representatives might deal with such sug- 
 gestions as it pleased. 
 
 The executive power was vested in a Governor- 
 General to be appointed by the Queen assisted by 
 a Federal Executive Council; and it was provided 
 that the seat of government should be established in 
 Federal territory. The Parliament was to consist of 
 two Houses the Senate and the House of Represen-
 
 FEDERATION. 425 
 
 tatives both to be elected by the people on the fran- 
 chise existing in the various States for the popular 
 body at the time of union the Senate for a period 
 of six years and the House of Representatives for 
 a period of three years. Every State joining the 
 Federation at its inception was entitled to an equal 
 representation of six members in the Senate; and it 
 was provided that half the number of Senators should 
 retire every three years, but should be eligible for re- 
 election. The number of members of the House of 
 Representatives was to be, as near as possible, twice 
 the number of Senators, the States to be represented 
 in proportion to population, and it was provided that 
 no State entering the Federation at the time of its 
 establishment should have a smaller representation 
 than five members. Although the Federal Parlia- 
 ment would have power to alter the franchise on 
 which its members would be elected, yet it could only 
 do so in the direction of the extension of the voting 
 powers of the people, so that in New Zealand and 
 South Australia the right of women to vote could not 
 be withdrawn by the central authority so long as 
 adult suffrage prevailed in those States. Both Sen- 
 ators and Representatives were to receive an annual 
 payment of 400 each. 
 
 In the case of Bills, other than taxation or appro- 
 priation Bills, which had been passed twice by the 
 House of Representatives, and had been twice re- 
 jected or shelved by the Senate, it was provided that 
 the two houses be simultaneously dissolved, and if, 
 after the election, they should still disagree, the 
 members of the two Houses would require to meet at 
 a joint sitting, and the Bill could only become law if 
 adopted by a majority of three-fifths of the members 
 present and voting at the joint sitting.
 
 426 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The judicial power of the Commonwealth was 
 vested in a High Court of Australia. This Court 
 might hear appeals from all Federal Courts or Courts 
 having Federal jurisdiction, from Supreme Court 
 of the States, and from the Inter-State Commission. 
 Appeals to the Privy Council in matters involving 
 the interpretation of the Federal Constitution or of 
 the Constitution of a State were forbidden; but the 
 right of appeal to the Privy Council in other cases 
 was not withdrawn, although the Federal Parliament 
 might make laws limiting the matters in which such 
 appeals might be made. The Federal Constitution 
 could only be amended by an absolute majority of 
 the members of each House of Parliament. It was 
 provided that the amendment should then be sub- 
 mitted to the people by means of the referendum, and 
 should become law only if accepted, first, by a ma- 
 jority of the people of the Commonwealth, and, 
 second, by a majority of the States. 
 
 The Bill for establishing the Commonwealth was 
 warmly received in Victoria, South Australia, and 
 Tasmania, but was viewed somewhat coldly by a sec- 
 tion of the people of New South Wales, and this 
 feeling rapidly developed into one of active hostil- 
 ity, the main points of objection being the financial 
 provisions, equal representation in the Senate, and 
 the difficulty in the way of the larger colonies secur- 
 ing an amendment of the Constitution in the event 
 of a conflict with the smaller States. As far as the 
 other colonies were concerned, it was evident that 
 the Bill was safe, and public attention throughout 
 Australasia was riveted on New South Wales, where 
 a fierce political contest was raging, which it was 
 recognised would decide the fate of the measure for 
 the time being. The fears expressed by its advo-
 
 FEDERATION. 427 
 
 cates were not so much in regard to securing a ma- 
 jority in favour of the Bill, but as to whether the 
 statutory number of 80,000 votes necessary for its 
 acceptance would be reached. 
 
 In the month of June, 1898, the Constitution 
 Bill was submitted by means of the referendum to 
 the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Aus- 
 tralia, and Tasmania. The Enabling Acts provided 
 tha,t in the case of New South Wales the minimum 
 affirmative vote should be 80,000; in the case of 
 Victoria, 50,000; and in the case of Tasmania, 
 6,000; while in South Australia a bare majority of 
 votes was sufficient to secure the acceptance of the 
 Bill. In Victoria, South Australia, and Tasmania 
 the Bill was adopted by large majorities; while in 
 the case of New South Wales there was a majority 
 of 5,367 for the Bill, but as the affirmative vote only 
 reached 71,595, the Bill was regarded as rejected. 
 The results of the voting were as follow: 
 
 Colony. F -the Against the 
 
 BllL BllL Informal 
 
 New South Wales.... 71,595 66,228 137,823 
 
 Victoria ............. 100.520 22,099 122,619 
 
 South Australia ...... 35,803 17,320 53.123 
 
 Tasmania ............ 11,706 2,716 14,422 
 
 The Bill was not submitted to the popular vote in 
 Western Australia, as the Enabling Act of that col- 
 ony provided that Western Australia should only 
 join a federation of which New South Wales formed 
 a part. The other colonies, also, althoiigh legally 
 empowered to federate without New South Wales, 
 tacitly admitted that the adhesion of the mother 
 colony would have to be secured before the final 
 steps could be taken.
 
 28 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The existence of such a strong opposition to the 
 Bill in New South Wales convinced even its most 
 zealous advocates that some changes would have 
 to be made in the Constitution before it could be 
 forced upon the people ; consequently, although the 
 general election in New South Wales, held six or 
 seven weeks later, was fought on the Federal issue, 
 yet the opposing parties seemed to occupy somewhat 
 the same ground, and the question narrowed itself 
 down to one as to which party should be entrusted 
 with the negotiations to be conducted on behalf of 
 the colony, with a view to securing a modification 
 of the objectionable features of the Bill. The new 
 Parliament decided to adopt the procedure of send- 
 ing the Premier, Mr. Reid, into conference, armed 
 with a series of resolutions affirming its desire to 
 bring about the completion of federal union, but 
 asking the other colonies to agree to .the reconsidera- 
 tion of the provisions which were most generally ob- 
 jected to in New South Wales. As they left the As- 
 sembly, these resolutions suggested, first, that, with 
 equal representation in the Senate, the three-fifths 
 majority at the joint sitting of the two Houses 
 should give way to a simple majority, or the joint 
 sitting should be replaced by a provision for a na- 
 tional referendum; second, that the clause making 
 it incumbent upon the Federal Government to raise, 
 in order to provide for the needs of the States, 3 
 for every 1 derived from Customs . and Excise 
 Duties for its own purposes, and thus ensuring a 
 very high tariff, should be eliminated from the Bill ; 
 third, that tne site of the federal capital should be 
 fixed within the boundaries of New South Wales; 
 fourth, that better provision should be made against 
 the alteration of the boundaries of a State without
 
 FEDERATION. 429 
 
 its own consent; fifth, that the use of inland rivers 
 for the purposes of water conservation and irriga- 
 tion should be more clearly safeguarded; sixth, that 
 all money Bills should be dealt with in the same 
 manner as Taxation and Appropriation Bills; and 
 seventh, that appeals from the Supreme Courts of 
 the States should uniformly be taken either to the 
 Privy Council or to the Federal High Court, and 
 not indiscriminately to either; while the House also 
 invited further enquiry into the financial provisions 
 of the Bill, although avowing its willingness ,to ac- 
 cept these provisions if in other respects the Bill was 
 amended. These were all the resolutions submitted 
 by the Government to the House, but the Assembly 
 appended others in respect to the alteration of the 
 Constitution and the number of Senators. These 
 were to the effect that an alteration of the Constitu- 
 tion should take effect if approved by both Houses 
 and a national referendum; that a proposed altera- 
 tion should be submitted to the national referendum 
 if affirmed in two succeeding sessions by an absolute 
 majority in one House, and rejected by the other; 
 and that no proposed alteration transferring to the 
 Commonwealth any powers retained by a State at 
 the establishment of the federation should take effect 
 in that State unless approved by a majority of elec- 
 tors voting therein ; and that the number of Senators 
 should be increased from six to not less than eight 
 for each State. 
 
 The Legislative Council adopted the resolutions 
 with some important amendments, discarding the 
 suggestion in the first resolution for a national refer- 
 endum ; submitting that the seat of the Federal Gov- 
 ernment should be established at Sydney; more 
 clearly preserving the rights of the people of the
 
 4-30 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 colony to the use of the waters of its inland rivers 
 for purposes of water conservation and irrigation; 
 carrying all appeals from the Supreme Courts of 
 the States to the Privy Council; and declining to 
 affirm its preparedness to accept the financial scheme 
 embodied in the Bill. Further, the House suggested 
 that the plan of submitting proposed alterations of 
 the Constitution to the people by means of the refer- 
 endum should be altered, and that no rights or powers 
 retained by a State should be afterwards transferred 
 to the Commonwealth without the consent of both 
 Houses of Parliament of tha,t State. The New South 
 Wales Premier decided to submit the resolutions of 
 both Houses to the other Premiers in conference, at- 
 taching, however, greater importance to those of the 
 Assembly, as embodying the views of a House which 
 had just returned from the country. This confer- 
 ence was held in Melbourne at the end of January, 
 1899, Queensland being represented; and an agree- 
 ment was arrived at whereby it was decided that, in 
 the event of a disagreement between the two Houses 
 of Parliament, the decision of an absolute majority 
 of the members of the two Houses should be final; 
 that ;the provision for the retention by the Com- 
 monwealth of only one-fourth of the Customs and 
 Excise revenue might be altered or repealed at the 
 end of ten years, another clause being added permit- 
 ting the Parliament to grant financial assistance to 
 a State; that no alteration in the boundaries of a 
 State should be made without the approval of the 
 people as well as the Parliament of that State; and 
 that the seat of Government should be in New South 
 Wales, at some place, at least 100 miles from Syd- 
 ney, as might be determined by the Federal Par- 
 liament, and v/ithin an area of 100 square miles of
 
 FEDERATION. 431 
 
 territory to be acquired by the Commonwealth, it 
 being provided that the Parliament should sit at 
 Melbourne until it met at the seat of Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 A special session of the New South Wales Parlia- 
 ment was convened to deal with this agreement, and 
 the Legislative Assembly passed an Enabling Bill, 
 referring the amended Constitution to the electors. 
 The Council, however, amended the Bill so as first 
 to secure the postponement of the referendum for a 
 period of three months ; second, to make it necessary 
 for the minimum vote cast in favour of the Bill to 
 be one-fourth of the total number of electors on the 
 roll; third, to defer the entrance of New South 
 Wales into the Federation until Queensland should 
 come in. These amendments were not accepted by 
 the Assembly, and a conference between representa- 
 tives of the two Houses was arranged; but this 
 proved abortive, and twelve new members were ap- 
 pointed to the Upper House in order to secure the 
 passage of the Bill. This course had the effect de- 
 sired by the Government ; for the Council passed the 
 Bill on the 19th April, an amendment postponing 
 the referendum for eight weeks being accepted by 
 the Assembly. The vote on the Bill was, therefore, 
 taken on the 20th June, 1899, the result of the vot- 
 ing being 107,420 votes in favour of the Bill, and 
 82,741 votes against it. The Bill was consequently 
 adopted by a majority of 24,679 votes. The col- 
 onies of Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and 
 Tasmania also adopted the Amended Bill with large 
 majorities, but the proposal to submit it to the ref- 
 erendum was negatived by the Legislative Council of 
 Western Australia.
 
 4:32 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 The voting in the final referendum in each colony 
 was as follows: 
 
 For. Against. 
 
 New South Wales 107,420 82,741 
 
 Victoria 152,635 9,804 
 
 Queensland 35,181 28,965 
 
 South Australia 65,990 17,053 
 
 Tasmania 13,437 791 
 
 Total votes 374,663 139,354
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 433 
 
 CHAPTEK XL. 
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 ALTHOUGH the five great colonies of Australia, 
 Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Aus- 
 tralia, and Tasmania, had given such an over- 
 whelming majority in favour of federation in their 
 vote on the Commonwealth Bill, more than a year was 
 to elapse before Australia was to front the world as 
 a nation within an empire in the sense in which her 
 sister Canada on the opposite side of the globe is a 
 nation. Meanwhile the people through discussion 
 were being educated to the changed form of govern- 
 ment under which they were to live ; and the empire 
 as a whole, and England in particular, were made to 
 realise for the first time what an important factor 
 the island-continent in the southern seas was in the 
 sum total of Britain's strength. 
 
 The war in South Africa filled the sons of the 
 hardy adventurers who had settled beneath the South- 
 ern Cross with an enthusiasm to show how ready they 
 were to help the Motherland. When they prepared 
 to send volunteers to the seat of war they had no idea 
 how sorely England was going to be pressed, and of- 
 fered their troops as an indication of their willing- 
 ness to bear the burdens of the England that had 
 helped them in so many ways. Reverses came, and 
 Nicholson's Nek, Magersfontein, and Spion Kop, 
 were felt as keenly in Brisbane, in Sydney, in Mel- 
 bourne, in Hobart Town, in Adelaide, and in Perth as
 
 434 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 in London or Liverpool. When the force in South 
 Africa was seen to be inadequate for the work in 
 hand, from end to end of Australia volunteers of- 
 fered themselves, knowing full well, from the death 
 roll of the troops already in the field, the dangers they 
 would have to face. During the progress of the war, 
 what is now the Australian Commonwealth sent more 
 than twice as many troops to the seat of war as the 
 older and more populous colony of Canada; and to 
 the sending of her troops no dissenting voice was 
 heard. From the northern boundaries of the Trans- 
 vaal, where Colonel Plumer was operating, to Cape 
 Town the Australians were scattered, and in whatever 
 duty they were engaged they gave a good account of 
 themselves. 
 
 The following troops were sent from Australia to 
 South Africa during the progress of the war : 
 
 New South Wales : Imperial Bushmen ( Six Com- 
 panies, A F) Mounted Infantry, Infantry, Lan- 
 cers. 
 
 Tasmania: Infantry and Imperial Bushmen. 
 
 Queensland: Mounted Infantry (4 Contingents). 
 
 South Australia: Infantry and Mounted Infantry. 
 
 Victoria: Mounted Infantry (2 Contingents), 
 Mounted Rifles (7 Companies), and Infantry. 
 
 West Australia : Mounted Infantry. 
 
 Troops from Australia were with the Canadians, 
 when the Sunnyside Laager was captured on January 
 1, 1900 the first break in weeks of reverses for the 
 English and the Australians under Colonel de Lisle 
 made the final dash on Pretoria when the demand to 
 surrender was sent in to the Boer capital. Across 
 the southern seas messages flashed from day to day 
 telling of the noble deeds performed on kopje and 
 veldt, some of which won for several of the soldiers
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 4.35 
 
 of the Australian contingents the much coveted Vic- 
 toria Cross. 
 
 So far as Australia was concerned the war came 
 at a most opportune time. It gave her an oppor- 
 tunity of showing England that she was a land from 
 which the Mother-country could obtain something 
 more than mutton and wool and products of the mine. 
 She had men, good and true, who were ready to die 
 in the Empire's war. Her action at this critical mo- 
 ment in England's history vastly increased the re- 
 spect in which she was held hy the Home Govern- 
 ment. It had an even better effect than this. It 
 requires some great event to knit a much scattered 
 people together, a national upheaval or struggle 
 in a common cause. The fact that men from Tas- 
 mania, from New South Wales, from Victoria, from 
 South Australia, from West Australia, and from 
 Queensland were fighting shoulder to shoulder for 
 the Empire in South Africa, and seeing likewise that 
 she had troops in China and a naval coast-defence 
 ship in Chinese waters, made the people throughout 
 the length and breadth of Australia realise the union 
 into which they had decided to enter and prepared 
 them for the inaugural celebration of the Australian 
 Commonwealth which took place January 1, 1901. 
 
 On December 25, Mr. Edmund Barton undertook 
 the task of forming the first cabinet of the new feder- 
 ation. By December 30 the task was completed 
 with the following results: Right Hon. Edmund 
 Barton, Prime Minister and Exterior Affairs ; Hon. 
 Alfred Deakin, Attorney-General and Justice; Sir 
 W. J. Lyne, Home Affairs; Sir G. Turner, Treas- 
 urer; Right Hon. C. C. Kingston, Trade and Cus- 
 toms; Sir James R. Dickson (since deceased), De- 
 fence; Sir J. Forrest, Postmaster -General. These
 
 4:36 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 were all tried men in Australian affairs, and the 
 little ship of state was about to begin her long jour- 
 ney through time with an excellent lot of officers and 
 an exceptionally good captain to guide her through 
 the dangerous rocks and over the troublous seas of 
 politics that every country new or old must perforce 
 of circumstances meet. 
 
 The first Premier of united Australia, the Right 
 Honorable Edmund Barton, P.O., K.C., is worthy of 
 more than passing notice. He is a native of Aus- 
 tralia having been born at the Glebe, Sydney, in 
 1849. When but 30 years old he began his political 
 career, and was elected to the Legislative Assembly 
 of New South Wales. He made his mark in the As- 
 sembly, and was its speaker from January 3, 1883, 
 to January 26, 188Y, in which year he was called to 
 the Legislative Council. After a time he resigned 
 and was returned to the Assembly for East Sydney. 
 He was making his influence felt, and was the At- 
 torney-General for New South Wales in 1889 and 
 again in 1891. All this time he had had much at 
 heart the federation of Australia, and when he retired 
 from the Upper House it was because he was 
 prompted by a desire to help the federationists to- 
 wards a workable scheme of confederation. He be- 
 came more and more enthusiastic as he saw the possi- 
 bilities of a federation, and as a consequence exercised 
 greater vigour in his advocacy of it. Indeed since 
 1897, he had been the recognised leader in the move- 
 ment and has deservedly been given the name of 
 Father of the Commonwealth Bill. 
 
 Great preparations were made for the inaugural 
 celebration at Sydney; the streets and public build- 
 ings were gorgeously decorated, handsome arches 
 were erected at different points in the city, the crowd
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 437 
 
 that assembled was the largest that ever came to- 
 gether in any colony of England. It is said that 
 fully a million people were in and about the city on 
 this momentous day. The streets were packed and 
 the procession that wound through the vast crowd 
 was at once a magnificent spectacle and finely repre- 
 sentative of the democratic spirit of Australia. The 
 trades, the societies, the police, the chancellors and 
 members of the senates of universities, judges of the 
 supreme courts and a long line of troops stretched 
 for several miles through the cheering crowd who 
 for the first time in their lives realised what the 
 word Australia meant. At last they had a country 
 which would be to them what Canada for thirty odd 
 years has been to the Canadians. When Lord Hope- 
 toun, the first Governor-General of the Common- 
 wealth, reached the pavilion a salute of nineteen guns 
 told the assembled throng that the final scene in the 
 long-looked-for federation was about to take place. 
 
 The formal inaugural services began with a prayer 
 by the Archbishop. This was a unique prayer, in a 
 way, for while it was delivered by a church dignitary 
 it was written by Baron Tennyson, the son of the 
 late Laureate. It was a simple, direct prayer, sin- 
 cere and free from verbiage. 
 
 " We beseech Thee, grant unto this union Thy 
 grace and heavenly benediction, that a strong people 
 may arise to hallow Thy name, to do justly, and to 
 love mercy. 
 
 " We pray Thee to make ' our Empire always a 
 faithful and fearless leader among the nations in all 
 that is good, and to bless our beloved Queen and those 
 who are put in authority under her, more especially 
 in this land. 
 
 " Let Thy wisdom be their guide, strengthen them 
 2 D
 
 438 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 in uprightness, and vouchsafe that all things may 
 be so ordered and settled upon the best and surest 
 foundations, that peace and happiness, truth and 
 justice, religion and piety may be deepened and in- 
 creased among us." 
 
 After the prayer, the hymn based on the verse in 
 Psalms, " Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob 
 for his help," was sung and the dense crowd with 
 thoughts big with hope for the future rolled out in 
 a mighty chorus, the words: 
 
 " O God, our Help in ages past, 
 Our Hope for years to come." 
 
 After the religious services were finished Mr. E. G. 
 Blackmore, C.M.G., Clerk of the South Australian 
 Parliament, and Clerk of the Australian Federation 
 Convention read the Proclamation, the Letters Pat- 
 ent and the Governor-General's Commission. Lord 
 Hopetoun then took the oath of office and signed it 
 at a table presented by the late Queen to her am- 
 bitious colony. Mr. Blackmore next read the Procla- 
 mation by the Governor-General stating that he had 
 taken the oath and assumed office. The members of 
 the Federal Ministry were then sworn in, and after 
 being congratulated by Lord Hopetoun on the great 
 honour done them in being privileged to help launch 
 a new nation he read two messages from Mr. Cham- 
 berlain. The first was as follows : 
 
 " The Queen commands me to express through you 
 to the people of Australia Her Majesty's heartrfelt 
 interest in the Inauguration of the Commonwealth 
 and her earnest wish that, under Divine Providence, 
 it may ensure the increased prosperity and well-being 
 of her loyal and beloved subjects in Australia." 
 
 Amid the roar of guns, the blare of trumpets, and
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 439 
 
 the shouting of the people the new nation was "born 
 the youngest nation in the world, with the exception 
 of her sister island New Zealand. As a community 
 settled by Europeans it might be said to have been 
 born with the century. Seventy years ago a mere 
 handful of adventurers were dwelling beside a penal 
 settlement of twenty thousand inhabitants, and Aus- 
 tralia was a name abhorred in England. In the mid- 
 dle of the century it was only a farming and grazing 
 country with a sparse population and a few scattered 
 farms. To-day it has four millions of people, the 
 most democratic of the race, and in many respects 
 as enterprising and energetic as any in the world, 
 not even surpassed by the citizens of the United 
 States. 
 
 Years ago Mr. James Brunton Stephens, the " Poet 
 of Queensland " sang a powerful poem of hope en- 
 titled " The Dominion of Australia." Long before 
 the politicians had begun to work towards a federal 
 union the enthusiastic poet saw its possibilities and 
 sang as follows: 
 
 " Not yet her day. How long ' Not yet ? ' 
 There comes the flush of violet ! 
 And heavenward faces, all aflame 
 
 With sanguine imminence of morn, 
 Wait but the sun-kiss to proclaim 
 
 The Day of the Dominion born. 
 Prelusive baptism ! Ere the natal hour 
 Named with the name and prophecy of power. 
 
 " Already here to heart's intense 
 A spirit force, transcending sense, 
 In heights unsealed, in deeps unstirred 
 
 Beneath the calm, above the storm, 
 She waits the incorporating word 
 
 To bid her tremble into form, 
 Already, like divining-rods, men's souls 
 Bend down to where the unseen river rolls."
 
 440 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 His dream was realised after many years, and 
 now he was able to celebrate in his " Australia Fed- 
 erata " the natal hour of the commonwealth. 
 
 " The Charter's read ; the rites are o'er ; 
 The trumpet's blare and cannon's roar 
 Are silent, and the flags are furled ; 
 
 But so not ends the task to build 
 Into the fabric of the world 
 
 The substance of our hope fulfilled 
 To work as those who greatly have divined 
 The lordship of a continent assigned 
 As God's own gift for service of mankind. 
 
 O People of the onward will, 
 
 Unit of Union greater still 
 
 Than that to-day hath made you great, 
 
 Your true Fulfilment waiteth there, 
 Embraced within the larger fate 
 
 Of Empire ye are born to share 
 No vassal progeny of subject brood, 
 No satellite shed from Britain's plentitude, 
 But orbed with her in one wide sphere of good ! " 
 
 Amid the chorus of rejoicing over the federal 
 union a very few voices were heard forecasting evil. 
 Chief among these, according to his custom of looking 
 for weaknesses and spots and of foreshadowing the 
 worst, was Mr. Stead. 
 
 " It remains," he said, " to be seen how far a 
 community which is born with a golden spoon in its 
 mouth and which has been reared upon whipped 
 cream and syllabubs, can rise superior to the temp- 
 tations which assault most prosperous states. The 
 Australian has been the spoiled child of destiny. 
 The habit of self-indulgence begotten by the sun- 
 shine of prosperity will not make him very amenable 
 to discipline, nor is there much trace of a high re- 
 ligious principle and lofty moral ideal among her 
 people as a whole. That there are good men and
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 441 
 
 excellent women in every colony goes without say- 
 ing ; but parental discipline is lax. The larrikin 
 (rough or rowdy) has reproduced under the sunny 
 sky of Australia the worst features of the London 
 hooligan, and it is not so many years ago since the 
 violence accompanying the trade disputes led to some 
 misgivings as to the peaceful evolution of society in 
 those regions." 
 
 For a nation which has had such a mushroom 
 growth, and considering the fact that a host of ad- 
 venturers and gamblers poured into her provinces in 
 the great gold days, and that she was for a time used 
 as the dumping ground of the prisons of England, her 
 ideals are remarkably high as the constitution just 
 framed after years of calm discussion proves. 
 
 The possibilities for her future are tremendous. 
 The great continent is as yet for the most part unex- 
 plored, and untold wealth no doubt lies waiting in 
 the interior for the hand of the discoverer. She has, 
 too, an advantage over any other nation on the globe. 
 Her population is homogeneous British and Irish 
 throughout and is free from the difficulties Canada 
 finds in the French question and the United States 
 in her negro population. The native races are now 
 so weak that they cause the Government no trouble. 
 British ideas, British institutions, can be developed 
 in their purity in Australia; and it is not at all 
 likely that any large bodies of European emigrants 
 will risk the long voyage to the South to make for 
 themselves homes in the Island-Continent, not so 
 long, at any rate, as they can find an abiding place 
 in Canada and the United States. Again it is only 
 necessary to look at the map of the world to see the 
 possibilities of Australia. She has never had to 
 repel invasion as has Canada on several occasions,
 
 442 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 and she is remote from the world of wars. It 
 would seem that the Anglo-Saxon race will in time 
 dominate the world, and, as the representative of 
 that great race in the East, she will, as her trade 
 grows and develops, exercise a greater influence 
 probably than any of the European powers. New 
 Guinea, Borneo, the Islands of the Pacific, China, 
 even India and South Africa, will no doubt be sup- 
 plied largely from her factories and her farms. Al- 
 ready she has a small iron-clad fleet patrolling her 
 seas, and in time her flag will be seen in every port 
 in the East. 
 
 No young nation ever began her career with 
 brighter prospects, and the men at the helm can be 
 trusted to guide her safely on her way. There is of 
 course a danger that internal troubles may arise in 
 time, and that New South Wales with its twenty- 
 six members in the House of Representatives and 
 Victoria with its twenty-three may act selfishly and 
 against the interests of the smaller provinces. An 
 attempt has been made in the constitution to prepare 
 for such a contingency; but it is not to be greatly 
 feared. The same danger has since 1867 faced the 
 people in the Dominion of Canada, and yet the 
 smaller provinces have never been made to suffer 
 seriously by the selfishness of the more populous and 
 older ones. Everything looks bright for Australia, 
 and the opening day of the year and the century 
 ushered her upon a career which will no doubt be 
 both brilliant and for the ennobling of the human 
 race. 
 
 A few brief days after the inaugural services were 
 over the Empress-Queen died, her closing days 
 clouded with the knowledge that so many of her sub- 
 jects had gallantly given their lives for the Empire
 
 THE AUSTRALIAN COMMONWEALTH. 443 
 
 in South Africa ; and brightened by the thought that 
 the provinces of another child of her empire had 
 united their strength for national and imperial ends. 
 It had been planned before her death that the Duke 
 and Duchess of Cornwall and York should go to 
 Australia for the opening of the first parliament, and 
 for a time it was feared that their visit might be 
 indefinitely postponed; but King Edward VII. in 
 his speech from the throne February 14, 1901, made 
 the announcement that : " The establishment of the 
 Australian Commonwealth was proclaimed in Syd- 
 ney on the first of January, with many manifes- 
 tations of popular enthusiasm and rejoicing ; " and 
 that his son's visit to Australia should not be aban- 
 doned and that it should be extended to Canada and 
 New Zealand. 
 
 On May 6, the Duke and Duchess of Cornwall 
 and York reached Melbourne, and on the 9th, for- 
 mally opened in that city the First Parliament of 
 United Australia. The opening ceremony was 
 quite as magnificent as the inaugural ceremony of 
 January 1 at Sydney. The Duke read the speech 
 from the throne and closed by reading King Edward's 
 congratulatory telegram. He then declared Parlia- 
 ment to be opened. As he finished, the same enthusi- 
 astic scenes that took place in January were repeated. 
 
 The members of both Houses then took the oath, 
 and the parliaments of the Australian Common- 
 wealth were ready to do business. This day of re- 
 joicing closed with the singing of " Rule Britannia " 
 and " God Save the King," and Australia officially 
 began a new epoch in her history.
 
 4:44 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 CHAPTEE XLI. 
 
 GENERAL PEOGEESS OF AUSTEALIA AND TASMANIA 
 
 STATISTICS. 
 
 SETTLEMENT in Australia began with the arrival, 
 in 1788, of 1,030 persons in what is usually known 
 as the first fleet. At the end of twenty years the 
 population did not exceed 10,000, nor was any 
 great progress made until the country got rid of the 
 incubus of penal transportation. The cessation of 
 transportation was followed by a large influx of 
 free immigrants, but so great were the difficulties 
 of reaching Australia, that it was not until 1852, 
 the year following the discovery of gold, that the- 
 population reached half a million. Commencing 
 with the date of first settlement the growth of pop- 
 ulation is shown in the following statement; the 
 odd periods have been chosen as they were in most 
 instances census years. 
 
 1788 1,030 1861... ..1,141,563 
 
 1801 6,508 1871 1,650,471 
 
 1821 35,610 1881 2,245,448 
 
 1831 79,306 1891 8,159,085 
 
 1841 211,095 1899 3,721,095 
 
 1861 403,889 
 
 It is a noteworthy fact that the years of the 
 greatest prosperity have also been those when the 
 country received the largest accession of popula- 
 tion from abroad; and though it cannot be said that
 
 STATISTICS. 445 
 
 tha influx of population brought about improved 
 industrial conditions, it is certain that the stream 
 of immigration which was induced by the prosperity 
 of the colonies tended to keep alive and stimulate 
 the conditions without which their progress would 
 have been slow and unsatisfactory. 
 
 No characteristic of Australasian development 
 has been more marked than the concentration of 
 population in the cities; this is especially the case 
 with the continental colonies, where considerably 
 more than one-third of the population is massed in 
 the metropolitan areas. The one redeeming point 
 about a very undesirable condition of affairs is, 
 that these cities have not grown out of the rural 
 population. It is true that the rural growth has 
 been slower than the metropolitan, but the increase 
 in the latter has been due to the retention of the 
 incoming population, chiefly emigrants from the 
 British Isles, and not to any considerable drain 
 upon the rural districts. 
 
 Melbourne is the largest Australian city, and 
 though not so populous as it was a few years ago, 
 it is still one of the greatest cities of the Empire; 
 in round numbers its population may be set 
 down at 470,000. Sydney, the capital of New 
 South Wales, and the oldest Australian city, contains 
 about 427,000 people, and therefore is second to 
 Melbourne in population, but in point of the value 
 of property Sydney stands as the second city of 
 the Empire, Melbourne ranking fourth, being ex- 
 ceeded only by London, Sydney, and Glasgow. 
 
 The following is the population of the capital 
 cities of Australia at the beginning of 1899, and 
 at various earlier dates. .With Adelaide is in- 
 cluded the population of Port Adelaide, number-
 
 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 ing about 21,000; the Port is merely an extension 
 of the city, although under different municipal 
 governments. 
 
 City. 
 Sydney. . . 
 
 1841. 
 
 . . 29,973 
 
 1851 
 53,934 
 
 1871. 
 137,776 
 
 1891. 
 383 283 
 
 1899. 
 427 000 
 
 Melbourne . . . 
 Adelaide 
 
 .. 4,479 
 .. 8,480 
 
 23,143 
 14,577 
 
 206,780 
 42 744 
 
 490,896 
 153 896 
 
 470,000 
 168 000 
 
 Brisbane 
 
 500 
 
 2,543 
 
 15 029 
 
 93 657 
 
 108 000 
 
 Perth 
 
 
 
 5,244 
 
 8,447 
 
 40000 
 
 Hobart. . , 
 
 
 
 19.092 
 
 33.224 
 
 40.500 
 
 As showing the importance of the two chief cities 
 of Australia it may be mentioned that the assessed an- 
 nual value of property in Sydney even under the pres- 
 ent reduced valuations is higher than in any city in 
 Great Britain, London alone excepted ; while the an- 
 nual value of Melbourne is only surpassed by Lon- 
 don, and to a small extent by Glasgow. The annual 
 value of Sydney is 5,019,230, and of Melbourne 
 4,168,182, while that of Glasgow, the second city 
 of the United Kingdom, is 4,208,000 and of Liver- 
 pool 3,775,045. 
 
 The Australian people are mainly of British and 
 Irish origin. Of the 3,136,769 persons whose birth- 
 places were ascertained at the census of 1891, 2,179,- 
 206 were of Australasian birth, while 470,399 were 
 natives of England and Wales, 226,949 of Ireland, 
 and 123,138 of Scotland, and 13,356 of other Brit- 
 ish possessions. The natives of Continental Europe 
 and the United States numbered 87,009, and the 
 Chinese 36,032. Excluding the Chinese, who are not 
 permanent settlers, and who do not intermarry with 
 the general population, it may be claimed that over 
 95 per cent of the population of the six colonies are 
 of British or Irish birth or descent. 
 
 The conditions of life are vejy favourable in Aus-
 
 STATISTICS. 447 
 
 tralia, the excess of births over deaths being abou,t 18 
 per thousand inhabitants. For the United Kingdom, 
 it is a little over 11 per thousand; while the average 
 European rate hardly reaches 10 per thousand. 
 
 The first records of shipping arriving or departing 
 from the Australian colonies are dated 1832. In 
 that year the tonnage entered and cleared amounted 
 to 148,000. The growth of trade since then has been 
 marvellous, for .taking the whole period covered by 
 the following table the annual increase has been seven 
 per cent, which is considerably greater than that of 
 the population. 
 
 The tonnage of shipping entered from and cleared 
 for Great Britain and other ports outside of Aus,tral- 
 asia has very largely increased : 
 
 1841 307,000 1881... ... 3,173,168 
 
 1851 432,000 1891 6,489,846 
 
 1861 1,128,026 1898 8,057,435 
 
 1871 1,458,589 
 
 Equally rapid has been the increase in the inter' 
 colonial shipping entered and cleared: 
 
 1841 230,000 1881 4,936,856 
 
 1851 453,000 1891 9,745,367 
 
 1861 1,297,122 1898 12,233,694 
 
 1871 2,233,054 
 
 In point of trade, Sydney is the fourth seaport of 
 the British Empire, being exceeded in the value of 
 its imports and exports by London, Liverpool, and 
 Hull; Melbourne ranks sixth, following Glasgow, 
 which is below Sydney. In the matter of tonnage 
 entering, both Sydney and Melbourne stand very 
 high, but not so high, as in regard to the value of 
 their trade. Adelaide, Brisbane, and Fremantle 
 are also considerable ports, as well as Newcastle,
 
 448 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 Rockhampton, Townsville, Port Pirie and several 
 others, as is shown by the following statement giving 
 the value of trade in the year 1898 : 
 
 Port. Imports. Exports. 
 
 
 
 Sydney 18,364,539 21,630,664 
 
 Newcastle 409,527 1,782,634 
 
 Melbourne 14,530,388 14,986,315 
 
 Geelong 130,754 346,946 
 
 Brisbane 3,333,740 2,490,001 
 
 Rockhampton 622,061 2,434,287 
 
 Townsville 875,175 2,616,511 
 
 Bundaberg 93,754 466,123 
 
 Maryborough 164,194 98,200 
 
 Mackay 107,533 382,878 
 
 Adelaide 3,826,071 4.262,336 
 
 Port Pirie 330,162 1,085,254 
 
 Wallaroo 94,009 211,968 
 
 Port Augusta 11,970 174,058 
 
 Port Darwin 113,960 182,596 
 
 Fremantle and Perth. . . . 4,623,426 2,006,831 
 
 Albany 233,426 2,092,892 
 
 Geraldton 233,261 495,889 
 
 Hobart 615,199 626,542 
 
 Launceston 659,832 549,234 
 
 Strahan 229,534 416,036 
 
 The value of exports and imports is greatly relied 
 upon by statisticians as giving a measure of a coun- 
 try's progress. The external trade of Australia 
 that is, the value of imports and exports taken to- 
 gether was : 
 
 
 
 1841 4,072,000 1881 57,016,879 
 
 1851 8,463,600 1891 74,019,462 
 
 1861 35,705,698 1898 72,119,925 
 
 1871 89,000,279 
 
 The fall shown between 1891 and 1898 is due to a 
 decline in values, and not to a decrease in the quan- 
 tities of goods exchanged, for the quantity of goods
 
 STATISTICS. 449 
 
 dealt with was actually one-fifth larger in the latter 
 than in the former year. 
 
 The trade between the colonies suffered also from 
 the fall in values, but the volume was well main- 
 tained. The imports and exports, taken together, 
 were : 
 
 
 
 1841 820,000 1881 31,176,177 
 
 1851 1,282,600 1891 54676,577 
 
 1861 12,658,451 1898 56,418,788 
 
 1871 21,113,528 
 
 From the earliest days wool has been the great 
 staple of Australia. The wool clip is nearly all ex- 
 ported, and the total for each period was : 
 
 
 
 1861 75,019,800 1891 590,699,800 
 
 1871 175,169,400 1898 495,266,950 
 
 1881 307,951,600 
 
 Australia is eminently a pastoral country. It 
 contains nearly one-fourth of the sheep of the world, 
 as well as more cattle and horses in proportion to the 
 population than any other country. 
 
 Sheep. Cattle. Horses. Swine. 
 
 1861 20,980,123 3,846,554 431,695 319,147 
 
 1871 40,072,955 4,277,228 701,530 586,017 
 
 1881 65,078,341 8,010,991 1,088,029 703,188 
 
 1891 106,419,751 11,029,499 1,574,795 845,741 
 
 1898 80,789,777 10,443,065 1,673,988 858,130 
 
 The total value of pastoral property, excluding 
 land devoted to grazing, is 193,648,000, while the 
 value of stock alone is 93,554,000. Australia has 
 long maintained with Europe a trade in preserved 
 meats, but the more important industry of chilled or 
 frozen meat was initiated in 1882. The value of 
 meat products exported was :
 
 450 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 
 
 1881 327,540 1898 1,718,300 
 
 1891 403,080 
 
 The description of the export was : 
 
 Chilled or frozen Preserved 
 
 Beef. Mutton and Lamb. Meats. 
 
 cwt. cwt. lb. 
 
 1881 9,980 17,742,560 
 
 1891 52,609 261,718 10,967,917 
 
 1898 579,810 610,506 30,900,440 
 
 Dairying for export is also an industry of recent 
 establishment, and one which has the promise of a 
 great future. The growth of the trade may be 
 gauged from the following figures, showing the ex- 
 port of butter to the United Kingdom : 
 
 lb. lb. 
 
 1881 745,617 1894 27,706,987 
 
 1891 4,193,809 1898 19,876,236 
 
 The area devoted to the plough has increased 
 nearly sevenfold since 1861 : 
 
 Acres Acres 
 
 uuder crop. uuder crop. 
 
 1861 1,269,042 1891 5,365,685 
 
 1871 2,345,922 1899 8,421,624 
 
 1881 4,489,607 
 
 The principal crop is wheat, which covers con- 
 siderably more than half the area in cultivation. 
 The following figures, which include permanent 
 grasses, relate to the year 1899 : 
 
 Acres. Acres. 
 
 Wheat for grain . . . 5,468,674 Vines 59,777 
 
 Oats 374,708 Hay 1,507,005 
 
 Maize 306,878 Other crops 511,317 
 
 Other grain crops.. 87,504 Permanent grasses. 773,864 
 
 Potatoes 105,761 
 
 Total 9,195,488
 
 STATISTICS. 451 
 
 Though exporting in an average season not more 
 than nine million bushels of wheat, Australia ranks 
 sixth amongst the export countries of the world. 
 
 The present annual yield of the mines may be set 
 down at 16,500,000, and the average for the last 
 forty-seven years has been somewhat over ten millions 
 sterling a year. From 1852 to 1898 there has been 
 a total production of 476,303,413, thus made up : 
 
 
 
 Gold 857,781,082 Tin 18,150,767 
 
 Silver and silver- Coal 37,653,863 
 
 lead 29,009,130 Other minerals. .. 4,278,843 
 
 Copper 29,429,728 
 
 The production at various periods was : 
 
 
 
 1871 8,611,000 1891 12,047,060 
 
 1881 9,789,000 1898 16,643,463 
 
 The value of the produce of the mines, fields, 
 farms, forests, and workshops for 1896-7 averaged 
 26 per head of total population. In previous years 
 this figure has been greatly exceeded. The following 
 are the total values of production for the years 
 named : 
 
 
 
 1871 46,700,000 1891 96,086,000 
 
 1881 71,116,000 1897 92,605,000 
 
 The fall from 1891 to 1897 is due to a fall in 
 prices, as the actual qualities produced have largely 
 increased. Distributing the return for 1897 under 
 the generally recognised branches of production, 
 the value assignable to each was :
 
 452 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 
 
 Agriculture 16,541.000 
 
 Pastoral industries 28,216,000 
 
 Dairying, etc 8,681,000 
 
 Mineral production 16,643,000 
 
 Forests and fisheries 2,259,000 
 
 Other industries 24,547,000 
 
 Total 96,887,000 
 
 Compared with the population, the primary pro- 
 duction of Australia is not exceeded, or even closely 
 approached by any other country; and in regard to 
 total value is surpassed only by the United Kingdom, 
 France, Germany, Austria, Eussia, Italy, and Spain, 
 in Europe, and by the United States of America. 
 
 The revenue of the governments of the six colonies 
 exceeds 27,000,000, which is more than one-fourth 
 of that of Great Britain and Ireland, although the 
 population of the colonies is hardly more than one- 
 tenth. In Australia, however, practically all the 
 railways belong to the State, and the revenue from 
 this source is about 10,000,000. The total public 
 revenue was : 
 
 
 
 1861 5,494,976 1891 25,717,988 
 
 1871 7,927,649 1898-9 27,425,399 
 
 1881 16,754,740 
 
 The principal sources of revenue may be sum- 
 marised as follows : 
 
 
 
 Taxation Customs and Excise 7,281,947 
 
 Other 2,497,262 
 
 Railways and Tramways 10,001,357 
 
 Posts and Telegraphs 2,155,666 
 
 Public Lands 3,358,897 
 
 Other Revenue 2,130,226 
 
 Total 27,425,355
 
 STATISTICS. 453 
 
 The public debt of the colonies is very heavy, aver- 
 aging over 51 per inhabitant; however, the greater 
 part of it was incurred for the purpose of providing 
 funds for the construction of railways and other 
 revenue-yielding works. The following shows the 
 use to which the borrowed money was put : 
 
 
 
 Railways 121,623,846 
 
 Water Supply and Sewerage 22,142,205 
 
 Telegraphs and Telephones 3,278,801 
 
 Other Works and Services 36,140,574 
 
 Total 183,185,426 
 
 The annual interest and charges upon the public 
 debt amount to 7,463,000, while the net revenue 
 obtained from works constructed from loan funds is 
 about 4,118,000, leaving a net liability of 3,345,- 
 000 per annum. The increase of Australian in- 
 debtedness may be traced in the following figures : 
 
 
 
 1861 11,299,190 1891 155,117,773 
 
 1871 30,139,880 1899 191,556,934 
 
 1881 66,306,471 
 
 The deposits in ordinary banks and savings in- 
 stitutions now reach a total of 110,671,617, 
 which, however, is somewhat smaller than in 1891, 
 owing to losses and withdrawals consequent on the 
 financial panic of May, 1893. The total deposits 
 in all banks were : 
 
 
 
 1861 15,161,909 1891 120,905.294 
 
 1871 25,044,123 1898 110,671,617 
 
 1881 61,584,903 
 
 The increase over the whole period has been mar-
 
 454 PROGRESS OF AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 vellous, and the accumulation of 30 per head is 
 not equalled in any other country. 
 
 Australasia now boasts railways open to the extent 
 of 12,656 miles, nearly all of which are the property 
 of the State. The length of line just mentioned is 
 equal to one mile to every 235 square miles of ter- 
 ritory, and to every 294 inhabitants. Compared 
 with population, Australia is better served than even 
 the United States, and equally served with the Do- 
 minion of Canada. The mileage open was : 
 
 1861 243 1891.... . 10,394 
 
 1871 1,030 1898 12,656 
 
 1881 4,192 
 
 Equally rapid has been the progress of telegraphic 
 construction, but the following figures must be ac- 
 cepted as approximate only : 
 
 1861 4,100 1891 39,176 
 
 1871 10,500 1898 43,256 
 
 1881 25,604 
 
 The number of messages received and despatched 
 in 1898 was, in round numbers, 7,000,000, or 1.9 
 per inhabitant. In the United Kingdom the average 
 is 2.1. No other country approaches these figures. 
 
 The facilities offered by the Post-Office are very 
 largely availed of. About 186 million letters and 
 post-cards, 91 million newspapers, and 33 million 
 packets are annually carried, figures which, when 
 taken together and compared with the population, 
 are largely in excess of those of any other country; 
 but in the matter of letters alone Australia is sur- 
 passed by the United Kingdom and the United 
 States. 
 
 In regard to social condition, there has been ft
 
 STATISTICS. 455 
 
 very material improvement in the population of those 
 colonies. From 1861 to 1898 population increased 
 between three and four-fold, while serious crime, as 
 evidenced by convictions in the Superior Courts, has 
 only increased one-fourth. The spread of education 
 has been very marked. Out of every 10,000 children 
 between 5 and 15 years, there could read and write 
 in:- \ 
 
 1861 4,637 1881 7,058 
 
 1871 5,911 1891 7,565 
 
 If the marriage registers be turned to, still more 
 convincing testimony to the spread of education will 
 be found. 
 
 Out of 10,000 persons married the illiterates 
 were : 
 
 1861.. , 2,460 1891.. .. 234 
 
 1871 1,349 1898 165 
 
 1881 556 
 
 And even of the present small residuum of illit- 
 erates, the larger number were not born in Australia.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX TO EVENTS IN 
 AUSTRALASIA. 
 
 1770 Captain Cook in the Endeavour landed at Botany 
 Bay and took possession of the country in the 
 name of King George III. 
 
 1772 Captain Marion du Fresne and Captain Crozet voy- 
 aged from Nantes in the Mascarin and Castree to 
 Tasmania. 
 
 1783 New Act passed authorising transportation. 
 
 1788 Governor Phillip arrived with the first Fleet in 
 
 Botany Bay. 
 
 " Formal proclamation of New South Wales. 
 
 " Settlement of Norfolk Island by Lieutenant Philip 
 
 Gidley King with fifteen men and six convict 
 women. 
 
 " Jean Francois Galup de la Perouse visited Botany 
 
 Bay. Father Le Receveur, naturalist of the ex- 
 pedition, died and was buried there. 
 
 1791 King George's Sound discovered by Captain George 
 
 Vancouver in the Discovery and Chatham. 
 " Captain Bligh passed Cape York in the launch of the 
 
 Bounty. 
 
 1792 Admiral Bruni D'Entrecasteaux in the Recherche 
 
 and L'Esperance searches for La Perouse. 
 1794 John Hayes in the Duke and Duchess visits Tasmania. 
 1795-6 Voyage of Dr. George Bass and Matthew Flinders in 
 
 the Tom Thumb. 
 
 1797 Lieutenant Shortland discovered the Hunter River. 
 
 1798 Discovery of coal at the Hunter River. 
 
 " Discovery of Bass' Straits by Dr. George Bass and 
 
 Matthew Flinders in the Norfolk. 
 1801-2 Matthew Flinders in the Investigator completed his 
 
 survey of the Australian coasts. 
 " Captains Baudin and Hamelin in the French ships 
 
 Geographe and Naturaliste visit the Australian 
 
 coast. 
 1802 Discovery and survey of Port Phillip by Captain 
 
 John Murray and Surveyor Grimes in the Lady 
 
 Nelson,
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 457 
 
 1803 Abortive attempt at settlement in Port Phillip. 
 
 Lieutenant Colonel Collins formed a penal settle- 
 ment at Port Phillip, which was soon abandoned. 
 
 1804 Insurrection of convicts in New South Wales sup- 
 
 pressed by the military. The ringleaders, eight 
 in number, were executed. 
 
 1804 Tasmania founded under the name of Van Diemen's 
 
 Land. 
 
 1805 John Mac Arthur commenced sheep- farming at Cam- 
 
 den. Immediate success. 
 
 1808 Governor Bligh deposed. The Government taken 
 over by Major Johnson commanding the New 
 South Wales Corps. 
 
 1812 Tasmania declared a separate colony. 
 
 1813 Wentworth, Lawson, and Blaxland succeeded in 
 
 crossing the Blue Mountains. The Bathurst 
 Plains discovered. 
 
 1814 Country round Berrima explored by Hamilton Hume 
 
 and his brother. 
 
 " Civil Courts introduced in New South Wales. Ellis 
 
 Bent first judge of the Supreme Court. 
 
 1815 First Australian inland river discovered by Deputy 
 
 Surveyor Evans and named Macquarie. 
 1817 Lakes George and Bathurst, and the Goulburn 
 
 Plains, discovered by Messrs. Meehan and Hume. 
 1817-19 John Oxley, Surveyor-General of New South Wales, 
 
 explored the Lachlan and Macquarie. 
 
 1820 First Australian Constitution (New South Wales). 
 " Partial separation of Tasmania from New South 
 
 Wales. 
 
 1823 Pandora's Pass, in the Liverpool Range, discovered 
 
 by Allan Cunningham. 
 
 " Surveyor-General Oxley discovered the Brisbane 
 River. 
 
 1824 Settlement on Melville Island. 
 
 " Penal settlement at Moreton Bay. 
 
 Hamilton Hume and W. H. Howell make a success- 
 ful overland journey from Sydney to Port Phillip. 
 
 1825 Free immigration introduced on the recommenda- 
 
 tion of Mr. Commissioner Bigge. Grants of land 
 were offered to the immigrants as inducement 
 and convicts assigned to them. 
 
 ' ' Major Locky er made a boat excursion up the Brisbane 
 
 River. 
 
 1826 Major Lockyer founded a settlement at King George's 
 
 Sound. 
 
 Penal settlement proclaimed at Moreton Bay. 
 Discovery of the river Darling by Sturt. 
 
 1827 Allan Cunningham discovered the Darling Downs,
 
 458 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 
 
 and the Dumaresque, Gwydir, and Condamine 
 Rivers. 
 
 1828 Second Constitution of New South Wales. 
 Captain James Stirling and Charles Fraser, in H.M.S. 
 
 Success, surveyed the coast of Western Australia 
 from King George's Sound to Swan River. 
 
 1829 Settlement at Swan River. 
 
 1829-30 Captain Sturt sailed down the Murray explored the 
 Murrumbidgee. 
 
 1830 Black war in Tasmania. 
 
 1831 Major Bannister crossed from Perth to King George's 
 
 Sound. 
 
 " Lord Ripon's Land Regulations passed. 
 
 1834 The South Australian Act. 
 
 1834 The Henty Brothers settled at Portland Bay. 
 
 1835 Expeditions to Port Phillip by John Batman. Fawk- 
 
 ner's expedition to Port Phillip. 
 
 1836 Adelaide founded by Sir John Hindmarsh, first Gov- 
 
 ernor of South Australia. 
 " Captain Hobson, in H.M.S. Rattlesnake, surveyed 
 
 and named Hobson's Bay. 
 " Sir Thomas Mitchell led an expedition through 
 
 Australia Felix. 
 " First formal recognition of squatting in New South 
 
 Wales. 
 " Proclamation of Port Phillip District. 
 
 1837 Captain George Grey with Lieutenant Lushington 
 
 explored the North- West coast. 
 
 1838 Assignment system discontinued in New South 
 
 Wales. 
 
 " Massacre of forty blacks by white settlers at Myall 
 
 Creek seven of the offenders hanged. 
 
 1839 Second expedition by Captain George Grey in 
 
 Western Australia. 
 
 " George Hamilton and party journey overland from 
 
 Sydney to Melbourne. 
 
 1840 Discovery of Gippsland by Angus McMillan. 
 1840-41 E. J. Eyre travelled along the Great Australian Bight 
 
 to King George's Sound. 
 
 1841 Abolition of transportation to New South Wales. 
 
 " Separation of New Zealand from New South Wales. 
 
 1842 Discovery of the Kapunda Mine by Captain Bagot. 
 
 1842 Discovery of the splendid Burra Burra copper mines. 
 " First representative constitution of New South 
 
 Wales. 
 
 " Crown Land Sales Act (Imperial). 
 
 " Proclamation of Moreton Bay settlement (Brisbane). 
 
 1843 Great commercial crisis in New South Wales. Fail- 
 
 ure of the Bank of Australia. Great lottery of
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 459 
 
 Bank property. Enormous decrease in values 
 sheep sold at 6d. a head, cattle at 3s. 6d. per head. 
 
 1843 Count Paul Strzelecki explores Gippsland in Mc- 
 Millan's tracks. 
 
 1844-45 Great Central Desert expedition under Captain 
 
 Charles Sturt. 
 
 " First expedition of Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt from 
 
 Darling Downs to Port Essington. 
 
 1845-46 Sir Thomas Mitchell's Barcop expedition. 
 
 1846 Leichhardt's second expedition, 
 
 " First expedition of A. C. Gregory and his brother in 
 
 Western Australia. 
 
 1847 First expedition of E. Kennedy to determine the 
 
 final course of the Victoria River. 
 
 1848 Leichhardt's third and last expedition. 
 
 " Exploration of river Gascoyne, Western Australia, 
 
 by A. C. Gregory and party. 
 " First Australian University opened at Sydney. 
 
 1849 Commencement of transportation to Western 
 
 Australia. 
 
 " Attempted revival of transportation to New South 
 Wales. The convict ship Hashemy was sent on 
 from Melbourne to Sydney. The landing of the 
 convicts was opposed with great indignation. 
 Eventually the convicts were assigned to the 
 squatters on the Darling Downs. 
 
 1850 The construction of the fiiet Australian railway line 
 
 begun. 
 
 1851 Victoria proclaimed a separate colony. 
 
 " Gold discovered in Victoria and New South Wales. 
 
 " Customs establishments transferred to Colonial 
 
 Governments. 
 
 1852 Gold revenue transferred to Colonial Exchequer. 
 
 1853 Abolition of transportation to Tasmania. 
 " Colonial Mints established. 
 
 " Disturbances on the Victorian gold-fields. 
 
 " The name Van Diemen's Land changed to Tasmania. 
 
 1854 The Eureka Stockade. 
 
 1855 The first railway opened line between Sydney and 
 
 Parramatta. 
 
 Sir Thomas Mitchell died near Sydney. 
 " New scheme for the government of the gold-fields 
 
 introduced. 
 
 1856 Responsible Government introduced into all the 
 
 colonies except Western Australia. 
 
 1858 Three colonies Victoria, South Australia, and New 
 South Wales agree to suspend collection of bor- 
 der duties during three years. Victoria abrogated 
 the agreement within the terin.
 
 460 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 
 
 1858* J. McDouall Stuart's first expedition. 
 1859 J. McDouall Stuart's second expedition. 
 " Queensland proclaimed a separate colony. 
 
 1860-61 Burke and Wills expedition. Death of Burke, Wills 
 
 and Grey. 
 1861-62 J. McDouall Stuart's third expedition he crossed 
 
 the Continent from South to North. 
 1865 Total abolition of transportation to the Australian 
 
 colonies. 
 1867 Discovery, by three brothers named Morgan, of the 
 
 Mount Morgan Gold-field. The land bought by 
 
 them for 140 is now worth 18,000,000. 
 
 1869 John Forrest's first expedition to Lake Barlee, 
 
 Western Australia. 
 " J. McDouall Stuart died in England. 
 
 1870 John Forrest travelled the Great Bight from Perth to 
 
 Adelaide. 
 " Representative Government granted to Western 
 
 Australia. 
 
 Federal Conference held at Melbourne. 
 " British troops withdrawn from New South Wales 
 
 and Victoria. 
 
 1871 First railway in Tasmania opened from Launceston 
 
 to Deloraine. 
 " Tin discovered at Mount Bischoff, Tasmania. 
 
 1872 W. C. Wentworth died. 
 
 " Great Overland Telegraph Line, Port Augusta, South 
 
 Australia, to Port Darwin, Northern Territory, 
 was completed. 
 
 " Gold discovered on the Palmer River, Queensland. 
 
 " Cable was laid from Port Darwin, Northern Terri- 
 
 tory, to Java. 
 Ernest Giles' first expedition in Western Australia. 
 
 1873 Free, secular, and compulsory education introduced 
 
 in Victoria. 
 
 1873 Rich yields of gold at Hill End, New South Wales. 
 " Melbourne and Wodonga railway was opened. 
 
 " Second expedition of Ernest Giles. 
 
 " Major Warburton travelled from Alice Springs to 
 the Oakover River in Western Australia. 
 
 1874 John Forrest explored from the Murchison to the 
 
 Overland Telegraph Line. 
 Fiji Islands acquired by Great Britain. 
 " Triennial Parliaments instituted in New South 
 
 Wales. 
 Adelaide University founded. 
 
 1875 Giles conducted the Elder expedition from Peake 
 
 Station, South Australia, to North- West coast of 
 Western Australia.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 461 
 
 1875 State aid to religion abolished in Victoria. 
 
 " Free Secular Education Act passed in Queensland. 
 
 1876 Turganini, last of Tasmanian natives, died. 
 
 1877 Gold discovered at Beaconsfield, Tasmania. 
 
 " Overland Telegraph Line, Adelaide to Perth, opened. 
 
 " Upper House, Victoria, rejected Payment of Mem- 
 
 bers Bill. 
 
 High Commissioner of Western Pacific appointed. 
 1877-78 Chinese Immigration Restriction Act of Queensland 
 passed. 
 
 1878 Black Wednesday. Dismissal in Melbourne of hun- 
 
 dreds of civil servants. Petition made to the 
 Imperial Government to assist the colony in its 
 constantly recurring constitutional difficulties 
 Mr. Graham Berry the spokesman. The Secretary 
 of State refused to interfere at the request of one 
 House only. 
 " Melbourne and Hobson's Bay Railway was purchased 
 
 by Government. 
 
 Secular and compulsory education established in 
 South Australia. 
 
 1879 Ernest Favene led the Queenslander trans-conti- 
 
 nental expedition from Blackall to Powell's Creek, 
 on the Overland Telegraph Line. 
 
 " Discovery of the Ord and Margaret Rivers by Alex- 
 
 ander Forrest. 
 
 Garden Palace Exhibition at Sydney was opened. 
 
 First Artesian Bore in Australia sunk, at Killara, 
 New South Wales. 
 
 Alex. Forrest discovered the Fitzroy River, Western 
 Australia. 
 
 New South Wales Mint first issued silver coin. 
 
 1880 Fortnightly mail service with England commenced. 
 " Melbourne University was opened to women. 
 
 " Compulsory Secular Education Act passed in New 
 
 South Wales. 
 " First International Exhibition, Melbourne, was 
 
 opened. 
 
 " Federal Conference at Melbourne and Sydney. 
 
 " Australian frozen meat was first delivered in London. 
 
 1881 Poll tax was imposed on Chinese. 
 
 " Nugget of 1,393 oz. was found at Temora, New South 
 
 Wales. 
 
 1883 Queensland Government sent officer to take posses- 
 sion of New Guinea. Annexation repudiated by 
 Lord Derby. 
 
 Sydney and Melbourne connected by railway. 
 " Charles Rasp discovered silver at Broken Hill, New 
 
 South Wales.
 
 462 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 
 
 1883 Public Library, Museum and Art Gallery established, 
 
 Adelaide. 
 
 1884 British Protectorate declared over New Guinea. 
 
 1885 Australian Contingent for Soudan sailed from 
 
 Sydney. 
 " Silver-lead discovered at Mount Zeehan, Tasmania. 
 
 1886 Federal Council began first session, Hobart, Tasma- 
 
 nia Victoria, Tasmania, Queensland, Western 
 Australia, and Fiji represented. 
 " South Australia celebrated its jubilee. 
 
 1887 Bulli Colliery, New South Wales, explosion, 81 lives 
 
 lost. 
 
 " Australian Conference in London. 
 
 " Gold was discovered at Yilgarn, Western Australia. 
 
 1888 Centenary of landing of Captain Phillip celebrated 
 
 throughout New South Wales. 
 
 ' Weekly mail service to England commenced. 
 
 " Imperial Defences Act passed. 
 
 " Second Victorian International Exhibition was 
 
 opened at Melbourne. 
 
 1889 Cable was laid, Broome, Western Australia, to Ban- 
 
 joewangie, Java. 
 
 " Hawkesbury River Railway Bridge, New South 
 
 Wales, was completed. Direct railway communi- 
 cation was established between Brisbane and 
 Adelaide. 
 
 1890 Gold was discovered at Mount Morgan, Queensland. 
 " Federal Conference, Melbourne. 
 
 Great strike disturbances at Sydney. 
 
 " Responsible Government granted to Western Aus- 
 tralia. 
 " University of Tasmania established. 
 
 1891 Australian Federal Conference met at Sydney. 
 " Auxiliary Squadron arrived in Port Jackson. 
 " Colonies entered Universal Postal Union. 
 
 1892 Run on Savings Bank, Sydney, occurred. 
 Public education made free in South Australia. 
 
 " Bayley discovered rich reefs at Coolgardie, Western 
 
 Australia. 
 
 1893 The great flood at Brisbane. 
 
 Financial panic at Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, 
 
 many banks suspended payment. 
 " " One man one vote " came into force in New South 
 
 Wales. 
 " Cable, Bundaberg, Queensland, to New Caledonia, 
 
 was opened. 
 
 1894 Live cattle first shipped from Sydney to Great 
 
 Britain. 
 
 1895 Conference of Premiers at Hobart.
 
 CHRONOLOGICAL INDEX. 463 
 
 1895 Live cattle shipped from Brisbane to London. 
 
 " Governor Sir R. W. Duff, of New South Wales, died. 
 
 " Federation Enabling Act passed by various colonies. 
 
 " Public Service Act passed in New South Wales. 
 
 " Subsidies to denominational schools withdrawn in 
 
 Western Australia. 
 
 1896 State Bank, under State Advances Bill, established 
 
 in South Australia. 
 
 " Calvert exploring expedition from Adelaide, South 
 
 Australia. 
 
 " Queensland rejected the Australian Federation En- 
 
 abling Act. 
 
 1897 Chief Justice Way of South Australia appointed 
 
 member of the Judicial Committee of the Privy 
 Council. 
 Australian Federal Convention met at Adelaide. 
 
 " Australasian premiers and colonial troops were 
 
 present in England at the Record Reign celebra- 
 tions. 
 
 " Australian Federal Convention met at Sydney. 
 
 1898 Federal Convention third session at Melbourne. 
 Coolgardie Exhibition. 
 
 44 Government notified that in future Japanese labour- 
 
 ers would not be allowed to land in Queensland 
 without passports from their Government. 
 
 " Hon. T. J. Byrnes, Premier of Queensland, died. 
 
 " Right to coin silver and bronze tokens conceded to 
 
 Australian Mints the profits therefrom to be re- 
 tained by local Governments. 
 
 1899 Earl Beauchamp appointed Governor of New South 
 
 Wales and Lord Tennyson Governor of South 
 Australia. 
 
 " Conference of Premiers on Federation held at Mel- 
 
 bourne. 
 
 " Ten members appointed to Legislative Council in 
 
 order to carry Commonwealth Bill. 
 
 44 Referendum on Commonwealth Bill taken in five 
 
 colonies Victoria, South Australia, New South 
 Wales, Tasmania, and Queensland. 
 
 44 Departure of Australian contingents for South 
 Africa. 
 
 1900 The Australian Commonwealth Consummated. 
 
 1901 Inaugural ceremonies, Jan. 1. 
 
 " First parliament opened by the Duke of Cornwall 
 
 and York, May 9.
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Abolition of Convict Transportation, 
 31 et seq. ; of Transportation to 
 W. Australia, 261. 
 
 Aborigines in Tasmania, 213, 214, 227 
 et seq.; in W. Australia, 264. 
 
 Agriculture, Increase in, 390 ; re- 
 newed attention to, 374. 
 
 Alienation Bill, Crown Lands, 55. 
 
 Archbishop, Prayer of the, 437. 
 
 Arthur, Colonel, in Tasmania, 218 
 et seq. 
 
 Assassination of Duke of Edinburgh 
 attempted, 77 et seq. 
 
 Australia, Settlement in Population 
 of, 444 et seq. 
 
 Austin, Mr. R., explorations of, 293 
 et seq. 
 
 Australasian Federal Convention, 
 First, 421, 422. 
 
 Australian Federation strongly sup- 
 ported in Tasmania, 251, 252. 
 
 B. 
 
 Barton, Rt. Hon. Edmund,P. C. K. C., 
 435-430. 
 
 Bankruptcy, Universal, in Australia, 
 350 et seq. 
 
 Bank of Australia, Failure of, 852. 
 
 Bank, Crisis, 1893, 393. 
 
 Bathurst Convention, 420. 
 
 Batman, John, Pastoral Association 
 of, 133, 134, 135. 
 
 Bentley, Trial of, 151, 152. 
 
 Blackmore, Mr. E. G., reads procla- 
 mation, 438. 
 
 Brisbane, Gov., Reforms of, 25 
 et seq. 
 
 Burton, Insolvency Law of, 350. 
 
 Bull! Coal Mine Disaster, 101. 
 
 Bushrangers, Troubles from, 64 
 et seq. 
 
 Bushranging Act, 64, 65. 
 
 Bushranging, 380, 381 ; in Tasmania, 
 217, 223 et seq. 
 
 Border Duties Bill, 85 et seq. 
 
 Bourke, Sir Richard, 80, 137, 188. 
 Burke, Robert O'Hara, Explore. 
 
 tions of, 156 et seq. 
 Bowen, Sir George, in Queensland, 
 
 178. 
 
 C. 
 
 California, Migration of settlers to, 
 359. 
 
 Capital, Lack of, in Victoria, 390. 
 
 Captain Cook's discovery of New 
 South Wales, Anniversary of, 84. 
 
 Carrington, Lord, 99, 100. 
 
 Chinese, Influx of, causes trouble, 
 878. 
 
 Chinese Restriction Act, 96. 
 
 Chinese Immigration Question, 96, 
 97,98. 
 
 Chinese Troubles, 57 et seq.; in 
 Queensland, 188. 
 
 Church and School Lands Question, 
 60 et seq. 
 
 Clothing, Cost of. 348, 349. 
 
 Colony established in New South Wales, 
 11 et sey. 
 
 Commercial Crisis, 33 et seq. 
 
 Conference at Melbourne, 430; at 
 Corowa, 420. 
 
 Constitution Act, 40 et seq. 
 
 Constitution Bill, 427 ; opposition to 
 the, in New South Wales, 428 
 et seq.; amended, adoption of, in 
 N. S. Wales, 431, 432 ; final vote 
 on, 432. 
 
 Convention Bill, 422 et seq. 
 
 Convicts refused a landing by colo- 
 nists, 85 et seq ; sent to Western 
 Australia, 260 ; last attempt to 
 transport to Australia, 356 et seq. 
 
 Cook, Capt. James, Discoveries of, 4 
 et seq. 
 
 Cowper, Mr. Charles, 54 et seq. 
 
 Criminals, Transportation of, from 
 England to Australia, 9 et seq. 
 
 Crown lands, Revenue derived from, 
 841.
 
 466 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Currency, 321 et seq.; Improvement 
 
 of the, 836 et seq. 
 Customs Union, Attempt to form a, 
 
 83,86. 
 
 D. 
 
 Dalley, Right Hon. W. B., 103. 
 Darling, Sir Charles, in Victoria, 158 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Deakin, Hon. Alfred, 435. 
 Denison, Sir William, 49. 
 Dickson, Sir James R., 435. 
 Difficulties faced by Colonists, 15 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Distress m South Australia, 196, 197. 
 Discoveries, First, 1 et seq. 
 Discoveries, Early, in Australia, 3 
 
 et seq. 
 
 Division of New South Wales, 37. 
 Duff, Sir William Robert, 110, 112. 
 Duke of Edinburgh, Visit of, 76 et seq. 
 Duke and Duchess of Cornwall and 
 
 York, at Melbourne, 443. 
 
 E. 
 
 Educational System, Modification 
 of, 75 et seq. 
 
 Education, Spread of, 455. 
 
 Edward VII., King, Announcement 
 of, 443. 
 
 Electric Telegraph, First, 46 : es- 
 tablished in W. Australia, 266, 
 267. 
 
 Emigration to Paraguay, 104, 105. 
 
 Employment, Difficulty in finding, 
 887. 
 
 Empress-Queen, death of, 442. 
 
 Enabling Acts, 421, 427 ; of N. 8. W., 
 431. 
 
 Exchange, Method of, in Australia, 
 390. 
 
 Explorations in Western Australia, 
 295 et seq. 
 
 Exports from Australia, 353, 854. 
 
 Exports and Imports of Western 
 Australia, 404, 405 ; of Austra- 
 lasia, 447 et seq. 
 
 Eyre, Mr. E. J., explorations of, 291. 
 
 F. 
 
 Federation, Question of, in Queens- 
 land, 184, 185. 
 
 Federal Council, First, 418. 
 
 Financial Crisis, 110, 111. 
 
 First settlement in Western Austra- 
 lia, 254. 
 
 First Parliament, opening of, 443. 
 
 Fiscal policy, A change in, 377. 
 
 Floods, Disastrous, 45. 
 
 Floods and Droughts, Suffering re- 
 sulting from, 376. 
 
 Forrest, J. & A., Explorations of, 297 
 ttseq. 
 
 Forrest, Sir J., 435. 
 
 Franchise granted to women in 
 
 South Australia, 208. 
 Franklin, Sir John, in Van Diemen's 
 
 Land, 232, 233. 
 
 G. 
 
 Gipps, Introduction of New Consti- 
 tution by, 32. 
 
 Gold Fever, Men brought to Austra- 
 lia by, 364 et seq. 
 
 Gold Fields, Rush to the, 280-285. 
 
 Gold Rush to Queensland, 47 ; ef- 
 fects of, generally, 868, 869 ; ef- 
 fects on Industries, 309. 
 
 Gold Discovered, 87 et seq. ; in 
 Western Australia, 279; in 
 Queensland, 181, 182. 
 
 Gold Discovery, Benefit of, to 
 Western Australia, 408 ; dis- 
 covery of ,in Queensland, 181, 188. 
 
 Grant, Lieut, Discoveries of, 119. 
 
 Grey, Capt., in South Australia, 196 
 et seq. 
 
 Grey, Captain George, Discoveries of, 
 290. 
 
 H. 
 
 Hampton, Gov., in Western Austra- 
 lia, 261. (See Tasmania.) 
 
 Hardships of the Colonists in 
 Western Australia, 256. 
 
 Henty, Thomas, and family, in 
 western Australia, 127, 128, 129. 
 131. 
 
 Hindmarsh, Gov. of South Australia, 
 193, 194. 
 
 House Rents, 335 ; cost of, 368. 
 
 Hobart, Conference at, 421. 
 
 Hopetoun, Lord, takes oath of 
 office, 438. 
 
 Hovell, Captain, discoveries of, 123 
 et seq. 
 
 Hume, Hamilton, Discoveries of, 123 
 et seq. 
 
 Immigrant Agents, Appointment of, 
 
 56. 
 Immigration, Assisted, 327; system 
 
 of, 35 ; encouragement of, 340 ; 
 
 policy of, a vigorous one in 
 
 Queensland, 395. 
 Inaugural Celebration, 1901, 435, 436 
 
 et seq. 
 Intercolonial, Conference, Questions 
 
 discussed at, 379. 
 
 Industrial development by acquisi- 
 tion of Territory, 824. 
 Industrial development in New South 
 
 Wales, 382, 383. 
 Industrial Periods in Australia, 310 
 
 et seq. 
 Industries, Chief, 362,
 
 INDEX. 
 
 467 
 
 Kelly Gang, Capture of, 161, 168, 163. 
 King, Governor, 19 et seq. 
 Kingston, Kt. Hon. C. C., 435. 
 
 Labour, Scarcity of hired, 327, 844 
 et seq.; conditions of, 894; em- 
 ployment of coloured, 343-344 ; 
 Difficulties, 412 et seq.; free, in- 
 troduced, 342. 
 
 Labour Party, 105 et seq. 
 
 Labour Troubles, 102 et seq. 
 
 Labourers, Rations issued to, 881 ; 
 good condition of, 384; great 
 prosperity among, 389, 390 ; 
 wages of in South Australia. 
 400 
 
 Lands, Crown, Renting of, 340. 
 
 Land Grants to Colonists in Tas- 
 mania, 247 ; system of making, 
 838 et seq. 
 
 Latrobe, Gov. of Victoria, 144 et seq. 
 
 Legislative Council, First, 28. 
 
 Leichhardt, Dr. Ludwig, explora- 
 tion of, 173, 174 et seq. 
 
 Loans, floated in England, 390. 
 
 Logan, Captain, Discoveries of, 168. 
 
 Lyne, Sir W. J., 435. 
 
 M. 
 
 Hacquarie, Gov., Reforms of, 25 
 et seq. 
 
 Manufactured Articles, 335. 
 
 Martin, Sir James, 100. 
 
 Master and Servants Act, 342, 343. 
 
 Melbourne, Population of, in- 
 creased, 872. 
 
 Miners, Troubles among the, 865. 
 
 Mitchell, Major, Discoveries of, 129, 
 130, 181, 132. 
 
 Hurray, Lieut., Discoveries, 119, 120. 
 
 N. 
 
 National Australasian Convention, 
 
 418, 419. 
 
 New Guinea, Annexation of, 187. 
 New South Wales Act, 875. 
 
 O. 
 
 Occupation Bill, Crown Lands, 55. 
 
 Occupations, Early, of Colonists, 18. 
 
 Oxley, Surveyor-Gen. John, ex- 
 plorations of, in Queensland, 166 
 et seq. 
 
 P. 
 
 Phillip, Captain, First Governor, 16 
 et seq. 
 
 Port Phillip, Colonisation of, 186, 1ST, 
 138 ; Separation of, from New South 
 Wales, 141, 142. 
 
 Prisoners, Disposal of, 325 et seq.; 
 Assigning of, to settlers ceased, 
 342. 
 
 Property, Value of, increased, 392. 
 
 Provisions, Price of, 832, 334, 346, 347, 
 861,368. 
 
 Public Debt, 458. 
 
 Public Instruction Act, 95. 
 
 Public Works, Policy of Mr. Henry 
 Parkes, 90, 91 ; construction of 
 in New South Wales, 883 ; ex- 
 penditure on, 385. 
 
 Q. 
 
 Queensland, becomes a separate 
 Colony, 51 ; explorations in, 171 
 et seq ; separation of from N. S. 
 W., 178 ; system of government 
 of, 178 ; coloured labour in, 
 395 ; industrial conditions in- 
 fluenced in, 396, 397 ; exports 
 and imports of, 895, 397, 398. 
 
 Railroads, Construction of, 373, 380 ; 
 extent of, 454. 
 
 R. 
 
 Religious equality granted by Sir 
 Richard Bourke, 80. 
 
 Rents, House, 347 et seq. 
 
 Responsible Government, First In- 
 troduced, 48 et seq. ; in Victoria, 
 155, 156 ; in Tasmania, 244, 245 ; 
 granted to W. Australia, 276. 
 
 Revenue, Sources of, 452. 
 
 Riots, Gold, in Victoria, 149 et seq. 
 
 Robertson, Mr. John (afterwards 
 Sir), 53 et seq., 90, 94 ; death of, 
 109, 110. 
 
 Robertson Lands Acts, 55 et seq.; effects 
 of, 83. 
 
 Rum Trade, Struggle to suppress, 
 21 et seq. 
 
 8. 
 
 Settlement, Pastoral, 370, 871. 
 South Australia, First settlement of, 
 
 190; prosperity of, 854, 355; 
 
 finance, condition of, 398. 399. 
 System of Government in, 202, 203. 
 South Africa, Australian volunteers 
 
 for, 433 et seq. 
 Soudanese Australian Contingent, 
 
 Speculations, Reckless, of 1340, 851. 
 
 Statistics, 444 et seq. 
 Parkes, Sir Henry, 90 et seq., 115, 116. Stead, Mr., 440. 
 
 Pearls found in Western Australia, Steam, Communication by, with 
 203, Great Britain, 363, 373,
 
 468 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Stephens, James Brunton, 439. 
 
 Stirling, Captain, in Western Aus- 
 tralia, 258. 
 
 Strike, The Great, 406 etseq.; Broken 
 Hill, 414. 
 
 Stuart, McDouall, Explorations of, 
 BM. 
 
 Sydney Agricultural Society, 84, 92, 
 93. 
 
 T. 
 
 Tallow, Discovery of, 853. 
 
 Tasman, Abel Jan, Discovers Tas- 
 mania, 209. 
 
 Tasmania, Early Discoveries in, 209 
 et seq.; railroads in, 248, 249, 250 ; 
 finance, condition of, 400 , 401 ; 
 mining developments in, 401. 
 
 Telegraph Line, Construction of, 
 377, 378. 
 
 Tennyson, Baron, 437. 
 
 Thomas, Capt. J. W., at Eureka 
 Stockade, 152 et seq. 
 
 Tin discovered in Tasmania, 249. 
 
 Trade and communication in Aus- 
 tralia, Conditions of, 318. 
 
 Transportation finally abolished, 36. 
 
 Transportation of Convicts to Van 
 Diemen's Land, 233 et seq. 
 
 Transportation to Tasmania ceases, 
 240. 
 
 Treason, Felony Act, 71, 
 
 Turner, Sir G., 435. 
 
 V. 
 
 Victoria, Discovery of gold in, 143 
 etseq.; prosperity of , 163 etseq.; 
 wages paid in, 388, 389 ; progress 
 of, 393. 
 
 W. 
 
 Wages, Condition of, in Queens- 
 land, 896; increase in, 845, 884; 
 improved rate of, in Western 
 Australia, 403 ; decrease in, 379, 
 387 ; paid in 1839, 345 ; paid in 
 Southern districts, 1849-1851, 359, 
 860; paid to labourers in first 
 years of Brisbane's administra- 
 tion, 329 et seq.; in 1853-4, 366, 
 367 ; paid in Tasmania, 401. 
 
 Weld, Frederick A., in Western Aus- 
 tralia, 265. 
 
 Wentworth, Wm. Charles, Death of, 
 87. 
 
 Western Australia, railroads in, 272, 
 273 ; physical features of, 287 ; its 
 wealth in gold, 402; a penal 
 colony, 402. 
 
 Wilmot, Sir Eardley, in Van Dio- 
 men's Land, 235 et seq. 
 
 Windeyer, Mr. Justice, 112. 
 
 Y. 
 
 Young, Sir John, 51, 54. 
 Young, Sir Henry Fox, in Tasmania, 
 842 et seq. 
 
 Edinburgh : 
 Printed by W. & B. Chambers, Limited,
 
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