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SOUTHERN
REGIONAL LIBRARY
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"AGILITY
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CAI'T. ( IIAltr.KS S'lTirr. WIKi DI'^coNKHKn AND
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THE "NILE" OF AUSTRALIA
NATURE'S GATEWAY TO THE
INTERIOR.
A PLEA FOR THE GREATER UTILIZATION OF THE MURRAY
AND ITS TRIBUTARIES.
BY
DAVID J. GORDON,
Author of The Central State : South Australia, its History, Progress, and
Resources.
ADELAIDE :
w. K. Thomas & Co., Printers,
Register, Observer, and Journal Offices, Grenfell Street.
1906.
Unroll the great M^p of /Vustralia, and the eye i^ at
once arrested by the dominant feature ot\ the geographical
face of the Continent.
It i^ the vast river system which spreads out irj a
network of veins over the eastern half of Hu^tralia, and
culminates ir| a great artery coursing dowq the centre
to the 3outherri ^za.
To render permanently navigable three great river^
for a distance of 3,000 mile^ inland; to provide a plen-
tiful and regular supply of water to vast territories
sometime^ smittcq by drought; to throw opeq fresh field^
for home seeker^ i^ a policy which should appeal to the
imaginatiof) a^ well a^ to the patriotism of Jlustralians.
HE
709.5
ACKNOWLEDGMENT.
The Execiitive Committee of the River Murray League
desires to thank the Proprietors of TJie Register, The Observer,
and The Evening Jmiriml for permission to re -print the series
of articles which first appeared in those newspapers under the
title of "The 'Nile' of Australia."
This pamphlet is published by The River Murray
League of South Australia in the hope th*at it wiil serve to
arouse interest in a question of supreme importance to the
whole of the people of Australia.
542790
UB SETS rlAt>STi=;f\LiM
The River Murray League of South Australia
■'*''*^=ii-'+'-§t^^^^^*^
THE POLICY OF THE LEAGUE IS :—
A complete system of Locks and Storage Basins,
such as will provide permanent navigation of the
MURRAY, DARLING, and MURRUMBIDGEE
Rivers, and ensure an ample supply of Water to
meet all the requirements of Irrigation.
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE:
Messrs. Simpson Newlaud (President), A. W. Piper, G.
Fowler Stewart, David J. Gordon (Vice-Presidents) ; Hon.
T. Price (Premier of S.A.), Hons. George Brookman, M.L.C.,
and P. McM. Glynn and E. L. Batchelor (Members of the
House of Representatives, Federal Parliament), Capt. G.
Ritchie, M.P., James Gartrell, E. H. Bakewell, G. J. R
Murray, W. Culross, F. W. Young, and L. Bonython.
SECRETARY:
A. E. HJ EVANS,
Victoria Buildings, Grenfell Street, Adelaide.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
Australia's Great River System.
PAGE 1.
Birth of the ■ Murray— Waterways Ready to Serve Producers
and Traders — Bearers of Burdens and Fertilizing Agents — Water Is
Wealth — Lessons from the Past — History Repeats Itself — The Ancients
as Irrigationists and Inland Navigators — Mutual Rights of Irrigation
and Navigation Recognised by the Pharaohs — Faith in the Future —
National Policy the True Policy — The Greatest Question in Australia
—A Birthright that Cannot be Sold— The Motto "Use" Not "Waste."
The Murray and Its Tributaries.
PAGE 4.
"One of the Great Streams of the World"— 3,000 Miles of Inland
Navigation — The Main Drainage Channel of the Continent — An Ex-
tensive Watershed — Course of the Murray — A Sluggish Stream that can
be Easily Locked — Feeders of the Main Stream — Oceans of Fresh Fer-
tilizing Water Coursing Through the Continent — Riparian Rights — New
Aspect Under Federation — A Land Without Limit — Idyllic River Sce-
nery — A Bishop's Rebuke and Prayer — Australia Not a Dry and Arid
Country — The Rivers a "Gracious Gift of Providence."
How Captain Sturt Discovered and Explored the Murray.
PAGE 8.
A Gallant Band of Explorers— The Problem of an Inland Sea— Two
Expeditions— Sturt the Real Founder of South Australia- Empire
Builders on the March — A Bold Move — Afloat in a Whaleboat — Con-
victs as Comrades — Pioneer Inland Navigators — From the Murrum-
bidgee to the Murray — Junction of the Darling and MuiTay — Hoisting
the Flag — Christening the Main Stream — The Voyage Down Stream —
The Sea — Where River and Ocean Meet — Disappointment for the
Explorers— The Retreat— lA Long Pull Against the Current— Trouble-
some Natives — Memorable and Record Voyage — Last Days of Sturt
— "On the Brow Unadorned by Man Death Gently Laid a Crown of a
Great Life's Fulfilment."
\/
VI. CONTENTS.
Opening the Rivers to Navigation and Trade.
PAGE 12.
Founding of the Pi-ovii'.ce of South Austa'alia — Dispute Regarding
the Site of the Capital — Claims of Encounter Bay — The Murray Re-
garded as a Second "Mississippi" — Early Settlers in the River Valley
—Attempts to Navigate the Murray Mouth — Governor Young's First
River Voyage — His Encouragement of Inland Navigation — C-apts.
Randell and Cadell — The "Mary Ann," "Lady Augusta," and "Eurelia"
— First River Fleet — The Start from Goolwa — Voyage of the "Lady
Augusta" — Incidents of the Inaugural Trip — Meeting of Cadell and Ran-
dell — The First Cargo — Station Owners Present Addresses to Grovemor
Young and Capt. Cadell — Official Despatch to the Duke of Newcastle
—Return of the "Lady Augusta" to Goolwa — OflBcial Banquet and His-
torical Speeches.
Negotiations between River States.
PAGE 19.
An 'Alleged'' Problem — Artificial. Not Natural, Difficulties — Nego-
tiations Between States 1858-1906 — Royal Commissions and Confe-
rences — Compromises and Agreements — Views of Prominent Australian
Ivegislators — Rights of South Australia Recognised — Royal Commission
of Experts — River Murray League — Broad and Comprehensive Policy
— The Sydney Compact— Will the Parliaments of the Three States
Ratify It?
Irrigation.
PAGE 26.
IiTigation an "Insurance Against Drought" — Striking Examples from
~ Renmark and Mildura — Arid Countries the Richest Countries When
Watered — Object Lessons from India, Egypt and Western America-
Sir William Willcocks on Iriigation and Navigation — A "Quick Step"
Movement for the Commonwealth — How Irrigation Gave Prosperity
to the "Arid West" — Views of the Engineering Experts — Where In-i-
gation Pays in Australia — Wealth in the Marshes — Views of Professor
Wallace — Compensation Works ar Insurance Against Failure — Mutual
Cladms of Irrigation and Navigation.
Navigation— The Rivers as Highways of Commerce.
PAGE 32.
A Policy Thiat Appeals to Patriotic Australians — Rivers Free to All
Traders— <Jeniiau Industrialism Built Upon Inland Navigation — Ai'tlfi-
cial Waterways in the Fatherland — Railways Versus Rivers — Impor-
tance of Cheap Transport— Prophecy by Mr. Andrew Carnegie — Oanals
on the Continent- Joining Great Rivers— Attempts to Cripple River
CONTENTS. Vll.
Trade in Austi'alia — The Weapon of Preferential Rates — Without
Navigation Settlement on Darling is Doomed — Open Rivers Mean a
Saving of 25 to 50 Per Cent, to Producers — A "Glorious Inheritance"
—An, Upsti-eam State Exp<»rt Supports Inland Navigation — An "Ocean
of Fresh Water" Mixing with the Sea — A Boon to Australia — Upstream
Opinions in Favoui' of Open Highways — Royal Commission and Its
Admissions Regarding River Trade — The I'ederal Compact and Naviga-
tion — Production and Trade Should go Hand in Hand.
Locks, Weirs, and Storage Basins.
PAGE 41.
Lakes as Great Natural Storage Basins — Suggestions Made by Ex-
perts—Lake Victoria and its Capacity- The "Problem of Storage" as
Vital in Austi-aUa as in America — Storage Would Give Sufficiency of
Water — Upstream Premiers Admit Necessity for Locking — Cost of Pro-
posed Works — Nature has Provided "Thousands of Miles of Storage
Excavation" — "Evolution Not Revolution" — Increasing Opportunities
for Irrigation.
Wealth in the Valleys of the Rivers.
PAGE 46.
The River "Nature's Choicest Gift"-The Egypt of the Pharaohs-
Great American Desert Made Fruitful — The Austi'alian Who is an
Expansionist — Australia's Record of Production — The "Craven Fear of
Being Great"— Industrial Growth Measured by Agricultural Expansion
—Swamps and Flats Awaiting the Plough— Opinion of Professor Per-
kins Regarding Fertility of Valley Soil — Cost of Raising Water.
Should the Lakes be Reclaimed.
PAGE 50.
Why Stiu-t Named the I^akes "Alexaudrina" and "Albert"— The Tri-
bute Paid by the River— Case for Reclamation— Lake Albert Scheme-
Large Irrigable Area Awaiting Development— Reports by Professor
Perkins and Engineer-in-Chief— South Australia's Obligation to Re-
duce the Demand for Evaporation— A I'roblem that Should be Faced—
Large Produc-tive Area Awaiting Development.
Problem of the Murray Mouth.
PAGE 53. ^y<
Attempts to Keep an Open Passage Between River to Ocean— The
"Queen of the South"— Vain Efforts to Solve a Problem— Record of
Lost Opportunities and Broken Promises— Suggested Goolwa to Victor
Harboiur Canal— Reports and Rec-ommendatlons by Engineers— A
Variety of Proposals— Sir Anthony Musgrave's Advice— A Navigable
laver Should Always Connect with the Ocean.
yiii. CONTENTS.
Free Flow of Trade.
PAGE 56.
Important Provisiou m Federal Constltntion— Basic Principle of
Federation— Trade Should be Free Between States— Sir Thomas Elder's
Extended Trip on the Murray— His Prophecy of the Future of the Aus-
tralian "Mississippi"— River Trade Free to All— Rivers and Railways
Should be Worked Together— The Trade Barometer— Droughts and
Diversions Impede Navigation and Destroy River Business — Effects of
Illegal Preferential Rates.
Upstream Diversions— What other States are doing.
PAGE 59.
Scheme to Divide Waters Between New South Wales and Victoria —
Worlds and Proposals in New South Wales — Barren Jack Scheme — An
Enormous Reservoir — " One and Half Times More Water Than in
Sydney Harbour ! " — A'ietoria's Tribute From the Rivers — Most of the
Tributaries Controlled — Victoria's Pushing Policy — South Australia's
Attitude— Not a " Dog-in-the-Manger " Demand — The Only Solution —
Locks, Weirs, and Storage Basins.
Riparian Law and the Legal Position.
PAGE 64.
A Suggestive Resolution — The Case for South Australia — Opinions of
Eminent Counsel — Locks or Law — Indifference of Federal Authorities —
" PMght it out Among Yourselves " — Important Statement by Mr. Justice
Clark— Views of a Legal Authority in New South Wales— Admission
of Navigation Rights.
The Rivers as Pleasure Resorts.
PAGE OS.
A Call (to Tourists— Charm of River Scenery— Nature's Cinemetograph
—Holding a Mirror up to. Nature — Floating Through a Land Without
Limit— Possibilities of Development.
Appendices.
PAGE 73.
Leading Article from The Register.
Table of Distances on the MuiTay. Darling, and Murrumbidgee.
Australia's Great River System.
Born on the snowclad heigUt;? of
Ko*;cinsko, cradled in rich glens, and
fed by trihutaries that rise in foil?"
StatevS, tlie Murray moTes leisurely
and majestically to the sea. The river
ife one of the longest in the dominions
of King Edward, with a wator.shcd
that has few rivals. To know Aastni-
lia. to appreciate its magnificent re-
sour';es, it is necessary to understaad
how the MTirray and its sister streams
car. be made to serve the producer and
the trader. These channels reacii far
towards the heart of the conti-
nent. They are gateways of
trade to the interior — great fertilizing
agencies, by means !of which vast
treasure caverns yet untouched may
be unlocked. The rivers call, the val-
leys call: they have gifts to bestow.
At present oceans of fresh water full
of fertilizing matter are running to
v.'aste, and this at a time when Aus-
tralia is lookhig for opportunities of
profitably settling people on the land
and expanding rural industries! These
waterways can be utilized as bearers
of burdens as well as in the capacity
of aids to production, and it is time
that Australians entered upon the glo-
rious inheritance represented in the
Murray and its tributaries. Australia
must look to the valjeys of its rivers
for agricultural expansion. Where ir-
rigation is possible there will be seen
the best examples of intense culture, of
"closer" settlement — that system of
farming which was the salvation of
France, and is still the hope of that
countrj'. Water is wealth. If riglitly
used, it will cause the desert to blos-
som, and semi-arid lands to become
fioiitful. The ancients discovered this
and prospered ; so that there is no-
thing new in the proposition to utilize
flowing water.
— Lessons From the "Dark" Ages. —
History has a habit of repeating it-
self. In the early days of the world's
ann.als the naiions dwelling in valleys
watered by mighty rivers attained to
intellectual and commercial greatness.
The Egyptians on the Nile, the Baby-
lonians by the Tigris and Euphrates,
the Indians by the Indus and Ganges,
the Chinese by the Hoang-ho and the
'Taiig-tse-kiang, all afford wonderful
object lessons for youthful Australia-
No ruler of Egypt was regarded as true
to his trust who neglected water con-
servation. Inigation and river naviga-
tion are not things of yesterday.
Nebuchadnezzar caused five great
canals to be made in order to join the
waters of the Euphrates V"ith those of
the Tigris, so as to facilitate navigation
and preserve riparian rights. That
monarch built a reservoir 45 miles in
circumference to regulate the Eu-
phrates and store its flood waters!
These were the days when Babylonia
flourished and reached the height
of its glory. The Pharaohs caused
conservation works to be construc-
ted along the course of the Nile,
and made channels to relieve the
delta of the river of excessive inunda-
tions. The oldest lawbook in the
world, the famous code of Hammurabi
(B.C. 15.50). contains drastic sections
dealing with irrigation, providing
he.nvy penalties for persons who neg-
lected to guard the banks of canals
and — will Australian irrigationists
please note? — fines were inflicted on
persons who wasted water when flood-
lug their lands! Hammurabi said of
his great canal along the Tigris: — "I
have caused to be dug the Nahr-
Hammurabj. a benediction for the
people of Shumir and Accad. I have
directed the waters of its branches to
run m the dry channels, and thus given
unfailing waters to the people. I have
changed the desert plains into well-
watered lands. I have given them fer-
tility and plenty, and made them the
abode of happiness." Of equal impor-
tance, from the Australian point ol"
view, is the fact that the ancients re-
cognised the mutual rights and bene-
fits of iiTigation and navigation. The
Egyptians and Babylonians, who mul-
tiplied their production by means of
irrigation, enjoyed cheap and rapid
transit up and down the rivers and
canals. The Nile freed the Egyptians
from isolation, the Euphi'ates liberated
the Babylonians. Rivers have always
been the w'illing servants of man.
Time has not reduced their usefulness;
railways and other modern "aids" have
not taken their places. Waterways ex-
ist for common use, and commonsense
revolts at the suggestion that they
should be injured in order to bolster
up railways, give trade preferences, or
in any other way destroy natural
rights. If history has a lesson for Aus-
traha. it is this— MAKE USE OP
YOUR RIVERS !
— Wanted — P aith in the Future. —
Australians have been " warned "
that they must not lattempt to
supplement a deficient rainfall, be-
cause "conditions are different in
Australia from what they are in
Egypt, India, and elsewhere ! "
Precisely the same " logic " was
employed when enterprising per-
sons began to produce wool, wheat,
and wine in these l.inds, and to build
up an export trade in meat Ten years
ago experts declared that it was folly
to expect that South Australia could
ever ship lambs across the seas. Last
season this State sent 200,000 carcases
of lambs to London! It is wise to pro-
ceed cautiously, but it would be foolish
to be frightened by the forebodings of
disaster which are periodically indulged
in whenever new enterprises are advo-
cated. Irrigation is no longer an ex-
periment, even in Australia. Weighed
in the balance it has not been found
wanting. Actual results and matter-
of-fact balance sheets prove to de-
monstration that the application of
water to arid soU transforms it to
some of the most fertile areas on the
Continent. This great arterial sys-
tem of waterways, with catchment
tireas extending into four States,
should not be i)ermitted to re-
main just where Nature left it. It is
little short of criminal neglect on the
part, of the people of this continent to
allow such a waste of wealth. The
whole population of Austi-alia could
be profitably settled in the valleys of
the Murray and one or two of its tribu-
taries. It requires only the judicious
expenditure of money — spread over a
long period, so that there may be an
evolution ratlier than a revolution in
production — for new provinces to bo
added to the Commonwealth. Let Aus-
tralians study the map of their coun-
try, comprehend the extent of terri-
tory represented in the watershed of
the Murray, and observe how the
rivers inter.sect that portion of the-
continent Less than half a million
of people dwell in an area several
times larger tlian some countries in
another hemisphere where millions find
a living. It is not possible that Nature,
ever generous, should have decreed
that this great tract of country, fed
by noble streams, should continue bar-
ren and forbidding! What is wanted
is a little of the fiiith that conquers —
the spirit that moved our pioneer
fathers when they attempted the appa-
rently impossible, and succeeded. Un-
less there is an exhibition of the
"craven fear of being great" the river
valleys will yet become the most pro-
ductive areas in Australia. The path
of progress points inland. Backs must
bo turned upon tlie occupied coastal
land, and the problems of central Aus-
tralia boldly faced. Utilization of tbo
rivers is tho key to the position.
— The National Policy the Only
Policy. —
The main proposition is — Lock the
rivers, use the magnificent storage ba-
sins that fringe the streams, and make
the rivers promote industrial expansion.
A national scheme of locks and storage
basins, with a recognition of the mu-
tual claims of navigation and irriga-
tion, is the only equitable solution of
the problem. The rivers question is
the greatest question in Australia to-
day. It calls foa" statesmanlike treat-
ment. The States have co-equal rights.
Are they not members of a Federal
Union? The claims of Australia are
greater than the claims of any one
State, and the national point of view
is tbe only one from which this pro-
blem can be approached and flnaily
settled. The Premier of New South
Wales has publicly admitted that
"sooner or later the greater quantity
of water necessary to meet the reason
able requirements of a growing popula-
tion will be so great as to leave in-
sufficient for navigation unless special
works are carried out, designed to
meet the wants of both navigation
and irrigation." That is a concise and
hicid statement of the position. We
have several noble streams; but, in
order that the maximum use may be
made of the waters, "special works"
are necessary as aids to Nature. For
an outlay of about £3,000,000 these
rivers can be locked for a distance or
3,000 miles, and permanent waterways
assured. Think what the presence of
such sheets of water would mean
to settlers in Interior Australia!
An attempt will be made to
show the extent of our great
river system, and to explain the Mur-
ray waters question in all its bearings,
with special reference to irrigation,
navigation, and the possibility of in-
dustrial activity. At the Premiers'
Conference held in Sydney in April,
1906, an agreement was signed,
and it is important tbat the
people of Australia, who consti-
tute the final court of appeal in all
matters of national policy, should be
fully informed on this most important
subject of current politics. The up-
stream politician has been accusing
South Australia of being guilty of
"grasping greed," a "dog-in-the
manger" policy; and all the time the
upstream settler has been diverting
water at a rate which threatens to
leave his dOAvnstream countryman
with a dry channel and nightmare
memories of lost opportunities! South
Australians have a birthright that
must neither be sold for a mess
of pottage nor lost on account of
apathy. In asking that the rivers shall
be locked this State advocates a broad-
gauge policy, which will benefit Aus-
talia as a whole. If the flood waters
are retained there will always be
enough and to spare. The motto should
be use, not waste.
The Murray and its Tributaries.
The SlXfit-MlUxay. iudgred its length of chan-
nel and area of catchment, should be one of
the f?reat streams of the world; and, although
its volume of water is small relatively to its
immense gatherine: erround, it is yet tl^.,seatgjit
waterway in A ustralia, and its utilization is of
the first importance to the inhabitants of the
Sta<-es throuRh which it flows. It is therefore mat-
ter c.f surprise that the problenr, which it is the
function of this commission to investigate still
remain unsettled.— Report of the Royal Com-
mission of Experts, 1902.
The River Murray is, with its tributaries, one of
I the largest, as its drainage area is too often
I one of the driest, in the worid.— Mr. Lindon
Bates.
In order to get close to the heart of
Australia you must travel up the
stroarr.s which spread themselves like
veins in the human body across the
eastern portion of the continent. The
Murray is the main artery. With only
tT^■o of its many tributaries, it is cap-
able of being navi gated for a distan ce
ecipal to one and a half times across
our island continent from south to
north— from Adelaide to Port Darwin
and halfway back! An Australian un-
acquainted with these waterways is
ignorant of the resources of his native
land. For the last 500 miles of its
course the Murray pas'ses through
South Austi-alian territoiy. Th<;
importance of the favourable geo-
graphical position enjoyed by the
Central State was realized by Capt.
Sturt and many pioneer settlers. One
of them, writing in 1838. pointed out
that "the farmea- to the Avestward and
northward of the Blue Mountains and
of the Australian Alps is, in fact,
nearer to the markets of South Aus-
tralia Tiiien 1.200 miles distant by
water than lie is to the port of Syd-
ney when distant 300 miles by land."
In 1851 Parliament offered a bonus of
£4,000 to the person who would give a
practical demonstration of the navi-
gability of the Murray. The proof was
supplied by Capt. W. R. Randell and
Capt. Cadell in 1853, and for half a
century the river has been a highway
of trade. Tn 1882 goods to the value
of £861.2,59 came down the Murray
into South Australia, and produce
worth £350,000 was sent upstream.
Since that time, owing to periods when
the waterways were not navigable,
and to the competition of railways,
trade has fallen to low levels, while
the threatened diversion schemes of
our neighbours are calculated to leave
South AustTalia for long intervals with
a di*y channel where for centuries a
noble sti-eam has been flowing.
— Aa Extensive Watershed. —
T]ie Murray is the great natural
main drainage line of the south-eastern
part of Australia. The basin of the
river and its tributaries comprises
414,253 square miles (265,121,920 acres)
— an area double that of France — out
of a total of 2,950,000 square miles in
the whole Australian continent. The
river basin includes witliin its limits
nearly one-seventh of the entire main-
land subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commonwealth, being five-sixths of
New South Wales, considerably more
than half of Victoria, over 100,000
square miles of Queensland, and 24,000
square miles of South Australia. Its
boundaries are: — On the east, the coast
range, roughly parallel to, and at a dis-
tance of 30 to 130 miles from, the eas-
tern coastline of Queensland and New
South ^ Vales; on the south, the Great
Dividing Range, following a westerly
direction, from 60 to 100 miles distant
from the coast, through the State of
Victoria, and by an almost direct line
through South Australia to the riv^er
mouth; on the west, the Mount Loftj
and the Barrier Ranges and badly de-
fined low hills, through South Australia,
New Soutli Wales, and Queensland;
and on the north, through the
last-named State, the Warrego and
CamaiTon Ranges. The great-
est height reached at any point
on the boundary is in the south-
east, where Kosciusko the high-
est land in Australia, attains an alti-
tude of 7.256 ft. If to this vast catch-
ment there be added the strip of coast
land lying between it and the sea, from
the Condamine River in the north-east
to Lake Alexandi'ina in the south-west,
the total would become one-fifth of the
Australian continent, containing at
least three-fourths of its entire present
population, and much more than half
of its agricultural and pasioral possi-
bilities for the sustenance of human
Ufe.
— A Slow-flowing Stream. —
'After beginning its long and tortuous
jonmey to the sea in the snowy moun-
tains near to Mount Kosciusko —
Where the river runs those giant hills
between —
under the name of Indi, the Murray
steers a northerly course until it re-
ceives the waters of the swampy plain
ri-\er at Bringenbrong, and later on the
Tooma adds its complement. Be-
fore Albury is reached the swol-
len waters of the main sti-eam
turn towards the setting sun,
and! start on their great westerly
course between Victoria and New
South Wales to reach South Australia.
From the south the Rivers Mitta,
Kiewa, Ovens, Goulburn. Campaspe,
and Loddon flow into it; while on the
nortii its tributaries are the Murrum-
bidgee and the Darling. A significant
characteristic of Australian rivers is
the small declivity of the channel bed,
with a consequent sluggish fiow of
the water. From Albiiry to Went-
worth, a distance of 850 miles, the fall
of the Murray varies up to a maximum
of 9 in. to the mile; and from Went-
worth, for the remaining distance of
617 miles, the fall is never greater than
3 in. in a mile. Even in floodtime the
current is slow, and engineers regard
this fact as an important consideration
in support of a system of locks.
— Chief Tributaries of tlie Murray. —
The Murray is fed by fine tribu-
taries, the most important of which
are the Darling, Murrumbidgee, Lach-
lan. and Goulburn. In regularity of
flow and volume of discharge the Mur.
rumbidgee takes first place. Its head
waters are in mountainous country, la
the neighbourhood of Kiandra; and
from this point melting snows provide
the first supply. The waters of the
Lachlan join those of the Murrumbid-
gee in times of flood. This river rises
on the CuUarin Range, and is subse-
quently joined by the Abercrombie. Tha
Darling is the longest affluent of the
Murray. It has its source in the Great
Dividing Range in Queensland, where
it is known as the Mclntyre. From
Mungundi, in New South Wales, to
Wentworth the Darling has a length
of 1,350 miles. The general fall
of the river is about 3 in. to the
mile, and the velocity even in flood
time is only about three miles an hour.
The channel is clearly defined, by
banks from 30 to 40 ft. high in
places. In times of big floods the river
overflows, and the waters cover
the lowlying lands for many miles.
Steamers have been navigated for 20
or 30 miles away from the channel on
the flood waters. In 1870 a steamer
went from the Darling along the
course of the Paroo to beyond the
Queensland border, a distance of 180
miles. The spread of water was then
about 60 miles wide. Of the Vic-
torian affluents, the Goulburn is the
most important The Interstate Com-
mission pointed out that many of the
si;b tributaries of the Goulburn are, in
themselves, so large as to deserve
rank as important rivers. The
Mitta, Kiewa, Ovens, Campaspe, and
Loddon all make valuable contribu-
tions to the Murray. Mr. R. T. McKay
(secretary to ihe Interstate Commis-
sion) bas stated that tbe gaugings of
the Murray at Albury extend fi'om
January, 1877, and tbe lecords show
that the highest known discharge
occun-ed in June, 1880, when
the flow reached the respectable vo-
lume of 3,214,000 cubic ft. to the
minute. The lowest discbarge ever re-
corded was in February of 1903, when
the flow did not exceed 17,500 cubic ft.
a minute. The highest yearly volume
passing Albury was in 1894, when
264,383,000.000 cubic ft. passed the
gauging station. Tbe precipitation for
that year amounted to 46 in. over the
catchment area, and the run-off was 38
per cent. In 1902 the volume dis-
charged at Albury for the year was
the lowest on record— 41,091,000,000
cubic ft. The previous lowest record
was in 1884, when the discharge reach-
ed 78,697,000,000 cubic ft., or nearly
double that of the abnormally low year
of 1902. The Murray has been gauged
at Mildura since 1865. During the
flood of 1870 the enormous volume of
1,141,728,000,000 cubic ft. was dlscharg.
ed. It is estimated that in the height
of the flood the flow was 6,000,000
cubic ft, to the minute. By comparing
tbe records at Mildura and Echuca
for 1870 it will be seen that about 00
per cent, of the flood waters passing
Mildura were contributed by the Mur-
rumbidgee.
— Boundary and Riparian Rights. —
The whole bed of the Murray was
ceded to New South Wales by an Act
piloted through the Imperial Parli,a-
ment by Lord John Russell in 1855.
After quoting the words of the former
Act of Parliament, which made the
cour.'Je of the Murray the boundary of
the two colonies, the clause con-
tinues: —
And, whereas doubts have been entertained
as to the true meaning of the said description
of the boundary of the colony, it is hereby de-
clared and enacted that the whole watercourse
Oi the said River Murray, from its source
therein described to the eastern boundary of the
colony of South Australia, is and shall be
within the territory of New South Wales.
A proviso made it lawful for New
South Wales and Victoria to agree
upon such matters as customs duties
and navigation. The Attorney-General
of the day (Hon. J. H. Gordon), reply-
ing to the Pivmier of Victoria (Hon,
W. H. Irvine) on February 13, 1903,
said. —
The Murray has been reco^ised by Imperial
legislation as a navigable river for nearly
half a century (see 18 and 19 Vict., cap. 51),
and it has always been the main inland water-
way of Australia. Both Government and
people in South Australia have, ever since
the foundation of the State, relied upon this
great water sj"stera as being the inalienable
heritage of Australia. Many towns, villages,
and settlements have been established upon
it.^ banks, and immense sums of money have
been e.\pended by the State in railways thereto
and in other pub] ic works in reliance upKin its
permanence ae a highway from the sea to the
interior. To destroy the river in South Aus-
tralia would be to destroy a very large portion
of the industrial and commercial life of the
State. Were the States distinct sovereign-
ties, it would imdoubtedly occasion war if
one of them endeavoured to drain tlie Murray
into its own territory, and thus cause wide-
spread i-uin over the territory of its neigh-
bours: and it is not too much to say that
such an action would receive and merit the
execration of civilized mankind.
Sir Josiah Symon said during the Con-
vention debate on the river question: —
"The principles of justice governing
riparian disputes between individual
States are exactly of the same nature
and character as the principles of jus-
tice governing riparian disputes be-
tween private individuals." At the
Corowa C/onference of 1902 the then
Premier of the mother State (Hon.
John See) remarked that New South
Wales had no intention to do anything
but what was fair and just towardg
her neighbours. "There v?^as a time
when we put forward a claim to con-
trol all the waters of the Mui'ray, but
since we have handed over the control
Of interstate rivers to the Federal Go-
verniuent the aspect of the whole thing
has altered."
— The Future of the River. —
Early in 1905 a party of South Aus-
tralian legislators travelled 550 miles
up the Murray, and they realized mor?
than many of them had ever done be-
fore that this stream is not only a high-
way of trade to inland Australia, but
that its water may be made to unlock
thousands of acres of arid country.
With a permanently navigable river
the valley of the Murray is practically
a land without limit. The scenei-y is
often grand in its wild beauty; and the
variety of game and of bird life, the
giant gumtrees, boxgum, and weeping
myalls, thi-ough avenues of which the
steamer threads its way, lend fresh
charm to every bend and malve an ex-
cursion most instinictive and enjoyable.
Thirty years ago two-fifths of the
United States was regarded as a desert.
One day a cowboy, breaking further
away from civilization than was usual,
saw an alleged arid wilderness, and ex-
claimed — "This is no desert! This can
be turned into pasture land;" and 30
million cattle were soon grazing on the
plains! A company of Mormons, pos-
sessing the faith and determination of
a Moses, driven out into the desert,
settled in the midst of it, and in a few
years cities sprang up and green fields
broke the monotony of long distances'.
The cactus had to give place to th<>
fruit tree and the fodder plant. Water
was the golden key which unlocked the
lands of Western America. There is
no reason why history should not be
repeated in Australia. The whole
population of South Australia might >>?
profitably employed in the valley of
the Murray. Dr. Moorhouse, whea
Bishop of Melbourne, remarked: —
The Murray is 10 times as long as the
Thames, and is bound to play an important
part in the development of this country. The
people are missing the chance of maintain-
ing an immense population, and of accumulat-
ing untold wealth, by letting the waters of
the Murray roll uselessly and wastefully into
the sea. In times of drouglit I have been
asked to pray to God for rain. I have replied
that the only supplication I could make
would be, "Oh, God, forgive us for our idle-
ness, foil}', and unthankiulness, and give uB
grace in the future to use better and more
wisely Tby gracious gifts."
Australia is not the dry, arid country
it is sometimes caricatured to be by
uninformed people. The continent is
well supplied with rivers, great and
small, which require only to be regu-
lated and turned to account. "Amot;g
the anomalies which may be said to
distinguish the continent of Australia
from other inhabited portions of the
globe, not the least remarkable has
been the almost unnoticed existence
of one of the largest and most navi-
gable rivers in the world." Half a
centurj- has gone by since Mr. Arthnr
Kinlocb, chronicler of the trip of the
Lady Augusta, made that statement;
and Australians have failed in the
meantime to appreciate what Bishop
Moorhouse characterized as a "gra-
cious gift" of Providence. The time
has aiTived for harnessing the Murray
and its tributaries so that they may
be made to serve the producer and the
trader.
How (giaptai n Sta rt Discovered and Explored the
Murray.
When we think of that gallant
band of early explorers floating down
stream they knew not whither, each
bend of the channel suggestive of dan.
^er from hostile natives, every reach
of the river with its broad, deep
stretch of shimmering water a source
of delight; or when we picture the
noble fellows rowing back against the
current, disappointed but not discour-
aged, fighting heavy odds — ^we are
grateful that to such giants fell this
giants' task. Sturt did more than dis-
cover and name the Murray. He in-
dicated that it was navigable. In less
than a quarter of a century the pro-
vince which by his voyage he was in-
strumental in establishing proved that
the stream was a great natural and
national highway of trade to the in-
terior. Sturt set out in 1828 to solve
the problem of a supposed inland sea.
"The existence of such a feature seem,
ed a necessary l^ey to the watershed of
a country which, around its southern,
eastern, and western coasts, showed no
large estuary." Fliudei*s, Oxley,
Hume, and other explorers half believ-
ed in its existence, and the theory
seemed to be supported by the ti-adi-
tions of the natives. It was a sub-
ject of controversy and dispute — "a
question," says Sturt, "in which the
best interests of the colony (New
South Wales) were involved." The
Boldier-explorer found no inland sea;
but. "tracing tc their last drop the
Macquarie, the Bogan, the Castlereagh,
he discovered the Darling, a main
channel of the colony's western water
rtipd." In September, 1829, Sturt re-
ceived authority to prepare for a se-
cond expedition, and he decided to fol-
low the line of the Murrumbidgee, "a
river of considerable size, and impetu-
ous current," in order to sti-ike the
Darling from a different angle, Sturtt
wrote — "It became my interest and my
object to make the expedition as com-
plete as possible, and, as far as in me
lay to provide for every contingency.**
— Empire Builders on the March. —
Early in the morning of November
3, 1829, Capt. Sturt began his great
journey. Just look at the gallant little
baud — empire builders every one of
them!
The morning was perfectly serene, nor was I
ever lighter at heart or more joyous in spirit.
My mind forgot the storms of life, as Nature
at that moment had forgotten the tempests
that sometimes agitate her. The scene is
vividly impressed upon my mind. My servant,
Harris, who for 16 years had shared my wan-
derings, led the advance with Hopkinson,
Nearly abreast of them stalked the eccentric
Fraser, wliolly lost in thought. Tlie two
fomier had laid aside their military gear,
substituting the broad-brimmed hat and bush-
man's dress; but Eraser's full regimentals were
little suited to protect him from heat or
damp. He carried a gun, and his double
shot-belt was brimful of shot, though there
was not a chance that he would expend a
grain during the day. At his heels follo%ved
the dogs, as if they knew his interest in them.
Fiirtl-.cr behind the drays and pack animala
came on slowly in charge cf Robert Harris,
and Clayton brought up the rear. ■*
The explorers found the Murrumbidgee
In its upper reaches "a stream with
strong current, whose waters, foaming
and eddying among rocks, gave pro-
mise of a reckless course;" but the fair
scenes which charmed the eyes of the
searchers "were soon forgotten in the
trouble of drays buried in marshes.
Difficulties came tliick and fast, and
Sturt's hopes that the Murrumbidgee
9
conld not fail appeared to be dashed to
the ground. News was brought to him
one day that the river had lost itself
in a vast expanse of reeds. The leader
admitted that for a moment or two
he was stunned, but he quickly recov-
ered himself, and electrified his party
with the daring policy he unfolded
next day. "I resolved on a bold and
desperate measure — to build the whale,
boat and to send home the drays!"
Within four days the little craft which
had been transported 440 miles in
pieces was ready, and launched upon
the waters. So great was Stiu-t's
faith that the Murrumbidgee would
ultimately make a junction with a
larger stream to the south, that after
several days of battling with the reeds
he wrote — "I am obliged to abandon
my cattle, and have taken to the boats.
Where I shall wander to God only
knows. I have little doubt, however,
that I shall ultimately make the
coast."
— The First Inland Navigators. —
In the grey of the morning of Janu-
ary 7, 183i), Siurt and his companions,
consisting of three soldiers and four
convicts, bade farewell to their com-
rades, and embarked on their memor-
able voyage, the immediate results of
which were the discovery and explora-
tion of Australia's greatest river and
the founding of the province of South
Australia. They were the pioneer in-
land navigators of Australia. A week
of anxiety and accidents — one moment
running into a high bank, the next
narrowly escaping total wreck against
a rock or floating timber, then plung-
ing into darkness under closely arch-
ing trees — when "on a sudden the river,
while sweeping round in tortuous
course to every point of the compass,
took a general southern direction. We
were carried at a fearful rate down
its gloomy and contracted stream,
. . . At 2 p.m. Hopkinson called out
that we were approaching a junction,
and within less than a minute we were
hurried into a broad and noble river.
It is impossible to describe the effect
upon us of so instantaneous a change."
— The ^Murray. —
From the narrow fast-flowing chan-
nel the whaleboat glided out on the
bosom of a much nobler stream, and a
cheer from the rowers, with an uplift-
ing of Sturt's hat in acknowledgment,
sufficed to show that every man rea-
hzed the significance of the discovery.
They had found the great south river,
and part of their work was accomplish-
ed. Sturt pointed westward, a sail waa
hoisted, the men bent to their ours,
and the little vessel went speeding down
current on its way to the sea. At the
junction, of the Darhng with the main
stream Sturt hoisted the Union Jack,
and christened the great river after Sir
George Murray, then Colonial Secre-
tary. The leader sat in the stern
of the boat with compass in hand
and a sheet of paper in fronc
of him, carefully marking down
the bends of the river, the most
minute changes of the stream, its cliffs,
its flats, the nature of the country, and
the character of the blacks. His ob-
■servatione have since proved to have
been most thorough and accurate. This
chart proved of incalculable benefit on
the return journey upstream and for
many years afterwards was used by
traders as a guide. When the river be-
gan to show a decided bias for a
southerly course the hopes of the voy-
agers rose. Seagulls flying overhead
were hailed as "messengers of glad
tidings."
— Where River and Ocean Meet. —
On February 9 — 33 days after the
launching of the whaleboat on the
watei's of the Murrumbidgee, 26 days
of which had been spent on the Mur-
ray — Sturt and his party entered
Lake Alexandrina. They encountered a
strong south-westerly wind and a
heavy sea. Throughout that perilous
10
period the conduct of the crew haxi
been "most exemplary." On February
11 Sturt and his gallant second in com-
mand, jMacleay (afterwards Sir George
Macleay) saw the sea, and the same
day the exhausted crew refreshed
themselves by bathing in the surf of
the Southern Ocean. One part of the
Journey had been accomplished. The
Murray had been discovered aiid ex-
plored, the junction of the Murrum-
bidgee and the Darling with it deter-
mined, and the termination of the
waters of Australia's great rivers set-
tled beyond dispute. Sturt never dis-
guised his keen disappointment at the
ignoble way in which the Murray
ended its noble career. From the first
the explorer was impressed with the
impracticable character of the connect-
ing channel between river and ocean.
Sturt's subsequent examination of the
Murray mouth on behalf of the South
Australian Government confirmed his
worst fears that its navigation would
be attended with great risks. He thus
expressed himself : —
We had, at length, arrived at the termina-
tion of the Murray. Immediately below me
was a beautiful lake, which appeared to be a
fitting reservoir for the noble stream that had
led us to it. Even while gazing on tliis fine
scene, I co<uld not but regret that the Murray
had thus terminated; for I immediately fore-
saw that, in all probability, we should be
disappointed in finding any practicable com-
munication between lake and the ocean.
—The Retreat-
There was no friendly craft in the
neighbourhood of Encounter Bay to
take the gallant band to Sydney by
eea, and a consultation brought forth
a unanimous verdict that the only
course open was to fight their way
back against the current to the depot
on the Murruiubidgee. It looked a for-
lorn hope, but it was entered upon
with quiet determination. Tlie retreat
began on February 12, and the pull up-
stream on reduced provisions, with the
natives daily evincing more hostility,
was a trying ordeal. Both in coming
down stream and in fighting against
the current the explorers were pester-
ed by aborigines, and only by the
exercise of great tact were open con-
flicts avoided. About noon on March
23 the explorers regained the depot on
the MuiTumbidgee, which they had
quitted 77 days earlier. The journey
from the sea had been accomplished
in 39 days, or seven more than had
been spent going downstream. This
marvellous feat has never failed to
awaken the greatest admiration on the
part of those who know the river best.
—"Sail On, and On, and On."—
Sturt and his men reached the
depot, only to find it deserted! The
condition of the pai"ty was most criti-
cal, and even the leader began to
doubt whether he and the men could
hold out. To add to their troubles,
the Murrumbidgee oame down in flood,
rising 6 ft. in one night. Grieved at
heart at the condition of his devoted
comrades, Sturt "became captious,'*
he wrote, "found fault without
cause, and lost the equilibrium
of my temper." No murmur of
discontent, however, escaped from
those faithful men. "When they
thought me asleep," wrote Sturt, "I
would hear them in their tent complain
of severe pains and exhaustion. 'I
must tell the captain to-morrow,' one
of them would say, 'that I can pull
no more.' To-morrow came, and stub-
bornly they pulled on." "Was ever a
leader more courageous? Were ever
men so indomitable? Joaquin Miller,
in his great poem, causes Columbus to
reply, when appealed to by his doubt-
ing mate — "Sail on? Sail on! Sail on!
and on!" and Sturt was equally deter-
mined when questioned by his men
and when doubts axose within himself.
There could be no turning back, so the
little band pressed forwai-d till the old
camp was found, and succour came to
them.
— A Record Boat Trip. —
Amid great privations Sydney was
11
reached after an absence of nearly i5ix
months. Of the journey Sturt subse-
quently wrote —
This, the longest boat voyage on record in
naval annals, was performed in a whaleboat
with a crew of eight men, including the offi-
cers, who shared in the labour on their home-
wavd return against the current. It took 84
days at 21 miles a day, from suni'ise to sunset,
on three-quarters to one pound of flour a day,
and a quarter of a pound of tea per week.
Moreover, the party succeeded in keeping on
good terms with the native tribes as they
passed, although it may truly be said that
they were never safe for a daj- whilst on the
river.
"With his whaleboat." says Mrs.
Napier George Stui't, in her "Life" of
the explorer, "he had unlocked to the
world Australia's largest river sys-
tem."
— A Great Explorer. —
Tn later years Sturt entered the Civil
Service of South Australia, and as
Colonial Secretary took his seat in the
Legislative Council. He retired in
1851, and was granted a pension "for
the discovery and exploration of the
Mun-ay, whereby and in other similar
public services the said Charles Sturt
l\ath sustained great toils and priva-
tions, to the permanent weakening of
his health." Though not completely
blind, be suffered a great deal from his
eyes. His last letters showed signs of
failing sight and faltering hand. To
his son he wrote — "My sight is not
very good, so I am not writing very
regularly." Capt. Sturt— a man of
dauntless courage and boundless
energy — perhaps the greatest of the
noble company of Australian explorers
- was laid to rest in England in 1869.
He was created K.C.M.G. while on his
deathbed, but did not live to receive
the title. "On the brow unadorned b/i
man death gently laid a crown of a
great life's fulfilment."
12
Opening the Rivers to Navigation and Trade.
To S^auth, Australia belongs the hon-
our of having opfiued the Alurraj and
the Darling til-nayigation and irade. A
few years after Oapt. Sturt's successful
voyage from the Jlurrumbidgee to the
sea and back again the province of
South Australia was proclaimed. C^l.
Light and the first colonists landed on
the eastern shore of St. Vincent's Gulf,
and the first Surveyor-General fixed the
site of the capital where Adelaide now
stands. But Sturt's diseoveiT and the
ill-fated Capt, Barker's overland jour-
ney fi"om Cape Jervis to the Murray
Mouth had not been forgotten. Some of
the most ventui*esome of the jiewcom-
ers turned their faces eastward across
the ranges, and marched on till they
came to where the river joins the sea,
and stood close to the spot on which
Capt. Barker a few years pre-
viously had fallen a victim to the na-
tives. They watched the mingling of
the waters of the Murray with the
breakers of the Southern Ocean; and,
continuing their explorations, their eyes
fell upon Encounter Bay, where more
than 30 years before Flinders and Bau-
din had met. They were charmed with
the natural beauty of the coastline and
the counti-j' supporting it, and on their
return to the Adelaide Plains an agita-
tion was begun for the fixing of the
site of the capital in the vicinity of
Encounter Bay. The Murray was re-
ferred to as "The Mississippi of the
South," the Darling as "The Missouri,"
and the Murmmbidgee as "The Ohio."
"Let us cause Adelaide to be the New
Orleans of the South," said the rivals
of Light. Though Light won the day,
the potentialities of the great stream
which ends its career in South Austra-
lia were not for a moment forgotten.
Start was commissioned in 1840 to ex-
amine the Murray Mouth, and report
whether it could be made safe for navi-
gators; and for years efforts were made
and lives sacrificed in a futile attempt
to establish the safety of the passage.
— Pioneer Pastoralists. —
The honour of having proved the
Murray a navigable stream belongs to
Governor Young, Capt. Cadell, and
Capt. Randell. From the time when
Sturt made his memorable voyage in
an open boat settlers had trad-
ed in a small way over short distances;
but they had never put their hearts
into it, and the spii-it of their under-
takings was purely individual, not na-
tional. The province was too young
to attempt such a big expenditure of
money; and so hardy pioneers wander-
ed slowly but gradually up the banks
of the river, and settled on stations in
little knots, sufficiently numerous for
self-defence from the blacks.
Williams's Station, Chapman's
Station, Chambers's Station, Bob
and Harry's Station, and the like,
were the names of the small spheres
of early civilized influence which dot-
ted the first imperfect maps of the
hardly known Murray. These pioneer
pastoralists were the capable ana cou-
rageous men who developed our conti-
nent in its infancy — true followers In
the steps of Edward Gibbooi Wakefield,
Hume. and Sturt. They were
great pathfinders, and the memory of
their achievements stimulates Austra-
lians and encourages them to extend
their enterprises further and further
inland.
—The Murray Mouth. —
From the first it was feated
that the one di'awback to the great
HIS EXCELLENCY SIR H. E. F. YOUNG,
WHO, AS GOVERNOR OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA, TOOK A PROMT-
KENT PART IN OPENING THE HURRAY TO NAVIGATION.
13
ideal of a huge, commerce-floating Mur-
ray, with a seaport harbour at its
mouth, was the river's disappointing
aud unvi orthy estuaiy. In the eai'ly
days there were golden dreams of En-
counter Bay as a sort of Liverpool in
the Southern Oceaji, where foreign ves-
sels might call regularly for river-borne
cargoes of produce from the very heart
of Australia; but the heavy surf, with
the dangerous entrance at the
bar, was a rude awakening from
these dreams. In 1839 Capt.
Blenkinsopp and Sir John .Teff-
cott, the first Chief Justice of South
Australia, lost their lives in attempting
this passage in open boats. In 1840
another adventurous pioneer — Capt.
Pullen — boarded a little steamer — the
Waterwitch — in Encounter Bay and
dared the danger. His enterprise was
successful, and he was greeted with
great enthusiasm after he had negotia-
ted the ])ar. His estimate of the im-
portance of his success and his hopes
of a future navigation of the upper ri-
ver were so sanguine that he applied
for Government assistance in a further
venture. Governor Gawller, however,
his former patron, had been recalled,
and the new Governor — Grey — wanting
all he could get from his scanty exche-
quer for other colonizing projects,
would not countenance the scheme.
— "Lady Augusta" and "Eureka." —
Ten years later the necessai'y patron-
age and the stout hearts came. Sir
Henry Young was Lieutenant-Governor
in 1850, and he ascended the Murray in
a small sailing boat for a short dis-
tance. The opportunities luis trip
revealed to him, and still more
those it suggested, set him to
work in earnest. The Legislative
Council meanwhile evinced much
opposition to a suggested ti'amline from
Goolwa to Port Elliot, a distance of
eight miles; for the line was estimated
to cost £20,000, which those Interest-
ed desired to be "appropriated from the
Land Fund." The LegislalTire evident-
ly thought there would be no end to
such applications for grants if one were
allowed; but Sir Henry Young overrnl-
ed their disUkes to Mun-ay projects
and expenditure. Young was a man of
broad sympathies and great vision — an
ideal colonizer. In June, 1851, a pre-
mium of £4,000 was offered by the Le-
gislature toi the first and second iron
steamboats of not less than 40 horse-
power, or more than 2 ft. draught
of water, which should succeed in na-
vigating the Murray fi'om the Goolwa
to. at least, the junction of the Dar-
ling. As if born for the occasion, a
man at once volunteered from the num-
berswho read the notice. His name was
Francis Cadell, ranked as captain, a
man of determined character, who in-
terested the Governor and the Legisla-
ture. Nor did he hesitate in his plans.
In June, 1851, he saw the Government
offer, and for two years he worked at
preliminary matters in a promising
way. From Swan Hill, one of the
earliest Victorian Murray settlements,
he launched a portable canvas boat,
and, as he rowed down stream,
called on farmers and station
owners, and bade them prepare
cargoes of produce for the steamer
he promised to build, and bring
up the inland highway. The settlers
were amazed, but they had heard of
such men — for even those whoi had not
seen Sturt and his comrades had not
forgott'^n their exploits — and, as Cadell
in his canoe left them, reiterating so-
lemnly his bidding, they felt that he
meanit what he said. Capt. Cadell's
canvas boat was of peculiar construc-
tion, canvas heing stretched on a
roughly made frame of wood fresh
from an adjacent scrub ! " Whenever
she leaked," says Capt. Cadell, " we
clapped the frying pan on the fire, and
after cooking our mutton chop?, gave
her a coat of tallow grease, which was
at all times most effectual." This little
bark was only snagged once during her
passage, which an over-all patch and a
palm and needle put to right. " It was
surprising," Capt. Cadell says, "the
14
rough usage the canvas, from its
yielding nature, fftood. We would of-
ten go rushing over a branch or snag,
expecting to see it every moment pro-
truding through the boat's bottom. I
had four hands with me, and perfoi*-
med the downward voyage in twenty-
t\\'o days from Swan Hill to Welling-
ton, where I procured a stronger boat
to cross Lake Alexandrina, which oc-
cupied two days more. We encoun-
terod very heavy weather on the down-
ward trip, and I had to pull nearly the
whole way, frequently bushing
through the whole night." Arriving at
Goolwa, he set to work on his great
task. He arranged with Capt. David-
son to navigate round from Sydney the
steamer Lady Augusta. In July, 1S53,
this craft "was pushed through the
sea mouth by Capt. Cadell." Oadell,
with an eye to the upper river cargoes
of produce which he had bespoken, ar-
ranged for the construction of a barge
of 100 tons capacity, to be home-
built at Goolwa — another new ven-
ture. On August 23, 1853, Miss
Younghusband, amid a profusion of
bunting and "expenditure of some pret-
ty tri-coloured sUk," broke a bottle of
champagne over the craft, and the
Eureka was laiuiched. On the fol-
lowing Thursday the Lady Augusta
steamed from the Goolwa Jetty
amid cheers, having on board Go-
vernor Young, two members of the
Legislative CouncLl, and other gentle-
men, including Mr. E. W. Andrews, re-
presenting The Register, seven ladies,
and the tv\'o chroniclers of the voyage
—Messrs. A. Kioloch, clerk of the Le-
gislative Council, and Mr. James Allen,
jun. Capt. Sturt was to luive been a
member of the ship's company, but was
unable at the last minute to make the
voyage, greatly to his own chagrin and
the disiappointraent of all concerned.
— The Voyage Upstream. —
Mr. Kinloch has left a capital record
of the trip. He belauds the river scen-
ery, especially the sunsets. "Better
even than those of England," he com-
cludes, and he is intensely interested
in the visible savagery which was a
feature of the upper Murray. He re-
fers to the Murray as "a noble stream,
but at the present day not a particular-
ly inteiesting, or, at any rate, a highly
picturestjue river," He flavours his
chronicle with himiorous stories of the
blacks which give it an added charm.
Mr. Jaimes Allen, jun., who has also re-
corded his impressions, tells a good
story. The steamer was approaching
Williams's station, near to where Mil-
dura is situated, when they saw Mrs.
Williams, the wife of the owner of the
station, valiantly struggling with an ob-
solete piece Oif ordnance, "a valuable
memento of Capt. Sturt's exploratory
voyage." She had heard Cadell's pro-
mise of a cargo steamer, and had load-
ed her cannon against tbe time of his
arrival. The day came roxind (how
many days must she have watched!),
the Lady Augusta and the Eureka puff-
ed proudly round the bend, but — the
fuse would not do its duty! A black
boy by her side was in similar difficulty
with an old carbine, which with a cut-
lass—both relics of the great Sturt — he
was strenuously flourishing in the
•fierceness of his exultation. Final-
ly, when the Lady Augusta had pass-
ed the station about half a mile, her
company heard a muffled boom, and
saw Mrs. Williams waving her hand-
kerchief and making other signs of joy.
She had fired her cannon!
—Meeting of Cadell and Randell.—
In this part of the river Oadell fell
in with the Mary Ann, under Oapt.
RandeU, whoi was also navigating the
Murray for the first time, and till now
had been just abead of his rival. Ran-
deU, however, had made no prepara-
tions for cargoes as 'Oadell had done,
and his voyage was more of an en-
tei-prisiing feat to prove the navi-
gability of the Murray. The two
steamers reached Swan Hill almost si-
mnltanoously. Allen notes succinctiy:
—"The Mary Ann arrived at Swan HIU
■ Y
25 i!
9 «
CO ^
O J
d a"
> -"v^j;^
:-^ o
15
at 5 o'clock (Saturday, September 17),
four hoiurs after the Lady Augusta."
Remarking on Australian sheep sta-
tions, of which there were many in this
vicinity, Klnloch gives a list r.f shep-
herds in one district. "They compris-
ed an apothecary, a lawyer's clerk,
three sailors, a counting house clerk, a
tailor, a Jew, a Portuguese sailor, a
Cingalese, a barman, a gentleman's
son, a broken-down merchant, a foirmer
lieutenant in the East India Company's
service, a gipsy, a black fiddler, and a
dancing master. Of these the gentle-
man's son, the Jew, and the barman
made the best shepherds."
— The Ifirst Cai-go. —
On Friday, September 23, at 11 o'clock,
Capt. Cadell having gone as far up the
river as he dared, or the snags
would let him, turned his stea-
mer to the rightabout, and retrac-
ed his course. The Maiy Ann proceed-
ed a little higher than the Lady Augvis-
ta and the Eureka could go, but the dis-
tance was not great, and Randell soon
passed Cadell in the down-stream race.
On the way back Cadell began to pick
up his cargoes. On September 27 he ap-
proached Poon Boon, "and here, await-
ing our arrival, we found the wool, con-
isting of 220 bales, averaging 200 lb.
the bale." A fine beginning. "This,
the first fruit of the river, and the first
cargo Oif the Lady Augusta, was receiv-
ed with all due ceremony, the first bale
being hoisted up with one of the crew
to the laasthead of the Eureka, where
three times three was given in its hon-
(our. Some bottles of champagne ajid
'Success to the commerce of the Mur-
ray' followed in the cabin, and in the
evening a dance at the head station tei'-
minated the day." How we can
imagine Governor Young, always en-
thusiastic about the Murray, by this
time sunbrowned and river trained,
watching the first bale dangling at the
masthead, and the hiunan semaphore
on top of it, rejoicing at the event!
Here tJtie station owner first did
the arithmetic of the freights that
so many have done since.
At the South Australian boundary
a number of settlers presented ad-
dresses to Governor Young and Capt,
Cadell thanking them for the great
benefit they had brought to them and
all Australians in thus opening up the
Murray to trade. At Chapman's!
(now Paringa) "a flag fluttered in the
breeze, opposite to the cottage, with
the motto of 'Cead mUle failthe' (a hun-
dred thousajid welcomes)." So the vic-
torious Cadell passed on, he and
his company glowing with each
additional welcome and congi-atula-
tion. The voyage down sti-eam
partook of an excursion. Wellington
was reached on October 13. Hera
horses were awaiting Governor Y'oung
to take him back to Adelaide quickly,
bi:t His Excellency felt that it was his
duty to remain with the steamer to the
last. He would finish the voyage with
the Lady Augusta, he said, at Goolwa.
At Wellington Mr. Kiuloch left the
vessel, and he dramatically takes leave
of the Murray, "in the firm belief that
whether it is to become in the future —
as it has been, perhaps prophetically,
designated — the 'Australian Nile,' or
whether it is to be the connecting link
and genernl highway of the Australian
capitals, existing and to be, this river
is of incalculable advantage to the
whole of Australia." Sir Henry
Young sent a long despatch to the
Duke of Newcastle, dated "On board
the Lady Augusta, steamer. River
Murray, from the sea distant 1.300
miles, Swan Hill, September 17, 1853."
— History making Speeches. — ■
On the occasion of the launching of
the barge Eureka at Goolwa (August,
1853). a public dinner w.a.s tendered to
Capt. Cadell, and hopes were expressed
that the voyage to be begun next day
would prove successful. Tlie Rev. R.
W. Newland presided, and Mr. R. Da-
venport, responding to tie toast of
16
tbe Legislative Council, delivered a
fine address.
The Ladj- Augusta ai'rived at Goolwa
on October 14, just 50 days from
the time she had left on her
up-river journey. The viceregal
pai-ty proceeded to Adelaide, and
a notable official dinner was given
to Capt. Cadell and his officers in the
Legislative Council chamber on Ooto-
l>er 26. Judging by the excellent re-
ports printed in The Register next day
splendid orations were delivered. All
the speakers were impressed with the
possibilities of the Murray, but many
of the prophecies indulged in have yet
to be realized. Cadell sat under
the picture of Sturt. The Chairman
"was the Speaker, Mr. (afterwards Sir
John) Morphett, and he spoke to the
toast of " The Governor" :—
Gentlemen— The advantaf?es which may re-
sult from tliis step (the just completed
voyaRe) I shall not dilate upon, but they
must of necessity be merely speculative; but
there are one or two points of advantage that
I would briefly advert to, inasmuch as I con-
sider them facts. It is certain that by the
navigation of the Kiver Murray we practi-
cally annex to the Province of South Austra-
lia a large tract of export-producing country.
It is certain that by that step we afford to
our agriculturists the means of conveying
their products to the doors of the consumers,
thus securins to them the best markets; and
I con.sider it is certain that the navigation of
the River Murray is the first step in that
most important object, the imion of the Aus-
tralian Colonies. . . .
Governor Young followed with the
toast of Cadell:—
For occupancy of some sm;ill and insulated
territory— for the most insignificant exten-
sion of boundary— the mightic.<;t Empires of
the world have been wont to pour forth all
^ their resources, and to pour on the arena both
their treasure and their blood. In these bold,
warlike, and generally unprofitable conquests,
it has been our humbler and happier lot to
take no part. No hostile or partial aimg have
prompted; no violence or wronp has attended;
perchance no brilliancy has adorned; but in-
calculable and imperishable usefulness will
crown the enterprise wliich we now celebrate.
We have been enabled to penetrate the mar-
pin of vast tracts of tlie interior of this great
continent, and have peacefully opened up a
tfreat liighway of upwards of 1,500 miles in
length, and of perpetual durability and un-
failing utility throughout the greater portion
of every ordinary' year.
Then rose Cadell to respond, embar-
rassed by the storm of applause that
gi'eeted him: —
Jt is not my place to recount the many ob-
Etaeles which have intervened from the com-
mencement to the completion of my enter-
prise; and any trifling- dangers and hardships
which I may have been subjected to I pass
over with the same indifference with which I
regard lliem; but I am anxious to irform my
kind entertainers that I did not undertake it
from mere mercenary motives. Had 1 been ac-
tuated by such, I had Victoria before me, with
all her allurements, and' a Calif omian expeuence
to boot. Those who know me best are well
aware that my ambition pointed to the mak-
ing up of a mighty, but hitherto torpid,
stream; to make it fulfil its allotted duties as
intended by the Creator of all things, and to
render it subservient to the uses of man-
kind. ...
The Advocate-General (Mr., after-
wards Sir R. D. Hanson), in proposing
the toast of "The Sister Colonies ot
New South Wales and Victoria," said —
They were met to celebrate the successful
opening up of a channel of communication
which would necessarily tend to bring into
a closer and more intimate union of interest
and sentiment the three colonies of Australia.
Previously to this event the prospects of Ausi-
tralia were, in some important respects, diffe-
rent. There were in this great land three
communities sprimg from the same race,
speaking the same language, professing the
same faith, obejdng the same law, subiects of
the same house, and yet, in spite of all these
circumistances, which prepared and fitted them
for union, there had been some danger lesit
their first relations of neighbourhood might
be connected ^^dth the disputes and jealousies
of the settlers and shepherds upon their bor-
ders. Happily, however, this hid been chang-
ed. . The harmonizing influences of commerce
had now been brought into play, and the
various colonies would be connected by the
lies of a common interest and of mutual
dependence.
Mr. Stephens, who toasted " The
Speaker," spoke words which appeal to
us with great force to-day : —
Let us indulge the liope that Capt. Cadell,
in his little steamer, vrill not only be the
pioneer of civilization to many portions of the
tributaries of that noble river — tliat he will not
only extend and consolidate commercial rela-
tions, and promote the mental and physical
improvement of the people — ^but also be the
OPEKING THE RIVERS TO NAVIGATIOK HAS MEANT THE OCCUPA-
TION OF ARID REGIONS. A DESERT I'LAIN TRANSFORMED
BY WATER.
CAPT. W. R. RANDELL AM) TIIK HoiLKIt OF THE "MAIJV ANN,'
(THE FIRST STEAMER ON THE RIVER ML'HRAV.)
17
bearer of the olive branch of peace to all the
districts throug'h which he may pass; that
these important and rising colonies, which may
justly be called the briglitest gema in the
diadem of our beloved Queen, may on the
great Murray fraternize with each other, forget
all past jealousies and diflferences, and lorm
a happy, prosperous, and imited people.
— Rewards to Pioneer Navigators. — •
Haviiip accomplished a great work,
South Australia proceeded to reward
the men wlio had carried out the de-
tails. The announcement of the arrival
of the steamer at Goolwa, with her
cargo of 441 bales of wool. 1,000 sheep-
Ekins, and a quantity of tallow, was
conveyed to the Legislative Council in
a message from the Lieutenant-
Governor: — "On board the Lady
Augusta, steamer, Goolwa, October 14,
1853. Lieutenant-Governor Sir Henry
Toung has the gratification to an-
nounce to the Legislative Council the
arrival at the Goolwa of the first river-
borne wool, the produce of the vast
basin of the Murray. In congratulating
the Council on this auspicious com-
mencement of the steam navigation
and commerce of the great River Mur-
ray, the Lieutenant-Governor is happy
to state that Capt. Cadell's voyage
reached to 50 miles beyond Swanhill, a
distance of about 1,450 miles from the
sea. and was also extended for 60 miles
up t)ie Wakool, an important branch of
the Murray. The first cargo comprises
wool of the Murray, the Darling, the
Murrumbidgee, and the Waliool
Rivers." In reply to this an address
was passed by the Council on October
21, 1853. It contained tLe following
clause: — "The Council requests your
Excellency to cause three medals to be
engraved, with suitable device and in-
scriptions, commemorating the auspi-
cious opening up of the steam naviga-
tion and commerce of the Murray and
the first arrival at the Goolwa of river-
borne wool; and the Couiicil requests
that, as the Lieutenant-Governor of
South Australia, whose personal exer-
tions promoted this great enterprise,
and in whose administration It origlnat-
ed and has been successfully accom-
plished, your Excellency would be
pleased to receive one of the said
medals; and the Council further re-
quests that your Excellency will be
pleased to cause one of the said
medals to be conferred on Capt. Fran-
cis Cadell, who completed the first
commercial voyage as owner and com-
mander of the Lady Augusta steamer
and Eureka barge, with a cargo of
Murray wool; and that the remaining
medal may be deposited with the
records of the Legislature of South
Australia, under whose sanction the
necessai-y pecuniary aid was voted in
encouragement of the steam naviga-
tion of the River Murray." The bonus
of £4.000 offered by the Legislative
Council was paid to Capt. Cadell,
he having complied with the con-
ditions of the offer. In recog-
nition of the fact that Capt. Randell
had navigated the Murray and tribu-
taries for a greater distance than
Cadell, and in a craft much less calcu-
lated to withstand the buffetings of a
journey in the practically uncharted
river, Mr. Hare moved in the Legisla-
tive Council on November 9, 1853—
"That a committee be appointed to
ascertain particulars of the navigation
of the Murray by the Messrs. Randell,
with a view to awarding those gentle-
men some honorary or some pecuniai-y
reward." This was unanimously
carried; and a few weeks later the
committee sent in its report, which
recognised Capt. Randell's claims, and
recommended that his reward for hav-
ing launched the first steamer and
navigated the river for a distance of
1,800 miles sliould be a bonus of £300.
This was agreed upon, and the Govern-
ment made a special grant of the
amount.
— Deeds that Make Empires. —
So ended the first adventure which
opened the Murray to navigation and
trade. How vast a thing was then ac-
18
oomplished cannot even now be quite
realized, for the possibilities of produc-
tion in tbe Murray Valley are limitless.
While the river is permitted to waste
its wealth, irrigation is perhaps practi-
cable, but it is difficult and costly, and
navigation is more or less spas-
modic. In such eases the primaiy pro-
ducer receives no stimulus. He has
gone up the river and settled there, for
life in most cases; and trade has been
opened, but at times the river is little
better than a diy ditch. We are acting
unfairly to our pioneers and colonizers-
They risked. and. some of
them lost, their lives in the
endeavour to prove that Austra-
lian rivers are navigable. In neglect-
ing to take full advantage of these
great highways to the interior the Com.
monwealth is missing a golden opportu-
nity of multiplying production and in-
creasing the volume of its trade and
commerce. The price of provincialism
Is national stagnation.
19
Negotiations between River States.
When Du Toil set himself the task
of writing his famous e«say on "Snakes
in Iceland" he accomplished it in one
sentence: — "There are no snakes in
Iceland." There is no problem in the
rivers question. Any difficulties whicii
may exist are artificial, not natural-
created by man, not bequeathed by
Nature. An immense watershed feeds
a number of streams, which act as
tributaries to a great waterway, hav-
ing its source in snow-capped moun-
tains, and its outlet in the Southern
Ocean. The main channel takes a
serpentine route across almost level
country, with the result that the water
flows with the utmost leisurehness to
the sea. At every stage of its career
the river invites settler and trader to
turn it to account for purposes of pro-
duction and cheap carriage. "Come
and use us," the waters seem to say;
"we will fertilize your lands, and c.TUse
the desert to blossom as the rose. We
will float yoiir produce-laden vessels to
market." All sorts of excuses have
been put forward for not accepting
this Invitation. The great services
which these waterways are capable of
rendering to mankind have not been
fully appreciated by either producer or
trader; while railway men, fearing tlie
rivers as competitors, have sought tO'
destroy them by direct and indirect
methods.
— Resume of Negotiations. —
After abandoning a claim put for-
ward with great persistency and auda-
city for many years, to the sole right
of the ]\IuiTay, New South Wales
agreed to "share" its waters with
Victoria ! South Austi'alian rights,
then so shamelessly ignored, were
subsequently recognised, and the
negotiations were henceforth of a
triangular character. Considering what
South Australia had done to open th©
waterways to traffic, it was not to be
expected that the State would be pre-
pared to foi-ego geographical advan-
tages or riparian rights. The following
is a concise summary of the attempta
made to effect an amicable settle-
ment: —
1853.— The River Munay was first opened to r.avl'
gration by the efforts of the South Australian
Goveiianent.
1S57.— The Government of South Australia endea-
voured to obtain the co-operation of New South
A^ales and Victoria in the improvement of the
navigation of the river.
1863.— At an Intercolonial Conference in Melbourne
the following resolution was passed:— "Tliat in
the opinion of this conference the commerce,
population, and wealth of Australia can be
largely increased by rendering navigable and
otherwise utilizing- the great rivers of the in-
terior, such as the Murray, Edward, Murrurn-
bidgee, and Darling; and that the obligatioiis
of carrying into effect the necessary works to
accomplish these objects devolve primarily upon
the respective Governments having jurisdiction
over such rivers." Nothing was done to carry
this into effect.
lSSl-2.— .\ further effort was made by the Govern-
ment of South Australia to secure the co-
operation of the other colonies in improving the
navigation.
1885.- The Government of Victoria S'oposed 9
joiiit royal commission to enquire into the sub-
ject. The South Australian Government ex-
pressed itself willing to join the commis-
sion; but, without any fiu-ther notice to South
Australia, roy^l commissions of New South Wales
and Victoria then sitting held a conference, auA
adopted a resolution declaring "that the whole
of the waters of the Upper Murray and its tri-
butaries, and the whole of the waters of the
Lower Murray, were the common property of
New South Waleg and Victoria." This le<l to
n very strong protest by Sir John Downer,
then Premier of South Australia. In his re-
joinder the Premier of Victoria (Mr. Duncan
Gillies) admitted "that his Government had no
desire to place the rights (na\ igation or others)
of South Australia either in jeopardy or at the
mer<y of nny commission in which South Aus-
tralia was not represented, and that nothing was
20
further from the intention of his Government
than to do anything destructive of the rights
of South Australia."
1886. — In the course of furtiier correspondence on
the question of the appointment of a royal com-
mission by Sjuth Australia, the Premier of Vic-
toria stated tliat the agreement to be made with
Ohaffey Brclliers would not "in any way in-
terfere with the navigation of the River Mur-
ray, and it would not have been entered into
if there 'uauld have been the slightest appre-
hension that it could so intei'fere." At a con-
ference of representatives of New South Wales
and Aictoria, it was resolved that a trust should
be formed between the two States to control the
waters of the Murray.
1887.— Royal commission, appointed by South
Ai:stralia fc enquire into and report upon "the
question of utilizing the waters of the River
Uurrayi for irrigation purposes, and the pre-
servation of the navigation and water rights of
this province in the river; and for that purpose
to confer and consult with any commission ap-
pointed or to be appointed by the Governments
of New South Wales and Victoria on the same
gubject."
18yO.— Up to this date no conferences were held
owing to the fact that New South AVales declin-
ed to participate. In the correspondence which
took place at this period the claim was made
by the Premier of New South Wales (Sir Henry
Parkes), on behalt of that colony, to the whole
watercourse of the Murray from its source to the
■South Australian boundary, and the waters of
tliat portion of the river.
1894. — ^The South Australian Royal Commission,
having failed in all its efforts to bring about
a conference, was relieved of its labours.
1894 to 1902.— Correspondence took place between
the colonies without result. But meantime Vic-
tori* was extending her irrigation works and
diversions.
1902.— As tlie reeult of action in the three States,
culminating in the assembling of a conference
of political and other public men
at Corowa, an Interstate Royal Com-
mission was appointed jointly by New
South Wales, Victoria, and South Aus-
tralia, "to make a diligent and full enquiry
concerning the conservation and distribution
of the waters of the River Murray and its tri-
butaries for the i>iu"po8e of irrigation, naviga-
tion, and water supply,'' &c. This commis-
sion presented its report, but it was not
unanimous, the South Australian Commissioner
differing from the finding of the other mtm-
bers in matters of substance. The majority re-
port decidi'd on an allotment of the waters of
the river and its tributaries between the three
States, the effect of which on the navigation
of the Murray is sliown by the following
figures: — In the years 1886-1901 inclusive,
under natural conditions, the average arnual
duration of navigation bad been 10 months: un-
der the conditions of the commission's allot-
ment it would have been 5i months. During
the actual existence of this commission, Victo-
ria, in the face of the strongest protests from
New South Wales and South Australia, initiated
further large diversion works.
1903 — Subsequent to the report of the commis-
sion, correspondence passed between the Pre-
miers of South Australia and Victoi'ia, bearing
principally on the legal aspect of the question,
and in 1903 the matter was fully discussed
at the Conference of Premiers in Sydney, with
the result that a tentative agreement was made
modifying the apportionment proposed by the
Interstate Royal Commission slightiy in favour
of South Australia; but tlus agreement was again
altered at the expense of South Australia.
It was unfavourably received in all the States,
and was not ratified.
1904 — The South Australian House of Assembly,
on the proposal of Mr. Ritchie, made
the following resolution: — "That in the
opinion of this House it is advis-
able that the Attorney-General should, in the
name of the State, move for an injunction
against the State of Victoria, and against all
oflBcers of that State and persons acting under
its authority, restraining them from the appro-
priation of water from the River Murray under
the Tooleybuc and other schemes."
ICOS. — The question was again brought forward for
discussion at the Conference of State MinisteiB
held at Hobart in February, 1906, when, the
principle of apportionment of the waters beinsr
laid aside, a great advance towards an amicable
settlement was made, and a decision was come
to for the preparation of a statement by the
Government of South Australia "on the basis of
the resolutions attached, which, in general
terms, affirm that the ultimate requirements of
navigation and irrigation will necessitate the
ctnstruction of a system of locks over all that
portion of the river now customarily used for
na\igation to be gradually installed as the diver-
sions of New South Wales and Victoria render
such locks necessary; the cost of all such works
to be paid for in equal shares by the three
States, Lake Victoria storage to be the first
work constructed."
1905.— South Australian Parliament passed a Bill
authorizing surveys to be made, with a view
to select sites for locks, and begrin work in this
State.
1906. — South Australian Government forwarded a
report to New South Wales and Victoria in com-
pliance with request of Hobart Conference. (Jo-
vemment obtained legal opinions from Sir
Josiah S3'mon, K.C. (S.A.), Mr. Isaacs, K.O.
(Victoria), and Mr. Glynn (S.A.), and the unani-
mous view was expressed that South Australia has
riparian rights which cannot be infringed. An
afjreement (subject to the ratification of the
Parliaments of the three States), signed by the
Premiers at the Sydney Conference in ApriL
21
— Compromises at Conferences. —
At the Conference of Premiers held
In Sydney in 1903, the represeutativea
of South Australia proposed this
motion : —
That this conference is of opinion (1) that the
Federal Government should be respectfully
asked to undertake, as a Oommonwealtli
scheme, the locking of the River Murray from
Wentworth to Blanchetown, to secure the per-
manent navig-ability of the river; (2) that after
this work is completed the States of New
South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia
should respectively bear the cost of conserva-
tion and irrigation schemes within their own
borders; (3) that the water not required for
maintaining navigation shall be allotted as
follows: — A minimum of 70,000 cubic feet
per minute to be allowed to flow into South
Australia, and the balance to be divided be-
tween New South Wales and Victoria as fol-
lows: — Two-thirds to New South Wales and
one-third to Victoria; (4) that an independent
permanent commission be appointed by the
Federal Executive with authority to maintain
these conditions.
To this proposal three votes were se-
cured—those of Sir John See (N.S.W.).
Mr. James (W.A.). and Mr. Jenkins
(S.A.). The other three representatives
—Mr. Irvine (Vic), Mr. Philp (Q.), and
Mr. Nicholls (Tas.) — voted against it
The following motions were submit-
ted by the Hon. J. G. Jenkins, then
Premier of South Australia, at the
Hobart Conference in 1905: —
1. That the ultimate requirements of naviga-
tion and irrigation will necessitate the con-
stniction of a complete S3^em of locks over
the whole of that portion of the river system
now customarilj- used for navigation.
2. That as the diversion by New South Wales
and Victoria increases in extent such system
of locks be gradually installed, so as to at all
times maintain the full requirements of naviga-
tion.
3. That the cost of all works for the purpose
of navigation be contributed by the three
States in equal parts.
4. That when the above principles are approv-
ed the services should be obtained of the best
available engineer in the world competent to
deal with both the navigation and irrigation
9}des of the question, to report fully on chc
extent and character of the works necessary, snd
prepare full estimates; the expense to be borne
equally by the States interested.
5. That a goverxiing body be constituted to
cor.trrl the use and division of the waters cf
the river Fystem, consisting of three engineers.
one to be appointed by each State. And before
any works of diversion are commenced such
body shall investigate the effect of sue); diver-
sion on the flow of the river, and if in their
opinion the interests of navigation would be ad-
vereely affected they shall initiate such por-
tion of the complete system as will conserve
the frill nsvig.ation requirements.
6. That the first work to be commenced shall
be that for the storage at Lake Victoria.
The Hobart Conference was charac-
terized by a much more con-
ciliatory spirit than that which
had prevailed at previous ga-
therings. The formal decision
arrived at by the Hobart Conference
was that a definite settlement of the
question should be deferred to permit
of the South Australian Government
preparing a full report on the basis
of certain resolutions, and present-
ing to the States Interested a detailed
statement of the works considered
necessary to give effect to siieh resolu-
tions. The statement to includ^' the fol-
lowing information: — "1. The extent
and character of the lock system re-
quired, with an estimate of the proba-
ble length of period over which their
construction may be spread, having in
view the future gradual absorption of
the surplus water for irrigation. 2. An
approximate estimate of the capital
cost and annual maintenance of such
a system, and the revenue that may be
expected to be derived from the im-
position of a toUage on the river-borne
trade and from other sources. 3. Full
consideration to be given to the possi-
bility of providing — at least in the ear-
lier periods — for the mainten.ance of
navigation, by means of storages, at a
probably great reduction of cost." A
report covering answers to these en-
quiries was duly forwarded by the Go-
vernment.
—A Tentative Agreement.—
The South Australian Parliament,
during the session of 1905, autho-
rized surveys and the preparation of
plans in order to facilitate the con-
struction of locks on the lower reaches
of the Murray, and surveys are being
22
made with that end in view. Early
in 1906 the Premier went on a
diplomatic mission to Victoria. Du-
ring his presence there tlie Pre-
mier of Victoria expressed the opi-
Jiion that "all the States ought to join
together, and use their money together,
so that Australia might rival Egypt."
That is the Austi'alian (and the South
Australiau) view of the question, and
indicates the only practical solution of
the problem. At a conference of Pre-
miers held in Sydney early in April.
I'.ioe, the representatives of South Aus-
tralia and Victoria submitted separate
resolutions as the basis of an agree-
ment. Eventually a compact was en-
tered into providing for a scheme of
apportionment of water between the
Slates and the appointment of a Board
of Commissioners. This is subject to
ratification by the three Parliaments.
— Worth Fighting For. —
It is imi>ossible to study the records
of select committees, I'oyal commis^
sions, Preiuiers' Conferences, news-
paper files, and pamphlets, without
being impressed by the fact that
strenuous efforts have been made at
various times to arrive at some settle-
ment. The object in view is worth all
Ihe work done. The Corowa Confer-
ence represented a distinct advance.
That historic gatherin<r may fairly
be credited with having revived the
V'hole question. Representatives of
various States were encouraged to take
'J broader view of the question, from
the fact that federation, which had
wiped out border lines, had imposed
oliligations. The following resolutions
V ere agreed to at Corowa in 1902:—
That the Governments of the Commonwealth
and tiie States concerned be urged to cooperate
in preparing and carrj-ing out a comprehensive
scheme for the utilization of the waters of the
River Murray, which^ while improvinfr the navi-
cability of that river, will also provide for the
imperative needs of the residents on both banks
in tlie conservation and distribution of its
waters.
That, owing to the urgent necessity for a
scheme of water conservation for tlie Riverina,
northern Victoria, and South Australia, and as an
instalment of a comprehensive scheme, the States
of New South Wales, Victoria, and South Austra-
lia be .isked to empower the Federal Government
to pro\-ide storage reservoirs on the Upper Mih>
ra.v, and a weir at Bungowannah. as proposed
br Mr. ilcKinney, and endorsed by Col. Home
and Mr. McGregor, such headworks to be national.
That, contingent upon the second resolution
being: adopted by the Governments concerned,
this conference recommends the public bodieg in-
terested to approach their respective Governments,
and request that the distributinff works for utili-
zing the Upper Murray storage for Bungo.vannah
Weir be commenced at such time as will enable
them to be completed concurrently \^'ith the head-
works named.
Tl;at a royal commission be appointed consist-
ing of one representative from each State of New
South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, to
report as to the just allotment of the waters of
the Murray basin to the use of each of thJ said
States, and, as to the best methods,
joint or otherwise, for their conserva-
tion and distribution, both for the pur-
poses of irrigation and navigation, and in pai^
ticulur to report promptly upon the practicability
and cost of the schemes mentioned in the resolu-
tions at the conference.
— Views of a Prime Minister. —
At the gathering at Corowa the
Prime Minister of the Commonwealtii
(Sir Edmund Barton) said, inter alia: —
"These questions of navigation and ir-
rigation are very much bound up in
one another. It is quite clear that no
one State can undertake this work.
There must, therefore, be an exhibition
of wisdom, moderation, and good sense
between the States of the Common-
wealth. I do not agree with those
who say that the conservation of water
and irrigation are incompatible. In-
stead of being hostile, they are the
complement one to the other, and they
can only be done by co-operation. If
the Commonwealth and the States
stand strictly on their rights under the
Constitution, I am afraid the prospect
of doing anything very practical will
be remote; but I would point out that
the Constitution was framed to be
■forked by reasonable men. None of
them should try and put any political
difficulty in the way. What the peo-
ple must see to is that they do not let
this subject drop as soon as they get
23
a good rainfall. We are agreed that
Borne scheme of irrigation is necessary.
Do not let us, then, wait until the next
drought. It is the next drought that
you have to get ready for. I am deeply
interested in this question. The great
internal question of Australia is water.
It has been very little recognised in
the past, but the question is one that
must be first in our thoughts if we are
to be a nation able to get experience
from the past, and prepared to taiie
means to save ourselves from so much
loss and pain in the future."
— Interstate Opinions. —
Later, when replying to a vote of
thanks at the Corowa Conference, the
then Prime Minister said that the re-
solution (agreeing to the appointment
of the three Commissioners) was '"one
01 the first fruits of federation, and. al-
though navigation was a federal mat-
ter, the Federal Government had not
the slightest objection to the work of
the commission including the considera-
tion of river navigation, because the
Interests of navigation and irrigation
In this case could not be separated."
Sir William Lyne expressed the hope
that State jealousies would be sup-
pressed, and he asked: — "What would
it cost to lock the Murray? Thirty
locks and weirs could be constructe<l
for about £3,000,000. but what was that
for a great national work?" Sir John
See, then Premier of New South Wales,
said: — "He did not apprehend that the
States would come into conflict; for the
days of parochial jealousy had passed
away. . . . He was quite assured
that no State wanted to take advan-
tage of any other." Sir Alexander
Peacock, then Premier of Victoria,
said: — "South Australia has rights
equal to those of any other States."
The Hon. J. H. Gordon, then Attorney-
General for South Australia, remarked:
— "The apprehensions which had ac-
companied him to the conference had
disappeared. He hoped there would
be displayed among the States the
spirit of mutual concession and mutual
self-help, without which the Common-
wealth would not prosper." The
Koyal Commission of 1902, composed
of an engineer from each State, was
the direct outcome of the Corowa com-
pact. The experts were directed "to
make a diligent and full enquiry con-
cerning the conservation and distribu-
tion of the waters of the River Murray
and its tributaries for the purposes oL
irrigation, navigation, and water sup-
ply, and to report as to the just allot-
ment of the waters of the Murray
basin to the use of each of the States
of New South Wales, Victoria, and
South Australia; and upon the best
methods, joint or otherwise, for their
conservation and distribution for tlie
purposes afojesaid; and as to the prac-
ticability and cost of the necessary
works for such objects." Although
the recommendations of the experts
did not prove altogether acceptable,
they collected a vast amount of valu-
able evidence, and presented a report
whidi covered an admirable review of
the points at issue.
— Work of the River Murray League. —
Shortly after the delegates h,ad sepa-
rated at Corowa a public meeting was
held in Adelaide, and at this gathering
of representative citizens the following
re*4olutions were carried: —
That this meeting recognises the iustice of South
Australia's claim to full riparian rights in the
Murray, and is in sympattiy -with the proposal
CO lock the river in the interests of navigation
and irrigation.
ITiat a league be formed in /delaide for the
purpose of co-operating with similar associations
at Renmark and elsewhere in guarding the rights
of South Australia to a reasonable use of the wa-
ters of the Murray for navigation and irrigation:
that the league consist of a President, Vice-Pre-
sident, general committee, executive committee,
hon. secretary, and hon. treasurer; and th.it
those present form themselves into a general
oommittee, with power to add to their number.
To the executive members of this
league South Australia owes a dobt
which the State will not be called upon
to discharge. A vast amount of work
has been done, and more than one Go
24
vernruent has freely acknowledged tlie
public service rendered by the league.
I-;arly in its career tlie following poUcy
vas outlined: —
1. That a barra«:e should be conrtnicted at the
.Murray nioutli to exclude sea water from the
lakes, and also to disconnect the lakes from the
Coorong.
2. That locks should be constructed in suflfi-
dent number to make the River Murray and the
Darlinc permanently na\-icable.
3. That, to ensure permanency of na\n cation,
6uch storagt?s should be constructed on the river
as may be newssary, and that storage leservoirs
of sufficient capacity should be constructed in
South Australia to supply \^-ater neceesary for n-
rljration and evaporation.
4. That, in any settlement of riparian rights
between States, works constructed and in course
of construction bv Victoria. New South WaU-?,
and South Australia for divertine the Murray and
tributaries should be taken into coasideration in
ertiniatine the respective shares of the States in
the total water supply.
Those objects have been steadily kept
In view, and to tlie league is due some
credit at le.nst for the consistent advo-
cacy of a national policy of locks and
storage basins as an equitable settle-
ment of the question at issue. ^
—The Sydney Compact.—
The agreement signed on behalf of
South Australia, New South Wales,
and Victoria at the Premiers' Ck>nfer-
ence at Sydney, AprU, 1906, will be
submitted at an early date to the va-
rious legislatures for ratification. It Is
as follows :—
Clauses 1 and 2 provide that until
the initiation of a system of works for
the improvement of the navigation of
the Murray River and its principal tri-
butaries, the total diversions by tha
upper States shall be limited as fol-
low:— July to January— New South
Wales, 220,000 cubic feet per minute;
Victoria, 130,000 cubic feet. February
to June— New South Wales, 158,000
cubic feet per minute; Victoria, 92,000
cubic feet. A provision is made
which enables the diversions to be in-
creased pro rata should the volume of
water In the river channel at the easi-
eru boundary of South Australia ex-
ceed a certain quantity.
Clause 3 provides that diversions
from certain rivers which make no ef-
fective contribution to the volume of
the main stream except during flood
shall be permissible at all times with-
out in any way violating the agree-
meat. The rivers are:— In New South
"Wales— The Lachlan, Bogan, Macqua-
rie, Casflereagh, Namoi, and Gwydir.
In Victoria — Campaspe, Loddon,
Avoca. and Wimmera, and the Broken,
•v\-ith its effluent Broken Creek. As to
the Wakool the diversion is limited to
the water derivable from its proper
catchment, but not in respect of part
of its volume derived from the over-
flow of the Murray River.
Clause 4 authorizes the construc-
tion of the works at Lake Victoria,
including two locks, as proposed by the
Interstate Royal Commission. The
cost of consti-uction and main-
tenance of these works is to
be borne in equal shares by the three
States. When the Murray River Com-
mission, which is appointed 'to carry
out the agreement, arrives at the
opinion that the extent of the diver-
sions is such as to sensibly impede
river navigation, it shall call upon the
three States to carry out a general
system of canalization by locks aJQd
other works of improvement.
Clause 5 reads: —
That the cost of carrying out the scheme
of canalization, locks, and other works of
in-provcment of the Munay Rivei- and its
tributaries, from a point near Blanchetown
to Echuca on the Murray, and to Hay on the
Murrumbidgee, including the works at and
near Lake Victoria, and of maintaining the
satne, be apportioned one-third to South
Australia, and two-tliirds to the upper
States; such sum of two-thirds (exclusive
of the cost of construction and maintenance
works at and near Lake Victoria authorized
by vesolution 4) to be contributed by the
h^Utea of New South Wales and Victoria in
) proportion to their reBpective contribui iona
to the volume of the main stream of the
Munay River (exclusive of contiibulions
from the Darling River); and these Slates
sliall be accorded rights of diversion in re-
spect of the water rendered available for
irrigation by such locks and other works of
25
improvement in proportion to their re-
spective contributions (exclusive of those
from the Darling River); and the Commis-
Bion shall give directions accordingly.
That it shall be the duty of the Commission
to initiate and carry on an effective and
uniform system of making and recording con-
tinuoxia gaugings of the main stream of
the Murray River and of its tributaries with-
in the States of New South Wales, Vic-
toria, and South Australia (other than those
reserved in whole or in part by resolution
3 to tlie separate use of certain of the
States), at such points as may be necessary,
to determine the volume of intake from
the several portions of the drainage area,
the volume of flow at various points in
the channels, and the losses therefrom, v-ith
their position and modes of occurrence;
to initiate and carry on an effective system
of making and recording continuous gaugings
of all diversions, whether natural or arti-
ficial, or partly natural and partly artificial,
from the main stream of the Murray River
ar.d from its tributaries other than those
wholly reserved to the separate use of cer-
tain of the States, by resolution 3;
to amend from time to time, and as often
aa may appear necessary, the restrictions as
to diversion imposed upon the States of
New South Wales and Victoria, so that re-
spective rights to divert, except as already
provided by this resolution, shall be in the
same proportion as the contributions to the
river and its tributaries (other than those
reserved by resolution 3) from their respec-
tive territories; but so that the volume in
the river channel at the eastern boundary
of South Australia shall be as herein pro-
vided; and that it shall be permissible for the
State of New South Wales to contribute part
of her quota of such volume from the Diir-
ling River.
Clause 6 provides that when tho
canalization of the river by locks and
other works is complete the volume of
water to be allowed to South Austra-
lia shall be 75,000,000,000 cubic ft. per
annum at her eastern boundai"y, sub-
ject to pro rata reduction when it
appears that the total volume at all
points of off-take and at the eastern
boundary of South Australia will be
less than 321,000,000,000 cubic ft. for
the year.
Clause 7 is as follows: —
Nothing in this agreement shall be con-
strued to prohibit any State from construct-
ing reservoirs for the storage of waters ap-
propriated or diverted by it under the autho-
rity hereof; and such waters so impounded or
stored shall be and remain the absolute
property of such State, to be devoted to
such uses as it shall determine; and such
State shall not be under any obligation to
:elease such waters or any part thereof for
or towards the maintenance of the volume
of the river or of any of its tributaries. No
water that has been impounded or scored
shall be deemed part of the natural volume
of any river or stream; but any State shall
have the right to make use of the channel of
any river or stream, as a conduit for the
conveyance of stored water to any point of
diversion.
Clause 8 provides for the appoint-
ment of the Murray River Commis-
sion, consisting of one Commissioner
from each State, within three montha
of the passing by the Parliaments of
the contracting States of an Act rati-
fying the agreement; and clause 9 for
the appointment of a committee of
three — one representative from each
State— to draft a Bill to give effect to
the resolutions adopted by the Confer-
ence (the Bill to include the levying of
tolls, dues, and charges), and to report
as to a suitable basis for the imposi-
tion of the tolls.
26
The eiaim of Irrigation.
More than half the world's crops are
raised by the aid of irrigation, so that
it seems rather late in the day to de-
monstratp the benefits of this system
of cultivation. Yet there are people
in Australia who question whether it
will pay to supplement a deficient i-aln-
fall witli river water, and comparisons
made with other countries are in one
ro!<pect or auotber to the disadvantage
of Australia. This recalls the prophecy
that "it will not pay to grow wheat on
the Adelaide plains," and the forecast
that "South Austi'alia will never be
able to export lambs!" The fact is
irrigation is already beyond the
experimental stage in Australia. It is
proving a success, not a failure, in the
valley of the Murray, and will in-
crease in favour as people realize its
advantages and understand a little
more clearly the science of applying
water to the soil.
— An Insunmce Against Droughts. —
At a number of [>oints in South
Australia along the valley of the Mur-
ray there are large areas of low-lying
land which could be made exceeding-
ly fertile if inundated at regular in-
tervals. With locks and storage l>a-
slns as proposed, the lowlands could
b(- flooded by gravitaition at a mini-
mum cost. The valley of the Murray
woiild by this means become a very
important factor in the agricultural
productions of this State, and coul 1
easily be made to carry a large popu-
lation. An area of little more than
3,000 acres is maintaining over
1,000 people at Renmark, and has
just produced a crop worth ap-
proximately £.".0,000! Without irri-
gation the same land would . not
bave carried 500 sheep. At Mil-
dura 8,000 acres is supporting
5.000 people, and the yield of produce
last season was valued at £120,000.
The same country would not afford
pasture for 1,000 sheep! A delegate
to the Irrigation Conference at Syd-
ney said that settlers would be quite
prepared to pay a reasonable amount
for water, "because they had to regard
irrigation as an insurance against
drought." Whilst settlers in New
South Wales were without feed for
their stock, their neighbours across the
river in Victoria were, by means of
irrigation, selling fodder at £5 and £6
a ton! During the drought, said the
delegate, when his stock were dying,
and he had not a blade of grass, he
saw in the Goulburn Valley hundreds
of acres of irrigated land similar to
his own. which was fattening a bul-
lock to the acre. "That was calculatr
ed to make me a sti'ong irrigation-
ist." The maxim of Professor Hil-
gard. that "arid countries are always
rich countries when irrigated," is be-
coming understood in Soutb Australia;
and, when settlers begin to realize that
the Murray is not likely to be turn-
ed into a dry channel, as they at one
time feared it might be, owing to up-
stream diversions, Irrigation will be
more generally practised than it has
been.
—Lessons From Abroad.—
Admitting that conditions are not
the same in every particular, it serves
as an inspiration to study what has
been done in older countries by a ju-
dicious application of water to soil.
One of the greatest living authorities
on Indian irrigation has given a strik-
ing illustration of what the system
means in India:— "It may be broadly
27
calculated that the value of the crops
which would have perished if un-
watered, or would not have been sown
at all if the canals had not existed,
equals in each ordinary year at least
half the capital expended on these
worksl" The art of irrigation was
practised in Egypt long before Joseph
was called upon to interpret in so un-
pleasant a way the dreams of Pharaoh;
but to modern engineers has been left
the task of harnessing the mighty Nile
so as to control its fertilizing powers.
Six hundred miles above Cairo, at
Assouan, a dam was built, anil locks
were constructed to facilitate naviga-
tion. The reservoir holds 1,000,000 000
tons of water— a quantity more than
sufficient to provide one year's full do-
mestic supply for eveiy city, town, and
village in the United Kingdom, with
its population exceeding 42.000,000.
The total length of this dam is about
one and a quarter miles, the maximum
height is about 120 ft., the difference
of level of water above and below, 67
ft., and the total weight of masoniy
exceeds 1,000,000 tons! Navigation fs
provided for by a ladder of four locks,
each 260 ft. long by 32 ft. wide. Sir
William Willcocks has stated that the
water retained at Assouan is sufficient
to give perennial irrigation to 500,000
acres, thus adding £15,000,000
to the wealth of Egypt.
Water conservation schemes under the
supervision of Sir William Willcocks
in Egypt have had the effect of in-
creasing land values from £120.000,000
in 1884 to £275,000,000 in 1903. In his
work on the Nile Reservoir Dam at
Assouan, the eminent engineer says: —
"The cost of changing the basin canals
of Upper Egypt into perennial canals,
completing the drainage system of the
counti-y, providing for flood escapes
and the storage of water in the Nile
Valley, has been estimated it
£10,000,000. Once an unlimited supply
of summer water is available, the sum-
mer crops of Egypt will be worth
about £40,000,000 per annum, and
wealth such as th,at can well afford
to pay to be insured against drought."
Though greatly interested in the con-
servation of water for pur])oses of pro-
duction. Sir William Willcocks does
not lose sight of the importance of na
vigation. In a recent interview he
stated that he was "more than satis-
fied with the outlook for irrigation in
the valley of the Euphrates," and he
went on to say — "I am amazed at the
scope there exists for irrigtation on tlie
Euphr'ates and Tigris, and at the ease
with which the necessary works can
be constructed. One thing is clear
Jiere — that irrigation and navigation
must go hand-in-hand, and the Tigris
nnd Euphrates carry enough water for
irrigation and navigation combined for
half a century." If navigation and
irrigation "must" go hand in hand on
the Tigris and Euphrates in the
opinion of so eminent an authority,
why not on the Murray, Darling, and
Murrumbidgee?
— Advance Australia! —
When ancient Egypt is rai>idly de-
veloping 3 forward movement it is
time that youthful Australia stopped
marking time and stepped out. The
Commonwealth should develop a
"quick-step" movement and make pro-
gress. The land of the Pharaohs
is once more pulsating with life,
and this is due to the applica-
tion of water to the sandy de-
serts through which the historic Nile
sluggishly winds its way. Natural
conditions are more favourable in
some respects in Australia than in the
older country; but, though in Egypt
great waterways are being turned to
account, in the Commonwealth water
is permitted to run to waste into the
ocean, while the joint owners haggle
over trifles on the banks of the
stream! For scores of years India has
provided a striking example of how
artificial watering can be made to re-
28
duce the effects of rainless seasonS;
but it has remained for Egypt and tha
western States of America to give the
most practical object lessc»ns to Aus-
tralia.
— What America is Doing. —
It is estimated that 7.500,000 acres is
under water treatment in the wes-
tern States of America, where a
few years ago tlie country was des-
cribed as irreclaimable. Cities are now
dotted over the plain, which has been
made one of the most productive centres
of the United States. The amount ex-
pended in irrigation schemes In the
United States is calculated at
£50.000,000. In the Salt River
Valley, in Arizona, in what was not
long ago spoken of as impracticable
desert, 25.000 people are (according :o
a well-known writerUhriving on 25,000
acres. The irrigation works cost
£600,000; the wealth created is valued
at £0.000.000; and a wired fence is the
dividing line between the primeval
solitude and a pictiiresque expanse of
happy settlement. President Roosevelt
Id a message to Congress said:— '"The
reclamation and settlement of arid
lands will enrich eveiy portion of our
countrj-. just as the settlement of the
Ohio and Mississippi valleys brought
prosperity to the Atlantic States." The
pioneer irri^rator, with scraper and
spade, has invaded the Avildest and
most remote sections of the intermoui-
tain country, of what was once the
"w.ilerless Avest." He hns turned the
precious waters of a thousand streams
uijon 122,000 fai-ms. More than
100,'X)0 ditches stretch out for 50,000
miles to cover 9,000,000 acres of pro-
ductive laud wrested from aridity.
These ditches, monumentsof the indom-
itable industry and courage of Ui-i.
builders, represent an initial outlay ol'
£l!s.OOO,00(». The fertile fields and blos-
Boniiiif,' orchards which to-day atte^st
the ANisdom of the irrigators yield an-
nually more than £20,000,000 in croi)8,
while the increment to the taxable
wealth of the nation created by irriga-
tion works is in excess of £74.800.000
In land values alone. California leads
the way in cost of water schemes,
and Utah comes next. The Mormons
settled hi an arid tract which they
have made productive by bringing
water down from the mountains. In
irrigated area Colorado ranks first, but
the Californian laud is more valuable
and is more extensively worked. More
than 90 per cent, of America's artificial-
ly watered farms are In the semi-
arid region between the Rockies and
the Mississippi, using the head waters
of the latter stream. This take? in
part of the "Great American Desert"
of old geographies. In the report sup-
plied to the Government of New South
Wales by one of its officers who visited
the United States, this official said:—
"A visit to the San Joaquin Valley
and the canal of the Cache le Poudre.
the union colony of Greeley, Colorado,
and a journey as far east as San An-
tonio by the southern route, would, I
think, go far to impress them (Austra-
lian pastoral! sts), and do much to
modify the existing methods of the
pastoral industry, and remove the pre-
vailing notion that it will not pay to
irrigate fodder crops for stock feed-
ing."
—The Lesson of Experience.—
The three experts who constituted
the royal commission of 1902 devoted a
good deal of time to the inspection of
irrigation works in the various States,
particularly in Victoria, where they
found much to interest them, and
something to criticise. They pointed
out that even with the most skilful
location, grading, and construction of
works, "nothing is more certain than
that every individual cultivator who
uses the water has to learn the art
(of irrigation), either through intelli-
gent study of the experience of others
and careful observations and expert-
29
roents of his own, or by the more pain-
ful, and in some cases ruinous, teach-
ing of failure arising from his want of
slull." A common ei'i-or among irri-
gationists is the mistaken idea that
because water is a good tiling they
can never use too much of iit. One of
the causes to which Victorian failures
are attributed is the indiscriminate
flooding of laud duinng a period when
the soil is subject to a heavy rainfall.
This also seems to have been the ex-
perience in New South Wnles.
One witness examined at Hay
said: — "I consider the soil is
adapted for irrigation, and I
have confidence in the scheme if only
we had practical men on the area-
men who understood fruit culture, and
the growing of crops by applying
water to the land. We have found
that land and water in themselves are
not sufiicient, that there is a proper
meithod of putting water on, and that
method has to be learned by experi-
ence."
—Where Irrigation Pays. —
Sir Samuel McCaughey is one of the
most enterprising and successful irri-
gationists in New South Wales. He has
spent large sums in private conserva-
tion works and in experiments in the
growing of fodder crops, and he has
proved beyond the shadow of a doubt
that irrigation will handsomely pay
the Australian stockowner if carried
out on practical lines. He regards sor-
ghum as tlie best summer fodder, ow-
ing to the quick results obtained,
though lucerne is the best to grow on a
large scale, as it does not require the
annual expense of cultivation. "Two-
sevenths of the waste flow of the
MuiTumbidgee," says Sir Samuel Mc-
Caughey, "would irrigate 2,203,856
acres of wheat, oats, or barley, to a
depth of 4* In., which would, judging
from my experience, give a return of
40 bushels of wheat or 60 bushels of
oats to the acre, or, say, a gross return
of £8,81.5,424 in either instance. Tlie
estimate of 50 sheep to the acre, fed
on sorghum for the four summer
months, is only half the stock carried
per acre on a small paddock on North
Yanko last year. The average cost of
growmg sorghum would be about £1
per acre per annum, and of lucerne
considerably less." Mr. N. A, Gaten-
by, of Forbes, New South Wales^
watered 200 acres, and netted £1,400.
A neighbour of his mvested £270 in
flooding 40 acres, and took from it hay
to the value of £480, when other crops
in the district were a failure.
Other pastoralists in New South
Wales told the royal commission that
stock losses would be greatly reduced
in dry seasons by the extension of Ir-
rigation. Mr. H. W. Morphett. of
Wood's Point, South Australia, stated
in evidence that he had obtained 150
tons of onions in one year, the net pro-
fit from the crop being no less than
£600. That was in 1902, and since then
Mr. Morphett has extended his opera-
tions, and has over 200 acres under
lucerne. The results obtained are such
as to open the eyes of sceptics regard-
ing the fertility of reclaimed swamp
lands along the Murray. As much as
£10 to £20 per acre per annum has
been taken off land in the valleys
of our rivers subjected to inun-
dation. The necessity for isuath
Australia being guaranteed a regu-
lar flow of water in the Murray
was further recognised by the experts
in the following statement:— "The
aridity of the soil and the low rainfall
being such as to render the artificial
application of water a matter of prime
importance in South Australia, it is
a little remarkable that irrigation has
not been more generally practised. The
one great illustration in South Austra-
lia of its advantages Is to be seen ^t
Reumark, where, in the midst of ii
typically dry Australian countiy, prac-
tically rainless in its natural condition,
there exists a thriving settlement car-
30
ry\ng a population of about 1.000."
That was written in 1902, and during
tbo iiiten-al a considerable expansion
of the irriirated area in South Atis-
tralia has taken place. Some of the
abandoned Aillage settlements have
been occupied by private people, while
individual settlers are beginninar to re-
cognise the advantages to be derived
from applying to their land some of
the waters of a river which they have
previously allowed to tlow unheetled
past their frontages. There is a strong
forward movement noticeable among
riverside landownei's, chiefly in the
direction of growing fodder for stock
and dairying.
A Word of Caution. —
The royal commission estimated the
irrigable area in the Murray Basin m
three States at 50,000,000 acres, but
under the best conditions some of this
land could not be utilized. "Irri-
gation is not all plain sailing
and profit," Professor Robert Wal-
lace has pointed out, "unless
managed with judgment. In a
hot climate, where evaporatian
is active, water must be applied with
skill and in moderate quantities, else
serious consequences result." In an
article contributed to The Field in 1S08
Professor Wallace, author of "The
Agricultural and Rural Economy of
Austi-alia and New Zealand," dealt
with irrigation in Victoria, in which
State he said large sums of mon(^v
h.nd been spent "for the benefit of .a
community who did not possess either
the necessary amoimt of experience in
the practice of Irrigation to enable it
to take full advantage of the oppor-
tunities offererl, or the amount of
faith In its success to induce individuals
to give their efforts to make the ven-
ture successful." After describing
what had been attempted at Mildura
and elsewhere this keen observer and
eminent agricultural authority sum-
med up as follows: —
A number of people who have sliown them-
sehes to be wise, at least in their own esti-
mation and after the event, have taken to-
rei.rjnianding: the Victorian Government of
the last decade for the extravagant expendi-
ture of public money upon irrigation, and it
is not an uncommon practice in tlie other
Australian colonies to poinit to the lavishness
of Victoria in irrigation expenditure as a
waming to progressives to keep down ex-
penses: and it must be admitted, in view of
the whole circumstances which are now ap-
parent, that the rate of development was too
rapid. The people upon whom the great
burden of additional work and responsibility
ought to have fallen were ignorant of even
the first principles of irrigation, and, in not
a few instances, preiudiced against it: and,
moreover, Victoria has bad to pass through a
financial crisis, which shook her resources
to the foundation — a circumstance which no
one could foresee. The results of early blun-
dering and financial and other misfortunes
will pass away in time, and the necessity
for irrigation and the suitability of local con-
ditione will ultimately assert themselves in
the pioneer irrigation colony of Australia.
—Compensation Works Required.—
What this State at present desires
is that the Australian river sys-
tem shall be fully utilized. We are
heartily in accord with the aspirations
of our neighbours to make their arid
country more productive. There is no
antagonism on the part of this State
towards irrigation. Tens of millions
of gallons of priceless water are daily
flowing past some of the driest p;irt9-
of Australia to waste in the ocean.
The land calls for use, and only the-
fertillzing agency ig required, in con-
junction with the available sunshine,
to bring production to a high degree
of perfection. South Australia believes
in irrigation. The foolish misrepresen.
tation is sometimes made by our neigh-
bours that otu" claims are solely for
navigation. Those critics conveniently
—or ignorantly, let us hope — overlook
the facts that the Murray flows
through South Australia for a distance
of r)00 miles; that on both its banks at
numerous points irrigation works are
in progress: and that, in addition to
this, large interests are involved in the
irrigation colony at Renmark and
31
In the reclaimed mai-shes which
fringe the stream. The claim ia
that the ingenuity of the engineer
shall aid Nature in the extra de-
mands liljely to be made upon her. In
times of flood seas of water
pass unutilized. South Austra-
lia's contention is that the
thi-oe States should be asso-
ciated in arresting a proportion of this
volume in the reservoirs with
which Nature has dotted the banks ot
the main stream. As auxiliaries to
these, and as compensating works for
the increasing demands of irrigation,
locks should be constructed. Wijere Is
the selfishness in this policj ? There^
is no denial of the rights of our neigh-
bours. South Australians make no un-
reasonable demands for themselves.
The benefits of irrigation are freely ad-
mitted, but the claims for cheap tran-
sit of goods cannot be overlooked. In a
country of great distances inland navi-
gation is indispensable to profitable
settlement, and the fact must be rea-
lized sooner or later.
32
The Rivers as Highways of Commerce.
The conservation of existing interests, especially
of such as have grown out of the natural condi-
tions of the country of their birth, and have re-
mtined for a lengthened time unchallenged, is a
fundamental principle of law, no less than of the
public Bonse of justice and right, among all civi-
lized communities. In the navigation and trade
of Wie Murray and its larger tributaries a consider-
able capital has been already embarked; suitable
vessels have been built and equipped, wharfs
consfructed, and warehouse accommodation provid-
ed — facts that cannot be ignored in any attempt-
ed settlement of rights. Provision will therefore
be proposed for the continuance of a suprily of
water in those portions of the channel heretofore
commonly navigated, su.liciont to carry vessels of
the like class and of the same draught as those
hitherto employed in the river trade; such supply
to be continued during the same period of each
year as navigation has, in the past, been usually
carried on. The volume required for this purpose
would be greatly reduced by the construction of
weira and locks in the channels, and a much l-Tger
volume thus released for employment in f ther
ways. It will be recommended that these works
be taken in hand as early as possible, Iheir con-
Btruction being a condition precedent to the propix
utilization of the resources available from the
rivers. — Report of Interstate Royal Oommission of
Kxiierts, 1902.
Cach riparian State is under a conventional
obl'cration to remove all obstacles to navigation
which may arise in the bed of the river within
its territory, and to maintain the towing and
other accessories to navigation in such a condi-
tion aa will best facilitate the merchant vessels
of all nations. — Twiss, Law of Nations.
— Claims of Navigation. —
To render permanently navigable
three great rivers, and thus give
cheap and regular transport to pro-
ducers for 3,000 miles inland; to
provide a plentiful supply oC
water to vast territories fre-
quently s'Ticljen by drought; to
throw oj>en fresh fields for the enter-
prising trader, and new areas for the
laiidseelicr, is surely a policy which
must appeal to the patriotism of the
people of Australia and commend Itself
to then- best judgment. The claim for
permanently navigable streams is made
on behalf, not of one State, but of Aus-
tralia. The Commonvs^ealth as a whole
will be the gainer, because the pro-
ducers along the rivers will benefit,
and no one State will have a mono-
poly of the shipping business; neither
will it be able to control the whole
of the trade. Rivers as highways
of commerce are, like the ocean, free
to all. Even more important than the
question of a prosperous river shipping
trade is the necessity for providing
cheap transport facilities for producers.
France has revolutionized her rural in-
dustries by means of canals and rivers,
whUe the industrial prosperity of Grer-
many is largely owing to the cheap wa-
ter carriage enjoyed by her manufactur-
ers. A writer in The Contemporary Re-
view for December, 1904, in an article
on "The Lesson of the German Water-
ways," sliowed moist conclusively the
wonderful advantages enjoyed by a
country where water carriage is made
available. He pointed out that if the
inland transportation system of Great
Britain "were properly arranged and
managed Germany would be utterly
unable to compete industrially with
that country." Great Britain possesses
the closest net of watercourses in Eu-
rope, and is highly favoured by Nature
for inland transport by water; but, un-
fortunately, the railway companies of
England control many of the canals,
and, as in .\ustralia, the profits of
existing railways are considered b«?.
foi-o the interests of present and
future producers and the indus-
trial expansion of the country.
The writer referred to declared
that "it is economically wasteful not
to extend and develop the natural and
artificial waterways which a country
K
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33
possesses, and it is absolutely suicidal
and criminal to let them fall into ne-
glect and decay." That condenses in a
sentence the South Australian attitude
towards the Murray and its tributaries.
This State has a right to protest against
the criminal neglect of Australia in per-
mitting the Murray to pour its contents
into the sea during one portion of the
year, with the result that in the other
period trade is suspended and the pros-
perity of producers threatened because
there is not a regular flow of water
and permanent communication with
markets,
— Railways Versus Rivers.^
It is only about 76 years ago since
Capt. Sturt discovered the Murray, and
half a century has passed by since
Capt. Cadell in the Lady Augusta and
Capt. W. R. Randell in the Mary Ann
proved that the river was navigable for
many hundreds of miles from its
mouth. The Mvuray and its main tri-
butary—the Darling — are intermittent-
ly navigable foi- no less a distance than
2.. 500 miles; but, with the exception of
the removal of a few snags, nothing has
been done to extend the period when
these streams are capable of being uti-
lized as channels of trade to the interior.
Indeed, it may be said that more legisla-
tive effort has been put forth during
the last half -century to destroy the
trade influence of these streams than
to increase theii- usefulness. The rail-
way policy of more than one State has
been shaped with the express object of
diverting traffic from its natural course,
and official regi'et has more than once
been expressed that there should be in
existence navigable streams which pro^-
vide cheap inland transport to compete
against land carriage. Throughout the
controversy on the river problem dur-
ing recent years it has been urged that
navigation is of no concern — that, as
there are several railways tapping the
Murray, and more are to come, there
is no need to consider the trading or
shipping interests. That view found
official expression at the Irrigation Con-
ference at Sydney and the Premiers'
Conference at Hobart. It is a short-
sighted policy that puts the tempo-
rary profit of a railway line before the
interests of large sections of producers
and the profitable settlement of the
country. The cost of transport
by German canals is from one-
seventh to one-twenty-fourth of a pen-
ny per ton per mile. The German "in-
dustrial army" has to light far away
froim its base, often hundreds of miles
inland; but, thanlis to water carriage,
its victory is assured. "Water car-
riage in Germany has expanded about
three and a half times more quiclily
than has railway carriage." "During
the last 20 years Germany has spent
about £30,000,000 on her waterways" —
surely a proof of the importance with
which the authorities in the fatherland
regard their sti*eams as providing cheap
and efficient means of freightage. It
is recorded that an Australian mer-
chant, travelling in Germany and ob-
serving the advantages of cheap water
carriage to and from the interioa*, ex-
pressed regret that Australia had "no
navigable rivers!" There are U^w Aus-
tralians who appreciate the fact that
the Murray, Darling, and Mun'um bid-
gee alone give 3,000 miles; and that
for the expenditure of £3,000,000 per-
manent highways of trade could be
supplied equal in length to the distance
from Adelaide to Port Dai-«in across
the continent and halfway back again!
This 3,000 miles of flowing water
would be a guarantee of safety to irri-
gationists, and could not fail (so some
astronomers contend) to have an appre-
ciable effect upon the climate.
—Cheap Transport Essential to
Successful Trading. —
Mr. Andrew Caraegie, in his book"
"The Empire of Business," predicts: —
"One of the features of the new cen-
tury is to be a return of water tran-
sit for heavy materials. Lake ships of
7,000 tons burden already exist. Many
34
new waterways will be opened, upon
which the raw materials for steel and
the finished article itself will be carried
for manufacturers at rates already
reached upon the lakes — one-third, and
often one-fourth, those charged by
rail." In view of this deliberate opin-
ion held by one of the greatest "cap-
tains of industry" produced by the nine-
teeuth centuiy, it is interesting to read
in files received by a recent English
mail that a "most extensive and im-
portjint work is about to be undertak-
en in Prussia — namely, the canalization
of the whole country," and the im-
provement of the existing waterways.
The Rhine is to be united with the
Weser at a cost of over £12,500,000.
Out of this huge sum will also be de-
frayed the expenditure to make the
Lippe navigable. Another canal will be
run from Berlin to Stettin, and this will
absorb £2,150,000. The great water-
way between the Oder and the Vistula
will be improved to the extent of
fl.05S,7o0, Avhile nearly a million will
be allocated to the canalization of the
Oder at certain points. A policy of such
magnitude in a country so compact and
self-contained does not suggest that in-
land navigation is a thing of the past,
and that railways can monopolize the
carrying trade. "All the great rivers
are to be joined," and when the scheme
has been completed, "the heart of Prus-
sia will be pierced by a gigantic water-
way . . . and all the most important
parts- of the Gorman Empire will be
provided with waterways leading to
the sea." Col. Arthur Cotton, in his
work on the navigation of the Goda-
very (India), said:-
The qiKStion of the hour with all nations is
inland navigation. ... All nations in all
parts of the g-lobo have in all ages shown
their appreciation of inland navigation, and
thTe is not h navigable river in any coun-
try tliiit iias long been civilized that is not
studded with towns; and where rivers have
not b(en found, canals have frequently been
du;^, 1/, therefore, experience has shown
that to make watrr communication where none
previously existed has always bcon aiii|)ly re-
mnnrrative, there can be no reasonable doubt
as to the wisdom of putting the flr.ishing
strrke to a work which Nature has already
commenced.
Mr. W. M. Acworth, M.A.. author of
"The Railway and the Traders: a
Sketch of the Railway Rates Question
in Theory and Practice," points out: —
Water carriagre is cheaper than railway car-
riasre all over the world under natiu-al condi-
tions. In a word, the railway charges rise
steadily in amount as the character of the ttaf-
fic gradually changes from least valuable
and for the longest distance to most valuable
and for the shortest distance. That such is
in practice the method of fixing rates all fver
the world, whether the railways be State
o\'Ticd or private commercial undertakings, I
iiavo already said.
At an irrigation conference held in
Sydney early in 1905 an official from
the Railways Department of New
South Wales boasted that the railways
had been "fighting hard to divert trade,
and had been successful in crippling
the river shipping industry in New
South Wales." Thereupon a leading
delegate urged settlers along the river
not to part with the means of getting
their produce to market by water,
while a resident disputed the state-
ment that the railways were control-
ling all the river trade. A motion was
carried expressing the desirableness of
safeguarding the Interests of down-
stream settlers in carrying out any
schemes of conservation and irriga-
tion, One of the delegates hoped river
settlers would never part with their
shipping, as it represented the cheap-
est means of transit; and in this he
was well advised, for in no circum-
stances can any of the railways serve
riverside producers so well as can car-
riers by water. The railway touches
one point; a steamer calls at eve^
bend. At the Hobart Conference of
1905 Mr. Swinburne said: —
In connection with the questions of navigation
and locking, and of river improvement, it must
not be forgotten that the upper States have
carried out extensive railway works to provide
for the needs of traffic, and to promote the
development of the country traversed by the
Mnrrny and its tributaries, and that these rail-
ways have been undertaken in consequence of
the insufflciencj- and uncerfciinty of the rivers
35
as navigable liicrhways. NaWgation, therefore,
must not bo encouragrod in such a manner as
to destroy the traffic on these lines, or to trans-
fer it. or the lai^er part of, to the rivers;
in short, the river trade must be subjected to
reasonable taxation to provide for the main-
tenance and management of the river works.
That WRS a provincial view — a plea for
the pampering of State railways at the
expense of Australian expansion, and
the prosperity of producers.! It is at
least remarkable that, in a country
which can boast of owning extensive
Inland waterways, there should be
oflicial jubilation because river-ship-
ping interests had been destroyed by
railways, and State-owned railways
at that! As everybody knows, the rail-
ways of New South Wales and Vic-
toria have paid very dearly for the
satisfaction they have enjoyed of hav-
ing diverted trade from the rivers;
and so, too, have the producers of
those two States. River-bome goods
have been carried at an enormous re-
duction in freight compared with the
charges levied on the produce and
goods of customers in other parts of
the country; and it is an extremely
doubtful benefit to a community when
a State succeeds in building up a rail-
way business at the cost of natural in-
land waterways and at the cost of
general customs and taxpayers. It
looks very much as if the mercantile
interests of Melbourne and Sj'dney
were being placed before the industrial
expansion of Australia!
— Benefits of Inland Navigation. —
Early in 1905 a Parliamentary party
steamed up the Murray as far as Lake
Victoria, and the opportunity was tak-
en of interviewing a number of settlers
on the New South Wales bank of the
river. ''Although we are in New South
Wales," the settlers told the legislators,
"we are in full sympathy with the
claims put forward by South Australia
in respect of the rivers, and there aro
thousands more like us in New South
Wales and Victoria. Withiout naviga-
tion we cannot exist, as the river is
the only outlet for our produce." One
witness expressed the opinion before
the royal commission of experts that,
if there were no navigation on the River
Darling "settlement would die out;"
and the commission of experts admit-
ted that to many the river "is practi-
cally the sole highway of trade, the
cost of land carriage being prohibitive."
The canal service of France carries to
the furthest destination more than half
the goods imported by sea, and brings
back in return to the ships more than
three-quarters of the cargoes destined
for export. An English writer (Mr. H.
Gordon Thompson), in his work on tlie
canal system of England, asks: — "rlow
is it. on the other hand, that six million
tons of goods are annually carried into
Paris by water, this traffic being 41 per
cent, of the total entering the city by
railway and water, one million tons be-
ing carried from Rouen in direct com-
petition with a railway? How is it
tliat Berlin is supplied to the extent of
one-half of its imports by canal? How
is it that over 27 per cent, of the traf-
fic of the United States is water-borne,
in spite of the cheap railway rates of
that country? How is it that in France
water-borne traffic forms 30 per cent,
and in Germany 23 per cent, while iu
the United Kingdom it is less than 11
per cent .of the total traffic? It is be-
cause inland navigation has been im-
proved and kept up ta date in these
countries, whereas in our own case our
waterways have stagnated in most,
and retrograded in many, instances."
Australia has great natural canals inter-
secting a large portion of the continent,
and the claim is that nothing should be
done to destroy their usefulness, but
that there should be some expenditure
in order to extend their services. The
proposal is a sound business proposi-
tion. South Australia has no wish to
render iiseless by the force of law any
works already in operation, or to, pre-
vent the completion of schemes calcula-
ted to benefit up-stream settlers. All
that is asked is that concurrency with
36
the carrying out of sucli undei-takings
there shall be adopted on a national ba-
sis compensation works in the shape of
locks and storage basins. Mr. G.
H. McKinuey, M.I.C.E., when head
of the water conservation branch
of the Public Works Department
of New South Wales, admitted
that "recent experience of other
countries shows that the latter object
(navigation) grows in importance
with increase of population; and that
inland navigation, though it may be in
a large measure temporarily superseded
by the construction of railways, ulti-
mately more than regains its position
as a trade-cai-rying agency." That, in
a nutshell, is the argument in favour of
locking — an argument which is all in
tlie interests of the producer in those
remote parts of New South Wales
whose natural outlet is by the Darling
and the Murray. The ex-Chief Engineer
of Water Conservation in New Soiuth
Wales and his collaborator (Mr. F. W.
Ward), in a report on the utilization oif
the Darling, stated further: —
Obviously one of the first uses to which
the Darling River could be put was that of
navigation. No doubt this use plaj'ed an
important part in encouraging the original oc-
cupation. From thpn till now land carriage
has heavily handicapped production. In dry
seasona teams have to carry their own fodder,
and in wet seasons the iinmetalled roads in a
soft country cut up quickly, causing frequent
and costly delays. Only one railway has
60 far touched the Darling. The average car-
riage rate to shipping ports lor westom pro-
duce is still so high as to be one of the
severest taxes on industrial enterprise in tliat
part of tlie colony. Additional railways are
certain to be constructed in the coiu^e of
time: but the experience of the world proves
cor.clusively that they will not supersede water
traffic. Economic results are often obtained
by working the two systems together; but
the iron road cannot destroy canal or river
service where there is a level competition.
The above was written a good many
years ago, but no second railway has
since "touched the Darling," so that
producers are still dependent upon
navigation!
— Preferential Rates to Divert Trade. —
The States of Victoria and New South
Wales, as was pointed out at the Irri-
gation Conference at Sydney, have
spared no effort to destroy the river
trade. The former State has
tapped the Murray at nine diffe-
rent points between Albury and
Mildura, and all sorts of devices
have been resorted to in order to divert
ti-ade to Melbourne. River-borue goods
have been carried over the
railways for less than half the
rates in some instances that
were charged to Victorian producers,
who were subsequently taxed to make
up the losses on their own railways!
In their desperation to secure traflclc
the Victorian Government, according
to evidence given to the royal commis-
sion, adopted the doubtful practice of
bribing the masters of river steamers
to the extent of 6d. a bale on all wool
they brought to Victorian ports. New
South Wales has also attempted to defy
distance and ignore geographical limi-
tations, as well as override the proivi-
sions of the Federal Constitution. The
spectacle has been witnessed of
goods being carried from Sydney to
Bourke — 500 miles apart — at a less
rate than that for which similar
products are conveyed a quarter of the
distance over any other liue in the
same State! Settlers living halfway be-
tween Sydney and Bourke had their
goods consigned to Boiurke, and then
sent back to them from the river town.
They saved money by the manipula-
tion! Ail illustration of how a navig-
able river can compete success-
fully against railways is given
in the fact that last year certain
classes of goods for Broken Hill were
being carried by rail to Morgan,
thence per river steamer to Wilcanuia,
and from there 80 miles on camels to
Broken Hill, at less cost then they
could be sent by railway direct from
Port Adelaide! Admitting that the com-
petition of the rivers is bad for the
railways, some of which sliould never
have been built, inland producers reap
the benefit of cheap transit to the sea-
37
board. A saving of from 25 to 50 per
cent, is made by producers along the
Darling when that stream is navigable!
— Navigable Distances. —
Few persons realize the glorious in-
heritance which Nature has provided
In the Murray. No other river in the
world lends itself more readily to lock-
ing. With locks and suitable storage
basins the cost of irrigation would be
reduced to a payable basis, and the
valley of the Murray made highly pro-
ductive. The success of irrigation large-
ly depends on the regularity of naviga-
tion. Mr. McKinney has stated: —
"The intermittent character of
many of the tributary rivers, the low
rate of discharge to which even the
most valuable among them are liable
to fall, and the small rainfall through-
out by far the greater part of the en-
tire catchment, are factors which in-
crease both the impoi-tance and the
difficulty of the question of intercolo-
nial water rights." This opinion serves
to emphasize the necessity for the
rivers being locked at the same time as
the starting of irrigation schemes up-
stream. The uncertain character of
the sources of supply would greatly
jeopardize the lower reaches if water
weie diverted, as is proposed by Vic-
toria and New South Wales. The same
authority regards the Murinambidgee as
"a river in the early stages of decrepi-
tude," and he says that "it is not dif-
ficult to imagine circumstances in
which injudicious interference witl\
the waters of the Namoi or of the Mc-
Intyre would have a perceptible effect
on the River Darling, hundreds of miles
distant." Mi-. McKinney adds:^
While South AiJBtralia contributes practically
nothiutf to the supply of water in, the River
Murray, it occupies an important position in
rejjard to navigation. Far a distance of about
470 miles the remnant of the waters of the
Murray and Darling Rivers and their tribu-
taries flows throiugh South Australian territory
to the ocean near Goolwa. The magnitude of
the question of navigation may to some extent
be realized from the following statement of
approximate lengths of river which are navig-
able in good seasons: —
Miles.
Goolwa to Wentworth 617
Weutworth to Mungundie 1,35«
Wentworth to the junction of the
Murray and Murrumbidgee . . . . 255
Murray-Murrumbidgee junction to
Narrandera 500
Murray-Mumimbidgee junction to
Ckwowa 485
Total 3,218
Although this navigation is liable to long in-
termptions on the River Darling, and is inter-
mittent even on the Murray, atill, in view
of the cheapness of water cajrriage, it seems safe
to conclude that the question of inland navi-
gation on the River Murray and its tributa-
ries will remain a subject of great importance,
and one in which the interests of South Aus-
tralia must receive consideration.
That surely is a significant and im-
portant as it is an honest admission.
INIr. Lindon Bates has pointed cut that
the Murray, with its tributaries, "is one
of the largest rivers in the world," and
it suggests singular apathy regarding
this great inheritance when Australians
so consistently ignore the value of the
river systems as highways of trade to
the interior. It has been estimated
that the River Murray pours into the
sea annually a volume of water vary-
ing from 124,000,000,000 cubic feet in
a veiT dry year, to 1,305,000,000,000 cu-
bic feet in a high flood like that of 1890.
An ocean of fresh water running to
waste:
—A Boon to Ail Australia. —
It is not creditable to the Australian
people that one of the largest streams
in the world should have been permit-
ted to empty its priceless contents into
the deep year after year without any
united effort having been made to uti-
lize the Avaters as a means of prod lo-
tion and carriage. A Melbourne daily
paper, which has frequently criticised
South Australia's attitude on the rivers
question, said in the course of a lead-
ing article: — "Undoubted-y tin always
navigable river system wou d be a
boon to Australia's land produc-
ers. Locking the rivers is the
only conservation practicable on
38
the plains, and tlius tlie two
proposed uses of the river can be serv-
ed by the one policy." That statement
and that admission admirably summa-
rize South Australia's position, which
is the Austi-aiian view — consideration
for tlie inland producer as well as for
the New South AVales, Victorian, or
South Australian owner of river steam-
ers. Over 70 witnesses informed the
commission of experts that navigation
is "absolutely essential." At Bourke
the engineers were told — "Water car-
riage means a saving of 25 to 50 per
cent." to producers. At Hay a state-
ment was made tliat the surrounding
country would be greatly benefited by
a navigable river. Witness after wit-
ness declared that unless the stream
was kept navigable it would mean
"a very material loss" to every
settler on both sides of the Mur-
rumbidgee and round Deniliquiu.
Mr. Alfred Jamieson (President
of the Murray River Main Canai
League) said: — "I should be adverse to
carrying out a scheme of irrigation
which would be prejudicial to naviga-
tion, on the grounds that there are vest-
ed interests in existence, and navigation
Is a very cheap means of carrying
freight to and from the settlements on
the navigable rivers." Mr. Humphry
Davy told the Irrigation Conference at
Sydney:— "One of the great factors con-
tributing to the colossal wealth of Ame-
rica has been river navigation; yet we
In Australia to-day are aiming at the
sacrifice of the substance for the sha
dow." Mr. R. Scobie, M.L.A., legisla-
tor, addressing the Sydney Irrigation
Conference, said he agreed that the
River Darling should be locked as far
as Menindie Creek:—
The Darling Kiver had alwaya bren navi-
Kat'le as far up as, Menindie, even after it had
ceased to be navigable to Wilcannia. Mr.
Wade (principal Engineer for Rivers In New
South Wales), in his able report, had pointed
out how the water in the lakes at Menindie
could be used to keep up the navigation of the
DarlinfT just aa had been done in Egypt. Some
meniberB of the conference would hardly be-
lieve that, because of the cheapness of the
river freight, settlers could get a bag of
flour or a chest of tea on the Darling River
at a nominal price compared with what it
could be bought for in Adelaide. On the
Darl'rig River the price was 18/, but at
Broker. Hill it was 50/. He asked the con-
ference not to be led away by the glowing
eloquence of certain delegates, but to think of
the hundreds of their fellow-citizens out in
the west, men of all classes — the man who
was carrying his 'bluer,' the homestead
lessee, and the great pastoralist. . . . The
railways were practically useless to the people
of the Darling River.
Mr. W. E. Abbott, the well-known
pastoralist of Wingen, supported.
It was an immense advantage to keep up
navigation on the ' rivers, if only to keep
down the railway rates. ... He had re-
cognised all along that, if steamers were
driven off, the people would be cutting their
ov%n throats. He had realized that much
more strongly since Mr McLachlan (secre-
tary to the Railway Commissioners of New
South Wales) and Mr. Harper (Chief Traffic
Manager of New South Wales Railways) had
urged at the conference that all navigation
should be stopped.
For less money than the State »f
Western Australia laid out on a local
water scheme the three States of New
South Wales, Victoria, and South Aus-
tralia can construct works which will
ensure the maximum supply needed
for both navigation and irrigation.
Sir John See, then Premier of New
South Wales, said at the conclusion of
the Premiers' Conference in 1903: — "It
is not to me a question of what either
of the three States has to gain, but
what is the best to be done to avoid
litigation and tie consequent delay In
carrying out necessary conservation
works during the next few years. It
seems to me it would be a display of
selfishness if any particular State in-
sisted upon the right to impound all
the waters of the tributaries flowing
through its territories into the Mur-
ray. It also appears to be an unwise
thiuej to do .anything that will desti'oy
navigation along 2,400 miles of our ter-
ritory, especially when it is consider-
ed that navigation ig the corollary of
irrigation."
39
—Recognition of Navigation Claims. —
The following exti-acts from the re-
port of the royal commission of 1902
seive to show that South Australia's
demand for the maintenance of a navi-
gable stream is reasonable, and was so
recognised by experts representing the
other States: —
The navigation of the Murray is, and always
has been, largely in the liands of South Aus-
tralia. ... Its (navigation) discontinuance
is doubtless a great inconvenience and often
serious loss to the settlers along the river, -who
are dependent on water carriage for tlieir sup-
plies and for transit of their products. To
many the river is practically the sale highway
of trade, the cost of land carriage being pro-
hibitive.
It has already been shown that no apportion-
ment of water can be made between the States
for irrigation and water conservation witliout
rejrard to the requirements of navigation.
SuflBcient water must be allowed to pass down
the rivers to maintain navigability as hereto-
fore, and, as time must elapse before the con-
stnjction of locks and weirs, it is important
to decide what are the conditions that will se-
cure this meanwhile.
The conclusion is unavoidable that, although
existing vested interests demand certain SJb-
Btantial concessions in favour of maintaining
the navigable condition of the rivers, the ex-
tension of navigation, except by the construc-
tion of locks. Is not to be looked for.
For more than 50 years the naviga-
bility of certain rivers has been recog-
nised, and it is impossible even to
Imagine that any power can take away
Buch accrued rights. Besides, why
should they be taken away? Naviga-
tion does not belong to one State more
than to another. If the rivers are
navigable they are open to traders and
boats belonging to any State, and if
the waterways represent cheap car-
riage it will be the producers along the
banks that will receive the major bene-
fits.
— Navigation and the Federal
Compact —
Manifestly it is the duty of Austra-
lians to make the most of Nature's
gifts rather than to impose artificial
limitations. The price of provincialism
was exceedingly heavy in pre-Federai
days, when fanciful border lines were
allowed to count for more than geo-
graphical advantages. By reason of
this nearly all of the States have been
guilty of building expensive railways,
and otherwise attempting to upset na-
tural laws and interfere with the flow
of trade and commerce. Producers in
remote parts have been severely han-
dicapped, and in many instances ruin-
ed, by having been forcibly prevented
from doing business through the trade
channels of a neighbouring State; while
other taxpayers, in no way dii'ectly in-
terested, have been called upon to make
good losses incurred in efforts to at-
tract business over railways by means
of "sporting rates." In no other part
of Australia have these facts been
more emphasized than in the dis-
tricts contiguous to the Murray and
the Darling. It was hoped
that after the advent of federation,
with its constitutional provisions to
establish freedom of trade and com-
plete reciprocity between the States,
border barbarities would quickly be-
come memories of a dead past. Un-
fortunately for the nation as a whole
such has not been the experience up
to the present time. Consequently we
see repeated every day, in connectioa
with the great natural highways of
commerce to the interior of this con-
tinent, the same jealousies as of old,
as well as the same desperate attempts
to disturb the balance of nature and
create artificial conditions. This pro-
ceeding by the adjoining States is
as unnatural as it is undoubtedly un-
constitutional. Not only in the absence
of compensation works is the "unrea-
sonable" use of the river waters con-
templated by our neighbours illegal,
but some of the tactics employed by
railway managers are in oppo-
sition to the letter as well
as contrary to the spirit of
the Commonwealth Constitution.
Navigation cannot be destroyed witii-
out the breaking of the Federal com-
pact; but, if settlement is to expand
40
aiid tlie prosperity of producei-s made locks and storage basins are built can
certain, then the navigation period of irrisatiou and navigation go hand In
the rivers must be extended. Not until btind.
C 02
E o
^ o
41
Locks, Weirs, Tand Storage Basins.
Most of the leading experts of the
three States have recommended the
construction of locks and weirs, and
the utilization of the natural storage
basins to be found at various points
on most of the rivers. In 1886 ]Mr. J.
W. Jones, when Conservator of Water
in South Australia, favoured locks, and
he has continued to advocate their con-
struction. Mr. Dai'ley, when Engineer-
In-Chief in New South Wales, and Mr.
McKinney, of the same State, warmly
supported locking the river, in order to
save a portion of the flood waters. The
Royal Commission of Experts reported
in 1902:—
.... An important factor affecting the dura-
tion of navigation has been the natural storage
in fertain lakes — a great part of which flowed
out as the river sank, so maintaining its vo-
lume, sometimes for one or two months beyond
that at which it would otherwise have ceased.
Sopje of these natural storages are capable oi im-
provement and retTilation, their beneficial effect
upon the navigability of the river being thercb\-
extended.
Lake Victoria, between Renmarkand Wentwortli,
covers an area of 30,000 acres. The outflow from
the lake has been known to keep the river na-
vigable to South Australia for four weeks. At
a cost of about £84,000, some 22,399 millions of
cubic feet could be stored — "a volume which,
while allowing for evaporation, would provide, in
times of low river, 100,000 cubic feet per mi-
nute for a period of nearly four months."
The engineers also said: — "The Murray
is navigable to Albui*y, or beyond; the
Darling to Walgett; the MuiTumbidgee
to "Wagga Wagga — over 3,000 miles of
navigable waterway. The Murray
could be locked from Blanchetown to
Echuca for £1,330,000; the Darling to
Walgett for £920,000; and the Murrum-
bidgee to Hay, for £321.000; or a total
of £2,575,000." "Thirty locks and
■weirs," a member of the present Fede-
ral Government has observed, "could
be constructed for about £3,000,000; but
what was that for a great national
work?" That is precisely the South
Australian contention, and the true
Australian view of the question. "If
these rivers were all locked, from be-
ginning to end. there would be immense
quantities of water available for u-ri-
gation, and yet enough left for naviga-
tion," is an opinion expressed by Capr.
W. R. Randell, the pioneer navigator
of the Murray. It has already been
shown that large sums are yearly being
laid out in Germany, France, and other
countries, and the following resolution
recently passed by the Associated
Chambers of Commerce of the United
Kingdom shows that the artificial im-
provement of the inland waterways of
England is receiving attention: — •
In view of the improvement of internal water-
way communication made during uecenr years
by foreign nations, the keen competition with Bri-
tish trade everywhere existing, and the necessity
for cheap transport, this association urges the
Government to provide facilities for the passage
of a Bill tn extend the powers already conferred
on the Board of Trade in respect of derelict
canals to all existing canals, and to authorize the
formation of canal trusts. It further resolves
that the President of the Board of Trade be
asked to receive a deputation on the subject.
—The "Vital Importance" of
Storage. —
Mr. Tj. a. B. Wade (principal engl-
ner for water supply in New South
Wales) visited the United States iii
1904. and in a report to his Government
he makes the following statement: —
"Tne problem of storage is of vital im-
portance in the United States, as it Is
in Australia. The limit of diversion
without storage has been reached In
most of tlie arid west, and further ex-
tension of irrigation is therefore con-
tingent on storage. . . . Irrigation is
42
regarded as an insurance against
drought, but it is worse than useless
for this purpose without an af^sured
supply of water for the channels." If
irrigation is to be a success in Austra-
ha. and the rights of navigation pro-
served, the storage of water during tho
flood periods is imperative. Nature has
fortunately been exti-emely generous in
this respect, for immense lakes and bil-
la bongs exist all along the rivers. There
are lakes on tlie Darling which, when
tilled, are more like inland seas than
anything else. They are capable of
extending the navigation period con-
siderably if properly controlled. Take
Lalie Victoria for an example. It is
situated 50 miles beyond the Soutii
Australian border and is in New South
Wales. The physical feature of the
country assumes the form of a basin.
During flood time the water pours into
this, and covers an area of 30,000 acres
to a depth that gives 17,000,000,000
cubic feet of water. The quantity of
water that could be stored by the build-
ing of certain embankments is
22,339,000,000 cubic feet— equal to 3 ft.
of water in depth over the whole sur-
face of Lakes Alexandriua and Albert!
Lake Victoria is fringed by well-grown
gumtrees, whilst the country surround-
ing it is typical of inland Autralia. The
Royal Commission of Experts made tho
following observations: —
Lake Victoria is near the Murray, below the town
of Wentworth, and about 50 miles above the South
Australian border. It covers an area of about
PO.OOO acres, and is connected with the main
stream bj' the Rufus River, througli which it is
fed when the Murray is high. The level of water
permanently impounded by the bar is R.L. 73.00,
whereas flood marks show that the lake has been
filled to R.L. 90.00, the storage between the two
level.! beinff 17,000,000,000 of cubic feet. Mr.
Shannaii, the manager of Lake Victoria Station,
states that he Las seen the outflow from the lake
keep the river navigable to South Australia for four
weeks after it had been closed above the Rufus.
In order that full advantage might be taken
of such floods the lake could be filhd by raising
the river level below Frenchman's Creek and
diverting thrmigh it to Lake Victoria. It is esti-
mated tint a weir on tlie river would tost
£fiO,OCO, and the improvement of Frenchman's
Creek and the erection of embankments and regu-
lators £4,800, or a total of £84,800. These works
would make possible the storage of 22,299,000,000
cubic feet — a volume which, while allowing for
evaporation at the rate of 60 in. per annum, would
provide in times of low river 100,030 cubic feet
per minute for a period of nearly four months.
The cost of the Lake Victoria storage, it Is also
proposed, should be borne in equal shares by the
three riparian States.
Tlie employment of Lake Victoria as a
storage basin would constitute an im-
portant guarantee of a more regular
water suply for irrigationists in South
Australia. For the expenditure of a
comparatively small sum a large quan-
tity of water could be caught in Lake
Victoria during floodtime, and held in
reserve until it was required. Other
natural storage basins could be similar-
ly used at various points along the
Murray, Darling, and Murrumbidgee.
—Enough Water for All if
Conserved. —
With the exception of removing
snags and cutting away a few sand-
bars, nothing has been donel to im-
prove the natural condition of the Mur-
ray from that in which Sturt found it
in 1830. The chief trouble of
navigators and irrigationists has
been and still is the intermittent
character of the rivers. At cer-
tain periods the streams are swollen l>y
flood waters to such an extent that
they take the shape of inland seas.
Steamers have been known to dis-
charge cai-goes at points 20 miles and
more each side of the Darling! It is
either a feast or a famine — a flooded
stream or a semi-dry channel. It is
claimed by experts that a sufflcient
quantity of flood water could be im-
pounded in storage basins formed by
Nature adjacent to the rivers, and that
it ''.'ould be released as required, so as
to maintain the channel at a certain
level. This is a work which appeals
to the imagination of progressive men,
and it should commend itself to the
earnest and early attention of poli-
ticians. By providing locks and storage
basins along the Murray and its tribu-
GOVERNMENT SURVEY BOAT ENGAGED IN FIXING ?ITES FOR LOOKS AND
WKIRS BETWEEN BEANCIIETOWN AND lUF. SOUTH AUSTRALIAN
BORDER.
SCENE (i\ Tin: MLlUR.MHIDaKE, NEAR K'fOKA STATION, NEW
SOUTH WALES.
43
taries not only would 3,000 miles of
navigable streams be created all the
year round, but a permanent supply of
water would be provided for irrigation;
and this is a matter of supreme impor-
tance to Australia. Nature gives
more than sufficient water to meet all
requirements, only in flood time the pre-
cious fluid is allowed to flow away to
the ocean, and then when dry
months come there is a shortage. Could
a greater national crime be imagined
than the continual neglect of the Aus-
tralian river system? It is a short-
siglited policy, and the wonder is
that Australians have permitted
such wicked waste to go on so
long. The engineers of New
South Wales have admitted that
"the constructions of locks and
weirs would at once solve the whole
difficulty," but they seem to hesitate
to recommend an outlay of less than
three millions to provide permanent
waterviays stretching 3,000 miles in-
land from the sea! Mr. Carruthers
(Premier of New South Wales) took a
broader view when he declared that
"with works of conservation there is a
sufficiency of water falling in the
watersheds to keep up the flow of the
rivers throughout the years of drought.
We will have to construct artificial
barriers to keep back the water." This
ia precisely the South Australian view;
and the claim that the results to be ob-
tained are well worth the money will
not be doubted by any one who wil'.
think for a moment what a permanent
supply of water in the Mun-ay, Darling,
and Murrumbidgee and other channels
must mean to the Commonwealth. It
would provide the means for increasinjr
production and materially adding to
the general prosperity of the country.
In the laudable desire to maintain and
improve the Murray and the Darling
and their ti-ibutaries as commercial
highways South Austraha has no wish
to prevent the reasonable use of
upper waters. There is enough for all
and to spare, if properly conserved.
Our sympathies are entirely with our
neighbours, who wish to build head-
works and carry out conservation
schemes. What should be impressed
upon the authorities, however,
is that, in order to preserve
riparian rights lower down the
stream, a sj^stem of locking
should be undertaken simultaneously
with the building of weirs. Only
by doing this can a grave injustice to
South Austraha be avoided, and the
value of the lower reaches of tlie river
for purposes of navigation and irriga-
tion be preserved. Speaking at a pub-
lic gathering in Melbourne in January
last, Mr. Bent (Premier of Victoria)
said, "We are prepared to give a third
towards the locking of the Murray
now." If New South Wales is equally
ready the problem is solved. "In
the report of the interstate commission
of 1902," Avrote the seci-etary of that
board of enquiry, "the first and most
impoi'tant resolution, which was
agreed to unanimously, pointed out
that the navigation of the lower part
of the main I'iver and of certain por-
tions of the larger tributaries would
eventually be provded for by the con-
struction of locks and weirs, and until
the initiation of such a system of works
the upper riparian States should re-
strict their total diversions."
—The Cost of Locking. —
The approximate lengths of the
navigable rivers has been stated
thus: —
lilies.
Goolwa to Wentworth 617
Wentworth to Mungundie 1,356
Wentworth to the junction of the Mm-ray
and Murrumbidgee 265
^Murrny-Murrumbidgee .iunction to Narran-
dera 600
>ruviay-JIurrumbidgee junction to Corowa. . 48.1
Total mileage 3,213
For providing a complete system of
locks and weirs for the navigation of
the Murray, Darling, and Murrumbid
gee the commission of experts, after a
44
very careful investig:ation. made the
following estimate: —
Est.
Locks. cost.
Blanchetown to boundarj- of S.A. 6 £(>(», 000
S.A. bcundaiy to Echuca 20 730,000
— Darling. —
Wentworth to Walgett 21 920,000
— Murnimbidgee. —
Junction of Murray to Hay .... 9 321,750
Total 59 £2,571,750
This estimate has since been increasefi
to a little over three millions sterling.
Referring to theii- proposals for a sys-
tem of locks, and the estimates of cost,
the Royal Gommission of Experts re-
ported as follows: —
Estimates have been placed befooe the ccmniis-
rion of the cost of locks and weirs in tlic Mur-
ray, Muirumbidgee, and Darling. As to the
South Australian portion of the Murray Mr. Moa-
crieff (Engineer-in-Chief for that State) submilted
plana for a typical lock and weir, wiiicli he
estimated can be constructed for about £100,000;
and he thinks that the coat of locking the river
between Blanchetown and the New South Wales
border will be approximatelty £600,000. The rais-
ing of the water level by these weirs would have
the effect of submerging an area of over 85,000
acres of zivei flats. From the South Austral inn
boundary to Echuca, a distance of 666 miles, Mr.
Wade estimates that 20 locks would be required
at an estimated total cost of £730,000. The
locks would be 200 ft. long by 37 ft. wi'ie, and
:he lifts from 5 to 15 ft; the average length of
each reach would be 31 miles. The surface area
of water in the length of river cliannel referred
to would be 26,222 acres, and the water impound-
ed 10,278,000,000 cubic feet. Assuming tliat there
would be 400 lockings per annum, tlie quantity-
required for this purpose would be 38,610,000
cubic feet. For locking the Muiirumbidgee from
its junction with tlie Murray to Haj', a distance
of 240 miles, Mr. Wade estimated that nine locks
would be required; the average distance between
locks being 26J miles, and the average lift 3 in.
The volume impounded in the river would lie
8,443,000,000 cubic feet. On the assumption of
400 lor:kings per annum, the quantity lost in this
way would be 07,620,000 cubic feet. The estimated
cost of the scheme ia £321,750. For the Darling
a Brhejne was prepared in 1890 by Mr. O. W.
Darley, then Engineer-in-Chief for Public Worl<B,
New South Wales. He proposed the construction
of 40 locks and weirs between Wentworth and
Walgett at an estimated cost of £1,420,000.
Mr. Darley proposed fixed weirs. Mr. Wade has
substituted movable weirs, increaing the average
lift frjm about 8 ft. to about 13 ft., reducing
the number of locks to 24, and the cost to
£920,000.
—The Only Solution.—
The Royal Commission of Experts
plainly indicated that the locking of
the rivers was the only solution of
existing difficulties. They reported: —
"The conclusion is unavoidable, thiat,
although existing vested interests de-
mand certain substantial concessions
ill favour of maintaining the navigable
condition of the rivei's, the extension
of navigation, except by the construc-
tion of locks, is not to be looked for."
The engineers further said: — "The con-
struction of storage reservoirs will not
only have the effect of conserving win-
ter supplies for the use in summer, but
the flow in the rivers will be equalized."
In the course of a paper on "Property
iu water" before the Royal Society
Conference heild in Sydney in 1903, Mr.
George Ghamier said: —
Victoria, by several workg in operation, already
draws a considerable qimntity of water from the
MiuTay River. Some important undertakings in
prospect would absorb much more. New South
Wales has taken practically nothing from the ri-
ver as yet, but it has a projected scheme for an
irrigating canal that would divert a large portion
ot' the stream, and at a time when the water
in the river can least be sTared. The interests
of South Australia are mostly centred in the na-
vigation of the Lower Murray, which might thua
ba seriously affected. Certainly that State is
fully justified in opposing the withdrawal of so
large a volume from tlie river as to cripple an
establislied industry in which it is largely inte-
rested. Viewed on the basis of the principles of
law and equity, it is evident that the water flow-
ing in an interstate navigable river should not be
withdrawn, apart fi-ora "reasonable use" of ripa-
rian ownei-s, to tlie detriment of any vested inte-
rests in the river. It is no justification for euch
action to allege that South Austnilia contributes
nothing to the Murray, as it is quite immaterial
wliere the water comes from. It is no justifica-
tion, as between States, to dwell upon tlio guipe-
lior importance of irrigation.
]\Ir. Ghamier advocates locks and
storage basinsasthe only practical solu-
tion of the problem. A lock was con-
structed near Bourke some years ago
by the New South "Wales Government
at a cost of £23,000. It was intended to
be one of a series for locking the Dar-
ling from Bourke upwards. The late
Mr. Eddy (then Commissioner of Rail-
45
ways) warmly supported the schemo,
but tbe work was not continued by the
Government. A delegate informed the
Sydney In*igation Conference that, if it
had not been for the weir, Bourlr.<>
would have been dried out during the
last drought. The weir threw the water
back 15 or 20 miles. He advocated
locks and weirs froim Brewarrina to
Wilcannia. "That would not only make
the river navigable, but would do good
to the people on each bank."
— A Menace to Irrigationists. —
In the absence of locks and storage
basixis irrigationists are running a great
risk in extending their area of cultiva-
tion. There is no guarantee that sup-
plies will be available when most ur-
gently wanted. Mr. Humphry Davy,
a delegate from Balranald (N.S.W.)
told the Sydney Irrigation Gonfe
reiice: —
Nature, by Ler work of ages, provided at our
hand, thousands of niiles of storag^e excavation,
and all man needs do to accomplish twio great
natioral ends is to erect locks and weirs where
reqiiiied. These great purposes are "conserva-
tion and distribution" of water, and rendering
rivers permanently navigable. These two fac-
tors must endlessly increase production by bring'-
ing vast areas within i-each of permanent wa-
ter, and affording the increased products an ever-
increasing and economic means of watei' transit;
then, after locking, in order to secure to agri-
cultuial areas near or off the middle or upper
rivers watei; for stock and irrigation, channels,
to be made at right angles, and concurrently
with this storage reservoirs, in the river's catch-
ment areas.
The experts, who made a personal in-
spection in 1902, recognised the su-
preme importance of utilizing the lakes
as storage basins. They reported: —
On the Darling, L-achlan. Murray, and Murrumbid-
gee there are numeous lakes or natural reservoirs
that receive large vohmics of water in floods.
When the river falls the impounded water is re-
leased and flows back into the stream, contri-
buting largely to its volume. On the Darling
alone there are 70 lakes, the largest being Lake
Cawndilla. which has a storage capacity of
7,190,000,000 cubic ft. I/ake Menindie, it is csti-
niated. will impoimd 10,700,000,000 cubic ft. The
outflow from liako Menindie alone, after having
been filled by flood waters, has been observed to
maintain navigation in the Lower Darling for
many month? after it had ceased higher up.
— Evolution, Not Revolution. —
Some upstream critics have contend-
ed that South Australia has been un-
reasonable in seeking to plunge the
three States into an enormous expen-
ditore. It has never been suggested,
however, that the outlay involved in
constructing works should be faced all
at once. The policy required is one of
evolution, not revolution. An under-
t,akin<T of such magnitude cannot be
rushed. The work should be done in
sections, and the expenditure spread
over a series of years — 10, 15, or even
20. If that were done, the three Stales
would not feel the burden of the addi-
tional financial obligations, and before
the second period had expired a large
amount of direct and indirect revenue
wonld be coming in as a result of the
encouragement given to settlement and
production. The one thing certain,
above all others, in connection with this
river controversy, is that South Aus-
tralia cannot tamely submit to further
diversions upstream until compensation
works as represented by locks, weirs,
and storage basins shall have been
built. By harnessing the rivers in the
way suggested the water level would
be raised and a large additional terri-
tory would then be classed as '"irrig-
able by gravitation." Landowners
would willingly pay for watei- supplied
to them by gravitation, as it would
mean a big saving. This charge, to-
gether with locking fees paid by stea-
nier«, would in course of time cover
interest on capital employed in con-
structing the works.
46
Wealth in the Valleys of the Rivers.
It lias already been shown that the
most prosperous people of the earliest
civihzations lived in the valleys of ri-
ver s. No student of history can fail
to appreciate the object lessons which
the ancients are capable of supplying.
In the E.uypt of the Pharaohs there are
numerous examples of how engineering
problems were solved and the desert
made to blossom by bringing the waste
water of some river into contact with
the sand-drifting plains. The Egyptians
by tlie Nile, the Babylonians by the
Tigris and Euphrates, the Indians by
tlie Indus and Ganges, the Chinese by
the Hoang-Ho and Yang-tse-kiang,
practised irrigation and won wealth
from the soil. From time immemorial
the river has been Nature's choicest
gift. The regulation of waterways was
regarded by ancient rulers as their
most sacred trust, and the records of
antiquity teach that due regard was al-
ways paid to the mutual rights of navi-
gatlon. To-day India and Egypt
are in the forefront In the utilization
of river water. The engineer has been
the wizard with a wand at whose touch
miracles have been accomplished and
the face of Nature transformed.
—Water, the "Golden Key."—
But it is towards the Western States
of America tbat Australian thought Is
directed, for on the Pacific slopes natu-
ral conditions are somewliat similar to
those in parts of the Commonwealth.
Of the three million square miles with-
in the teiTitorial limits of the United
StJites nearly one-half is not supplied
during the summer months with suffi-
cient rniufall to sustain successful ag-
riculture. The "Great Waterless
West" was a title applied as a re-
proach to many Western States, and
was accepted as a warning. The
"Great American Desert" is a "desert'*
no longer. Green fields have taken
the place of wind-swept plains, where
the cactus struggled for a miserable
existence. Great cities have risen out
of the wilderness. This is the great
fundamental law of the arid tenitory:
^'•Water is the golden key that will
unlock Nature's treasury. Use it."
At the present time works are in pro-
gress in Canada which will bring three
million acres of land under irrigation.
The scheme is described as being "the
greatest project of the sort ever un-
dei-taken on the American continent."
Thf rivers of Australia not only repre-
sent great highways for trade to and
from the interior, but for a small out-
lay they can be utilized as fertilizing
agencies for many thousands of acres
of wliat would be the most productive
soil on the continent once water was
applied to it. The Australian who
knows his country is an expansionist.
He challenges the future, confident in
the knowledge that the island conti-
nent has rich stores of hidden trea-
sures yet unrevealed. In the past
efforts have been more or less concen-
trated upon favoured spots along the
coastline; but the tendency at present
is to spread out and back from the
sea, and as the demand for land in-
creases, the claims of the river valley ;?
cannot be overlooked. It is doubtful
whether any other four millions of peo-
pie in the world can show a record for
production to compare with that stand,
ing to the credit of Australians. The
achievements of the past are but an
indication of greater victories to come;
and, when once the potent productive
force represented in a combination of
river water and adjacent soil is under-
stood and appreciated, there will be an
Industrial awakening, the like of which
LIKDSAY CLIFF, NEAR TO WHICH IS MR. WILKINSON'S MODEL FARM.
STEAMER "GEM" LANDING AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY AND
LOADING PRODUCE.
J. C. P.eineis, Photo.
A I'jril KESi..!LE Si'Ol o.\ TilK .MLURA^i IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA.
PASSENtJEli STEAMER NEGOTIATING QUEEN'S BEND.
J. C IJcinois, Plioto.
47
has not yet been witnessed in the sou-
thern hemisphere.
— Industrial Growth Measured by
Agricultural Expansion. —
The "craven fear of being great"
causes some people to prophesy that
irrig'ation will be a failure in Austra-
lia. They seek to support their as-
sertions by pointing out failures in the
past, and in contrasting the natural ad-
vantages enjoyed by dwellers in othei'
countries. What the Anglo-Saxon has
done in America men of the same race
can do in Australia. To accompany
a legitimate passion for industi-ial ex-
pansion, Austi'aliaus have yet to culti-
vate au imagination which will help
them to conceive big projects. They
will soon hnd means for carrying their
ideas to a successful issue. Australia
w.ifl enter into the full enjoyment of
her rich inheritance when once the ri-
vers are utilized. A Melbourne critic,
after admitting that the work of con-
structing locks and storage basins
should be undertaken by the States
concerned, remarked: —
As soon as the States realize what an immense in-
fluerice any big scheme of irrigation would have
on the development of their respective territories
tliey will act readily enough. The difficulty is
to bring home to peoples, as well as Go^ ern-
ments, the urgency of taking a new departure
in Australian operations. We have a long-esta-
blisl.eu groove to get out of. Ever since the
country was originally settled the fact 1ms 1 een
patent to its inliabitants that, in many parts,
the rainfall is too irreg^ular, and at times too
scarce, to be relied on; but we go on rtlsing
upot^ it, only to see the agriculturist and the
grazier periodically ruined. Yet if we did but
open CUV eyes, and use our hands, we might
make even the dry lands produce abundant cpips
every year.
From tiiis national aspect water
schemes deserve to be viewed. Can
idle lands be rendered fruitful by hu-
man agency? Can arid regions be
turned to profit by the judicious em-
ployment of water which now runs
Into the ocean? There will be no
waste lands — no wilderness — in Austra-
lia when the water which Nature so
bountifully provides is used. It is im-
possible to help the producer who is
striving to go further afield without
doing good to the whole community.
Can our dead lands be made to live,
and be rendered fruitful? Renmark,
Mildura, and dozens of smaller but si-
milar localities in the valleys of our ri-
vers STjpply the answer. President
Roosevelt, in his first message to Con-
gress, urged the necessity for conserv-
ing; water in the "waterless west," and
au American writer prophesied: — "B.r
reservoiring the fickle streams of the
west millions of citizens might garner
full crops from land that to-day is a
waste. On our deserts grow up farms
atid homesteads. Where nothing but
glistening sand is now, there would
blossom forth trees and flowers, tassel-
ed corn lands, and sweet-smelling hay-
tields." That forecast is being realiz-
ed to-day. The industrial growth of
a country and its capacity for high ci-
vilization may be measured by its ag-
ricultural expansion; and if Australia
is ever to take her place among the
nations of the world it will be only by
the extension of her area of produc-
tion. In no direction can this
be more permanently and pro-
fitably accomplished than In the
valleys of the rivers. The aim
of the statesman should be to re-
duce the evil effects of the limited
rainfall in tliose inland districts where
flowing sti'eams render possible watei'
coRb'ervation schemes. Although the
great rivers which intersect the conti-
nent are not^escepting the Murray-
fed by snow-capped mountains, im-
mense volumes of water are gathered
by the extensive watersheds, and at
periods the channels are swollen by
resultnut floods. The Darling esi)((-
cially overflows its bank to a great ex-
tent, the stream extending sometimes
for a distance of 50 miles, so that there
need be no fear of shortage. The pity
of it all is that such enormous supplies
should be allowed to escape without
haviujj served the producer or the ti-a-
48
der to any great extent. When drougiiis
follow iwriods of plenty— and they ia-
yariahly do — regrets are expressed that
nothing was ever done to reservoir tlie
flood waters!
— Experience Gives Hope for the
Future. —
That there are vast stores of hidden
we:ilth in the valleys of the rivers can-
not bo doubted. Apart from the strik-
ing examples afforded by Renmarli and
Mildura, there are numerous places
along the MuiTay where private set-
tlers have multiplied production by ap-
plying water to the soil. Between Mor-
gan and the boundax-y of South Aus-
tralia there are approximately 160,000
acres of swamps and fertile flats aviail-
ab'e for intense cultiu-e. This does not
include lauds held by village settle-
ments or under perpetual leases. For
an expenditure of about £800 or
fl.OOO to the mile along the river for
embankments where required, the
whole of the 160.000 acres could be
reclaimed. In addition, there are
about 500,000 acres of arable land
equal, if not superior, to that in profit-
able occupation by farmers between
the border and Lake Victoria. Locks
and weirs are required to raise the wa-
ter level as well as to guarantee na-
vigation. Professor Perkins, who has
a high opinion of the capability of the
soil in tlie valley of the Murray, in a
pamphlet which he published in 1903.
said: — "The swamp soil, as might have
been anticipated from the results of the
mecha)iical analysis, is abnormally
rich in nitrogen, of phosphoric acid it
coutains twice the amount normal to
a good average soil, and probably 10
times the quantity usually found in the
average South Australian soil; in po
lash soluble in strong acids it is again
exceedingly rich." He also remarked: —
It has often been referred to as a national mis-
fortune tliat the Murray, in its lowca- course at
all events, does not traverse a more naturally fer-
tile tract of coimtry. Perhaps in times to come,
v/hen art has supplied its banks v.ith the verdure
that Nature has denied, our dcsc-endants may see
cause to reverse a somewhat hasty inferencc»^
Even at the present day there lack not examples
to show that after all this barrenness of the land,
through which the river has torn its course, is
only relative; let us remember with Deherain that
water is the first factor in soil fertility. And
next to wjter comes heat, with which the Murray
countrj' is abundantly supplied. Arrest the stream
and furnish by artificial means the moisture that
is lacking and there is little that that cloudless
sky and potent sun will not draw from a soil,
the fertility of which has laid dormant for cen-
turies. Those familiair with the marvellous groiwth
that is characteristic of the pioneer irrigation colo-
nies, Mildura and Renmark, know that the banks
of the Murray are not dead, but asleep, and that
it wants but the enterprise of man to awaken
them to exuberant life. These colonies have in
the past been faced by many difficulties; and it ia
not unlikely that the spectacle of their strug-
gle for life through economic conditions of ex-
ceptionally severe character did not a little to-
wards quenching the zeal for irrigation so appa-
rent some 10 or 15 years ago. There is every
reason to believe that these troublous times are
now things of the past, and the new spectacle
of quiet pirosperity may perhaps serve to kindle
afresh an almost forgotten enthusiaaim. . . •
The Murray is subject to periodic floods, which
generally synchronize with the melting of the
snows in the regions of its sources. Towards its
mouth, over the country extending from Mannum
to Wellington, and higher up also, in times of
flood the river steps out of its natural channel and
covers broad stretches of country, that from their
general appearance and the vegetation they cany,
have received the name of "swamp lands." I
have not been able to secure definite figures as to
the area of these swamps; on the lower river
they are variously estimated from 10,000 to 20,000
acres, and it is to their value that I wish par-
ticularly to draw attention in the present article,
for they certainly solve the difficulty of an abun-
dant and cheap supply of water for irrigation pur-
poses, and their profitable utilization ia there-
fore within reach of those in possession of mode-
rate means. By means of mounds 3 or 4 ft. in
height these swamps have been partly reclaimed
on various points of the iriver for grazing pur-
poses; and the rank natural vegetation that fol-
lows this operation has generally amply repaid
the cost of this partial reclamation. It has,
however, been left to Messrs. H. W. Morphett
and Co., of Wood's Point, to demonstrate defi-
nitely what marvellous results may be realized
from an intelligent cultivation of these swamps.
The success which has been ob-
tained by Mr. Morphett at Wood's
Po-'nt in the growing of lucerne for
stock is a striking example of the fer-
tility of the marsh lands which fringe
the river. Seven thousand sheep A^rere
49
depastured on 240 acres from Decem-
ber to March, and G.OOO during tJi3
winter months. The State Horticul-
tural Expert, after a recent visit to
Renmark, said: —
The casual visitor is struck by the apparent
fitness of this country for vinegrowing as com-
pared \vitli general fruit cultivation. It 5s true
that a fair area is atill covered by citrus trees,
peaches, and apricots; but one can clearly aae
that vines — combined with oranges in select-
ed spots and olives in the less congenial
Foils— are bound to form the great bulk of the
horticultural products of, not Renmark only, but
the plantations of the Murray generallj-. The set-
tlers now realize through costly experience that
these are the lines upon which stability and
prosperity rest. One pleasing feature about the
Renmark colony is the gradually extending plots
of lucerne. Those may be taken as the fore-
runner of important development in the direc-
tion of combining stocking with fnait cultivation.
With ample provisions for watering and the car-
riage of produce to the market, the Murray will
provide scope for the energies of thousands of the
settlers.
— Cost of Raising Water. —
Cereal and fodder crops have yielded
handsome profits to riverside farmers
during recent years, even where pump-
ing has to be done. On the question
of raising water an authority of con-
siderable experience on the Murray as-
serfs that lifting supplies for irrigation
purposes is not the costly process it
was a few years ago. Along the river
in many places it is being lifted 21 feet
through 12-in. centrifugal pumps at a
penny for 5,500 gallons. This is ar-
rived at as follows:— These pumps lift
up to 140,000 gallons an hour, or say
1,680,000 gallous in a 12-hours run, at
a cost of fl 5/ — viz., 2i tons of wood
at -J:/ (usual avoraiie price, 10/): engine
driver's wages, 12 hours at lOid. an
hour, 10/G: kerosine, waste, oil, re-
pairs. &c., 4/6; total, £1 5/. In this case
an allowance is made of 30,000 gallons
wastage in the 12 hours, including stop-
pages for oiling, if necessary. As th^
pumps, where possible, all run continu-
ously until the watering is througli, the
allowance is ample. The average cost
for irrigation runs from l/(; to 2/ an
acre; while with a larger class of
pump this cost can be materially re-
duced. A high-lift pump, guaranteed
to raise from 80,000 to 85,000 gallons
hourly to a height of 100 ft., can lift
water at a cost considerably below Id.
for 1,000 gallons— surely not an exor-
bitant sum. Delegate after delegate
at the irrigation conference in Sydney
gave personal testimony of the advan-
tages to be obtained if supplies from
the river could be guaranteed all the
year round. The evidence in favour
of locks, weirs, and storage basins is
overwhelming. Until these undertak-
ings are accomplished the river valleys
will never yield the return they are
capable of doing.
50
Should the Lakes be Reclaimed ?
In a despatch to Sir Ralph Darling
ou April 20, 1830, Stxirt explained that
the name Alexandrina was given ii'.
honour of the young Princess,
then heir to the throne of Bri-
tain. A few years later it w^as
proposed to rechristen the lake "Vic-
toria," and Sturt observed:— "I was
inlluenced by feelings of loyalty when
I first named this lake— at a moment
when it was doubtful whether I should
ever again see the face of civilized
man. ... It will afford me the sin-
cerest gr.atification to be the humble
means of placing Her Majesty's namo
on the map of a province, than which
she possesses not one of gi-eater pro-
mise, or more loyally attached to the
sovereign and to the mother countiT-"
—The "River Pays Tribute to the
Lakes." —
A little south of Wellington the Mur-
ray leaves its channel and spreads it-
self over 288 square miles of country,
as represented in two sheets of water
known as Lake Alexandrina and Laku
Albert. The demand of these minia-
ture inland seas in the matter of evap
oration constitutes one of the problems
ot the river question. They represent
an annual waste of a volume of no less
than 42,000,000,000 cubic feet, which id
equal to a continuous flow of about
80,000 cubic feet of water every minute
lln-ougliout the year. The river plays
heavy tribute to the lakes. If these
liikes were reclaimed, and if the Mur-
ray were confined to a channel from
^Vellington to Point Sturt, not only
would an immense area of irrigable
land be made available, but the evap-
oration problem would automatically
disai)pear. That these lakes will one
day be carrying a large population of
prosperous producers is not doubted
by those who have made a close study
of the alleged difficulties; but popular
prejudice dies hard, and at present it
is considered to be one of the signs of
approaching lunacy to even mention
the transformation to practical accoui.t
of these useless and wasteful sheets of
water. Some lakeside landowners, as
well as residents in (adjacent towns,
have protested against the proposal
on the plea that riparian rights
would be injured. The protection
of these is, however, the "first plank"
of the scheme.
— Lake Albert. —
It is not now thought to be within
the scope of practical politics to touch
Lake Alexandrina, but to make the ex-
periment—if experiment it be — with its
smaller neighboiir. Lake Albert hits
no productive value. It is a shallow
sheet of water — that and nothing more!
?vo riparian rights would be destroyed
by its reclamation. Part of the pro-
posal is tliat in the making of the em-
bankment there shall be constructed a
circular canal by which means a per-
manent supply of water will be made
available to all existing frontages, and
a sufficient depth maintained in order
that small vessels may continue trad-
ing, as at present, to Meningie. This
would enable the produce raised by the
settlers occupying the 40,000 acres to
be carried by water to Milaug or Mur-
ray Bridge. The scheme would greatly
benefit these towns, wliilst lakeside
owners would enjoy the same rights as
they now possess. Exi>erts say the
scheme is not only practicable, but that
it is a sound proposition. Professor
Perkins made an analysis of the soil
taken from the bottom of the lake, and
reported: —
51
All the samples taken under water are, relatively
speaklnt;, good. I would draw particular attention
to samples 4 and 5, both of which are exception-
ally proniiainff soils. All theee samples taktn
below water are very rich in nitrogen. Whilst
some are rather poorly provided with pho8|)horic
acid others are well stocked with it. All are
exceptionally rich in potash and somewhat weak
in lime. Deficiency in lime, although not quite
to the same extent, I already found characteristic
of the reclaimed Lower Murray swamp at Wood's
Point. Here, however, the soil is highly produc-
tive, and, owing to attendance of organic matter,
sufficiently friable and open after tillage and ex-
posure to atmospheric influences. The soils wo
have under consideration are also evidently very
rich in oi^anic matter, and it may be inferred
that somewhat similar result will follow when
the land is drained and broken up. In any case
lime is a substance any deficiency) of which can
always be readily and cheaply remedied should
necessity arise. In conclusion, I may state that
I am of opinion that if the bed of the lake in
any way corresponds to the samples that have
been submitted to me by the Engineer-in-Ohief,
there is no doubt that the composition is such as
to he considerably above the average, with the
exception of the one somewhat unimportant point
to which I have drawn attention. I am con-
vinced, therefore, that if the Engineer-in-Chief
can provide for regular evacuation of drainage
waters and thus leach out the salt the bed will
offer in every waj' a suitable site for an irrigation
settlement, in which forage crops would be
mainly raised for dairying purposes. I have no
douht, therefore, that the reclamation works will,
in the end, prove directly remunerative.
The Engineer-in-Cliief (Mr. A. B. Mon-
orieff) returned Professor Perkins's re-
port to the CJommissioner of Public
Works with the following comments: —
I consider Professor Perkins's report most valu-
able as indicating the superior character of ihe
soil which constitutes the bed of the shallow
Lake Albert, and I am definitely of the opinion
that the reclamation of the area now covered by
the brackish water in this lake is an undertaking
which ig worthy of the serious consideration of
the Commissioner. I fully recognise that diflB-
culties of ownership and riparian rights will arise,
but I venture to forecast that these difficultiis
will not be any greater than those which exist
in regard to the attempt to keep the lakes full
and sweet. ^Vhile in the latter case there is. I
am afraid, but small hope of remunerative results
being secured, it appears to me that in the for-
mer case, with the reclamation of 41, COO acres of
land suitable for gT0\ving fodder grasses, and
possibly capable of irrigation for intense cultHre,
there would be a most valxiable asset, seeing that
the cost of 90 reclaiming would be comparatively
small; while, in addition, it would mean the
complete removal ol the area of the lake from the
«vaTX)Tating area which forms the crucial point in
regard to any effort to keep the lakes full of fresh
water.
— The Scheme. —
No detailed estimate has been pre-
pared of the cost of the whole work,
but a tipped bank across the entrance
of the lake would probably mean about
£5,000. Further preliminary examina-
tion has been made with a view to
ascertain whether any portion of tho
lake surface can be reclaimed for ex-
perimental purposes at reasonable ex-
peni?e. If, as appears probable, an area
of over 100 acres could thus be tested
valuable information would be obtain,
ed. Lake Albert is shallow — the aven-
age depth is 4 ft. 6 in. — but the water
covers an area of 64 square miles, or
41,000 acres. The quantity of water
at present evaporated from the surface
of the lake — a depth of 60 in., or
9,000,000,000 cubic feet, annually—
would be more than sulHcient to irri-
gate the area for intense culture. If
the lake can be drained and the water
apphed to the soil at reasonable cost,
and if the land is disposed of under
suitable conditions, there should be a
very large profit from the transaction.
—The Salt Bogey.—
Critics of the scheme prophesy that
there would be trouble on account of
the soil being 'salty." A well
informed authority, in discussing
the proposal, contended that in this
special case the question admits of an
easy answer. Salt is very soluble,
and can be washed out of the
soil with the greatest ease, providing
that natural drainage is good and that
water in abundance is available. It is
claimed that suitable channellinfr can
be supplied; in fact, the land slopes on
each side from tlie banks to the centre
of the lake. The suggestion is that a
central drain should be opened out
lengthways, and abut in its lowest
level in the neighbourhood of tlie
shores. Here a pumping plant could
bo erected, and the waters could
be ejected over the embankment
from time to time. The Engineer-in-
52
CLlef considers that this could be done
at little expense; and on these grounds
It is believed that, whatever the con-
dition of the land, the problem
could easily be solved. There is no jus-
tification for assuming that the bottom
will be salt. It is under water which,
however saline, is not sufficiently so to
induce crjstiillization or deposit; or,
even if it were in summer and dry
weather, the influx of fresh water
would redissolve what had previously
been left. Existing conditions, there-
fore, are not such as to lead to an
excessive lodgment of salt. It is not
expected that the land will be found
exceptionally briny unless the water is
allowed to evaporate instead of being
pumped out. In the latter case the salt
would accumulate in the lowest parts,
where it is proposed that a permanent
drain should be maintained.
— A Productive Area that Is Idle, —
The Engtneer-in-Chief, in support of
the Bill introduced by the Government
last session, recommended that Lakes
Alexandrina and Albert should be re
claimed. The cry sometimes raised
that there is "no good land" available
cannot be justified when 150,000
acres of what would probably become
the most prolific soil in the State is
permitted to lie idle covered by a few
inches or feet of water. Lake Albert
alone would provide about 40,000 acres
of highly fertile land. At present
it is non-productive. Sooner or later
the evaporation problem will have to
be faced. The solution is simplicity it-
self, and neither riparian nor any other
rights need be destroyed. With the
sti'iking examples of intense culture
and large profits from reclaimed lands
a few miles away, it is surprising that
the lakes have been so long allowed to
take tribute from the river and to
cover land which should be carrying
population, bearing crops, and mate-
rially adding to the productions of the
State. When other countries have re-
claimed land from the sea, settled it,
and developed a thriving dairying in-
dustry upon It. why should Australians
hold back and be fearful at a proposi-
tion to convert freshwater lalvcs? It is
an obligation on the part of South Aus-
tralia to check the evaporation waste
on these gi-eat lakes, and the reclama-
tion scheme advocated is a splendid
example of where it will pay hand-
somely to do the right thing.
I
14KES ALEXANDK1M& Albert ^ ^^^
SHfWINC
Murray Mouth
Murray Bridg'e
53
Problem of the Murray Mouth.
Those interested in the trade of the lower
river are much concerned to see a scheme car-
ried out that will have the effect of restoiing
the trade to what they regard as its Datural
outlet; a scheme by which the river boats will
be able to tranship cargo to ocean-going
steamers. Two have been proposed — one to ren-
der the Murray mouth navigable for ocean-going
".essels, the other to cut a camil for river
boats from Goolwa to Victor Harbour. The
Mm'ray mouth greath' resembles the entrances
of the bar-bound coastal rivers of New South
Wales, but its similarity to the Gippsland
I/akea entrance, in Victoria, is still more strik-
ing. Many proposals have been made for ren-
deiins it navigable.— Report of Royal Commis-
mission of Experts, 1902.
— Connecting River and Ocean. —
The prevailing difficulty about most
mouths is to keep them closed. With
the jSIurray the experience has been
the reverse. Eminent engineers,
thoiigh holding widely divergent ideas
about questions of whicli the layman is
not supposed to be competent to speak,
have agreed that it is almost a physical
impossibility to keep the Murray
mouth open. This being the accepted
position — that vessels are unable to go
in or out without great risk evei-y time
of making sensational newspaper copy
— means have had to be considered of
effecting a direct exchange of cargo be-
t^veen the liver craft and ocean-going
vessels. The subject is not new. It has
been discussed at intervals during the
last half-century and provided many a
text for political candidates hard push-
ed, and furnished useful padding for
numerous Governors' speeches. At
one time a steamer named Queen
of the South, was employed between
Port Adelaide and Goolwa, and fre-
quently negotiated the Murray Mouth.
For a time the vessel was State sub-
sidized to the extent of 5/ per ton of
cargo carried. In 1874 Parliament
actually got so far as the pass-
ing of an Act authorizing the con-
struction of a canal "or channel"
from Goohva to the sea, and vesting
certain lands in the Corporation of
Goolwa for the purposes of the Act,
The corporation was empowered to
make the canal itself or through les-
sees; and the Act dealt with tolls. By
Act No. 198 of 1881 this measure of
1874 was revived, and the period for
the completion of the work was ex-
tended. From time to time various
schemes have been mooted for control-
ling the outlet of the river, but to every
plan some objection — imaginary or
otherwise — was raised until the Inter-
state Commission of 1902 was permit-
ted to see the Murray near to its sea
end as Sturt saw it in 1829. The same
"privilege" exists for visitors to-day.
As they stand near to the six>t whenc:;
Cant. Barker began his last swim they
have no difficulty in letting tJieir imagi-
nation suggest the scene on that fateful
day. The record of lost opportunities
and broken promises is not creditable.
The suggestion of a canal to connect
Goolwa with Victor Harbour arise?
from the fact that the cost of convey-
ing wool 11 miles by rail from Goolwa
and transhipping to ocean steamers ex-
ceeds the freight charge for eaiTyin^
It 600 miles by river — from Wentworth
to Goolwa! Mr. Mais In 1874 was ask-
ed to recommend means for overcom-
ing this handicap. Mr. Bennet Hull,
Lieut. N. Goalen, Mr. R. Hickson, Sir
John Coode. and others made subse-
quent suggestions. A report was ob-
tained from Mr. Lindon Bates in 1901,
and subsequent investigations have
been made, but up to the present the
document has met the fate of all pre-
decessors — a quiet resting place in
some obscure pigeon hole!
54
—Experts at Variance.—
Ill 1856 Mr. Goyder proposed the re-
moval of the rock bar across Holmes
Creek, and the cutting of a channel
through the neck of land below it at a
cost of £10,000. Sir John Coode was of
opinion that Mr. Goyder had unden-at-
ed the power of the causes contribut-
ing to form the bar; that the Goolwa
channel would be injuriously affected
by the alteration; and that the bar
would be taken only a little further
seawards, the crest remaining at the
same height. Mr. Abeniethy, in 1857,
proposed to separate the Goolwa chan-
nel and the Coorong. Lieut.
Goalen reported in 1876 that the main
objects had been realized by natural
means. Sir John Coode concuiTed in
the opinion that in meeting the conflict
of currents and the preservation of
shore lines the principle was quite
sound, but the extent and direction
were open to improvement in the then
e.^isting circumstances. In 1874 Mr. H.
C. Mais favoured cutting a canal di-
rect to the sea, just below Goolwa. Mr.
Hickson,in 1876, recommend piling the
Murray entrance and sheltering it by a
breakwater 8,260 ft. long, without
deepening, and tlie establishment of a
transhipping place inside the bar. Sir
John Coode questioned whether the re-
sult would warrant the expenditure of
one and a half millions, and thought
that east winds would tend to shoal up
the channel, and that the sand might
prevent vessels from loading outside
the breakwater. Mr. Boothby, 40 years
ago, proposed a ship canal from Goolwa
to Encounter Bay, 20 ft. deep at
low water, with two breakwaters of
4,320 ft. each. Sir John Coode thought
it would entail a heavy and constlant
outlay to maintain the channel. He
was unable to recommend it.
He considered that the only rea-
sonable prospect of success in
making the Murray mouth na-
vigable for seagoing vessels would b3
by tlie construction of two break-
waters from the shore — one on each
side of the entrance — so as to cover it,
and terminating in not less than 6 fm.
at low water of spring tides. The unit-
ed length of the breakwaters was to
be 11,000 ft., aJid the cost not less than
£2,000,000, without landing accommoda-
tion or dredging away tlie bar. He re-
luctantly concluded that the Murray
mouth works involved a large ex-
penditure, with doubtful success, and
favoured fixing the entrance of the
channel and directing the line of the
Goolwa and Coorong channels by arti-
cial means opposite to the south-east
corner of Hindmarsh Island if it could
be done at moderate cost. Lieut,
Goalen's proposal to protect the sands
by promoting vegetation was further
recommended. Sir John Coode also
suggested that the closing of the Mun-
doo channel might conti-ibute to natu-
ral deepening at Goolwa and the Gool-
wa channel. In 1890 Mr. A. B. Mon-
crieff submitted proposals to the royai
commission, which, while providing for
the maintenance of shipping, contem-
plated more particularly the stoppage
of the inflow of sea water to the lakes.
IMr. Lindon Bates, after considering
the various proposals, remarked that
all those Avho had reported on the sub-
ject concluded that the improvements
at the entrance proposition was sub-
stantially hopeless and expensive. He
came to the same conclusion; and even
a layman, as he notes the drifting sand
and watches "league-long rollers thun-
dering on the beach," is able to appre-
ciate the great difficulty of keeping the
channel open and subduing the waves
when a strong wind is behind them.
One of the last official acts of Sir An-
thony Musgrave as Governor of South
Austi-alia was to pay a visit to Goolwa.
He stood on top of the narrow strip
of land which separates the har-
bour from the shores of the
i^outhern Ocean. Sir Anthony remark-
ed on the simplicity of connecting the
river with the sea by a navigable chan-
pel, thus supporting the proposal made
by Mr. Mais. In one of his last
55
speeches the retiring Governor urged
South Aiifftralia "to pawn her clothes
rather than lose the chance of captur-
ing the great river trade!" This repre-
sents an alterimtive scheme of a cut-
ting one mile and a quarter through
sand from deep water to deep water.
The Commission of Experts expressed
the opinion in 1902 that '^the proper
course to maintain a supply of fresh
water is the construction of a work at
the outlet to exclude the sea, so design-
ed as to discharge river floods over its
crest." In 1903 Messrs. A. B. Mon-
crieff. W. Davidson, and T. W. Keel'i
reported on the construction of bar-
rages. Their estimate of cost for block-
ing up four channels and placing a
weir and lock across the Goolwa chan-
nel was fll.3,000. Several attempts
have been made to obtain legislative
authority for the construction of bar-
rages to regulate the outflow of fresh
and the inflow of salt water; but up to
the present time without success.
— Goolwa to Victor Harbour Canal. —
Referring to the project for con-
structing a canal from Goolwa to con-
nect with Victor Harbour, the exi>ertd
in their report of 1902 remarked: —
.•\s far back as 1874 a sum of £150,000 was ac-
tually set down on the Estimates by Mr. Boucaut
for a canal to Victor Harbour. Mr. Lindon
Bates, who reported on it in 1901, advocates the
construction o.f this canal in preference to a short
cut from Goolw^a to the sea. He estimates the
coit at £571,000. Upon a former project to
bring the sea-goinj? ships to Goolwa, there have
been several reports since the year 1S74; but
Mr. Bates prefers the smaller canal, to bring the
river craft to the ocean-going ships. Mr. Mon-
crieff (the Engineer-in-Chief for South Australia),
althougli he estimates that the canal could pro-
bably bo carried out for £473,000, or £100,000
less than Mr. Bates's estimate, does not think
that, under present circumstances, it would be
a justifiable work. If carried this scheme would
entail a cost of over £20,000 per annum for
interest and working expenses; and, assuming the
export of wool as 40,000 bales, an increase of
over 20 per cent, on the highest record, the cost
per bale would be not less than 10/ for these
charges alone.
As along the upper reaches of the
great stream, so at its termination —
railways and vested interests clash
with what is unquestionably the ra
tional as well as national policy. A
navigable river should always connect
with the ocean. A free passage to and
from the Murray would have been of
incalculable benefit to the trade and
commerce of the Commonwealth, and a
part of the problem of the rivers would
thus have been automatically solved.
56
The Flow of Trade.
On the imposition of uniform duties of
customs, trade, commerce, and intercourse
among the States, whether by means of in-
ternal carriage or ocean navipration, shall be
absolutely free.— Section 92 Commonwealth
Constitution.
"One people; one destiny." That was
the iioble aspiration which influenced
the people of Australia to come to-
gether in a Federal union— to wipe out
border barbarities in the form of cus-
tom houses between States: to forego
many State rights in order to ensure
for the good of all unity and progress.
In bringing about for the fii'st time in
the world's history "a nation for a con-
tinent and a continent for a nation"
the separate States and the human
units comprising them put their des-
tinies in each other's hands. Mutual
trust is the basic principle of our Com-
monwealth. Without it, federation
would ])e a hollow sham — a house of
cards which must tumble ito pieces at
the first puff of adverse wind. Quick
and Garran, in their work on "The
Federal Constitution," state that sec-
tion 92 "is intended to provide for the
perfect freedom of trade and com-
merce among the States, from the mo-
ment of the imposition of uniform
duties." It is claimed— and with a good
deal of force — that the interference with
a navigable stream flowing between
States is a direct method of fettering
trade and nullifying this section. It
is hard to believe that the Australian
States, members of a Federal union,
will pi'ovo less araenal)le to reason
than foreign countries, which have ar-
ranged treaties covering mutual rights
of trade and the use of water in res-
pect to rivers marking their frontiers.
—Pioneer Traders.—
Once the rivers were proved to be
highways of commerce for long distan-
ces into the interior, South Australian
traders (juickly realized their oppor-
tunities, and began to take advantage
ot their favoured geographical posi-
tion. One of the first merchants to
take a business journey up the Murray
was the head of the firm of Messrs.
Elder, Smith, & Co. Sir Thomas Elder
made an extended trip beyond Echuca
in 1856, and at the conclusion of an in-
teresting pamphlet printed for him by
The Register the following appeai-s:—
"We had satisfied our minds fully as
to the main object of our excursion—
viz., the perfect adaptation of the Mur-
ray for steam navigation. We had wit-
nessed the valuable character of the
country through which it flowed, and
been favourably impressed with the
prospects of extended commerce which
it held out. We had travelled some
2.000 miles upon the parent stream—
the Australian Mississippi, as it has
been justly called— and were convinced
that a few years more will see the
other large rivers furnished with the
means of transport by steamer for
thousands of miles into the interior."
The waters of the great streams which
had placidly flowed from moimtain to
sea throughout the centuries began to
be churned by little fleets of steamers,
and the enterprise of South Australia
in opening the rivers to trade led to
the occupation of the western districts
of New South Wales and the Riverlna.
For many years the waterways were
the only channels of communuicatiou
that distant settlers had with the
world beyond, a fact recognised in a
report by the Chief Engineer of Water
Supply to the Grovemment of New
South Wales:— "Obviously one of the
first uses to which the Darling River
could be put was that of navigation. No
doubt this use played an important
part in encouraging the original
57
occupation. From then till now land
carriage has heavily handicapped pro-
duction." The same official told his
Grovernment that the claims of navi-
gation could not be ignored, as "inland
navigation, though it may be in a large
measure temporailly superseded by
the construction of railways, ulti-
mately more than regains its position
as a trade- carrying agency."
—River Trade Free to AH.—
Like the open sea, a navigable river
passing through more than one State
Is free to the ships of those coun-
tries. South Australia has enjoyed no
monopoly of the river trade, and has
never claimed any right to possess it.
Steamers owned in New South Wales,
as well as Victorian vessels, have
traded from Echuca and Bourke to
Goolwa, and enjoyed the same facili-
ties as boats registered in South Aus-
tralia. Sea-borne cargo from Sydney
or Melbourne, landed at Victor Har-
bour or Port Adelaide, is conveyed
over the railways, placed on steamers,
and carried up sti'eam at no higher
rates than are charged for South Aus-
tralian goods. The same applies to
produce that may come down stream
consigned to any of the other States.
With the rivers locked, and navigation
made permanent on the Murray, Dar-
ling, and Murrumbidgee, they would
be equally available to the merchants
and traders of the three States. The
head of one of the largest carrying
firms in Australia, with Its
head office in Melbourne, was
a member of a party of
Victorian legislators making a river
tiip. During the excursion he told his
companions:— "You can build your rail-
ways, you can go on carrying goods at
a loss, or do anything els(3 you please;
but no railway can live for long against
water carriage. The day will come
when these great waterways of ours
will be used as Nature intended they
should be." In building railways to
tap the rivers for the purposes of
diverting trade, Australia followed, the
lead of other countries. The example
must sooner or later be continued a
step further by reverting to inland na-
vigation, as other communities have
been compelled to do. The best results
win be obtained by working the two
systems — rivers and railways — togeth-
er, and making them Interdependent for
the benefit, not of this or that depart-
ment of the State, but for the good of
the people as a whole, and for the ex-
pansion of national industries.
— Droughts and Preferential Rates.—
Mr. Robert T. McKay, who acted as
secretary to the Royal Commission ot"
Experts, in an address on "The Mun'ay
River— irrigation and navigation," said
that the river-borne traffic of the Mur-
ray and its tributaries was almost en-
tirely carried on by South Australia:—
The trade consists of carrying stores to the towns,
stations, and the settlers located on the banks of
the rivers, and bringinff back wool, hides, tallow,
and small quantities of farm produce. The trade
of the Lower Murray and the river-borne traffic
of the Darling centres in Morgan. The Upper
Murray trade, which includes the river-borae
traffic of the Murrumbidgee, Edwards, and Wakool
Rivers, centres in Echuca, where excellent accom-
modation exists for the discharge and shipment
of cargo. With a high river, the Murray is prac-
tically navigable as far as Albury; but there is
very little traffic beyond Echuca, which is 666
miles from the South Australian boundary. On
the Darling steamers trade as far as Walgett, a
distance of 1,180 miles from Wentworth. Tlie
Murnunbidgee (is navigable to NarrandarR., hlut it is
only on rare occasions that steamers go beyond
Hay. The distance from the junction of the
Murray and the Murrumbidgee Rivers to Hay is
240 miles.
That the three States have in the past
partly recognised the importance of
keeping the rivers open to trade Is
shown by ithe fact that up to 1902
£3G8,000 had been spent in removing
overhanging and dangerous trees, snag-
ging, and cutting channels. Of this
sum, £150,410 was expended on
the Murray, £87,772 on the
Murrumbidgee, and £124,297 on
the Darling. New South Wales
contributed £248,614, Victoria
£98,865, and South Australia £21,000.
58
River-borne ti-ade to and from South
Australia reached its high water mark
in 1882, when imports reached a value
of £861.000, and exports totalled
£347,000. A succession of droughty
yeai-s, and preferential rates on the
railways, are mainly responsible for
the falling off m the volume of trade.
The manager of a Victorian firm of
earners told the Royal Commission of
Experts that his firm had handled
22.000 tons of goods at Echuca that
year. The fact that the river was navi-
gable for only a portion of the year
meant the loss of a great deal
of business. Permanent navi-
gation, he said, would Induce
settlement and greatly facili-
tate trade. Settlers all along the river
told the commission that permanent
highways would lead to a large in-
crease of trade: and the experts freely
admitted iu their report that the capi-
tal invested in steamers, barges,
wharfs, &c., was a factor that could
not be kept out of calculation. There
is no comparison between the charges
for water and railway transport — not
even when, as provided by the Federal
Constitution, preferential rates shall
have been abolished. The policy of
the German Government with regard to
waterways has been officially stated as
follows:—
Any means whereby the distances which separate
the economic centres of the country from one
another can be diminished must be welcomed, and
considered as a progress, for it increases our
strengtii in our industrial competition with fo-
reign countries. Every one who desires to send
or receive goods wishes for cheap freiglits.
Hence the aim of a healthy transport policy-
should be to diminish as far as possible the
eeononiically unproductive cost of transport.
If that policy prevailed in Australia,
riverine trade would flow through
natural channels to its geogra-
phical outlets; and any losses
on particular lines of railways
would be more than made good
by the benefits conferred upon pro-
ducers, who would enjoy cheaper trans-
port. In the report of the Royal Com-
mission of Experts it is admitted that
preferential railway rates helped to
diminish the river trade, and it is the
bounden duty of the Federal authori-
ties to see that they are removed in
order that in the terms of the Constitu-
tion there shall be a free flow of trade
between the States.
fO^r £>/f/?w/A/
The Murray.
DARLING.and MURRUMBIDGEE
if Locked, would give 3000 miles of
navigable highways To ^he inferior, a dis[-ance
equal fo i'haf from Adelaide to Ph Darwin
and more rhan halF way back.
J
59
Upstream Diversions.
That the whole of the waters of the "Upper
Murray" and its tributaries, and the whole
of the waters of the "Lower Murray," shall
be deemed to be the common property of New
South Wales and Victoria. — Resolution of
conference between Xew South AVales and Vic-
toria, 18SC.
The position was that Xew South Wales
could, if it liked, construct a big: dam just
at the spot where the River Murray flows into
South Australia, and stop the flow of the
river altogether. — Statement by delegate at
the Irrigation Conference, Sydney, 1905.
The fears of South Australians thar
the Murray within their territory
would become a dry channel unless
compensation works were huilt to
counteract the effect of diversions are
not so groundless as upstream neigh-
bours affirm. The fact is that, from
having denied South Australia any
rights, New South Wales has consis-
tently advocated a policy of spoliation
— huge schemes for irrigation purposes
which would seriously reduce the na-
tural flow of the waterways, ruinous
preferential rates, and other conces-
sions on its State-owned railways, with
tlie object of destroying inland naviga-
tion. The difference between the two
upstream States has been that, while
New South Wales has talked at large
about "big irrigation works," Victoria
has been constructing weirs and reser-
voirs, cuttihg off tlie floodwaters of first
one tributaiy and then another, and
subsequently drawing supplies from
tlie main stream. While New South
Wales has spent about £750,000. Vic-
toria has laid out no less a sum than
£5,750,000, with more to follow!
— Proposed Diversions in New South
Wales.—
The former State is, however, rapid-
ly getting past the talking stage; and
It will not be long before heavy tri-
bute will be claimed from various
rivers. Mr. Davis (Under Secretary for
Public Works), when before the Pub-
lic Works Committee on the Barren
Jack Reseiwoir, reviewed what had
been done by New South Wales in
"water conservation and irrigation.
The pioneer work in connection with
water conservation was commenced in
1866, when £2,900 was spent in sinking
weils so as to render practicable the
route from the Darling and the Lach-
lau to the Warrego. Work, in the
shape of the construction of tanks,
daras, and wells, was carried out from
time to time from 1886 to 1894; the
total expenditure during that period
was £116,000, and the idea then
was to develop the western stock
routes. Of the sum named, about £1,500
was expended in providing water for
what were then mining towns. Public
attention first became actively aroused
with the appointment of the royal com-
mission in 1884. This commission,
which remained in existence for four
years, dealt with the subject in an
exhaustive manner, and issued three
valuable reports. Following the com-
mission's work, Mr. McKinney. who
was then in charge of water conserva-
tion and irrigation, went steadily on
preparing data from which schemes
could be evolved. Nothing, however,
was done to focus matters until 1897,
when the Government of the day ar-
raiiged with Col. Home to report oa
the possibilitj' of undertaking compre-
hensive schemes in connection witli
the larger waterways of the State.
After inspecting the various projects
which Mr. McKinney had in hand, Col.
Home was of opinion that the MuiTum-
bidgee presented features tliat were
generally favourable. The next de-
velopment of public importance
60
took place in 1902, when tliu
Corowa Conference was convened by
the Murray River Water Canal League.
Another phase of the question wa«;
reached when a conference was held at
Sydney. Unlike the sister State of Vic-
toria, New South Wales had no works
for water conservation or irrigatior.
that could be classed as national in re-
cognition of their importance; and,
while much time had been spent in
tlie preparation of schemes, little or no-
thing had been achieved in a practical
way. The Water Drainage Act of 1902
authorized an expenditure up to
£200,000 per annum for five years. The
main works for water conservation
and river diversion had been carried
out under the provisions of the Public
Works Act of 1902, or by the Mines
Department, at a cost totalUng
£253,334. A large amount of private
artesian boring work had been attend-
ed to. Of all the rivers in New South
Wales there was not one offering more
advantages for conservation purposes
than tlie Murrumbidgee, as from its
source, near Kiandra, in the Austra-
lian Alps, to the site selected for the
dam at Barren Jack — a distance of
about 200 miles^ — it passed tlirough
mountainous country of high altitude,
much of which was subject to heavy
falls of snow; while the river itself was
fed by several important streams, no-
tably the Queanbeyau, Molonglo, Yass,
and Goodradigbee Rivers, and also by
innumerable creeks. Nearly all of these
watercourses might be termed peren-
nial running streams. The wliole
catchment area above the dam was
little short of 5,000 square miles, and
altogether there could be no doubt that,
even in an abnormally dry season, the
dam at Barren .Jack would be filled,
with a good margin left for flow in the
river chaxmel. Mr. Davis submitted
the following comparative statement,
showing the estimated capacity and
cost of dams of various impoundage
heights: —
^
cS^a
-s
O
U O
Qi'-
o
!u
Capacity.
Acre ft. I Cubic ft.
120
170
200
ft.
ft.
ft.
1 £ |£s.
451,80012 16
691, 200 |1 10
i75&,OCO10 19
d. 1 Acres | |
3! 4,00Sll59,S07i 6,961,152,000
5| 8, 207|456,387|19. 880,064. 000
9|12,740|766,324|33,380,S64,OI)0
The canal headworks and the offtake
were fixed at a most suitable spot at
the head of Bundidgery Creek (about
19 miles above Narrandena), where a
granite bar in the river would give a
splendid foundation for diversion weir
and regulator, and an elevation would
be obtained for the channels that
would greatly increase the area to be
irrigated. The total cost of the work
was estimated thus. — Dam, including
land resumption of same (£80,000, ac-
cording toi land valuer's statement),
£758,000; diversion weir and regulator,
£27.000; main canal, £290,968; main dis-
tributary canal, £24,736; minor distri-
butaries and laterals, £178,400; total
cost of dam and irrigation works,
£1,279,104. It is calculated that be-
tween Corowa and Deniliquin, and ex-
tending from the main river to the bil-
labong, there is an iiTigable area of
1,400,000 acres, of which 900,000 acres
can be commanded by gravitation. The
estimated cost of the canal headworks
and distributaries is given at £600,000.
The necessary storage works would
probably cost £350,000, thus bringing
the total outlay up to £950,000. On
the northern side of the Murrumbidgee
tliere is an area of 900.000 acres, of
which 400,000 is described as being
first-class irrigal)Ie hind. The neces-
sary outlay is stated at £600,000. To
realize Avhat an enormous volume of
water would be contained in the Bar-
ren Jack Reservoir, it is only necessary
to imagine— Mr. Lee, the Minister for
Works in New South Wales has said —
"A lake containing one and a half
times as much water as Sydney Har-
l>our, and submerging an area of 13
square miles." If New South Wales
wants to retain such an enormous vo-
THE WEIR ACROSS THE GOULBOURN RIVER.
1
TflE GOULBOURN RIVER AKTKK lil\ KK^IuNS HAVE BEKX iLVUE ' THE
PICTUKE SHOWS THE QUANTITY OF WA^ER ALLOWED TO FLOW
TOWARDS THE MURRAY AS "C0MI'E.\SATI<.1N' WATER.
61
lume of water for purposes of produc-
tion, down-stream settlers — no niattei-
in wiiich State they happen to reside —
consider they have a riglit to aslc for
compensation worlis in the sliape ot
loclis and storage basins.
— Victorian Diversions. —
Mr. Davis (of New South Wales), in
his report on the disposal of the Mur-
ray Avaters, stated that — "Tlie Victo-
riai^. Government, as far \>Sick as 188<>,
granted rights to the Messrs. Chaffey
Brothers to tal<e watei* from tlie
Murray, at Mildura, up to a maximum
of 1,000 cubic feet per minute. lu
Victoria there are many extensive di-
version channels, cuttings, and pump-
ing plants from the Murray, and a
large area of land is irrigated adjacent
to the river. That State has also ex-
tensively utilized the tributary streams
as well as the main river, and at tht-
present time diverts 20 times the com
bined diversions of New South Wales
and South Australia. She has chan-
nels that command an area of 2,640,000
acres for irrigation and stock supply,
and new schemes are at present be-
fore the Victorian Parliament for the
construction of works that will cost
£1,380,000, and command a further irri-
gable area of 1,407,000 acres. The
total sum spent in Irrigation au»l
waterworks trusts in Victoria to date
is £5,634,000, and the proposed further
expenditure will make a total exceed-
ing £7,000.000. These schemes wid
take practically the whole of the flow
in moderate years of the Goulburn,
Cajnpasjje, and Loddon Rivers." In
evidence given before the royal com-
mission in 1902, it was shown that
Victoria had reached a far more ad-
vanced stage than either of the other
States in the diversion of the Murray
waters. Following the river upward
from South Australia, the first tribu-
tary in Victoria is the Loddon, and not
only has the whole available supply
from this source been intercepted, but
in addition there is a strong demand
for a supplementary !?upply from the
Murray. The next tributai-y is the
Campaspe, and here the state of affairs
is similar to that In regard to the Lod-
don With regard to the Goulburn,
which is by far the most important
of the Victorian tributaries, a canal
has already been constructed from it
capable of carrying 103,400 cubic ft.
per minute. "As the entire discharge
of the river," one expert has pointed
out, "is much under this, as a rule, ex-
cept in the winter and early spring
months, it is clear that no flow from
the Goulburn into the Murray can be
expected except during floods!" The
Broken River has been intercepted
and utilized, so that the only Victorian
tributary below Albury which is not
already utilized is the Ovens, and that
is a stream of comparatively minor im-
portance. The diversions from the
Murray itself are also on a most ex-
tensive scale. It was stated by Mr. Ken
yon, an engineer of the Victorian
Water Supply Department, that in
that State there were from 200 to 300
unauthorized pumping plants, capable
of delivering on an average about 250
cubic ft. per minute each, or a total of
about 62,500 cubic ft. In addition, the
pumps for the Cohuna, Kooudrook and
Myall, Swan Hill, and Mildura Trtists
were capable of delivering a further
aggregate supply of 13,805 cubic ft.
per minute. The pumping power actu-
ally provided is capable of diverting
an aggregate supply of 76,300 cubic ft.
per minute. Including the schemes
authorized, the pumping power pro-
vided for a total diversion of 130,900
cubic ft. per minute from the Murray.
It has been estimated that for
3,948,000 acres available in Victoria it
will be necessary to draw on the rivera
for a supply equal to 172,000000.000
cubic ft. per aimum. Another
estimate puts the available irri-
gable land in Victoria at 2,000,000,
requiring 90,000,000.000 cubic ft., or
502.500,000,000 gallons per annum. The
annual contributions to the flow of
62
the Murray by Victorian rivers is put
down at 284.000,000,000 cubic ft. in the
average year and 157,000,000,000 for a
minimum year.
The following is an official report on
Victorian diversion schemes by a
South Australian engineer: —
Victorian Diversions.— Existing- diversions:— (A)
Fron-. the Main River. — 1. Kow Swamp nitional
woi-ks, supplying waher to the Lower Loddon
district— The diversion is made by means of a
channel 44 ft. wide, the capacity of which is eo.ual
to about four-tenths of the flow of the river at
Morgan when at si-nimer level. No water can
be taken until the water is 5 ft. above
summer level. Tlie water is used direct, and
also stored in Kow Swamp, liaving a caparity o£
more than four and a half times that of Happy
Valley Reservoir. From this it is dravn for
use at the low-river period. 2. The Cohuna
Works. — This diversion is made by means of gravi-
tation and by pumping. The gravitation c):annel
takes water down to summer level, and the toial
amount that may be diveried is slightly greater
tlian that by the Kow Swamp works. The pos-
sibility of diverting water when the river is at
tummer level involves a very serious principle,
any extension of which should be streuuoasiy op-
posed. 3. Mildura.— This is entirely a puni.jing
scheme. Tlie area irrigated is 8,000 acres, for
which 1„040 million cubic feet was pumped suffi-
cient to cover the area 3 ft. deep. 4. The minor
diversions from, the Mmray include Bengeioop and
Murrabit, Koondrook and Myall, Swan Hill, and
other irrigation supplies of small united capacity,
(B) From tributaries. 1. Goulburn WorlJB —
These works, the most important of any of the
tributaries, take off the water by a channel 106
ft. wide. It is not used beyond about one-foudh
its full capacity at present, but will be so on
tl'B completion of the Waranga Reservoir, now
being constnicted to store the flood wattrs. Tliis
reservoir will cover more than 19 square miles,
and hold 21 times the capacity of Happy VaJiey
Reservoir, or one-tenth more than Lake Albert.
These works form the headwork of the very tx-
tensive works now proposed to be carried out by
iiT'gating 1,400,000 acres to the eastward of ihc
Goulburn. It i3 proposed to divert annually at
least a quantity of water equal to two t.nd one-
half times the total capacity of Lal;e AH^rt.
2. From the Loddon, Campaspe, and Broken Rivers
all the water, except at flood time, is taken. Pro-
posed schemes:— (A) From Main River. 1. Too-
leybuc Scheme.— This is for supplying water to
the north-eastern mallee district, and will have
a channel 30 ft. wide. No waters can be taken
until the river is at 5 ft. above summer level.
The losses are estimated to be enormous, perhaps
as much as 70 per cent. In one year it is esti-
mated that about 5,506 million cubic feet may
be diverted, or about 25 times the capacity of
the Bundaleer Reservoir. 2. The upper Murray
storage at Cumberoona, as recommended by the
Interstate Commission, will store practically all
the water in the river in ordinary years. It is
proposed to divide it among the three States on
the condition of their sharing the cost. S. Tor-
rumberry Weir. — This weir is proposed to be erect-
ed across the Murray below Echuca, to facilitate
the diversion of water. From Tributaries. — 1.
Schemes liave been discussed, and in some cases
have assumed definite shape, to divert the whole
of the water of the Campaspe, Ix)ddon, Goulburn,
Broken, and Ovens Rivers. Total Diversions. —
The total diversions possible by existing v^'Orkg
in Victoria is, in winter, 200,000 c.f.m., and in
summer 70,000 c.f.m. The former of these quan-
tities is equivalent to the total flow of the river
with the Morgan gauge at 2 ft. above summer
level, the latter quantity the flow with the gauge
G in. below summer level. The greatest amount
diverted at one time up to the present was dur-
ing April, 1903, when a quantity equal to 55,000
c.f.m. was being taken, more than double the
quantity of wat'^r that was at the same time
flowing past Morgan; but under the new schemes
as now proposed to carry into effect the new
Water Bill the firstmentioned diversions will be
fully realized.
During the last four years, Victoria
has pushed steadily onwards, helping
itself to the water, whilst its neigh-
bours have wrangled and threat-
ened, but taken noi fonvard step!
As indicating the possible direc-
tion in which action will be taken
by Victoria in the future, Mr.
Stuart Murray recently remarked
that irrigation as hitherto carried out
In that State had been of two essen-
tially distinct kinds. One was for in-
tense culture of small areas for the
production of fruit, or wine, or other
special products. The other was for
general farm crops or for food for
stock, with the object of promoting
tlie probable occupation of dry areas
by providing a resource against emer-
gent seasons of drought. Mildura vnas
a good example of the first of these;
the Ardmona settlement, near Moo-
roopna. and the Lancaster colony, near
Kyabram, weie others. The second
rlass were such districts as were
served by the bulk of the Rodney Irri-
gation Trust, the Tragowel Plains
Trust, the trusts served by the Ma-
eorna Channel, the Kow Swamp
GOULBOURN (VICTORIA) Di\ jMi.-i< 'n (itA.NNKL IMiVlliDlATELY BELOW THE
^^•EIR. THE DIVERSION CHANNEL IS 110 FEET WIDE AT THE
BOTTOM.
I U.MBINKD lUKlGAl'luX TltLsl.s, \ ICT ulilA. I'l.ili'lMJ li;i).\l i;l\I.K ■.,
INTO KOW SWAMP CHANNEL WITH 32 Cr.NTRII'UGAL PUMPS AT
THE RATE OF 44,000 GALLONS PER MINUTE.
RIVER MURRAY BELOW RENMARK, SHOWING HOW THE FLOW IS
REDUCED BY UPSTREAM DIVERSIONS DURING THE DRY MONTHS. THIS
SHOWS THE REASONABLENESS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA'S CLAIMS FOR
LOCKS AND STORAGE BASINS.
f . *
MAIN CHANNEL, HAY I NKW SOUTH WALKS) IKHK; \II( i.N TIUST.
63
Works, and the Cohuna Trust. Mr.
Murray was of opinion, while admit--
ting the value of irrigation for intense
culture, and recognising its compara-
tively low cost when applied in that
way, that the future of successful irri-
gation in the Murray basin would be
In its application to small portions of
comparatively large holdings.
— Not a Dog-in-the-Manger Demand. —
NAMth perfect candour it may be said
that South Austi-'alia has never ques-
tioned the wisdom of extending irriga-
tion. There is a forward movement
in the same direction in this
State. The contention is that all three
Stiites, having made provi^on for stor-
ing supplies in floodtime, should be
able to use the water freely for pur-
poses of production without such re-
strictions as would be represented in
any scheme of apportionment of sup-
plies between States. In the first place,
the water could not be measured with
any approach to accuracy, and at all
times it would be found in practice
that the wants of upstream users of
water would take precedence over the
artificial rights of a downstream State,
as expressed in a parchment document.
In the absence of locks and storage
basins, there must inevitably be law
sooner or later if upstream diversions
are continued. It is felt that the only
solution is that there shall be an agree-
ment between the States for the com-
pletion of a system ofl locks, weirs,
and storage basins within a given
period of years.
64
Riparian Law and the Legal Position.
That, in the opinion of this House, it ia ad-
visable that the Attorney-General should, in
the uame of this State, under the powers
given in sections 59, 60, 62, and 63 of the
Federal Judiciary Act of 190S, and any
powers under the Constitution, move in the
High Court aciiinEt the State of Victoria,
and again?! all officers of that State, and per-
sons actin- under its authority, restraining
them from the appropriation of water from
the Kiver Murray under the Tooleybuc and
other schemes-Resolution by South Austra-
lian Parliament, 1904.
—The Case for South Australia.—
Whether there were rights between
States capable of being judicially en-
forced was long a moot question
between politicians. Few legal autho-
rities deal with it, aJid none exhaus-
tively. Quicli and Garran, in their
work on the CJonstitution, declare that
such rights must have failed before
federation for want both of a tribunal
and a law, and since federation for
want of a law. The Constitution gives
the tribunal, and a right (by virtue
of section 78 inserted at the sugges-
tion of Mr. Glynn) to sue the Common-
wealth or a State in respect of matters
within the limits of the judicial power;
but, continue the writers mentioned,
there is no riparian law to enforce,
so that there is no principle which
Umits the right of a State or its citi-
zens to the use of waters flowing
through the State. Similarly. Profes-
sor Harrison Moore, in "The Common-
wealth of Australia," while properly
confining the scope of section 78 to the
"right to proceed," suggests that there
are no rights between owners in diffe-
rent States. In "Studies in Australian
Constitutional Law," by Mr. Justice
Clark, of Tasmania, a contrary opinion
is expressed. The existence of a law
between States capable of enforcement
under federation was definitely alleged
by Rp. Glynn and Professor Salmond
in their evidence before the royal com-
mission of 1902. They stated their
lopinion that a right and power
to resti-ain extended to diversions
from tributaries as well as the main
sti-eam; in other words, that any un-
reasonable diversions to the injury of
navigability or riparian use could be
restrained by injunction or made the
subject for an action for damages. Sir
Josiah Symon said during the conven-
tion debates:— "The principles of jus-
tice governing riparian disputes be-
tween individual States are exactly of
the same nature and character as the
principles of justice governing
riparian disputes between pri-
vate individuals." Since 1904,
in consequence of the passing of
the above motion by the House of As-
sembly, Sir .Tosiah Symon, Mr. Isaacs,
and Mr. Glynn were retained to advise
the Government of South Australia as
to the existence of the rights and
power under the Corns titution to assert
them. Mr. Glynn prepared an exhaus-
tive statement of the law, and the judi-
cial power, according to his conception
of them, and of the facts, .the two
typewritten volumes constituting a
dissertation of the compass cf a fair-
sized l)ooli. This has been officially
described as constituting a re-
marUably strong case for South Aus-
tralia. Sir Josiah Symon, K.C., of
South Australia, and Rp. Isaacs, K.C.,
of Victoria, for whose independent
opinion the case so stated was
submitted, are understood to sup-
poi-t the views expressed by Mr.
Glynn. The documents are in
the possession of the South Aus-
tralian Government, and they have
been accepted by Ministers as fortify
65
ing them in asking from the up-
stream States a practical recognition
of the claims of the downstream Stiite.
— Locks or Law? —
It is somewhat paradoxical, to say
the least of it, that at a time when
there seems to be a complete accoid
throughout Australia in favour of in-
dustrial expansion and the encourage-
ment of population, an appeal to tlio
Law Courts should be imminent in
order to prevent sister States joining
in this forward movement. A few
years ago the popular sentiment was
"One continent, one nation, one des-
tinv:" but. from recent experience in
connection with the rivers question, it
appears as if South Australia, New
Wales, and Victoria were less friendly
towards one another, and less amen-
able to reason, than some of the na-
tioug of Europe, which are credited
with the desire of always being ready
to fly at one another's throats. Poli-
ticians, press, and public tliroughout
Victoria and New South Wales are de
ploring the fact of the sparsity of
population, while the Federal authori-
ties are appealing to the States to
throw open their lands, boom their re-
sources abroad, and use every effort to
encourage immigration. For over half
a century this State has been trying by
means of conferences and commissions
to arrive at an amicable settlement
With regard to the waters of the Aus-
tralian river system; and it is just a
little suggefftive of the simplicity
which characterized a certain heathen
Chinee, when our neighbours continue
to blandly enquire what South Austra-
lia really wants' South Australia does
not want, and never can agree to, un-
less absolutely compelled by the force
of law, diversion works upstream,
without any provision having been
made to catch and hold the flood wa-
ters for replenishment purposes as re-
quired. Neither can this State ac-
quiesce in any arithmetical apportion-
ment of waters which are insufficient
to meet requirements unless storage
works and locks are constructed. Sure-
ly that position is clear and reason-
able enough for our neighbours to un-
derstand; and, believing that it is a
claim which the Courts of Justice will
uphold, South Australia may be forced
to go to law as a last resoui'ce in de-
fence of important rights, and not, as
some people assert, because of jealousy
against the enterprise of others. With
a thousand miles of river frontage,
and a large territory capable of being
served by the waters of the Murray,
South Australia is relatively as much
interested in irrigation as either of the
other States; and its claim is based as
much upon irrigation requirements as
upon natural navigation rights enjoy-
ed for over half a century. The issue
has resolved itself into one of locks or
law.
— ^The Legal Position. —
When the Commonwealth Constitu-
tion provided that "the Parliament
shall have power to make laws for the
peace, order, and good government of
the Commonwealth with respect to
trade and commerce," and that this
power "extends to navigation and ship-
ping," it was fondly hoped that a na-
tional sentiment would be substituted
for the prefederal provincial preju-
dices. It is unfortunate, at least, thiit
the Federiil authorities thi'oughout the
controversy have said in effect to the
States— "Fight it out among your-
selves." That is precisely what the
States are engaged in doing, and tlie
controversial warfare may create much
prejudice and bitterness of feeling,
and check national progress. It is
claimed on behalf of South Austral! ;»
th.at the State has undoubted riparian
rights in respect to the MuiTay ajid its
tributaries. Mr. Justice Clark, of Tas-
mania, put the case clearly when he
said at the Federal Convention in Mel-
bourne: —
The xiparian rights for the owners of land
abutting on the River Murray in the colony
66
of South' Australia are rights of property in
South Australia, and if these rights ^all be
infringed by any private person or any public
body professing' to act under colour of autho-
rity of an Act of the Legislatiire of New South
Wales, when both colonies are constituent
parts of th3 Commonwealth of Australia, the
citizen of South Australia whose riparian
right has been violated, will have a remedy
in the Federal Courts of the Commonwealth,
either for damages or for a writ of injunc-
tion to restrain the continuance of the in-
jury or for both.
Mr. Glynn, iu an article which he con-
tributed to The Commonwealth Law
Review, after quoting Wheaton to the
effect that to obstruct a flowinc: rtver
is an act "of force by a stronger so-
ciety against a weaker, condemned by
the judgment of mankind," says that
the Supreme Court of tlie United State®
decided that, under the federal system,
the obstructions of such rights can be
restrained by legal sanctions. Mr.
Glynn continues: — "Claims, the repu-
diation of which would be a justifiable
cause of war between independent na-
tions, were made judicial by the
union." He quotes Farnham as hav-
ing said: — "To prevent I'esort tc force
Courts of Arbitration would protect
thef?e rights, and the Courts of the re-
spective nations will prevent acts on
the part of their own subjects which
interfere with the rights and subjects
of other States." The acts of nations
must be governed by the principles of
right and justice; the days of force and
self- aggrandisement at the expense of
neighbouring nations are past. "Thus,"
continues Mi'. Glynn, "old ideas of ter-
ritorial sovereignty and interstate
rights become modified by new condi-
tions and necessities. When a State
joins a federal union it parts with its
sovereign right of judgment in every
ease on the justice of its ovm preten-
sions (Wheaton). It can neither with
impunity injure, nor confer authority
to injure, property rights in another
State." The opinion held by Sir Henry
Parkes— that the whole of the waters
of the Murray, to the point where they
enter South Australian territory, are
the property of New South Wales— has
long since been shown to be ridiculous.
Mr. T. R. Bavin, of Sydney, who has
devoted considerable attention to the
legal aspects of the Murray waters
question, writing recently to the Syd-
ney press, said:— "The Federal Parlia-
ment, in the exercise of its power
over tirade and commerce, has power
to do everything necessaiy to keep an
existing navigable highway for inter-
state trade open and safe. It has been
repeatedly held in the United States,
under a similar grant of legislative
power, that Congress has authority to
improve tlie navigability of any stream
which affords a highway for interstate
trade, and to prevent its obstruction by
any State or person. It is, I think, be-
yond question tliat the Federal Parlia-
ment has a similar power." Mr. Bavia
concludes his letter somewhat signifi-
cantly as follows: —
So far as i am aware, the precise ques-
tion whether an upper riparian State has a
riijht to divert the whole of the waters of a
river passing through its ten-itory, has never
arisen between independent States. The "ea-
son for thig is most probably to be found in
the fact that no such fact has ever been as-
serted. It may be said with confidence that
the practical assertion of such a right would
certainly lead to war. A question which bears
some analogy to the one imder discussion, how-
ever, is the question whether an upper riparian
State has a right to the free navigation
of the waters of a river within the borders of
a lower State. The balance of opinion amoi^
the text-wiiters seems to be that there is no
such absolute right in the upper riparian
State to such navigation, but that the refusal
of the privilege would .-imount to a grave
breach of international comity on the part
of the lower State. Whatever may be the
corieet view, it is obvious Uiat the whole dis-
cussion as to the right of fiiee navigation ne-
cesA'rily assumes that the lower riparian
State has a right to demand that the flow of
the river shall not be diminished below the
level of navigability. On the whole, I think
it is safe to saji that no settled principle of
international law can be invoked to justify
a cl.iim on the part of New South Wales and
Victoria to appropriate all the waters of the
Muriay.
— Navigation Rights Admitted. —
Mr. Stuart Murray, the Victorian of-
67
ficer in charge of the diversion works,
has officially reported that Victoria
"claims no exclusive or preferential
rights In the waters of the River Mur-
ray. In any proposal for the with-
drawa!l of water from it, the rights and
interests of the other riparian States
must be considered. Especially must
regard be had to the navigability of
the river; and there should be no ofiE-
take below the point representing the
draft of the largest vessels ordiuai-ily
employed in the river ti*ade." In a
paper read before the Royal Society of
New South Wales it was admitted that
"the stream of the Murray is common
property to the three States, by or
through which the river flows. They
have all equal claims." The Courts
have already laid it down that "every
proprietor through whose laud a water-
course nms has a right to a reasonable
use of the water, whether for power to
turn a mill, for watering stock, or to
irrigate lands, provided he does not
damage any other proprietor above or
below him." In other directions — no-
tably at the last Premiers' Conferencti
— the rights of South Australia were
freely admitted, and it is now beyond
all doubt that navigation cannot
be destroyed on these great high-
ways without infringing^ the Common-
wealth Constitution,
68
The Rivers as Pleasure Resorts.
The Austi'alian who has not been
afloat on the waters of the Murray or
Its many affluents does not know his
native country. There is a charm in
a holiday trip on these highways which
has a peculiarity ail its own, and
the evidences of potential wealth at
every bend strengthen faith in the fu-
ture of the Commonwealth, help to
broaden the vision, and brighten the
industrial horizon. For a restful,
health-giving change — a lazy, luxurious
lounge — there is no other resort in Aus-
tralia to compare with a voyage along
these zigzag tracks, which reach into
the interior of the Commonwealth.
Comfortable steamers ply on the wa-
ters, and the pleasure seeker will find
his average wants well attended to.
For the rert, he has nothing to do but
sit and watch the passing panorama
of landscape. Running upstream the
paddle boat causes foam-tipped waves
to wash against the banks, and splash
over the roots of the giant gums which
fringe the river. The trees in many
places form an avenue along which the
steamer snorts its way, belching forth
showers of sparks from the funnel,
which in the night make a pyrotechnic
display, and, with the flashes lof the
electric headlight, throw across the
stream aU manner of fantastic sha-
dows. The traveller finds it difficult
to persuade himself that he is hundreds
of miles inland, steering towards the
heart of an alleged waterless continent.
— Where Eveiy Prospect Pleases. —
It is in the first flush of the dawn
that the loveliness of the scene im
presses the tourist; and throughout the
day, as he begins to realize the enor-
mous body of water flowing between
the two banks, he asks himself a hun-
dred times why it is that Australia is
so often called an arid country. Not
only in the valleys of the Murray, Mur-
rumbidgee, and Darling has little been
done to utilize the gifts of Nature; but
away out on the Cooper, Finke, Strez-
lecki, and hundreds of other channels
down which oceans of water course to
waste, nothing has been attempted in
the direction of storing supplies in the
years of plenty to provide for those pe-
riods when the skies are as brass, and
man and beast perish for want of wa-
ter. The river scenery constantly
changes, and surprises greet the tour-
ist at every turn. It is Nature's cine-
metograph. Panorama succeeds pano-
rama with bewildering regularity.
So tl.ey pass
From stage to stage along the shining course
Of tliat gr'3at river broadening like a sea.
It is like holding the mirror up to Na-
ture. High cliffs, low clifCs, big trees,
small shrubs, now a piece of rich mea-
dow-looking country, next a polygnum
flat, presently a wheatfield, then or-
chards or vineyards sloping gently to
the water's edge; cliffs on the right
towering several hundreds of feet sky-
wards; low-lying flats to the left call-
ing for the husbandman and his
plough. Animal life, the ubiquitous
rabbit excepted, is scarce; but occasion-
ally a few kangaroos or emus
may be seen, and at night the
howl of the wild dog breaks the
solitude of the bush. Bird life is plen-
tiful, and in the season the sportsman
may frequently test his skill at flying
wild duck and other birds. There are
bright-plumaged cockatoos, grass par-
rots, pretty little parraquets, magpies,
minahs, swallows, laughing jacks, the
graceful swan, the toothsome teal, the
ungainly ibis, and the gluttonous shag
k ■*. %\
TT^OOnlicfl^T oq fl^e
T^iv^er n7urro;.
MOONLIGHT OX THE MURRAY.
Photo by Frank WylUe.
69
— and last, but not least, the majestic
pelican. The Murray is a wonderful
sti'oam — how wonderful no one can
possibly realize wTio has not lived by
it, drunk of it, played with it, and in
it. traced its currents and charted its
snags with his own bare body.
— ^JMoating Through a "Land Without
Limit" —
As the steamer forces its way up-
ward you feel that you are floating
through a land without limit. r'rom
the top deck of the steamer the eyes
wander aimlessly over miles of invit-
ing couuti*y. The artist, with his faith-
ful bit of canvas work, "Evening Sha-
dows," has made many people familiar
with scenery which is met with at fre-
quent intervals along the stream; so
that the tourist who delights to study
Nature first-hand need never have a
dull moment on a river steamboat. Tho
traveller is not reduced to merely spe-
culating upon the possibiUties of the
country through which he passes. The
steamer pulls into tlie side to reple-
nish her bunkers with fuel grown on
the banks of the river; the captain
invariably enters into the picnic-like
proclivities of his passengers, and
shows them a track across country to
a spot where he will pick them up in a
hour or more. The explorers will come
across a homestead, with, maybe, a
vineyard or orchard, or will see a fine
flock of sheep, and, being observant,
will quickly form a high estimate of
the productive powers of the country.
Those whoi know the valleys and
are acquainted with the victories al-
ready achieved, confidently prophesy
what might be if only the rivers were
locked, and if closer settlement were
made possible. The vastness of the
teiTitory served by the streams grows
upon the excursionist as he skirts along
plain after plain, stretching away on
either hand ti> the horizon; or
as he climbs to the top of a
neighbouring hill and feast his
eyes upon miles and miles of
virgin forest, running through which
is a dark green belt of trees marking
the course of the channel. "If only
this stream were looked!" is the natu-
ral and common exclamation, "If only
these waters were made available all
tli(> year round for the producer and the
trader, millions of happy and prospe-
rous people could have homes in these
valleys!"
—A Call to Tourists.—
"The thing you can't get is the thing
you mostly want," says the humorist-
philosopher of America, but the reverse
is true of the Australian who sighs for
a holiday resort away from crowded
cities, where fishing, boating, aaid shoot-
ing may be enjoyed to the full. The
rivers are available, and the excursion
is both pleasurable and economical.
Some Australians look with envious
eyes on pictures of life on Canadian
rivers, sigh for the unattainable, and
regret that their lines have been cast
in an arid, riveriess land!
Do you know tlie blackened timber, do you know
that raoing stream,
V.'ith the raw, right-angled logjam at the end
And the bar of 9un-warmcd shingle, where a man
rnsy bask and dream,
To the click of shod canoe p^les round the bend?
If the Murray and its feeders cannot
boast of "silent, smoky Indians," or of
timber floats and logjams, they have
attractions of their own quite as fasei-
natincr in their way. Australians pos-
sess several thousands of miles of navi-
gable waterways which could be made
permanent for a comparatively small
outlay, but the average Australian uei-
/ther knows nor appreciates the resources
of his native country as he should do.
There is a Mississippi or a St. Law
rence, or a Hudson close at hand if only
the dweller in tlie crowded, smoky ci-
ties "^sould I'ealize the fact. A few
hours' train journey will take the ex-
cursionist on board a comfortable boat;
and for weeks he can steam through
avenues of eucalypti, boxwood, and
sheaoak, breathe deep draughts of ex-
hilaraliufj air, bask in genial sunshine
by day, and study the stars by night in
70
the clearest of bine skies. The river
grows upon the traveller; and once it
is undei-stood it for ever arteirwarus
will call. The country served by these
waterways is a lajid of alluring con-
trasts and limitless possibilities.
Moiuitain-fed streams, bound by no despot cold,
Coiiise through the woods, lejoicing' as they run.
A most fair land; it is a land of gold —
It is the laud of pleasure and the sini.
According to one authority, if you have
learnt to swim in the great, grey-green,
vegetable-mattery Murray you can
swim anywhere. During the Parlia-
mentary trip to Lake Victoria in 190^^
a South Australian legislator delighted
his fellow-lawmakers with exhibitions
of natatorial skiU. He would jump
from the bows of the steamer, dive
well down, allow the vessel to pas-^
over him, and then, judging well, would
rise to the surface in time to grasp a
rope dang'ling from the stern, and clam-
ber on board. Most of the deckhands
on the river steamers are expert swim-
mers; otherwise they would run great
risk of adding to the long list of vic-
tims which the Murray has claimed.
A steamer which had just left Morgan
was towing a barge when, owing to
the rope sagging, it caught on a snag,
and, entangling a man, caiTied him
overboard. When the towline came
taut the deckhand was bi'ought with
a jerk to the surface, and was hauled
on board. The pipe which he had been
smoking was still in his mouth. It is
no uncommon experience during dark
nights for birds on the wing — parti-
cularly the awkward pelican — to be fas-
cinated by the electric light and fly
right into the steamer. Such diversions 1 <
prevent anything like monotony.
— Conclusion. —
The object kept in view in the writ
ing of these articles will have been ac-
complished if they should help tcLjli-
rect attention to the wonderful water -
ways which could be adapted to serve
a large and at present unused portion
of the continent. Unroll the great map
of Australia, and the eye is at once ar-
rested by the dominant feature in the
geographical face of the continent. It
is the vast river system, which spreads
out in a network of veins over the
whole eastern half of Australia, and
culminates in a great ^artery coursing
down the centre to the southern sea.
In the best interests of the Common-
wealth as a whole these rivers should
be locked, and their flood waters stored
for use in the dry seasons. This is a
dut.v we owe to ourselves and to
succeeding generations. The pro-
ject oalls for the foresight
of statesmen, and the enterprise
of producers and traders would
do the rest. To render permanently
navigable three great rivers, to pi*ovide
a plentiful supply of water to vast ter-
ritories frequently smitten by drought,
and to throw open fresh fields for the
honjeseekers — ^these surely represent a
policy which should appeal to the ima-
gination and patriotism of every lover
of his country.
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX I.
THE "NILE" OF AUSTRALIA.
[Leading Article in The Register of May 18, 1906. IJ
We publish to-day the last of the
valuably suggestive series of articles
which have lately been appearing in
The Register on the river system of
Australia. The writer's object was to
deal with the Murray waters question
in all its bearings, ajid to lucidly ex-
press the aspirations of patiiotic Aus-
tralians regarding the development of
the country served by the great water-
► ways which intersect the eastei-n and
southern part of the continent, and ul-
timately end their career in South Aus-
tralian territory. That purpose has
been well accomplished. All readers of
the sketches must have been deeply im-
pressed with the wonderful inheritance
which these rivers represent, and the
splendid opportunities provided by
them for settling a large and prospe-
rous population in their valleys. As
Mr. Lindon Bates pointed out long ago,
the River Murray, with its tributaries,
is one of the largest— as its drainage
area is too often among the driest— in
the world; and in this connection the
writer of the articles has given
interesting details of the memor-
able voyage of discovery made
by Capt. Sturt, supplied a valu-
able epitome of the negotiations
between the States during the last half-
century, explained the respective
claims of irrigation and navigation, and
stated the case for a complete system
of locliS, weirs, and storage basins, so
tbat the waters of the rivers may be
fully utilized by the producer and the
trader, and the country's undoubted re-
sources thus turned to the best account
in the interests of Australia as .1
whole.
Unquestionably the national policy is
the best — the utilization of the rivers
to their fullest extent, both as channels
of communication and as fertilizing
agencies in the development of semi-
arid country. The p oint of '^lenYPPT^'
between the respective States is appa-
rently the vS iipremacy of irrigation ove r
na\ ngation , but that is only apparent;
and there is reason to fear that our up-
stream neighbours are chiefly concern-
ed in obtaining control of waters
which do not wholly belong to them,
in order to destroy navigation rights
that have existed for more than 50
years, and so bolster up a few spur
lines of railways. This has, indeed,
been officially admitted; and sufficient
has been said at the various confer-
ences to warn South Austi*alia that the
provincialism of the other States aims
at the destruction of its geogi-aphical
advantages. For a relatively small ex-
penditure the rivers can be locked in
such a way as wiU provide permanent
navigation for -^ ono milpg inlnrni and
no great effort of the imagination is re-
quired to picture what a boon this
would be to settlers along tlie banks of
the streams. No single State would
have a monopoly of the benefits confer-
red; and, excepting for the motlNes In-
72
ti mated, it is bard to understand why
tlie up-stream States so peJisisteatly re-
ject all advances for ensuring all-tlie-
year-round navigation, which would
also give them an opportunity of ex-
tending their irrigation areas with
some degree of safetj-. Our contribu-
tor has effectively disposed of the
charge, made at various times, that
South Australia is seeking to desti'oy
irrigation interests. Such an assertion
is ridiculous, as this State is largely in-
terested in the same movement, and as
every year an increasing area of iiTiga-
ble land is opened along the Murray
within South Australian territory. Tho
real object of South Australia is to pro-
vide scope for further settlement; and
this can be done only by artificially
helping Nature, and making the rivers
permanent, instead of intermittent,
streams.
Doubts are being expressed whether
or not the agreement attained at the
last Premiers' Conference really pro-
vides for this national poUcy of locking
— whether it does not, in fact, indefi-
nitely postpone that consummation.
The full text of the compact has not
been made available, but from what
has been published several authorities
contend that the effect will be to post-
pone locking for all time, or at least
so long as the Board of Commissioners
considers that up-stream diversions for
irrigation are not sensibly reducing the
navigation level. The resolutions which
Mr. Price submitted to the Premiers'
Conference were evidently not accept-
able; and it is not surprising, in view
of past experiences, that the people
of this State are suspicious of the bona
fides of those responsible for the agree-
ment which was ultimately approved.
So long as the other States are able to
supply the quantity of water provided
for under the apportionment scheme
they are not likely to consent to any
system of locking; and to this extent
the agreement does indefinitely post-
pone the only policy by which the
rivers can be fully utilized. Is it not
merely playing with an important ques-
tion to attempt to measure out sup-
plies of water between three States,
either by the gallon or by cubic feet,
in the absence of locks and storage ba-
sins? It will be necessary at the pro-
per time for the Premier to throw some
light on this aspect of the matter, and
to explain in detail how the agreement,
if ratified, v^ill operate in relation to
South Australia. This question has
always been regarded as above party
politics; and in its discussion there
should be no partisan feeling. The Pre-
mier and the Treasurer doubtless did
all that they could do in the interests
of the State at the Premiers' Confer-
ence. They must have realized tha«
there was strong opposition to the ac-
ceptance at present of any liability for
locks, and we should assume that they
made the best compromise which was
practicable. Nevertheless, the agree-
ment should be thoroughly studied in
all its bearings, and submitted to the
fullest enquiry and the keenest criti-
cism. South Austi-alia has a valuable
birthright to defend, and legislators and
the people generally ought to exercise
the utmost vigilance to prevent the de-
struction of the important rights so
long enjoyed by this State.
73
APPENDIX II.
RIVER DISTANCES.
Distances in Miles of Stations and Tov«rns on the'^Murray from
the iVIouth to Albury, on the Murrumbidgee from the .Junction
to Gundagai, and on the Darling from the Junction (Went-
worth) to Walgett.
The Murray-
Murray Mouth
GOOLWA
Point Pomond
Wellington
Woods Point
Thompson's Rocks
MURRAY BRIDGE
Caloote
MANNUM
Puriiong
Walker's Flat
Big Bend
Swan Reach
BLANCHETOWN
Murbko
MORGAN
Markaranka
Boggy Flat
Waikerie
Hart's Island
Devlin's Pound
Parcoola Weir Site ...
Overland Corner ...
Chambers Creek
Cobdogla
Pyap
BiryBery
Lyrup ■••
Paringa
REMMARK
Woolenook Bend
Chowilla
Victorian Border
New South Wales Border
Rufus Creek (LAKE VICTORIA)
Frenchman's Creek
Morna ...
Ana Branch ...
WENTWORTH (Darling J unction)
Miles.
39
48
60
67
70
8E)
94
119
128
146
153
170
185
197
215
225
238
243
252
258
262
270
274
297
324
332
349
351
365
377
394
401
433
480
488
499
516
Williams's
MILDURA
Tapalin
Ki
Euston
MURRUMBIDGEE JUNCTION
Windomal
Wakool
Tooleybnc
Beveridge Island
SWAN HILL
Pental Island
Gonn
Barhan
Toorannaby . . .
Perricoota
ECHUCA ...
Tuppal Creek
Tocumwal ...
Cobram
Yarrawonga . . .
Corowa
ALBURY
The Mur rumbidgee—
MURRAY JUNCTION ...
Balranald
Lachlan Junction
HAY
Currathool
Darlington Point
North Yanka
Murrumbidgee Canal Offtake
NARRANDERA
WaggaWagga
GUNDAGAI
Miles.
526
546
612
642
694
77C
, 787
, 798
, 820
, 856
874
891
, 925
948
1,009
1,025
1,066
1,166
1,170
1,190
. 1,237
1,296
. 1,366
60
140
238
325
395
433
440
455
580
666
Th©^ Darling-
WENTWORTH (Murray Junction)
74
Para
Pooncana
Talano
MENINDIE
Christmas Rocks
Talyawalka Creek
age.
66
WILCANNIA
145
Tilpa ...
257
Louth
317
BOURKE
400
Brewarrina
470
WALGETT ..
Page.
. 500
. 666
766
. 880
1,012
1,180
A TOTAL NAVIGABLE DISTANCE OF 3,212 MILES.
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All Cement sold guaranteed to pass Government tests. Its superior quality
enables it to be used for all purposes.
Sold in Iron Drums, same size as imported casks, and in bags ; two equal to
one cask.
Supplied by all Hardware and Timber Merchants, »&c. , throughout the State.
Telegraphic Address— 15 Unity Chambers, Currie Street, Adelaide.
A. H. LANDSEER,
Branch Offices
AND Stores at
Port Adelaide,
Port Victor,
GOOLWA,
MiLANG, LIMITED.
Murray Bridge,
MORGAN Qp^i,^ yyi^o GENERAL MERCHANTS,
"""'Tn^'mark, shipping, commission, & INSURANCE AGENTS,
mHwr'I!'^" owners of AND AGENTS FOR RIVER STEAMERS.
Menindie,
WiLCANNiA. Head Office : GRENFELL STREET, ADELAIDE.
Telephone, 235. Code, 5th Edition, A.B.C.
Steamers leave Murray Bridge Wednesdays ; Morgan, Thursdays and
Saturdays ior Renmark, Wentworth, and Mildura.
Trips tnay he arranged for from 5 to 13 days.
At short intervals vessels are despatched for Wilcannia from South
Australian Ports — rivers permitting.
Rates for carriage of Wool and Supplies. Quotations for Produc®
given upon application.
Station Requisites supplied Steamers always available
on Commission. for Pleasure Parties.
\
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3 1158 01056 9605
UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FAC
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University of California Library
Los Angeles
This book is DUE on the last date stamped below.
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