Henry de Rosenbach Walker

“ I must admit, as a failing of Australasian politicians, that they are inclined to welcome innovations which are superficially attractive, without due consideration of the ulterior consequences. To quote an extreme case, the Government of New Zealand proposed, in a Single Bill, not only to abolish the life tenure of Members of the Legislative Council, but to provide machinery for the settlement of disputes between the two Houses and to establish a modified form of the Swiss Referendum. ”

“ The inhabitants of New South Wales, as of several other Australian Provinces, lived for many years in a fool's paradise. They had received a magnificent inheritance in the land and were able, owing to the proved mineral resources of the country, to draw upon a practically inexhaustible fund in the willing advances of British capitalists. All classes vied with one another, especially in Victoria, in the extravagant loans and expenditure which caused the crisis of 1893, the greatest blessing, as many think, that has ever befallen Australia. ”

“ The shearers with whom I conversed bewailed the irregularity of their employment; they work at high pressure for a few months in the wool-sheds, and have no fixed occupation during the remainder of the year. I was favourably impressed by the men, and was informed that, as a class, they have much improved of late years, and that many of them have considerable savings. Allowances must be made for workmen who are herded together, good characters with bad, and lead a nomadic and demoralising existence which lacks the sobering influences of sustained industry and domestic associations. ”

“ All Bills having for their main object the appropriation of any part of the public revenue, or moneys, or the imposition of any tax, must originate in the House of Representatives. Bills imposing taxation must deal with the imposition of taxation only, and those imposing duties of Customs or excise must deal with duties of Customs or excise only. The expenditure for services other than the ordinary annual services of the Government must not be authorised by the same law as that which appropriates the supplies for the ordinary annual services, but must be authorised by a separate measure. ”

“ When once a given time is allowed to a contractor in which to complete a work, any request to finish it in less time would at once provoke a demand for extra payment; but under the co-operative system the Government reserves the right to increase the numbers employed in any party to any extent considered desirable, so that if any sudden emergency arises, or an unusually rapid development in any district takes place, it is quite easy to arrange for the maximum number possible of men being employed on the works in hand, with no more loss of time than is required to get the men together. ”

“ The institution of the Produce Export Department is favourably viewed by the press of South Australia and by the bulk of the community, but, while it is admitted that the initiative of the State has been successful, the hope is expressed that, when the trade has been firmly established, the scope of State action will be reduced and private enterprise be allowed to step in. Such an attitude shows the prevalent distrust of State action; in order that it may not be perpetuated, the middleman is to be invited to absorb a portion of the profits which at present are gained by the producer. ”

“ It frequently happens under an ordinary contract that work turns out to be more easy of execution than was anticipated, and the State has to see its contractors making inordinate profits. Sometimes, on the other hand, works cost more than was expected; but in most cases of this kind the contractor either becomes a bankrupt, so that the State has, after all, to pay full value for the work, or, if the contractor happens to be a moneyed man, he will probably find some means of getting relieved of a contract, or of obtaining special consideration for his losses on completion of his work. ”

“ Colonel Goldstein states that the main purpose of the colony, which is based on a German model, is to give temporary work at unattractive wages to the able-bodied unemployed in order that they may be prevented from passing over the narrow line which separates poverty from pauperism. At first the aged and infirm were admitted, but it was found that employment could not be obtained for them and that their presence affected the value of the colony as a means of instruction for a class of men in whom it is necessary to arouse a spirit of responsible independence. ”

“ When, in the course of years, the mining industry began to wane, they swarmed into the towns and constituted an important link in the chain of causes which has swelled some of the capitals to their present unwieldy dimensions. Deprived of their means of livelihood, and indisposed for rural life, they clamoured for other employment, and were able, in several Provinces, to induce the Ministry to impose a protective tariff which artificially fostered the growth of manufactures. ”

“ Employers or employés, either individually or through any organisation, shall not discriminate for or against any person because he is or is not a member of any organisation, neither shall there be any distinction between organised or non-organised labour; both shall work under the same conditions and receive equal pay for equal work.' The Bootmakers' Union, in opposition to the rules so suggested, put forward the contention that employment should be limited to members of the Bootmakers' Union. ”

“ Until that time South Australia had had forty-one Ministries in thirty-seven years, a constant change of the responsible heads of public departments {26} which greatly impaired their efficiency and prevented continuity of administration. The absence of a stable majority in the Assembly gave the opportunity, and ambition and love of power the impetus, to continual struggles for office which were wholly unallied with any baser motives, as Australian statesmen have obtained an honourable pre-eminence for their rectitude of character. ”

“ However great may be one's sympathy with the efforts of the Government to encourage settlement and to promote industrial conciliation and arbitration, one cannot but rejoice at the increased strength of the Opposition, which will be sufficient to enforce greater purity of administration and the enactment of legislation which will prevent a recurrence of the evil. ”

“ Indirectly, the various Provinces have, through their schemes of public works, exercised considerable influence upon the demand for labour and have, upon the completion of the more important undertakings, been subject to continual pressure with the object of inducing them to authorise special works for the benefit of those who have been deprived of their livelihood. New South Wales, indeed, and, to a lesser extent, Victoria, have almost admitted an obligation to provide work or rations for the unemployed. ”

“ It is clear that a knowledge of the inner life of a Parliament could alone supply materials for the adequate discussion of this question, and that a similar consideration applies to the discussion of the effects of State socialism upon political morality. The possible abuses are many: railways may be constructed with a view to popularity; the rents of Crown tenants may be remitted, and borrowers may be allowed to fall in arrears with the interest on their advances; subsidies and bonuses voted by Parliament may be misapplied; and the unemployed may be conciliated by unnecessary public works. ”

“ To meet the difficulty a Labour Bureau was established at Sydney in 1892, in order that the unemployed might be able to register themselves and might be helped to obtain work; but, while much has been done in this direction, no more satisfactory solution has been found for the problem, as a whole, than continual relief works, which attract the destitute from country districts and other Provinces, and afford merely temporary alleviation of the distress. ”

“ The surroundings would be more healthy, and open-air life and regular occupation would induce more wholesome habits and principles than the hours formerly spent in the beer-shop and at the street-corner, while the removal from bad companionship would liberate from the pressure of old associations. He would, on his discharge, probably value more highly his liberty to work as a free man for the future, and, as the State would have been to no cost for his maintenance, it would be a gainer by his temporary removal from crowded centres. ”

“ The Senate is to be composed of eight members for each Province, which is henceforth to be called a State, of whom one-half retire triennially, directly chosen by the Houses of Parliament of the several States for a period of six years. Senators are subject to no property qualification, but must be of {220} the age of thirty years, have resided for five years within the limits of the Commonwealth, be entitled to vote for a member of the House of Representatives, and if not British subjects by birth, have been naturalised for at least five years before the time of their election. ”

“ In South Australia an arduous contest was concluded in 1894 by the passage of an Act which placed women upon an absolute equality with men in the right to vote for {187} members both of the Assembly and of the Council. It is unnecessary to trace the history of the agitation which may be said to have commenced in 1888 upon the formation of the Women's Franchise League, though a Bill for the enfranchisement of women of property had previously been introduced. Thenceforward it was pursued vigorously, and culminated in 1893, when the Government pronounced in favour of adult suffrage. ”

“ They are intelligent, well-educated {12} men and women who are bound to put forward every effort to be successful, as otherwise they will be in a worse position than at the start. They work all the land upon the method of joint cultivation on the ground that, as different forms of produce are grown, it is of importance to be able to concentrate the greater portion of the labour at any point where it may be required, and, under the influence of communistic ideas, give to all an equal share of the results of their united efforts. ”

“ Perth is picturesquely situated on the Swan River, and should increase largely beyond its present dimensions. Handsome brick buildings alternate even in the principal thoroughfares with miserable shanties which are bound soon to disappear. In the evening the streets present a scene of great animation, as hundreds of people may be seen walking up and down, eagerly discussing the mining news, which always presents some feature of interest. ”

“ By this measure the country has not only supplied the means for the steady development of the industry, but has taken, in its belief in the soundness of the enterprise, a direct interest in it. No surer guarantee can exist than this law, that the Parliament of Queensland will in future safeguard the prosperity of an undertaking in which the State has so keen an incentive to protect itself from loss. ”

“ To put their argument, such as it is, in a nutshell, it is better to have high prices and high wages than low prices combined with low wages and uncertain employment. Then, as combination is expected to keep wages at a high point, it is obvious that it can be exercised most effectually over a small area, and we find the South Australian Labour Members voting against a resolution in favour of inter-provincial Free Trade, and Labour Members generally imbued with an actual, if not avowed, opposition to Federation, the first result of which would, it is believed, be the removal of fiscal barriers. ”

“ As Leongatha is 80 miles from Melbourne, we seldom see the genuine loafer there. The men who go are willing enough to work when shown how, but they seem unable to rouse themselves into any sort of vigour, to say nothing of enthusiasm, until they have been there a considerable time.... Numerous instances could be given indicative of the generally helpless nature of the men. There can be no doubt that employers, during the depression, will first reduce their worst men. Of these, many have sufficient energy to shift for themselves; the rest drift to the labour colony. ”

“ New South Wales and Tasmania have not hitherto followed the lead of the other Provinces. This tendency is one of the most marked of recent years, and received a strong impetus from the financial crisis of 1893, which burst the bubble of a fictitious prosperity and compelled attention to the strenuous development of the resources of the soil. It is likely to lead to closer relations between the Provinces, from the appreciation of the fact that the exports of one Province, if unregulated and allowed to fall into disrepute, may prejudicially affect the interests of the whole continent. ”

“ The lender will know the destination of his money, and all treasurers will be placed on a level, whereas, at present, "the dishonest treasurer who makes a surplus by using borrowed money for road repairs and all manner of other ordinary expenditure is a heaven-born financier, while the honest one who doesn't is driven out of {247} office, either for having a deficit, or for increasing taxation, and is a failure either way." ”

“ Kipling, has so amazing a command of that unhackneyed vitality of phrase that most people call by the name of realism. Whether it is scenery or character or incident that he wishes to depict, the touch is ever so dramatic and vivid that the reader is conscious of a picture and impression that has no parallel save in the records of actual sight and memory."—Westminster Gazette. ”

“ The only other electoral peculiarity that I have noted in Australia is to be found in Queensland. Under an Act of 1892 which deals with the election of members of the Assembly, an elector may "indicate on his {176} ballot-paper the name or names of any candidate or candidates for whom he does not vote in the first instance, but for whom he desires his vote or votes to be counted in the event of any candidate or candidates for whom he votes in the first instance not receiving an absolute majority of votes." ”

“ Lastly, the women of the working classes, almost without exception, are in favour of pensions to the aged and needy, and regard objections based on the deterrence of thrift or the difficulty of raising the necessary funds as factitious and disingenuous. Herein, as in some of the other matters to which I have referred, we see the principal danger of female suffrage in New Zealand, the tendency of the women to subordinate reason to sentiment. They note the prevalence of an evil, and believe that if the State decrees its cessation it will promptly cease to exist. ”

“ The policy of the Party has created a great {5} amount of bitterness in the country, their successful advocacy of progressive taxation on incomes and land values and of other democratic measures having led them to be charged with being inimical to capital as such; but the Speaker of the Assembly, who is a Conservative, has stated in a recent speech that, "in speaking of the Labour Party, he wishes to do so with the greatest respect. They are a power in the House, and no Government could have retained office in the last Parliament without their support. ”

“ As regards the inspectors, who are eleven in number, it is to be feared that, though they may invite the co-operation of the police, they will be unable adequately to supervise factories, watch the labour of the single Chinaman, protect the home-worker from the tyranny of the contractor, and assure to assistants in shops the conditions to which they are legally entitled. They will undoubtedly be fettered by the unwillingness of the workers to supply information which may lead to the loss of their employment. ”

“ For the Government have decided, in order that work may be given to as many as possible and that settlement may be promoted, that no labourers shall be employed more than four days in the week. During the remainder of the time, if they have taken up land in the neighbourhood, they devote themselves to it; otherwise they are likely to be demoralised by enforced idleness. The Minister of Public Works attempted to prove that works had been carried out more economically under the co-operative system, but was unable to cite cases that were exactly analogous. ”

“ The future of Western Australia is bound up with that of the goldfields. Should they fail through lack of water, recent immigrants would leave the country, and their departure would cripple, if not ruin, the agricultural industry, and cause immediately a heavy fall in the revenue. Under these circumstances, the scheme of the Government, even though it entails a very large expenditure, might be justified as being essential to the continued prosperity of the Province. ”

“ It may be doubted whether the adoption of the plebiscite would have the results that they anticipate, but it cannot be doubted that a compact body of representatives, aiming at the democratisation of the constitution and willing to support whichever party makes the highest bid for their votes, have but to remain united to achieve their object, especially when it is in accordance with the natural evolution of Parliamentary government. ”

“ The realisation of the dangers of an unmuzzled democracy has caused a widespread anxiety which has been displayed in vehement but, for the most part, unsuccessful opposition to proposed changes in the constitution of the Assembly. New Zealand and South Australia have adopted adult suffrage, coupled with the abolition of plural voting; Victoria and New South Wales manhood suffrage, associated in the former case with the plural vote but not in the latter. In Victoria, the Conservatives, if I may so characterise the less-advanced party, have put forward a proposal which is unique in Australasia. ”

“ It cannot too often be repeated that the Australasian Governments, all of which are, to a greater or lesser degree, aiming at the multiplication of small owners or perpetual lease-holders, are rendering it practically impossible that an agitation for the confiscation of land values should be successful, and are fostering the growth of that class of settlers which is believed to be Conservative in the best sense of the word. ”

“ Throughout Australasia all parties in the several Parliaments are agreed on the principle of the State ownership of railways. In Victoria and Queensland the railways are entirely in the hands of the Government; in New South Wales and South Australia they are so with some trifling exceptions; in Tasmania, Western Australia, and New Zealand a few private lines have been authorised because it has been advisable, in the interests of settlement, that they should be constructed, and the Governments have been unable or unwilling to undertake further financial obligations. ”

“ On the one hand I am assured that the attractions of the salary have led men to resort to disreputable practices in order to be selected as candidates and to seek to retain the fickle affections of their constituents by similar means; on the other, that necessitous Members have been raised by the salary above temptations which their poverty made it difficult for them to resist; and such temptations must increase in number with each extension of the functions of the State unless it be dissociated from political influence. ”