John A. Cockburn

“ The early settlers brought with them to their new home that passion for the romance of the sea which was peculiar to the days of long sailing voyages. They still delight in the old sea chanties. Australia, sprung from the loins of the sea, has the same love for the element, the same longing for sea-power which characterizes Britannia. ”

“ The adventurous settlers who planted the British flag in these distant lands were familiar with the predictions of dire calamity uttered by orthodox economists against those who ventured to transgress the narrow circle within which the legitimate functions of the State were supposed to be circumscribed. They were sturdy individuals like their forefathers, and nothing would have been more congenial to their proclivities than to adhere to the old belief that public weal is best advanced by private action. ”

“ It is doubtful whether a supreme navy is possible except as a crown of a well-manned merchant service, and it would be well if, instead of denouncing the Australian Commonwealth for a well-meant effort to preserve employment for themselves and for British sailors on the great ocean liners, which at any time may act as auxiliary cruisers, Great Britain were seriously to consider whether it is wise to permit the conclusion to be drawn that the sea is ceasing to provide a career for the sons of the nation that rules the waves. ”

“ It is not thus that campaigns are won, and it is not by neglect of wealth-producing labour that nations attain either happiness or prosperity. The welfare of the workers who constitute the body of the nation has been the aim of the best men and the greatest thinkers in all ages; but while others have been satisfied with the expression of a pious opinion, Australia and New Zealand have endeavoured to reduce it to practice. ”

“ One thing, however, is needful to enable Australia to realize her destiny, and that is increased population. Unoccupied lands are not only a passive hindrance to prosperity, but are a positive source of weakness and peril. In this, as in other respects. Nature abhors a vacuum, and covetous eyes may be cast on vast, unoccupied areas. If the coloured element is barred, the white must be encouraged. The diminishing birth-rate makes the matter more urgent. A country with merely a marginal population is as an empty shell, which may collapse at a touch. ”

“ The centre of gravity of the inhabited globe varies from time to time, and the focus of interest shifts in conformity with the ever-widening circle of civilization. In the ancient world it was round the shores of the Mediterranean that empire-making conflicts were waged, and the deeds of those days still live as the heroic in history. ”

“ The construction of the Pacific cable by the British and Colonial Governments in direct competition with private enterprise may be cited as the latest and most pronounced expression of State Socialism. Australia, in common with New Zealand, is conducting experiments from which other countries may, in matters of the deepest importance, derive the dearly-bought lessons of experience without expense to themselves, and can ascertain what it would be well to avoid and what to imitate in the solution of problems with which they may soon be called upon to deal. ”

“ To no part of the Empire can the phrase Greater Britain be more aptly applied than to Australia. The national type and characteristics are those of the parent race, to which greater opportunities for development have been afforded, just as British flowers and fruit transplanted to Australian virgin soil flourish with unprecedented luxuriance. Physically, the native-born Australians frequently outstrip, both in stature and stalwartness, their parents of European origin. In many sports, such as cricket, they hold their own ”

“ In the realm of art, and especially in vocal music, several Australians have excelled. The average Australian is active, alert, and keenly critical. The public men are bold and enterprising—as, for example, when in despair at the lethargy of the Imperial Government, Queensland hoisted the Union Jack in New Guinea, and secured a province for the Crown.
It is in the achievement of federation that the political initiative and resource of Australia have been most conspicuously displayed. ”

“ State enterprise, adopted perforce in the first instance as the plan on which the industry and activity of the Australian Colonies ranged themselves, was retained because it was found that an adequate and immediate reward to individual effort was afforded by that system. It is true that there were in Australia some public men of philosophic cast of mind who, observing the advantages of governmental action, deliberately set themselves to enlarge its scope in every possible direction, and their efforts found reinforcements in every rank. ”

“ They have inherited the same practical, hard-headed common-sense which characterized their ancestors, the same faculty for making elbow-room, the same disdain of abstract theory, the same predilection for empirical methods, as opposed to the systems and generalizations of Latin races, which brought Great Britain to the front rank of nations; not precisely the qualities which have become fashionable during the recent age of laissez faire, when, having attained first place and distanced all rivals. ”

“ It is just when the fire-engines are away at some great conflagration that it is especially desirable for a householder to have at hand the means of extinguishing an incipient outbreak. The rejoicings appropriate to a great British naval victory in foreign seas might be marred amid the ruin caused by an irregular bombardment. ”

“ The settlement of a huge continent like Australia, where distances are so enormous, presents many novel difficulties. The conditions of soil and climate are, in many cases, unprecedented and peculiar. Many of the regions in which flocks and herds abound are without permanent water. This has to be provided, often at great cost, before successful settlement is possible. In agriculture the recognised system of rotation of crops can be carried out in only a few localities. Methods of forming so successful in other countries have to be unlearnt before a successful start can be made. ”

“ Accompanying the development of democracy in Australia, there is, however, no sign of enervation or laxity on the part of the governing power. The will of the people, once definitely ascertained, carries with it the corollary of inflexible enforcement The duly accredited representatives of the manhood and womanhood of Australia have little of the timidity of public opinion so frequently displayed by those whose authority is based on a more limited franchise. Anti-vaccinators do not scare them, and they are not afraid to adopt severe measures for a definite public good. ”

“ The deplorable diminution of the birth-rate in Australia is only an exaggeration of British example. The extension of the sphere of State activity, which is denounced as State Socialism, is the hardly more pronounced expression of a tendency which is apparent everywhere in the United Kingdom under the name of Municipalization. Australian Governments were driven by stress of circumstances to undertake many functions previously performed by private enterprise ”

“ Without immigration laws, Australia, situated as she is, would be inundated by alien races, and would soon cease to be a white man's country, and autocratic in place of parliamentary methods of government would in some parts have to be adopted. The racial trouble in the United States indicates that prevention is the only course to pursue in view of an evil which is apparently without remedy. The widespread impression that white men cannot perform manual labour in the tropical regions of Australia is without adequate foundation ”

“ The central sea of the modern world—the international arena in which the future rank of nations will be decided—must now be sought in the Pacific. Here is the chessboard which progressive nations are anxiously watching in order to secure any coign of vantage which will increase their prospects of preponderance. ”

“ In the modern world of industry, however, the isolated individual counts for little. At the outset there were in private hands no stores of capital sufficient to furnish the means necessary for organized effort on a large scale. In endeavouring to provide the first necessity of civilization—railway communication—it was found that private enterprise was wholly unequal to the task. In New South Wales, between 1846 and 1854, unsuccessful attempts were made, but the Government had to step in and complete the work. ”

“ The foundations of the policy of the United States were laid ages anterior to the advent of railroads and the industrial revolution. The giant power of steam had not then been harnessed to human service, intricate and expensive machinery was unknown, and highly-organized industry was unnecessary. There was at that time nothing in the problem of colonization which surpassed the power of men single-handed or grouped together for some temporary purpose. ”

“ There is no more absorbing or debatable question than the extent to which State or municipal enterprise can be carried with advantage to the community. There can be no question as to the direction in which the whole world is at present travelling. ”

“ It was evident that without some such provision an unscrupulous employer might hoodwink those working at lower wages in other countries into binding themselves for a term of years at a rate which, though nigh enough to entice, was still below the Australian standard wage. The full Australian citizenship is open to the world, but he who desires to partake thereof should enter the country free and untrammelled. ”

“ Western Australia has appointed a Commission to deal with the aspect of the problem in that State, New South Wales is taking active steps, and Queensland has always been alive to the requirement.
Among the matters which, owing to their importance and to the impotence of private initiative, demand State action, the adjustment of population should take a leading place. Systematic immigration is a comparatively neglected field, and might with mutual advantage be undertaken by the combined forces of the British and Colonial Governments. ”

“ Australia, although a continent covering about a third of the area of the whole Empire, is also an island, and possesses in a marked degree the sea instinct which haunts sea-girt lands. The population has hitherto mainly occupied only a fringe of the littoral The capitals are situated close to salt water, and in Sydney the largest vessels afloat can berth in the heart of the city without docking. ”

“ In young countries, where the ground is comparatively unencumbered, no such intricate problems occur, and convenience alone has to be studied. Under these simpler conditions the self-governing Colonies have acted as pioneers in the introduction of many measures which have subsequently been adopted, or appear likely to be adopted, in the Mother Country. Australia is the home of the Ballot and the Real Property Act The system of graduated death duties was established in Australia long before its introduction in the United Kingdom. ”

“ The drawbacks to federation are evanescent, the gains large and lasting. United Australia with her forces coordinated under one command faces the future with a confidence denied to disjointed States. Free Trade throughout the Commonwealth, reached, be it noted, through the pathway of Protection, has already given a marked impetus to manufactures and commerce. ”

“ In old countries the barrier of established custom, the ties of tradition, and the friction of vested interests, offer a serious resistance to every innovation; to strike out any new line of action in the face of such obstacles presents difficulties similar to those encountered in laying out a new thoroughfare in a crowded city. ”

“ For example, the agricultural departments succeeded by rigorous administration in eradicating scab from the sheep scattered in millions over mountain ranges and vast plains—a herculean accomplishment when compared with the futile efforts in these islands. Acts which would be resented as arbitrary if imposed by an autocracy or oligarchy are obeyed without protest when the legislative power is unquestionably in the hands of the whole people. ”

“ Old-age pensions, so frequently advocated in the Mother Country, have already been several years in operation in New South Wales and Victoria, and doubtless before long will be general throughout the Commonwealth. The franchise enjoyed since 1894 by the women of South Australia, and more recently by those of West Australia and New South Wales, has been extended to all women for both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament. ”

“ It may be noted that, while critics impress on Australians the necessity of attracting population, they often vehemently denounce measures for facilitating land settlement, which must form the basis for an increase of population. ”

“ What does it profit the nation that life has joys for the privileged few if the masses are not well housed, clad, and fed? It is as though we should be satisfied if the officers of an army &red sumptuously while the rank and file were in want. ”

“ This is not, as is frequently supposed, a mere labour question. It is a national resolve, which is shared by the great majority of every class, to preserve at all hazards the purity of the race. Those living at a distance can hardly appreciate the gravity of the position. ”

“ No Federal Government which did its duty could avoid giving occasional offence to some of the States. The causes of complaint have, however, been fewer than might reasonably be expected, and much wisdom has been shown in dealing with them. The inventive genius of the nation was not exhausted in constructing the federal mechanism ”

“ Certainly the case of New Zealand, where measures have been carried to the fullest extent in this direction, seems to bear out the view that such a course not only is not inconsistent with national prosperity, but appears to be an efficient instrument to that end. ”