John Forrest

“ Are we to wait and judge, taking no responsibility, giving no help, doing nothing at all for our nation or for our race in this great work of laying the foundation of the future Australian nation? I feel that most of us here who are the architects of our own fortunes, have a feeling that we should share with our countrymen all over Australia the task of building up a great country on this Continent, and that we should stand shoulder to shoulder with them. (Applause,) That, however, is a question that will have to be determined by the people of this Colony on the 31st of July. ”

“ When we think of the great change that is likely soon to occur—with the mail steamers calling at Fremantle, with a railway running through Perth and through the goldfields to all parts of Australia, with thousands annually visiting Fremantle, Perth, and the goldfields who never have the opportunity of seeing us now, what a new vision arises, and what new avenues are seen for trade, for commerce, and for enterprise in the development of the colony? ”

“ The question of Federation must occur to everyone who thinks of the future of Australia, and the problem we have to face is how far we are to regard ourselves as the people of one or of different countries. One of the charms of visiting the United States or Canada is the feeling that you are under one flag and one law, and after visiting those countries, as I have recently, the fact that Australia is divided into five divisions is forcibly brought before me. ”

“ Surely it is not to help the few at the expense of the many, or to enable a few to flourish and grow rich? The great object we all have in view, especially those who are entrusted with great responsibilities as leaders of public opinion, is to uplift and exalt the masses of the people— (cheers) —and to build up a nation of healthy, intelligent, happy, and high-minded people. That is the great work that we have before us, and I believe that under Federation that great work will be better done. ”

“ In a similar manner Federation in Australia would require, as an indispensable condition, daily communication by railway between the colonies of the continent. To be an Australian will then be a prouder title than to be a New South Welshman, a Queenslander, a Victorian, a South Australian, or a Western Australian—and so much is this even now felt that it is becoming the practice for persons hailing from any of the colonies to call themselves Australians, feeling, no doubt, that the title of continental Australia sinks all other minor divisions. ”

“ There is no greater security that anyone can ask for—that before any part of Western Australia can be divided, if we enter the Federation, the Parliament of Western Australia shall approve of the division and, more than that, the people of Western Australia, at a referendum shall approve of it also. There is no such security as that if we remain out of Federation. We are absolutely dependent upon the Imperial Government, which can divide this colony to-morrow by an Act of its own Legislature. ”

“ The goldfields of Western Australia are the greatest in the world, and are almost unrivalled, and the colony has magnificent timber, a productive soil, and a good climate. With such immense resources, with free communication to all the markets of the mother land and of Australia for everything we can produce, why should we not hold our own and flourish as well as any of the other colonies? ”

“ The colony has also another duty, and that is to take its share of the cares of nationhood on its shoulders, and to do its best to be self-reliant. But while we are anxious and willing to take our share of the cares of nationhood on our shoulders, and to be more self-reliant, I hope and pray that we shall always remain faithful and loyal to the mother country. ”

“ Our tariffs wage war against one another, and even our laws are dissimilar, and in many respects we are to one another but as the people of foreign nations. No doubt there are great difficulties and great prejudices to be overcome before Federation takes place, for the different colonies and the different Governments will lose their prominence, and the Dominion Government will alone be known in the world. This is a very serious obstacle to the ambitions of each colony and will play an important part in preventing the Federation of Australia. ”

“ We have plenty of room here, with unrivalled gold mines, which should attract and encourage people to come and throw in their lot with the people of this colony, and thereby add to the population, and make this a great country. As I have already said, Federation, when it comes upon us, as I hope and believe will be the case, will no doubt bring with it plenty of drawbacks, disappointments, and difficulties. Even now we have some of them to confront, and it is a very good thing, because the world would be very uninteresting if we had no difficulties to surmount. ”

“ That being so, they are all in favour of Federation, as they believe it will be to their material advantage." I do not wish to be understood that I deny to the people on the goldfields the same feeling of patriotism we all have, but there is a feeling as deep if not deeper than the desire for nationhood. There is the desire to do well, and to avoid being impoverished, and that feeling affects us all to some extent—some more than others. ”

“ No such thing could be possible in a British community as that one colony in the Federation should be wronged and unjustly treated. We may therefore, leave that fear out of calculations altogether. We must remember that Australia is not the first country that has federated, and that we are federating on much more favourable terms than in other Federations. (Applause.) In the United States, all the customs revenue goes to the central Government. In Canada it is the same, with the exception that certain small allowances are made to the States. ”

“ It is very injurious that we have so many laws on the same subjects in Australia; and recognising that, it is provided that a certain number of subjects shall be relegated to the Federal Parliament, and that all the rest shall remain to the local Parliament. The subjects that will be handed over to the Federal Parliament are those that the Commonwealth will be in a far better position to deal with—as the laws of the Commonwealth will have force all over Australia than the Parliaments of the individual colonies legislating in different ways. ”

“ We will retain possession of our lands, our railways, and our gold mines, and they will be absolutely our own, and under our own control. And again, Unity is strength, and the more united we are the more able we shall be to fulfil our destiny. ”

“ In our prosperity, however, I trust we will never forget the land of our fathers, the dear old mother country—to which we owe our existence as a people, from which we derive our laws and our liberties, and from which we have a right to a glorious heritage. ”

“ I am quite positive of this—that the new population that has come to the colony, especially those on the Eastern goldfields, will never be content to remain out of the Federal Union. The second reason is that it will be to our advantage to join now rather than in a few years. In our own interests, in the interests of this colony, we cannot afford to stand aloof. Our interests demand our presence in the Federal Parliament. I should like to know the position we should be in if we were out of Federation when some great question affecting us was being discussed in the Federal Parliament. ”

“ The path is beset with difficulties, but on looking at it broadly, I cannot believe, as a patriotic Australian, that it can be to our disadvantage to become part of a great and united nation, and one of far greater importance than we can ever hope to be separately. ”

“ For instance, we may all know who are the President and Ministers of the United States, or the Governor-General and Ministers of Canada, but how few of us know anything of the local Governments of the State of California, or of the Province of British Columbia? The State and Provinces are merged in the central Government and Legislature, and it will be difficult to convince the colonies of Australia that it is desirable to sink their individual prominence, and become merely a factor in the central Government. ”

“ This is clearly understood by the people, and when it is understood that the duties will gradually come to an end in five years (one-fifth every year) , the honourable feelings of the people of the colony will lead them to say, "Let the Bill take its course. We have Federation—that clause was placed there to protect the industries and finances of Western Australia during the early years of Federation—it will disappear gradually in five years and we will keep faith with our fellow colonists who are producers and manufacturers, and will say no more about it." ”

“ I hope everyone in the colony will read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest, and judge for themselves, and whichever way they may cast their votes—should they be my closest and most intimate friends—I would never think the worse of them for holding a different opinion to that held by me on this important question. ”

“ If those who are opposed to Federation, and think that the colony has everything to lose and nothing to gain, would take a trip through Eastern Australia and see those who are inhabiting it, and how they are utilising it, they would come back with different impressions.
Producers and Manufacturers.
I would like to say a word in regard to those who look at Federation solely from a soil producer's and manufacturer's point of view. I would like to ask my friends the farmers and manufacturers, for they are my best friends, a question. ”

“ Yet, if we can overcome these selfish or ambitious feelings we will, I think, be convinced that to be federated will be to our material advantage. If Australia could speak with one voice, how much more important would she be. ”

“ The whole customs revenue is there expended by the Federal Parliament for the general welfare. There are no three-quarters returned to the States there. Yet the people of the United States seem to manage very well. They do not seem to be impoverished or ruined, and in our own country of Canada the progress that it has achieved since it became a federated Dominion is almost marvellous; it is certainly very wonderful. We must also remember this, that the ordinary expenditure will only be charged against the colony. ”

“ If it is in the interest of the colony to protect our local coal, Parliament can protect it. The coal producers possibly want a duty on imported coal, and if it is considered advisable there is no reason why we should not have it. It is a matter which is entirely in our own hands. But we do not like to put duties on imported coal, though we do not mind the Commissioner of Railways making a preferential rate for the local coal. ”

“ The wine-producer has had protection for many years. The present duty is at the rate of 6s. 6d. per gallon on wine imported, so that wine that costs 2s. per gallon in South Australia cannot be imported into this colony, without freight, at less than 8s, 6d.
Not Protection for ever.
Tt cannot be expected that people are going to have protection for ever in regard to the things they require for their daily wants. The only justification for protection on the necessaries of life, as far as I can see, is that it will ultimately cheapen the production. ”

“ There are, no doubt, great difficulties ahead for us and probably for all the other colonies of Australia. Whether we are in Federation or not, we shall have plenty of difficulties to confront. In reading the controversies that are taking place in the Press and on the platform over this question, one is almost inclined to think that it is a discussion on the great principles of freetrade and protection over again. ”

“ The difficulties under Federation may be even greater than at present, yet I think we should be in no way dismayed. I hope and believe that Federation will do many good things for us. I believe that it will elevate and dignify our public life, and everyone throughout Australia desires that. ”

“ Do they think that the pastoralists, who have representatives in the Legislature, are going to support taxes on flour, and everything they want in the pastoral districts? Are they going to tax these things which the farmers grow if the farmers are going to abolish the small duty on the pastoralists' meat? ”

“ It is thought by many people that Federation means unification, or that there will be one Government in Australia to do everything, which will have all the power, and that our local government or home rule will be taken away from the colony. ”