bart the manufacturiEg centie of Aus- 

 tralia, amongst otlier reasons, on account 

 of her facilities in producing inexpensive 

 and reliable power, the 82,0OU horse-power 

 at the different power-stations would be 

 reduced by about 30 j)er cent, namely, by 

 converting the mechanical energy into 

 electric force, by friction and loss on line 

 friom power-stations to Hobart, and by 

 reconverting the electric curi^ent into me- 

 chanical energy ; and the power which 

 could be distributed at Hobart would be, 

 say, 57.000 actual horse-power. At present 

 there is not one thousand hoise-power 

 consumed in Hobart for tram service and 

 for lighting, but it is a true maxim that 

 '^supply creates demand,' and if an inex- 

 pensive and plentiful supply of electric 

 force was offered here the demand would 

 increase; perhaps, under such conditions, 

 Hobart itself might absorb from 5.000 to 

 7,000 hoi^e-power, and 50.000 horse-power 

 would be available for laige manufactur- 

 ing industries Judging by the 



rapid strides which have been made dur- 

 ing the last few years by electrical en- 

 gineers and manufacturers, it is more 

 than probable that within a few years it 

 will be practicable and profitable, to run 

 all the Tasmanian railways, to supply 

 light all over the island, to run all mo- 

 tors as well in the mines as anywhere else 

 within this island by electric power, de-^ 

 rived from Avater. but all this cannot be 

 accomplished to-day/^ The water power 

 meniioned in this report is that derivable 

 from three only of the central lakes, and 

 does not by any means exhaust the power 

 available in ether parts of the island; 

 but enough has. perhaps, been said to 

 give some idea of the vast quantity of 

 water available, and of its value for com- 

 mercial purposes. But water power is 

 only one factor in the new situation. Even 

 before federation, in spite of hostile 

 tariffs, the manufacture of woollens in 

 Hobart and Launceston was a growing in- 

 dustry. Partly owing to the climate, 

 and partly owing to the excellence of the 

 water supply, the local manufactureTs 

 were able to do an increasing export trade, 

 even with the "protective" colony of Vic- 

 toria, and notwithstanding her 25 per 

 cent. duty. With the proper utilisation 

 of water power (which has hitharto not 

 been turned to account), and with the 

 abolition of inter-colonial duties, there 

 »eem good reasons for anticipating that 

 Tasmania will become a great manufactur- 

 ing centre for woollens. Australia, the 

 g-reat wool-producing country of the 

 world, lies at her very doors, and for fis- 

 cal purposes now forms part of the same 

 community; and there seems little doubt 

 that, as a purchaser of the raw article, 

 the count}' of Yorkshire will in future 

 find a formidable competitor in the colouy 

 of Tasmania. For at least fifty miles 

 in a south-westerly and a gouth-easterly 



direction, each way from Hobart, the 

 southern part of the island is pre-emi- 

 nently suited for the establishment of 

 "power'' factories. From Hobart to Nor- 

 folk Bay on the one hand, and from Ho- 

 bart to Franklin (situated in the Huon 

 river) on the other, there is an uninter- 

 rupted stretch of deep yet completely 

 sheltered water, which combines the ad- 

 vantage of a gigantic natural dock with 

 the beauties of a lake. Along almost any 

 part of these shores land can be obtained 

 at practically "prairie value,'' which 

 would be eminently suitable for tjtie es- 

 tablishment of factoiies — that is to say. 

 with deep water frontage, from which the 

 manufactured article could be sent to the 

 several Australian States by the cheapest 

 of all means of tiansit, namely, water 

 carriage. A greater contrast to the 

 manufacturing centres of the Yorkshire 

 woollen trade can hardly be imagined 

 than these sheltered bays, with their 

 forest-covered hills running almost down 

 to the water's edge. At the prtsent time 

 the Channel (as the long and sheltersd 

 passage between the Island of Bruni and 

 the mainland is termed) and the Huon 

 river, whose wateis flow into this chan- 

 nel's southern extremity,^ are chiefly 

 known as a delightful roving-ground for 

 tourists, and as a centre for the small 

 fruit and apple trades. But it is at 

 least within the bounds of leasonable 

 probability that within the next twenty 

 years these beautiful bays and quiet imlets, 

 where the sea is calm, peaceful, and shel- 

 tered as a lake, may be resounding with 

 the busy clang of machinery, though, for- 

 tunately, owing to the eneigy being de- 

 rived from water power, there is no fear 

 of the peculiar brightness of the atmos- 

 phere being marred by the volumes of 

 smoke that cast a pall over the chief 

 manufacturing centres of Toikshiie. 

 There are at least three other industries 

 which must make enormous strides with, 

 the advent of federation. It has already 

 been incidentally mentioned that the val- 

 leys of the Channel and the Huon are 

 thie centres of the apple trade. In the 

 past that industry has been seriously 

 handicapped by the protective tariffs of 

 the other colonies, with the single excep- 

 tion of New South Wales, and the duties 

 thus imposed, added to such an appre- 

 ciable extent to the price which had to be 

 paid by the consumer, that only the 

 wealthier classes were able to afford) 

 what, under these circumstances, became 

 a luxurr. But the moment that these 

 hostile tariffs are removed the market 

 expands automatically, and consists of 

 four millions instead of about one mil- 

 lion consumers; while the bulk of these 

 four millions live in a climate which makes 

 the consumption of large quantities of 

 fruit almost imperative. Almost pre- 

 cisely the same remarks apply to the tim- 



