62 



AUSTRALIA. 



rets, and poisoning with arsenic, strychnia, and 

 phosphorus, destroyed them by millions, yet 

 checked but slightly their multiplication. Wire- 

 fences were early tried to confine them within 

 bounds, but they burrowed beneath the in- 

 closures without difficulty. Since then, how- 

 ever, rabbit-proof fences have been devised, 

 yet in some localities they have learned to 

 leap over fences that were considered a per- 

 fect barrier. The Government of New South 

 Wales, for the purpose of protecting the popu- 

 lous districts of the eastern division, proposes 

 to build a wire fence, 400 to 500 miles long, 

 from Albury to the borders of Queensland, at 

 an estimated cost of 770,000. The Parliament 

 of that colony offered a bonus of sixpence for 

 every rabbit killed, and the payments under 

 the act have increased in rapid progression, 

 the sum called for in 1886 being 146,000, in 

 1887 about 250,000, and in 1888 it was cal- 

 culated to amount to 500,000. The same 

 Government has now offered a reward of 25,- 

 000 to any person who shall invent an effect- 

 ive process for the extermination of rabbits 

 that shall not be injurious in its operation to 

 horses, sheep, or other domestic animals. The 

 inventor must demonstrate the efficacy of his 

 method or process, which must be one that is 

 yet unknown in the colony, at his own expense, 

 and will receive the prize after a year's trial. 

 Pasteur, who discovered remedies for the silk- 

 worm disease and cattle-disease, communicated 

 to the agents-general in London a method 

 that he had already tried with success in 

 France. This is to produce an epidemic of 

 chicken -cholera, a disease that is very infec- 

 tious and fatal among rabbits, though harmless 

 to other animals, except poultry. In the spring 

 of 1888 a party of French and English scien- 

 tists went to Australia, taking with them infu- 

 sions containing the microbes of this disease, 

 with the intention of introducing the infection 

 among the rabbits of various localities by lay- 

 ing before them contaminated food, after which 

 it was expected to spread spontaneously. 



The Federal Council. The British Parliament 

 in 1885 authorized the formation of a council 

 of the colonies, to meet at least once every 

 two years for discussion and united action on 

 matters of common Australian interest. The 

 second meeting of the council was held at Ho- 

 bart, Tasmania, the regular place for assem- 

 bling, in January, 1888, terminating a three- 

 days' session on the 19th. New Zealand, 

 South Australia, and New South Wales had 

 not joined the confederation, and the repre- 

 sentatives of the other colonies discussed the 

 means of inducing them to take part in the 

 councils. 



The New Hebrides. The anxiety of the Aus- 

 tralians on account of the French occupation 

 of the New Hebrides islands abated when the 

 French Government set a date for the with- 

 drawal of the military force. A convention 

 for a joint naval commission was signed on 

 Nov. 16, 1887, and the French agreed to evacu- 



ate the islands within four months from that 

 date. On Jan. 26, 1888, the English and 

 French representatives signed at Paris a dec- 

 laration defining the functions and powers of 

 the Anglo-French Naval Commission, and es- 

 tablishing regulations for its guidance. The 

 commission consists of a president and two 

 British and two French naval officers. It is 

 charged with the maintenance of order and 

 the protection of the lives and property of 

 British and French citizens in the New Hebri- 

 des. The presidency of the commission shall 

 be held in alternate months by the command- 

 ers-in-chief of the British and French naval 

 forces present in the group. The regulations 

 provide that in the event of a disturbance of 

 peace and good order in any part of the New 

 Hebrides where British or French subjects are 

 found, or in case of danger menacing their 

 lives or property, the commission shall forth- 

 with meet and take measures for repressing 

 disturbance or protecting the interests endan- 

 gered, but not resorting to military force un- 

 less its employment is considered indispensa- 

 ble. If a military or naval force lands, it must 

 not remain longer than is deemed necessary 

 by the commission. In a sudden emergency 

 the British and French naval commanders 

 nearest the scene of action may take measures 

 for the protection of persons or property of 

 either nationality, in concert if possible, or 

 separately when only one force is near the dis- 

 turbed locality ; but they must at once report 

 to the senior officers, who shall communicate 

 the report to each other, and immediately 

 summon the commission. The commission has 

 no power to interfere in disputes concerning 

 title to land or to dispossess either natives or 

 foreigners of lands that they hold in posses- 

 sion, but it is charged with the police duties 

 of stopping the slave-trade with the Kanakas 

 and of preventing acts of piracy. The last of 

 the French troops left the New Hebrides on 

 March 15. 



The Chinese Question. Anticipations of an in- 

 crease of Chinese laborers and of the effect of 

 their competition on the condition of the white 

 laboring class, have produced an exciting po- 

 litical and international question in the Aus- 

 tralian colonies. Two high commissioners, 

 accredited by the Chinese Government, visited 

 Australia in May, 1887, with the objects of 

 learning the manner in which their country- 

 men were treated and of advancing commercial 

 relations between the two countries. They 

 found little to complain of in the treatment 

 of the Chinese, but questioned the rightful- 

 ness of restrictions on immigration that have 

 recently been introduced, especially the head- 

 tax that is imposed in the various colonies. 

 The Chinese ambassador in London, on Dec. 

 12, 1887, asked the explanation of this ex- 

 ceptional legislation, and objected to it as a 

 violation of treaty obligations. Chinese com- 

 petition is most severe on the tropical northern 

 shores of Australia, especially in the Northern 



