52 



AUSTRALASIA. 



sent for the Premier of New South Wales, and 

 etn mi/8ion^d him to form the first Federal mm- 

 i,trv Sir William .1. Lyne. whose selection aston- 

 ished and dis,,lease<l the people of his own and 

 of the other colonies because he had been the chief 

 opponent of federation in the form that wa* 

 adbpted, and who had leen chosen simply as a 

 matter of constitutional usage and official eti- 



Mriff in which revenue would be the secondary 

 consideration, and the first would be to secure 

 Australian manufacturers from the competition 

 of imported goods. The ministers were all pro- 

 tectionists in their antecedents, but they mdi- 

 c-ited in their speeches that the Government would 

 favor the intermediate policy of a low revenue- 

 producing tariff, with reasonable protection for 

 certain selected indus- 

 tries that could not 

 be continued without 

 such aid. The elect- 

 ors were divided into 

 low - tariffists and 

 high - tariffists, two 

 parties only. In the 

 result 21 Senators 

 and 35 Representa- 

 tives were elected 

 who favored low tar- 

 iff, and 15 Senators 

 and 40 Representa- 

 tives who had de- 

 clared themselves for 

 high tariff. The Prime 

 Minister, leader of the 

 high - tariff party, 

 claimed a working 

 majority over the 

 low - tariffists, whose 

 leader was G. H. Reid, 

 chief of the free-trad- 

 ers of New South 

 Wales, his own state, 

 who won over him a 

 victory in the elec- 

 tions, which was less 



THE GENERAL POST-OFFICE, MELBOURNE. 



disconcerting and less 

 dangerous to the 

 compromise that he 

 hoped to effect in tar- 



quette. l>eing the actual Premier of the senior iff legislation than the greater victory of his 

 colony, returned his commission on Dec. 22, on troublesome allies, the extreme protectionists 

 the ground that he could not form an acceptable of Victoria. In Queensland the election hinged 

 ministry that would be sufficiently representative less on the tariff than on the question of the 

 of Australia, and advised the Governor-General abolition of Kanaka contract labor, which Mr. 



to send for Mr. Barton, who was the acknowl- 

 edged leader of the federation movement. This 



Barton had raised incautiously by declaring for 

 a white Australia. The Labor party of Queens- 



he did, and Mr. Barton promptly undertook the land, which asserts that sugar can be culti- 



task. The State Premiers and ex-Premiers whom vated with white labor, took up the cry and 



Sir William Lyne had asked to join the Cabinet won a victory at the polls for protection against 



refused to accept his leadership, demanding that black labor as well as for high tariff, although 



Mr. Barton should form the ministry. They w r ill- Mr. Barton had tempered his first declarations 



ingly accepted office under the latter, although by saying that the abolition of Kanaka labor 



he had never l>een a Premier. The commonwealth should only be accomplished gradually, out of 



was inaugurated with ceremony at Sydney on consideration for the great interests involved. 



Jan. 1. 1001. The death of Sir James Dickson, The Labor party in the various states was 

 the first Postmaster-General, left a vacancy that 

 was filled on Jan. 25, 1901, by the appointment of 



party 



represented in the Federal Parliament 

 Senators and 16 Representatives. The 



states 



James (J. Drake, of Queensland. The postal, tele- elected the Senators by the block system, every 



graph, and telephone services of the states were voter being required to vote on one ticket for 6 



transferred to the commonwealth on March 1. separate candidates in the field. By this system a 



The elections to the Senate and House of Repre- party controlling a majority of the voters in any 



sentatives of the first Federal Parliament were state, such as the Labor party of Victoria, has the 



held on .March 20 in New South Wales, Victoria, power of naming the entire representation of tne 



Tasmania, nnd Western Australia, and on March 

 30 in South Australia and Queensland. The elec- 



state in the Senate. This was not done in any 

 instance. Queensland, by a special provision of 



toral campaign was earnestly contested on the tne Constitution act, had the right to make laws 

 question of the tariff. There were three fiscal dividing the state into senatorial divisions, but 



policies presented to the electors; tariff for revenue J:J " lL - 1 -^~- 1J! -* *-*-- --*" >-~ ^ ^ 



purposes only, or free trade, on the English model; 

 low tariff, or a seale of duties adapted to produce 

 the greatest amount of revenue, except in the 

 case of industries that had been created and fos- 

 tered ly high protective duties, as in Victoria, 



did not avail itself of the privilege. The Consti- 

 tution allows states to vote for Representatives 

 on a single ticket, and this course was taken by 

 Tasmania and South Australia, while the other 

 states were divided into electoral districts. Tas- 

 mania adopted in both senatorial elections and 



which should enjoy such moderate protection as those for members of the House of Representatives 

 would preserve them from extinction; and high the Hare system of proportional representation 



