AUSTRALASIA. 



55 



years, the former by qualified, the latter by uni- 

 versal suffrage. The Lieutenant-Governor is Sir 

 John Madden. The Cabinet in 1900 contained the 

 following members: Premier and Chief Secretary, 

 A. McLean; Treasurer, W. Shields; Attorney- 

 General, W. H. Irvine; Solicitor-General, J. M. 

 Da vies; Minister of Mines, Railways, and Irriga- 

 tion, A. R. Outtrim; Minister of Agriculture and 

 Public Works, G. Graham; Minister of Lands, J. 

 H. McColl; Minister of Defense, D. Melville; Post- 

 master-General, W. A. Watt; Minister of Public 

 Instruction and of Customs, C. C. Salmon; with- 

 out portfolio, J. Balfour. The defeat of the min- 

 istry necessitated the appointment of a new Cabi- 

 net, which was finally 

 constructed after 

 some changes were 

 made on Feb. 7, 1901, 

 .as follows : Premier, 

 Treasurer, and Minis- 

 ter of Labor, A. J. 



Peacock; Chief Sec- ^^^ liiiMiiir tarn 

 retary and Minister 

 of Railways, W. A. 

 'Trenwith ; Attorney- 

 General, I. A. Isaacs; 

 Minister of Agricul- 

 ture, J. Morissey; 

 Postmaster - General 

 and Minister of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, S. W. 

 Gurr; Minister of 

 Lands, D. J. Duggan; 

 Minister of Defense 

 and Public Works, 

 W. M. McCulloch; 

 Solicitor - General, A. 

 Wynne ; Minister of 

 Mines and Water- 

 Supply, J. B. Burton; 

 without portfolios, S. 

 Gilliott, R. McGregor, 

 E. J. Crooke, and P. 

 Phillips. The Victo- 

 rian Parliament was 



opened on June 18. The legislation proposed by the 

 ministers included the calling of a convention to 

 frame amendments to the Constitution in regard to 

 both Chambers of the Legislature and the submis- 

 sion of these amendments to the direct vote of the 

 people. A bill to make the old-age pension scheme 

 permanent provided for increased expenditure 

 where necessary, while guarding the financial in- 

 terests of the state. The old-age pensions author- 

 ized under the ministry of Sir George Turner, who 

 agreed to the increase of the maximum weekly pay- 

 ment from 7s. to 10s., proved more costly than 

 they were expected to be, the applicants number- 

 ing 16,000 instead of the estimated number of 

 6,000, because the act had not been framed so as 

 to exclude persons who had been previously sup- 

 ported by their children. With average payments 

 of 8s. a week the total annual cost was 330,000. 

 The amended act corrected some of the defects of 

 the provisional scheme. The maximum weekly 

 pension was again fixed at 7s. A new education 

 act extended the public-school system in accord- 

 ance with the most modern views, especially in 

 regard to technical instruction. It was intended 

 to remodel the Agricultural Department, with the 

 aim of making Victoria one of the foremost coun- 

 tries in the application of advanced principles and 

 methods of working in the field of primary pro- 

 duction, and a director of agriculture would be 

 appointed to direct and supervise the department, 

 and the official agency in London be made a use- 

 ful business medium to assist in the utmost ex- 



pansion. The Government established a dairy 

 college. The railroad earnings having increased 

 by over 250,000, the extension of railroads 

 would be promoted so as to enable producers in 

 remote districts to convey their commodities to 

 market at a medium cost. Further works for the 

 supply of water would be constructed, and the 

 mines act would be amended with the object of 

 extending coal-mining. A Government coal-mine 

 was established to supply railroads and public 

 departments. The policy of economy in state 

 expenditures was to be continued. Bills were pre- 

 sented for the settlement of trade disputes by 

 courts of conciliation and arbitration, for con- 



SYDNEY, NEW SOUTH WALES. 



solidating the land acts, for forest conservation, 

 and for the prevention of the adulteration of 

 food. Under the factories act wages were fixed 

 by the boards in some trades at such high figures 

 that the fellmongers in Melbourne decided in the 

 summer of 1901 to close their works, and em- 

 ployers in other trades threatened to do the same, 

 and called for a suspension of the factory act 

 until the conditions under interstate free trade 

 could be understood, as it was feared that when 

 free trade came Victorian manufacturers could 

 not compete \vith those of New South Wales and 

 other states in which wages were low r er and em- 

 ployers were less hampered by labor restrictions 

 imposed by the Government and the trade-unions. 

 The Premier refused to consider the suspension 

 of the factories act, but delayed extending it to 

 new trades. Col. Sir George Sydenham Clarke re- 

 ceived the appointment of Governor of Victoria 

 on Aug 8. 



Queensland. The Legislative Council is com- 

 posed of 42 members, nominated for life; the 

 Legislative Assembly of 72 members, elected for 

 three years by universal suffrage. The Governor 

 at the beginning of 1901 was Lord Lamington, ap- 

 pointed in 1895. The Cabinet was composed as 

 follows: Prime Minister, Treasurer, and Secretary 

 for Mines, Robert Philp; Chief Secretary, Sir J. 

 R. Dickson; Attorney-General, A. Rutledge; 

 Home Secretary, J. F. C. Foxton; Secretary for 

 Agriculture, J. V. Chataway; Secretary for Pub- 

 lic Instruction and Postmaster-General, J. G. 



