G2 



AUSTRALASIA. 



Public Instruction. A. IT. Barlow was succeeded 

 as Secretary for Public Lands by J. F. G. Foxton, 

 but remained a member of the Executive Council. 

 The principal task for the Legislature was the re- 

 vision of the customs tariff in the direction of free 

 trade, which was done by adding many articles to 

 the free list, especially farming, mining, and other 

 machinery and implements. 



South Australia. The legislative power is 

 vested in a Parliament elected by the people, 

 which the Executive has no authority to dissolve. 

 To be an elector to the House of Assembly, one 

 must be a British subject, twenty-one years of age, 

 and a resident of the district registered on the 

 election roll for six months. To vote for a mem- 

 ber of the Legislative Council, one must be the 

 owner of a freehold property, or lease lands worth 

 20 a year, or occupy a dwelling worth 25 a year. 

 By the Constitution amendment act of 1894, the 

 voting franchise was conferred upon women. There 

 were 71,986 registered voters in 1894. 



The Governor is Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton, ap- 

 pointed in 1895. The ministry in the beginning of 

 1896 contained the following members : Premier 

 and Attorney-General, C. C. Kingston; Chief Secre- 

 tary, J. H. Gordon ; Treasurer, F. W. Holder : Com- 

 missioner of Lands, P. P. Gillen ; Commissioner of 

 Public Works, J. G. Jenkins ; Minister of Educa- 

 tion and Agriculture, J. A. Cockburn. 



Mr. Kingston presented the same alternative to 

 the electorate of South Australia that Mr. Nelson 

 presented in Queensland that of the responsible 

 control of legislation by the Socialistic Labor ele- 

 ment or by the Conservative upholders of individ- 

 ualism. The answer was contrary to the one given 

 in Queensland, and, as a consequence of the elec- 

 tions, the Labor members, who in the preceding 

 Parliament had been the casual allies of Mr. King- 

 ston, left the cross benches, not to sit in Opposition, 

 but to join the ministerial majority and dominate 

 the Government. The admission, for the first time 

 under the female suffrage act, of 60,000 women 

 voters did not operate, any more than in New Zea- 

 land, to alter the balance of the parties in a Con- 

 servative direction, but rather accelerated the move- 

 ment for novel social legislation. In his electoral 

 manifesto Mr. Kingston defended the whole of the 

 legislation of his previous term of office, and prom- 

 ised more of the same character. The attempt to 

 establish village settlements on a communistic basis 

 with public money was not to be abandoned. Land 

 reform, law reform, social reform, and industrial 

 reform were to be proceeded with. A system of 

 state life insurance was proposed. The Constitu- 

 tion was to be made thoroughly democratic by 

 lowering the franchise for the Legislative Council, 

 introducing the popular referendum, and making 

 ministries elective. In financial matters economies 

 were to begin at the top, where the first step had 

 been taken by reducing the Governor's salary 20 

 per cent., while at the bottom the hope was held 

 out of raising the exemption from the income tax 

 25 per cent. While rejecting the theory of the 

 single tax, Mr. Kingston approves the principle of 

 progressive land taxation. The continuity of par- 

 liamentary action and the avoidance of the com- 

 motion and disturbance incident to the triennial 

 general election are to be secured by a measure re- 

 quiring half the members of Parliament to retire 

 every two years. 



In the general election, which took place in April, 

 the ministerial party proper returned 16 members 

 to the Legislative Assembly, the Labor party 12, 

 having gained 2 seats, the" Opposition 21, and 5 

 Independents were elected. The Government had 

 thus a substantial majority to carry the constitu- 

 tional amendments. Parliament was opened on 



June 11. With a large accession of trade with 

 Western Australia, good prices for agricultural 

 produce, and increased exports of wool, minerals, 

 and wine, the economic condition of the country 

 was improving, and the revenue was buoyant, while 

 expenses had been cut down, allowing the exempt ion 

 from income tax to be raised to 150. Revenue 

 from public works had largely increased, railways, 

 waterworks, telegraphs, jetties, and lighthouses all 

 returned more than 3 per cent, on their capital cost, 

 besides the cost of maintenance and renewals. The 

 new 3-per-cent. loan had been a complete success, 

 and it was intended that the whole of the existing 

 loans should be consolidated and converted into 

 interminable stock, thereby effecting a large saving 

 of interest. 



Western Australia. The legislative power was 

 vested in 1890 in the Governor, a Legislative Coun- 

 cil, and a Legislative Assembly. It was provided 

 that the members of the Legislative Council should 

 be elected by the people instead of being appointed 

 by the Governor as soon as the population of the 

 colony should reach 60,000. This condition oc- 

 curred in 1893. The Council consists of 21 mem- 

 bers elected by property owners having land valued 

 at 100, lessees of Crown lands, and renters or lease- 

 holders of property valued at 25 a year. The 

 Legislative Assembly is composed of 33 members. 

 Electors must be British subjects resident in the 

 district for six months, or owners or occupiers of 

 land, or householders and ratepayers. 



The Governor is Col. Sir Gerard Smith. The 

 Cabinet in the beginning of 1896 consisted of the 

 following members : Premier, Treasurer, and Colo- 

 nial Secretary, Sir John Forrest ; Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Septimus Burt ; Commissioner of Lands, A. 

 R. Richardson; Minister of Public Works, H. W. 

 Venn ; Minister for Mines and Education, E. H. 

 Wittenoom. 



While the population of Western Australia 

 trebled in five years, the revenue increased nearly 

 fivefold. The policy of the Government in this 

 rapidly expanding colony has chiefly to do with 

 public works. Sir John Forrest, whose adminis- 

 trative success has been such that not even the 

 Opposition is desirous of a change of Government, 

 laid before Parliament a large scheme of public 

 works, including water supply for the coast towns 

 and the gold fields, extension of the railroads, im- 

 provement of docks and harbors, and measures for 

 the further development of the gold fields. At the 

 same time he promised a revision of the customs 

 duties with a view to reducing the cost of articles 

 of common and necessary consumption. Among 

 the smaller matters brought before the Parliament 

 was a bill establishing an agricultural bank. The 

 question of water supply is pressing in the princi- 

 pal towns and a vital one for the gold fields. While 

 some geologists still believe in the existence of 

 large bodies of artesian water, such as have been 

 tapped in the sandstone plains of Queensland and 

 New South Wales, giving at an inappreciable cost 

 a daily flow of 105,000.000 and 40,000,000 gallons 

 respectively, the few wells that have been sunk pro- 

 duce so small a supply that the Government has 

 abandoned the theory for practical purposes and 

 proposed to raise a ' loan of 2,500,000 to carry 

 water from the Darling range for a distance of hun- 

 dreds of miles 5,000.000 gallons daily to be deliv- 

 ered to the gold fields of Coolgardie, Kalgoorlie, 

 and other places at a cost to the consumer of 3s. 6rf. 

 per 1,000 gallons. 



Many mining engineers expect for the Western 

 Australian gold fields a development equal to that of 

 the Transvaal, where the production has risen in six 

 years from 230.000 to 2,000.000 ounces. The output 

 of gold in Western Australia for the first two years 



