AUSTRALASIA. 



61 



was the least resentment on account of New 

 Guinea. Mr. Dally, the acting Premier, tele- 

 graphed an offer to send a body of men at the 

 expense of the colony. Mr. Service, Premier 

 of the rival colony of Victoria, tendered aid of 

 the same kind. Many thousand pounds were 

 subscribed by private individuals toward the 

 expenses. Men whose wages were three times 

 the soldiers' pay of 2s. Qd. per diem volunteered 

 eagerly for the distant expedition. 



The home Government accepted the offer of 

 the colony that was foremost and most enthu- 

 siastic in its tender of assistance, but courte- 

 ously declined that of the Victorian authorities. 

 On the 3d of March, sixteen days after the ac- 

 ceptance of the offer, the New South Wales 

 contingent sailed from Sidney amid the cheers 

 of the population. It was composed of 800 

 men of all arms of the service. The artillery 

 was taken from the permanent force of the 

 colony. All the rest of the men were volun- 

 teers. The corps was fully armed and equipped, 

 provided with 200 horses, and supplied with 

 all the necessary stores that could be ob- 

 tained in the colony. The men were excellent 

 in physique, but had no opportunity to drill, 

 A considerable proportion of them were old 

 soldiers who had served in the British army. 



The ministers exceeded their constitutional 

 powers in making the offer, in enlisting the 

 men, and in spending the money. They as- 

 sumed the responsibility in reliance on popular 

 approval and a parliamentary vote of indem- 

 nity. A minority censured the step severely. 

 Sir Henry Parkes, the retired Opposition leader, 

 made himself the spokesman of the party that 

 condemned the quixotic policy of a colony that 

 paid for immigration sending away its best men 

 and impairing its defensive resources to fight 

 in a quarrel in which it had no immediate con- 

 cern, and sacrificing lives and money without 

 materially benefiting the mother-country. 



The Australian troops were only six weeks 

 in the Soudan when, in accordance with the 

 decision of the English Ministry to abandon 

 the campaign announced for the autumn, they 

 were recalled. They suffered severely from 

 heat and fever, but only eight men died. The 

 Colonial Ministry offered their services for Af- 

 ghanistan ; but the English Government de- 

 clared that they were not needed. 



The Russian War-Scare. The Afghan crisis, 

 instead of strengthening the separatist senti- 

 ment developed during the excitement over 

 New Guinea, had the effect of reawakening 

 Australian loyalty to the Imperial connection. 

 In all the colonies the authorities and the citi- 

 zens co-operated in works of preparation and 

 defense. The war spirit and the animosity 

 against Russia were as strong as in England. 

 The military activity was greatest in Queens- 

 land, the most exposed and weakest of the au- 

 tonomous colonies. During the exciting weeks 

 in April and the beginning of May, the defense 

 force, which was in process of reorganization 

 under a new act of Parliament, was called out 



for active service. Meetings were held for the 

 formation of rifle and artillery corps. More 

 than five thousand men were, within a few 

 weeks, either under arms, or undergoing pre- 

 liminary training. A larger number volun- 

 teered, but the Government was unable to 

 supply them with small arms. Fort Lytton, 

 at the mouth of the Brisbane river, was im- 

 proved and enlarged, and earthworks and re- 

 doubts were thrown up along the coast near 

 the capital. A boom was placed across the 

 river, torpedoes were sunk in the channel, 

 the buoys partially removed, and the beacon- 

 lights extinguished. Gun-boats were extem- 

 porized, and steamers were offered as dispatch- 

 boats by private citizens. Orders were given 

 to sink the coal-ships at Townsville, Cooktown, 

 and Thursday Island on the appearance of a 

 suspicious craft. Private owners of vessels 

 were ready to follow out Admiral Tryon's sug- 

 gestion to destroy their property in order to 

 keep it from falling into the hands of the ene- 

 my. At the principal strategic points earth- 

 works were constructed and mounted with 

 heavy cannon. After the fever subsided the 

 corps maintained their drill, and the Govern- 

 ment followed up a plan for improving the 

 coast defenses by connecting the points of ob- 

 servation on the coast with Brisbane by tele- 

 graph, and by constructing strong fortifications 

 at Thursday Island, the strategical key to Tor- 

 res Straits, and laying a cable to the mainland. 

 The American Postal Route. In consequence of 

 the failure of Congress to increase the subsidy 

 for the Australian mail-service, and of the refu- 

 sal of the United States Executive to distribute 

 among the steamship-lines an appropriation 

 made available by act of Congress, the Pacific 

 Mail Steamship Company gave notice that the 

 line between San Francisco and Sidney, via 

 New Zealand, would be discontinued after 

 Nov. 1, 1885. This line has been supported 

 since it was started, in 1874, mainly by subsi- 

 dies from the colonies of New South Wales 

 and New Zealand. The other colonies prefer 

 to send their mails by way of the Cape'of Good 

 Hope or the Suez Canal. The two colonies 

 have long complained of the meagerness of the 

 allowance contributed by the United States. 

 At last, New South Wales announced the dis- 

 continuance of her subsidy after Nov. 1, 1885. 

 New Zealand was anxious to preserve this 

 mail route, which is much quicker than the 

 Cape route, and offered to furnish two thirds 

 of the necessary subsidy if the United States 

 would pay the rest. As no such arrangement 

 was made, the Colonial Government gave no- 

 tice of the termination of its contract with the 

 Steamship Company on the same date. The 

 cessation of the Australian steamship service 

 is like!}' to have an unfavorable effect upon 

 American trade with the Australasian colonies. 

 Since the organization of the line the export 

 trade has increased in value from $3,785,098 

 in 1874 to $9,225,459 in 1884. There was an 

 excess of exports in the latter year, exclusive 



