AUSTRALASIA. 



61 



Mu-iit, as noon a* formed, will take over 



ntrol <>r custom-, excise, | M>st un<l telegraphs, 



-. and naval defense, oe, an l-carons, hll'i\s, 

 lis.'ht ship>. ami <|iiaraMtiiii'. 

 in- <'ourt ui' Au-traliu will consist of a 

 notice and not fewer than fourotherjud 



. liy Parliament, and to Imld ofhce during 



luivior, and will be tin- final court of appeal 



-tralia; but tin- Queen may, in all cases where 



iml.lie interests an- invo|\,-d. ^'rant li-avi- to appeal to 



uncil. Indictable otteiises must Di 

 in tin- Stati- in \vliidi tin- otlense is cominittnl. 



i'arliaiiH-nt will liavn tlie sole power of imposing 

 iw uiul excise; but the present duties will re- 

 main in force until a uniform turitl' IIILS been passed, 

 wlu-n I'n-i- traiK- \\ill prevail between tin- State* of the 

 Commonwealth. The revenue collected will bo ap- 

 plied, in the first instance, t<i defray the c.\]n-n8C8 of 

 ^o\ i-rniiH nt. tin- surplus to be applied in such man- 

 ner ami for such purposes as Parliament may dcter- 

 iniiu-. 



Parliament may make provision for the consolida- 

 timi of tlu- whole <>r part of the debts of the states. 

 The States will retain all the powers they at present 

 . except tli' 'y delegated to the Com- 



monwealth. When a State law is inconsistent with 

 the law of the Commonwealth, the latter will prevail. 



The Governors of the States will be appointed by 

 the local parliaments us they think fit. Ail references 

 to tin- Queen must be made through the Governor- 

 ral 



The Constitutions of the States will remain as they 

 are, unless altered by the States themselves. Any of 

 the existing colonies, on adopting the Constitution, 

 may be admitted into the Commonwealth, New 

 States may be admitted under such conditions as 

 Parliament may see tit to impose. The seat of gov- 

 ernment of the Commonwealth shall be determined 

 by Parliament, and, until so determined, the place of 

 meeting of Parliament shall be fixed by a majority of 

 the governors of the States. Any amendment of the 

 Constitution can only bo effected in the following 

 manner : Any law for the alteration of the Constitu- 

 tion must be passed by an absolute majority of the 

 Senate and the House of Representatives, and there- 

 upon be submitted to conventions elected by electors 

 ot tiu- several States qualified to vote for the election 

 of members of the House of Representatives. Such 

 conventions shall be held as the Parliament of the 

 Commonwealth prescribes. If the proponed amend- 

 ment be approved by the conventions of a majority 

 of the States, if the States composing this majority 

 contain a majority of the people of the Common- 

 wealth, it shall become law, subject, however, to the 

 Queen's jM>wer of disallowance ; but an amendment 

 by which the proportionate representation of any 

 State in either House of the Parliament of the Com- 

 monwealth is diminished, shall not become law with- 

 out the consent of the convention of that State. 



A proposition for the assumption by the Com- 

 monwealth of the public debts of all t'he colonies 

 on the basis of 40 per head of population, those 

 whose debts are heavier having to pay the differ- 

 ence, and those owing less to be compensated, 

 was deferred, to be acted upon .by the Federal 

 Parliament. 



New South Wales. The Governor is the 

 Earl of Jersey, appointed in October, 1890. The 

 ministry at the beginning of 1891 consisted of 

 the following members : Premier and Colonial 

 Secretary, Sir Henry Parkes; Colonial Treasurer, 

 William McMillan; Attorney-General, George 

 Bowen Simpson; Secretary for Lands, James 

 Nixon Brunker; Secretary for Public Works, 

 Bruce Smith; Minister of Public Instruction, 

 Joseph Hector Carruthers; Minister of Justice, 

 Albert .John Gould; Postmaster-General, Daniel 

 O'Connor; Secretary for Mines, Sydney Smith ; 



nt of the Council without portfolio, 

 William Henry Suitor. 



KIT the session which opened on May 19, 1891. 

 ih0 Government offered legislative proposals of 

 moment aside from the question 01 federation. 

 The programme embraced a local government 

 bill, and the abolition of plural voting and divis- 

 ion of the colony into single electoral districts, 

 together with minor measures relating to the 

 regulation of coal mining, water conservation, 

 local option, and courts of conciliation to ar- 

 range trade disputes. The financial record of 

 the Government was excellent, showing an in- 

 crease of revenue for the first six months of the 

 year amounting to 420,000 as compared with 

 the corresponding period of 1890, being an ex- 

 cess of 320,000 over the estimate. Yet the po- 

 sition of the veteran leader of the majority was 

 not strong. The Government had offended the 

 working men by its course of action during the 

 great strike of sheep-shearers and their sympa- 

 thizers on the railroads and docks, it having 

 been accused of unduly favoring the employers. 

 Mr. Dibbs, the leader of the Opposition, attacked 

 the federation scheme of Sir Henry Parkes, which 

 would be only a precursor of imperial federa- 

 tion, not of national independence as desired by 

 the younger Australians. The Protectionists, 

 who have grown into a strong party in New 

 South Wales, were anxious to oust the Premier, 

 who is the chief exponent of the free-trade idea 

 in Australia, and thought that they could count 

 on the united support of the working men. The 

 admirable programme of the Government was 

 not allowed to come under discussion. Sir Henry 

 Parkes announced that the questions of district 

 government and one man one vote should take 

 precedence of the federation bill ; but Mr. Dibbs 

 attacked the federation proposal, declaring that 

 its author had lost sight of the true interests of 

 New South Wales, at the same time discrediting 

 the financial statement of Mr. McMillan and the 

 conduct of the Administration. On a vote of 

 want of confidence the Government was sus- 

 tained only by the casting vote of the Speaker. 

 The tie vote of 63 on both sides was accepted as 

 a defeat, and Parliament was dissolved. The 

 result of the elections, which took place in the 

 middle of June, surprised the politicians and dis- 

 concerted all their plans. After the ending of 

 the prolonged and disastrous labor struggle the 

 leaders of the working men had promised that 

 there should be no more strikes, saying that 

 labor would defend its interests henceforth in 

 Parliament and find legislative redress for its 

 wrongs. A Labor party was organized and dis- 

 ciplined, with the result that, when the returns 

 were all in, it was found that the Loyal and Free- 

 Trade party of the " Grand Old Man " of New 

 South Wales was able to obtain only 51 seats, 

 whereas the Native Australian, Protectionist, 

 ami Separatist forces, led by Mr. Dibbs and Mr. 

 Barton, had 57; while, instead of sending four 

 spokesmen to serve in a humble advisory ca- 

 pacity, as in the last Parliament, the Labor party 

 came with a strong phalanx of 26 representa- 

 tives, and there were besides 3 Independents 

 affiliated with the Labor party. The Labor rep- 

 reseiitativcs were Protectionists, and were known 

 to be anti-British and even Republican and op- 

 posed to the federation scheme. Therefore they 



