AUSTRALASIA. 



were expected to ally themselves with the party 

 of Mr. Dibbs. It was a surprise to many that 

 the ministry cared to retain their portfolios till 

 Parliament met on July 15, and a coalition 

 between Sir Henry and Mr. Dibbs against the 

 ne\v and, to both,' dangerous element was con- 

 sidered probable. The vote of want of confidence 

 moved by Mr. Dibbs disappointed this expecta- 

 tion ; and when the ministry was sustained by 

 the solid vote of the 29 Labor representatives, 

 Mr. Black, their leader, declaring that they would 

 support the Government "as far as it suits their 

 purposes," speculation was rife regarding the 

 price to be paid, and the eyes of the world were 

 drawn to a Legislature in which an organized 

 Labor party can dictate measures. In the open- 

 ing speech" the electoral reform bill, extending 

 the franchise, abolishing plural voting, establish- 

 ing single districts, doing away with the condi- 

 tion of a money deposit by candidates, and 

 making registration the only condition of suf- 

 frage, was explained. A resolution in favor of 

 woman suffrage was promised. In other respects 

 the Government proposals were the same as were 

 offered in the last message. The Postmaster- 

 General, Daniel O'Connor, though one of the 

 most popular members of the Government, had 

 lost his seat in the elections, but was not allowed 

 to resign. The conflict between the Sheep-shear- 

 ers' Union and the Pastoralists, who had formed 

 a counter-organization, broke out afresh during 

 the year, engaging the attention of the ministers 

 and Parliament. There was no dispute about 

 hours, nor about wages, which were 18 s. a day, 

 but only about the employment of unionists and 

 non-unionists together. Sir Henry Parkes pro- 

 posed a conference, which the shearers had orig- 

 inally rejected, but to which the employers now 

 refused to accede unless the right of free con- 

 tract was admitted. On this basis the contest- 

 ing parties finally came together, the Secretary 

 for Lands presiding over the meeting ; and the 

 shearers, who had recently driven non-unionists 

 from their work by force and defied the public 

 authorities, formally conceded freedom of con- 

 tract, and the strike was declared at an end in 

 the beginning of August. The motion of Sir 

 Henry Parkes in favor of woman suffrage was 

 lost by 57 votes against 34. At the end of July 

 William McMillan retired from the ministry, 

 which was reconstructed, Bruce Smith becoming 

 Colonial Treasurer ; B. Barton, Secretary for Pub- 

 lic Works; W. H. Suttor, Postmaster-General ; 

 and D. O'Connor, Vice-President of the Execu- 

 tive Council. 



Victoria. The Governor is the Earl of Hope- 

 toun, who was installed on Nov. 28, 1889. On 

 Oct. 451 the coalition Cabinet of Duncan Gillies 

 and Alfred Deakin, which had governed for four 

 years, was overturned by a vote of 55 to 35. 

 The refusal of the ministers to go to London for 

 a large new loan for the satisfaction of constitu- 

 encies wanting railroads, their financial mis- 

 takes, and their unpopular attitude in relation 

 to the dock strike that was about to collapse, led 

 to the falling away of their supporters and their 

 sudden defeat in a parliament that followed 

 them obsequiously and was without an organ- 

 ized Opposition a month or two before. The 

 defection of about 25 representatives of labor 

 constituencies in and around Melbourne was the 



cause of so heavy and adverse a vote on the ac- 

 tion of the Government in putting down picket- 

 ing and intimidation. Mr. Monro, who led the 

 attack, an Independent Liberal who had been 

 Minister of Instruction under Sir Graham Berry 

 in 1875, was asked to form a Cabinet, which was 

 constituted on Nov. 4 as follows : Premier and 

 Treasurer, James Monro ; Attorney-General and 

 Minister of Railways, William Shiels ; Chief 

 Secretary and Commissioner of Trade and Cus- 

 " toms, G. D. Langridge ; Commissioner of Crown 

 Lands, Allan McLean ; Commissioner of Public 

 Works, James Wheeler ; Minister of Water Sup- 

 ply, George Graham ; Postmaster-General, John 

 Gavan Duffy ; Minister of Mines, A. R. Outtram ; 

 Minister of Defense and of Education, Lieuten- 

 ant-Colonel Sir Frederick T. Sargood ; Minister 

 of Justice, J. M. Davies. It is, like all Victorian 

 Cabinets of the past eight years, a coalition min- 

 istry composed of Liberals and Conservatives, 

 the old party distinctions having been in a great 

 measure obliterated, and in it the Conservative 

 element predominates. The retiring Treasurer, 

 who had expended $13,000.000 of borrowed 

 money while he was in office, left an empty ex- 

 chequer and heavy liabilities to meet imme- 

 diately. He had been accused of building useless 

 railroads and granting bonuses to farmers and 

 money for prospecting to gold-mining companies 

 simply for the purpose of retaining his post. 

 The strike, which involved various trades and 

 was directed against imported labor, was prac- 

 tically ended before the end of 1890. The new 

 Cabinet attempted to bridge over the financial 

 difficulties by means of a new loan, but could 

 not float it. A committee of public accounts 

 was instituted. Parliament was opened on June 

 23. Both parties were in favor of the federation 

 bill. Negotiations for offering it simultane- 

 ously and in the same manner in Victoria, New 

 South Wales, and South Australia, in order that 

 the three colonies might establish federation as 

 soon as possible, had broken down, and each 

 colony was left to follow its separate method of 

 procedure. A bill to abolish plural voting was 

 prominent in the Government programme, and, 

 as in New South Wales, the ministry pro- 

 posed to extend the principle of one man one 

 vote, so as to include women among the electors. 

 The ministry asked Parliament to do away with 

 the Railway Commission, the creation of their 

 predecessors. Among the other measures an- 

 nounced were the amendment of the local gov- 

 ernment acts, the setting apart of public lands 

 for the endowment of State education, and min- 

 ing, water conservancy, and irrigation bills. In 

 the debate on the Federation bill the Assembly 

 struck out the ^ord " Commonwealth," and sub- 

 stituted " Federated States." The financial state- 

 ment of Mr. Monro showed that the year ending 

 June 30, 1891, closed with a deficiency of 797,- 

 000. Although the colony was suffering from 

 commercial depression, increased taxation would 

 be necessary to meet an excess of expenditures 

 over revenue for the coming year that was esti- 

 mated on the basis of existing sources at about 

 1,000,000. 



Queensland. The Governor is General Sir 

 Henry Wylie Norman, who was transferred from 

 Jamaica in December, 1888. The Cabinet in 

 1891 was composed of the following officers: 



