58 



AUSTRALASIA. 



salaries of future colonial governors from 10,- 

 000 to 7,500, which is the same as in New South 

 Wales, and also passed measures for reducing 

 the salaries of ministers, members of Parliament, 

 and all officers receiving salaries under special 

 appropriations of revenue. A resolution was 

 carried by a majority of four for the imposition 

 of an income tax. A very strong opposition was 

 developed to the measure among the commercial 

 class, and an amendment was offered, Aug. 29, 

 substituting for it a tax on unimproved lands. 

 But the Government had resolved to stand or 

 fall by this proposal, as the only means of meet- 

 ing maturing obligations without recourse to 

 London for a new loan, and the amendment was 

 defeated. On Sept, 13, however, it_ was an- 

 nounced that, in consequence of the rejection by 

 the Assembly of the Treasurer's proposal to re- 

 duce subsidies to the municipalities to 200,000, 

 and of the narrow majority obtained for the in- 

 come tax, the Government had decided to adopt 

 the substitute plan of doubling sugar duties. 

 This, it was estimated, would bring in during 

 the remainder of the year 100,000. 



Queensland. The Governor of the colony is 

 Sir Henry Wylie Norman, appointed in Decem- 

 ber, 1888. Sir Samuel Griffith, head of the min- 

 istry in office at the beginning of 1893, having 

 accepted the position of Chief Justice of the 

 colony, the ministry resigned, March 12, with 

 the view of being reconstructed under the lead- 

 ership of Hugh Muir Nelson, late leader of the 

 Opposition, who had acted as Premier during 

 the absence of Mr. Griffith from the colony. 

 Mr. Nelsou, however, was unable to form a sat- 

 isfactory Cabinet, and Sir Thomas Mcllwraith, 

 the late Treasurer, was requested by the Gov- 

 ernor to form a ministry. The new ministry is 

 constituted as follows: Premier, Chief Secre- 

 tary, and Secretary for Railways, Sir Thomas 

 Mcllwraith; Colonial Treasurer, Hugh Muir 

 Nelson ; Secretary for Public Lands and Agri- 

 culture, Andrew H. Barlow; Postmaster-Gen- 

 eraland Secretary for Education, Walter II. Wil- 

 son ; Secretary for Mines and for Public Works, 

 I. Lissner; Attorney-General, Thomas J. Byrnes; 

 Colonial Secretary, Horace Tozer. The new 

 Premier was born in Ayr, Scotland, in 1835. He 

 had held the position of Premier of Queensland 

 from 1879 to 1883, and from June to November, 

 1888. Messrs. Tozer, Byrnes, and Wilson, had, 

 like Sir Thomas Mcllwraith, been members of 

 the Griffith ministry. The elections began 

 April 28. Mr. Lissner being defeated by the La- 

 bor candidate, Robert Philp was appointed Min- 

 ister of Mines and Works. The Government 

 announced that its policy would be one of re- 

 trenchment and economy, and that every item of 

 public expenditure should be revised, and sala- 

 ries of civil officers, from the highest to the low- 

 est, cut down. It was decided also to dispense 

 with the services of some 600 officials, and it 

 was hoped that a saving of 300,000 would be 

 effected. In presenting the anmial budget 

 statement to the Assembly, the Premier said 

 that every effort had been made to cut down 

 expenses, but the deficit on the year amounted 

 to 111,000, making a total deficiency of 1,- 

 500,000, the greater part of which had been cov- 

 ered by the issue of treasury bills. The revenue 

 had fallen off during th year 220,000, owing 



to decreased returns from taxation, unprece- 

 dented floods in one portion of the colony and 

 disastrous droughts in another, and partially 

 also to the monetary crisis. He estimated the 

 revenue for the coming year at 3,375,000. 



Land Settlement. The Government intro- 

 duced a bill into the Legislative Assembly, Aug. 

 3, to authorize the establishment of self-govern- 

 ing communities on the unalienated lands, in- 

 tended for the benefit of persons who may be 

 willing to co-operate in tilling the soil. The 

 bill also authorizes the Government to give fa- 

 cilities for the establishment of labor colonies 

 for the relief of the indigent and unemployed. 



South Australia. The Governor is the Earl 

 of Kintore, who was appointed in December, 

 1888, and entered upon office April 11, 1889. 

 The heads of departments at the opening of 

 1893 were: Premier and Chief Secretary, J. W. 

 Downer ; Attorney-General, R. Homberg ; Treas- 

 urer, W. T. Rounsevell ; Commissioner of Pub- 

 lic Works, L. Grayson : Minister of Agriculture 

 and Education, W. Copley ; Commissioner of 

 Crown Lands, J. H. Howe. The general elec- 

 tions took place throughout the colony on April 

 15, and the Labor candidates were generally 

 successful. In consequence of a hostile motion 

 in the Assembly. June 13, the resignation of the 

 ministry was tendered to the Governor, who re- 

 quested C. C. Kingston, who made the hostile 

 motion, to form a new ministry. The new min- 

 istry, which assumed office on June 15, was con- 

 stituted as follows : Premier and Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, C. C. Kingston ; Treasurer, T. Playford : 

 Commissioner of Public Works, Mr. Holder; 

 Minister of Agriculture and Education, Dr. Cock- 

 burn ; Commissioner of Crown Lands, P. P. Gil- 

 len ; Representative of the Government in the 

 Upper House, J. H. Gordon. The new Premier 

 announced that the Government programme 

 would include a reduction of 5 to 10 per cent, in 

 all civil-service salaries. The gunboat " Protec- 

 tor " would be laid up, and the military expendi- 

 tures reduced. The land tax and the tax on the 

 property of absentees, as well as the tax on in- 

 comes of 1,000 and upward, would be increased, 

 but no change would be made in the customs 

 duties. The savings banks would be taken over 

 by the Government, and a note issue was con- 

 templated. In presenting the annual budget 

 statement to the Assembly, the Treasurer said 

 the deficit for the year amounted to 164,000, 

 which, added to the deficit at the beginning 

 of the year, would make the total deficiency 

 844,000. 



Western Australia. The Governor is Sir 

 William C. P. Robinson, who held the office be- 

 fore in 1874, and was again transferred to West- 

 ern Australia in 1889. Responsible government 

 was organized under the Western Australia Con- 

 stitution act, passed by the British Parliament 

 in 1890. The Cabinet, as first constituted, and as 

 it remained at the beginning of 1892, was com- 

 posed as follows : Premier and Treasurer, Sir 

 John Forrest : Chief Secretary, Mr. Shenton ; 

 Attorney-General, Mr. Burt ; Commissioner of 

 Lands, Mr. Marmion ; Minister of Public Works, 

 Mr. Venn. At the reopening of Parliament, 

 early in July, the Governor in his speech said 

 that the general prospects were most encourag- 

 ing, and the development of the resources of the 



