AUSTRALASIA. 



65 



8,111 miles. The number of dispatches in 1897 

 was 1,306,003. The net receipts were 98,096. 



The Tasmanian telegraphs had 1,884 miles of 

 line, with 3,313 miles of wire, besides 427 miles of 

 submarine cable. The number of messages in 

 1897 was 229,710. The Government owns in addi- 

 tion 570 miles of telephone lines. The revenue 

 from telegraphs and telephones was 19,308 in 

 1897. 



New Zealand telegraphs had on March 31, 1898, 

 a length of 0,484 miles, with 18,024 miles of wire. 

 The number of dispatches for the year was 2,696,- 

 233. The revenue from telegraphs and telephones 

 was 136,221. 



Australian Federation. The Australian Pre- 

 miers met at Melbourne on Jan. 28, 1899, in a 

 new Federal Council to recast the commonwealth 

 bill which had been ratified by the popular refer- 

 endum in 1898 in Victoria, Tasmania, and South 

 Australia, but had failed to secure the required 

 majority in New South Wales, and in Western 

 Australia had not been accepted by the Legisla- 

 ture, while Queensland also stood aloof, waiting 

 for the action of New South Wales. In New 

 South Wales the movement for Australian union 

 had found some of its earliest and strongest ad- 

 vocates, but the project that was adopted at the 

 convention encountered the uncompromising op- 

 position of a large and determined minority of 

 the politicians and people of this, the most popu- 

 lous and progressive of the colonies, who, before 

 yielding up the free-trade policy by which they 

 had prospered and endangering their preponder- 

 ant economic position among the colonies, wanted 

 to be sure of a federal constitution in which New 

 South Wales and Victoria, which must bear the 

 principal part of the financial cost, would not be 

 swamped by the votes of the three or four other 

 members of the confederation. The Constitution 

 as worked out by the convention of 1898 followed 

 the democratic model of the United States, and 

 amply protected the state rights of the minor 

 colonies, whereas the statesmen of New South 

 Wales endeavored to carry through a closer na- 

 tional union, patterned after the Constitution of 

 the Dominion of Canada. They objected to the 

 financial provisions of the commonwealth bill as 

 imposing unequal burdens on the citizens of dif- 

 ferent colonies, and to the Constitution of the 

 Federal Parliament as conducive to deadlocks. 

 The Braddon clause of the original bill provided 

 that the surplus revenues should be paid back 

 to the colonies in proportion to their population. 

 At the new conference the Premiers came to a 

 satisfactory settlement of all disputed questions. 

 It was agreed that an absolute majority of both 

 houses of the Federal Parliament should decide all 

 differences between the two branches of the 

 Legislature, instead of a majority of three fifths; 

 but, to safeguard the interests of the lesser states 

 as protected by the Senate, the protracted method 

 of procedure is retained, whereby & measure re- 

 jected by the Senate can not be reintroduced until 

 three months have elapsed, which means shelv- 

 ing it to another session, and, if it is again re- 

 jected, both houses must be dissolved and a new 

 Parliament elected, which, if the bill is again 

 passed in one house and rejected in the other, will 

 finally decide the question by a majority vote in 

 joint sitting. The Braddon financial clause was 

 adopted only provisionally for ten years, at the 

 end of which the Federal Parliament may repeal 

 or amend it, and in the meantime it is empow- 

 ered to deal with any exceptional difficulties 

 arising out of the financial position of any of the 

 states. It was agreed that the capital of the 

 federation should be a federal district located 

 VOL. xxxix. 5 A 



within the boundaries of New South Wales, at 

 least 100 miles removed from Sydney. Pending 

 the erection of the federal buildings the Parlia- 

 ment will meet in Melbourne, Victoria. No al- 

 teration was made in the original proposals re- 

 garding rivers, which will be under the control 

 of the Federal Parliament if they flow through 

 the territory of more than one colony; money 

 bills, which must originate in the House of Rep- 

 resentatives, and may be rejected but not amend- 

 ed by the Senate; judicial appeals; or the number 

 of Senators, which will in the beginning be six 

 for each colony, and may be increased when the 

 Federal Parliament deems it expedient. The 

 number of Representatives will be twice the num- 

 ber of Senators, and if these are increased they 

 will be increased proportionally. They will be 

 elected by the popular vote of each colony in 

 separate districts. The Senators will be elected 

 also by direct popular vote, but by the whole 

 colony voting as one electorate. To Queensland, 

 however, was accorded the desired privilege of 

 choosing its Senators separately in the three di- 

 visions of the colony. 



Premier Reid pledged himself to secure the 

 passage of the amended federation bill through 

 the Parliament of New South Wales and of a 

 new enabling bill for taking a referendum by 

 which a simple majority of the electors would be 

 sufficient to secure the adoption of the Federal 

 Constitution. Sir John Forrest, the West Aus- 

 tralian Premier, would not promise to support 

 the amended bill before consulting his colleagues. 

 The other Premiers promised to have the new bill 

 referred to the electors of their respective colo- 

 nies in accordance with the original provisions 

 of the enabling acts of 1896. South Australia 

 was to take the referendum in connection with the 

 general election without waiting for New South 

 Wales. The agreement was signed on Feb. 3. 

 On his return to Sydney Mr. Reid was confronted 

 with difficulties in the way of keeping the agree- 

 ment on which he had not reckoned. The session 

 of the Parliament of New South Wales opened 

 on Feb. 21. The amended bill, to which Mr. Reid 

 had pledged his credit as Premier, was passed by 

 the lower house on March 2. It was sent to the 

 upper house, where further amendments were in- 

 troduced. One of these required that one fourth 

 of the electors on the register should vote for 

 the bill in order to secure its approval, or, in 

 other words, that, instead of the majority re- 

 quired by the Melbourne agreement, at least 

 80,000 votes should be given in its favor. The 

 amended bill passed the Legislative Council on 

 March 21. The New South Wales Government 

 was pledged to secure the passage of the bill 

 without amendments. On Feb. 22 the lower 

 house rejected the amended bill as sent down to 

 them by the Council. The upper house refused 

 to give way. A conference of the two houses 

 was called to discuss the question, and met with- 

 out result on March 28. Mr. Reid, in accordance 

 with his previously declared intention, exercised 

 the power which constitutionally belonged to 

 him, prorogued Parliament for a few days in 

 order to give himself the power of reintroducing 

 the rejected bill, and increased the numbers of 

 the upper house by the nomination of 12 new 

 members. The nominees selected took their seats 

 on April 11. The reintroduced bill was presented 

 to the lower house and passed on April 13. It 

 was accepted by the reconstituted Council on 

 April 19, and on April 25 the announcement was 

 made that the federal bill would be submitted to 

 a referendum of the electors on June 20. The 

 South Australian Parliament passed the en- 



