XVI. 



The Review of Reviews. 



January, 1913. 



fleet in the Pacific. It seemed to Mr. Allen an abso- 

 lute necessity if the peoples of these southern seas 

 desired to keep open their trade routes that there 

 should be established a fleet in the South Pacific, 

 ,is well as one in the Atlantic, and he thought the 

 t:)urden of such fleet should be borne by those who 

 live in the Pacific. There was no reason why Aus- 

 iralia. New Zealand, Canada, South Africa, and even 

 India should not take part in the defence of the 

 l\acific. Thereupon came the question of control. 

 One of the difficulties which Australians had, and 

 which must be faced, was this, not the building up 

 'if a local navy simply for local purposes. They had 

 to realise that if the fighting part of the fleet was to 

 be effective, it couhl only be effective by placing it 

 under one control. 



It is gratifying to find all shades of 



Developing politicians of one mind in the public 

 Tasmania s ! . . , , , 



Trade. interest, as was evidenced when the 



select committee to inquire into 

 matters of maritime transport between Tasmania and 

 the other States, and the development of Tasmanian 

 trade was presented in the State Assembly. A diffi- 

 cult and delicate task confronted the committee, but 

 so satisfactorily did they discharge their duty that 

 the report was greeted with cheers from both sides of 

 the House. The recommendations of the committee 

 were : — (i) That one or more of the companies now 

 trading from Melbourne up the eastern coast of Aus- 

 tralia to Northern Queensland, be approached by the 

 Crovernment, with a view to ascertaining on what 

 terms they would provide steamers to alternately call 

 at one or two ports of Northern Tasmania, and at 

 Hobart. The Union Company and Huddart Parker 

 Limited could be included in these negotiations. (2) 

 That the companies now engaged in the trade between 

 l^aunceston and Melbourne be asked on what terms 

 they will provide another vessel of the " Loongana ' 

 type to run in the trade. (3) That, in the interests of 

 the tourist traffic, and the full development of Tas- 

 mania's trade resources, the Government should open 

 up negotiations with the Commonwealth Ministry, 

 with a view to ascertaining the largest amount of 

 subsidy that will be paid to the State of Tasmania in 

 the event of the Tasmanian Government deciding to 

 build two vessels of a modern type to trade between 

 Northern Tasmania and Victoria, and that action be 

 taken according to the nature of the replies received 

 to the above questions. (4) That, whenever the 

 Marine Board of Hobart decides to take action in 



connection with dock construction, the Government of 

 the State should gne reasonable assistance to the 

 undertaking. (5), That, in any negotiations with the 

 companies now engaged in the trade between Tas- 

 mania and Queensland, the companies should be 

 asked to remember that Tasmania's interests, owing 

 to its geographical position, lequire low freights and 

 fares to rule between this State and other parts of the 

 Commonwealth, and that they should negotiate on the 

 basis of moderate trade profit on the capital invested ; 

 and the necessity for impro\ed services, if they desire 

 to see the State refrain from competition with them. 

 As the little sister of the group, Tasmania is a 

 general favourite in all the States. Everybody recog- 

 nises her disabilities. PLverylx)dy wishes her well. 



Medical science has always been 

 Compulsory largely on the side of compulsory 

 Vaccinaiion. vaccination as a preventive of small 



pox, but the lay British mind does 

 not take kindly to the idea of compulsion. In Eng- 

 land thousands of citizens, from conscientious 

 motives, have resisted the Compulsory Vaccination 

 Act, and have suffered imprisonment and distraint 

 ratiier than submit their children to the ordeal. The 

 contention of the Chairman of the Board of Health 

 of Victoria that Victoria should follow English legis- 

 lation, and make vaccination compulsory, will not 

 receive universal endorsement, and seeing that on 

 Dr. Ham's own admission, Australia is free of small 

 pox, and that cases which have arisen were brought 

 here, it does not appear that adequate reason for 

 such drastic legislation has been shown. Dr. Ham's 

 argument is tRat it is impossible to make certain of 

 stopping an epidemic of smrall pox in the early stages 

 by isolation and quarantine alone. It is an ex- 

 tremely risky procedure, he says, to wait until the 

 danger has actually arisen, and the well-worn sav- 

 ing that "prevention is better than cure" applies 

 with much greater force to small pox than to some 

 other diseases not so explosive in the matter of 

 spreading. " A big responsibility rests upon parents 

 who refused to give their little ones this chance of 

 escape from one of the most loathsome and deadly 

 diseases known to medical science." While con- 

 ceding that the immunity offered by vaccination is 

 not absolute, he thinks vaccination should be made 

 compulsory on all individuals, and suggests that six 

 months is a fair minimum age for the vaccination of 

 children. 



