CHAPTER VIII. 



THE ESPERANCE DISTRICT. 



The Esperance district extends from the Hamersley river to 

 Eucla, on the south-east, where the territory of Western Australia 

 touches that of South Australia. Esperance is 237 miles east from 

 Albany by sea, 120 miles from Dundas, and 140 from Norseman. 

 There is at Esperance Bay a large and safe harbor ; the port is so 

 sheltered by numerous islands that it has, from the town, the 

 appearance of being land-locked. The opening up of the Dundas 

 and Norseman goldfields has given much value to the country near 

 Esperance from a farmer's point of view. The great saving in the 

 cost of sending locally grown produce to those goldtields, as 

 compared with bringing it from a distance, is too patent to need 

 any exemplification. Esperance is the nearest point to the Yilgarn 

 goldfields. It has asked to be connected with Coolgardie by a 

 direct railway, but in order that an intending selector may not be 

 misled, it may be said the request is not likely to be granted. The 

 matter was debated in the Legislative Assembly on the yth October r 

 1896. Mr C. J. Moran, member for Yilgarn, then moved : "(i.) 

 That in the opinion of this House, it is desirable that a railway line 

 should be constructed from Esperance Bay to Norseman forthwith. 

 (2.) That if the Government do not choose to undertake the work 

 they should be empowered to grant permission to private personsto 

 build the line." He urged that there was more foreign capital 

 available for the development of Norseman and Dundas goldfields 

 by very many hundreds of thousands of pounds than was set apart 

 for the Southern Cross fields at the time the House decided to build 

 the railway to Southern Cross. The Norseman goldlield, he sub- 

 mitted, had every prospect of being rapidly developed, provided 

 the mines there were given the same facilities of transit that were 

 given to the other goldlields. Private persons had offered to con- 

 struct the line, and one or them had undertaken to hand over the 

 line to the Government in ten years. Another offer conceded to the 

 Government the right to fix the maximum rale per ton freight to be 

 charged on the proposed railway. The Hon. Sir John Forrest, in 

 reply, said there was no doubt that at the present time the House 

 was not prepared to agree to the construction of a line to the Nnrsc- 

 It -eemecl to him that the motion before the House was a 



man. 



mischievous one, because it raised the hopes of the people, which 

 would not be infilled, and it therefore did more harm than good. 

 Although the line might pay, yet political reasons ought not to be 



