Science in Public Affairs 



also a servant of the State, and particularly so when, 

 the activities of the State being very wide, there 

 are thousands of such persons. All these elec- 

 tors have, therefore, been taken out of the con- 

 stituencies in which they would normally vote, and 

 placed in constituencies by themselves. In this 

 manner their interests secure due representation, 

 while the community is freed from an insidious 

 influence which was becoming an active menace 

 to its political integrity. 



From the consideration of the results which have 

 flown from the construction of public works by 

 the State, it is natural to turn to the public works 

 themselves. The railways, owing to the nature of 

 the country, have not called for any particular 

 display of engineering skill ; but there is one note- 

 worthy enterprise, the Coolgardie Waterworks, 

 which proves that Australians are not backward in 

 that respect when the occasion demands it. They 

 were rendered necessary by the situation of the 

 gold-fields, which are in an arid district, with an 

 average annual rainfall of less than 8 inches. Be- 

 fore, however, the great scheme was authorised, 

 every attempt had been made to obtain a sufficient 

 supply locally. Tanks had been constructed ; the 

 salt water in the mines and in the so-called lakes 

 had been condensed ; and bores had been sunk to 

 a depth of 3000 feet, but without any appreciable 

 success. In the meanwhile, and especially upon 

 the completion of the railway to Coolgardie in 

 1896, not only did the railway require a large 

 amount of water, but the growing population and 



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