CHAPTER XI 



HOW AUSTRALIA CONTROLS THE FOOD 

 PROBLEM 



From the beginning of the AustraHan settlement 

 there has been a marked tendency toward state so- 

 ciaHsm and the control of property in the public 

 interest. The Australian colonies are, in fact, the 

 only colonies of Anglo-Saxon stock that have aban- 

 doned the laissez-faire philosophy which prevails in 

 Great Britain, the United States, and Canada. The 

 railroads were obviously destined to be owned by 

 the state, owing to the fact that lines had to be 

 built to develop the interior of the country and to 

 open up the mining regions. Private capital would 

 not imdertake such ventiu-es or was only availa- 

 ble at exorbitant rates. Even to-day railroads are 

 being built with the aim of developing sections of 

 the country which will not be profitable for genera- 

 tions. But they open up the territory and justify 

 themselves in this way. As soon as existing lines 

 become profitable extensions are built into new ter- 

 ritoiy. This keeps down profits. There were 18,- 

 653 miles of railway in the commonwealth in 1912, 

 of which only 1,755 miles were in private hands. 

 Of these nearly one-half were timber and mining 

 lines not open to the public. Freight rates and 



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