12 Australian Life 



time rendered the export of farm produce of a 

 perishable nature almost an impossibility. The 

 pastoralist, with his wide expanses of grazing 

 land and inexpensive methods, could pay freights 

 to the Old World on his wool and tallow and still 

 flourish. It was not so with the agriculturist, 

 who found the markets glutted with the perish- 

 able products of his farm, while wheat-growing 

 Russia and America possessed advantages of po- 

 sition which left him unable to compete with 

 them. In these circumstances, some of the Aus- 

 tralian States initiated a policy of protective tariffs, 

 designed to hasten that stage of national develop- 

 ment when the manufacture of the raw products 

 of the country should be localised. The immedi- 

 ate result of this policy was a further accession of 

 population to the capital cities, where the new 

 factories were established. 



The last phase in Australian development is the 

 result of the improvement which has taken place 

 in the arrangement for the transport of perishable 

 goods in a refrigerated condition. The cold 

 chamber and the cold-storage depot have turned 

 the thoughts of Australians to dairying, fruit 

 growing, and poultry farming, and have created 

 a new demand for agricultural land. 



It is my task to sketch the conditions of Austral- 

 ian life at this stage in the history of the conti- 

 nent. I have aready indicated the size and 

 importance of the Australian capital cities, from 

 which the visitor to Australia gains the most last- 



