240 Australian Life 



result of the popular referendum showed that a 

 large majority of Australians were in favour of 

 federation, although the minority in opposition 

 cannot be described as negligible. Serious 

 difficulties in the way of a complete federation 

 were found in the differences in the development 

 of the separate states : some had borrowed more 

 freely than others, some had parted with a larger 

 proportion of the State lands, or had exploited 

 their mineral wealth more fully, and, finally, the 

 states with small populations were in fear of being 

 dominated by those more populous. For these 

 reasons, the Federal Constitution defines the 

 functions of the Commonwealth Parliament in 

 detail, and expressly declares that all other 

 functions belong to the State Legislatures. By 

 amending the Constitution, the Commonwealth 

 Parliament is able to increase the functions it at 

 present exercises, and so to diminish the func- 

 tions of the State Parliaments. 



This is not very interesting, perhaps, but it 

 has to be understood if the change in Australian 

 life wrought by the federation is to be appre- 

 ciated at all. The State Parliaments still exist, 

 and still retain most important functions. The 

 number of members in each State Assembly is 

 disproportionately large, although reductions 

 have been made in most State Legislatures since 

 the accomplishment of federation. The member 

 of a State Assembly may represent but a few 

 hundred voters, spread over a sparsely populated 



