THE COMMONWEALTH 351 



behind the mother-colony, though an unhealthy congestion of the 

 people in Melbourne retained for that city a larger population than 

 Sydney. In 1866 the area under crop in Victoria was already 

 600,000 acres, being just double that of New South Wales. By 

 1900, according to Coghlan's statistics, the area in the latter 

 colony had grown to 2,400,000 acres, against 3,100,000 in Victoria. 

 When it is remembered that both soil and climate in the southern 

 State are immeasurably superior, that it suffers less from droughts, 

 and that the producers are not handicapped by the great distances 

 from market which burden the New South Wales farmer, it is 

 evident that some malign influence must have retarded the growth 

 of this main factor in a country's prosperity. To some extent it 

 was due to want of labour, which had been diverted into more 

 artificial channels. It was, of course, also affected by burdensome 

 duties of from 20 per cent, to 50 per cent, laid upon everything 

 used in the process of cultivation. This alone induced many 

 sturdy farmers to betake themselves later across the Murray, and 

 to risk the more unfavourable climatic conditions. Undoubtedly 

 they were also often invited to this step by the Eiverina pastoralists, 

 to cultivate portions of their holdings on the share system, for in 

 New South Wales the squatter was not so much of an outlaw as 

 he had become in Victoria. 



In 1866 the volume of imports and exports of Victoria was 

 very nearly double that of New South Wales. By the end of the 

 century it was, in round figures, 36,000,000 in Victoria against 

 54,000,000 in the colony with unfettered trade. And it should be 

 specially noted that the large preponderance of New South Wales 

 trade cannot be ascribed to a falling off of imports into Victoria 

 as a result of that colony manufacturing what had hitherto been 

 purchased from the foreigner. On the contrary, the imports into 

 Victoria, which in 1867 were under 12,000,000, rose steadily, 

 despite increasing tariff restriction of 10 per cent., 15 per cent., 

 20 per cent., and even 25 per cent., until in 1889 they exceeded 

 24,000,000. The sudden check which the spending power of 

 the people received in that year drove them back for a time, 

 but by 1900 they had again exceeded 18,500,000. A retrospect 

 of more than a generation of protected duties would seem to show 



