144 SECTIONAL ADDRESSES. 



An ii:iteresting publication was issued by the State Government giving 

 full details, as far as then known, of the nature of the country through J 

 which the line would be constructed, and of the possibilities of its future " 

 development from the agricultural, pastoral, and mining points of 

 view. The total area of the Northern Territory was estimated at 

 335,116,800 acres, with a seaboard of some 1,200 miles to the Indian 

 Ocean. The pamphlet in an appendix gave a full bibliography of the 

 literature on Northern Australia published up to that date. 



Unfortunately, owing to change of the State Ministers and to other 

 circumstances, this scheme fell through, and no further action in the ■ 

 matter of the transcontinental line was taken until the control of the 

 Northern Territory was handed over to the Commonwealth on Janu- 

 ary 1, 1911. The Commonwealth took over at the same time (1) the 

 national debt of the Territory, largely incurred in constructing the rail- 

 way line from Port Darwin to Pine Creek and other necessary works 

 of development ; (2) the 3 ft. 6 in. line from Port Augusta to Oodnadatta, 

 the South Australian railway department continuing to work the line, 

 but any deficit on the working and the interest on cost of construction 

 being met by the Commonwealth Government. The Commonwealth 

 further undertook to complete the North- South Eailway under certain 

 conditions. 



The Darwin to Pine Creek railway, a 3 ft. 6 in. line, single track, 

 with 41-lb. rails, was opened on October 1, 1889, its total length being 

 145i miles; it was intended to be the first instalment of the northern 

 portion of the transcontinental line. In 1913 the Commonwealth 

 authorities decided to extend this line a further 54 J- miles to the 

 Katherine Eiver, and the railway station at this river now forms the 

 southern terminus of the line from Darwin. 



In order to obtain the necessary information to enable the Common- 

 wealth Government to implement their undertaking to complete the 

 transcontinental railway a Royal Commission was appointed on 

 March 28, 1913, to report upon the following matters in their relation 

 to the development of the Northern Territory : (1) On the routes of the 

 necessary railways and the classes of such railways ; (2) the desirable- 

 ness and practicability of creating new ports. The Commission, after 

 taking evidence at Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, and Brisbane from 

 the railway authorities and others interested in the development of 

 North Australia, visited the Territory, and travelled by sea, by river, 

 and on land some 3,000 miles; during their journeys local witnesses 

 were examined, and the report of the Commissioners was submitted 

 to the Commonwealth Government on February 20, 1914. 



As a proof of the inaccessibility of this vast province from the rest 

 of Australia, and of the need of railway development, I may mention 

 that when returning to this country in 1914 after the meeting of the 

 British Association in Australia, I left Sydney on the s.s. Mataram 

 on October 1, and did not reach Darwin, the capital and seaport of the 

 Teri'itory, until October 15, the sea journey being 2,620 miles; from 

 Brisbane it is 2,100 miles. In an interesting paragraph of their report 

 the 1913 Commissioners point out that it takes longer to go by sea from 

 the nearest State capital (Brisbane) to Darwin than it does to go from 

 jijiat port tp SjngiipQre pr HpngrKgn^. Hpw perilous snclq. a state of 



