CHAIRMAN S ADDRESS. XV. 



and settlement of the Northern Territory may be said to 

 be the most difficult of all Australian problems, and the 

 first step towards the solution must be the construction of 

 the railway first mentioned. That it will pay to develop 

 is the opinion of many competent observers; it is richer in 

 gold, silver, copper, tin and lead, than any other part of 

 Australia; it has a magnificent harbour in Port Darwin, 

 only second to Sydney as a port, backed up by the finest 

 pastoral country in the world. Its capabilities are fully 

 set forth in the report on the Land Grant Railway issued 

 by the South Australian Government in 1902. 



Therein the explorers John McDouall Stuart (1861), Ernest 

 Giles, J. A. Giles, Ernest Favenc, Alfred Giles, Simpson 

 Newland, Charles Winnecke, f.r.g.s., David Lindsay, W. H. 

 Tietkens, f.r.g.s., Captain Stokes, r.n., David J. Gordon, 

 H. G. L. Brown, f.g.s., Government Geologist, Rev. J. E. 

 Tenison-Woods and many others speak of its wonderful 

 resources for wool growing, cattle raising, and its great 

 wealth of minerals, and I commend this publication to the 

 perusal of all those interested in the development of 

 Australia. 



The report by Captain Cresswell, r.n., in the proposal to 

 establish Indian Government Horse Depots in the Northern 

 Territory for breeding and training remounts for the Indian 

 army clearly shows that the Northern Territory is a mag- 

 nificent breeding ground for horses, and one that could be 

 made a source of supply for the whole Empire. At the 

 present moment we have the facts staring us in the face, 

 that ordinary farm horses are from £40 to £60 a head, and 

 on account of the scarcity we are reverting to the use of 

 the bullock for traction purposes, and yet we have vast 

 areas lying idle, capable of supplying not only our needs 

 but those of the whole Empire. 



The Hon. W. McCourt in a very interesting article in the 

 S. M. Herald, 30th April, has drawn public attention to the 



