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THE 

PMTHER-OF  PROTECTION 

IN 'AUSTRALIA 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

Microsoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/davidsymefatheroOOpratuoft 


DAVID  SYME 

THE  FATHER  OF  PROTECTION  IN  AUSTRALIA 


,^^- 


■^-.ZyUz'i^^^cLy  ^^^Z^2^/rrL^y. 


DAVID    SYME 

THE  FATHER  OF  PROTECTION 
IN  AUSTRALIA 


By 
AMBROSE    PRATT 


WITH  INTRODUCTION  BY 

THE  HON.  ALFRED  DEAKIN 


ILLUSTRATED 


WARD     LOCK     &    CO    LTD 

LONDON :   Warwick  House,  Salisbury  Square,  E.C 

MELBOURNE:    Windsor  House,  MacKillop  Street 

1908 


2553 

.3 
Sep? 


*/ 


J 


'■  '.-''j' 


^'/mn 


INTRODUCTION 

By  the  HON.  ALFRED  DEAKIN 

When  a  final  study  of  the  career  of  David  Syme 
appears,  it  must  form  part  of  the  most  memorable 
chapters  in  the  history  of  the  colony  of  Victoria 
and  of  the  making  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth. 
These  cannot  be  written  until  the  lapse  of  time 
shall  have  furnished  a  sufficient  perspective,  an 
array  of  documents  now  unpublished,  and  also 
allowed  the  light  of  subsequent  events  to  rest  upon 
the  work  done  by  him  during  his  long  and  fruitful 
life.  No  complete  estimate,  either  of  the  man  or 
his  methods,  being  possible  at  present,  the  book  to 
which  these  few  paragraphs  serve  as  an  introduction 
makes  no  such  pretence.  Yet  it  possesses  an 
immediate  interest  as  well  as  the  enduring  value  of 
original  materials  which  cannot  be  superseded. 

A  biography  of  this  character,  published  to-day, 
comes  opportunely  while  the  facts  which  it  chronicles 
are  more  in  men's  minds  than  they  are  likely  to  be 
years  hence,  when  the  freshness  of  impressions 
still  current  will  have  died  away.     For  many  years 


vi  INTRODUCTION 

past,  so  far  as  the  public  knew,  Mr.  Syme  was  The 
*  Age  and  The  Age  was  Mr.  Syme.  Most  Australians 
had  no  other  knowledge  of  his  life.  To  him  the 
paper  owed  everything ;  its  survival,  character 
and  policy.  It  was  a  power  because  he  was  a 
power ;   or,  in  current  phrase,  a  personality. 

The  story  of  the  newspaper  occupies  by  far  the 
larger  portion  of  this  book,  and  properly,  since 
to  its  issues  we  must  look  for  the  larger  portion  of 
his  thought,  of  his  labour  and  indeed  of  himself. 
Even  an  outline  portrait  of  Mr.  Syme  cannot  be 
attempted  without  adding  an  impressionist  estimate 
of  the  influence  of  his  journal ;  nor  will  it  ever 
be  possible  to  consider  its  achievements  apart  from 
the  man  to  whom  they  were  due.  Its  triumphs 
and  shortcomings,  whether  arising  from  his  direct 
action  or  endorsement  of  the  actions  of  others, 
are  his  and  his  only.  It  is  therefore  perfectly 
natural  and  appropriate  that  after  the  first  three 
chapters  of  reminiscence  the  life  of  the  individual 
man  should  seem  to  be  absorbed  in  that  of  his 
paper.  Its  thin  veil  of  impersonality  imposed 
upon  no  one  and  concealed  nothing  of  him  that  the 
future  has  a  right  to  know. 

Unfortunately  for  myself,  the  invitation  to  add 
some  personal  reminiscences  of  Mr.  Syme  comes  at 
a  moment  when  even  that  is  all  but  impossible. 
Without  leisure  to  refer  to  diaries  or  documents  of 
any  kind  for  the  refreshment  of  a  jaded  memory, 
it  would  be  fruitless  to  attempt  to  give  more  than 


INTRODUCTION  vii 

a  few  cursory  and  hasty  glimpses  of  him  as  I  saw 
him  when  controlling  his  paper  during  the  years 
1878  to  1883,  or  at  intervals  afterwards  down  to 
his  last  days.  How  slight  and  fragmentary  these 
recollections  are  is  admitted  without  demur — 
too  fleeting  in  my  own  opinion  to  be  worthy  of 
record.  They  merely  offer  a  few  very  incomplete 
impressions.  Added  together  they  scarcely  make 
a  sketch.  At  best  like  casual  snapshots,  frank, 
though  blurred,  they  may  serve  to  recall  to  those 
who  know  something  of  his  characteristics,  the 
remarkable  citizen  of  the  Commonwealth  *'  in  his 
habit  as  he  lived  *'  while  he  wrought,  hammer  on 
anvil,  at  the  building  of  this  great  State  within 
the  Empire. 

The  first  three  chapters  of  this  book  are  to  a 
large  extent  autobiographical,  and  these  it  has  been 
possible  for  me  to  read.  A  glance  at  the  remainder 
shows  that  they  take  a  far  wider  range,  dealing 
with  the  principal  developments  of  the  policy  un- 
folded and  enforced  by  The  Age  in  circumstances 
which  are  certain  to  provoke  prolonged  examination. 
But  the  recollections  of  any  of  us  who  were 
acquainted  with  Mr.  Syme,  unless  recorded  now, 
will  not  be  recoverable.  Having  been  one  of  his 
friends  for  nearly  thirty  years,  it  is  my  obligation 
to  add  at  once  my  little  store  of  knowledge,  such  as 
it  is,  and  so  far  as  I  can  jot  it  down. 

When  introduced  to  Mr.   Syme  shortly  after  I 
was  called  to  the  Bar,  he  was  at  the  height  of  his 


viii  INTRODUCTION 

fame,  though  not  of  his  prosperity.  The  Age  office, 
at  that  time  in  Elizabeth  Street,  was  an  old  building 
of  considerable  size,  inconveniently  arranged  and 
of  dingy  exterior.  It  was,  however,  already  the 
mainspring  of  Victorian  politics.  Then  as  always 
Mr.  Syme  must  have  impressed  any  observant  eye. 
A  splendid  physique,  upright  carriage,  resolute 
step,  and  regular  features  firmly  set,  expressed  a 
mind  and  character  of  unmistakable  force  and 
unusual  penetration.  Save  for  the  slowly-increasing 
physical  weakness  manifested  during  the  last  five 
or  six  years  he  remained  without  notable  change 
in  appearance  or  manner  until  he  died.  The  hair 
became  greyer,  the  pace  slower,  the  smile  kindlier, 
and  the  manner  easier,  but  the  transition  proceeded 
quite  imperceptibly.  His  powerful  frame,  in  spite 
of  his  ruthless  use  of  aU  its  resources,  remained 
outwardly  unimpaired,  except  by  a  slight  stoop. 
In  brief,  beyond  the  effects  of  pressure  relaxed  and 
strength  lessened,  there  was  no  special  alteration 
of  mood  or  mind.  His  ideas,  aims  and  opinions 
were  not  materially  modified. 

Though  his  wealth  and  opportunities  for  leisure 
were  multiplied,  neither  of  these  was  noticeably 
enjoyed  by  him  in  the  ordinary  sense  of  that  word. 
Perhaps  he  had  been  too  long  engaged  in  a  fierce 
struggle  for  existence  to  relax  into  lighter  recreation. 
At  aU  events  he  valued  his  riches  only  for  the  power 
and  independence  they  betokened,  remaining  as 
simple  in  taste,  habit,  dress  and  demeanour  as  he 


INTRODUCTION  ix 

was  before  his  office  expanded  to  its  present  dimen- 
sions in  Collins  Street.  It  was  there  that,  gradually 
becoming  a  regular  contributor  to  The  Age  and 
the  Leader,  I  was  frequently  in  his  company.  Never 
holding  an  appointment  on  either  staff  or  receiving 
a  salary,  my  time  was  my  own.  As  he  lived  for 
some  years  in  South  Yarra  near  my  home,  we  some- 
times walked  out  together  and  I  visited  him  occa- 
sionally. At  intervals  I  spent  a  few  days  at  his 
country  place — Macedon — since  that  summer  resort 
was  situated  in  the  constituency  represented  by 
me  early  in  1879  ^^^  ivom.  1880  onwards.  Our 
business  relations  subsisted  until  1883,  when  my 
connexion  with  the  paper  ceased,  owing  to  the 
acceptance  of  other  responsibilities. 

During  five  years  of  journalism  I  probably  saw 
as  much  of  Mr.  Syme  in  his  office  as  any  one,  except 
Mr.  George  Syme,  his  brother,  or  Mr.  Windsor,  who 
until  1900  was  the  Editor  of  The  Age,  and  much 
more  elsewhere  than  those  not  of  his  family.  The 
strongest  tie  between  us  was  supplied  by  our  common 
enjoyment  of  the  same  books  and  interest  in  the 
same  questions.  Not  that  we  shared  all  general 
likings.  He  was  a  slow,  selective,  reasoning  student 
of  scientific,  sociological,  economic,  and  political 
literature  ;  of  the  monthly  and  quarterly  maga- 
zines, of  voyages,  travels  and  explorations  ;  and 
to  a  more  limited  extent  a  reader  of  biographies, 
and  treatises  upon  current  controversial  issues, 
in  most  of  which  he  took  an  active  interest.     He 


X  INTRODUCTION 

had  dipped  into  metaphysics  only  to  discard  the 
principal  systems.  Beyond  this  wide  area  and 
its  definite  boundaries  he  did  not  go,  or  care  to  go. 
Within  it  he  was  always  willing  to  give  or  take  up 
a  challenge  to  discuss.  He  kept  a  thorough  grasp 
of  whatever  knowledge  appealed  to  his  understanding 
and  had  it  always  ready  for  use. 

When  he  gave  himself  the  rein,  usually  in  dialogue, 
he    spoke    consecutively,    forcefully    and     clearly, 
arguing  at  times  with  vehemence  and  energy,  though 
as  a  rule  briefly.     A  more  interesting  talker,  sober- 
minded  but  fearless,  or  a  more  logical  disputant, 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  find.     There  was 
not  the  slightest  arrogance  in  his  intellectual  attitude, 
though  he  was  little  tolerant  of  principles  or  persons 
that  did  not  harmonize  with  his  own  views.     He 
was  sceptical  both  from  choice  and  inborn  caution. 
Despite  his   varying  moods  he  was   at  all  times 
prepared  to  meet  those  who  would  debate  abstract 
questions  on  a  footing  of  absolute  equality,  listening 
with  eager  attention  to  new  facts  or  new  inter- 
pretations.    In    most    circumstances     his    manner 
discovered  a  modest  diffidence,  even  when  his  fun- 
damental doctrines  were  assailed.     He  was  always 
most  gracious  and  considerate  to  the  very  young 
man,  whose  enthusiasms  he  criticized  with  a  generous 
simplicity    conveying    no    hint    of    the    legitimate 
authority  to  which  his  age,  ability  and  experience 
fully  entitled  him.     His  good  nature  was,  I  fear, 
not  infrequently  abused ;    but  never  at  any  time 


INTRODUCTION  xi 

or  under  any  provocation  did  he  become  in  the 
least  rufHed  by  trespasses  of  this  kind. 

David  Syme  has  often  been  described  as  cold, 
stern,  severe,  and  choleric  ;  though  these  epithets 
were  much  more  in  vogue  during  the  early  years 
of  The  Age,  when  nothing  but  indomitable  resolu- 
tion stood  between  him  and  the  wreck  of  his  hopes. 
There  was  some  justification  for  general  impres- 
sions of  this  order,  since  his  was  always  the  reserved 
demeanour  of  a  self-centred  man.  A  glance  at 
the  sad  story  of  his  childhood  and  youth  discloses 
the  circumstances  in  which  he  put  on  an  armour 
worn  for  the  rest  of  his  life.  Nor  was  the  world 
kind  to  him  until  after  he  had  reached  middle  life. 
Robbed  and  deserted  by  his  mate  when  apparently 
dying  in  the  old  diggings  days  (whose  traditions 
of  this  kind  relate  almost  wholly  to  chivalrous 
sacrifices),  he  was  not  exceptionally  fortunate  in 
anything  except  his  marriage,  till  once  and  for  all 
his  nature  had  taken  its  ply.  Grim  experiences 
had  made  him  grim,  though  underneath  the  rigour 
of  his  challenging  scrutiny  or  the  shadow  of  his 
frown  was  an  inner  spring  of  warmth  and  tender- 
ness very  near  the  surface  and  quite  easily  set 
free. 

He  was  stern  with  the  strong  until  they  met  him 
fairly,  and  cold  of  necessity  to  most  of  the  mis- 
cellaneous strangers,  faddists,  politicians  and  aspiring 
contributors  who  haunted  his  office  and  dogged 
his  steps.     Passionate  for  his  cause  and  his  paper 


xii  INTRODUCTION 

he  ever  was,  and  so  he  remained  in  all  fortunes. 
Flaming  to  a  white  heat  when  resisted,  thwarted 
or  deceived,  his  emotions  were  usually  associated 
with  principles  or  events  rather  than  with  any 
personal  attachment  or  animus,  though  some  per- 
sons came  in  for  a  full  share  of  his  hostility  when 
actively  connected  with  an  opposing  camp.  He 
was  a  warm  friend,  a  strenuous  partisan,  and  a 
fierce  adversary ;  though  I  do  not  remember  any 
vendetta  that  he  was  not  willing  to  conclude  if 
openly  approached,  and  hardly  an  enemy  with 
whom  he  remained  continuously  on  bad  terms. 
His  estimates  of  men  were  not  high  nor  his  expect- 
ations sanguine.  He  was  always  seeking  in  public 
and  in  private  for  those  who  possessed  sufficient 
ability  to  do  the  work  of  the  country  or  of  his  paper. 
He  was  considerate  to  most  of  them  and  also  ex- 
tremely generous  in  his  own  way  and  at  his  own 
time.  It  is  true,  as  stated  in  the  third  chapter, 
that  *'  he  did  not  meet  many  people  he  reaUy  liked,'* 
yet  he  had  none  but  friendly  feelings  for  most  of 
those  whom  he  distinguished  at  all  from  the  crowd 
in  the  background.  Many  misinterpreted  his  curt 
incisive  remarks  by  way  of  reply  to  first  overtures  ; 
but  he  was  not  harsh  to  any  with  whom  he  was 
often  in  contact.  Hard  trials  had  made  him  sus- 
picious ;  reticent  with  intrusive  strangers,  and 
disdainful  in  the  presence  of  insincerity,  whether 
real  or  imaginary.  All  this  was  for  the  outer 
world. 


INTRODUCTION  idii 

As  he  grew  older  he  grew  more  expansive,  even 
with  strangers,  but  at  every  period  of  my  acquaint- 
ance he  was  extremely  gentle  to  women  and  polite 
with  dignity  to  all  official  or  other  persons  whom 
he  met  socially.  His  mental  vigour,  fired  by  strong 
feelings,  rendered  him  a  doughty  debater  in  his 
own  office  when  discussing  public  policy,  upon 
which  at  any  instant  he  could  become  deeply  stirred. 
Striding  to  and  fro  or  standing  with  beetling  brows 
and  denunciatory  gestures  he  could  pour  forth 
admonitions,  explanations,  and  objurgations  with 
volcanic  violence — ^but  only  in  the  presence  of 
two  or  three  persons.  Speak  in  public  he  would 
not.  It  was  a  torture  to  face  any  audience  how- 
ever amicable.  In  such  cases  he  simply  read  remarks 
carefully  committed  to  paper  ;  a  series  of  ranked 
sentences  marching  straight  forward  with  regular 
strides  direct  to  their  goal. 

An  anxious  writer,  he  hung  jealously  over  his 
sentences,  erasing  the  superfluous  or  inserting  the 
accurate  word.  When  he  says  of  Mr.  G.  P.  Smith, 
"he  could  not  be  called  a  brilliant  writer,  but  he 
had  the  supreme  merit  of  being  able  to  put  his 
points  clearly  and  forcibly,''  he  described  his  own 
ideal.  In  his  books  he  often  attained  it  with  a 
compactness,  weight  and  crystal  clearness  of  ex- 
position that  left  nothing  to  be  desired.  His  own 
writing  upon  the  paper  during  my  experience  was 
limited  to  a  few  short  paragraphs.  A  critical  faculty, 
abnormally  developed  by  exercise  upon  his  staff, 


xiv  INTRODUCTION 

deprived  him  of  the  rapid  flow  required  for  daily 
newspaper  writing,  if  he  ever  possessed  it.  Until 
his  confidence  was  won  every  new  contributor 
was  submitted  to  an  ordeal  by  fire  or  something 
very  like  it.  Every  departure  from  familiar  English, 
every  new  adjective  or  ornamental  phrase,  whether 
happy,  vivid,  or  the  reverse,  was  treated  as  an 
excrescence  and  struck  out  at  sight.  Slowly,  as 
confidence  came,  alterations  diminished.  Probably 
Professor  C.  H.  Pearson  alone  was  spared  this 
surgery  because  of  his  great  reputation,  wealth  of 
ideas  and  literary  finish.  But  even  his  qualities — 
could  he  have  lent  some  of  them  to  the  'prentice 
writer — would  not  have  saved  the  recruit  from 
vigorous  compression,  partly  as  a  discipline  for 
future  guidance.  What  Mr.  Syme  wished  to  see 
in  The  Age  was  exposition  of  argument,  strong, 
terse  and  virile  ;  the  criticism  of  a  severe  censor 
and  the  stinging  irony  of  an  offended  advocate  set 
forth  in  the  simplest  EngUsh.  To  this  high  stan- 
dard he  strove  with  endless  labour  and  pains  to 
bring  his  paper,  sometimes  groaning  in  body  as 
well  as  in  spirit  as  he  sat  for  hours,  blue  pencil  in 
hand,  at  his  self-imposed  task. 

In  spite  of  the  co-operation  of  an  editor  admirably 
qualified  for  editorial  work  and  in  close  touch  with 
his  principal  upon  every  point  of  current  poHtics, 
he  declined  to  release  himself  from  bondage.  During 
the  early  'eighties  he  still  retained  many  other 
duties  of  managerial  and  business  supervision  that 


INTRODUCTION  xv 

could  hardly  have  been  delegated.  As  success 
crowned  his  efforts  he  employed  his  wealth  in  a 
variety  of  investments  designed  not  merely  for 
profit  but  to  assist  in  the  development  of  agriculture 
and  mining.  He  gave  a  large  portion  of  his  time 
and  money  to  farming,  fruit-growing,  irrigation, 
horse-and-cattle  breeding,  in  a  variety  of  experi- 
mental ways  and  on  a  great  scale.  He  was  a  large 
shareholder  in  mining  ventures  of  various  kinds 
in  several  parts  of  the  Commonwealth  and  also 
interested  in  sundry  manufacturing  enterprises, 
inventions,  and  miscellaneous  undertakings. 

At  the  same  time  his  leisure  hours  were  being 
set  apart  for  serious  literature  where  he  traversed 
a  variety  of  fields  of  thought,  economic,  constitu- 
tional, biological  and  psychological,  with  results 
summarized  in  the  later  pages  of  this  volume.  His 
books  were  all  scientific  in  method,  and  in  each  of 
them  he  sought  to  break  new  ground.  He  was  in 
no  instance  a  follower  of  the  authorities  he  examined, 
but  always  a  pioneer  who  had  a  new  step  to  take, 
cautiously  but  boldly,  beyond  the  accepted  doc- 
trines of  his  day.  All  that  I  need  mention  here 
is  that  in  this  direction  alone  he  did  as  much  work 
as  any  Australian  thinker  has  yet  accompUshed, 
and  always  with  a  high  aim.  No  one  can  appre- 
ciate his  life  who  does  not  allow  for  this  versatility. 
Notwithstanding  manifold  business  occupations  his 
intellect  was  applied  to  the  unsolved  problems 
of  his  time  with  patient  labour,  lucidity  of  exposition, 


xvi  INTRODUCTION 

individuality  of  aim  and  cogency  of  argument. 
Remembering  the  many  contrasted  and  exacting 
employments  in  which  his  practical  energies  were 
poured,  we  may  well  marvel  at  the  life  work  he 
accomplished,  quite  apart  from  his  dictatorship 
in  the  Press  and  politics  of  his  State,  and  its  influence 
upon  the  broad  fortunes  of  this  young  Common- 
wealth. 

Needless  to  say,  Mr.  Syme  carefully  studied  and 
chose  his  staff,  and  no  better  proof  of  his  judgment 
can  be  quoted.  His  latest  brief  notes  upon  his 
principal  early  writers,  published  now  for  the  first 
time,  fall  short  of  his  own  comments  upon  them 
when  they  were  actually  by  his  side.  Indeed  all 
the  memoranda  he  has  left  are  subject  to  some 
qualification,  because  they  were  recorded  when 
mists  had  commenced  to  gather  upon  his  memories. 
A  more  cultured,  a  more  richly  endowed  mind 
than  that  of  Dr.  Pearson,  a  style  more  scholarly 
and  more  gracefully  effective,  has  rarely  been 
matched  in  the  journalism  of  our  time  in  any  English- 
speaking  country.  Nor  has  the  Press  of  the  Common- 
wealth enlisted,  to  my  thinking,  such  a  scintillating, 
speculative  intelligence  as  that  of  A.  L.  Windsor, 
expressing  itself  in  such  sinuous,  trenchant  and 
closely-knit  prose.  During  part  of  the  period  in 
which  these  two  remarkable  writers  were  in  fuU 
vigour  there  was  a  third,  whose  name  cannot  be 
omitted,  the  ever-varying,  humorous  Bohemian 
artist  of  genius  and  frailty — Marcus  Clarke.  Though 


INTRODUCTION  xvii 

doing  scant  justice  to  either  gifts  or  opportunities 
here  or  elsewhere,  he  sparkled  through  many  columns 
with  a  lightness  of  touch  and  brightness  of  colour 
separated  by  gulfs  from  the  quaker  drab  of  the 
adjoining  columns.  There  were  other  capable 
writers  and  interesting  characters  in  The  Age  office 
of  the  'eighties  ;  one,  the  loyal  and  generous  George 
Syme,  who,  except  in  earnest  gravity  and  other 
characteristics  common  to  ''  brither  Scots,''  bore 
little  resemblance  to  his  brother  David.  A  beauti- 
ful conscientiousness,  patient  capacity  and  gentle- 
ness, such  as  he  possessed,  added  little  to  the  pictur- 
esqueness,  but  a  great  deal  to  the  consistency  and 
peace  of  the  office  in  his  day.  Recalling  these 
vanished  men  of  mark  and  speaking  with  bated 
breath  and  whispering  humbleness,  I  sometimes 
ask  whether  any  of  even  the  greatest  papers  of  the 
Empire  to-day  command  writers  capable  of  out- 
shining their  combined  excellence. 

In  yet  another  aspect  the  position  of  The  Age 
in  Victoria  challenged  comparison  with  that  of 
other  papers  within  or  without  Australia.  The 
relations  between  its  proprietor  and  public  men 
were  intimate  to  a  surprising  degree.  He  enjoyed 
their  confidence  in  and  out  of  office,  shaping  their 
programmes  from  time  to  time,  governing  their 
selection  of  colleagues  as  incoming  Premiers  and 
enjoying  afterwards  a  knowledge  of  the  inmost 
secrets  of  Cabinets  often  undisclosed  to  many  of 
the  Ministers  within  them.     Directly  or  indirectly 


xviii  INTRODUCTION 

most  of  the  active  politicians  in  Victoria  took  care 
to  keep  in  touch  with  The  Age  office  ;  though  the 
best  of  them,  even  if  they  belonged  to  its  own 
party,  were  treated  with  no  special  consideration 
•in  its  columns.  It  had  few  if  any  favourites  and 
these  only  for  short  periods,  varjdng  its  poUcy 
regardless  of  their  aims,  whether  private  or  public, 
in  order  to  pursue  its  own  ends.  Taking  all  things 
into  consideration,  the  position  of  the  Age  was 
without  precedent  among  papers  so  far  as  my 
knowledge  goes. 

Mr.  Syme  himself  shrank  from  personal  pub- 
licity partly  from  reasons  of  temperament.  He 
was  a  little  proud  of  passing  unknown  among 
fellow-citizens  to  whom  he  was  rather  a  legendary 
being  than  a  creature  of  flesh  and  blood.  On  the 
other  hand,  he  delighted  always  and  everywhere 
in  displaying  the  influence  of  The  Age  upon  the 
electors  and  upon  the  Legislature  ;  perfectly  con- 
tent to  sink  his  own  identity  in  the  prestige  of  his 
paper,  emphasizing  his  own  aloofness  and  its  close 
participation  in  all  the  doings  and  undoings  of  the 
day.  None  the  less,  a  pohtical  plot  was  a  dehght, 
and  a  crisis  the  cUmax  of  his  joys,  when  the  journaUst 
in  him  obtained  for  a  season  the  upper  hand  of  the 
severe  stage-manager,  carefuUy  posted  behind  the 
scenes.  But  even  as  a  propagandist,  whose  joy 
of  Uving  increased  with  the  intensity  of  the  struggle 
in  which  he  was  engaged,  Mr.  Syme  stood  back 
self-suppressed,  whenever  this  seemed  wise  in  the 


INTRODUCTION  xix 

interests  of  his  journal.  In  stormy  seasons  his 
sanctum  became  a  political  confessional,  and  few 
there  were  who  received  complete  absolution  at 
his  hands.  While  the  atmosphere  was  charged 
with  electricity  he  remained  master  of  himself, 
courteous  to  the  astute  sounders  of  his  intentions 
but  never  relaxing  his  demands  in  the  matter  of 
policy.  No  party  leader  ever  satisfied  him  long  ; 
no  programme  was  sufficiently  ample  for  his  appe- 
tite ;  no  advances  went  far  enough  or  fast  enough 
to  gratify  him  in  the  old  days.  His  ambition  for 
The  ^g^was  to  see  it  conducting  a  continuous  cam- 
paign of  resounding  victories  won  with  or  from 
either  side  as  occasion  offered.  The  legislation  he 
desired  he  seized,  whether  it  came  as  flotsam,  jetsam, 
or  cargo  delivered  in  due  course,  so  long  as  it 
could  be  added  to  the  trophies  of  his  multifarious 
activities. 

Since  Kinglake's  fascinating  picture  of  The  Times 
and  of  the  part  played  by  its  great  editor  during 
the  war  in  the  Crimea,  potent  newspapers  and 
those  responsible  for  them  may  be  said  to  have 
entered  into  history.  Even  correspondents,  when 
men  of  remarkable  ability  like  the  late  M.  de 
Blowitz  in  Europe,  and  the  gifted  Australian  Dr. 
Ernest  Morrison — (to-day  The  Times  correspondent 
in  the  Far  East) — have  attained  a  quasi-ambassa- 
dorial authority,  occasionally  overshadowing  accre- 
dited representatives  of  the  King.  Having  regard 
to  the  isolation  of  AustraUa  and  the  smallness  of 


XX  INTRODUCTION 

its  population,  it  may  easily  be  understood  why 
the  influence  of  The  Age,  while  it  was  the  mouth- 
piece of  Mr.  David  Syme,  placed  him  in  a  position 
of  greater  supremacy  and  endowed  him  with  more 
prestige  here  than  were  attained  in  our  time  and 
in  similar  circumstances  by  any  pubUcist  in  the 
Empire. 

Perhaps  the  most  exceptional  illustration  of  the 
power  of  The  Age  and  its  function  in  politics  was 
supplied  by  the  agitation  against  the  then  Railway 
management  of  Victoria,  begun  in  its  columns  and 
culminating  in  the  historic  case  of  Speight  v  Syme. 
If  there  be  any  parallels  to  this  besides  that  sup- 
plied by  the  famous  "  Parnell  Commission,*'  when 
the  charges  made  by  The  Times  in  1887  were  tried, 
so  to  speak,  before  the  whole  Empire  and  indeed 
before  all  civilized  peoples,   I   do  not  recall  and 
have  not  time  to  search  for  them.     Nor  need  I 
repeat  the  history  of  that  case,  which  is  included 
in  this  volume.    Towards  the  close  of  that  extra- 
ordinary   State    trial    when    the    enormous    costs, 
incurred  and  imminent,    threatened  the    financial 
standing  of  Mr.  Syme  and  the  future  of  The  Age, 
an  incident  occurred  which  illuminates  his  character 
and  ambitions  while  it  also  explains  the  authority 
achieved  by  the  paper.    Towards  the  middle  of 
the  second  hearing  of  the  case   another  offer  of 
compromise  was  made  confidentially  on  behalf  of 
the  plaintiff  so  attractive  in  itself  and  coming  at 
a  time  so  critical  for  Mr.  Syme  that  it  was  thought 


INTRODUCTION  xxi 

advisable  for  me  to  see  him.   Mr.  J.  L.  Purves,  K.C., 
was  my  leader,  when,  as  second  counsel  and  also 
as  a  friend,  it  became  necessary  for  me  to  learn 
Mr.   Syme's  mind.     A  final  resolution  had  to  be 
taken.     At  the  time  he  formed  it  we  were  alone. 
It   must   be   recollected  that   he   was   not   only 
fighting  Mr.  Speight  but  a  battalion  of  opponents 
behind  him  who  had  adopted  the  defence  of  that 
able  and  courageous  man,  partly  from  sympathy 
but  chiefly  in  order  to  cripple  the  Liberal  paper 
and  the  proprietor,  who  had  so  often  triumphed 
over  them  and  their  party.     The  jury  were  still, 
so  far  as  we  knew,   undecided ;    anything  might 
happen  before  the  evidence  closed  affecting  enough 
of  them  to  bring  about  a  decision  ruinous  to  him 
and  perhaps  permanently  staining  the  record  of 
his  paper.     The  terms  tendered  were  most  favour- 
able, for  both  the  purses  open  to  Mr.  Speight  and 
his   own   resources    were    almost    exhausted.     The 
Age  was  to  make  neither  withdrawal  nor  apology, 
but  simply  to  admit  that   the  plaintiff  was  not 
personally   responsible    for   many   of   the    railway 
blunders  alleged  and  that  his  general  abiUty  and 
integrity    were    not    impaired.    The    articles    were 
to  stand  as  pubHshed  and  remain  uncontradicted. 
The  Age  simply  exonerating  its  opponent  from  such 
incapacity  or  negligence  as  would  disqualify  him 
from  appointment  elsewhere.     Each  party  was  to 
pay  his  own  costs.     For  a  time  Mr.  Syme,  weighing 
his  load  of  crushing  responsibilities,  was  tempted— 


xxii  INTRODUCTION  ^      ^ 

as  well  he  might  have  been— by  an  offer  that  left 
him  the  victor,  consenting  to  nothing  except  the 
escape  of  an  adversary  who  left  him  in  possession 
of  the  field.  So  far  as  the  conditions  affected  Mr. 
Speight  only  there  was  nothing  in  them  which 
weighed  with  Mr.  Syme  in  the  last  resort.  Great 
persuasion  had  been  employed  by  many  friends 
to  induce  him  to  avoid  further  risks,  since  his  chal- 
lenge of  the  Railway  system  of  management  had 
been  justified  in  the  trial. 

His  last  question  to  me,  when  all  other  matters 
had  been  satisfactorily  disposed  of,  was  whether 
this  admission  of  Mr.  Speight's  personal  freedom 
from  reproach  in  certain  cases  would  not  be  inter- 
preted as  in  effect  cancelling  some  of  the  charges 
made  against  him.  Would  not  a  settlement  on 
such  terms  afford  foothold  for  animadversions  upon 
the  reputation  of  the  paper  ?  He  knew  it  would. 
I  had  to  admit  as  much.  There  was  a  moment's 
pause.  Then,  nodding  assent,  he  flung  down  the 
paper-knife  he  was  holding  as  if  it  were  a  gage  of 
battle,  saying  fiercely  and  finally  that  he  would 
sacrifice  all  he  possessed  rather  than  leave  the 
reputation  of  The  Age  to  the  jibes  of  his  enemies. 

Such  was  David  Syme,  as  I  knew  him,  with  all 
disguises  laid  aside.  The  reputation  of  his  paper 
was  dearer  to  him  than  wealth  and  perhaps  dearer 
than  life.  Because  he  was  a  man  of  this  type, 
whose  sphere  of  influence  in  our  public  affairs  was 
of  the  widest,  he  takes  his  place  among  the  greatest 


INTRODUCTION  xxiii 

personalities  who  have  made  the  Australia  of  1908 
and  in  a  large  measure  continue  to  shape  its  coming 
destinies.  For  my  own  part,  I  remember  among 
them  no  more  masterful,  no  more  influential  figure. 


PREFACE 

Of  all  the  losses  Australia  has  yet  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  the  Dark  Angel,  none  more  nearly  concerns 
the  vigorous  young  nation  than  that  of  David  Syme. 
For  Syme  was  The  Age,  and  for  nearly  half  a  century 
there  has  been  no  influence  so  potent  in  Australian 
public  life  as  that  of  The  Age.  Syme  was  the  owner 
and  dictator  of  that  autocratic  journal.  He  directed 
its  policy  and  ruled  its  destiny  ;  he  founded  its  for- 
tunes and  created  its  power.  For  almost  fifty  years 
he  was  the  most  powerful  person  in  Australia  ;  it 
therefore,  cannot  be  seriously  questioned  that  to  the 
Commonwealth  his  death  is  a  matter  of  national 
concern  in  the  fullest  sense. 

Syme  did  not  become  a  journalist  until  approach- 
ing middle  age.  He  was  urged  to  the  step  by  an 
irresistible  desire  to  ameliorate  the  conditions  of  the 
working  classes  of  the  newly-made  colony  of  Victoria. 
He  had  toiled  among  the  people  as  a  miner.  He 
knew  them  and  sympathized  with  them  most  deeply. 
In  order  to  serve  them  he  embarked  the  little  for- 
tune he  had  made  in  the  mining  field  in  purchasing 
The  Age,  at  that  time  the  only  democratic  journal 
in  Australia,  and  a  paper  which,  though  ably  con- 

XXV 


xxvi  PREFACE 

ducted,  was  hastening  to  its  ruin,  chiefly  for  lack 
of  funds.  Syme  was  therefore  from  the  start  not 
merely  a  writer  and  an  editor,  but  a  proprietary 
journalist.  He  brought  to  his  new  concern  a  talent 
for  writing,  an  exceptional  capacity  for  organization 
and  an  untried  but  profound  business  sagacity. 
But  above  all  he  brought  to  his  work  a  high  ideal, 
an  unflinching  courage,  an  unquenchable  tenacity 
of  purpose,  and  an  iron  will.  These  were  his  most 
striking  and  unfailing  personal  characteristics. 

As  a  historic  Australian  figure,  Syme  must  be 
judged  by  what  he  accomplished  as  a  journalist. 
He  cannot  be  separated  from  The  Age.  The  measure 
of  that  journal's  achievements  is  the  measure  of  his 
success  in  life.  It  is  the  purpose  of  these  pages  to 
discover  the  exact  nature  of  his  success.  I  do  not 
think  it  will  be  found  that  he  ever  did  a  public  act 
except  from  a  public  motive ;  or  that  the  public 
motives  which  inspired  him  were  ever  tinged  with 
selfish,  personal  or  passionate  considerations.  I 
think  that  no  other  man  set  in  a  great  place  has 
ever  more  nearly  attained  to  the  high  ideal  fixed  as 
his  guiding  star  than  Syme.  His  identification  with 
The  Age  was  complete — absolute,  indeed.  He  was 
personally  responsible  for  everything  appearing  in 
its  columns.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  he  was  the 
author  of  more  than  a  small  proportion  of  its  articles  . 
but  he  read  almost  every  paragraph  before  it  was 
inserted,  and  he  regulated  all  the  leading  matter. 
It  is  consequently  unnecessary  to  distinguish  be- 


PREFACE  xxvii 

tween  the  credit  due  to  him  for  the  success  of  The 
Age  and  that  due  to  those  associated  with  him  in 
its  editing  and  management.  He  has  always  been 
well  served  by  his  subordinates.  His  two  most 
distinguished  editors,  Mr.  A.  L.  Windsor  and  Mr. 
G.  F.  H.  Schuler  (the  latter  of  whom  still  occupies 
the  chair),  were  men  of  Liberal  spirit,  political 
judgment  and  literary  ability  ;  and  some  of  his 
leader-writers,  such  as  Professor  Pearson  and  Mr. 
Benjamin  Hoare,  enjoyed  extra- Australian  repu- 
tations. But  it  was  Syme  who  chose  them  all,  and 
it  was  he  who  controlled  their  efforts  and  guided 
their  pens. 

As  a  journalist  Syme  was  noteworthy  for  his 
energy  and  his  alertness  of  mind.  Apart  from  pro- 
fessing politics  he  neglected  nothing  to  make  The 
Age  3.  great  newspaper  :  that  is  to  say,  a  great  and 
trustworthy  collector  of  news.  Perhaps  his  supreme 
journalistic  faculty  was  perseverance.  When  he 
had  arranged  a  policy  or  determined  upon  a  reform 
he  moved  towards  his  object  on  lines  peculiarly 
his  own.  He  never  preached  at  his  readers.  His 
first  step  was  to  announce  clearly  and  lucidly  his 
ideas  and  to  couch  his  announcement  in  a  form  that 
assumed,  however  startlingly  original  his  views,  that 
he  was  merely  expressing  a  settled  public  opinion. 
There  was  no  hurry,  no  flurry,  no  forcing,  no  im- 
patience. He  was  often  greeted  with  an  outburst 
of  popular  derision.  He  ignored  it,  and  when  it  was 
over  he  returned  placidly  to  the  charge.     The  pro- 


xxviii  PREFACE 

cess  often  extended  over  years.  But  gradually  his 
ideas  fertilized.  Each  reiteration  made  them  a 
little  more  definite,  a  little  more  familiar,  a  little 
more  acceptable.  With  marvellous  tact  and  skill, 
and  an  engaging  air  of  detached  indifference,  he 
invariably  persisted  until,  at  last,  what  had  formerly 
been  scouted  as  absurd  came  to  be  regarded  as 
sensible,  and  "  sensible  *'  became  a  synonym  for 
"  inevitable,' 'and  his  ideas  with  all  their  consequences 
were  publicly  embraced. 

In  such  a  fashion  he  won  all  his  unique  political 
triumphs.  And  he  never  boasted  of  them.  The 
Age  never  said,  "  I  told  you  so."  Syme  was  far 
too  wise  for  that.  He  knew  that  in  order  to  keep 
his  hold  permanently  upon  the  public  he  must  merge 
his  identity  in  The  Age  and  the  identity  of  The  Age 
in  the  sensitive  spirit  of  popular  opinion. 

Outside  of  journalism  Syme's  life  was  one  of 
almost  Puritanical  simplicity.  During  his  latter 
years  he  multiplied  his  commercial  interests.  He 
became  a  pastoralist  on  a  considerable  scale,  an 
agriculturist  on  a  large  one.  At  one  of  his  farms 
he  milked  300  dairy  cows  a  day.  He  became  a  large 
fruit-grower  and  an  extensive  experimental  culti- 
vator of  fodder  grasses — an  enterprise,  the  latter, 
which  he  pursued  less  for  his  own  advantage  than 
for  the  public  weal.  In  all  these  concerns  he  took 
a  keen  personal  interest  and  strove  to  render  each 
a  financial  success.  Yet  he  found  time  to  be  a  great 
reader  and  to  write  several  books.     Socially  he  was 


PREFACE  XXIX 

extremely  retiring.  He  spent  the  whole  of  his 
leisure  hours  at  home  with  his  family.  He  seldom 
attended  a  theatre  or  other  place  of  popular  amuse- 
ment :  and  it  was  very  rarely  that  he  devoted  an 
evening  to  social  entertainment  except  in  his  own 
home.  Most  men  thought  him  the  embodiment 
of  coldness  and  austerity.  He  seldom  or  never 
unbent  even  to  his  most  intimate  acquaintances. 
Yet  he  was  neither  cold  nor  austere.  He  loved  all 
created  things.  He  had  a  heart  of  gold  for  his 
friends  and  for  the  poor,  the  afflicted  and  the  miser- 
able. He  was  intensely  reserved,  and  so  diffident 
that  he  could  seldom  bring  himself  to  volunteer  a 
service,  but  he  never  refused  one.  All  his  charities 
were  committed  with  the  stealth  of  sins.  He  feared 
to  be  found  out.  He  hated  to  be  talked  about. 
One  day  a  member  of  his  staff  came  to  him  and  in- 
formed him  that  he  was  about  to  be  married.  "  Very 
good,*'  said  Syme.  The  journalist  plucked  up 
courage  and  said,  ''  I  wonder  if  you  would  make  me 
an  advance  of  £ioo  against  my  salary.*'  Syme 
was  writing.  He  seemed  not  to  hear.  The  journal- 
ist repeated  his  request.  Syme  looked  up.  ''  No,*' 
he  answered,  then  extended  a  piece  of  paper.  *'  Hand 
this  to  the  young  lady — as  a  wedding  gift  from 

me — but  Mr.   understand  me — do  not  let 

the  matter  be  mentioned.''     It  was  a  cheque  for 
£ioo. 

The  bent  of  Syme's  mind  was  intensely  serious. 
It  was  impossible  for  him  to  indulge  in  the  slightest 


XXX  PREFACE 

frivolity.  He  was  fond  of  children  and  liked  to 
listen  unseen  to  their  prattle  and  to  observe  them 
merry-making,  but  he  could  not  play  with  them 
and  never  made  overt  demonstrations  of  affection 
even  to  his  own  offspring.  He  despised  romances 
and  he  regarded  novel-reading  as  a  sort  of  drug 
habit,  something  very  much  akin  to  a  vice.  He 
took  his  mental  relaxation  in  the  study  of  abstruse 
problems  of  philosophy,  natural  history  or  the 
economic  sciences.  All  his  reading  was  serious 
and  regulated  with  a  thought  to  improve  his  mental 
furnishing  for  the  public  good.  While  lying  on  his 
death-bed  he  wrote  a  letter  to  The  Age  containing 
a  valuable  suggestion  concerning  the  vexed  question 
of  a  site  for  the  New  Melbourne  Hospital.  The 
letter  was  published  anonymously,  but  the  suggestion 
it  embodied  was  almost  immediately  adopted  by 
the  Premier  of  Victoria.  In  the  last  days  of  his 
final  illness  he  suffered  greatly,  but  bore  his  pain 
with  stoic  fortitude.  There  came  intervals  of  un- 
consciousness, but  save  for  them,  and  in  spite  of 
his  extreme  physical  prostration,  his  intellectual 
vitality  continued  unimpaired  to  the  end  :  and  his 
interest  in  The  Age — that  darling  child  of  his  brain — 
never  abated.  One  of  his  last  acts  was  to  get 
his  attendant  to  read  aloud  to  him  the  current 
leading  articles,  which  he  criticized  in  a  manner 
that  proclaimed  the  indestructible  ardour  and  vigour 
of  his  mind.  His  last  thought  was  for  the  State 
which  he  had  served  so  well  and  for  which  he  had 


PREFACE  XXXI 

laboured  so  unselfishly,  and  almost  with  his  latest 
breath  he  voiced  an  aspiration  for  the  welfare  of  his 
countrymen. 

AMBROSE  PRATT. 
Melbourne,  1908. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

David  Syme Frontispiece 

Melbourne,  1839 Facing  page    14 

Melbourne  Wool  Store,  1851           .         .         .  „        „     28 

Melbourne,  1853   .         .         .         .         .         .  „        ,,     32 

Ballarat :    Gold  Diggers.     Issuing  Licences     .  „        ,.34 

George  Syme „        „     48 

Ebenezer  Syme     .         .         .         .         .         .  ,,         ,,67 

David  S)mie,  1856 „        ,,69 

Old  "  Age "  Office,  Elizabeth  Street       .         .  „         „     83 

David  Syme,  1861 „        „    118 

Melbourne,  1871  .          .         .         .         .         .  ,,         ,,    146 

Cartoon  published  on  Mr.  Syme's  Death         .  ,,         „    174 

Corner  of  Collins  and  Elizabeth  Streets     .         .  ,,        „   194 

David  Syme,  1880 „        „   212 

Melbourne,  1908    .         .                   .         .         .  „        „   220 

Melbourne,  1908    ......„„   222 

David  Syme's  Sanctum  at  the  "  Age  '*  Office   .  ,,      „   230 
The  "  Age  "  Office  To-day     ....„„   246 

David  Syme  in  1907 „        „   266 

David  Syme's  House  at  Lily  dale     .         .         .  „        „   282 

View  of  David  Syme's  Lily  dale  Estate     .         .  „         „   304 

"  Blythswood,"  David  Syme's  House  at  Kew  „        ,,314 


xxziu 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

INTRODUCTION.     By  Hon.  Alfred  Deakin     .         .        v 
Preface xxv 

CHAPTER    I 
Boyhood  and  Early  Youth i 

Birth  and  Parentage — His  brothers — David  S5nne's  peculiar  educa- 
tion— Parental  sternness — The  unhappy  conditions  of  his 
childhood — His  father's  disposition — Anecdote — His  school 
days — Home  life — Local  churches  and  their  Ministers — The 
Free  Kirk — An  election  incident — Fiscal  question  ;  the  Big  Loaf 
and  the  Little  Loaf — Father's  death — Religious  training — Doc- 
trine— Studies — Becomes  an  Oriental  linguist — His  European 
travels — Heidelberj;, — Becomes  a  journalist — Goes  to  California 
— Stormy  Voyage — Condition  of  San  Francisco — Mining 
Experiences — Sails  for  Australia — Hardships  of  voyage — 
Arrives  in  Melbourne. 

CHAPTER    II 
First  Impressions  of  Victoria 29 

Melbourne  in  1853 — Syine  leaves  for  Castlemaine — Adventure  on 
the  road — Bendigo — Korong — Illness — Deserted  by  his  com- 
panion— Beechworth — Adventure  with  Bushrangers — To 
Daylesford — Ballarat — Works  hard  as  miner — ^Bad  luck — 
Goes  to  Mount  Egerton — ^Takes  up  valuable  claim — Mine 
jumped — Invader  expelled — Mine  again  jumped — Efforts  to 
secure  redress  at  law  unsuccessful — Extent  of  his  misfortune 
— Gives  up  mining  in  disgust — Returns  to  Melbourne — The 
trials  of  the  gold  diggers — Bad  government  and  its  effects. 

XZXT 


xxxvi  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   III  PAGE 

The  Age  and  its  Early  Editors         ....       45 

Syme  joins  his  brother  Ebenezer — ^The  two  brothers  buy  The 
Age — How  The  Age  was  started — Ebenezer  in  politics — David 
doubtful  of  the  success  of  The  A  ge — David  temporarily  gives 
up  journalism  and  becomes  a  contractor — Oppressed  by  an 
engineer — The  art  of  tendering  for  contracts — ^Marriage — 
Death  of  Ebenezer — David  gives  up  contracting  and  assumes 
control  of  The  Age — His  reasons — Hardships  of  journalism — 
His  health  fails — Adventures  with  physicians — ^The  Boycotts 
— Protectionist  headway — His  fighting  policy — ^The  first 
editors  of  The  Age — G.  P.  Smith— Judge  Fellowes — A.L 
Windsor — Professor  Pearson — The  key  to  the  success  of  The 
Age — Sir  James  McCulloch — Richard  Seddon. 

CHAPTER    IV 
The  Land  Struggle 66 

Politic£il  condition  of  Victoria  in  1856 — Government  extravagance 
and  incapacity — The  land  question — Dr.  Lang's  letter — Mr. 
Howitt's  picture  of  the  evil — The  origin  of  the  squatters'  land 
monopoly — The  Orders  in  Council  explained — The  country 
locked  up — ^The  people  denied  access  to  the  land — The  Age 
champions  the  people's  cause — Its  challenge  to  the  monopolists 
— ^The  battle  begins — The  First  Parliament  elected — The 
Haines  Ministry — The  first  victory  of  The  Age — The  campaign 
for  Manhood  Suffrage — Haines  defeated — The  Age  attacks 
O'Shanassy  and  Duffy — The  Age  boycotted  by  the  merchants — 
The  squatters  pretend  they  own  The  Age — ^The  Liberal  Party 
increases  in  strength — The  Nicholson  Government — The  Nichol- 
son Land  Bill  and  the  squatters — The  squatters  in  the  Council 
reject  the  measure — The  invasion  of  Parliament  by  the  mob — 
Ebenezer  Syme's  death — David  Syme  carries  on  the  struggle 
alone — He  appeals  to  the  merchants  to  support  the  people's 
claims — The  Conference — The  Nicholson  Land  Bill  passes — 
The  Act  a  pernicious  failure — The  Heales  Government — 
Occupation  Licences — The  Duke  of  Newcastle's  despatch — 
The  electoral  campaign  of  1861 — The  squatters  buy  votes 
and  falsify  the  rolls — Mr.  Duffy's  Land  Act  and  its  defects — 
"  Dummying  "  and  its  consequences — Duffy's  pension — The 
Grant  Land  Act  of  1864 — The  land  questions  suspended  by 
the  Constitutional  contest — The  Land  Act  of  1869 — Its  effects 
— The  gradual  aggregation  in  recent  years  of  large  estates — 
David  Syme's  policy  of  yeoman  settlement — The  Land  Act  of 
1898 — ^The  condition  of  Victoria  to-day — The  land  question 
still  an  important  issue — David  Syme's  latest  proposals  ;  com- 
pulsory purchase  and  a  Land  Tax — ^The  prospects  of  the 
future. 


CONTENTS  xxxvii 

CHAPTER   V  PAGE 

The  Beginning  of  Protection 114 

David  Syme's  statecralt — His  national  ideal — The  necessity  of 
manufactures — ^The  industrial  condition  of  Victoria  in  1859 — 
The  importers  and  the  squatters — The  established  order 
attacked  by  The  Age — The  principles  of  Cobdenism  assailed  and 
refuted — ^The  duty  of  the  State — First  effects  of  David  Syme's 
advocacy  of  Protection — Ridicule — The  laughter  ceases — 
The  question  studied  by  the  people — Converts — The  importers 
become  alarmed — The  trials  of  The  Age  begin. 

CHAPTER   VI 
The  Personal  Issue 129 

The  cause  of  Protection  dependent  on  David  Syme — "  David  Syme 
must  be  destroyed  " — The  Age  is  boycotted — Attempts  of 
importers  to  bribe  David  Syme  to  alter  his  policy — Paper 
forced  to  exist  on  its  circulation — Price  reduced — Circulation 
increases,  influence  grows — The  rushes — Importers  conspire 
with  the  O'Shanassy  Government  to  ruin  The  Age — Govern- 
ment joins  in  the  Boycott — Brings  in  a  Libel  Bill  expressly 
designed  to  gag  The  Age — Further  efforts  to  stem  the  tide  of 
Protectionist  opinion — Triumph  of  The  Age. 

CHAPTER    VII 
The  Constitutional  Issue 139 

The  Premier,  James  McCulloch,  converted  to  Protection — Strong 
Protectionist  Government — Protection  found  to  be  impossible 
until  Legislative  Council  reformed — First  Protectionist  Tariff 
introduced — Passes  Assembly,  rejected  by  Council — Tariff 
"  tacked  "  to  Appropriation  Bill  and  returned  to  Council — 
Again  rejected — Business  of  country  at  standstill — McCulloch 's 
expedient — Tariff  Bill  again  submitted  to  Council — Again 
rejected — Dissolution  granted — General  election — McCulloch 
returns  to  office  with  great  Protectionist  majority — Tariff 
Bill  sent  to  Council — Again  rejected — McCulloch  resigns — 
McCulloch  resumes  office — Tariff  Bill  for  the  fourth  time  sent 
to  Council — Council  consents  to  a  conference  and  at  length 
Tariff  agreed  to — The  rage  of  the  importers — They  secure  a 
victim — The  Governor  recalled  by  Downing  Street — Parliament 
votes  a  grant  of  ;^20,ooo  to  Sir  Charles  Darling's  wife — Council 
refuses  to  pass  the  measure — Constitutional  struggle  renewed 
— Bill  again  submitted  to  Council,  and  again  rejected — 
Pi3SQlution — Downing  Street  interferes  to  support  the  CQundl — 


xxxviii  CONTENTS 

PAGE 
— Government  resigns — Great  public  turmoil — No  Govern- 
ment— Downing  Street,  alarmed,  recants  its  instructions, 
but  despatch  withheld — McCulloch  resumes  office,  again 
resigns — ^The  Sladen  Ministry — Its  ineptitude — Downing 
Street  pays  Sir  Charles  Darling  a  large  pension  and  reinstates 
him  in  order  to  allay  the  pubHc  anger  in  Victoria — McCulloch 
returns  to  office  and  forces  the  Council  to  reform  its  constitu- 
tion on  Liberal  lines. 

CHAPTER   VIII 
Protection  Accomplished 154 

The  Age  predominant  in  Victorian  politics  as  a  result  of  Constitu- 
tional struggle — David  Syrae  reduces  the  price  of  his  paper — 
Growth  of  its  influence — The  importers  give  up  the  Boycott — 
Syme  not  satisfied  with  the  Tariff — New  campaign  for 
complete  Protection — McCulloch  becomes  Conservative — 
Hurled  from  power — "  King  David  " — The  Duffy  Government 
— The  Francis  Government — The  Kerferd  Government — The 
Berry  Government — McCulloch  returns  to  office — His  intrigues 
— The  Age  denounces  him  and  procures  his  defeat — Mr.  Berry 
becomes  Premier  and  reforms  the  Tariff — The  opposition  of 
the  Council — Black  Wednesday — Syme  and  the  Governor — 
Syme  and  the  Cabinet — The  fight  renewed — General  elec- 
tions— The  Council  reformed — Protection  accomplished — 
The  Berry  Tariff  really  Syme's  Tariff — Its  secret  history — 
Secret  history  of  formation  of  Service — Berry  Coalition — 
David  Syme's  patriotism  and  how  it  benefited  the  state. 

CHAPTER    IX 
The  Effects  of  Protection  in  Victoria    .         .         .     176 

New  South  Wales  and  Victoria  compared — The  elements  of  progress 
— The  test  of  the  arts  and  sciences — The  education  test — The 
population  test — The  industrial  test — The  test  of  accumulated 
wealth — The  test  of  diffusion  of  wealth — The  cost  of  living 
test — The  tests  and  comparisons  reviewed — David  Syme's 
life  work  vindicated. 

CHAPTER    X 
The  Struggle  against  Extravagance         .         .         .196 

The  growth  of  extravagance — Land  speculations — Causes  of  the 
"  Boom  " — Methods  of  the  "  boomsters  " — Folly  of  the 
Banks — The  demoralization  of  Parliament — Log-rolling — 
Railway  spendthriftism — Colony  hurrying  to  its  ruin — David 
Syme  resolves  to  save  it — The  magnitude  of  the  task — He 


CONTENTS  xxxix 

PAGE 
attacks  the  Government  and  vigorously  assails  railway  admin- 
istration— Execrated  by  the  whole  country  but  continues  his 
task — Forces  people  to  stop  and  think — The  "  Boom  "  bursts — 
Government  hurled  from  office — Parliament  dismisses  the 
railway  commissioners — Mr.  Speight  brings  libel  action  against 
David  Syme  claiming  ;^2 5,000  damages — The  greatest  libel 
action  of  modern  times — Offers  of  compromise — David  Syme's 
reply — Tributes  paid  to  his  public  services  by  Mr.  Purves, 
K.C.,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Deakin — Turner's  History  of  Victoria — 
The  benefits  to  Victoria  of  the  struggle — The  cost  to  Mr.  Syme 
— The  aftermath  of  the  "  Boom  " — Victoria's  wonderful  recovery. 

CHAPTER    XI 
Democratic  Legislation 219 

David  Syme's  consistency — Education  system — Manhood  Suffrage 
— State  aid  to  religion — Old  age  pensions — Water  conserva- 
tion— Anti-sweating  laws — Factories  Acts — Income-tax — 
Indeterminate  Sentences. 

CHAPTER    XII 
Federation  and  Afterwards 226 

David  Syme's  part  in  promoting  Federation — The  elections  for 
the  last  Federal  convention — David  Syme  selects  ten  delegates 
and  Victoria  approves  his  choice — After  Federation  The  Age 
eschews  provincialism  and  preaches  nationalism — The  first 
Australian  Tariff  not  Protective — Campaign  for  high  Pro- 
tection— David  Syme  and  Mr.  Reid — The  Tariff  Commission — 
David  Syme  forces  on  the  fiscal  issue — Triumph  of  his  policy 
at  the  elections — Australia  a  Protectionist  country — Mr.  Syme 
and  the  "  new  "  Protection — The  Anti-Trust  Act — The  Age 
and  the  Northern  Territory — National  Defence — The  Age  and 
its  position  in  the  Commonwealth. 

CHAPTER   XIII 
Newspaper  Government 241 

David  Syme's  statesmanlike  qualities — His  fights  with  the  people — 
His  place  in  popular  esteem — His  sacrifices  to  obtain  poUtical 
power — His  power  founded  on  personal  consistency  and 
integrity — The  Age's  circulation — The  Age  rules  the  State  by  a 
process  of  suggestion — Its  unswerving  adherence  to  the  demo- 
cratic cause — King  David's  audience-chamber — Ministries 
made  and  unmade — Political  secrets — James  Munro  and 
David  Syme — Newspaper  Government  essentially  a  democratic 
form  of  rule — Its  defects  and  virtues. 


xl  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER   XIV  PAGE 

Characteristics 253 

David  Syme's  watchword — His  forward-looking — His  national 
ideal — His  ruthlessness — His  kindness  to  Mr.  Speight — The 
mystery  that  surrounded  his  actions — His  religious  beliefs — 
His  capacity  for  hate — His  friendships:  instances  of  gener- 
osity, public  and  private — His  public  benefactions — Anec- 
dotes— Mob  enthusiasm — How  Mr.  Deakin  entered  politics — 
Syme's  sense  of  humour — His  passionate  temper — His  self- 
control — ^The  man  as  he  was — Charge  of  hardness  of  heart 
refuted — ^The  secret  of  his  false  reputation  for  austerity  and 
pride — Syme  and  his  stafi — His  philosophy — Simplicity  the 
key-note  to  his  character. 

CHAPTER    XV 
David  Syme  as  a  Writer 283 

Syme's  Books — Outlines  of  an  Industrial  Science — Its  scope 
and  aim — Representative  Government  in  England — Its  effect 
on  Australian  politics — On  the  modification  of  Organisms — Dar- 
win's theory  of  natural  selection  disputed — The  Soul:  Syme's 
greatest  literary  work — His  power  of  destructive  criticism — 
His  theories  of  design  in  nature — His  theories  of  the  here- 
after— His  lesser  contributions  to  literature — His  place  in 
English  letters. 

CHAPTER    XVI 
Correspondence 291 

Marriage  with  'a  Deceased  Wife's  Sister — Spiritualism,  Theosophy, 
etc. — Robert  Louis  Stevenson — David  Syme's  daily  life — The 
power  of  The  Age — Essay  on  the  working  of  Party  Govern- 
ment— Syme's  ideas  of  the  Press  and  its  functions. 

CHAPTER   XVII 
Death  and  Appreciations 315 


I 


"  I  never  could  see  any  virtue  in  Latssez  faire.  To  let 
things  alone  when  they  had  gone  wrong,  to  render  no 
help  when  help  was  needed,  is  what  no  sane  man 
would  do  with  his  private  estate,  and  what  no  sound 
statesman  would  tolerate  as  a  State  pohcy.  It  is 
simply  an  excuse  for  incapacity  or  inertia  in  affairs 
of  State.  It  is  a  poUcy  of  drift.  It  is  just  what  the 
company  promoter,  the  card  sharper,  the  wife  deserter, 
and  the  burglar  would  like — ^to  be  let  alone.  It  can 
only  lead  to  national  disaster  and  social  degeneration, 
when  carried  out  in  any  community." 

David  Syme. 


xli 


CHAPTER    I 
Boyhood  and   Early  Youth 

Birth  and  parentage — His  brothers — David  Syme's  peculiar  edu- 
cation— Parental  sternness — The  unhappy  conditions  of 
his  childhood — His  father's  disposition — Anecdote — His 
school  days — Home  life — Local  churches  and  their  ministers 
— The  Free  Kirk — An  election  incident — Fiscal  question  : 
the  Big  Loaf  and  the  Little  Loaf — Father's  death — Religious 
training — Doctrine — Studies — Becomes  an  Oriental  linguist 
— His  European  travels — Heidelberg — Becomes  a  journalist 
— Goes  to  California — Stormy  voyage — Condition  of  San 
Francisco — Mining  experiences — Sails  for  Australia — Hard- 
ships of  voyage — Arrives  in  Melbourne. 

David  Syme  was  born  on  the  2nd  of  October,  1827,  at 
North  Berwick,  Haddingtonshire,  one  of  the  Scottish 
Lothians.  His  parents,  George  Syme  and  Jean 
Mitchell,  came  from  Forfarshire  early  in  the  century 
and  settled  in  North  Berwick,  where  the  father  held 
the  position  of  parish  schoolmaster,  ''  passing  rich 
with  forty  pounds  a  year."  How  he  managed  to 
keep  up  an  appearance  of  respectability  and  feed, 
clothe  and  educate  a  large  family  will  seem  little 
short  of  incredible  to  Australians  of  the  present  day. 
Out  of  this  sum  he  even  managed  to  send  three  of  his 
sons  to  a  university,  where  each  passed  through 
the  whole  curriculum  necessary  to  qualify  them  for 


2  DAVID  SYME 

the  medical  and  clerical  professions  for  which  they 
were  intended.  In  addition  to  this  drain  on  his 
resources,  he  was  carrying  on  a  costly  suit  against 
the  local  minister  of  the  Established  Church,  almost 
up  to  the  end  of  his  life,  for  the  case  lasted  some 
fourteen  years,  and  was  settled  only  after  an  appeal 
to  the  highest  Court  in  Scotland.  The  poor  school- 
master ultimately  won,  but  it  was  a  Pyrrhic  victory. 

David  was  the  youngest  of  seven  children,  five 
boys  and  two  girls  :  one  boy  and  one  girl  died  in 
infancy.  His  three  elder  brothers  were  sent  to 
universities,  where  they  passed  creditably.  The 
second,  George,  obtained  the  degree  of  M.A.  at  Aber- 
deen. The  third,  Ebenezer,  served  his  course  at 
St.  Andrews.  James,  the  eldest,  qualified  as  a 
surgeon  at  Glasgow  and  subsequently  practised 
at  Bathgate,  where  he  died  when  quite  young, 
from  an  attack  of  typhus  fever  contracted  while 
attending  a  sick  pauper.  George  and  Ebenezer  were 
educated  for  the  ministry.  The  former  joined  the 
Free  Church  and  was  accepted  as  minister  by  a  con- 
gregation in  Dumfriesshire,  but  afterwards  joined 
the  Baptists  and  for  several  years  held  the  pastorate 
of  a  chapel  in  Nottingham.  Ill-health  forced  him 
to  retire  from  his  office,  and  he  came  to  Australia, 
where  he  was  associated  with  David  on  The  Age 
until  his  death. 

Ebenezer  was  also  educated  for  the  ministry,  but 
after  a  short  experience  abandoned  it  for  the  Press. 
His  first  position  was  that  of  assistant  editor  of  the 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    3 

Westminster  Review,  then  in  the  zenith  of  its  influence. 
This  position  he  held  for  nearly  two  years,  when 
he  resigned,  and  soon  afterwards  joined  David  in 
Melbourne. 

David  had  a  more  varied  career  than  any  of  his 
brothers.  He  was  educated  by  his  father,  who  had 
a  university  training  and  was  an  excellent  Latin 
scholar  ;  but  his  father  dying  when  he  was  sixteen 
years  of  age  he  was  left  to  his  own  resources.  His 
early  training  was  peculiar.  By  the  time  he  should 
have  been  taken  in  hand,  as  his  brothers  had  been, 
his  father  seemed  to  have  lost  all  interest  in  the  educa- 
tion of  his  youngest  boy.  The  lad  had  not  the  hard- 
est of  tasks  put  before  him,  but  he  never  knew 
whether  he  did  a  lesson  creditably  or  not.  Summer 
and  winter  he  had  to  get  out  of  bed  at  7  a.m.  and^ 
go  to  his  books  till  breakfast-time.  He  went  imme- 
diately afterwards  to  school,  where  he  remained  till 
4  p.m.,  with  from  half-an-hour  for  dinner  in  winter 
to  an  hour  in  summer ;  but  no  time  was  allowed  for 
play.  After  a  short  interval  for  tea  he  had  to  turn 
to  lessons  again  till  bed-time.  It  was  dreadful 
drudgery,  and  the  boy's  health  broke  down  under 
it ;  indeed,  he  suffered  from  the  effects  of  this  period 
to  the  last  day  of  his  life.  Added  to  this  he  had  no 
companions,  either  of  his  own  age,  or  of  any  age  at 
all.  His  elder  brothers  were  at  the  university  and 
only  returned  home  occasionally,  and  he  had  no 
opportunity  to  make  acquaintances  amongst  the 
boys  of  his  own  age,  every  attempt  of  this  sort  being 


4  DAVID  SYME 

severely  discouraged.  Had  he  been  able  to  make 
companions  of  his  parents  it  would  have  been  dif- 
ferent, but  there  was  no  companionship  in  that 
quarter.  Duty,  not  love,  except  to  a  certain  extent 
on  the  mother's  part,  was  the  law  of  the  household  ; 
and  there  was  no  room  for  anything  else.  It  would 
have  done  the  lad  good  to  have  had  a  laugh  occa- 
sionally, but  that  was  seldom  permitted,  or  only 
under  protest  on  the  part  of  the  elders,  and  with  a 
sense  of  wrongdoing  on  the  part  of  the  son.  Strange 
as  it  may  seem  to  the  indulged  youth  of  the  present 
day,  there  was  no  intercourse  between  father  and 
son  :  the  father  never  addressed  the  boy  except 
when  ordering  him  to  do  something,  and  the  boy 
never  spoke  to  his  father,  save  in  answer  to  a  question. 
*'  1  must  confess,*'  David  Syme  writes  in  a  letter 
to  the  biographer,  **  that  I  do  not  look  on  those  early 
years  of  my  life  with  much  pleasure.  Evidently 
my  father  had  no  idea  that  it  was  necessary,  or  desir- 
able, that  his  sons  should  find  any  pleasure  in  their 
work,  or  even  in  their  life.  It  is  difficult  for  me, 
even  now,  to  account  for  his  attitude  towards  us 
whom  he  held  at  arms'  length  and  to  whom  he  never 
addressed  a  word  of  encouragement.  Even  an  occa- 
sional approving  smile,  how  welcome  it  would  have 
been  to  me  in  those  days  !  I  have  no  recollection 
of  ever  having  addressed  him  directly  in  my  life, 
even  to  the  extent  of  asking  him  a  question.  If 
the  idea  of  doing  so  ever  entered  my  brain,  I  never 
had  the  courage  to  carry  it  out.     It  had  been  firmly 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    5 

impressed  upon  me  that  I  had  to  do  as  I  was  told 
and  ask  no  questions.  Nor  do  I  remember  that  he 
ever  made  a  compUmentary  remark  to  me  about 
anything  that  I  had  ever  done,  or  had  attempted  to 
do.  If  I  did  anything  well  I  had  to  understand  that 
it  was  only  my  duty  to  do  so,  and  I  had  to  be  satis- 
jfied  with  that.  All  this  did  not  encourage  me  to  do 
my  best,  nor  did  it  tend  to  make  my  life  a  pleasant 
one. 

"  As  I  have  said,  it  was  difficult  to  understand 
my  father's  attitude  towards  us  boys.  He  had 
naturally  a  kind  disposition  :  he  was  a  devoted 
husband,  and  no  one  ever  asked  him  for  help  of  any 
kind  that  he  did  not  freely  give.  He  was  a  sort  of 
legal  adviser  for  all  the  poor  of  the  parish,  there 
being  no  lawyer  in  the  district.  He  was  not  unkind 
to  us,  but  he  certainly  was  inconsiderate.  He 
denied  himself  every  luxury  and  many  of  the  com- 
forts of  life  in  order  that  he  might  have  the  more 
to  spend  on  his  family.  He  could  not  have  done 
more  for  us  as  concerned  our  education,  but  his 
affection  for  us  never  found  expression  in  words. 
His  love  seemed  entirely  overshadowed  by  his  sense 
of  duty,  and  he  asked  nothing  from  us  except  obedi- 
ence. All  the  same  I  had  an  immense  admiration 
for  him,  for  his  sterling,  if  stern,  integrity  and  manly 
character.  Yet  he  was  by  no  means  of  a  morose 
disposition.  In  congenial  company  he  could  keep 
the  whole  table  in  a  roar.  I  once  overheard  him 
tell  an  anecdote  which  showed  he  had  a  grim  sense 


6  DAVID  SYME 

of  humour.  He  had  taken  a  fancy  to  one  of  his 
pupils,  the  son  of  a  poor  fisherman,  and  taught  him 
Latin  without  any  charge.  Unfortunately  the  boy 
got  drowned  when  out  fishing  with  his  father.  On 
condoling  with  the  father  some  days  after  the  sad 
event,  the  only  remark  made  in  reply  was  '  Ay,  and 
the  puir  lad  had  sic  a  guid  edeecation.'  The  wasted 
Latin  grieved  the  poor  man. 

''  As  boys  we  were  allowed  no  time  for  play,  either 
indoor  or  out.  Cricket,  football  and  such  games, 
so  much  in  vogue  in  school  nowadays,  were  not  for 
us.  We  had  no  holidays.  We  commenced  our 
tasks  at  seven  in  the  morning  and  continued  at  them, 
with  short  intervals  for  meals,  till  eight  or  nine  in 
the  evening.  There  was  no  reUef  even  on  Sundays. 
It  was  considered  wrong  to  shorten  that  day  by 
lying  a  Uttle  longer  in  bed  in  the  morning,  as  is  usual 
in  most  famiUes.  We  had  to  attend  church  twice 
a  day,  morning  and  afternoon,  the  evenings  being 
devoted  to  reading  devotional  books,  such  as  Bos- 
ton's Fourfold  Estate,  Doddridge's  Rise  and  Pro- 
gress, the  Life  of  the  Rev,  John  Newton  ;  varied  some- 
times by  more  controversial  books,  as  Jonathan 
Edwards  on  The  Will.  I  recollect  I  had  a  perfect 
horror  of  this  man's  works.  His  extreme  Calvinism 
was  repugnant  to  me,  while  his  logic  seemed  per- 
fectly inexorable.  It  was  quite  a  rehef  to  me  when 
Simday  came  to  an  end. 

''  After  my  brothers  went  to  college  I  was  very 
lonely  at  home.     I  felt  as  if  I  were  wasting  time. 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    7 

All  the  boys  of  my  own  age  had  gone  to  sea,  and  I 
was  left  without  a  single  companion.  I  wanted  to 
do  something :  naturally  I  preferred  being  a  sailor. 
North  Berwick  being  a  seaport  and  all  the  boys  of 
my  own  age  having  gone  to  sea,  I  broached  the  sub- 
ject to  my  father  through  my  mother,  but  he  would 
not  hear  of  it.  So  distasteful  had  home  become  to 
me  at  this  time  that  I  would  have  run  away,  only 
for  my  mother.  I  knew  she  would  grieve  over  me. 
Meanwhile  I  hesitated,  while  I  secretly  qualified 
myself  for  a  sea  life  by  teaching  myself  navigation, 
and  what  I  considered  almost  as  important,  learning 
to  smoke — a  habit  I  have  retained  ever  since.  Mean- 
time nothing  was  done  to  prepare  me  for  a  profession 
or  business  career.  Indeed,  for  the  three  years 
prior  to  my  father's  death  I  seemed  to  have  been 
almost  forgotten,  and  my  father's  ill-health  put  all 
idea  of  running  off  to  sea  out  of  my  head. 

'*  Our  small  town  was  fairly  well  provided  with 
schools  and  churches.  There  was  the  usual  parish 
school,  provided  by  the  heritors  or  land  owners 
of  the  borough,  and  a  parochial  school  subsidized 
by  the  ratepayers  of  the  town.  There  were  also  two 
places  for  public  worship,  namely,  the  parish,  or 
EstabUshed  Church,  and  the  Meeting  House,  as  the 
United  Presbyterian  chapel  was  called.  The  minis- 
ter of  the  parish  church  was  an  extraordinary  char- 
acter. It  would  be  difficult  to  find  a  more  unfit 
man  for  the  position  he  held.  He  was  pompous, 
vain,  overbearing  towards   his  equals  and  inferiors 

D 


8  DAVID  SYME 

and  obsequious  to  a  degree  to  his  superiors.  He  read 
his  sermons  (an  odious  offence  to  a  Scottish  audience), 
mostly  Blair's  (then  considered  models  of  their  kind). 
He  had  a  form  of  prayer,  never  varied  whatever  the 
occasion,  in  which  the  King,  the  Royal  family,  and 
the  nobihty  of  the  land  held  a  prominent  place.  This 
he  repeated  every  Sunday  with  his  eyes  wide-open 
and  directed  to  the  occupants  of  the  gallery  imme- 
diately in  front  of  him,  set  apart  for  the  heritors  or 
gentry  (the  patrons  who  appointed  him),  smiling 
complacently  all  the  time  just  as  if  he  were  address- 
ing them.  He  had  an  immense  opinion  of  his  own 
importance  in  the  scheme  of  things.  He  never 
visited  the  sick  or  the  poor,  and  he  walked  abroad 
dressed,  not  in  the  garb  of  a  Presbyterian  minister, 
but  in  the  full  rig  of  an  AngUcan  bishop  minus  the 
apron.  My  father,  by  virtue  of  his  position  of 
parish  schoolmaster,  was  also  clerk  of  the  Kirk  ses- 
sion which  was  presided  over  by  the  minister.  My 
father  soon  quarrelled  with  him  and  was  therefore 
deprived  of  his  office  as  clerk.  But  my  father  was 
a  fighter  and  appealed  to  the  Law  Courts  for  restitu- 
tion of  office.  He  gained  his  case  after  fourteen 
years*  litigation. 

"  The  minister  at  the  Meeting  House  was  a  man 
of  a  different  stamp.  He  came  of  a  pious  Pres- 
byterian stock  and  did  not  behe  his  family  traditions. 
He  was  tall  and  ponderous,  both  physically  and  men- 
tally. He  preached  his  own  sermons  and  prayed 
extempore  with  an  unction  all  his  own.     But  he  was 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH     9 

dreadfully  dull.  I  remember  when  quite  a  small 
boy  I  was  induced  to  attend  his  Sabbath  school. 
He  had  not  the  art  of  interesting  children  in  the 
least,  but  he  blundered  through  the  lessons  some- 
how. When  we  were  about  to  break  up  he  caught 
sight  of  one  of  the  boys  who,  some  days  previously, 
had  got  adrift  in  a  boat  all  by  himself  and  might  have 
been  lost,  and  he  said  in  his  heavy-father  style, 
'  Are  you  the  boy  that  was  drowned  ?  * 

'*  We  all  laughed  but  the  minister,  who  was  as 
solemn  as  a  judge.  That  was  the  first  and  last  time 
I  attended  a  Sabbath  school. 

"  After  the  Disruption,  when  nearly  five  hundred 
ministers  of  the  Established  Church  in  one  day  left 
their  stipends,  their  manses  and  their  glebes  (rather 
than  submit  to  the  Patronage  system,  then  the  pre- 
vailing system  of  appointing  ministers  in  the  Kirk 
of  Scotland)  and  formed  what  was  called  the  Free 
Kirk,  in  due  time  our  town  was  favoured  by  having 
a  Free  Kirk  and  a  Free  Kirk  minister.  I  cannot 
say  much  on  behalf  of  the  minister.  He  was  a  pious, 
anaemic  young  man,  full  of  zeal.  He  was  absolutely 
saturated  with  a  sense  of  the  sinfulness  of  man,  and 
his  pulpit  service  was  one  long,  tearful  appeal  to 
the  Almighty  for  mercy,  accompanied  with  the 
slinging  of  Scripture  texts.  It  was  painful  to  listen  to 
him.  The  wonder  was  what  the  congregation  could 
possibly  see  in  him  :  and  next  how  he  could  venture 
to  stand  forth  as  an  instructor  of  grown  men.  If  in 
the  parish  minister  we  had  an  illustration  of  the 


10  DAVID    SYME 

perils  of  Patronage  we  had  in  the  Free  Kirk  appointee 
an  equally  bad  example  of  the  evils  of  popular 
selection. 

**  An  incident  occurred  about  this  time  which  may 
be  worth  relating.  It  was  on  the  eve  of  a  general 
election  when  party  politics  ran  exceedingly  high. 
My  three  brothers  were  at  home  for  the  summer 
vacation  and,  much  to  our  surprise,  my  father  con- 
sulted us  about  recording  his  vote.  He  was  a  thor- 
ough paced  Tory  and  made  no  scruple  about  it : 
but  the  great  bulk  of  the  electors  were  (Hterally) 
Whigs  to  a  man,  for  he  was  really  the  only  Tory  in 
the  borough.  He  called  us  all  together  and  fully 
explained  the  circumstances.  He  said  he  had 
intended  voting  for  the  Tory  candidate,  but,  as  the 
result  of  the  vote  might  seriously  affect  our  interests, 
he  felt  bound  to  consult  us  as  to  whether  or  no  he 
should  abstain  from  voting  altogether.  Of  course 
there  was  no  secret  voting  at  that  time  and  every 
one  would  therefore  know  how  he  voted.  Perhaps 
it  was  because  we  felt  flattered  at  being  consulted, 
or  because  we  held  the  crowd  in  contempt  who  tried 
to  intimidate  him  :  at  any  rate  we  unanimously 
recommended  him  to  vote  for  the  Tory  candidate, 
which  he  accordingly  did.  But  the  vote  had  a  dis- 
astrous effect  on  the  school  attendance,  the  school, 
in  fact,  being  almost  emptied.  As  the  Tory  candi- 
date was  returned  by  one  vote,  it  was  said  and  be- 
lieved that  it  was  my  father's  vote  that  put  him  in. 
This  belief  exasperated  the    defeated  party,  who 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH   ir 

turned  savagely  against  my  father.  It  was  a  terrible 
thing  for  us  all.  The  whole  family  had  to  keep 
within  doors  for  more  than  a  week  after  the  election. 
I  recollect  that  after  four  or  five  days*  confinement 
I  thought  I  might  venture  to  look  out  of  a  back  gate 
leading  from  the  garden  into  a  lane,  but  I  had  no 
sooner  opened  it  than  half  a  brick  struck  the  gate 
a  few  inches  above  my  head. 

"  It  was  rather  a  curious  coincidence  that  the 
turning-point  of  the  election  was  the  question  of 
Free  Trade  and  Protection.  The  big  loaf  and  the 
little  loaf  argument  did  figure  largely  on  that,  as 
it  did  on  a  subsequent  occasion.  Two  loaves,  one 
very  big  and  the  other  very  small,  were  stuck  on 
the  top  of  two  poles  and  paraded  by  excited  crowds 
days  before  the  election.  Curious,  too,  that  the 
name  of  the  successful  Tory  candidate  was  Mr.  Balfour 
of  Whittingehame,  father,  I  presume,  of  the 
Arthur  J.  Balfour  of  the  General  Election  of  1906. 
The  Whig  candidate  was  Sir  James  Fergusson. 

"  My  father  did  not  survive  more  than  three 
years  after  this  event,  and  at  his  death  our  home  was 
broken  up.  My  brother  George  joined  the  Free 
Church  and  got  a  charge  in  Dumfriesshire.  James, 
the  eldest,  was  practising  as  a  surgeon  in  the  town 
of  Bathgate,  and  Ebenezer,  after  some  months* 
engagement  with  a  Baptist  congregation,  gravitated 
to  London,  where  he  became  assistant  editor  of  the 
Westminster  Review,  then  the  organ  of  the  philo- 
sophical Radicals  and  in  the  zenith  of  its  power. 


12  DAVID  SYME 

"  As  for  myself,  I  was  fairly  stranded.  I  had 
received  a  sound  English  education  and  a  fair  know- 
ledge of  Latin,  but  I  had  no  training  whatever  to 
fit  me  for  a  professional  or  business  career,  and  no 
friends  or  relations  to  help  me.  I  went  on  a  visit 
to  my  brother  James  at  Bathgate,  and  while  there 
my  religious  views  underwent  a  change.  My  calvin- 
istic  upbringing  had  not  made  me  a  Calvinist.  Far 
from  it.  The  more  I  thought  over  the  dogmas  of 
John  Calvin  the  less  I  liked  them.  The  doctrines 
of  original  sin,  of  predestination,  of  the  arbitrary 
salvation  of  the  elect  and  the  equally  arbitrary 
damnation  of  the  non-elect,  were  utterly  abhorrent 
to  my  sense  of  justice.  Any  one  who  believes  in 
predestination  has  no  need  to  trouble  himself  about 
his  soul.  That  matter  has,  of  course,  been  settled 
for  him  long  before  he  was  born,  and  nothing  that  he 
himself  can  do  can  help  him  in  the  least.  How  to 
save  his  soul,  therefore,  need  not  give  him  the  least 
trouble  or  anxiety.  His  destiny  for  good  or  for  evil 
has  been  fixed  for  all  time,  and  quite  irrespective 
of  any  merit  or  demerit  on  his  part. 

''  Other  creeds  may  not  be  so  brutally  frank,  but 
they  all  teach  very  much  the  same  doctrine  ;  for 
they  all  agree  that  one  can  only  be  saved  by  Divine 
intervention.  But  the  process  of  salvation  is  dif- 
ferent, for,  according  to  these  other  creeds,  some 
preliminary  effort  is  supposed  to  be  necessary  on  the 
part  of  the  inquiring  sinner.  He  must  be  penitent 
and  prayerful  to  commence  with.     And  when  his 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    13 

nerves  are  worked  to  an  extreme  state  of  tension 
his  imagination  runs  riot,  his  mind  is  ready  to  believe 
in  signs  and  wonders.  The  poor  sinner  is  told  that 
he  must  repent,  he  must  pray,  and  he  must  reform  : 
but  one  may  do  all  this  and  be  no  nearer  salvation 
than  before.  How  can  one  know  that  he  is  saved  ? 
He  is  supposed,  or  he  supposes  himself,  to  have  some 
evidence  that  he  has  received  Divine  grace.  This 
comes  in  a  most  mysterious  manner  and  in  a  variety 
of  ways.  He  may  have  a  vision,  he  may  hear  a 
heavenly  voice  (Paul  on  his  way  to  Damascus  had 
both)  ;  he  may  have  suddenly  recalled  to  him  some 
Scriptural  text  conveying  the  expression  of  God's 
love  and  mercy  towards  him  individually ;  or  he 
may  simply  attain  to  a  blissful  state  of  mind  in 
answer  to  prayer.  All  these  different  methods  of 
obtaining  the  assurance  of  salvation,  are  they  not 
cherished  in  the  lives  of  the  Saints  and  in  the  histories 
of  converts  of  all  Christian  denominations  ?  It  is 
because  the  penitent  believes  that  God  has  conveyed 
some  such  message  that  he  is  assured  of  his  salva- 
tion, and  is  in  consequence  overpowered  with  a  sense 
of  gratitude  at  God's  condescension  to  him,  a  miser- 
able sinner.  Henceforth  he  is  a  changed  man.  He 
sees  God  under  a  new  aspect.  God  is  no  longer  the 
severe  lawgiver  or  the  stern  judge,  but  the  generous 
loving  Father.     He  is  converted. 

''  I  came  to  know  of  a  more  rational  plan  of 
salvation  from  which  the  supernatural  element  was 
altogether  eliminated.     This  was  the  plan  formu- 


14  DAVID  SYME 

lated  by  the  Rev.  James  Morrison,  whose  acquaint- 
ance I  made  in  Bathgate,  where  his  father  occupied 
the  pulpit  of  the  United  Presbyterian  Church.  This 
plan  had  the  supreme  merit  of  simplicity.  It  recog- 
nized no  form  of  divine  intervention  on  behalf  of 
the  individual.  The  only  intervention  of  the  kind 
recognized  was  the  sacrifice  on  Calvary  twenty  cen- 
turies ago.  It  was  a  general  amnesty  to  mankind 
which  holds  good  now.  To  receive  the  benefit  of 
this  amnesty,  the  sinner  had  no  need  to  grovel  before 
the  Throne  of  Mercy,  or  to  grasp  at  some  make- 
believe  message.  He  had  only  to  realize  the  meaning 
of  the  Calvary  sacrifice,  that  Christ  died  to  save  all 
mankind  from  the  consequences  of  their  sins.  No 
one  can  believe  in  the  Atonement  and  at  the  same 
time  hold  the  creed  of  Calvin,  or  entertain  unworthy 
views  of  God.  If  you  realize  the  full  meaning  of 
the  Atonement  you  will  claim  your  right  to  the  benefit 
of  it.  If  Christ  died  for  mankind,  He  died  for  you 
as  an  individual  member  of  the  human  race.  Believe 
that  Christ  died  that  you  might  be  saved,  and  your 
attitude  towards  God  will  undergo  a  change,  and 
you  will  henceforth  regulate  your  life  according  to 
what  you  conceive  is  the  will  of  God. 

"  The  doctrine  of  salvation  by  faith  in  its  most 
literal  sense  was  the  basis  of  this  new  system.  It 
was  condensed  in  the  words  '  Believe  and  ye  shall  be 
saved.*  Believe  what  ?  Believe  in  Christ  not 
merely  as  a  historical  personage,  but  as  the  Saviour 
of  mankind  ;  and  if  of  mankind,  then  of  you  or  me. 
This  is  the  cardinal  point. 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    15 

"  I  confess  this  process  of  conversion  appeared 
to  me  to  be  both  scientific  and  scriptural.  What 
is  perhaps  more  to  the  purpose,  it  was  eminently 
effective,  for  the  professors  of  this  new  faith  were 
not  undistinguished  for  their  Christian  virtues. 
This  plan  of  salvation  came  to  me  as  a  relief  and  a 
revelation,  and  I  accepted  an  invitation  to  attend 
a  class  for  students  opened  by  Mr.  Morrison  at  Kil- 
marnock and  for  the  two  following  years  devoted 
myself  to  the  study  of  theology  and  exegetics. 
Several  of  these  students  I  have  since  met  in  Aus- 
tralia where  they  had  drifted  like  myself,  but  none 
of  them  were  preaching. 

"  For  over  two  years  I  devoted  myself  to  the 
necessary  theological  and  linguistic  studies.  Latin 
and  Greek  I  had  already  some  acquaintance  with, 
but  Hebrew  was  new  to  me.  Being,  however,  an 
easy  language  to  learn  I  soon  became  a  fairly  pro- 
ficient scholar.  But  believing  that  the  interpretation 
of  the  Bible  was  an  essential  part  of  a  student's  equip- 
ment, I  discovered  that  not  only  a  knowledge  of  the 
original  languages  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
was  necessary,  but  also  an  acquaintance  with  the 
cognate  Semitic  languages.  So  I  began  the  study  of 
Arabic.  My  ambition  at  that  time  was  to  become 
an  Oriental  linguist.  A  closer  study  of  these  lan- 
guages had,  however,  a  serious  effect  on  me  in  more 
than  one  respect.  I  began  to  find  out  that  I  had  no 
great  aptitude  for  the  acquisition  of  language.  I 
had  no  ear  for  the  nicer  shades  of  sound  either  lin- 


i6  DAVID  SYME 

guistic  or  musical.  I  rubbed  along  somehow  by 
sheer  hard  labour.  My  study  of  the  Old  Testament 
also  unhinged  my  faith  in  its  inspiration.  With 
this  also  went  the  romance  of  my  studies.  At  one 
time  the  finding  of  a  new  reading  of  an  important 
text  was  of  more  interest  to  me  than  the  discovery 
of  a  new  force  in  nature.  Later  my  Biblical  studies 
seemed  to  me  a  waste  of  time.  My  enthusiasm  died 
out  of  me.  I  had  overworked  myself  by  unremitting 
study  up  to  this  time,  and  that,  together  with  my 
disappointment  with  the  results,  affected  my  health. 
I  could  take  no  interest  in  my  work,  nor,  indeed,  in 
anything  else.  I  was  advised  to  take  a  complete 
rest.  I  decided  to  take  the  water-cure  treatment 
under  Preisnitz  at  Grafenberg,  then  much  in  vogue. 
On  my  way  I  stopped  at  Berlin  for  some  weeks 
with  some  students  whom  I  knew  in  Scotland ; 
then  went  on  to  Grafenberg  where  I  stopped  three 
months,  and  thence  to  Vienna,  and  up  the  Danube 
and  to  Heidelberg.  There  I  remained  during  the 
session  of  1849,  attending  classes  at  the  University. 
By  this  time  my  views  had  broadened  considerably, 
and  I  took  more  interest  in  HegeUsm  than  in  Theo- 
logy. I  returned  to  Scotland  after  a  year's  absence, 
having  acquired  a  speaking  acquaintance  with  Ger- 
man, a  smattering  of  philosophy  and  restored  health, 
but  no  settled  views  as  to  my  future. 

''After  many  applications  for  employment  I  at 
length  took  a  situation  as  reader  on  a  Glasgow 
newspaper.     I  found  the  work  easy  and  I  believe  I 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    17 

was  giving  satisfaction  to  my  employers  (it  was  a 
company  affair).  One  day  the  manager,  in  quite 
a  friendly  manner,  hinted  to  me  that  I  need  not  be 
so  severe  on  the  leading  articles  (they  were  not  to  my 
taste  as  literary  productions).  This  remark  made 
me  think.  I  concluded  that,  after  all,  my  position 
was  not  very  secure,  poor  as  it  was.  My  salary  was 
barely  sufficient  to  maintain  me.  And  what  were 
my  prospects  ?  There  were  quite  as  capable  men 
on  the  literary  staff  of  the  paper,  and  twice  my  age, 
who  were  not  earning  more  than  I  was.  Even  the 
editor  had  a  comparatively  small  salary.  The  pros- 
pect was  not  alluring.  Under  better  conditions 
I  thought  I  might  surely  be  able  to  accomplish 
something  that  might  be  a  credit  to  me.  But  with 
no  profession,  or  trade,  with  no  business  training  and 
with  no  capital  or  influence  of  any  kind,  what  could 
I  do  ?  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  must  go  to 
some  place  where  it  was  not  necessary  to  be  a 
specialist  or  a  professionalist  in  order  to  earn  an 
honest  livelihood.  At  that  time  I  became  interested 
in  reading  the  letters  of  the  special  correspondent 
in  California  of  the  New  York  Tribune,  *  Here,'  I 
said  to  myself,  *  is  a  country,  where  there  is  room 
for  all  and  opportunities  for  all  who  are  able  and 
willing  to  work.'  I  determined  to  try  my  future 
there. 

*'  After  paying  for  my  outfit  and  my  passage  to 
San  Francisco  and  laying  in  a  small  library  on  geo- 
logy and  gold  mining,  I  sailed  at  the  latter  end  of 


i8  DAVID  SYME 

185 1  from  London  in  the  Princess  Royal,  600  tons 
burden.  The  voyage  lasted  over  five  months,  al- 
though we  had  no  mishap  and  put  into  no  port  on 
the  way.  Off  Cape  Horn  we  encountered  a  furious 
south-westerly  gale  which  compelled  us  to  sail  very 
much  farther  than  usual  to  the  south  before  we  could 
change  our  course.  I  never,  before  or  since,  met 
with  such  weather.  For  days  together  we  were  hove 
to,  as  it  was  impossible  to  proceed.  The  height  and 
force  of  the  waves  bafHe  description.  I  was  familiar 
with  storms  on  the  coast  of  Scotland.  Twice  after- 
wards I  doubled  the  same  Cape  (going  in  the  opposite 
direction,  however)  and  I  subsequently  encountered, 
more  than  once,  phenomenal  gales  in  crossing  the 
Atlantic,  but  I  never  saw  waves  like  those  I  met 
with  on  this  occasion.  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  in 
the  severest  gale  in  the  Atlantic  the  waves  never 
attain  a  greater  height  than  40  feet.  An  idea  might 
be  formed  of  these  Horn  waves  when  I  mention  that, 
in  the  trough  between  two  seas,  the  crest  of  the  waves 
was  higher  than  the  peak  of  the  main  topmast. 
When  in  this  position  the  double-reefed  topsail  was 
flapping  for  want  of  wind,  and  the  vessel,  when  she 
reached  the  crest,  was  almost  thrown  on  her  beam 
ends  by  the  force  of  the  gale.  One  felt  like  sailing 
over  a  series  of  snow-covered  ranges  :  there  was 
green  water  in  the  trough,  blue  higher  up,  and  the 
white  surf  at  the  crest  looked  like  a  snow-covered 
peak.  It  was  miserably  cold ;  the  rigging  was 
covered  with  icicles  and  the  deck  with  masses  of  ice. 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    19 

I  have  passed  through  many  gales  in  my  time,  but 
never  anything  Hke  this  before  or  since.  The  rest 
of  the  voyage  was  uneventful  after  we  doubled  the 
Cape  till  we  approached  the  coast  of  California.  We 
sighted  land  quite  100  miles  to  the  north  of  San  Fran- 
cisco and  we  had  a  narrow  escape  from  shipwreck. 
It  was  a  foggy  morning  and  under  a  stiff  breeze  we 
were  making  straight  for  that  rocky  coast  some  half 
mile  off,  when  the  fog  lifted  ;  not  a  moment  too  soon. 
We  shunted  off  just  in  time  and  reached  port  the 
same  evening. 

"  I  did  not  remain  long  in  San  Francisco.  The 
place  had  just  been  burned  down  for  (I  think)  the 
third  time  since  the  gold  discovery,  and  everything 
was  in  a  state  of  confusion.  Building  operations 
were  being  carried  on  at  a  tremendous  speed.  While 
some  of  the  houses  were  still  burning,  others  were 
going  up  alongside  ;  one  set  of  men  could  be  seen 
removing  the  hot  embers  while  a  few  feet  farther 
on  another  set  of  men  were  erecting  the  framework 
of  a  new  building.  This  process  was  going  on  in  all 
the  streets.  Horses  conveying  materials  were  kept 
at  a  sharp  trot  and  returning  with  empties  at  a 
canter.  I  made  shift  to  pass  one  night  there  and 
started  by  steamer  next  morning  for  Sacramento. 
Here  I  got  rid  of  my  carefully  selected  outfit,  before 
starting  for  the  goldfields,  taking  with  me  a  blanket, 
some  underclothing  and  a  gun.  The  rest  I  stowed  in 
my  trunk  and  left  at  a  store  marked  *  To  remain  till 
called  for,'  but  the  call  was  never  made." 


20  DAVID  SYME 

David  Syme  was  now  fairly  adrift  on  the  world, 
without  a  friend,  with  nothing  but  what  he  stood 
in,  or  could  carry  on  his  shoulders,  and  with  little 
in  his  pocket.  He  did  not  even  bring  with  him  a 
letter  of  introduction.  His  first  mining  experience 
was  on  the  American  River,  a  branch  of  the  Sacra- 
mento, where  he  remained  only  a  few  weeks.  He 
happened  to  pitch  his  camp  alongside  a  party  occupy- 
ing three  tents.  In  two  of  these  were  a  middle-aged 
Irish  couple,  their  son  and  a  negro  :  the  third  was 
occupied  by  two  single  men,  an  EngUshman  and  a 
Scotsman.  They  were  working  a  very  good  claim 
on  the  bank  of  the  river  ;  that  is  to  say,  when  they 
were  sober  enough  to  work,  which  was  seldom.  One 
day  the  husband  heard  some  story  while  at  work, 
said  not  a  word,  walked  straight  up  to  his  tent, 
took  up  his  gun,  loaded  it  and  shot  the  negro  dead. 
The  story  reflected  on  the  man's  wife,  but  whether 
it  was  true  or  not  nobody  seemed  to  care,  the  victim 
being  only  a  negro.  All  the  neighbours  knew  the 
deed  had  been  done  in  cold  blood,  but  no  official 
inquiry  was  held,  the  body  was  thrown  into  a  hole 
and  that  was  the  end  of  the  matter. 

After  this  David  Syme  moved  to  another  neigh- 
bourhood. He  tried  several  other  localities  and 
afterwards  left  the  district  for  the  southern  mines, 
having  been  told  they  were  not  so  much  worked. 

His  mining  operations  did  not  prosper.  He 
had  a  lot  to  learn  and  a  good  deal  to  unlearn. 
To  begin  with,  he  was  unused  to  hard  labour  and 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    21 

found  it  far  from  pleasant,  although  he  managed  to 
do  a  fair  day's  work,  blistered  hands  and  strained 
back  notwithstanding.  He  had  brought  with  him 
from  London  some  books  on  gold  mining,  mere  com- 
pilations, as  he  soon  discovered,  although  written  by 
men  who  posed  as  experts.  Gold,  these  writers 
insisted,  being  the  heaviest  of  metals,  would  always 
be  found  in  the  lowest  strata,  or  in  the  lowest  or 
deepest  part  of  a  stream.  It  seemed  reasonable 
enough,  but  David  found  the  theory  to  be  erroneous. 
Gold  exists  in  all  sorts  of  places  as  well  as  in  streams, 
ancient  or  modern,  on  the  surface  as  well  as  in  the 
lower  strata,  and  very  seldom  indeed  in  loose  stream 
gravel,  except  in  the  form  of  fine  grains  and  in  small 
quantities.  David  wasted  much  time  in  prospect- 
ing for  the  deep  deposits,  which  of  course  he  never 
found. 

He  spent  several  months  prospecting  before  he 
settled  down  to  steady  work.  On  one  of  these  trips, 
which  he  had  undertaken  by  himself,  he  had  been  out 
several  days,  somewhere  about  the  head  waters  of  the 
Tuolumne  (then  wild  Indian  country),  but  had  found 
nothing,  so  he  determined  to  finish  up  by  climbing 
to  the  top  of  a  high  peak,  in  order  to  obtain  a  good 
view  of  the  surrounding  country.  But  it  was  more 
than  he  bargained  for.  On  arriving  at  what  he  con- 
sidered, when  seen  from  below,  must  be  the  top 
he  found  he  had  to  climb  still  higher,  and  when  he 
got  to  a  still  higher  elevation  he  had  not  then  reached 
his  goal. 


22  DAVID  SYME 

"  Ah,  the  little  more — 
And  how  much  it  is  ! 
And  the  little  less — 
What  worlds  away  !  " 

But  he  reached  it  at  last.  Hot  and  tired  he  sat 
down  to  rest  himself  on  a  boulder,  inwardly  congratu- 
lating himself  that  here  at  any  rate  he  had  arrived 
at  a  spot  where  no  white  man  had  ever  been  before, 
when,  lying  at  his  very  feet,  he  saw — an  empty  sardine 
tin. 

After  this  he  returned  to  the  nearest  mining  camp, 
some  twenty  miles  distant,  joined  a  party  of  two  and 
started  on  his  last  prospecting  expedition,  in  another 
direction.  They  took  a  week's  provisions  with  them 
and  pack  mules  to  carry  them  and  their  tools.  It 
was  at  the  beginning  of  the  rainy  season.  The  first 
night  they  camped  on  the  Tuolumne,  lower  down, 
and  fortunately  they  chose  a  piece  of  high  ground 
for  their  tent.  They  had  hardly  erected  it  when 
it  began  to  rain  in  torrents  and  continued  raining 
all  night  and  all  next  day  and  the  day  following  that. 
They  found  themselves  completely  surrounded  by 
water,  with  only  the  ground  around  their  tent  un- 
covered. They  passed  a  week  there  waiting  till  the 
flood  subsided.  David  Syme  exhausted  the  con- 
versational powers  of  his  two  companions  during 
the  first  twenty-four  hours  of  their  imprisonment. 
He  had  no  books  with  him  and  could  take  no  exercise. 
It  was  the  dullest  week  he  had  ever  spent  in  his  life. 
This  was  the  last  prospecting  expedition.     From 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    23 

that  time  forth  he  abandoned  scientific  theories  and 
settled  down  to  steady  hard  work  like  an  ordinary 
miner. 

David  Syme  liked  the  country  and  climate  of 
California  immensely  ;  but  he  confessed  that  the 
people  he  met  there  were  not  to  his  taste.  Of  course 
they  were  rough,  for  his  experience  was  of  mining 
camps  only.  He  did  not  live  in  the  towns  or  cities, 
or  move  in  select  circles,  which  probably  did  not 
exist  there  at  that  time.  He  was  surprised  at  the 
kind  of  literature  he  found  in  circulation.  On  the 
goldfields  cheap  editions  of  translations  of  French 
novels  of  the  Paul  de  Kock  stamp  were  everywhere  ; 
and  there  was  nothing  else  to  be  had,  not  even  a 
newspaper.  The  people  amongst  whom  he  was 
thrown  were  young  and  middle-aged  men  of  the 
farming  class  (he  seldom  met  with  a  woman),  chiefly 
from  the  Western  states,  who  had  trekked  overland 
with  their  own  teams.  A  lesser  proportion  came 
from  the  Southern  states,  mostly  from  Kentucky, 
Texas  and  Missouri ;  all  tall,  powerful-looking  men. 
The  Missourians  were  a  class  by  themselves,  at  least 
that  part  of  them  hailing  from  Pike  county.  One 
could  recognize  a  Pike  county  man  fifty  yards  off. 
They  were  all  built  on  the  same  lines  :  immensely 
tall,  often  approaching  seven  feet,  high  cheek  bones, 
heavy  jaws,  long  face  and  features,  sandy  com- 
plexions, and  not  given  to  say  much.  Why  Pike 
county  men  should  be  so  differentiated  from  those 
around  them  he   did  not   pretend  to  understand. 

E 


24  DAVID  SYME 

The  few  men  from  the  Eastern  states  were  mostly 
in  business  as  storekeepers,  with  here  and  there  a 
professional  man  and  a  graduate  of  a  University.  He 
did  not  meet  with  any  people  in  California  whom  he 
really  liked.  This  was  his  misfortune  or  perhaps 
his  fault ;  of  course  he  did  not  go  to  California  to 
cultivate  the  graces.  The  Americans  he  encountered 
were  far  from  being  well  informed.  In  fact  their 
ignorance  amazed  him.  It  was  impossible  to  keep 
up  a  conversation  on  any  topic  of  general  interest, 
and  there  was  a  parochialism  about  them  which  he 
did  not  expect.  They  felt  no  concern  in  anything 
outside  America. 

They  believed  there  was  no  country  like  the  United 
States  in  the  wide  world.  But  very  often  their 
vision  did  not  extend  beyond  their  own  particular 
State.  When  an  American  met  a  stranger,  no 
matter  where  or  how,  his  first  question  invariably 
was  ''  What  State  do  you  come  from  ?  *'  David 
Syme  often  felt  they  resented  the  presence  of 
strangers  in  their  country,  and  this  impression  was 
confirmed  by  opinions  he  heard  expressed  in  favour  of 
a  tax  on  foreigners.  Even  the  newspapers  advocated 
the  tax.  He  was  sure  that  Australians  would  never 
have  recommended  a  tax  on  Americans  who  came  to 
their  country,  nor  would  they  have  regarded  them 
as  foreigners,  but  would  have  welcomed  them  as 
belonging  to  the  same  race  as  themselves.  In  these 
circumstances  it  need  not  surprise  that  he  did  not 
feel  bound  to  remain  in  California  any  longer  than 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    25 

he  could  help.  When  he  learned  that  gold  had  been 
discovered  in  Australia,  he  soon  made  up  his  mind 
to  go  to  a  land  where  he  would  be  among  his  own 
countrymen  and  would  not  be  regarded  as  an  intruder. 
His  second  voyage  was  eventful.  He  booked  his 
passage  from  San  Francisco  for  Melbourne,  early 
in  1852,  in  the  ship  Europe.  This  vessel,  as  he  learned 
afterwards,  had  been  purchased  by  a  speculative 
Bostoniah  for  a  mere  song  (five  tons  of  onions  repre- 
sented the  purchase  price),  being  one  of  the  many 
vessels  deserted  by  their  crews  and  lying  idle  in  the 
bay.  She  was  very  old,  quite  unseaworthy,  and 
badly  fitted  out  in  every  respect,  as  the  passengers 
were  not  long  in  discovering  when  they  had  put  to 
sea.  She  took  a  full  passenger  list  at  very  high 
rates.  David  Syme  had  not  imagined  that  the 
American  Government  did  not  undertake  the  super- 
vision of  stores  in  passenger  ships,  as  was  done  in 
British  ports,  so  in  common  with  the  other  passengers 
he  made  no  inquiries  about  the  quantity  or  quality  of 
provisions.  They  had  not  been  a  week  at  sea  when 
they  were  put  on  short  allowance.  Then  it  leaked 
out  that  the  owner  (who  had  ventured  to  come  with 
them)  had  intended  to  provision  the  ship  at  Hono- 
lulu, a  port  on  one  of  the  Sandwich  islands  some  two 
weeks'  sail  from  San  Francisco.  He  fancied  he 
could  provision  the  ship  there  on  a  cheaper  scale. 
At  the  same  time  he  thought  he  would  have  to  deal 
with  mere  savages  who  had  no  idea  of  the  value  of 
money  ;   but  who  had  on  hand  stores   sufficient  to 


26  DAVID  SYME 

provide  for  some  300  people  for  a  two  months' 
voyage.  Instead  of  cash,  he  had  supplied  himself 
before  starting  with  a  quantity  of  condemned  United 
States  muskets  (bought  at  auction),  some  beads  and 
trinkets,  a  few  rolls  of  bright-coloured  calicoes,  and 
the  discarded  hangings  of  a  San  Franciscan  theatre. 
It  was  with  these  that  he  proposed  trading  with 
the  natives  for  provisioning  the  ship.  But  they  never 
reached  Honolulu.  The  captain,  who  did  not  possess 
a  master's  certificate,  went  out  of  his  course  and 
passed  the  islands  without  being  aware  of  it.  They 
had  gone  too  far  to  turn  back,  so  they  proceeded 
southwards  till  they  struck  Tutuila,  a  small  island 
in  the  Samoan  or  Navigator  group.  It  was  just  in 
time,  for  the  unhappy  voyagers  had  used  up  every- 
thing eatable  and  had  finished  their  last  cask  of 
water.  Here  they  remained  some  days  to  provision. 
The  natives  were  friendly  and  let  the  hungry  pas- 
sengers have  what  food  they  had  :  which  was  not 
much,  consisting  chiefly  of  cocoanuts  and  a  few  pigs, 
the  progeny  of  animals  left  there  by  Captain  Cook. 
The  natives  were  a  fine-looking  race,  tall  and  mus- 
cular, with  light  brown  complexions,  like  the  Maoris. 
The  girls  were  tall  and  straight,  many  of  them  hand- 
some and  beautiful.  After  California  Tutuila  was 
enchanting.  The  islanders  had  been  Christianized 
by  British  missionaries. 

They  next  called  at  two  other  islands  of  the  group, 
at  one  of  which  they  found  a  British  consul.  The 
passengers  appealed  to  him  to  compel  the  captain 


BOYHOOD  AND  EARLY  YOUTH    27 

to  provision  the  ship,  but  he  either  would  or  could 
not  render  them  any  assistance  ;  so  with  a  few  more 
cocoanuts  and  pineapples  they  made  sail  for  the 
New  Hebrides,  reaching  Vava  in  a  half-starved 
condition.  Then  (as  now)  Vava  had  an  evil  reputa- 
tion and,  as  they  approached  land,  they  could  see 
hundreds  of  natives,  armed  with  spears,  rushing  to 
the  landing  place.  But  the  travellers  had  to  land 
or  die  of  starvation.  They  took  it  for  granted  there 
would  be  no  difficulty  in  getting  the  ship's  boats 
for  that  purpose.  But  not  a  boat  was  allowed  to  be 
lowered  until  they  had  deposited  the  value  of  it 
with  the  owner.  This  they  did  after  some  delay. 
Many  of  the  passengers  wished  to  take  the  owner 
with  them  and  leave  him  on  the  island.  Those 
who  possessed  arms,  including  David  Syme,  manned 
the  only  two  boats  on  board.  They  expected  to 
have  a  brush  with  the  savages,  but  for  some  reason 
they  were  not  molested.  At  the  same  time  they 
were  careful  to  keep  together,  no  one  being  allowed 
to  stray.  They  procured  some  more  cocoanuts  and 
a  quantity  of  yams  of  enormous  size.  This  was  the 
last  island  they  called  at,  and  Australia  was  still  some 
three  weeks'  sail  distant.  Granted  fine  weather 
it  was  just  possible  they  might  reach  their  destina- 
tion alive  :  but  there  would  have  been  no  chance 
at  all  had  they  encountered  calms  or  adverse  winds. 
Fortunately  the  weather  favoured  them  ;  but  even 
so  they  had  eaten  the  last  cocoanut  two  days  before 
making  the  Australian  coast.     The  day  their  pro- 


28  DAVID  SYME 

visions  ran  out  a  call  was  made  on  the  passengers 
to  deliver  up  such  private  stores  as  they  might 
possess,  but  no  one  responded.  They  caught  a 
large  shark  that  day,  which  was  instantly  disposed 
of.  When  at  last  they  sighted  land,  some  half  a 
day*s  sail  to  the  north  of  Port  Jackson,  but  not  till 
then,  a  married  couple,  who  occupied  a  cabin  by 
themselves,  brought  out  their  concealed  stores  in 
the  shape  of  a  basket  of  biscuits.  The  gift  came 
too  late  to  be  appreciated.  The  same  evening 
they  were  in  Sydney.  There  they  learned  that  two 
other  ships  had  arrived  from  San  Francisco,  short  of 
provisions,  and  that  some  of  the  passengers  were  so 
reduced  by  starvation  that  they  had  to  be  carried 
ashore.  David  Syme  had  booked  himself  for  Mel- 
bourne, but  he  had  had  enough  of  the  Europe. 
Promptly  quitting  the  ship  he  took  passage  in  the 
first  steamer  for  Melbourne.  The  Europe^  be  it 
said,  did  eventually  reach  Melbourne  and  was 
appropriately  converted  into  a  coal  hulk. 


CHAPTER   II 
First  Impressions  of  Victoria 

Melbourne  in  1853 — Syme  leaves  for  Castlemaine — Adventure  on 
the  road — Bendigo — Korong — Illness — Deserted  by  his  com- 
panion— Beechworth — Adventure  with  Bushrangers — To 
Daylesford — Ballarat — ^Works  hard  as  miner — Bad  luck — 
Goes  to  Mt.  Egerton — Takes  up  valuable  claim — Mine 
jumped — Invader  expelled — Mine  again  jumped — Efforts  to 
secure  redress  at  law  unsuccessful — Extent  of  his  misfor- 
tune— Gives  up  mining  in  disgust — Returns  to  Melbourne — 
The  trials  of  the  gold  diggers — Bad  government  and  its 
effects. 

"  I  LANDED  in  Melbourne/'  wrote  David  Syme, 
*'  in  very  much  the  same  condition  I  was  in  when 
I  landed  in  San  Francisco  :  that  is  to  say,  with 
very  Uttle  money  in  my  pocket.  At  that  time 
people  were  pouring  into  the  country  at  the  rate 
of  a  thousand  a  week  (Melbourne  did  not  have  much 
accommodation  for  visitors  as  it  was  then  a  small 
place),  and  I  was  glad  to  secure  a  shakedown  on  a 
table  in  an  hotel  at  the  top  of  Bourke  Street  East 
(the  hotel  is  still  standing  at  the  time  I  write),  for 
which  I  paid  five  shilUngs.  All  new  arrivals  except 
those  who  came  out  as  agents  for  English  or  foreign 
exporting  firms  made  straight  for  the  gold-fields. 
Except  as  clerks  and  carters  there  was  no  work  for 


30  DAVID  SYME 

any  one  in  Melbourne.  Next  morning  I  started 
for  Castlemaine  with  a  companion  picked  up  at  the 
hotel.  There  were  no  coaches  running,  so  we  had 
to  tramp  it.  When  we  reached  the  top  of  the  hill 
beyond  Flemington  we  were  not  sure  about  the 
track  (there  were  no  fences  or  metalled  roads),  so 
we  crossed  over  to  ask  a  man,  apparently  a  digger 
from  his  soiled  clothes  and  swag,  going  towards 
Melbourne.  He  turned  to  face  us,  but  gave  no 
reply  to  our  question.  He  held  something  in  both 
hands  which  he  pointed  towards  us.  Before  we 
got  near  him  he  called  out,  in  an  unmistakable  Irish 
accent,  to  keep  off  or  he  would  shoot  us.  And  he 
evidently  meant  it.  What  he  was  pointing,  as  we 
then  discovered,  was  a  huge  horse  pistol,  more  like 
a  blunderbuss  than  anything  of  the  kind  I  had  ever 
seen.  We  managed  to  explain  that  we  had  no 
hostile  intention.  When  he  told  us  he  had  walked 
all  the  way  from  Bendigo  by  himself  and  carried 
this  blunderbuss  for  protection,  we  concluded  that 
he  must  have  some  gold  in  his  swag  which  was 
worth  protecting,  but  we  asked  no  frivolous  ques- 
tions, he  looked  so  terribly  in  earnest. 

*'  At  Castlemaine  we  did  not  stay  long.  .  .  . 
Finding,  after  a  week's  trial  in  the  bed  of  the  creek, 
that  we  could  only  get  about  half  an  ounce  of  gold 
a  day,  we  agreed  to  move  on.  Bendigo  was  our 
next  stage.  This  was  no  better.  Evidently  it 
had  seen  better  days.  Judging  from  the  deserted 
camps  everywhere  about  it,  at  least  half  of  its  former 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS   OF  VICTORIA    31 

population  had  left  it.     Hearing  of  a  new  discovery 
at  Korong  we  determined  to  be  the  first  this  time, 
so  I  joined  the  rush  to  that  place,  which  turned 
out  to  be  a  fraud.     I  had  as  companion  on  this 
trip  a  young   French-Canadian   who  was  quite  a 
gentleman  so  far  as  speech  and  manners  were  con- 
cerned, and  I  took  a  liking  for  him.     On  our  return 
journey    we    stopped    at    an    abandoned    diggings 
(Myers   Flat    or   the   Whipstick,    I   forget   which), 
with  the  intention  of  prospecting  the  neighbourhood. 
We  found  a  habitable  slab  hut  with  no  owner,  and 
took  possession  of  it.     Not  a  soul  was  to  be  seen 
in  the  district.     Here  I   caught  a  severe  cold  and 
in  addition  had  a  severe  attack  of  quinsy  which 
prevented  me  from  swallowing.     In  a  few  days  I 
was  reduced  to  such  a  state  that  I  was  unable  to 
go  about  or  even  to  speak.     When  in  this  condition 
my  Canadian  friend  came  to  my  bedside  with  his 
swag  strapped  up  and  said,   '  Good-bye,   Fm  off.' 
I  was  too  far  gone  to  understand  what  he  meant, 
as  he  had  not  said  a  word  to  me  about  going.     Al- 
though I  had  but  little  money  with  me,  I  did  not 
even  ask  him  to  leave  me  my  share  of  the  gold 
which  he  had  kept  on  joint  account,  or  demand 
the  return  of  the  ;f20  I  had  lent  him  before  leaving 
Bendigo.     He   left   me   sure   enough,   and   I   have 
never  caught  sight  of  him  since.     I  suppose  I  must 
have  had  a  good  constitution,  for  I  recovered,  much 
to  my  surprise.     I  believe  I  caught  my  illness  from 
sleeping  in  a  draught,  for  I  found  that  I  had  been 


32  DAVID  SYME 

lying  with  my  face  close  to  a  chink  in  the  wall  of 
the  hut,  the  slabs  being  open  at  that  place. 

"  When  able  to  walk  I  started  for  Bendigo. 
There  I  learned  that  Beechworth  was  the  centre 
of  attraction,  and  that  an  immense  quantity  of 
gold  had  been  obtained.  To  Beechworth  accord- 
ingly I  went  next ;  but  again  I  was  too  late,  for  on 
the  way  up  I  met  a  large  number  of  miners  who 
informed  me  that  the  diggings  were  worked  out. 
That  did  not  prevent  me  from  going  on,  however. 
One  morning  my  companion  and  I  reached  a  refresh- 
ment house  beyond  Wangaratta.  We  found  the 
inmates  in  a  great  state  of  excitement.  They  said 
they  had  had  a  visit  from  mounted  bushrangers 
who  had  just  left,  but  had  not  molested  them.  We 
had  breakfast  there,  and  were  about  to  proceed 
on  our  journey,  when  the  people  strongly  advised 
us  to  remain  for  a  while,  as  the  rangers  had  gone 
up  the  road  and  we  would  be  sure  to  meet  them 
if  we  started  then.  We  were  told  they  were  well 
mounted  and  armed  with  guns.  But  as  we  were 
armed  with  very  serviceable  Colt's  revolvers,  we 
thought  we  were  capable  of  taking  care  of  ourselves, 
two  Colt's  revolvers  being  more  than  equal  to  three 
guns.  So  we  started.  We  kept  a  good  look-out 
for  the  bushrangers,  fully  determined,  whatever 
happened,  not  to  be  taken  by  surprise.  We  gave 
a  wide  berth  to  every  clump  of  trees  along  the  road 
and  saw  no  sign  of  the  bushrangers,  when,  sud- 
denly,   while   passing   a   small  group   of  sapHngs, 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  VICTORIA      33 

about  three  miles  from  the  hotel,  which  I  never 
imagined  could  shelter  them  from  observation, 
three  horsemen  sprang  forward  and  almost  sur- 
rounded us.  I  sidled  backwards  towards  the  trunk 
of  a  tree,  and  was  ready  for  emergencies.  I  knew 
how  to  handle  my  weapon,  as  the  chief  amusement 
I  had  in  California  was  in  shooting  at  a  mark.  They 
halted  about  a  dozen  yards  from  us,  and,  after 
exchanging  a  few  words  among  themselves  the 
foremost  asked  me  in  a  bantering  tone  if  I  took 
them  for  bushrangers.  I  said  I  did.  He  then 
asked  if  that  was  a  revolver  I  held  in  my  hand.  I 
said  it  was.  He  remarked  he  had  never  seen  one 
of  that  kind  before,  and  would  I  let  him  see  it.  He 
laughed  when  I  told  him  I  never  let  it  pass  out  of 
my  hand.  They  then  bade  us  good-day,  put  spurs 
to  their  horses,  and  cantered  off. 

"  We  heard  they  had  stuck  up  and  robbed  two 
other  parties  in  the  course  of  the  day.  That  was 
the  only  adventure  I  ever  had  with  bushrangers 
while  in  Australia.  The  lesson  to  me  was  never 
to  be  cocksure  of  anything.  I  was  perfectly  certain 
that  I  could  not  be  taken  by  surprise  on  that  occa- 
sion, and  yet  I  was. 

''  We  put  in  a  week  or  two  at  Beech  worth,  but 
found  what  we  had  been  told  was  true — that  the 
best  of  the  ground  had  been  worked  out.  Here  I 
met  with  a  fellow  passenger  by  the  Europe,  an 
American,  with  whom  I  entered  into  partnership 
which  continued  as  long  as  I  remained  on  the  gold- 


34  DAVID  SYME 

fields.  From  Beechworth  we  made  our  way  to 
the  Daylesford  district,  where  we  did  very  well.  I 
only  wished  we  had  remained  there  longer.  But 
we  could  not  resist  the  attractions  of  Ballarat,  then 
in  the  zenith  of  its  glory.  The  deep  leads,  which 
have  been  worked  so  long,  were  just  discovered, 
and  immense  quantities  of  gold  had  been  taken 
from  them  ;  or  rather  they  were  not  deep  leads 
then,  the  richest  deposits  having  been  obtained  at 
from  20  to  30  feet  in  depth.  So  we  went  to  Bal- 
larat and  took  up  two  claims,  one  on  the  Canadian 
Gully  and  one  on  the  main  lead,  as  it  was  called. 
In  both  places  the  gold  was  found  in  gutters,  or  in 
the  bed  of  an  ancient  creek  which  had  been  filled 
up  so  that  there  was  no  indication  of  gold  on  the 
surface.  When  we  arrived  on  the  ground  we  found 
the  surface  pegged  out  into  claims  for  nearly  half 
a  mile  ahead  of  the  claim  which  had  last  struck 
the  gutter,  and  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  wide. 
These  claims  were  of  a  uniform  size,  24  feet  by  24 
feet,  which  was  the  limit  allowed  for  four  men,  12 
feet  square  for  each.  As  much  as  ;f20,ooo  had  been 
taken  out  of  one  of  these  claims,  at  least,  so  it  was 
reported.  It  will  be  understood  that  mining  was 
much  of  a  lottery  in  these  circumstances.  Our 
claim  on  the  main  lead  was  quite  half  a  mile  from 
where  gold  had  been  found,  so  that  the  chances 
were  about  fifty  to  one  against  us.  Our  position 
on  the  Canadian  Gully  was  much  the  same.  Here 
we  engaged   four  men  to  sink  one  shaft   and  two 


-:>-^^' 


Ballarat. 
Gold    Diggers.— Issuing    Licenses. 


[Page  34 


1 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS   OF   VICTORIA      35 

other  men  with  ourselves  to  sink  the  shaft  on  the 
main  lead.  Except  for  the  two  or  three  claims  next 
to  where  gold  had  been  found,  all  the  rest  were 
shepherded  ;  that  is,  a  merely  nominal  compliance 
with  the  working  regulations  was  observed,  the 
claim-holders  putting  in  an  hour  or  two  each  day, 
waiting  till  they  saw  whether  the  gutter  was  likely 
to  come  in  their  direction,  the  gutter  being  only 
about  20  feet  in  width.  As  my  partner  and  myself 
had  no  taste  for  shepherding  and  wanted  to  know 
our  fate  as  soon  as  possible,  we  set  vigorously  to 
work  on  both  our  claims,  little  thinking  what  was 
in  store  for  us.  We  had  no  expectation  of  meeting 
with  any  serious  difficulty  in  sinking  our  shaft,  but 
we  found  out  our  mistake  when  we  had  sunk  about 
100  feet.  I  well  remember  arriving  at  the  shaft 
in  the  evening  to  take  my  turn  at  the  night  shift 
(a  twelve  hours'  shift  in  those  days).  To  my  sur- 
prise I  found  both  the  day  shift  men  on  the  top  of 
the  shaft  waiting  for  us.  One  man  had  come  up 
from  below  because  he  had  struck  water.  The 
water,  he  said,  had  risen  about  2  feet  in  the  shaft. 
This  did  not  seem  serious  ;  he  admitted  he  had  not 
put  in  the  slabs  (the  shaft  was  timbered  from  the 
top  downwards)  at  the  bottom  of  the  shaft.  This 
of  course  was  a  serious  omission.  I  said  I  would 
go  down  and  put  in  the  slabs  and  then  we  would 
wait  events.  I  went  down,  and  had  managed  to 
put  one  set  in  all  round  when,  without  the  least 
warning,   I  found  myself  enveloped  in  water  and 


36  DAVID  SYME 

sand  which,  after  ascending  some  height,  came 
pouring  down  on  my  head.  The  clay  at  the  bottom 
of  the  shaft  had  given  way  with  my  weight,  and  I 
had  sunk  above  my  knees  into  a  stratum  of  silt 
which  held  the  body  of  water  which  burst  in  upon 
me.  I  got  into  the  bucket  at  once,  by  this  time 
full  of  sand,  and  signalled  to  be  hauled  up.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  water  rose  to  the  surface  of  the 
shaft,  almost  as  soon  as  I  did,  and  overflowed  in  a 
large  stream  into  the  main  road  for  a  fortnight 
afterwards.  We  had  struck  a  subterranean  river. 
The  same  day  an  equally  large  body  of  water  was 
met  with  in  the  shaft  adjoining  ours  in  the  Canadian 
Gully,  and  the  man  who  was  below  at  the  time  was 
drowned.  We  got  no  gold  in  our  claim  on  this  lead. 
On  our  main  lead  claim  we  were  allowed  a  suspen- 
sion of  work  for  a  month,  ostensibly  to  enable  the 
shafts  around  to  be  sunk  to  the  water  level  and 
assist  in  the  drainage.  But  the  shafts  continued 
to  be  shepherded  as  before  and  we  had  no  help  what- 
ever from  the  shepherds.  In  one  or  two  instances 
a  little  more  vigour  was  shown  ;  but  every  claim 
was  careful  to  stop  sinking  before  reaching  the 
water  hne,  and  the  consequence  was  that  the  whole 
work  of  draining  the  water  was  left  on  our  hands. 
We  might  have  played  the  same  game  as  the  others, 
but  we  preferred  working  to  waiting.  It  took  us 
over  four  months,  night  and  day  work,  to  reduce 
the  water  in  our  shaft  till  we  could  resume  sinking. 
There  was  a  body  of  silt  and  sand  about  lo  feet 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS   OF  VICTORIA      37 

below  where  the  water  came  in  upon  us  ;  and,  as 
we  sank,  this  material  was  drained  into  our  shaft, 
leaving  an  immense  cavity  which  we  had  the  great- 
est difficulty  in  timbering  as  there  was  nothing 
behind  to  support  the  slabs.  We  practically  over- 
came the  difficulty  by  filling  up  the  cavity  with 
bundles  of  straw  and  other  material,  but  it  was 
always  a  danger  to  work  below  this,  as  the  whole 
mass  was  liable  to  collapse  at  any  moment.  We 
got  bottom  at  last,  found  the  ground  stoping  into 
the  adjoining  claim,  which  was  sunk  without  diffi- 
culty owing  to  our  draining  the  water  away  from  it, 
but  we  found  no  gold.  To  make  sure  we  were  not 
leaving  anything  behind  us  we  drove  to  both 
sides  of  our  boundary,  but  discovered  nothing. 
The  claim  on  the  left  was  bottomed  nearly  as  soon 
as  ours,  and  got  the  gutter  and  the  gold  in  it.  But 
the  worst  of  our  bad  luck  has  not  been  told.  Need- 
less to  say  we  had  enough  of  this  lottery  business  ; 
so,  after  squaring  up  matters,  we  left  for  Melbourne, 
uncertain  what  to  do  next.  Up  to  the  time  we 
left  the  gold  deposits  had  been  confined  to  the 
gutter,  now  on  the  stoping  ground  ;  but  a  couple 
of  months  after  we  had  abandoned  our  claim  a 
party  of  men  went  down  our  shaft,  drove  beyond 
our  boundary  on  rising  ground,  and  discovered 
even  more  gold  than  had  been  found  in  the  gutter 
on  the  other  side  of  our  claim. 

"  My  next  mining  adventure  was  of  a  different 
kind.     After  a  short  stay  in  Melbourne,  my  partner 


38  DAVID  SYME 

and  I  took  up  a  quartz  reef  at  Mount  Egerton,  at 
that  time  a  very  quiet  and  out-of-the-way  place. 
There  were  not  more  than  half  a  dozen  people  there 
altogether,  and  only  two  of  these  were  working  on 
the  reef.  We  pegged  off  ground  sufficient  for  eight 
men  (including  ourselves),  being  the  same  as  in  the 
alluvial  claims,  viz.  12  feet  by  12  feet,  a  ridiculous 
area,  considering  that  quartz  mining  required  ex- 
pensive crushing  machinery  which  it  would  not 
pay  to  erect  on  a  small  claim.  However,  we  brought 
up  six  men  from  Melbourne  to  work  the  mine,  and 
ordered,  through  an  agent  in  Melbourne,  a  Berdon 
crushing  machine  from  England,  papng  one-half 
the  cost  in  advance,  intending  to  purchase  an  engine 
in  the  colony  when  the  crushing  machine  arrived. 
Six  months  passed  and  we  heard  nothing  of  the 
machinery  and  suspecting  (which  was  true)  that 
it  had  never  been  ordered,  we  demanded  back  our 
money,  which  we  succeeded  in  getting  after  con- 
siderable delay.  Meanwhile  we  had  to  keep  our 
men  at  work  opening  up  the  reef,  or  we  should  have 
been  liable  to  have  our  claim  forfeited.  The  quartz, 
which  accumulated  on  our  hands,  and  which  we 
had  no  means  of  disposing  of  till  we  got  our  machinery 
at  work,  was  stacked  on  the  ground.  As  the  reef 
was  rich  the  gold-bearing  quartz  thus  was  visible 
to  the  naked  eye,  and  attracted  the  attention  of 
visitors.  The  consequence  was  that  our  claim  was 
jumped,  or  at  least  that  part  of  it  which  we  held 
by  hand  labour,  leaving  us  the  remainder  and,  of 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  VICTORIA      39 

course,  not  the  best  part  of  the  claim.  As  we  had 
complied  strictly  with  the  law  and  were,  as  we 
imagined,  among  a  law-abiding  people,  we  were  not 
much  disturbed  by  this  action.  We  showed  the 
invaders  that  we  held  the  ground  according  to  the 
mining  laws  of  the  district ;  but  it  was  of  no  use. 
So  we  informed  the  Commissioner,  whose  head- 
quarters were  at  Ballarat,  of  what  had  taken  place, 
and  requested  him  to  come  over  and  adjudicate  on 
the  case.  He  came  the  following  day.  We  pro- 
duced the  men  we  had  in  the  claim,  and  we  also 
produced  their  licences.  The  other  side  had  nothing 
to  say,  and  the  decision  was  promptly  given  in  our 
favour.  The  jumpers  were  not  pleased  with  the 
verdict,  and  one  of  them  surlily  told  the  Commis- 
sioner that  we  had  no  right  to  so  large  a  claim,  and 
they  would  jump  it  again.  The  Commissioner  was 
somewhat  nettled,  and  told  the  man  if  he  dared  to 
do  so  he  would  probably  get  twelve  months  on  the 
roads.  The  Commissioner  was  hardly  out  of  sight 
when  the  same  man  again  took  possession.  We 
were  not  alarmed,  as  we  thought  the  Commissioner 
having  already  decided  in  our  favour  could  not 
give  a  different  decision  when  the  case  came  before 
him  again.  We  accordingly  informed  the  Com- 
missioner of  what  had  taken  place  and  once 
more  requested  his  interposition.  He  promised  to 
come,  but  he  never  made  his  appearance.  We 
waited  day  after  day  and  kept  reminding  him  of 
his  promise,   but  still  he  never  came.     We  then 

F 


40  DAVID   SYME 

tried  to  get  a  territorial  magistrate  to  settle  the 
case,  but  they  all  had  the  same  story — they  had 
no  jurisdiction  in  mining  disputes.  Failing  redress 
from  the  constituted  authorities  we  ultimately  put 
our  case  before  the  Government.  Mr.  Haines,  the 
then  Chief  Secretary,  was  interviewed,  and  he,  even 
at  that  time,  gave  the  stereotyped  reply  that  he 
would  consider  the  case  and  send  us  a  reply.  But 
we  got  no  reply.  I  suppose  the  matter  had  never 
been  looked  into,  for  we  never  heard  from  him. 
We  waited  long  and  patiently  for  some  action  on 
the  part  of  the  Government  till  at  length  it  became 
plain  enough  to  us  that  we  were  to  have  no  redress, 
so  we  sold  the  small  interest  we  had  and  left  the 
district.  Had  we  kept  alive  our  claim  against  the 
Government  we  would  by  this  time  have  been  able 
to  demand  something  like  a  miUion  sterling  com- 
pensation for  the  loss  of  our  property ;  for  what 
was  afterwards  known  as  the  Great  Mount  Egerton 
mine  was  the  claim  of  which  we  had  been  defrauded. 
This  same  claim  has  since  turned  out,  in  profits  and 
dividends  alone,  more  than  £1,200,000,  and  is  still 
being  worked. 

"  The  Ballarat  riot  is  an  unpleasant  episode  in 
the  history  of  Victoria.  I  took  no  part  in  that 
unfortunate  affair,  but  I  knew  the  mining  population 
well,  and  entirely  sympathized  with  them  in  their 
grievances  against  the  Government.  My  brother, 
Ebenezer,  who  had  recently  arrived  in  Melbourne 
and  was  then  on  the  editorial  staff  of  The  Age, 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  VICTORIA      41 

strongly  advocated  their  cause  in  the  columns  of 
that  journal.  Never  was  a  colony  nearer  being 
lost  to  the  empire  than  was  Victoria  at  the  period 
referred  to,  owing  to  the  ineptitude  and  gross  blun- 
ders of  the  Government  officials.  One  of  these 
officials  has  written  a  history  of  that  period,  which 
one  has  only  to  glance  at  to  realize  the  spirit  which 
animated  his  class  in  its  dealings  with  the  mining 
population.  He  habitually  calls  them  *  Gold 
scrapers,*  describing  them  as  turbulent,  as  consisting 
largely  of  convicts  or  ex-convicts  from  the  neigh- 
bouring colonies,  and  often  the  scum  of  foreign 
countries.  Nothing  could  be  farther  from  the 
truth.  No  doubt  there  were  a  few  convicts  and  a 
few  turbulent  persons  who  came  to  the  surface  when 
trouble  arose,  but  what  young  country  has  ever 
been  without  such  people  ?  Man  for  man  the 
miners  were  physically,  mentally  and  morally 
equal  to  any  people  in  the  British  dominions.  In- 
deed, the  immigrants  whom  the  gold  discovery 
attracted  were  rather  of  a  superior  class.  It  was 
not  every  one  who  had  the  courage  or  the  means 
to  undertake  the  voyage  from  England  to  Australia 
in  those  days.  Only  those  who  felt  a  noble  dis- 
content with  their  native  surroundings,  and  men 
who  were  self-reliant  and  enterprising  to  a  degree, 
could  be  induced  to  sever  their  home  ties  and  emi- 
grate to  the  Antipodes.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I 
know  that  nearly  all  the  emigrants  were  com- 
paratively well-to-do,  many  being  members  of  the 


42  DAVID  SYME 

learned  professions  and  graduates  of  English  and 
Scottish  universities  who,  from  want  of  sufficient 
capital  or  influence,  had  been  unable  to  make  their 
way  in  the  crowded  ranks  of  the  mother  country. 
These  men  on  arrival  as  a  rule  went  straight  to  the 
goldfields,  where  they  hoped  to  better  their  con- 
dition by  means  of  honest  industry. 

"  But  the  officials,  from  the  Government  down- 
wards, treated  them  as  if  they  were  the  scum  of 
the  earth,  and  did  everything  in  their  power  to  make 
life  unbearable.  Assuming  the  miners  would 
spend  their  earnings  in  drunken  orgies,  no  intoxi- 
cating liquor  was  allowed  to  be  sold ;  regarded 
as  intruders,  they  were  not  permitted  to  occupy 
the  lease  or  purchase  any  land,  and  were  even 
refused  leave  to  cultivate  a  patch  of  ground 
around  their  tents  for  growing  their  own  vegetables. 
They  had  to  pay  thirty  shiUings  a  month  as  licence 
fee  for  permission  to  dig  for  gold,  and  this  was 
collected  by  an  armed  constabulary.  If  a  miner 
had  not  the  Ucence  in  his  pocket,  or  was  too  poor 
to  possess  one,  he  was  marched  off  to  the  camp 
like  a  criminal ;  and,  as  there  were  no  gaols  on  the 
goldfields  in  those  days,  he  was  chained  Uke  a  dog 
to  a  log  or  tree  till  the  Commissioners  had  time  to 
try  his  case.  Can  it  be  wondered  that  people  with 
British  blood  in  their  veins  should  resent  such 
treatment  ? 

"  Gold  was  discerned  in  Victoria  first  at  Clunes 
and  next  at  Anderson's  Creek  near  Melbourne  in 


FIRST  IMPRESSIONS  OF  VICTORIA      43 

1850,  but  it  was  on  the  8th  of  September,  1851,  that 
the  mineral  resources  of  Ballarat  were  brought  to 
light.  The  necessity  of  maintaining  order  amongst 
a  large  floating  population  such  as  that  on  the 
newly-discovered  goldfields  entailed  the  raising  of 
additional  revenue,  and  to  provide  this  a  licence 
fee  of  thirty  shillings  a  month  on  every  resident 
on  the  goldfields  was  charged.  But  the  revenue 
could  not  be  collected  owing  to  the  roving  dis- 
position of  the  miners.  At  the  latter  end  of  1852, 
out  of  a  population  of  100,000,  only  27,000  licences 
were  collected,  while  the  expense  of  collecting  was 
considerable.  To  meet  this  deficit  Mr.  La  Trobe, 
the  Governor,  proposed  to  double  the  licence  fee, 
making  it  £3  per  month  instead  of  thirty  shillings. 
The  incredible  folly  of  this  proposal  apparently 
never  struck  the  Governor,  but  there  was  a  method 
in  his  madness  nevertheless.  In  doubling  the 
licence  tax  he  declared  that  this  additional  impost 
would  '  throw  additional  impediments  in  the  way 
of  those  frequenting  the  goldfields.'  Knowing  the 
difficulty  there  was  in  collecting  the  thirty-shilling 
Hcences,  and  anticipating  that  the  difficulty  would 
be  increased  if  the  amount  were  doubled,  the  Gover- 
nor, immediately  on  issuing  his  proclamation,  sent 
urgent  appeals  to  the  Governors  of  New  South 
Wales  and  Tasmania  for  the  loan  of  troops.  It 
would  be  hard  to  find  such  another  exhibition  of 
truculent  incapacity  on  the  part  of  any  governing 
body  in  the  Imperial  doininions. 


44  DAVID  SYME 

"  The  proclamation  drove  the  miners  into  a 
frenzy  of  indignation.  PubUc  meetings  were  held 
at  Forrest  Creek  (now  Castlemaine),  Bendigo  and 
other  goldfields,  at  which  resolutions  were  carried 
condemning  the  Government  proposal.  Even  the 
citizens  of  Geelong  met  and  denounced  the  action 
of  the  Government.  These  meetings  had  their 
desired  effect,  for  the  Government  withdrew  its 
order  almost  immediately,  much  to  the  disgust  of 
the  lesser  officials  and  older  residents,  as  indicating 
weakness  on  the  part  of  those  in  authority/' 


CHAPTER    III 
The  Age  and  its   Early   Editors 

Syme  joins  his  brother  Ebenezer — The  two  brothers  buy  The  Age 
— How  The  Age  was  started — Ebenezer  in  politics — David 
doubtful  of  the  success  of  The  Age — David  temporarily  gives 
up  journalism  and  becomes  a  contractor — Oppressed  by  an 
engineer — The  art  of  tendering  for  contracts — Marriage — 
Death  of  Ebenezer — David  gives  up  contracting  and  assumes 
control  of  The  Age — His  reasons — Hardships  of  journalism 
— His  health  fails — Adventures  with  physicians — The  Boy- 
cotts— Protectionist  headway — His  fighting  policy — The  first 
editors  of  The  Age — G.  P.  Smith — Judge  Fellowes — A.  L. 
Windsor — Professor  Pearson — The  key  to  the  success  of 
The  Age — Sir  James  Culloch — Richard  Seddon. 

Shortly  after  his  unpleasant  experiences  at  Mount 
Egerton,  David  Syme  removed  to  Melbourne  and 
joined  his  brother  Ebenezer,  who  was  editing  The 
Age  (then,  as  now,  the  only  Liberal  paper  in  Mel- 
bourne) for  a  co-operative  society  of  journalists, 
printers  and  workers.  It  had  been  founded  some 
two  years  earlier  by  another  proprietary. 

In  the  middle  of  1854,  when  the  disputes  between 
the  diggers  and  the  Government  in  regard  to 
mining  were  increasing  in  intensity,  it  occurred 
to  John  and  Henry  Cooke,  two  local  merchants 
and  stock-owners,   that  there  was  an  opening  in 


46  DAVID  SYME 

Melbourne  for  a  third  daily  newspaper ;  and, 
having  decided  to  embark  on  the  enterprise,  they 
started  a  journal  which  they  named  The  Age,  The 
proprietors  had  no  very  definite  views  upon  the 
great  political  questions  of  the  day,  but  hoped 
to  make  their  newspaper  more  readable  than  its 
rivals  ;  and  they  took  the  side  of  the  Noncon- 
formists in  the  agitation  which  was  at  that  time 
beginning  against  State  aid  to  religion. 

The  first  number  of  The  Age  was  printed  on 
the  17th  of  October,  1854,  in  a  building  that  had 
been  erected  in  William  Street  (near  the  site  of 
the  present  Mint)  for  the  purpose  of  an  Exhibition, 
which  was  held  in  Melbourne  before  the  Paris 
Exhibition  of  1855.  Mr.  Ebenezer  Syme,  Mr. 
David  Blair  and  Mr.  T.  L.  Bright  were  responsible 
for  the  leading  articles  and  general  control  of  the 
paper,  and  Mr.  James  Smith  was  the  dramatic 
critic. 

The  proprietors  announced  that  the  journal 
was  to  be  devoted  to  ''  politics,  commerce  and 
philanthropy  "  ;  that  it  was  "to  be  a  record  of 
'  great  movements  *,'*  and  to  be  dedicated  to  the 
advocacy  of  free  institutions,  the  diffusion  of  truth, 
and  the  advancement  of  man.'*  Despite  these 
ambitious  aims,  the  new  paper  failed  to  make  any 
immediate  impression.  Indeed,  The  Age  would 
probably  have  been  discontinued  after  a  few  weeks 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  anti-licence  agitation  at 
Ballarat  culminated  suddenly  in  the  attack  upon 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS   47 

the  Eureka  stockade.  The  most  absurd  reports 
were  circulated  in  Melbourne  about  the  diggers, 
who  were  said  to  contemplate  founding  an  inde- 
pendent republic.  The  traders,  merchants  and 
other  well-to-do  residents  of  the  metropolis  be- 
came seriously  alarmed.  The  Argus  up  to  the 
date  of  the  dramatic  episode  at  Bakery  Hill, 
Ballarat  (where  the  diggers  burned  their  licences 
and  declared  that  they  would  not  take  out  any 
more),  had  advocated  the  miners*  cause  and  had 
even  gone  so  far  as  hotly  to  attack  Sir  Charles 
Hotham  and  Mr.  Vesey  Foster  for  their  methods 
of  deahng  with  the  mining  trouble.  But  immedi- 
ately these  rumours  were  circulated  it  reversed 
its  policy  and  was  amongst  the  first  to  call  for 
measures  of  repression  and  a  proclamation  of 
martial  law  in  the  district  around  Ballarat.  The 
Age,  on  the  other  hand,  pointed  out  that  the  miners 
had  no  desire  to  levy  war  upon  the  Queen  or  to 
change  the  institutions  of  the  country :  that  they 
had  been  treated  with  great  harshness  and  cruelty 
by  the  authorities  ;  and  that  their  armed  resistance 
against  the  collection  of  taxes  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  if  not  justifiable,  was  at  any  rate  excusable. 
It  was  mainly  owing  to  the  vigorous  writing  of 
The  Age  that  a  pubUc  meeting  was  held  in  Mel- 
bourne to  protest  against  the  action  of  the  Govern- 
ment ;  and  that  Sir  Charles  Hotham  receded  from 
the  position  he  had  taken  up  and  revoked  the 
martial     law     proclamation.    Throughout     these 


48  DAVID  SYME 

troublous  times  The  Age  led  the  opposition  to  the 
policy  which  Sir  Charles  Hotham,  backed  by  the 
Attorney-General,  endeavoured  to  carry  out ;  and 
the  acquittal  of  the  Ballarat  rioters,  several  of 
whom  were  tried  for  high  treason,  and  the  appoint- 
ment of  a  commission  to  inquire  into  the  grievances 
of  the  miners  and  to  initiate  more  liberal  legis- 
lation for  the  goldfields,  were  largely  due  to  its 
exertions. 

But  the  attitude  of  The  Age,  more  particularly 
during  the  early  portion  of  the  crisis,  did  not  com- 
mend itself  to  the  first  proprietors.  At  an  early 
period  they  withdrew,  and  the  paper  was  then 
carried  on  by  a  sort  of  commonwealth,  the  Uterary 
department  continuing  under  the  control  of  Mr. 
Ebenezer  Syme,  Mr.  T.  L.  Bright  and  Mr.  David 
Blair.  Ebenezer  Syme  contrived  to  raise  The 
Age  to  z.  higher  literary  level  than  its  rivals,  but 
he  could  not  save  it  from  financial  failure.  After 
maintaining  for  eighteen  months  a  desperate 
struggle  against  two  long-established  papers,  the 
co-operative  company  was  on  the  point  of  dis- 
solution when  David  Syme  reached  Melbourne. 
David  had  not  been  by  any  means  fortunate  as  a 
miner,  but  he  had,  nevertheless,  contrived  to  amass 
a  little  fortune.  On  Ebenezer 's  advice  he  invested 
this  in  journalism ;  and  The  Age,  having  been 
brought  to  the  hammer,  was  purchased  by  the 
two  brothers  for  the  sum  of  £2,000.  At  that  time 
Ebenezer  Syme  had  more  faith  in  the  future  success 


George  Syme. 


{Page  48 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS     49 

of  The  Age  than  David  had.  David  Syme  really 
did  not  believe  there  was  room  for  a  third  morning 
paper  in  Melbourne.  The  population  was  then 
comparatively  small  and  there  were  no  railways 
to  carry  newspapers  to  the  goldfields,  so  that 
the  circulation  was  almost  exclusively  confined 
to  the  metropolis.  David,  however,  threw  himself 
with  energy  into  the  new  enterprise  and  strove  to 
bring  the  paper  through  its  troubles.  The  first 
issue  under  his  management  was  printed  on  the 
I2th  of  June,  1856. 

Ebenezer  Syme  stood  and  was  elected  repre- 
sentative for  Mandurang  in  the  first  Legislative 
Assembly  of  Victoria.  He  did  not  seek  re-election 
when  his  term  expired,  because  he  found  that  his 
Parliamentary  duties,  under  the  system  of  Party 
Government,  conflicted  with  his  journalistic  work. 
As  member  of  a  party  he  was  not  only  expected 
to  vote  with  his  party,  right  or  wrong,  but  also  to 
support  it  in  the  paper,  a  course  of  which  neither 
he  nor  David  approved.  After  a  trial  extending 
to  about  the  middle  of  1857  the  brothers  found 
that  the  income  of  The  Age  was  not  sufficient  to 
support  them  both,  so  David  generously  resolved 
to  seek  other  employment  for  himself  until  the 
fortunes  of  the  journal  might  improve,  and  to  leave 
Ebenezer  to  manage  and  edit  it  on  the  lines  of  the 
policy  that  he  had  laid  down. 

David  was  not  long  engaged  in  looking  for  work. 
He  had  hardly  concluded  the    arrangements  with 


50  DAVID  SYME 

his  brother,  when  a  friend,  who  had  been  given  a 
contract  for  making  some  miles  of  roads  for  the 
Government  on  the  Keilor  plains,  asked  his  assist- 
ance in  carrying  it  out,  as  other  contracts  else- 
where required  his  attention.  This  offer  David 
accepted,  and  he  obtained  sufficient  experience  to 
enable  him  to  undertake  contracts  on  his  own 
account.  These  he  found  to  be  fairly  profitable, 
and  as  he  Uked  the  work  he  determined  to  pro- 
ceed with  it.  Ebenezer  was  at  first  somewhat 
alarmed,  because  he  had  been  informed  by  an 
acquaintance,  a  contractor  on  a  large  scale,  that 
it  would  be  simply  suicidal  for  David,  a  stranger, 
to  enter  into  competition  with  established  firms 
for  Government  contracts,  as  the  district  engineers, 
under  whose  supervision  the  work  was  carried  out, 
had  an  understanding  with  these  firms,  and  friction 
would  be  certain  to  arise  with  any  interlopers. 
David  concluded,  however,  that  he  had  nothing  to 
fear  as  long  as  he  did  honest  work,  which  he  was 
determined  to  do.  Nor  did  he  have  occasion  to 
complain  of  unfair  treatment  on  the  part  of  the 
engineers  for  some  time.  But  they  were  biding 
their  time.  He  had  obtained  a  contract  for  the 
construction  of  several  miles  of  a  metal  road  in  the 
western  district,  the  specifications  stating  that  the 
metal  was  to  be  broken  to  a  size  to  pass  through  a 
ring  two  inches  in  diameter.  He  sublet  the  crush- 
ing of  the  metal  which  was  to  be  broken  to  this 
standard,  and  saw  that  it  was  carried  out  in  the 


THE  AGE  AND  ITS   EARLY  EDITORS    51 

usual  way  before  paying  for  it ;  but  the  engineer 
condemned  the  whole  of  it.  As  a  consequence  he 
had  to  go  over  the  work  again  ;  but  it  was  con- 
demned a  second  time,  the  engineer  insisting  that 
each  individual  stone  must  pass  through  the  two- 
inch  ring,  a  thing  which  had  never  been  heard  of 
before.  Needless  to  say  there  were  no  profits 
out  of  that  contract,  and  he  made  up  his  mind 
never  again  to  take  work  under  this  engineer,  which 
was  no  doubt  precisely  what  the  man  wanted. 
However,  he  got  on  pretty  well  with  other  engineers 
and  graduaJly  acquired  a  sound  knowledge  of  his 
business  ;  not  in  road-making  only,  but  in  bridge- 
building  and  all  manner  of  brick  and  stone  work. 

He  soon  discovered  there  was  an  art  in  tender- 
ing as  in  everything  else.  When  tendering  for 
the  supply  of  one  item,  for  instance,  such  as  earth 
work,  or  metal,  at  so  much  per  cubic  yard,  he  found 
it  was  not  advisable  to  work  out  the  bulk  sum  (at 
which  the  contract  is  let)  in  the  ordinary  way 
(especially  when  quantities  are  supplied  at  so  many 
thousand  yards  and  so  much  per  yard),  because 
some  competitor  might  have  tendered  at  the  same 
price.  In  the  best  contract  he  ever  had  of  this 
kind  it  happened  that  he  had  adopted  the  same 
price  as  the  next  lowest  tenderer,  but  he  knocked 
off  a  shilling  from  the  bulk  sum  and  secured  the 
contract,  his  tender  being  just  below  the  next 
lowest. 

There  was  one  drawback  in  this   business — the 


52  DAVID  SYME 

occasionally  long  intervals  between  contracts  ;  for 
the  contractor  was  obliged  not  only  to  keep  his 
staff  of  workmen  and  overseers  and  horses  together, 
but  to  secure  regular  work  for  them,  although  the 
contracts  were  by  no  means  regular.  However, 
by  tendering  for  a  much  larger  quantity  of  work 
than  he  was  Ukely  to  be  allotted,  and  always  at 
highly  remunerative  prices,  he  contrived  to  obtain 
as  many  contracts  as  he  could  undertake,  and 
always  on  profitable  terms. 

On  the  17th  of  August,  1858,  David  Syme  married 
his  wife,  Annabella  Johnson.^  She  was  born  in 
Yorkshire  and  arrived  in  Melbourne  with  her 
parents  in  1853.  Mr.  Syme  says  of  his  wife  in  a 
note  to  an  intimate  friend  which  he  wrote  in 
1907  : — '^  I  shall  never  cease  to  bless  the  day  I 
married  her.*'  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Syme  had  five  sons 
and  four  daughters  of  their  marriage.  All  the 
sons  and  two  daughters  are  now  living ;  two 
daughters  died  in  infancy. 

David  Syme  was  just  beginning  to  see  his  way 
to  assured  success  when  his  brother  Ebenezer  died. 
He  had  then  to  decide  whether  he  should  continue 
at  his  contracting  business,  or  give  it  up  and  take 
over  the  management  of  The  Age.  He  accepted 
the  latter  alternative.    This  undertaking  was  not 


1  John  William  Johnson,  his  wife  and  four  children,  one 
daughter  and  three  sons,  left  Liverpool  in  the  sailing  ship 
Africa,  1435  tons,  on  the  30th  of  November,  1852,  and  arrived 
at  Melbourne  on  the  i6th  of  April  following. 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS     53 

to  his  liking,  but  he  had  sufficient  reasons  for  making 
the  change.  In  the  first  place  it  was  impossible 
to  sell  the  paper.  He  could  only  give  it  away, 
and  from  first  to  last  he  had  invested  a  consider- 
able amount  of  money  in  the  concern.  In  the 
second  place,  his  brother's  family  had  no  income 
but  that  which  was  obtained  from  the  paper, 
and  to  have  discontinued  it  would  leave  them 
wholly  unprovided  for.  In  the  third  place,  David 
Syme  believed  he  knew  what  the  country  required. 
His  political  views  were  very  decided,  and  he  felt  it 
to  be  his  duty  to  put  them  before  the  public.  At 
that  period  thousands  of  people  were  leaving  the 
Colony  every  week,  many  of  them  successful  miners, 
who  would  gladly  have  settled  on  the  land  had  it 
then  been  available  ;  many  others  were  unsuccess- 
ful and  were  leaving  because  they  could  find  no 
employment  in  their  own  vocations.  To  open  up 
the  land  for  settlement  and  create  employment  by 
the  imposition  of  protective  customs  duties  were, 
in  his  judgment,  absolute  necessities.  He  also  held 
strong  views  in  favour  of  free,  compulsory  and 
secular  education,  as  well  as  on  mining,  private 
property,  and  many   other  subjects. 

So  David  Syme  betook  himself  exclusively  to 
journalism.  To  manage,  finance  and  conduct  a 
daily  newspaper  is  no  light  matter  at  any  time, 
but  to  do  so  without  ample  means,  without  a  com- 
petent business  or  literary  staff  (which  could  only 
be   secured   by   the   expenditure   of    more   money 


54  DAVID  SYME 

than  he  could  afford),  with  a  comparatively  small 
circulation,  and  with  two  established  rivals  in  the 
field,  seemed  almost  foolhardy.  It  was  killing 
work.  He  could  never  have  survived  it  had  he  not 
possessed  a  good  constitution.  For  more  than  a 
decade  he  never  worked  less  than  fifteen  hours  a 
day  and  never  had  a  holiday,  except  a  compulsory 
one  when  his  medical  advisers  ordered  him  to 
take  a  voyage  to  England  and  back.  Within 
these  years  the  work  began  to  tell  oh  him  as  it  had 
on  his  brother,  who  died  of  consumption  brought 
on  by  overwork.  Mr.  Syme  tells  the  story  of  his 
adventures  with  the  physicians  in  a  letter  that 
has  been  preserved  : — 

*'  My  medical  advisers  considered  that  I  was 
seriously  ill  and  sent  me  to  a  specialist  for  chest 
diseases.  He  examined  me  carefully  and  pro- 
nounced that  my  lungs  were  affected  and  that 
my  only  chance  of  recovery  was  to  take  a  long 
sea  voyage,  at  that  time  the  usual  remedy  recom- 
mended by  the  profession  in  such  cases.  So  I  set 
my  house  in  order  as  best  I  could.  Fortunately 
my  brother  George  had  come  out  to  Melbourne 
and  I  left  him  in  charge  of  the  paper  and,  accom- 
panied by  my  wife,  set  sail  for  England  via  Cape 
Town.  A  Melbourne  specialist  had  recommended 
me  to  a  specialist  in  London,  whom  I  consulted 
on  arrival  there,  and  he  confirmed  the  previous 
diagnosis.  I  spent  three  months  in  England  and 
returned  by  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  being  absent 


THE  AGE  AND  ITS   EARLY   EDITORS    55 

altogether  about  eight  months.  Eight  months' 
rest  had  improved  my  general  health,  but  had  not 
cured  my  cough  or  removed  the  other  symptoms. 
On  consulting  my  specialist  I  got  no  comfort  from 
him,  for  he  pronounced  that  my  lungs  were  much 
the  same  as  when  I  left,  and  that  there  was  nothing 
for  it  but  that  I  should  abandon  sedentary  work 
and  Uve  in  the  country.  This  was  easier  said 
than  done.  All  my  capital  had  been  invested  in 
The  Age,  which  I  could  not  realize,  so  I  had  to 
resume  work  on  the  paper  even  if  I  should  have 
to  die  at  my  post.  I  resumed  work  accordingly, 
but  I  did  not  die  at  my  post,  as  I  ought  to  have 
done  according  to  the  medical  opinions. 

*'  I  decided  to  insure  my  life  if  I  possibly  could, 
as  I  wanted  to  have  something  to  leave  to  my  family. 
I  applied  to  all  the  leading  insurance  companies 
in  Melbourne  and  was  duly  examined,  but  none  of 
them  would  insure  my  Ufe  at  any  premium.  To 
each  of  these  medical  gentlemen  I  had  put  the 
question  with  an  air  of  as  great  indifference  as  I 
could  command,  as  to  the  seat  of  the  disease. 
They  all  alleged  that  it  was  the  lungs.  On  further 
questioning  them  as  to  the  precise  locaUty,  one 
mentioned  that  it  was  the  right  lung,  another  that 
it  was  the  left,  a  third  that  it  was  the  top  of  the 
right  lung,  a  fourth  that  it  was  the  base  of  the  left 
lung,  and  so  on  ;  no  two  of  them  agreeing  as  to  the 
precise  spot  affected.  I  thought  this  peculiar. 
Evidently  they  could  not  all  be  correct,  and  I  had 

G 


56  DAVID  SYME 

a  faint  hope  they  might  all  be  wrong.  I  deter- 
mined to  consult  another  doctor.  I  had  noticed 
the  first  batch  of  doctors  seemed  greatly  impressed 
with  the  fact  that  one  of  my  family  (my  brother 
Ebenezer)  had  died  of  consumption,  so  I  decided 
to  consult  some  doctor  who  knew  nothing  of  my 
family  history.  I  accordingly  consulted  a  young 
man  who  had  just  arrived  in  Melbourne.  I  refused 
to  give  him  any  information  about  myself  or  family 
beyond  describing  my  symptoms.  After  a  long 
and,  to  me,  exhausting  examination,  he  pronounced 
that  my  lungs  were  perfectly  sound — at  the  same 
time  informing  me  that  my  liver  was  the  cause  of 
all  my  trouble.  For  this  he  gave  me  a  prescrip- 
tion which  I  never  used.  His  diagnosis  was  correct : 
at  any  rate  I  was  quite  disposed  to  believe  it  to 
be  so.  But  whether  or  no,  this  much  is  certain, 
that  my  health  improved  from  that  day  forth. 
So  I  went  to  work  immediately  as  if  nothing  had 
happened,  and  my  work  at  that  time  was  no  child's 
play.  It  was  even  more  severe  than  it  had  been 
before  I  left.  I  had  of  course  a  lot  of  leeway  to 
make  up  and  my  financial  troubles  were  far  worse, 
since,  during  my  absence,  the  paper  had  been  the 
subject  of  a  boycott." 

The  following  little  sketches  of  the  boycotts  to 
which  The  Age  was  subjected,  of  Mr.  Syme's  earUer 
editors  and  colleagues,  and  of  his  political  principles 
are  from  his  own  pen.  They  have  been  extracted 
from  private  notes  and  letters  to  personal  friends 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS    57 

and  transcribed  verbatim.  In  later  chapters  many 
of  these  subjects  will  be  dealt  with  again  and  more 
fully  by  the  Biographer. 

"  The  Age  held  and  advocated,  much  against 
its  interest,  very  pronounced  views  on  the  fiscal 
question,  being  strongly  Protectionist,  which 
naturally  gave  grave  offence  to  the  mercantile 
conamunity.  Almost  all  of  them  were  importers 
of  goods  ;  they  were  Free  Traders  to  a  man  and, 
naturally  enough,  resented  the  views  advocated 
by  the  paper  by  refusing  to  support  it  with  their 
advertisements.  This  action  on  the  part  of  the 
importers  was  a  serious  menace  to  the  paper,  as 
they  were  large,  almost  the  only,  advertisers,  and 
a  modern  newspaper  cannot  exist  without  adver- 
tisements ;  and  as  at  that  time  there  were  no  local 
industries,  everything  being  imported,  there  were 
no  trade  advertisements  to  take  the  place  of  those 
which  had  been  withdrawn.  When,  however,  it 
was  seen  that  this  action  on  the  part  of  the  im- 
porters had  no  effect  on  the  policy  of  the  paper, 
after  some  time  the  bulk  of  the  advertisements 
gradually  returned. 

**  Later  a  much  more  serious  boycott  took  place. 
There  was  a  much  stronger  organization  formed 
than  on  the  previous  occasion.  The  whole  city 
was  canvassed  by  agents  of  the  same  class,  and  a 
strong  endeavour  was  made  to  include  other  ad- 
vertisers who  did  business  with  them  in  the  boycott, 
in  some  cases  successfully.     In  fact,  a  regular  raid 


58  DAVID  SYME 

was  made  against  the  paper,  and  almost  every  firm 
who  advertised  in  The  Age  was  waited  upon  and 
asked  to  join  the  combination.  Many  complied, 
but  there  were  some  honourable  exceptions.  On 
the  previous  occasion  the  paper  took  no  notice  of 
the  boycott ;  but  this  was  an  altogether  much 
more  serious  affair,  and  some  action  appeared  to  be 
necessary.  There  was  one  person  who  took  a 
very  prominent  part  in  the  demonstration,  and  he 
was  singled  out  for  exposure,  not  in  connexion 
with  the  boycott,  but  on  account  of  a  discreditable 
matter  in  which  he  was  mixed  up.  It  was  not 
necessary  to  state  why  he  was  singled  out,  every  one 
understood.  Our  comments  were  resented  by 
many  of  the  combination  and  especially  by  the 
person  referred  to,  who  brought  an  action  against 
The  Age  for  Ubel  which  resulted  in  a  verdict  for  the 
plaintiff.  But  the  exposure  had  a  salutary  effect, 
and  the  public  handsomely  subscribed  the  amount 
I  had  been  out  of  pocket  by  the  prosecution." 

**  Why  such  a  determined  set  was  made  against 
The  Age  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  Protectionist 
views  were  beginning  to  make  progress  and  that 
The  Age  was  the  only  Melbourne  paper  which 
advocated  them.  In  fact  at  that  time  The  Age 
was  the  only  Protectionist  paper,  not  only  in  Mel- 
bourne, but  in  the  whole  of  Australia.  Even  now, 
in  the  Commonwealth,  the  number  of  Protectionist 
papers  is  extremely  small.  Almost  the  whole  of 
the  provincial  press  in  all  the  States  is  still   Free 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY ; EDITORS    59 

Trade.  As  a  rule,  the  circulation  of  these  papers 
is  limited  and  they  cannot  live  without  advertise- 
ments, and  these  they  get  from  the  local  storekeepers, 
merchants  and  shire  councils,  so  they  naturally 
cater  for  this  class.  The  lesson  taught  The  Age 
by  those  boycotts  was  not  to  rely  too  much  on 
advertising  as  a  means  of  support  for  the  paper. 

'*  Not  only  did  The  Age  at  the  period  I  speak 
of  stand  alone  as  an  advocate  of  Protection,  but  I 
recollect  the  time  when  I  myself  stood  alone  as  a 
Protectionist.  I  knew  of  no  one  in  Australia  who 
believed  in  Protection  except  myself.  Of  course 
others  may  have  held  the  same  views,  but  they 
were  unknown  to  me.  Protection,  therefore,  was 
not  adopted  by  The  Age  because  it  was  popular,  or 
because  it  was  profitable,  for  it  was  neither ;  and 
had  I  consulted  my  own  interests  I  would  have 
given  it  a  very  wide  berth.  I  had  to  fight  for  it 
inch  by  inch  from  the  start  and  against  immense 
odds,  as  the  whole  community,  myself  included, 
had  been  reared  on  Free  Trade  pabulum,  and 
thoroughly  beheved  in  the  cult.'' 

As  to  the  forward  policy  of  his  paper,  Syme 
wrote  : — 

*'  I  never  could  see  any  virtue  in  Laissez  faire. 
To  let  things  alone  when  they  had  gone  wrong,  to 
render  no  help  when  help  was  needed,  is  what  no 
sane  man  would  do  with  his  private  estate  and 
what  no  sound  statesman  would  tolerate  as  a  State 
policy.     It  is  simply  an  excuse  for  incapacity   or 


6o  DAVID  SYME 

inertia  in  affairs  of  State.  It  is  a  policy  of  drift. 
It  is  just  what  the  company-promoter,  the  card- 
sharper,  the  wife-deserter  and  the  burglar  would 
like — to  be  let  alone.  It  can  only  lead  to  national 
disaster  and  social  degeneration  when  carried  out 
in  any  community.  Why  should  the  development 
of  the  material  resources  of  a  country  alone  be 
deemed  unworthy  of  the  notice  of  a  statesman  ; 
especially  when,  by  a  system  of  import  duties,  this 
can  be  done  with  perfect  safety  and  almost  automatic- 
ally and  with  a  minimum  of  interference  with 
private  interests,  every  person  being  at  liberty  to 
accept  or  reject  the  advantage  offered  ?  A  tariff 
may  be  imposed  either  to  encourage  industry  or 
for  revenue  purposes  :  but  may  also  serve  both 
purposes,  but  not  at  the  same  time  :  if  it  is  high  and 
drives  out  imports  it  will  protect  the  local  producer  : 
if  it  is  low  it  will  bring  in  revenue.  But  if  a  high 
tariff  fails  to  be  protective  (and  it  will  take  some 
time  to  produce  this  effect)  it  will  act  as  a  revenue 
tariff.  Low  duties  can  only  bring  revenue,  and  if 
they  do  not  provide  that  they  wiU  be  useless.*' 

Syme's  memoranda  about  his  early  editors  and 
contributors  are,  journalistically  at  least,  inter- 
esting : — 

"  My  first  editor,  Mr.  G.  Paton  Smith,  came  to 
me  in  a  rather  strange  way.  He  was  a  reporter 
on  the  staff  of  The  Argus  (April,  1864)  when  John 
O'Shanassy,  the  Premier,  deUvered  what  was  long 
known   as   his    Kilmore   speech   at   Kilmore.     Mr. 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS    6i 

Smith  went  to  report  this  speech,  but  for  some 
reason  he  did  not  wait  until  the  end  of  the  address. 
In  consequence  he  arrived  in  Melbourne  long  before 
the  reporters  from  the  other  newspapers.  He  had 
plenty  of  time  to  write  out  the  speech,  which  appeared 
in  The  Argus  at  the  usual  hour  of  publication, 
while  the  other  papers  were  very  late.  It  happened, 
however,  that  the  most  important  announcement 
of  O'Shanassy's  speech  was  made  after  G.  P.  Smith 
left  the  meeting  and  duly  appeared  in  the  reports 
of  the  other  papers,  much  to  the  disgust  of  The 
Argus  and  its  reporter.  Mr.  Smith's  connexion 
with  The  Argus  terminated  about  this  time.  This 
episode  was  only  known  to  a  few  persons  interested 
in  it,  who  for  obvious  reasons  did  not  care  to  make 
it  public. 

"  Mr.  Smith  afterwards  sent  an  occasional  con- 
tribution to  The  Leader  and  later  joined  the  literary 
staff  of  The  Age.  He  proved  to  be  an  acquisition. 
He  could  not  be  called  a  brilliant  writer,  but  he  had 
the  supreme  merit  of  being  able  to  put  his  points 
clearly  and  forcibly.  Without  doubt  he  was  the 
best  all-round  contributor  The  Age  had  had  since 
I  undertook  the  management  of  the  paper,  and  the 
first  to  whom  I  could  entrust  the  carrying  out  of  its 
poUcy.  For  the  first  time  I  was  able  occasionally 
to  go  home  at  night  and  leave  the  office  in  his  charge. 
Henceforward  he  was  recognized  by  Ministers  and 
politicians  as  the  editor  of  the  paper.  While  on 
The  Age  he  qualified  himself  for  the  Bar,  which  was 


62  DAVID  SYME 

much  to  his  credit.  But  this  did  not  satisfy  his 
ambition.  He  aspired  to  a  seat  in  the  Legislative 
Assembly  in  the  Ministerial  interest  (Mr.  McCvilloch 
being  then  in  power)  and  was  elected  to  the  fifth 
Victorian  Parliament  early  in  1866.  Mr.  Smith 
was  not  popular  with  members,  but  was  offered 
and  accepted  the  Attorney-Generalship  in  the 
McCulloch  Administration,  when  of  course  his  con- 
nexion with  The  Age  terminated.  On  the  breakup  of 
the  Government  Mr.  Smith  sought  practice  at  the  Bar 
and  was  fairly  successful.  But  he  soon  broke 
away  from  the  Liberal  party,  although  there  was  no 
quarrel  between  them.  I  continued  on  friendly 
terms  with  him.  He,  without  giving  me  the  offer 
of  his  services  as  counsel  on  my  behalf,  accepted  a 
brief  from  the  other  side  in  an  action  for  libel  and 
very  bitterly  attacked  me  in  his  address  to  the 
jury.  .    .    . 

*'  For  nearly  a  year  before  his  death  Judge 
Fellowes  was  a  frequent  contributor  to  the  leading 
columns  of  The  Age — chiefly  on  legal  subjects. 
Considering  how  opposed  he  and  the  paper  had  been 
during  the  long  conflict  over  the  Darling  Grant 
affair,  his  offer  to  contribute  was  as  unexpected 
as  it  was  acceptable.   .    .    . 

'*  When  G.  P.  Smith  left  I  had  to  resume  the 
editorial  chair  till  that  position  was  occupied  by 
Mr.  A.  L.  Windsor.  Mr.  Windsor  had  been  engaged 
in  London  by  Mr.  Edward  Wilson,  one  of  the  pro- 
prietors of  The  Argus,  to  edit  that  paper,  but  when 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY  EDITORS   63 

the  engagement  terminated  he  came  to  The  Age, 
first  as  contributor  and  then  as  editor.  Mr.  Windsor 
was  a  man  of  rare  ability  and  an  experienced 
journalist.  He  was  a  graceful  writer  and  at  the 
same  time  an  incisive  critic.  He  was  more  at  home 
with  the  rapier  than  the  bludgeon.  He  remained 
editor  until  1900,  when  he  retired.  He  was  a  lovable 
man,  full  of  humour,  but  very  shy.  He  invariably 
declined  all  invitations  to  parties  and  made  very 
few  acquaintances.  That  was  no  advantage  to  him 
as  editor  of  a  newspaper,  but  very  much  to  the 
contrary,  as  he  was  totally  unconversant  with  the 
views  and  idiosyncrasies  of  the  people  around  him 
and,  as  a  rule,  had  little  respect  for  them.  He  took 
little  interest  in  conmiercial  matters,  but  threw 
himself  with  vigour  into  social  and  political 
questions.  .  .  . 

'*  The  Age  was  fortunate  in  securing  the  services 
of  Professor  Charles  Henry  Pearson  as  a  contri- 
butor to  its  leading  columns.  He  came  to  Australia 
for  the  benefit  of  his  health.  After  following 
pastoral  pursuits  in  South  Australia  for  a  while 
he  accepted  the  position  of  principal  of  the  Pres- 
byterian Ladies*  College  in  Melbourne.  After 
joining  The  Age  staff  he  stood  in  February,  1877, 
as  candidate  for  Castlemaine  and  was,  with  Mr. 
James  Patterson  (a  local  man),  elected  for  that 
constituency.  He  was  a  ready  speaker,  and  as  a 
debater  stood  head  and  shoulders  above  any  mem- 
ber in  the  House.     In  1880  he    joined  the    Berry 


64  DAVID  SYME 

Ministry  as  Minister  of  Education,  and  retired 
from  politics  when  that  Ministry  resigned  on  the 
gth  of  July,  1881.  In  conversation  he  was  full  of 
anecdote.  Tactful  and  dignified  though  he  was  in 
his  relations  with  members  on  both  sides  of  the 
House,  he,  nevertheless,  was  not  popular.  He 
was  modest  and  reserved.  He  had  none  of  that 
loud,  assertive  manner  which  goes  a  long  way  with 
many  people.  It  was  said  of  him  by  those  who 
knew  him  best  that  he  was  so  far  above  the  average 
member  in  capacity  and  knowledge  that  he  was 
disliked  for  that  very  reason.  He  was  a  man  who 
would  have  been  a  credit  to  any  Legislature  in 
the  world.  He  returned  to  England  after  his 
resignation  and  died  shortly  after  his  arrival  there. 
He  is  best  known  in  the  literary  world  by  his  History 
of  England  in  the  Fourteenth  Century ,  which  though 
published  in  England,  was  written  before  he  left 
Melbourne.  The  colony  suffered  an  irreparable 
loss  when  he  left  its  shores.   .    .    . 

**  So  far  it  cannot  be  said  that  The  Age  owed  its 
success  to  its  brilliant  writers,  as  with  the  exception 
of  Mr.  Windsor  and  Professor  Pearson  the  literary 
staff  was  commonplace  enough.  It  succeeded,  not 
because  it  was  able  to  interpret  and  represent  public 
opinion  on  the  questions  of  the  day — for,  truth  to 
tell,  it  was  generally  in  advance  of  public  opinion, 
and  necessarily,  for  a  newspaper  that  wishes  to  be 
up-to-date  cannot  wait  for  public  opinion  to  express 
itself,  but  must  pronounce   promptly  on  events  as 


THE  AGE  AND   ITS   EARLY   EDITORS     65 

they  arise  ;  not  follow  but  guide  the  public — but 
because  it  favoured  no  section  of  the  community, 
while  attempting  to  do  justice  to  all.  It  was  out- 
spoken and  fearless  to  a  degree.  It  called  things  by 
their  proper  names,  regardless  of  consequences. 
Naturally,  it  made  many  enemies.  Every  man 
The  Age  had  occasion  to  criticize  was  an  enemy  for 
life.  But  at  the  same  time,  and  for  that  very  reason, 
it  made  more  friends.  It  gained  influence  with 
the  public  because  the  public  believed  in  its  honesty 
of  purpose  and  the  policy  it  advocated. 

**  Sir  James  McCulloch,  the  wisest  and  most  cour- 
ageous Premier  the  State  ever  had,  George  Higin- 
botham,  and  Professor  Pearson,  were  all  Free 
Traders  till  they  came  under  the  influence  of  The 
Age^  and  Richard  Seddon  acknowledged  to  a  friend 
of  mine  who  had  congratulated  him  on  his  successful 
career  in  New  Zealand,  that  he  had  to  thank  The 
Age  for  it,  as  he  had  only  carried  out  The  Age  pohcy, 
of  which  he  had  been  a  careful  student. 


CHAPTER  IV 
The   Land    Struggle 

Political  condition  of  Victoria  in  1856 — Government  extravagance 
and  incapacity — The  land  question — Dr.  Lang's  letter — 
Mr.  Howitt's  picture  of  the  evil — ^The  origin  of  the  squatters* 
land  monopoly — ^The  Orders  in  Council  explained — ^The 
country  locked  up — The  people  denied  access  to  the  land — • 
The  Age  champions  the  people's  cause — Its  challenge  to  the 
monopolists — The  battle  begins — The  First  Parliament  elected 
— The  Haines  Ministry — The  first  victory  of  The  Age — 
The  campaign  for  Manhood  Suffrage — Haines  Defeated — 
The  Age  attacks  O'Shanassy  and  Duffy — The  Age  boycotted 
by  the  merchants — The  squatters  pretend  they  own  Tlie  Age 
— ^The  Liberal  Party  increases  in  strength — The  Nicholson 
Government — The  Nicholson  Land  Bill  and  the  squatters 
— The  squatters  in  the  Council  reject  the  measure — The 
invasion  of  Parliament  by  the  mob — Ebenezer  Syme's 
death — David  Syme  carries  on  the  struggle  alone — He 
appeals  to  the  merchants  to  support  the  people's  claims — 
The  Conference — The  Nicholson  Land  Bill  passes — ^The 
Act  a  pernicious  failure — The  Heales  Government — Occupa- 
tion Licences — The  Duke  of  Newcastle's  despatch — The 
electoral  campaign  of  1861 — The  squatters  buy  votes  and 
falsify  the  rolls — Mr.  Duffy's  Land  Act  and  its  defects — 
"  Dummying  "  and  its  consequences — Duffy's  Pension — 
The  Grant  Land  Act  of  1864 — The  land  questions  suspended 
by  the  Constitutional  contest — The  Land  Act  of  1869 — Its 
effects — The  gradual  aggregation  in  recent  years  of  large 
estates — David  Syme's  policy  of  yeoman  settlement — The 
Land  Act  of  1898 — The  condition  of  Victoria  to-day — The 
land  question  still  an  important  issue — David  Syme's  latest 
proposals  ;  Compulsory  Purchase  and  a  Land  Tax. — The 
prospects  of  the  future. 

66 


Ebenezer   Syme. 


[Page  67 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  67 

When  David  Syme  and  his  brother  Ebenezer  pur- 
chased The  Age  in  1856,  Victoria  was  on  the  verge  of 
entering  the  first  great  crisis  of  its  history.  The  dis- 
covery of  gold  in  185 1  and  the  revelation  of  the 
mineral  treasures  of  Ballarat,  Castlemaine  and  Ben- 
digo,  had  drawn  a  great  stream  of  immigrants  to  the 
colony's  shores.  The  population  had  doubled  in 
the  first  twelve  months  following  the  gold  discovery, 
and  thenceforward  it  had  advanced  with  amazing 
rapidity. 

But  the  political  rulers  of  the  country  had  taken  no 
pains  to  turn  the  flood  of  immigration  to  permanent 
national  account.  They  thought  only  of  to-day  and 
not  at  all  of  to-morrow.  Their  chief  ambition  was 
to  outrival  the  improvident  class  of  lucky  diggers  in 
**  knocking  down ''  money.  The  public  revenue  had 
increased  from  £380,000  in  1851  to  £1,577,000  in 
1852.  This  expansion  induced  the  authorities  to 
institute  an  era  of  extravagant  expenditure.  The 
consequences  were  serious.  The  Budget  of  1854 
exhibited  a  deficiency  of  more  than  £1,000,000, 
and  that  of  the  following  year  a  deficiency  of  almost 
£3,000,000 ;  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  the 
revenue,  all  the  time,  had  increased  pari  passu  with 
the  population.  There  was  nothing  to  show  for  this 
large  outlay.  The  money  had  been  frittered  away, 
and  in  1856  the  results  of  the  Government's  neglect 
to  establish  the  people  on  the  soil  began  to  be  felt. 
The  lands  were  locked  up  in  the  hands  of  a  few 
squatter  kings,  and  the  successful  diggers  began  to 


68  DAVID  SYME 

emigrate  in  thousands.  Quite  naturally  they  with- 
drew from  a  colony  where  they  could  not  obtain 
anything  they  wished,  except  gold,  to  invest  their 
gains  among  more  sensible  communities. 

In  order  to  illustrate  the  gravity  of  the  land  ques- 
tion in  the  early  days  a  few  quotations  may  be  per- 
mitted, the  length  of  which  will  be  excused  for  their 
importance.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Lang,  author  of  the 
standard  History  of  New  South  Wales,  in  a  letter  to 
the  London  Daily  News,  published  in  the  year  1854, 
observed : — 

''  People  will  tell  those  going  to  Victoria  that 
if  they  do  not  succeed  at  the  diggings  they  can 
procure  situations  as  clerks,  shopmen,  storekeepers, 
etc.,  but  there  is  not  one  situation  of  these  kinds  for 
twenty  who  may  wish  to  take  them.  They  will  next 
be  told  that  they  may  take  to  pastoral  pursuits. 
They  must  do  so,  however,  either  as  masters  or  as 
men.  In  the  one  case  they  will  find  that  every  acre 
of  land  in  Victoria  is  part  of  somebody's  sheep 
station  or  cattle  run  ;  and  that  in  order  to  get  into 
that  sort  of  occupation  at  all,  they  must  purchase 
the  entire  stock  and  station  of  some  actual  squatter 
who  may  be  willing  to  sell  out ;  and  this  may  not  be 
done  for  less  than  thousands  of  pounds,  which  will 
probably  be  altogether  beyond  the  means  of  the  great 
majority  of  immigrants.'* 

WiUiam  Howitt  in  his  book.  Two  Years  in  Victoria, 
remarks  : — 

*'  If  we  had  been  told  of  a  nation  of  lunatics,  who 


David   Syme,    1856. 


[Page  69 


THE   LAND  STRUGGLE  69 

had  a  splendid  extent  of  rich  and  pleasant  country, 
which  they  were  anxious  to  populate  as  speedily  as 
possible,  and  who,  while  they  sent  over  the  whole 
world  the  most  bewitching  descriptions  of  its  charms 
and  its  fertility,  steadily  refused,  on  the  arrival  of 
the  people  they  wanted,  to  sell  them  a  yard  of  it,  to 
settle  and  farm  on,  we  should  say  it  was  very  lunatic- 
ally  correct  and  should  enjoy  our  laugh  at  their 
insanity.  But  to  admit  that  this  nation  is  a  nation 
of  Englishmen,  and  that  such  a  government  is  the 
Government  of  our  colony  of  Victoria,  is  naturally 
a  concession  which  makes  us  look  very  foolish  and 
dreadfully  ashamed  of  our  countrymen  in  office  ; 
especially  when  we  cast  our  eyes  across  the  Atlantic 
and  see  how  wide  awake  our  relatives  there  are  to 
this  folly  and  how  immensely  they  are  profiting  by 
it.  They  are  drawing  daily  from  us  the  sinews 
of  a  gigantic  empire,  which,  in  Australia,  we  are 
repelling  by  all  the  force  of  idiotic  folly.'* 

Howitt  elsewhere  in  the  same  work  goes  into 
fuller  details  and  writes  with  an  indignation  which 
is  infectious  : — 

"  All  local  interests  must  fall  before  the  general 
interests  and  the  prosperity  of  the  people  ;  and  the 
effect  of  the  settlement  of  the  colony  would  be 
incalculable  on  both  domestic  and  foreign  trade. 
In  these  vast  territories,  a  vast  population  would 
create  as  vast  a  demand  for  manufactures.  On  the 
other  hand,  imagine  650  individuals  holding  the 
whole  of  this  colony  at  a  rental  of  20,000/.  for  the 


70  DAVID  SYME 

whole.  Imagine  these  individuals  holding  each 
from  50  to  100  square  miles,  for  some  nominal  sum 
of  £10  or  ;f 20,  and  charging  for  their  beef  and  mutton 
from  6d.  to  gd,  a  lb. — as  much  as  the  graziers  of 
England  get,  who  pay  from  £2  to  £5  per  acre,  be- 
sides land-tax,  county-rates,  highway-rates.  Church- 
rates,  poor-rates,  property-tax,  and  a  host  of  other 
imposts.  The  thing  is  preposterous,  and  makes  the 
condition  of  the  Australian  squatter  appear  a  fable 
and  a  fairy-tale  !  There  never  was  anything  like  it* 
from  the  foundation  of  the  world  :  for  the  ancient 
patriarchs,  with  aU  their  free-grazing  flocks  and 
herds,  had  no  race  of  diggers  and  traders  to  eat 
mutton  at  gd.  a  lb.  ! 

''  And  yet  these  gentlemen  talk,  and  talk  loudly 
too,  of  Compensation  !  Compensation  !  For  what  ? 
For  the  serious  injury  of  having  grown  immensely 
rich  at  the  public  cost !  They  desire  to  be  paid  for 
all  their — Improvements  !  All  their  Improvements, 
consisting,  for  the  most  part,  of  a  slab  hut  in  which 
they  live,  a  few  slab  huts  for  shepherds  and  stock- 
men, and  the  posts  and  rails  of  a  paddock  or  two — 
or  rather  the  mere  cost  of  cutting  and  putting  down, 
for  the  timber  stood  at  hand,  on  the  Crown  lands. 

*'  Will  it  be  believed  that,  when  these  gentlemen 
talk  of  improvements,  they  are  actually  forbidden 
to  make  any  ?  That  the  Orders  in  Council,  by 
which  they  hold  their  runs,  strictly  prohibit  their 
cultivating  any  more  land  than  what  is  absolutely 
necessary  for  corn,  vegetables,  etc.,  for  their  estab- 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  71 

lishments,  but  not  to  grow  anything  for  sale  or 
barter  ?  Yet  such  is  the  case,  and  these  conditions 
they  have  very  exactly  fulfilled.  They  simply  let 
their  flocks  and  herds  feed  on  the  waste  and  grow 
rich  upon  them.  Government  has  been  the  first  to 
tempt  them  to  break  their  engagements,  or  rather 
to  absolve  them  from  them,  so  far  as  it  alone  is  con- 
cerned, and  to  sell  hay  and  corn  to  the  diggings  : 
and  in  these  cases  the  benefit  of  the  squatter  would 
appear  wonderful  to  the  ears  of  English  farmers. 
These  squatters,  who  give  £10  a  year  for  a  run  equal 
to  an  English  county,  sell  hay  at  £60  a  ton  to  the 
Government  from  its  own  waste  lands.  I  have 
already  spoken  of  that  famous  contract,  by  which  a 
squatter  on  Charlotte  Plains  gives  £10  a  year  for 
his  station  and  lets  to  his  landlord,  the  Government, 
one  paddock  out  of  it  for  £500  a  year  !  Yet  these 
are  the  gentlemen  who  are  clamorous  on  the  score 
of  compensation.  The  answer  lies  in  a  nut-shell. 
They  are  allowed  to  purchase  at  £1  per  acre  the 
whole  square  mile  on  which  their  improvements 
stand.  '  But,*  say  they,  '  our  runs  are  grown  so 
much  more  valuable  in  our  hands  ;  and,  in  propor- 
tion to  their  present  value,  we  ought  to  be  compen- 
sated, if  they  are  taken  away.* 

"  The  answer  is  :  '  They  are  grown  valuable,  not  by 
your  improvements y  but  by  the  influx  of  a  public; 
and  it  is  that  public  which  demands,  and  has  a 
right  to  enjoy,  the  advantage.  The  gain  has  been 
yours;    the  occasion  of   it   has  been   theirs.     You 

B 


72  DAVID  SYME 

have  paid  no  more  on  that  account,  and  you  have 
no  claim  to  ask  more  now.  It  is  the  Government 
who  may  justly  complain  that  they  made  a  very 
bad  bargain  with  you.  Your  ;fio  or  3^20  a  year  has 
still  been  aU  you  have  paid  ;  while  you  have  been 
benefiting  tenfold.  You  have  not  even  paid  the 
headmoney  on  your  stock. 

"  '  But/  say  they,  '  see  what  we  have  suffered  in 
opening  up  and  establishing  this  great  wool-field  ; 
we  are  the  pioneers  of  the  forest.' 

"  The  answer  is  : — '  You  have  suffered  nothing. 
In  the  words  of  Scripture,  "  Others  have  laboured,  and 
you  have  entered  into  their  labours."  The  first  race 
of  squatters  were  great  sufferers.  They  penetrated 
the,  then  savage,  wilderness.  Without  houses  or 
homesteads  they  had  to  encounter  the  elements  in 
rude  tents  or  under  the  mere  shade  of  the  gum  trees. 
The  natives  attacked  them  and  their  cattle,  and 
the  troops  of  wild  dogs  seconded  the  natives.  In 
the  arduous  life  of  watching  and  defending  themselves 
against  their  numerous  enemies,  they  were  the 
victims  of  rheumatism,  fevers  and  dysentery.  When 
they  had  conquered  the  blacks  and  the  dogs  and 
made  themselves  comfortable  homes,  they  found  no 
customers  for  their  meat ;  wool  was  low ;  and  the 
crisis  of  1842  put  the  climax  to  their  ruin.  They 
were  obliged  to  give  way  and  you  stepped  in; 
stepped  into  good  huts  and  houses  ;  large  flocks  at 
ninepence  or  a  shilling  a  head  for  sheep ;  ten  or 
twelve  shillings  a  head  for  cattle  ;  about  the  same 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  73 

for  horses,  which,  in  fact,  were  unsaleable  at  any  price. 
Corn  and  hay  were  equally  a  drug.  A  friend  of 
mine  records  hay  at  thirty  shillings  a  ton  ;  wheat, 
three  shillings  and  sixpence  a  bushel ;  barley,  half-a- 
crown  ;  oats,  one  and  sixpence  ;  butter,  sixpence 
to  ninepence  a  pound  ;  beef  and  mutton,  three  half- 
pence per  lb.  He  gave  up  farming  in  despair.  See 
the  colonial  newspapers  of  1842.  In  June,  1843, 
it  was  announced  that  by  boiling  down  for  the 
tallow  eight  to  ten  shillings  per  head  could  be  made 
of  sheep,  including  tallow,  skin,  and  wool.  From 
that  moment  your  profits  began  to  advance  and  have 
continued,  till  you  now  command,  through  the 
advent  of  the  gold,  twenty-five  shillings  per  head  for 
sheep,  valuation  price  on  giving  up  stations  ;  £12 
to  £15  per  head  for  cattle,  and  from  £50  to  £150  for 
horses  !  Macgubbins  and  Macfiggins — the  real  pion- 
eers— retired  from  the  field,  ruined  in  purse  and 
constitution  ;  you  have  had  nothing  to  do,  but  on 
their  ruins  sit  still,  let  your  flocks  and  herds  graze, 
and  grow  fat  with  them.  Is  that  a  case  for  com- 
pensation ?  " 

"  Now,  you  are  aware  that  I  have  no  prejudice 
or  ill-feeling  against  the  squatters  of  this  colony. 
Quite  the  contrary.  As  a  class,  so  far  as  I  have 
become  acquainted  with  them,  I  have  a  high  respect 
and  esteem  for  them.  They  are,  for  the  most  part, 
gentlemen  of  good  family  and  education.  In  private 
life  they  are  simple  and  unostentatious,  kind  and 
hospitable.     But  private  regard  and  public  right  are 


74  DAVID  SYME 

two  things.  It  is  not  these  gentlemen  who  are  to 
blame,  but  the  Government.  Human  nature  is 
everywhere  the  same.  Put  into  men's  hands  a 
good  thing  and  they  will  grasp  it  firmly  ;  the  better 
it  is,  the  tighter/' 

Howitt  paints  a  striking  word  picture  of  the  trials 
and  hardships  of  immigrants  seeking  land  : — 

"  This  land  question  is  a  great  question  ;  and  will 
have  yet  to  be  stoutly  fought  out  in  the  colony. 
We  shall  find  another  opportunity  to  state  fully  its 
history  and  general  bearings ;  here  we  now  only 
notice  it  as  it   presents  itself   to  the  mind   of   the 
digger  ;  and  we  cannot  do  that  more  clearly  than  by 
simply  repeating  the  remarks  which  we  have  heard 
made  by  American  diggers.     They,  of  course  familiar 
with  the  liberal  and  sagacious  system  of  their  own 
country,    are    proportionately    astonished    at    the 
features  of   ours  here.     I  have  heard  numbers   of 
them  say,  who  had  made  money  at  the  Victoria 
diggings,     '  We  like  this  country,  and  we  should  not 
be  at  the  trouble  of  going  all  the  way  back  to  the 
States,  if  we  could  settle  here  on  anything  like  equal 
terms  ;  or  if,  indeed,  we  could  settle  at  all.     But  see 
how  they  treat  us. 

"  '  No  sooner  do  we  land  than  we  find  ourselves 
pulled  almost  limb  from  limb  in  Melbourne  to  make 
all  they  can  out  of  us.  They  seem  as  if  they  would 
chop  us  up  and  make  money  of  us.  California  was 
nothing  to  it.  We  have  to  pass  through  the  pur- 
gatory of  Hobson's  Bay,  through  boatmen,  lighter- 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  75 

men,  wharfingers — all  clutching  at  our  very  life  with 
their  unheard-of  demands  ;  and  escaping  them,  we 
fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Melbourne  tradesmen. 
And  surely,  never  in  the  history  of  the  world  did 
such  a  system  of  ruthless  rapacity  show  itself  as  in 
Melbourne.  We  assure  you  that  it  struck  dismay 
to  our  hearts  ;  and  never  will  they  cease  to  remem- 
ber the  harpies  of  the  capital  of  Victoria.  Whether 
we  wanted  to  lodge,  to  refresh  at  an  inn,  to  purchase 
anything  at  the  shops,  it  was  all  alike  ;  and  Govern- 
ment had  not  done  a  single  thing  to  facilitate  our 
escape  from  the  place.  There  was  no  quay  for 
landing  our  effects  ;  and  we  had  to  wait  a  month  to 
get  them  out  of  the  ship.  Once  clear  of  the  town, 
the  same  utter  neglect  of  Government  met  us  on  the 
roads.  Roads  !  there  was  not  a  yard  of  road — but  a 
frightful  bog,  a  mile  wide,  and  seventy  miles  long. 
The  carriage  of  our  effects  up  to  Bendigo  was  at  the 
rate  of  £150  per  ton. 

" '  Once  there,  with  weary  limbs  and  empty 
pockets,  before  we  could  dig  up  a  grain  of  gold  the 
police  were  down  upon  us  for  £1 10s.  each  for  licences. 
We  did  not  object  to  the  licence,  that  was  quite  just 
and  fair ;  but  we  thought  it  hard  to  be  dragged  off 
to  the  camp  at  a  moment's  notice,  and  expected  to 
pay  before  we  had  had  a  single  day  allowed  to  get 
the  means.  Here,  however,  we  found  a  true  gen- 
tlemen, Mr.  Commissioner  Gilbert,  who,  seeing  that 
we  were  honest,  paid  the  money  for  us  out  of  his  own 
pocket,  and  gave  us  ten  days  to  refund  it.    God 


76  DAVID  SYME 

bless  him  I  That  was  the  only  drop  in  our  bitter  cup 
on  landing  in  Victoria.  It  nerved  our  hearts  again, 
and  we  got  gold  and  repaid  him  in  less  than  a  week. 

"  '  Well,  we  have  done  pretty  well  and  would  stay 
here;  but,  strange  to  say,  the  people  who  allured 
us  hither  by  their  praises  of  their  Colony,  won't 
allow  us  to  settle  here — they  won't  seU  us  land.  If 
we  land  in  America  with  ;£ioo  in  our  pockets  we 
can  have  400  acres  of  land  from  the  Government  for 
that  money,  and  we  can  select  it  where  we  will,  and 
the  Government  wiU  make  a  road  to  it.  But  here 
we  cannot  get  it  at  all.  We  have  been  to  the  Com- 
missioners of  Crown  Lands,  and  they  say  there  is 
none  to  be  sold.     So  we  must  go  home  again.' 

"  Is  not  this  a  beautiful  system  ?  Is  it  any  wonder 
that  Americans  are  astonished  when  they  come  into 
a  fine  country,  all  lying  open  and  waste,  and  find 
nearly  its  whole  extent  of  93,000  square  miles,  or 
60,000,000  acres,  handed  over  to  1,000  squatters  for 
a  mere  £20  a  year  each  ?  That,  with  a  vast  popula- 
tion pouring  into  the  country,  and  who  want  to 
settle,  there  should  be  more  than  60,000,000  of 
acres  still  unsold,  and  yet  not  an  acre  to  be  had  ? 
That  1,000  men,  for  the  small  aggregate  sum  of 
£20,000,  should  hold  the  whole  from  the  public,  who 
would  pay  millions  of  money  for  it,  and  establish  a 
population  upon  it,  trading  to  the  amount  of  millions 
every  year  with  England  ?  That  each  single  man, 
for  £20  a  year,  shall  enjoy  on  an  average  nearly  93 
square  miles  or  60,000  acres  ? 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  77 

*'  What,  it  may  be  asked,  have  these  men  done  to 
merit  this  wonderful  favour  ?  How  have  they  be- 
come the  particular  darlings  of  the  British  Govern- 
ment, that  they  should  be  thus  actually  overwhelmed 
with  good  fortune  ?  The  only  answer  is  that  their 
merit  and  what  they  have  done  is,  that  they  managed 
to  get  on  the  blind  side  of  the  English  Government 
and  persuaded  it  that  Australia  was  such  a  poor, 
barren  country,  and  so  utterly  unfit  for  agriculture, 
or  for  anything  but  grazing  a  few  sheep  and  cattle 
upon,  that  the  Government,  with  the  same  sagacity 
which  lost  America,  was  actually  glad  to  make  it 
over  bodily  to  these  obliging  squatters  who  were 
willing  to  take  it  off  their  hands." 

The  brothers  Syme  were  quick  to  perceive  that 
the  future  of  the  Colony  was  imperilled  by  these 
conditions.  They  realized  that  the  bone  and  sinew, 
the  enterprise  and  spirit,  whose  presence,  employ- 
ment and  fixity  could  alone  render  prosperity  and 
national  progress  possible,  were  slipping  out  of  the 
country  in  a  wholesale  fashion.  They  made  serious 
endeavours  to  arrest  the  exodus.  The  land  ques- 
tion was  at  the  bottom  of  the  trouble  ;  that  and  the 
cupidity  of  the  squatters.  Seeing  this  they  struck 
at  once  at  the  root  of  the  evil  and  began  a  campaign 
against  squatter dom  in  the  columns  of  The  Age, 
which  was  unceasingly  waged  until  the  people  of 
Victoria  had  recognized  the  danger,  and  Parliament, 
in*  obedience  to  the  public  will,  had  placed  the 
inhabitants  in  possession  of  their  rights. 


78  DAVID  SYME 

The  history  of  that  great  struggle  is  charged  with 
momentous  interest  to  Australians  and,  although  no 
blood  stains  soil  its  records,  it  was  contested  with 
furious  bitterness  on  one  side  and  grim  unswerving 
determination  on  the  other. 

In  order  to  be  intelligible  it  will  be  necessary 
to  explain  the  rise  of  the  squatter  in  Australia. 
Squatting  derived  its  being  from  certain  Orders-in- 
Council  issued  by  the  British  Government  in  March 
1847  and  promulgated  in  Australia  in  October  of  the 
same  year. 

These  Orders-in-Council  took  official  cognizance 
of  the  absence  of  population  in  Australia  to  occupy 
the  lands  of  the  Colonies  and,  because  of  it,  provided 
for  the  tenure  of  those  lands  for  a  specified  limited 
time  by  the  few  local  residents  who  had  sufficient 
capital  to  begin  the  business  of  grazing  sheep  and 
cattle  on  the  natural  grasses.  The  advantages  of 
such  a  system  at  that  time  were  real  and  obvious. 
It  was  better  in  every  respect  that  the  natural 
herbage  should  be  converted  into  beef,  mutton,  wool, 
tallow  and  hides  than  rot  uselessly  or  be  wastefuUy 
consumed  by  bush  fires.  Therefore,  the  temporary 
occupancy  of  the  soil  for  the  purpose  of  utilizing 
valuable  produce,  which  otherwise  would  have  been 
lost,  was  not  objectionable  in  itself,  nor  was  it  objected 
to  by  the  small  community  then  forming  the  popu- 
lation of  the  State. 

Of  these  Orders-in-Council  the  handful  of  men 
living    at    the    moment    in    Victoria    immediately 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  79 

availed  themselves.  They  took  up  immense  pas- 
turages under  lease  or  licence  at  a  nominal  rental  and 
proceeded  to  utilize  them  for  grazing.  Four  years 
later  the  influx  of  population,  which  began  under 
the  influence  of  the  gold  discovery,  completely  put 
an  end  to  the  condition  of  things  that  had  been 
assigned  as  the  sole  grounds  upon  which  squatting 
was  permitted  at  all,  namely,  the  unpeopled  and 
desert  state  of  the  country. 

Had  the  rulers  been  honest,  public-spirited  states- 
men, they  would  have  abolished  squatting  there  and 
then  as  a  matter  of  course  :  for  there  was  present  in 
the  Colony  an  abundance  of  people  to  occupy  the 
land  on  a  national  scale  as  freeholders  and  agricul- 
turists. The  peopling  of  Victoria  had  in  fact  begun, 
and  the  population  would  soon  have  attained  to 
millions  if  there  had  been  no  misgovemment  to 
check  the  flow  of  immigration  which  had  so 
marvellously  and  so  auspiciously  set  in. 

But  instead  of  throwing  open  the  soil  on  easy 
terms  for  agricultural  settlement,  the  Colonial 
authorities  continued  to  hand  it  over  to  the  squatters, 
in  open  violation  of  the  conditions  perscribed  by  the 
Orders-in-Council.  As  a  consequence  of  official 
indifference,  by  the  year  1856,  more  than  one  half  of 
the  surface  of  Victoria  had  sunk  noiselessly  into  the 
gulf  of  squatterdom.  Forty-two  million  acres  of  the 
public  estate,  comprising  the  best  lands  of  the 
Colony,  were  locked  up  in  the  hands  of  a  chosen  few. 
These  men  were  not  settlers  in  any  sense.     They 


8o  DAVID  SYME 

were  birds  of  passage.  It  was  not  to  their  interest 
to  improve  the  lands  they  held,  or  to  put  them  to 
any  but  the  usage  of  nomadic  grazing.  A  wilderness 
was  their  proper  field  of  action.  They  wanted  but 
little  labour  and  that  of  the  cheapest  sort.  Their 
ambition  was  to  keep  the  country  unsettled  and 
undeveloped,  and  to  shut  out  the  people  for  ever  from 
the  land,  save  as  serfs. 

Such  was  the  state  of  affairs  when  the  brothers 
Syme  bought  The  Age,  The  people  who  could,  and 
would  gladly,  have  developed  its  resources  were 
denied  the  opportunity  of  doing  so,  and  were  com- 
pelled for  lack  of  that  opportunity  to  dig  for  gold,  to 
emigrate,  or  to  starve.  As  the  goldfields  were  no 
longer  providing  sufficient  employment  for  their 
energy,  they  were  departing  in  a  steady  stream.  It 
was  the  self-appointed  mission  of  David  Syme  and 
his  brother  to  teach  the  unthinking  masses  the 
suicidal  folly  of  submissiveness  to  the  unjustifiable 
poUcy  of  the  State  ;  to  prove  to  them  that  they  had 
the  power,  by  concerted  action,  to  wrest  from  the 
squatters  the  monopoly  of  the  soil,  and  force  them 
to  restore  the  pubUc  estate  to  the  usufruct  of  the 
nation. 

It  would  be  difficult  to  exaggerate  the  magnitude 
of  the  task  which  these  courageous  journalists  under- 
took. Had  they  been  guided  by  self-interest,  they 
would  never  have  essayed  it.  The  machinery  of 
Government  was  almost  exclusively  in  the  hands  of 
the  squatting  class.     The  popular  cause  was  unrepre- 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  8i 

sented  and  held  in  contempt,  not  only  by  the 
authorities,  but  by  the  powerful  commercial  interests 
which  directed  the  channels  of  advertising  and  all 
else  that  could  make  or  mar  a  newspaper.  It 
would  have  paid  the  brothers  and  strengthened  the 
fortunes  of  The  Age  to  have  swum  with  the  current 
and  have  allowed  the  masses  of  the  people  (as  they 
were  in  fact  disposed  to  do)  to  sink  into  a  condition 
little  removed  from  bondage  and  slavery.  But 
there  was  in  David  Syme  and  his  brother  the  stem 
Scottish  blood  of  a  race  of  fighters,  which,  for  ages 
past,  had  never  tamely  submitted  to  a  wrong  or 
countenanced,  whatever  happen,  even  the  appear- 
ance of  injustice. 

The  brothers  perceived  a  great  wrong  being  done 
to  their  adopted  country,  nobody  opposing  it. 
They  saw  the  rights  of  the  people  being  sacrificed 
to  the  advantage  of  a  class.  The  instincts  of  their 
race  forbade  them  to  suffer  its  consummation. 
Disregarding  their  personal  interests,  nay  in  clear 
defiance  of  them,  they  did  what  they  conceived 
to  be  their  duty,  and  The  Age  threw  out  a  challenge 
to  the  squatters  that  rang  throughout  the  Colony. 

''  The  land  must  be  unlocked,'*  was  the  burden 
of  their  message.  "  Squatting  is  inconsistent  with 
the  national  development.  The  population  must 
be  admitted  to  the  soil.  The  land  must  be  culti- 
vated and  brought  within  the  poor  man's  reach ; 
it  must  be  rendered  accessible,  even  to  those  who 
have  nothing  to  pay  for  it  except  the  sweat  of 


82  DAVID  SYME 

their  brows.  It  belongs  to  the  people.  The  squat- 
ters who  now  hold  it  and,  without  the  shadow  of  a 
title,  presume  to  claim  it  for  their  own  in  perpetuity, 
are  robbers  and  public  enemies.*' 

At  that  moment  the  country  was  preparing  for 
the  first  general  election  under  the  Constitution  by 
which  responsible  government  had  been  granted 
by  Queen  Victoria  to  the  newly-made  Colony  of 
Victoria.  The  Constitution  opposed  an  almost  in- 
surmountable barrier  to  the  immediate  realization 
of  Liberal  hopes  ;  for  it  prescribed  a  property  quali- 
fication of  £300  a  year  from  real  property  to  make 
a  candidate  eligible  for  the  Legislative  Council, 
and  £300  a  year  for  the  Legislative  Assembly  ;  and 
it  furthermore  required  that  no  man  should  be 
permitted  to  exercise  the  franchise  for  the  Upper 
House  unless  possessed  of  an  income  from  land 
amounting  to  £100  per  annum. 

The  Age  vehemently  attacked  these  undemocratic 
restrictions.  It  announced  a  popular  programme 
comprising  five  cardinal  points  : — 

1.  Electoral   reform   on   the   basis   of   manhood 

suffrage  and  the  abolition  of  property  quali- 
fications. 

2.  The  aboUtion  of  squatting  and  the  opening  of 

the  pubUc  lands  to  free  selection  by  the 
people. 

3.  No  compensation  to  the  squatters. 

4.  The  abolition  of  State  aid  to  religion. 

5.  Compulsory,  free,  secular  education. 


m 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  83 

The  masses  were  not  slow  to  respond  to  so  vigor- 
ous a  championing  of  their  interests.  Politicians 
professing  Liberal  views  began  to  stump  the  elec- 
torate. Amongst  the  more  prominent  were  Mr. 
John  O'Shanassy  and  Mr.  Charles  Gavan  Duffy. 
The  latter,  who  had  been  a  prominent  member  of 
the  Young  Ireland  party  and  a  member  of  the  House 
of  Commons,  had  arrived  in  the  country  a  few 
months  before  from  Great  Britain.  His  fellow- 
countrymen  and  co-religionists  were  so  determined 
to  have  him  in  the  new  Parliament  that  they  collected 
sufficient  funds  to  overcome  the  difficulty  of  the 
property  qualification.  On  the  20th  of  August, 
1856,  they  presented  him  with  the  title-deeds  of 
a  small  estate  they  had  purchased  for  him.  Mr. 
Duffy  promised  to  support  The  Age  poUcy  and  he 
was  returned.  Sectarian  influences,  however,  largely 
swayed  him,  and  it  was  alleged  that  he  had  been 
**  nobbled "  by  the  Conservatives  and  that  his 
secret  sympathies  were  with  the  moneyed  classes, 
the  land-holders  and  the  merchants. 

The  elections  were  held  early  in  November. 
The  results  were  such  as  might  have  been  looked 
for.  A  fair  sprinkling  of  avowed  Liberals  was 
returned  to  the  Lower  House,  including  Mr  Ebenezer 
Syme,  James  McCulloch,  James  Service  and  Richard 
Heales,  but  in  the  Upper  House,  owing  directly  to 
the  heavy  property  quaUfication,  the  successful 
candidates  were  all  representatives  of  the  squatting 
and  mercantile  interests. 


84  DAVID  SYME 

Mr.  Haines  immediately  formed  a  Ministry  of 
staunch  Tories  and  proceeded  to  govern  the  country 
on  the  old  lines.  The  Opposition,  led  by  O'Shanassy 
and  Duffy,  took  up  the  role  of  Ministerial  critics; 
and,  under  the  aegis  of  The  Age,  proclaimed  their 
resolve  to  widen  the  franchise  and  bring  the  influ- 
ence of  the  popular  will  directly  to  bear  upon 
projected  legislation. 

Early  in  1857  Gavan  Duffy  brought  in  a  Bill  to 
abolish  property  qualifications  for  membership  and 
carried  it  in  the  teeth  of  the  uncompromising 
opposition  of  the  Government. 

This  political  victory  was  the  more  significant 
because  the  question  had  been  stoutly  contested 
by  the  forces  of  Conservatism.  The  vested  inter- 
ests had  spared  no  efforts  to  convince  the  people 
that  they  were  asking  for  something  downright 
revolutionary  in  desiring  to  have  the  doors  of 
Parliament  opened  to  the  representatives  of  the 
poor  and  rich  alike.  The  people,  however,  declined 
to'  listen  to  these  selfish  counsels.  Awakened  to 
a  proper  understanding  of  their  rights  they  gave 
unmistakable  evidence  of  their  determination  to 
exact  them,  and,  when  the  vote  was  taken,  a 
majority  of  members  crossed  to  the  Liberal  side. 

But  the  Haines  Ministry  did  not  resign.  It  con- 
tinued for  some  weeks  longer  to  occupy  the  Trea- 
sury Benches,  finally  to  meet  its  doom  on  the 
Immigration  Bill.  This  was  a  measure  designed 
to  flood  the  colony  with  pauper  European  immi- 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  85 

grants  brought  out  to  lower  the  price  of  labour  in 
the  interests  of  the  merchants  and  the  squatters. 
It  would  probably  have  been  carried,  in  spite  of 
the  widespread  indignation  which  The  Age's  ex- 
posure of  its  real  purpose  had  excited,  for  the 
Government  had  a  large  following  in  both  Houses. 
But  Mr.  Haines  had  rashly  obtained  on  account  of 
immigration  a  vote  of  £150,000  more  than  he  in- 
tended to  spend,  and  the  mystery  in  which  this 
colossal  grant  was  wrapped  procured  his  downfall. 
Mr.  O'Shanassy  moved  a  vote  of  censure  and  the 
Government  was  ignominiously  defeated. 

Mr.  O'Shanassy  thereupon  attempted  to  form  a 
Ministry,  but  failed.  The  task  was  then  taken  up 
by  Mr.  James  McCuUoch,  who  succeeded  in  form- 
ing a  coalition  Administration  with  Mr.  Haines. 
This  Government  was,  of  course,  far  from  being 
Liberal,  but  it  was  compelled  by  the  great  body  of 
public  opinion  to  pass,  late  in  1857,  ^  Bill  provid- 
ing for  universal  manhood  suffrage  in  all  subsequent 
elections  to  the  Assembly. 

Mr.  Haines  next  endeavoured  to  gain  the  good 
will  of  the  people  by  introducing  a  Land  Bill  which 
he  strove  to  persuade  the  electors  would  permit 
of  the  agricultural  settlement  of  the  country  with- 
out detriment  to  the  squatters.  The  Age  instantly 
denounced  the  measure.  Having  laid  bare  its 
underlying  scheme  to  confirm  the  squatters  in  their 
usurpation  of  the  public  estate,  it  demanded  that 
the  whole  question  of  land  settlement  should  be 


86  DAVID   SYME 

postponed  until  after  the  election  of  a  reformed 
Parliament. 

Since  the  existing  House  had  been  elected  by 
less  than  half  of  the  adult  male  population  of  the 
Colony,  the  justice  of  this  proposal  was  almost  uni- 
versally admitted.  Mr.  Haines,  however,  ignored 
the  public  demand  and  forced  the  measure  through 
the  Lower  House.  But  his  trouble  was  wasted, 
for  the  squatters  in  the  Upper  House  were  not  satis- 
fied with  his  compromise,  greatly  as  it  favoured 
their  supposed  rights.  They  were  short-sighted 
enough  to  throw  it  out  and,  over-reaching  them- 
selves, unwittingly  served  the  popular  cause  to  their 
own  ultimate  destruction. 

A  little  later,  on  the  23rd  of  February,  1858,  Mr. 
Haines  was  unexpectedly  defeated  on  a  proposal  to 
increase  the  number  of  members  of  the  Assembly, 
and  he  resigned.  Mr.  O'Shanassy  and  Mr.  Chap- 
man then  formed  a  Government,  with  Mr.  Duffy 
as  Minister  of  Lands,  which  procured  the  enact- 
ment of  a  small  instalment  of  electoral  reform.  This 
Act  reduced  the  duration  of  Parliament  from  five 
to  three  years,  enlarged  the  number  of  members  of 
the  Assembly  to  seventy-eight,  and  diminished  the 
property  qualification  of  the  electors  of  the  Council. 

The  first  Constitutional  Parliament  of  Victoria 
was  dissolved  on  the  24th  of  February,  1859.  ^^ 
had  not  touched  the  land  question  in  the  smallest 
degree,  but  by  broadening  the  franchise,  as  it  were 
in  spite  of  itself  and  in  defiance  of  the  wishes  and 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  87 

interests  of  the  majority  of  Tory  members  who 
composed  it,  had  prepared  the  way  for  a  settlement 
of  the  problem  by  the  straightforward  declaratior 
of  the  people's  will. 

The  Symes  had  good  reason  to  be  satisfied  with 
their  efforts.  In  the  short  space  of  three  years  The 
Age  had  succeeded  in  arousing  the  masses  from  their 
apathy ;  it  had  compelled  the  people  to  realize  the 
danger  of  the  undisputed  political  domination  of 
the  mercantile  and  squatting  classes  ;  and  it  had 
cultivated  a  healthy  public  opinion,  determinedly 
resolved  on  legislative  reform  and  economic  progress. 

The  Age  now  embarked  upon  the  second  stage 
of  the  struggle.  It  sought  to  secure  the  election  of 
a  Parliament  that  would  thit)w  open  the  lands  to 
settlement  and  give  standing-room  in  the  young 
Colony  for  farmers  and  for  other  people  who  were 
neither  squatters,  nor  merchants,  nor  diggers — the 
three  classes  of  which  the  community  was  till  then 
almost  exclusively  composed. 

The  Age  began  the  campaign  by  repudiating  the 
claims  of  O'Shanassy  to  lead  the  popular  cause. 
Reviewing  his  work  in  the  last  Parliament,  it  showed 
that  he  had  broken  his  pledge  to  pass  an  electoral 
Reform  Bill  extending  the  franchise  on  a  basis  of 
population  and  that  he  had  passed,  instead,  an  Act 
retaining  the  abuse  of  a  property  qualification.  He 
had  also  brought  the  Liberal  party  into  disrepute 
by  placing  a  number  of  illiterate  men  on  the  roll  of 
Justices  of  the  Peace,  thus  sacrificing  the  interests 


88  DAVID  SYME 

of  the  country  and  straining  his  patronage  to  secure 
votes. 

At  the  same  time  Gavan  Duffy  was  attacked  for 
his  equivocal  attitude  on  the  land  question.  By 
a  searching  analysis  of  his  professions,  The  Age 
declared  that  his  aim  was  to  run  with  the  hare  and 
hunt  with  the  hounds ;  or,  in  other  words,  that  he 
proposed  to  confirm  the  squatters  in  their  illegal 
privileges  and  to  throw  open  only  poor  and  limited 
tracts  of  country  to  agricultural  selection. 

The  Age  then  proceeded  to  prove  to  the  people 
the  danger  of  compromise  with  the  squatting  inter- 
ests and  the  folly  of  electing  representatives  who 
were  not  whole-hearted  advocates  of  right.  The 
immediate  outcome  of  these  stirring  appeals  was 
the  formation  of  Reform  Associations,  Democratic 
Leagues  and  Land  Conventions  in  all  the  consti- 
tuencies. 

The  squatting  and  mercantile  classes  now  for 
the  first  time  perceived  that  their  long-established 
supremacy  was  seriously  menaced.  Their  nascent 
dislike  of  The  Age  and  its  proprietors  flamed  into 
ardent  hatred.  They  took  all  the  means  in  their 
power  to  suppress  the  journal  and  to  ruin  the  two 
Scotsmen  who  had  dared  to  champion  the  demo- 
cracy. They  immediately  formed  themselves  into 
a  secret  league,  the  members  of  which  were  pledged 
not  to  advertise  in  or  subscribe  to,  The  Age,  but  to  sup- 
port the  Conservative  organ.  The  brothers  Syme  did 
not  view  these  dispositions  with  equanimity.     They 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  89 

were  poor  men  and  the  withdrawal  of  the  adver- 
tisements reduced  them  to  depend  on  the  circula- 
tion of  the  journal  for  the  continued  existence  of 
the  paper — a  prospect  which  most  journalists  would 
have  considered  hopeless.  But  the  Symes*  answer 
to  the  challenge  of  their  adversaries  was  the  prose- 
cution of  the  struggle  with  redoubled  energy.  In 
another  chapter  more  will  be  said  on  the  ever- 
increasing  difficulties  against  which  The  Age  had 
from  this  point  onwards  to  contend.  The  subject 
more  properly  pertains  to  the  Protectionist  campaign 
(of  which  it  is  an  integral  feature)  on  which  David 
Syme  presently  embarked ;  and  it  will,  therefore, 
be  dealt  with  under  that  head. 

It  should  be  remarked,  however,  that  the  squatters 
did  not  only  attempt  at  this  period  the  financial 
ruin  of  The  Age.  They  did  their  best  to  besmirch 
the  reputation  of  its  proprietors  for  straight- 
forwardness and  veracity.  They  spread  abroad 
a  rumour  that  The  Age  was  not  really  owned  by 
the  Symes  but  by  the  squatters  themselves,  and 
they  pretended  that,  in  publicly  advocating  the 
unlocking  of  the  lands  in  The  Age  they  intended 
to  lead  the  democracy  to  disaster  and  ruin. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  these  tactics  did  the 
paper  serious  injury  and  considerably  checked  the 
growth  of  its  influence  with  the  masses.  There 
is  also  no  doubt  that  the  slander  assisted  the 
re-election  of  Mr.  Duffy  and  Mr.  O'Shanassy,  who 
made  the  utmost  use  of  it,  and  whose  chances  of 


go  DAVID  SYME 

return  had  been  reduced  to  a  minimum  by  The 
Age's  strong  indictment  of  their  maladministra- 
tion. The  fact  is  the  brothers  Syme  had  not  yet 
had  sufficient  time  to  prove  to  the  country  the 
stuff  of  which  they  were  made.  The  pubHc  knew 
that  they  were  capable,  but  it  also  knew  that  they 
were  poor.  Judging  them,  therefore,  by  the  custom- 
ary cynical  standard,  it  considered  that  the  story 
might  be  true  and  that,  perhaps,  the  Symes  had 
sold  their  pens  to  the  squatting  interests. 

But  not  all  the  citizens  of  Victoria  were  misled 
by  the  squatters'  cunning  invention,  and  the  sec- 
ond Parliament,  which  assembled  on  the  13th  of 
October  (the  product  of  the  first  trial  of  manhood 
suffrage),  contained  a  fair  proportion  of  success- 
ful democratic  candidates  committed  to  further 
The  Age  policy.  These  members,  headed  by  Mr. 
William  Nicholson,  assailed  the  O'Shanassy-Duffy 
Government  with  a  motion  of  no  confidence  im- 
mediately the  House  assembled  and,  after  a  pro- 
longed debate,  carried  it  by  a  majority  of  56  votes 
to  17.  The  Government  thereupon  resigned,  and 
the  Governor,  Sir  Henry  Barkly,  commissioned 
Mr.  Nicholson  to  form  a  Ministry. 

Mr.  Nicholson  assumed  office  on  the  29th  of  Oc- 
tober, 1859,  ^^d  ^^-  James  Service,  who  had 
accepted  the  portfolio  for  Lands,  immediately 
prepared  a  Land  Bill  to  give  effect  to  the  popular 
will  as  advocated  by  The  Age.  The  leading  principle 
of  this  measure  was  to  abolish  the  old  system  of 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  91 

sale  by  auction  of  the  public  estate  and  in  lieu  there- 
of to  survey  and  throw  open  for  selection  some 
4,000,000  acres  to  bon^-fide  agricultural  appli- 
cants. The  Bill,  however,  was  not  permitted  to 
pass  in  its  original  form.  Almost  every  member 
of  the  Legislative  Council  was  opposed  to  it,  and 
the  O'Shanassy  and  Duffy  faction  in  the  Assem- 
bly fought  it  tooth  and  nail.  For  nine  months 
Mr.  Service  strenuously  contended  with  the  Con- 
servative forces,  but,  when,  at  the  end  of  July,  i860, 
the  Bill  was  returned  from  the  Council  amended 
out  of  recognition,  he  resigned.  He  had  wished 
to  enforce  the  Orders-in-Council  so  that  the  people 
might  be  put  on  the  land  in  defiance  of  the  recalci- 
trant Council,  but  the  Ministry  was  afraid  to  support 
him.  His  resignation,  however,  left  the  Government 
benighted  and  a  few  days  afterwards,  on  August 
loth,  Mr.  Nicholson  followed  his  example. 

Mr.  Ebden,  Mr.  O'Shanassy  and  Mr,  Heales  in 
turn  unsuccessfully  attempted  to  form  a  Ministry. 
Meanwhile  popular  feeling  grew  inflamed.  The 
populace  fell  under  the  sway  of  a  group  of  reck- 
less demagogues  who  held  a  mock  Parliament 
daily  in  the  Eastern  Market.  Persuaded  by  these 
incendiaries  that  there  was  a  Parliamentary  con- 
spiracy afoot  to  uphold  the  squatters*  interests 
and  cheat  the  people  of  their  rights,  the  mob  at 
length  burst  all  bounds  and  on  August  28th  in- 
vaded Parliament  House,  during  a  sitting  of  the 
Chamber.     The   frenzied   rabble   broke   in   a   door 


92  DAVID  SYME 

and,  driving  back  the  policemen  on  duty,  proceeded 
to  demolish  the  building  and  to  assault  the  Mem- 
bers who  opposed  them.  The  Mayor  was  hastily 
summoned  and  the  Riot  Act  was  read.  A  large 
body  of  mounted  police  ultimately  dispersed  the 
crowd,  but  not  before  several  serious  casualties 
occurred.  The  Age  denounced  this  disgraceful  de- 
monstration as  being  not  only  untimely  and  wicked, 
but  likely  to  prejudice  the  popular  cause  and  post- 
pone the  people's  triumph  on  the  land  question. 

In  March  of  this  year  (i860),  Ebenezer  Syme's 
useful  career  came  to  an  untimely  end.  He  died 
in  the  prime  ot  his  manhood  in  the  heat  of  the 
great  struggle  for  political  freedom  and  the  vin- 
dication of  the  cause  of  the  democracy,  in  which 
his  able  pen  had  been  so  notable  a  factor.  Thence- 
forward the  whole  burden  of  the  journalistic  cam- 
paign which  he  had  initiated  fell  on  David  Syme's 
shoulders.  David  felt  the  loss  of  his  brother  very 
keenly,  but  he  made  it  his  high  purpose  that  the 
people  of  Victoria  should  not  suffer  from  his  pri- 
vate misfortune,  and  the  condition  of  the  State  to- 
day bears  eloquent  testimony  to  the  capacity  with 
which  he  addressed  himself  to  his  patriotic  charge. 

David's  first  act,  on  assuming  control  of  The  Age, 
was  to  make  a  stirring  appeal  to  the  mercantile 
classes  to  assist  the  people  in  getting  justice.  In  the 
leading  article,  published  on  the  2nd  of  July,  i860, 
he  painted  the  condition  of  the  Colony  and  suggested 
the  proper  steps  to  take  for  its  improvement : — 


THE   LAND  STRUGGLE  93 

Nothing  doing  in  town  or  country  trade — business  utterly 
prostrated — stagnation  everywhere  and  in  every  branch  of 
industry — doubt,  uncertainty,  vague  fears  pervading  the  entire 
commercial  community — apprehensions  of  the  Snowy  River 
rush — perplexity  of  opinion  as  to  whether  this  latter  disturbance 
of  our  population  from  its  wonted  abiding-place  will  make  or 
mar  the  internal  trade  of  the  colony — gloomy  anticipations  of 
the  future — each  and  all  of  these  depressing  conditions  and 
causes  are  painfully  and  palpably  at  work,  at  the  present  moment, 
to  throw  people  in  Melbourne  and  at  the  goldlields  into  "  the 
horrors."  And  at  the  same  time  the  insolvent  Hst  goes  on 
increasing  from  day  to  day,  without  any  prospect  of  its  ceasing 
to  appear  each  morning  in  the  journals,  where  it  regularly 
presents  itself  as  if  to  indicate  the  slowly  but  surely  ebbing  tide 
of  our  former  prosperity.  This  is  a  lamentable  state  of  things. 
But  it  is  a  state  of  things  which  we  ourselves  have  laboured 
arduously  and  persistently  to  bring  about.  The  insensate 
disregard  which  the  mercantile  pubhc  have  ever  evinced  of  the 
actual  condition  of  the  great  consuming  and  producing  section 
of  our  community  located  at  the  goldfields,  is  being  avenged 
most  fully  at  the  present  moment.  So  long  as  the  miners  con- 
tinued patiently  to  dig  and  delve  in  the  bowels  of  the  earth  for 
the  golden  wherewithal  to  purchase  their  imported  goods,  the 
merchants  and  storekeepers  of  Melbourne  observed  the  most 
stoUd  indifference  to  the  wretched,  unsettled,  homeless  con- 
dition of  their  customers  on  the  goldfields.  They  were  content 
to  let  them  toil  on  for  the  production  of  the  precious  metal, 
which  they — the  dealers,  wholesale  and  retail — were  certain 
ultimately  to  gather  into  their  own  possession.  They  paid  no 
more  regard  to  the  deprivations  and  sufferings,  the  discontent 
and  the  "  misery  of  hope  deferred,"  which  the  mining  population 
endured  in  the  search  for  gold,  than  the  sutlers  and  camp- 
followers  of  a  great  army  in  the  field  ever  cared  for  the  wounds, 
sickness,  and  death,  which  decimated  the  ranks  of  the  com- 
batants in  the  organized  ranks  of  bloodshed  and  battle.  So 
long  as  they  found  customers  for  the  canteen,  they  httle  heeded 
those  miseries  of  the  troops,  from  which  they  were  themselves 
exempt.  Just  so  it  has  been  with  our  mercantile  men.  So 
long  as  the  miners  traded  away  their  last  grain  of  gold-dust  for 
the  necessaries  of  life,  which  the  commercial  purveyors  brought 
within  their  reach,  the  men  of  trade  viewed  with  indifference 


94  DAVID  SYME 

the  wretched  and  impoverished  condition  of  the  toilers  at  the 
diggings.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  latter,  on  every  occasion  that 
called  for  it,  and  in  every  way  that  their  disorganized  and 
unsettled  state  of  social  existence  admitted  of  made  marked 
demonstrations  of  their  desire  to  obtain  a  sure  footing  in  homes 
upon  the  soil.  It  was  in  vain  that  they  "  agitated  "  for  an 
alteration  in  the  restrictive  and  monopolist  land-system,  which 
put  the  attainment  of  homesteads  beyond  their  reach.  It  was 
in  vain  that  both  in  Melbourne  and  in  the  mining  townships 
the  more  earnest  of  the  population  repeatedly  assembled  in 
pubhc  meeting  and  demanded,  as  a  matter  of  right  to  them- 
selves, and  as  a  matter  of  immediate  interest  to  aU — traders, 
owners  of  fixed  property,  and  every  one  concerned  in  the  per- 
manent welfare  of  the  colony — to  have,  without  delay,  put 
within  reach  of  all  classes,  a  ready  and  practicable  means  of 
engaging  in  settled  and  reproductive  industry  upon  the  unoccu- 
pied pubUc  lands.  Those  who  were  appealed  to  for  co-operation 
on  the  subject  heeded  not  the  appeal.  They  turned  a  deaf  ear 
to  all  remonstrances  and  demands  of  the  kind. 

We  now  see  the  "  first-fruits  "  of  this  ungenerous,  this  un- 
natural, this  short-sighted  neglect  of  the  primary  duty  of  good 
citizenship.  Gradually  the  energies  of  the  miners  have  become 
relaxed.  Dispirited  at  finding  themselves  no  better  off  at  the 
end  of  the  seventh  year  of  their  gold-mining  toil  than  they  were 
at  the  outset,  they  do  not  enter  into  the  quest  for  gold  with 
that  zest  and  enterprise  which  formerly  characterized  their 
exertions.  Each  "  new  rush,"  as  it  gradually  dies  out,  leaves 
scattered  at  various  points  over  the  face  of  the  country  a  resi- 
duum of  poverty-stricken,  disappointed,  disgusted,  despairing 
men,  who  in  vain  look  around  them  for  one  ray  of  hope,  and 
find  it  not.  They  ask  where  aU  this  marching  to  and  fro,  and 
camping,  and  toiling  to  no  purpose,  is  to  end  ?  And  they  can 
find  no  reply.  With  a  population  in  such  a  mood  of  mind,  it 
is  no  wonder  the  yield  of  the  precious  product  which  absorbs 
their  labours  begins  to  dwindle  down.  Hope  no  longer  nerves 
their  arms  nor  stimulates  the  spirit  of  discovery  within  them  ; 
and  many  an  undiscovered  goldfield,  which  under  happier 
auspices  would  have  been  brought  to  Hght,  remains  unknown 
and  unworked.  It  is  little  wonder,  then,  the  yield  of  gold 
diminishes  apace.  But  diminished  yield  of  gold  brings  with 
it  disastrous  consequences  not  only  to  the  miner,  but  to  the 


THE   LAND   STRUGGLE  95 

trader  and  to  the  owner  of  lands  and  houses.  Little  gold  means 
little  trade  and  few  tenants — it  means  insolvency,  it  means 
the  depreciation  of  property,  it  means  a  general  decline  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  whole  community.  And  all  this  we  now 
witness  practically  and  in  full  operation.  Trade  and  the  sources 
of  trade  are  utterly  paralyzed.  Prosperity  has  fled  the  golden 
colony ;  and  with  gaunt  poverty  have  come  the  most  hideous 
of  the  vices  which  it  has  ever  generated — fraud,  falsehood, 
trickery,  gambling  schemes  of  mining  adventure,  conunercial 
demoralization.  The  traders  assemble  in  solemn  conclave  to 
concert  measures  of  redress,  and  take  counsel  together  with 
the  Head  of  the  Government ;  but  the  only  measure  which 
would  produce  any  tangible  and  lasting  improvement  in  the 
existing  deplorable  state  of  things,  is  not  so  much  as  even  hinted 
at.  It  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  these  unthinking  mer- 
chants that  the  speedy  settlement  of  the  land  question  in  a 
way  favourable  to  the  poor  man  would  wholly  change  the  present 
very  unpromising  aspect  of  affairs  in  the  country.      .  . 

Do  they  require  still  more  disastrous  "  signs  and  wonders  " 
to  make  them  conscious  of  the  impending  collapse  of  the  glitter- 
ing but  unreal  prosperity  of  a  community  like  ours,  founded 
by,  and  resting  solely  upon,  the  evanescent  wealth  of  a  mere 
gold-mining  country  ?  Let  them  at  once — unless  they  are 
wholly  lost  to  reason,  and  if  they  would  prevent  tlie  total  wreck 
of  their  declining  fortunes — let  them  unite  with  the  more  earnest 
and  thoughtful  of  their  fellow  colonists  in  exacting,  even  at 
the  eleventh  hour,  from  the  Legislature,  a  land  system  which 
will  give  hopes  and  homes  to  the  working  classes,  and  retain 
them  in  thriving  contentment  within  the  borders  of  Victoria. 

If  they  do,  success  will  attend  their  efforts.  Let  them  not 
continue  to  entertain  the  strange  and  servile  notion  that  their 
"  respectability  "  prohibits  their  assembling  in  public  meeting, 
Uke  true  and  free-born  men,  to  demand  of  "  the  powers  that 
be,"  as  a  matter  of  justice  and  of  sound  policy,  that  the  hard- 
handed  workers  for  daily  bread  should  be  domesticated  on 
the  soil,  in  order  that  there  might  at  length  be  estabhshed  in 
the  country  a  fixed  basis  for  industry,  commerce,  and  prosperity 
— that  there  may  be,  in  fact,  a  permanent  foundation  for  the 
stabihty  of  society.  In  the  event  of  such  a  settled  state  of 
things  they  would  have  no  reason  to  dread  an  exodus  across 
the  border.     The  miners  with  homes  might  go  for  a  time,  but 


96  DAVID  SYME 

they  would  return  with  their  golden  gains  to  improve  and  extend 
their  homestead  lands,  and  enrich  the  country  by  the  profitable 
outlay  of  their  augmented  capital. 

Still  more  urgent  appeals  were  made  to  the 
traders,  but  in  vain,  and  the  result  was  the  danger- 
ous emeute  already  referred  to. 

Three  days  after  the  riot  Mr.  Nicholson  was  pre- 
vailed upon  by  the  Governor  once  more  to  assume 
office.  He  appointed  a  Committee  of  both  Houses 
to  sit  in  Conference  upon  the  disputed  points  of 
the  Land  Bill,  and  250  amendments  of  the  original 
measure  were  agreed  to.  The  Bill  then  became 
law  on  September  13th,  i860,  whereupon  the 
Assembly  was  prorogued.  The  Age  promptly  con- 
demned the  Act  as  ''  a  misshapen  emasculated 
thing  '*  which  scarcely  altered  the  existing  system  at 
all.  *'  It  is  a  sham  which  offers  no  facility  to  in- 
dustrious men  of  small  means  to  settle  on  the  soil. 
It  is  of  a  kind  to  satisfy  no  person  or  party.  It 
raises  hopes  in  the  popular  mind  only  to  produce 
public  disappointment  and  vexation.  It  has 
damaged  the  poUtical  reputations  of  all  concerned 
in  it.  It  leaves  the  squatting  incubus  which  presses 
so  heavily  and  ruinously  on  the  material  interests 
of  the  community  untouched.  It  places  the  lands 
at  the  mercy  of  the  speculator  and  jobber." 

Within  two  months  every  criticism  on  the  Nichol- 
son Land  Act  was  justified.  Immense  tracts  of 
the  finest  and  most  fertile  areas  in  the  Colony  were 
taken   up  under  its   provisions   by  rich  squatters 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  97 

and  speculators.  The  people,  on  the  other  hand, 
who  honestly  wished  to  settle  on  and  till  the  soil 
were  denied  the  smallest  opportunity  to  do  so  ; 
for  the  squatting  interests  had  maintained  in  the 
Act  the  pernicious  principle  of  sale  by  auction 
instead  of  free  selection  pending  survey — the  original 
intention  of  the  authors  of  the  measure.  When, 
therefore,  the  Nicholson  Ministry  met  Parliament  in 
November,  i860,  it  suffered  the  consequences  of  its 
ineptitude  and  was  defeated  by  the  popular  party. 

Mr.  Nicholson  was  succeeded  in  office  by  Mr. 
Richard  Heales,  who  brought  in  a  Bill  to  provide 
for  free  selection  before  survey.  Pending  the  pass- 
age of  the  measure,  Mr.  Heales  made  available 
for  settlement  and  cultivation  a  considerable  area 
of  fertile  land  by  virtue  of  a  somewhat  recondite 
clause  in  the  Nicholson  Land  Act,  which  allowed 
the  Minister  to  grant  ''  Occupation  licences  ''of 
a  limited  size  to  small  farmers.  This  device  had 
been  suggested  by  The  Age  sls  s,  means  of  immedi- 
ately effecting,  to  a  certain  extent,  the  public  will 
and  of  enabling  a  few  settlers  at  all  events  to  acquire 
holdings.  But  the  adoption  of  this  expedient  was 
the  signal  for  a  furious  outcry  by  the  squatters. 
The  Legislative  Council  asserted  that  the  granting 
of  occupation  licences  was  an  illegal  straining  of 
the  Act,  and  the  squatters  sent  a  petition  to  the 
British  Government  praying  that  they  should  be 
confirmed  in  the  absolute  possession  of  their  runs. 

The   answer   to   the   squatters'   petition   arrived 


98  DAVID  SYME 

early  in  the  following  year  in  the  shape  of  a  des- 
patch from  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  who  was  at 
that  time  Colonial  Secretary.  This  despatch  in- 
formed the  squatters,  firstly,  that  since  1847  (by 
virtue  of  the  Orders-in-Council  which  permitted 
them  to  ''  squat  '*  on  the  pubUc  lands),  they  had 
been  in  exclusive  and  undisturbed  enjoyment  of 
the  grazing  tenure  of  those  lands  and  of  all  the 
other  advantages  the  British  Government  had 
intended  to  give  them  ;  secondly,  that,  if  they  had 
not  acquired  leases,  as  they  might  have  done,  the 
fault  was  their  own  and  not  the  Government's,  be- 
cause they  had  not  complied  with  the  antecedent 
conditions ;  thirdly,  that  in  spite  of  their  dere- 
liction, their  squatting  privileges  had  been  res- 
pected by  the  authorities  as  leases  ;  fourthly,  that 
they  had  been  in  possession  for  fourteen  years, 
the  maximum  period  allowed  by  the  Orders-in- 
Council  even  for  pastoral  leases ;  and,  finally, 
that  the  squatters  had  no  cause  to  complain,  as 
they  had  obtained  everything  which  they  had  any 
right  to  expect. 

The  despatch,  in  fact,  took  pains  to  let  the  squat- 
ters know  that  squatting  had  had  its  day  and  was 
not  applicable  to  the  new  order  of  things  in  the 
Colony ;  and  that  the  Victorian  Legislature  must 
be  freely  permitted  to  substitute  a  new  mode  of 
Land  disposition  suited  to  the  needs  and  desires 
of  the  population.  It  proved  to  the  squatters  that 
they  had  no  hope  of  assistance  from  the  British 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  99 

Government  in  the  assertion  of  their  supposed 
rights,  and  it  sounded  the  death-knell  of  the  squatters* 
Land  monopoly. 

The  despatch  was  received  with  consternation 
by  the  squatters  and  by  the  people  with  the  great- 
est joy.  But  the  squatters  still  possessed  the 
power  to  delay  and  defeat  its  purpose,  and  they 
did  not  hesitate  to  use  it.  Every  attempt  made 
by  Mr.  Heales  to  secure  the  passing  of  his  Land 
Bill  was  combated  by  the  squatting  representatives 
in  both  Houses.  At  length,  after  a  protracted 
and  bitterly-contested  struggle,  the  Reform  Govern- 
ment was  defeated  on  13th  June.  The  Governor 
granted  Mr.  Heales  a  dissolution  and  an  appeal 
was  made  to  the  country. 

As  was  to  be  expected,  the  squatters  fought 
the  election  with  extreme  bitterness.  Their  pri- 
vileges were  menaced  and  they  resolved  to  make 
a  tremendous  effort  to  retain  them.  The  future 
of  the  country  mattered  nothing.  They  were 
blocking  settlement,  preventing  the  increase  of 
population,  obstructing  political  and  industrial  pro- 
gress. But  they  were  enriching  themselves  at  the 
expense  of  the  common  weal,  and  that  seemed  to 
be  the  only  thing  they  cared  for.  They  began  the 
contest  with  an  insidious  appeal  to  the  people 
on  economic  grounds  to  stay  the  work  of  destroy- 
ing ;f30,ooo,ooo  worth  of  vested  pastoral  inter- 
ests in  the  doubtful  experiment  of  introducing 
an  agricultural  population. 


100  DAVID  SYME 

David  Syme  was  at  his  best  in  answering  this 
attack.  He  showed  that  when  the  squatters  boasted 
of  the  extent  of  the  riches  they  had  acquired  under 
the  Orders-in-Council,  they  simply  adduced  further 
reasons  why  these  Orders  should  be  repealed  for 
the  public  good.  He  pointed  out  that  cries  of 
vested  interests  and  of  the  destruction  of  accumu- 
lated wealth  had  always  and  everywhere-  been 
put  forward  by  monopolists.  The  abolition  of 
the  slave  trade  had  been  opposed  on  similar  grounds 
by  the  Liverpool  and  Bristol  merchants.  Some 
of  his  phrases  may  be  quoted  : — 

"It  is  the  essential  quality  of  improvement  to 
imperil  and  frequently  to  destroy  that  on  which 
the  improvement  is  effected.  Once,  however,  as- 
certain that  the  substitution  is  conducive  to  natural 
progress  and  neither  the  extent  nor  importance 
of  the  threatened  interests  is  of  any  consequence." 

'*  The  squatting  interest  is  not  deserving  of 
the  least  consideration.  It  is  a  monopoly,  and  it 
can  only  be  perpetuated  by  the  perpetuation  of 
monopoly." 

*'  The  magnitude  and  growth  of  the  interest 
is  the  strongest  possible  argument  for  its  suppres- 
sion, inasmuch  as  its  overwhelming  nature  makes 
it  incompatible  with  the  growth  of  other  industries." 

This  manner  of  plain  speech  carried  all  before 
it.  The  squatters*  manifesto  was  universally  de- 
rided and  The  Age  policy  everywhere  ascendant. 
In  despair  the  former  resorted  to  bribery,  using 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  loi 

their  enormous  wealth  in  a  wholesale  purchase 
of  votes  ;  nor  did  they  scruple  to  countenance 
personation  on  an  extensive  scale.  As  a  result 
they  secured  the  return  of  several  candidates 
pledged  to  serve  them ;  though  they  were  not 
always  successful  in  hiding  the  traces  of  their  handi- 
work. With  a  House  thus  packed,  the  Heales' 
Government  was  defeated. 

Mr.  Heales  was  succeeded  by  Mr.  O'Shanassy, 
and  Mr.  Gavan  Duffy  returned  to  his  old  post 
as  head  of  the  Lands  Department,  on  November 
8th,  1861. 

Mr.  Duffy  had  contested  the  election  as  an  advo- 
cate of  the  people's  cause  and  had  pledged  himself  to 
devote  all  his  energy  to  the  abolition  of  the  squatting 
system.  He  assumed  office  with  the  support  of  a 
large  section  of  the  community,  attracted  by  his 
advocacy  of  liberal  reforms,  but  it  soon  became 
apparent  that  he  was  at  heart  a  Conservative.  On 
the  1 8th  of  December  he  brought  in  a  Land  Bill 
which  failed  to  make  any  provision  for  the  termina- 
tion of  the  squatters'  tenure.  It  was  an  attempt  to 
please  all  classes.  It  first  preserved  the  squatters 
in  their  illegal  privileges  as  to  the  bulk  of  their 
estates,  and  then  sought  to  placate  the  public  by 
reserving  for  selection  picked  blocks  here  and  there 
of  agricultural  land  for  farming  purposes,  amounting 
in  the  aggregate  to  about  2,000,000  acres.  The 
conditions  of  selection  were,  that  selectors  should 
be   required  to  pay  £1  per   acre   by  eight  yearly 


102  DAVID  SYME 

instalments  of  half-a-crown  and  to  execute  certain 
improvements  on  their  holdings,  the  conditions, 
however,  being  only  mandatory  on  the  original 
selectors  and  not  on  their  assigns. 

The  Age  immediately  exposed  the  defects  of  the 
proposal  and  strove  to  secure  its  defeat.  But  this 
at  the  moment  was  impossible.  In  1862  the  Bill 
became  law,  but  was  hardly  placed  on  the  Statute 
book  before  all  of  the  gloomy  predictions  of  The  Age 
were  verified.  The  failure  to  make  the  improvement 
obligations  mandatory  on  the  selectors*  assigns 
played  into  the  hands  of  the  wealthy  monopolists. 
No  sooner  had  a  poor  farmer  selected  a  piece  of  land 
than  he  was  approached  by  a  squatters*  agent  with 
an  offer  of  purchase  which  his  indigence  forbade  him 
to  refuse.  It  paid  the  squatters  handsomely  thus 
to  buy  back  their  runs.  But  that  was  not  all. 
They  themselves  entered  the  field  as  selectors  by 
**  secret  servants  who  came  to  be  known  as 
dummies  '*  ;  and  as  these  men  acquired  selections  in 
their  own  names  which  they  subsequently  trans- 
ferred to  the  squatters,  the  people  were  swindled  out 
of  large  tracts  of  the  national  estate  in  flagrant  vio- 
lation of  the  spirit  of  the  Act.  In  consequence 
of  these  operations  within  a  very  short  time  some 
2,000,000  acres  reverted  unimproved  to  the  squatters, 
who  thenceforth  held  this  land  by  an  unassailable 
title. 

Informed  by  The  Age  of  this  infamous  squandering 
of  the  public  estate  the  indignation  of  the  people  burst 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  103 

into  flame,  and  at  length,  on  the  19th  of  June,  1863, 
the  O'Shanassy-Duffy  Ministry  resigned.  There- 
upon Mr.  James  McCuUoch,  at  that  time  a  true 
Liberal,  animated  with  a  genuine  desire  for  reform, 
was  sent  for  by  the  Governor.  He  succeeded  in 
forming  a  fairly  strong  Cabinet,  with  Mr.  Heales  as 
Minister  of  Lands.  Five  years,  nevertheless, 
elapsed  before  the  land  question  reached  any  degree 
of  finality.  But  this  was  not  the  fault  of  the  Govern- 
ment. As  will  be  shown  in  another  chapter,  the 
period  was  occupied  with  a  stiff  Constitutional 
struggle  between  the  two  Houses.  Mr.  Heales 
brought  in  several  Land  Bills  devised  to  amend  the 
Duffy  Act  on  sound  lines,  but  each  was  contemptu- 
ously thrown  out  by  the  squatters  in  the  Legislative 
Council,  who  made  any  progress  impossible.  All 
that  the  Government  could  do  in  the  meanwhile  was 
to  suspend  the  operation  of  the  Duffy  Act  and  thus 
prevent  further  spoUation  of  the  people's  estate.  It 
did  this  on  the  suggestion  and  advice  of  The  Age, 
The  monopolists  stormed  and  prayed  by  turns ;  it 
was  said  that  capital  was  leaving  the  country  and 
that  the  Colony  was  going  to  ruin  in  consequence. 
But  the  Ministry  ignored  these  dismal  prognostica- 
tions, and  at  length  Mr.  James  McPherson  Grant 
(who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Heales,  on  the  death  of  the 
latter,  as  Minister  of  Lands),  on  the  28th  of  Novem- 
ber, 1864,  introduced  an  Amending  Land  Bill  which, 
although  far  from  perfect,  conceded  in  plain  terms 
the  principle  that  settlement  should  precede  aliena- 


I04  DAVID  SYME 

tion  of  any  description.  The  Council,  at  first,  could 
not  be  prevailed  upon  to  entertain  the  notion.  The 
Bill  passed  to  and  fro  several  times  between  the  two 
Houses.  Finally,  however,  a  conference  between 
the  Chambers  was  arranged,  and  the  Council  agreed 
to  accept  the  measure  with  certain  amendments 
favouring  the  squatters  ;  and  on  the  28th  of  March, 
1865,  it  became  law. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  Grant  Act  were,  that 
each  selector  should  be  obliged  to  reside  continuously 
on  his  selection  for  three  years,  and  that  he  should 
effect  improvements  to  the  value  of  £1  per  acre, 
before  he  could  acquire  the  right  to  be  granted  a 
freehold  title  on  a  further  payment  of  a  like  sum. 
Meanwhile   the   selector  was   granted   a  lease   for 
seven  years  of  his  allotment  at  a  rental  of  two 
shillings  per  acre,  and  was  permitted  to  select  up  to 
640  acres  on  those  conditions.     This  Act  was  the 
nearest  approach  to  a  liberal  measure  which  had 
yet  been  wrung  from  the  Legislative  Council ;  and, 
during  the  next  four  years,  it  enabled  13,000  poor 
farmers  to  obtain  possession  of  and  cultivate  786,000 
acres.     But  the  Act  had  this  radical  defect :  it  forced 
poor  farmers,  during  their  period  of  probation,  to 
pay  a  rent  of  two  shillings  per  acre  to  the  Crown, 
while  wealthy  squatters  were  permitted  to  retain 
their  vast  runs  at  a  rental  of  twopence. 

Against  this  injustice  The  Age  indignantly  de- 
claimed and,  during  the  next  four  years  of  contention 
between  the  Chambers,  although  constructive  legis- 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  105 

lation  was  temporarily  hopeless,  David  Syme  never 
ceased  to  plead  the  popular  cause.  His  untiring 
championship  at  length  produced  effect.  In  1869, 
during  the  temporary  occupancy  of  the  Treasury 
Benches  by  the  McPherson  Ministry  (the  Legislative 
Council  in  the  meanwhile  having  been  shorn  by  the 
constitutional  struggle  of  much  of  its  former  powers 
of  retarding  Liberal  legislation),  a  Land  Act  was 
passed  which,  for  almost  a  decade,  fairly  satisfied  the 
aspirations  of  the  people. 

This  Act  fixed  the  period  of  probationary  holding 
at  three  years  at  a  rental  of  two  shillings  (as  for- 
merly) per  acre  per  annum  ;  but  it  provided  that  the 
rental  should  be  accepted  as  part  payment  of  the 
freehold  of  the  land  if  the  improvement  and  residence 
conditions  were  carried  out.  It  reduced  the  size  of 
selections  from  640  to  320  acres  and  it  threw  the 
whole  of  the  Colony,  not  previously  alienated,  open 
to  selection  before  survey.  In  a  word  the  Act  em- 
bodied all  the  principles  and  legal  machinery  for 
agricultural  settlement  which  The  Age  had  for  more 
than  fourteen  years  untiringly  demanded  in  the 
public  interest,  and  was  a  vindication  of  David 
Syme's  far-sighted  policy.  Between  1869  and  1878, 
11,000,000  acres  of  agricultural  land  were  acquired 
by  small  resident  pastoral  and  farming  settlers  ; 
and  the  area  under  actual  cultivation  increased  to 
1,400,000  acres,  producing  enough  to  feed  the  Colony 
and  to  leave  a  large  surplus  for  exportation.  During 
that  period  scores  of  towns  sprang  into  existence 


io6  DAVID  SYME 

and  became  flourishing  centres  of  commercial  and 
industrial  activity  as  the  direct  product  of  the  settle- 
ment created  and  fostered  by  the  Act. 

For  the  next  twenty  years  it  was  not  found  ad- 
visable to  make  any  vital  alteration  in  the  Land 
Law.  Towards  the  close  of  that  period,  however, 
it  was  noticed  that  a  steady  aggregation  of  large 
estates  in  the  hands  of  wealthy  squatters  had  been 
quietly  proceeding,  which  threatened  ultimately  to 
re-convert  the  Colony  into  a  series  of  depopulated 
sheep  walks.  Many  causes  operated  in  this  direc- 
tion. The  great  and  steady  increase  in  population 
had  enhanced  the  value  of  land  all  over  the  Colony, 
and  numbers  of  selectors,  who  had  acquired  holdings 
at  £i  per  acre,  were  tempted  to  accept  the  large 
profit  circumstances  had  placed  within  their  reach. 
By  the  end  of  1898  it  was  found  that,  of  the 
23,000,000  acres  alienated  from  the  Crown,  an  area 
of  only  3,000,000  acres  was  under  cultivation.  The 
small  farmers  still  possessed  about  13,000,000  acres  ; 
but,  as  more  than  16,000,000  acres  had  been  actually 
selected,  it  was  evident  that  fully  3,000,000  acres 
had  already  reverted  to  the  Sheep  Kings,  to  the 
manifest  disadvantage  of  the  State,  whose  highest 
interests  required  that  the  whole  arable  area  of  the 
Colony  should  be  put  to  its  best  use  and  support 
men  rather  than  sheep. 

David  Syme's  views  on  the  question  are  embodied 
in  the  following  article  published  in  The  Age  on  the 
29th  of  December,  1876. 


THE   LAND  STRUGGLE  107 

The  most  recent  apology  that  has  been  put  forward  on  behalf 
of  the  large  estates  by  the  organs  of  the  land  monopolists  is 
that  large  estates  contribute  just  as  much  to  the  general  pros- 
perity of  the  country  as  small,  and  that  their  owners,  by  the 
consumption  of  the  luxuries  which  they  furnish  for  themselves, 
put  into  circulation  the  profits  they  derive  from  their  posses- 
sions, and  to  that  extent  are  the  employers  of  labour,  and  the 
promoters  of  the  industrial  arts  on  which  it  hves.  And  at  first 
sight  this  proposition  is  sufficiently  specious  to  recommend  it 
to  the  superficial.  Money  is  money.  The  purchasing  power 
of  a  shiUing  is  the  same  whether  it  is  in  the  pocket  of  Dives  or 
of  Lazarus ;  and  if  Dives  spends  his  income  of  ;£70,ooo  a  year 
on  objects  of  art  and  luxury,  he  does  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
Lazarus,  who  dissipates  his  earnings  of  ;f70  a  year.  But  this 
is  only  a  superficial  way  of  looking  at  the  transaction.  The 
question  is  not  whether  the  rich  man  furnishes  employment  to 
the  poor  by  the  expenditure  of  his  income,  but  whether  the 
general  prosperity  of  the  community  would  not  be  increased 
if  his  income  were  divided  and  shared  in  by  others.  This  ques- 
tion is  now  answered  in  the  afiirmative  by  political  economists, 
with  an  emphasis  that  leaves  no  doubt  about  it.  The  poor  gain 
their  hvelihood,  as  a  matter  of  course,  by  ministering  to  the 
numberless  wants  of  the  rich ;  but,  says  one  writer  on  the 
subject — "  there  has  been  no  more  preposterous  and  no  more 
common  fallacy  than  the  belief  that  the  greater  the  consumption 
of  luxuries  the  better  for  industry."  As  Mr.  Dudley  Baxter 
remarks  in  his  work  on  the  Taxation  of  the  United  Kingdom  : — 
"  Rich  men  are  not  the  only  employers  of  labour.  Every  work- 
man, with  respect  to  the  articles  that  he  consumes,  is  an  employer 
of  the  producer.  A  thousand  workmen,  each  with  £70  a  year 
of  earnings,  are  as  large  as  and  far  more  constant  an  employer 
than  a  single  miUionaire  with  £70,000  a  year  income."  If  this 
is  the  case,  what  becomes  of  the  theory  which  has  been  so  sedu- 
lously presented  to  the  Victorian  proletariat  within  the  last 
few  months,  that  the  monopoly  of  land  and  the  wealth  which 
it  entails  in  the  hands  of  a  few  is  not  an  evil  to  be  deplored  and 
legislated  agahist,  but  a  blessing  which  the  friend  of  industry 
ought  to  contemplate  with  uplifted  hands  and  eyes  ?  If  it  be 
true,  as  any  one  upon  a  moment's  consideration  must  see  that 
it  is  true,  that  the  wealth  of  a  country  does  not  depend  upon 
the  number  of  its  wealthy  men,  it  cannot  be  also  true  that  it  is 


io8  DAVID  SYME 

a  matter  of  indifference  whether  the  means  of  accumulating 
wealth,  such  as  are  offered  by  the  possession  of  the  soil,  are  in 
the  hands  of  a  few  or  of  many.  The  owner  of  a  hundred  thousand 
acres  will  build  a  palatial  residence  for  himself,  and  stock  it 
with  costly  furniture  and  pictures,  and  pay  wages  to  a  crowd 
of  lacqueys  and  stable-boys ;  but  if  the  land  were  divided 
between  the  lacqueys  and  stable-boys  they  would  consume  more, 
and  most  probably  produce  more,  than  their  master  singly, 
and  to  this  extent  would  provide  more  remunerative  employment 
for  labour. 

But  perhaps  we  shall  be  told  that  they  would  not  be  neces- 
sarily larger  producers.  In  fact,  the  apologists  of  the  large 
estates  systematically  tell  us  as  much.  A  man  with  a  large 
property  at  his  disposed  can  do  more  with  it  than  a  man  with 
only  a  small  one,  because  he  can  spend  more  upon  its  cultivation. 
In  the  first  place  it  is  clear  that  those  who  argue  in  this  way 
argue  on  the  assumption,  not  only  that  it  will  be  to  the  interest 
of  the  large  estated  man  to  turn  his  property  to  the  most  profitable 
account,  but  that  he  will  always  and  necessarily  consult  his 
interest  and  do  so.  This  asstunption,  however,  is  utterly  dis- 
proved by  experience.  There  is  a  satiety  point  to  the  rich 
man  beyond  which  he  will  not  exert  himself  to  go.  He  is  con- 
tented to  put  sheep  upon  his  land  rather  than  people,  not  because 
the  sheep  are  a  greater  source  of  wealth  to  him  than  the  people 
would  be,  but  because  they  return  him  the  maximum  of  wealth 
that  he  cares  to  enjoy.  We  see  by  the  last  mail  that  the  Duke 
of  Sutherland  is  only  just  beginning  to  turn  to  account  the 
deposits  of  coal  in  his  estates  in  Staffordshire.  If  these  estates 
had  been  in  the  possession  of  a  man  in  possession  of  fewer  sources 
of  wealth  of  other  kinds,  does  anybody  suppose  that  their 
mineral  treasures  would  have  been  left  unutihzed  till  now  ? 
And  if  they  had  been  utilized,  will  anybody  say  that  the  country 
generally  would  not  have  been  the  gainer  by  it  ?  But  if  there 
is  one  thing  which  society  has  been  educated  up  to  by  modern 
political  economy  more  sedulously  than  another,  it  is  that  large 
estates  are  neither  so  productive  to  the  individual  nor  so  bene- 
ficial to  the  community  as  small  ones.  It  is  a  very  trite  obser- 
vation that  the  concentration  of  landed  property  in  a  few  hands 
has  been  the  proUfic  source  of  revolutions  all  the  world  over. 
It  was  the  source  of  the  revolution  in  France  ;  and  if  it  is  not 
t  he  cause  of  a  revolution  in  England  it  will  be  because  the  English 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  109 

people  will  win  by  the  pacific  force  of  public  opinion  what  the 
French  had  to  fight  for.  It  would  be  easy  to  fill  columns  with 
extracts  from  writers  widely  differing  from  each  other  on  other 
social  and  pohtical  subjects,  who  nevertheless  agree  thoroughly 
as  to  the  extraordinary  effects  produced  by  the  abolition  of 
land  monopoly  and  the  subdivision  of  the  lands  in  the  former 
country.  But  we  may  refer  to  the  well  ascertained  fact  that 
in  this  subdivision,  and  in  the  substitution  of  a  class  of  peasant 
proprietors  for  the  seigniorial  lord,  is  to  be  found  the  source  of 
that  marvellous  recuperative  power  to  which  it  owes  its  rapid 
recovery  from  the  terrible  disasters  inflicted  by  the  war  with 
Germany.  The  peasant  proprietor  is  not  a  consumer  of  luxuries. 
He  does  not  build  baronial  halls,  and  furnish  princely  incomes 
to  artists  and  actresses,  while  the  deer  browse  in  the  solitude 
of  the  manorial  forest,  and  the  partridge  and  pheasant  make 
employment  for  the  inglorious  industry  of  half  a  dozen  game- 
keepers. But  he  works  his  plot  of  ground  as  though  his  life 
depended  upon  it,  and  turns  the  forest  into  a  garden  for  his 
children  and  dependents.  And  the  consequence  is  written  in 
the  history  of  his  country,  and  stands  for  ever  a  crushing  rejoinder 
to  those  superficial  people  who  argue  as  though  it  were  a  matter 
of  no  consequence  and  no  difference  whether  the  soil  of  the 
country  were  parcelled  out  into  the  hands  of  a  few  monopolists, 
who  spent  their  incomes  on  the  luxuries  of  life,  or  whether  it 
was  in  the  possession  of  the  many,  who  had  to  cultivate  it  for 
a  living,  and  in  doing  so  put  in  motion  numberless  reproductive 
industries  to  supply  their  needs. 

David  Syme  faced  the  new  phase  of  the  land 
problem  with  customary  incisiveness  and  energy. 
It  was  one  of  his  dearest  ambitions  to  populate  the 
country  permanently  with  a  productive  and  pros- 
perous yeomanry.  He  had  assisted  thousands  of 
poor  men  to  acquire  homes  and  farms.  Numbers 
of  those  men  had  been  senseless  enough  to  hand  back 
to  the  squatters  the  land  which  David  Syme  had 
enabled  them  to  possess.    But  he  refused  to  be 


no  DAVID  SYME 

discouraged,  and  allowed  nothing  to  move  him  from 
his  purpose.  He  saw  that  the  aggregation  of  large 
arable  areas  in  the  hands  of  the  sheep  graziers  was 
not  only  acting  as  a  bar  to  farming  immigration,  but 
driving  the  dispossessed  farmers  out  of  the  Colony 
in  thousands.  Between  1895  and  1898  Victoria 
actually  lost  50,000  adults,  mostly  of  the  farming 
class,  by  emigration.  David  Syme  saw  that  unless 
this  process  of  aggregation  were  stopped  the  further 
progress  of  the  colony  would  be  barred.  Plenty  of 
good  farming  land  must  be  available  for  sale  and 
settlement  to  tempt  yeoman  farmers  into  Victoria 
to  replace  those  who  had  emigrated.  But  how  was 
such  land  to  be  obtained  ?  The  squatters  held  the 
bulk  of  the  best  arable  land  of  the  Colony.  They 
would  neither  cultivate  it  nor  part  with  it.  True, 
there  was  still  an  area  of  33,000,000  acres  in  the 
possession  of  the  Crown  ;  but  most  of  it  was  of  an 
unattractive  character  and  unsuitable  for  agriculture. 
David  Syme  thought  out  the  problem,  and  decided 
that  the  highest  good  of  the  State  demanded  the 
subordination  of  pastoral  to  agricultural  pursuits. 
His  paper,  therefore,  advocated  that  the  Govern- 
ment should  take  power  to  repurchase  from  the 
squatters  large  blocks  of  farming  land,  not  being 
used  in  cultivation ;  and  that  the  blocks,  thus 
rescued  from  the  wilderness,  should  be  cut  up  in 
small  farms  for  resale  and  closer  settlement. 

Sir  George  Turner's  Ministry  adopted  this  sug- 
gestion, and  the  principle  was  embodied  in  the  Land 


THE   LAND   STRUGGLE  in 

Act  of  1898,  under  which  a  Closer  Settlement  Board 
was  afterwards  appointed  by  the  Bent  Government 
to  carry  it  into  practical  effect. 

This  Act  for  a  while  did  something  to  remedy  the 
mischief  and  the  Closer  Settlement  Board  (by  pur- 
chasing and  cutting  up  several  big  estates)  settled 
on  the  soil  a  considerable  number  of  genuine  yeoman 
farmers.  The  system  carried,  however,  an  unfore- 
seen evil  in  its  train.  The  presence  of  the  Govern- 
ment as  a  buyer  gradually  caused  an  undue  appreci- 
ation of  land  values  all  over  the  country.  As  a  result 
of  this  inflation,  settled  farmers  began  once  more  to 
sell  their  holdings  to  the  squatters  and  to  emigrate 
to  other  States,  where  land  of  equally  productive 
capacity  could  be  purchased  at  a  lower  price.  The 
Government's  policy  in  course  of  time  was  thereby 
practically  nullified.  It  certainly  attracted  farming 
immigrants  from  abroad ;  but  as  fast  as  it  settled 
these  on  the  land,  Victoria  lost  a  corresponding 
proportion  of  her  old  farmers,  and  the  farming  popu- 
lation instead  of  increasing  showed  signs  of  dimin- 
ishing. At  all  events  between  1900  and  1907  it 
remained  practically  stationary.  Meanwhile,  the 
price  of  land  has  steadily  advanced  and,  generally 
speaking,  good  farming  land  in  Victoria  is  now 
beyond  the  reach  of  all  farmers  save  those  possessed 
of  considerable  capital. 

Such  was  the  position  of  affairs  in  Victoria 
at  the  date  of  Mr.  Syme's  death.  The  Government 
in    power   (under  the   leadership  of    Mr.    Thomas 


112  DAVID  SYME 


Bent)  was,  supposedly,  a  Liberal  Administration 
but  it  had  strong  leanings  towards  the  large 
landowning  class.  The  force  of  public  opinion 
obliged  it  to  pursue  the  policy  of  providing 
land  to  the  people  for  Closer  Settlement  on  easy 
terms  ;  but  its  manner  of  carr3dng  out  its  trust 
continued  the  appreciation  of  land  values  in  the 
interests  of  the  jobber  and  the  squatter.  Faithful 
to  his  life-long  principles,  David  Syme  was  the 
Government's  resolute  opponent  in  its  schemes 
against  the  democratic  interest.  Experience  had 
convinced  him  that,  in  order  to  inhibit  the  aggrega- 
tion of  large  estates  and  to  ensure  the  settlement  of 
the  coimtry  by  a  numerous,  small  yeomanry,  it  was 
necessary,  on  the  one  hand,  to  prevent  the  inflation 
of  land  values  by  the  States'  purchasing  operations 
and,  on  the  other,  to  compel  all  landowners  to 
put  their  land  to  its  best  productive  use.  His 
latest  proposals  were  worthy  of  his  great  constructive 
reputation.  He  urged  that  the  Closer  Settlement 
Board  should  be  invested  with  unfettered  powers 
of  compulsory  purchase,  and  that  a  tax  on  unim- 
proved land  values  should  be  imposed  of  such  a  nature 
as  to  make  it  unprofitable  for  any  man  to  hold 
cultivable  land  without  turning  to  full  account  its 
productive  capacities. 

The  consequences  of  enforcing  such  a  policy  are 
obvious.  Compulsory  purchase  would  save  the 
State  from  being  fleeced  by  unscrupulous  land- 
owners, and  the  Land  Tax  would  at  the  same  time 


s 


THE  LAND  STRUGGLE  113 

bring  down  the  price  of  land  to  its  intrinsic  product- 
ive worth  and  force  all  the  arable  land  of  the  State 
into  cultivation.  The  unearned  increment  would 
go,  not  as  now,  to  the  speculator  and  the  idle, 
wealthy  landlord,  but  to  the  State  ;  and  the  entire 
community,  rich  and  poor  alike,  would  reap  the 
benefit. 


CHAPTER   V 
The  Beginning  of  Protection 

David  Syme's  statecraft — His  national  ideal — The  necessitj'^  of 
manufactures — The  industrial  condition  of  Victoria  in  1859 
— The  importers  and  the  squatters — The  established  order 
attacked  by  The  Age — The  principles  of  Cobdenism 
assailed  and  refuted — The  duty  of  the  State — First  effects 
of  David  Syme's  advocacy  of  Protection — Ridicule — ^The 
laughter  ceases — The  question  studied  by  the  people — Converts 
— The  importers  become  alarmed — The  trials  of  The  Age 
begin. 

David  Syme  is  remarkable  among  Australian 
statesmen  for  the  clarity  of  his  vision  of  the  future 
and  the  wide  reach  of  his  endeavours.  He  held 
no  brief  for  any  particular  industry.  His  aim  was 
to  promote  under  State  regulation  a  coincident- 
ally  proportionate  development  in  all  spheres 
of  human  activity ;  and  the  goal  of  his  policy 
was  the  creation  of  a  nation  which  should  be  able 
to  supply  the  whole  of  its  needs  and  be  independent 
of  other  countries  for  its  means  of  subsistence. 
He  no  sooner  began  to  be  assured  of  the  ultimate 
success  of  his  campaign  against  the  squatting 
monopoly  than  he  foresaw  in  the  fruition  of  that 
reform  the  unfolding  of  another  problem.  The 
unlocking  of  the  land  would  provide  employment 

114 


THE   BEGINNING   OF  PROTECTION     115 

for  thousands  of  people,  but  that  would  not  be 
sufficient  to  lay  the  foundations  of  permanent 
national  well-being.  At  the  moment,  the  whole 
interests  of  the  State  were  in  the  hands  of  two 
classes — the  squatters  and  the  importers.  Agri- 
cultural settlement  of  the  land  would,  doutbless, 
have  added  to  these  a  third  class  of  farmers,  but 
a  country  given  up  purely  to  pastoral  and  agri- 
cultural pursuits  would  afford  no  scope  for  men 
of  artistic  and  constructive  talents.  The  capa- 
cities of  a  people  are  multifarious.  Some  men  are 
adapted  for  indoor  occupation,  others  for  outdoor. 
David  Syme  perceived  that  a  society  confined 
to  a  limited  number  of  allied  staple  industries 
which  sought  to  force  all  men,  however  diversified 
their  natural  and  acquired  abilities,  into  the  same 
mould,  apart  from  the  economic  waste  involved, 
would  only  be  an  imperfect  and  impermanent 
thing.  He  reasoned  that  society  could  only 
approximate  perfection  in  so  far  as  it  carried 
diversity  of  occupation  to  its  fullest  possible 
development,  so  that  all  the  talents  of  its  members 
might  be  utilized  to  the  general  advantage  and 
advancement.  He  was  faced  with  the  fact  that, 
in  the  years  1858-59,  more  than  45,000  persons 
had  emigrated  from  Victoria.  Many  of  these 
would  have  remained  had  there  been  land  to  occupy 
and  cultivate  ;  but  a  large  proportion  were  trained 
artificers  and  artisans,  to  whom  land  would  have 
been  useless  even  although  acquired  gratuitously, 


ii6  DAVID  SYME 

and  whom  no  society  could  hope  to  retain  as  its 
citizens  unless  it  could  offer  them  remunerative 
employment  in  the  manufacturing  arts  and  indus- 
tries. These  men  had  come  to  Victoria  attracted 
by  the  gold  discoveries.  In  nine  years  ^f  100,000,000 
worth  of  gold  had  been  extracted  from  the  soil 
and  the  population  had  increased  from  97,000 
to  1,000,000.  But  in  1858  the  gold  yield  slackened 
and  the  inevitable  reaction  set  in.  As  the  gold- 
fields  gave  out,  hordes  of  homeless  men  were 
thrown  out  of  their  vicarious  digging  occupation 
and  had  nothing  to  do.  The  land  was  locked  up 
in  the  hands  of  the  Shepherd  Kings  and  local 
manufactures  were  not.  Thousands  of  people  were 
speedily  brought  to  destitution,  and  the  Colony 
was  burdened  with  a  population  for  a  large  part 
of  which  it  had  no  means  of  sustenance. 

From  its  inception  the  Colony  had  run  an 
uninterrupted  course  of  Free  Trade.  Free  imports 
had  prohibited  the  possibility  of  industrial  expansion. 
Several  manufactures  had  been  started  by  enter- 
prising spirits,  but  the  importers  had  strangled 
them  at  their  birth.  The  importers  were  bring- 
ing in  foreign-made  goods  and  food  stuffs  to  the 
value  of  £15,000,000  a  year  in  exchange  for  Vic- 
toria's gold,  wool,  hides  and  taUow.  The  gold- 
digging  population  and  the  pastoral  employes  had 
to  give  up  this  money  in  order  to  live,  and  it  passed 
into  the  pockets  of  the  importers  and  the  squatters. 
The   Colony   was   visibly   enormously   rich   in   its 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      117 

resources,  but  the  land  was  a  primeval  wilderness. 
Ship-loads  of  flour  poured  in  from  abroad  while 
tens  of  thousands  of  men  who  could  have  grown 
the  wheat  and  ground  it  into  flour  stood  idle  in 
the  streets — the  helpless  victims  of  the  two  mono- 
polist classes.  The  importers  and  the  squatters 
divided  the  interests  of  the  State  between  them. 
They  filled  the  Assembly,  they  dominated  the 
Council.  They  preached  and  rigidly  enforced  the 
gospel  that  the  Colony  was  theirs  and  all  that  it 
contained,  and  that  it  was  their  divine  right  to 
enslave  the  masses  by  land  monopoly  and  foreign 
trade  for  ever. 

David  Syme  had  long  foreseen  that  a  society 
dependent    exclusively    on    raw  products    was  as 
a  house    built    on  sand    which    must    topple  over 
at  the  first  blast  of  misfortune.     That  misfortune 
arrived  when  the  gold-yield  suffered  its  first  decline 
and,  at  a  blow,  brought  the  people  to  the  brink 
of  ruin.    The  crisis  gave  him  the  opportunity  he 
had  been  waiting  for.     At  that  moment  nobody, 
not  even  the  veriest  pauper  among  the  workless 
and   destitute,   had  ever   dreamed  of   questioning 
Free     Trade.     Cobdenism     was     the     established 
order.     It  was  the  orthodox  and  universal  fiscal 
rehgion   of   the   Colony,    indeed   of   all   Australia. 
No  voice  had  ever  been  raised  against  it.     A  well- 
known  Free  Trade  historian  of  those  times,  Mr. 
Henry    Giles   Turner,    remarks   in    his   History   of 
Victoria  : — *'  In    the    early    'sixties    no     educated 


ii8  DAVID  SYME 

man  .  .  .  would  have  cared  to  pose  as  an  ad- 
vocate of  Protection  to  native  industry  which 
was  so  soon  to  sweep  everything  before  it  at  the 
polls.  If  they  thought  about  it  at  all  it  was  as 
a  gloomy  memory  of  desperate  times  in  the  old 
land  where  its  monopolistic  tendencies  drove  the 
labouring  classes  to  the  verge  of  revolution  ;  where 
it  was  a  synonym  of  the  most  hateful  form  of  the 
oppression  of  the  capitalist  and  was  broken  down 
and  routed  by  the  Parliamentary  champions  of 
the  working-man." 

That  is  a  faithful  picture  of  public  opinion  in 
Victoria  at  the  moment  David  Syme  stood  forth 
as  the  prophet  of  a  new  fiscal  creed  ;  and  presented 
as  it  is,  by  the  pen  of  an  avowed  Free  Trader 
and  a  hater  of  Protection,  it  furnishes  convincing 
testimony  of  the  courage  of  the  man  who  dared, 
alone  and  single-handed,  to  urge  Protection  to 
native  industries  as  essential  to  the  commercial 
progress  of  the  community. 

David  Syme  began  the  greatest  struggle  of  his 
career  soon  after  his  brother's  death.  One  morning 
The  Age  contained  a  leading  article  referring  to 
the  critical  commercial  condition  of  the  Colony, 
inquiring  as  to  the  causes  which  had  produced  it 
and  suggesting  a  new  fiscal  system  as  the  proper 
remedy.  This  was  the  first  unequivocal  Pro- 
tectionist article  in  any  Australian  newspaper. 

If  we  produce,  in  abundance,  the  raw  materials  of  any  manu- 
factures, we  should  shape  our  internal  policy  so  as  to  encourage 


David  Syme,    1861 


[Page  118 


THE   BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      119 

the  domestication  of  these  manufactures  amongst  us,  unless 
there  is  some  inherent  predisposing  cause,  permanently  or  tem- 
porarily, in  the  condition  and  circumstances  of  the  country 
itself  and  of  the  people  who  inhabit  it,  which  (predisposing  cause) 
would  prevent  or  render  unprofitable  the  estabhshment  of  these 
manufactures.  Thus,  we  produce  tallow,  wool,  and  hides  in 
abundance.  It  is,  then,  a  question  for  our  consideration  whether 
there  is  anything  in  the  present  state  of  Victoria  which  should 
cause  its  inhabitants  to  set  a  ban  upon  any  attempts  here  to 
manufacture  these  commodities  respectively  into  cloth,  leather 
and  the  various  articles  into  the  fabrication  of  which  tallow 
largely  enters — such,  for  instance,  as  sperm  candles,  patent 
lubrication  for  railway-carriage  axles,  and  other  similar  products  ; 
— and  thus  give  an  impetus  to  the  enjoyment  of  domestic  skill 
or  "  native  industry,"  as  the  phrase  is,  in  the  handicraftsman's 
arts  of  tailoring,  boot-making,  and  other  occupations  of  the 
kind.  We  cannot  perceive  that  there  is  any  one  predisposing 
cause  at  work  in  this  country  to  prevent  us  making  such  an 
attempt,  and  certainly  none  which  should  induce  us  to  put  a 
special  ban  upon  that  attempt.  Nevertheless  that  is  what 
we  do,  when  we  wholly  expose  any  effort  on  the  part  of  our 
fellow-colonists  here  to  localize  any  of  those  branches  of  industry 
referred  to,  to  the  overwhelming  competition  of  the  multitudinous, 
inferior,  low-priced  (not  cheap)  articles,  made  of  refuse  material 
especially  for  the  Australian  market,  with  which  we  are  inundated 
from  the  crowded  factories  and  workshops  of  Great  Britain. 
By  this  system  of  naked  competition,  our  manufacturers  or 
mechanics  are  prevented  from  even  making  a  beginning  in 
the  work  of  opening  up  new  sources  of  industry  amongst  us. 
A  ban  is  put  upon  the  attempt  at  the  very  outset ;  and  in  a 
few  short  years  hence,  if  this  prearranged  practice  of  national 
industrial  abortion  is  continued  amongst  us,  the  people  of 
Australia  will  be  as  utter  strangers  to  all  scientific  skill  and 
practical  dexterity  in  the  arts  and  manufactures  of  highly 
civiHzed  nations  as  are  the  Bedouins  of  Barbary,  or  the  Tartars 
of  Central  Asia.  Is  that  a  desirable  result  ?  Is  it  desirable 
that,  instead  of  carrying  with  us  the  arts  of  advanced  civilization 
from  the  parent  State  in  Europe  to  this  remote  land,  we  should 
purposely,  and  as  it  were  with  "  malice  aforethought,"  upon 
quitting  the  shores  of  that  parent  State,  cast  behind  us  and 
abandon  the  knowledge  and  the  practice  of  those  great  industrial 


120  DAVID  SYME 

arts,  which  have  constituted  and  still  constitute  the  sole  ground- 
work of  her  characteristic  pre-eminence  in  trade,  commerce, 
and  wealth  ?  Is  it  not  on  the  contrary  rather  desirable  that 
we  should  endeavour  to  perpetuate  amongst  us,  in  our  new 
home,  that  civiUzing  and  enriching  skill  and  trained  industry 
which  is  a  part  of  our  national  inheritance,  and  that  we  should 
try  rather  to  rival  than  to  fall  behind  that  European  progress 
in  the  midst  of  which  we  ourselves  were  bred,  and  up  to  the 
tone  of  which  it  should  be  our  ambition,  as  it  is  for  our  profit, 
to  train  our  children  in  this  far-off  land  ? 

But  do  we  reap  any  present  profit  as  a  community  from  this 
abandonment  of  all  fiscal  protection  to  domestic  industrial 
enterprise  ?  We  do  not.  If  we  had  made  a  serious  effort 
some  six  or  eight  years  ago,  to  fix  population  permanently  in 
this  country,  so  that  the  great  bulk  of  the  immigrant  masses 
brought  here  by  the  gold  discovery  should,  in  a  short  time 
after  their  arrival,  have  felt  themselves  settled  and  "  at  home  " 
on  the  soil  of  Victoria,  a  commencement  on  a  large  scale  would 
undoubtedly  have  been  made  to  domesticate  those  mechanical 
arts  and  manufactures  already  referred  to  in  the  land  of  gold. 
And  had  that  been  the  case  there  is  no  one  can  without  absurdity 
assert  that  either  individuals  or  the  community  at  large  would 
have  gained  in  sending  away  ready  money  to  Great  Britain  for 
slop  manufactures,  instead  of  expending  that  same  money  in 
the  purchase  of  industrial  fabrics  produced  here  in  the  Colony 
by  resident  capital  and  skill.  The  articles  generally  with  which 
the  Victorian  market  has  been  deluged  during  this  period,  would 
have  been  dear  at  any  price.  They  were,  and  they  continue 
to  be,  of  a  kind  all  but  worthless,  becoming  unfit  for  use  with 
a  month's  wear-and-tear  ;  and  however  low  in  original  price, 
they  are  a  source  of  constant  and  therefore  excessive  expendi- 
ture, and  their  purchase-money  in  the  end  turns  out  to  have 
been  but  a  profitless  and  wasteful  outlay.  This  is  no  exaggera- 
tion ;  it  is  the  simple  fact,  which  is  obvious  and  patent  to  all. 
The  vast  sums,  then,  which  have  been  disbursed  by  the  people 
of  Victoria  during  the  last  six  or  eight  years,  in  the  purchase 
of  these  slop  importations  from  Great  Britain  were,  in  great 
part,  money  wasted  ;  and  none,  except  a  few  importers  and 
"  middle-men  "  in  the  trade,  has  benefited  by  the  outlay  ;  whilst 
the  great  bulk  of  the  colonial  community — the  consumers — 
have  all  suffered  from  it,  both  in  pocket  and  in  general  con- 


THE   BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      121 

venience.  This  large  amount  of  hard  cash  has,  in  fact,  been 
laid  out  by  the  colonial  community  for  the  purpose  of  employing 
the  labour  and  swelling  the  capital  of  Europe  and  America,  at 
the  very  time  when  the  demands  of  our  own  resident  colonial 
labour  for  employment  were  wholly  unsatisfied,  and  when,  to 
find  temporary  employment  for  a  fraction  of  it,  we  are  obliged 
to  look  abroad  for  foreign  capital  to  be  advanced  to  us  on  loan 
at  high  interest.  Thus,  neither  as  a  community  possessing  one 
general  pubHc  interest  in  common,  nor  as  a  body  of  individuals 
in  a  separate  capacity,  can  it  be  correctly  said  that  we  have 
gained  in  anywise  by  the  import  system  which  has  been  let 
loose  on  this  country.  At  the  same  time  it  is  certain  that  from  a 
political,  social,  and  national  point  of  view,  our  loss  has  been 
immense,  seeing  that  by  this  "  free  and  vicious  "  system  of 
fiscal  misrule,  we  have,  for  the  time  being,  shut  the  door  to  the 
possibility  of  commencing  any  new  channels  of  industry,  in 
which  the  spare  capital  and  unemployed  skill  and  labour  of 
the  colony  might  both  expend  and  expand  their  present  and 
future  growth,  adding  layer  after  layer  of  skilled  productiveness 
and  solid  prosperity  to  the  wealth,  commerce,  and  greatness 
of  Victoria. 

But  there  are  other  branches  of  industrial  occupation,  for 
which  Australia,  by  its  soil  and  climate,  is  in  an  essential  manner 
fitted,  but  which  we  have  not  the  less  neglected,  as  completely 
as  if  this  magnificent  country  were  a  stony  wilderness,  incapable 
of  cultivation  or  of  yielding  those  peculiar  crops  which  are  the 
offspring  of  semi-tropical  climates.  This  country  is  in  an  especial 
degree  suited  to  the  production  of  the  choicest  wines,  brandy, 
oil,  malt-drinks,  preserved  fruits,  vegetable  dyes,  and  other 
similar  articles  of  commerce ;  and  instead  of  directing  our 
attention  to  producing  these  commodities  ourselves  from  our 
own  soil,  and  exporting  them  as  being  articles  which  are  always 
and  everywhere  marketable,  we  contentedly  send  away  our 
ready-money  to  foreign  countries  to  purchase  articles  of  the 
same  kind  far  inferior  to  what  we  could  make  ourselves ;  and 
we  even  stimulate,  by  the  absence  of  all  but  a  nominal  import 
duty,  this  foreign  trade,  to  the  utter  prohibition  of  the  rise  and 
growth  of  that  domestic  commerce  and  export  trade  for  which 
we  possess  such  advantages,  and  which  could  be  made  so  great 
and  sure  a  source  of  individual  gain  and  national  wealth. 

Is  there  either  wisdom  or  common  sense  in  such  a  course  ? 


122  DAVID  SYME 

Is  it  a  course  that  we  ought  to  continue  one  moment  beyond 
that  in  which  it  was  brought  under  our  notice  ?  Above  all, 
at  the  moment  when  the  settlement  of  population  upon  the 
soil  is  at  length  on  the  eve  of  being  accomphshed,  should  we 
forego  the  opportunity  which  this  new  turning-point  in  our 
career  offers  of  establishing  a  fiscal  system  which  shall  cherish 
and  protect,  instead  of  annihilating,  our  nascent  and  national 
internal  industrial  enterprise  ? 

From  that  day  the  economic  issue  was  fear- 
lessly and  steadily  pursued.  Quietly,  unostenta- 
tiously, but  plausibly,  David  Syme  depicted  the 
structure  of  a  fully-developed  and  well-ordered 
community.  He  showed  that  national  develop- 
ment requires  manufacturers  and  traders,  as  well 
as  farmers  and  pastoralists.  It  is  a  question  at 
bed  rock  of  the  stewardship  and  good  husbandry 
of  the  national  estate.  The  national  well-being 
demands  not  a  lopsided  but  a  symmetrical  develop- 
ment. A  nation  of  specialists,  whether  of  farmers 
or  importers  or  manufacturers,  lacks  the  pre-re- 
quisite  and  fundamentally  essential  condition  of 
permanency  which  can  only  be  supplied  by  a 
society  of  varied  enterprise  and  multifarious  em- 
ployments. Its  prosperity  is  absolutely  dependent 
upon  its  intercourse  with  foreigners.  If  this  in- 
tercourse should  by  any  means  be  dislocated 
disaster  is  the  inevitable  consequence.  Such  a 
nation  is  the  predestined  victim  of  its  own  mis- 
fortunes, of  the  misfortunes  of  its  friends,  of  the 
malice  of  its  rivals  and  the  caprice  of  strangers. 

Victoria  possessed  a  pastoral  industry ;  the 
unlocking   of    the   land    promised    her    a   farming 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      123 

industry,  but  she  needed  a  manufacturing  industry. 
How  was  she  to  obtain  the  last  without  a  Pro- 
tectionist poHcy  ?  David  Syme  showed  that  a 
restrictive  tariff  would  create  a  town  population 
to  support  the  rural  population,  to  the  mutual 
benefit  of  both,  since  the  artisans  would  consume 
the  fruits  of  the  fields,  giving  the  farmers  in  ex- 
change the  produce  of  their  labour.  He  showed 
that  the  best  market  the  farmers  could  have  is 
the  home  market,  because  it  would  substitute 
for  the  uncertain  demand  of  foreigners  a  steady 
unfluctuating  demand  for  the  produce  of  the  soil. 
The  establishment  of  manufactures,  made  possible 
under  the  fostering  care  of  customs  duties,  would 
enable  every  man  desirous  of  earning  his  living 
to  earn  it  in  a  manner  suitable  to  his  training  and 
character  by  furnishing  scope  for  the  diversity 
of  talent  and  disposition.  It  would  give  a  choice 
of  employments  to  the  rising  generation,  the  sons 
and  daughters  of  farmers,  who  without  it  would 
be  condemned  to  follow  the  profession  of  husbandry. 
It  would  stimulate  the  immigration  of  good 
citizens  who  would  flock  into  the  young  Colony 
to  assist  in  expediting  the  national  development, 
once  assured  that,  on  arrival,  they  would  be  able 
to  find  employment  for  their  technical  skill  and 
experience. 

With  patient  effort  David  Syme  persuaded  the 
people  to  realize  the  need  of  manufactures  to  the 
national  progress.     He  painted  Victoria  as  it  was 


124  DAVID  SYME 

and  as  it  might  become,  and  contrasted  the  poverty- 
stricken  dependent  Colony  that  existed  with  the 
Colony  of  his  enthusiastic  vision — ''  a  nice-balanced 
industrial  community,  composite,  stable  and  pro- 
gressive ;  a  self-contained,  self-supporting,  inde- 
pendent nation/'  How  might  that  engaging  dream 
be  made  real  ?  And  he  answered  his  own  question. 
"  It  is  the  duty  of  the  State,''  he  declared,  *'  to 
crush  the  land  monopoly  and  at  the  same  time 
to  discard  Free  Trade  and  the  policy  of  free  im- 
ports, which  have  brought  the  Colony  to  the  verge 
of  destitution,  and  immediately  to  provide  induce- 
ments for  the  people  to  engage  in  manufactures. 
It  is  furthermore  the  duty  of  the  State  to  support 
the  manufacturing  industries  once  they  are  estab- 
Ushed  against  the  devastating  attacks  of  unre- 
stricted foreign  competition  and  to  sustain  them 
to  maturity  with  a  consistent  and  vigorous  pohcy 
of  national  protection." 

It  is  difficult  at  this  date  to  convey  anything 
like  an  adequate  presentment  of  the  convulsion 
into  which  these  articles  threw  the  community. 
In  order  dimly  to  appreciate  the  excitement  they 
occasioned  we  have  to  remember  that  society  in 
Victoria  as  then  constituted  has  no  present  parallel 
in  any  British  State.  It  was  of  a  particularly 
primitive  character.  It  was  composed  of  men 
of  a  strongly  adventurous  disposition,  not  neces- 
sarily lawless,  but  yet  nervously  impatient  of 
control  and  frankly  contemptuous  of  convention- 


THE   BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      125 

ality.  The  vast  majority  of  the  colonists  were 
Britons  who  had  emigrated  to  Victoria,  not  only 
to  better  themselves,  but  because  they  despised 
the  sheeplike  passivity  of  their  fellow-country- 
men who  endured  poverty,  dependence  and  oppres- 
sion as  if  these  were  in  the  order  of  things.  The 
conditions  of  life  in  the  old  land  had  driven  them 
forth,  a  band  of  passionate  pilgrims,  to  seek  a 
more  tolerable  environment  at  the  Antipodes. 
They  were,  in  good  truth,  the  cream  of  the  British 
race,  ideal  pioneers  and  soldiers  of  fortune  in  the 
fullest  sense  ;  sturdy,  courageous,  self-dependent 
and  vigorous  nation-builders,  with  hearts  to  feel, 
with  souls  to  dare  and  do,  with  minds  quick  to 
see  and  to  plan,  and  hands  strong  to  execute. 

It  was  these  men  and  their  like  that  David 
Syme  urged  to  inquire  into  the  origin  of  the  de- 
pression of  the  Colony  and  for  their  own  sakes 
to  find  a  way  out.  They  had  no  leader.  They 
were  enslaved  by  a  false  economic  doctrine,  which 
they  had  accepted  as  unthinkingly  as  children 
and  which  had  bound  them  under  the  heels  of 
the  coterie  of  land  monopolists  and  importers 
who  were  exploiting  them  for  their  own  benefit. 
Moreover,  they  did  not  realize  they  were  enslaved. 
They  were  too  simple  to  perceive  it.  All  that 
they  saw  was  their  growing  indigence,  but  its 
cause  they  were  unable,  unaided,  to  discover. 

David  Syme  supplied  them  with  the  help  they 
lacked,  and  at  first  his  reward  was  universal  ridi- 


126  DAVID  SYME 

cule.  What !  Preach  Protection  when  Britain 
had  just  cast  off  the  trammels  of  that  stupid 
system  !  His  audacity  was  really  amusing.  Men 
laughed  until  their  sides  ached.  The  laughter  was 
so  contagious  and  David  Syme's  presumption  so 
obviously  and  pathetically  ludicrous,  that  the  mono- 
polists were  not  in  the  least  alarmed.  Instead  of 
rending  him  they  rallied  him  in  their  press  on  his 
exquisite  conceit  and  vanity.  "  Who  is  David 
Syme  ? ''  they  asked.  "  Has  John  Stuart  Mill, 
has  Adam  Smith  ever  heard  of  him  ? "  Then 
they  bade  Cobden  in  mock  heroics  beware  of  his 
Antipodean  opponent. 

David  Syme  knew  how  to  wait — ^how  to  work. 
He  proceeded  doggedly  with  his  appointed  task. 
He  began  to  analyse  the  Free  Trade  tariff  of  Great 
Britain  and  to  show  that  it  was  a  sham ;  that  it 
actually  gave  ample  protection  to  most  of  the 
industries,  except  agriculture,  which  the  United 
Kingdom  wished  to  preserve  and  foster.  He 
proved  that  Adam  Smith  had  admitted  the  superior 
merit  of  a  home  to  a  foreign  market,  and  that  John 
Stuart  Mill  had  emphasized  the  necessity  of  all 
young  countries  establishing  new  industries  and 
securing  their  growth  by  means  of  a  protective 
tariff  that  would  repress  importations  and  encourage 
domestic  manufactures.  The  laughter  ceased  by 
and  by,  and  was  followed  by  a  period  of  painful 
silence  and  strained  attention. 

The   Colony,    nolens    volens,   was   compelled   to 


THE  BEGINNING  OF  PROTECTION      127 

put  on  its  thinking  cap.  Public  men  began  to 
make  inquiries  and  to  study  the  question  seriously. 
Very  soon  they  were  wondering  what  they  had 
found  to  laugh  at  a  few  weeks  ago,  and  the  whole 
community  was  presently  passionately  engaged 
in  investigating  the  subject.  Suddenly  a  public 
man  of  note  stepped  into  the  arena  and  announced 
his  impending  conversion  in  a  letter  published 
in  The  Age  which  has  since  become  famous.  "  Free 
Trade  sounds  well/'  he  observed.  ''  But  is  it 
more  than  a  sounding  phrase  ;  a  mere  theory  ? 
Is  it  a  science  ?  Is  it  anything  more  than  a  mere 
expedient  of  the  domestic  policy  of  a  State  ?  " 

David  Syme  replied  in  an  article  which  con- 
tained the  following  pregnant  sentences  : — "  The 
object  of  industry,  or  that  labour  by  which  men 
live,  is  not  the  greatest  development  of  foreign 
trade ;  it  is  the  comfort,  wellbeing,  and  moral 
progress  of  the  masses  of  each  separate  nationality. 
Under  no  circumstances  therefore  can  it  be  the 
duty  of  any  Government  to  give  up  the  care  of 
the  labour  that  is  of  the  labourers,  of  the  country.*' 

This  article  completed  the  conversion  of  Mr. 
Graham  Berry  and  cast  the  Colony  into  a  ferment 
of  revolt  against  the  established  order.  During 
the  next  few  weeks  conversion  followed  conver- 
sion. A  dozen  Protectionist  leagues  sprang  into 
existence,  and  the  Protectionist  campaign  was 
fairly  launched. 

The   trials   of    The   Age   ahnost    simultaneously 


128  DAVID  SYME 

began.  The  land  monopolists  and  importers  knew 
whom  they  had  to  thank  for  their  threatened 
downfall.  They  knew  whom  they  must  crush 
if  they  wished  to  preserve  their  privileges.  For 
a  little  while  they  were  pre-occupied  with  uttering 
invectives,  but  presently  they  settled  down  to 
business — and  their  weapon  was  that  which  at 
a  later  date  became  known  as  boycott. 


CHAPTER   VI 
The  Personal   Issue 

The  cause  of  Protection  dependent  on  David  Syme — "  David 
Syme  must  be  destroyed  '* — The  Age  is  boycotted — Attempts 
of  importers  to  bribe  David  Syme  to  alter  his  policy — Paper 
forced  to  exist  on  its  circulation — Price  reduced — Circula- 
tion increases,  influence  grows — The  rushes — Importers 
conspire  with  the  O'Shanassy  Government  to  ruin  The  Age 
— Government  joins  in  the  Boycott — Brings  in  a  Libel  Bill 
expressly  designed  to  gag  The  Age — Further  efforts  to  stem 
the  tide  of  Protectionist  opinion — Triumph  of  The  Age. 

At  first  the  fight  was  between  physical  rather  than 
political  forces.  A  Tariff  Reform  Committee  was 
appointed  and  began  its  work  of  inquiry  without 
delay,  but  all  the  interests  in  the  struggle  centred 
around  David  Syme.  It  was  agreed  that,  without 
his  championship,  the  hopes  of  the  democratic  cause 
must  perish  in  their  cradle.  He  alone  possessed 
the  knowledge  of  affairs  requisite  to  confound  and 
refute  the  pretensions  of  the  oligarchy  and  really 
believed  in  the  efiicacy  of  the  reform  principles  he 
advocated.  For  the  masses  were  so  accustomed 
to  accept  the  ready-made  opinions  of  their  masters 
that,  although  touched  to  their  hearts  by  the  spec- 
tacle of  a  man  not  of  their  own  class  striving  so 
strenuously  and  so  unselfishly  for  their  emancipation, 

129 


I30  DAVID  SYME 

they  hesitated  for  a  time  to  submit  to  his  guidance. 
The  rapidly-increasing  distress  ol  the  Colony,  how- 
ever, as  the  gold  yield  diminished,  compelled  the 
democracy  to  put  aside  its  fears  and  to  Usten  to 
David  Syme.  Perceiving  this  his  enemies  began 
to  organize.  The  great  mercantile,  financial  and 
pastoral  interests  met  together  and  determined  to 
put  him  down. 

"  David  Syme  must  be  destroyed  !  '*  Their  plan 
was  simple.  They  controlled  all  the  great  channels 
of  advertising  in  the  State  :  cut  off  this  source  of 
supply,  then,  and  his  paper  must  perish  of  inanition. 
They  struck  hard  and  without  warning.  They 
withdrew  every  advertisement  within  their  control 
and  confidently  expected  that  The  Age  would  not 
Uve  a  month.  In  a  single  day  the  journal  shrank 
to  half  its  size  and  was  constrained  to  depend 
exclusively  upon  its  circulation. 

This  was  one  of  the  darkest  hours  of  David  Syme's 
career.  The  wonderful  vision  he  had  conceived  of 
building  up  a  strong,  self-supporting  nation  by 
fusing  all  conflicting  interests  in  the  fire  of  unselfish 
patriotic  purpose,  through  the  enlightenment  of 
education  and  the  appUcation  of  a  new  industrial 
and  economic  science  to  the  conditions  of  the  country, 
was  tumbling  in  pieces  round  his  head.  He  saw 
his  own  hard-won  fortune  threatened  and  the  cause 
of  the  people  extinguished  for  ever  in  the  ridicule 
of  his  triumphant  adversaries.  Then  came  tempta- 
tion from  the  foe.     *'  Give  up  your  campaign  against 


THE  PERSONAL  ISSUE  131 

the  land  monopoly,  abandon  your  Protectionist 
ideas/'  their  emissaries  said,  '*  and  you  shall  have 
back  your  share  of  the  advertisements." 

It  must  be  remarked,  in  justice  to  the  conspirators, 
that  they  did  not  wish  to  ruin  David  Syme  for  the 
mere  pleasure  of  witnessing  his  downfall ;  indeed 
they  were  content  to  help  him  to  fortune,  provided 
only  he  would  serve  them,  whether  with  or  without 
the  sanction  of  his  conscience. 

Picture  the  grim-faced  Scotsman  listening  to  these 
disinterested  appeals  to  regard  his  bread  and  butter. 
He  heard  them  calmly.  He  was  never  impatient, 
this  m9.n  who  had  learned  in  his  dour  and  unlovely 
childhood  the  true  philosophy  of  waiting.  And  he 
heard  them  courteously.  It  was  never  his  way  to 
give  wanton  insult ;  and  he  knew  how  to  discrimi- 
nate. He  knew  there  was  a  modicum  of  sincerity 
and  perhaps  some  real  human  kindness  at  the  back  of 
these  appeals.  Therefore  he  listened  both  patiently 
and  civilly  and  replied  that  he  *'  would  think  over 
the  matter!''  But  his  mind  was  made  up.  He 
could  have  sold  his  paper  to  his  opponents  on  advan- 
tageous terms  and  wooed  Fortune  again  in  some 
other  field  of  effort,  a  matter  of  ease  and  certainty 
to  a  man  of  his  strenuous  nature  and  ability.  But 
he  had  put  his  hand  to  a  particular  plough  ;  he  had 
undertaken  to  plough  a  particular  furrow  ;  the  task 
was  barely  begun  and  the  interests  of  thousands  of 
helpless  men  and  women  were  involved  in  its  com- 
pletion.    David  Syme  considered  the  consequences. 


132  DAVID  SYME 

crushed  down  the  temptations,  and  shook  his  fist 
in  the  face  of  fate.  He  would  fight  on.  He  was 
not  at  the  end  of  his  resources. 

The  Monopohsts  had  boycotted  his  paper  and 
forced  him  to  depend  on  a  decUning  circulation — for 
the  circulation  of  a  paper  must  wane  when  it  con- 
tains no  advertisements.  Well,  he  would  depend 
on  his  circulation  and  thrive  by  increasing  it.  He 
reduced  the  price  of  The  Age  from  sixpence  to  three- 
pence, thus  bringing  it  more  readily  within  the  reach 
of  the  multitude,  and  nailed  his  colours  to  the 
mast  in  a  series  of  articles  on  the  land  monopoly  and 
the  fiscal  issue. 

Even  his  worst  enemies  admit  him  a  heroic  figure 
in  those  days.  The  circulation  of  The  Age  increased 
sufficiently  to  enable  it  with  the  most  rigorous 
economy  to  exist  independently  of  the  boycotters. 
David  Syme,  however,  was  compelled  to  reduce  his 
staff  and  to  be  at  the  same  time  his  own  editor, 
leader  writer,  and  manager.  He  was  forced  to  toil 
like  a  galley  slave  and  to  work  eighteen  hours  out 
of  the  twenty-four.  With  his  back  to  the  wall, 
fighting  for  more  than  life,  he  plodded  on,  a  prodigy 
of  physical  endurance  and  mental  productivity. 
His  leaders,  conceived  in  turmoil  and  scribbled  down 
on  odd  bits  of  paper  in  moments  snatched  from  his 
meals  and  in  the  intervals  of  business  cares,  display 
a  fire  and  a  passion,  a  love  and  faith  in  the  democracy, 
that  stir  the  blood  even  now.  And  there  is  not  one 
of  them  which  does  not  charm  conviction  with  its 


THE   PERSONAL   ISSUE  133 

plausibility  and  defy  criticism  with  the  cold  pre- 
cision of  its  logic.  His  unselfishness  pointed  the 
selfish  greed  of  his  adversaries  and  held  it  up  to 
public  scorn.  He  proved  to  the  people  that  the 
squatting  monopoly  was  bound,  unless  destroyed, 
to  prevent  the  settlement  of  the  Colony.  He  showed 
that,  without  Protection,  the  Colony  would  lapse 
into  its  primeval  state. 

*'  The  merchants  and  importers,"  he  declaimed, 
"  merely  see  here  a  host  of  mouths  to  be  filled  with 
bread  made  of  imported  flour,  of  backs  to  be  clothed 
with  imported  slop  tailoring,  and  of  feet  to  be  shod 
with  imported  shoes  ;  and  they  look  only  to  the 
profits  to  be  made  out  of  these  imported  articles. 
It  never  occurs  to  them  that  the  day  will  come  when 
the  toiling  consumers  of  these  imports  will  no  longer 
furnish  them  with  a  profitable  market ;  when  the 
army  of  gold-seekers,  wearied  of  battling  with  bUnd 
chance  and  ill-luck,  will  draw  off  and  decrease  in 
numbers.  They  seem  to  think  that  the  miners  will 
be  ever  young,  ever  thoughtless,  ever  hopeful  and 
untiring  in  the  search  for  gold  and  that  they,  the 
men  of  commerce,  will  ever  continue  to  gather  in  the 
golden  profits  of  the  miners'  toil.  The  expectation 
is  shortsighted  and  stupid.  It  is  a  deceptive  and 
mischievous  mirage." 

He  had  hardly  spoken  before  circumstances  pro- 
claimed him  a  true  prophet  and  hammered  home 
the  moral  of  his  teaching.  Great  ''  rushes  "  ensued 
from  place  to  place  of  the  half-desperate,   landless 


134  DAVID  SYME 

diggers  ;  and  each  "  rush  "  left  them  more  bank- 
rupt of  energy  and  money.  Government  was  obliged 
to  come  to  their  assistance  ;  to  start  relief  works  to 
keep  them  from  starvation  ;  and  to  bring  back  to 
the  settlements  thousands  who  were  left  stranded 
and  destitute  at  the  scenes  of  the  rushes.  Then  the 
exodus  set  in  and,  in  a  few  weeks,  12,000  men  left 
Victoria  for  New  Zealand  and  8,000  for  New  South 
Wales.  This  loss  of  population  caused  hundreds 
of  insolvencies  ;  the  last  appearance  of  prosperity 
fled  the  Gold  Colony ;  and  trade  and  the  sources 
of  trade  were  utterly  paralysed. 

The  people  now  seriously  inclined  to  Usten  to 
David  Syme.  They  had  had  painful  proof  of  the 
folly  of  disregarding  his  warnings  and  were  disposed 
anxiously  to  follow  his  advice.  Observing  the 
growing  influence  of  The  Age  and  the  rapid  adoption 
by  the  masses  of  the  new  fiscal  creed  it  inculcated, 
the  monopolists  resolved  upon  another  effort  to 
humble  Syme.  An  instrument  to  their  hands  was 
John  O'Shanassy,  who,  between  i860  and  1864,  was 
the  dominant  force  in  the  Assembly. 

John  O'Shanassy  hated  David  Syme  for  sectarian 
reasons  and  because  The  Age  had  frequently  exposed 
the  hoUowness  of  his  Liberal  professions.  The 
squatters  and  the  foreign  traders  easily  induced  him 
to  further  their  plans  ;  and,  in  December,  1862,  at 
their  solicitation,  in  defiance  of  a  resolution  of  the 
House,  his  Government  ceased  to  advertise  in  The 
Age.    The  Administration  thus  became  a  party  to 


THE  PERSONAL   ISSUE  135 

the  commercial  boycott  which  the  MonopoHsts  had 
relentlessly  waged  for  two  years  against  the  Liberal 
journal.  Syme  replied  by  reducing  the  price  of 
his  paper  to  twopence,  and  prosecuted  the  fiscal 
controversy  with  renewed  vigour  and  enthusiasm. 
Nor  did  he  rest  silent  under  the  injustice  of  political 
oppression.  He  attacked  the  O'Shanassy  Adminis- 
tration with  that  most  deadly  of  all  weapons — 
ridicule — and  so  merciless  were  his  quips,  so  pene- 
trating his  jibes  that,  on  the  17th  of  April,  1863, 
0*Shanassy  sought  to  rid  himself  of  his  enemy  by 
bringing  in  a  Bill  which  made  it  a  criminal  offence 
to  edit  as  well  as  to  print  or  publish  libellous  matter  ; 
which  constituted  the  mere  writing  of  a  libel  irre- 
spective of  publication  a  misdemeanor,  and  which 
compelled  all  editors,  printers  and  publishers  to 
give  security  to  the  Government  to  the  extent  of 
£500  against  all  possible  libels. 

The  scheme  was  so  manifestly  intended  to  sup- 
press The  Age,  or  alternatively  to  gag  it,  that  the 
country  rang  with  indignation.  0*Shanassy  was 
not  brave  enough  to  face  the  storm.  He  dropped 
the  Bill — but  persisted  with  the  boycott,  and  The 
Age  frequently  appeared  thereafter  with  only  a 
column  or  two  of  advertisements.  But  the  circu- 
lation of  The  Age  advanced  at  a  bound ;  it 
became  the  Bible  of  the  masses  and,  although 
anything  but  a  financial  success,  it  survived  the 
storm. 

Failing  in  their  latest  design  to  starve  him  into 


136  DAVID  SYME 

submission,  the  Monopolists  employed  less  question- 
able tactics.  They  used  their  wealth  to  pour  into 
the  country  vast  floods  of  Free  Trade  literature, 
and  subsidised  a  number  of  lecturers  to  preach  the 
Cobdenist  doctrine  in  the  highways  and  byways 
of  the  land. 

An  argument  that  was  levelled  at  this  juncture 
(and  for  a  time  with  telling  effect)  against  Syme's 
Protectionist  proposals  concerned  the  cost  of  Pro- 
tection. The  importers  asserted  that  the  effect 
of  a  comprehensive  Protective  Tariff  would  be  to 
raise  the  price  of  goods  all  round  against  the  consumer 
to  the  full  extent  of  the  customs  charges.  They 
also  declared  that  local  production  would  be  sur- 
charged to  the  amount  of  the  duties.  Taking  these 
assumptions  as  incontestable  verities  they  proceeded 
to  condemn  Protection  as  a  ''  drag/'  ''  burden/' 
"  fraud/'  ''  slavery  "  and  ''  robbery/'  and  warned 
the  people  that  the  pestilent  doctrine  was  intended 
to  tax  the  entire  community  for  the  benefit  of  the 
few  manufacturers  whom  Protection  might  encourage 
into  a  "  febrile  industrial  existence." 

David  Syme  admitted  that  Protection  might  for 
a  time  involve  a  sacrifice,  but  showed  that  the 
admission  was  not  to  the  detriment  of  Protection. 
It  was  obviously  to  the  public  interest  that  indus- 
tries should  be  planted  in  Victoria,  and  he  argued 
that  the  initial  expense  of  starting  them  would 
soon  be  recouped.  Next,  he  attacked  the  logic  of 
his    critics.     He    analysed    their    conclusions    and 


THE  PERSONAL  ISSUE  137 

proved  that  they  had  omitted  two  essential  factors, 
namely,  the  effect  of  internal  competition  created 
and  fostered  by  Protection,  and  the  chance  that 
the  foreigner  might  pay  the  whole  or  part  of  the 
duty  in  order  to  secure  the  market.  Drawing 
evidence  from  all  parts  of  the  world  to  support  his 
views,  he  showed  that  the  ultimate  effect  of  all 
successful  domestic  manufactures  established  by  Pro- 
tection had  been  to  lower  the  price  of  goods  :  and 
that  internal  competition  had  not  only  destroyed 
monopoly  but  reduced  the  price  of  the  article  to 
the  minimum  of  reasonable  profit  on  the  capital 
employed.  He  then  predicted  that  the  effects  of 
Protection  in  Victoria  would  be  firstly,  to  create 
local  production  ;  secondly,  to  create  internal  com- 
petition ;  thirdly,  to  compel  the  foreigner  to  pay 
the  whole  or  part  of  the  duty  as  a  toll  for  the  privilege 
of  entering  the  market ;  and  finally,  for  all  those 
reasons  combined,  to  reduce  the  price  of  goods  to 
the  consumer. 

Syme  lived  long  enough  to  see  his  predictions 
verified  and  vindicated  by  experience.  Moreover, 
in  1895  a  board  of  public  experts  examined  the 
whole  Protective  system  of  Victoria  and  made  a 
report  to  the  Government  in  which  the  following 
sentences  occur  : — 

*'  On  the  vexed  question  of  whether  goods  have 
been  made  dearer  or  cheaper  by  the  imposition  of 
Protective  duties,  we  have  a  deal  of  evidence.  It 
is  an  established  fact  that  such  goods  are,  as  a  rule. 


138  DAVID  SYME 

cheaper  to  the  public  than  they  were  before  the 
imposition  of  such  duties." 

"  Many  instances  have  been  brought  under  our 
notice  where  the  estabHshment  of  a  local  factory 
has  at  once  brought  down  the  price  of  the  article 
produced  in  a  remarkable  degree.  All  calculations 
based  upon  the  price  at  which  goods  could  be  sold 
if  the  import  trade  were  not  restricted  or  prohibited 
by  duties  are  valueless  in  face  of  the  direct  evidence 
before  us  that  when  such  duties  are  not  imposed 
the  goods  are  not  sold  at  the  anticipated  low  prices.'* 

The  importers  made  every  effort  which  self- 
interest  could  suggest  and  money  stimulate  to  arrest 
the  march  of  public  thought  to  the  Protectionist 
goal.  But  it  was  to  no  purpose.  The  people  had 
been  forced  by  The  Age  to  think  for  themselves. 
They  sat  in  judgment  on  the  rival  policies,  and 
although  one  had  the  benefit  of  the  large  advocacy 
of  the  ruling  classes  and  the  other  was  supported 
only  by  The  Age,  they  at  length  pronounced  in 
favour  of  the  latter  at  the  polls.  After  four  years 
of  desperate  struggling  against  overwhelming  odds 
David  Syme  had  the  satisfaction,  at  the  general 
election  of  August,  1864,  of  seeing  the  return  of  a 
large  majority  of  members  unequivocally  pledged 
to  secure  Tariff  Protection  to  Australian  industries. 


CHAPTER   VII 
The  Constitutional    Issue 

The  Premier,  James  McCulIoch,  converted  to  Protection — Strong 
Protectionist  Government — Protection  found  to  be  impossible 
until  Legislative  Council  reformed — First  Protectionist  Tariff 
introduced — Passes  Assembly,  rejected  by  Council — Tariff 
*'  tacked  "  to  Appropriation  Bill  and  returned  to  Council — 
Again  rejected — Business  of  country  at  standstill — McCuI- 
loch's  expedient — Tariff  Bill  again  submitted  to  Council — 
again  rejected — Dis'solution  granted — General  election — 
McCulloch  returns  to  office  with  great  Protectionist  majority 
— Tariff  Bill  sent  to  Council — Again  rejected — McCulloch 
resigns — McCulloch  resumes  office — Tariff  Bill  for  the 
fourth  time  sent  to  Council — Council  consents  to  a  conference, 
and  at  length  Tariff  agreed  to — The  rage  of  the  importers — 
They  secure  a  victim — The  Governor  recalled  by  Downing 
Street — Parliament  votes  a  grant  of  ^£20,000  to  Sir  Charles 
Darling's  wife — Council  refuses  to  pass  the  measure — 
Constitutional  struggle  renewed — Bill  again  submitted  to 
Council  and  again  rejected — Dissolution — Downing  Street 
interferes  to  support  the  Council — Government  resigns — 
Great  public  turmoil — No  Government — Downing  Street, 
alarmed,  recants  its  instructions,  but  despatch  withheld — 
McCulloch  resumes  office — Again  resigns — The  Sladen  Minis- 
try— Its  ineptitude — Downing  Street  pays  Sir  Charles  Darling 
a  large  pension  and  reinstates  him  in  order  to  allay  the 
public  anger  in  Victoria — McCulloch  returns  to  office  and 
forces  the  Council  to  reform  its  Constitution  on  Liberal  lines. 

James  McCulloch,  the  Premier  at  this  time,  was 
a  Scotsman,  a  native  of  Glasgow,  who  had  emi- 

189 


140  DAVID  SYME 

grated  to  Victoria  in  1853.  He  had  all  his  life  been 
a  strong  Free  Trader  and  only  a  few  months  eariier 
he  had  pubUcly  declared  to  his  constituents  :  "I 
am  opposed  to  Protection.  What  this  Colony 
wants/'  he  said,  "is  to  buy  in  the  cheapest  and  to 
sell  in  the  dearest  market."  Nevertheless,  the 
exodus  of  population,  the  general  depression  of  the 
State,  the  spectacle  of  thousands  of  people  unem- 
ployed and  starving  for  want  of  industries  to  absorb 
their  labour  and  convert  it  into  wealth,  and  the 
convincing  logic  of  David  Syme  had  irresistibly 
induced  him  to  compromise  with  his  predilections. 
He  remained  a  Free  Trader  at  heart  to  the  end  of 
his  days,  but  reason  forced  him  to  admit  that  new 
countries  might  require  the  aid  of  a  Protective 
system,  and  he  confessed  that  this  was  the  case  with 
Victoria.  His  conversion  earned  him  the  detesta- 
tion of  the  Monopolists,  but  it  procured  for  the 
Colony  the  great  boon  of  a  strong  and  united 
Government. 

The  policy  Mr.  McCuUoch  put  forward  embraced 
three  leading  features — a  reform  of  the  Legislative 
Council,  a  new  Land  Bill,  and  a  revision  of  the  Tariff 
on  Protectionist  lines.  The  Legislative  Council 
needed  reforming  urgently.  Members  were  then 
elected  for  ten  years,  by  persons  owning  landed 
property  of  the  clear  annual  value  of  £100  ;  and 
the  qualification  of  a  member  was  £5,000  in  real 
estate.  These  restrictions  made  the  Council  a  purely 
Conservative    body.     For    years    it    had    been    a 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  ISSUE        141 

dead-weight  upon  progress.  It  had  passed  several 
resolutions  declaring  that  it  would  consent  to  no 
modification  of  its  constitution.  It  was  composed 
almost  exclusively  of  elderly  gentlemen,  squatters 
and  importers,  who  had  spent  their  lives  amassing 
money,  and  who  frankly  voted  upon  aU  public 
questions  to  further  their  own  interests.  As  they 
had  no  public  responsibility  they  were  insensible 
to  the  popular  demands.  ''  We  are  not  going  to 
tax  ourselves,'*  was  the  reply  made  publicly  by  one 
of  its  leading  members  when  asked  what  was  the 
Council's  objection  to  the  Liberal  proposals. 

Government  proposed  to  reduce  the  qualification 
both  of  members  and  electors  by  one-half  and  to 
shorten  the  period  of  service  to  five  years.  The  Bill 
was  passed  by  a  large  majority  in  the  Assembly, 
but,  as  it  is  almost  needless  to  remark,  the  Council 
promptly  threw  it  out.  Mr.  McCulloch  pocketed 
the  rebuff  for  the  moment  and,  with  the  help  and 
support  of  Mr.  Graham  Berry,  now  the  acknowledged 
leader  of  Protection  in  the  Assembly,  devised  a 
Tariff  which  offered  a  fair  measure  of  encouragement 
to  the  establishment  of  native  industries  and  to  the 
extension  of  agriculture,  through  a  customs  tax  on 
imported  flour  and  other  eatables.  This,  the  first 
Protectionist  Tariff  ever  introduced  into  Australia, 
was  passed  by  a  large  majority  in  the  Assembly  on 
the  19th  of  January,  1865  ;  and  the  collection  at 
the  Customs^of  the  duties  was  forthwith  begun. 

The  importers  viewed  these  proceedings  in  a  state 


142  DAVID  SYME 

of  frenzy.  They  petitioned  their  Chamber  to  reject 
the  Tariff  Bill,  and  the  Council,  incredible  as  it  may 
appear,  replied  that  the  importers  need  suffer  no 
apprehension,  as  it  was  its  intention  to  refuse  to  pass 
the  duties.  In  these  circumstances  Mr.  McCuUoch, 
rather  than  jeopardize  a  measure  which  had  the 
support  of  the  community  and  which  had  been 
passed  almost  unanimously  by  the  people's  repre- 
sentatives, decided  to  include  it  in  the  Appropriation 
Bill ;  an  expedient  that  would  throw  upon  the 
Council  the  responsibility  of  rejecting  the  Appro- 
priation Bill  and  thus  bringing  the  public  business 
of  the  Colony  to  a  standstill. 

Pushing  through  the  estimates,  McCuUoch  passed 
the  Appropriation  Bill  through  all  its  stages  and 
transmitted  it,  tacked  with  the  Tariff,  to  the  Council. 
But  the  Council  did  not  hesitate.  True  to  the  pledge 
it  had  given  the  importers,  it  "  laid  aside ''  the  Bill 
and  defied  the  Assembly  and  the  country. 

This  high-handed  proceeding  threw  the  Colony 
into  a  ferment.  The  payment  of  pubUc  salaries, 
accounts  and  contingencies  was  suspended,  and  all 
public  business  came  to  an  abrupt  stop.  Meanwhile 
the  importers  and  merchants  who  had  been  paying 
the  duties  since  their  imposition  immediately  began 
actions  against  the  Government  for  their  recovery, 
and  when  the  Supreme  Court  gave  judgment  in 
favour  of  the  merchants,  the  ire  of  the  people  was 
inflamed.  Government  announced  its  determina- 
tion to  continue  collecting  the  duties,  and  The  Age 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  ISSUE        143 

championed  its  right  to  do  so  even  in  technical 
violation  of  authority.  The  Assembly,  having  the 
support  of  a  well-known  English  precedent,  con- 
tended that  it  was  not  a  question  of  the  legal  inter- 
pretation of  an  Act,  but  a  matter  of  political  usage 
in  which  it  behoved  the  Assembly  to  be  its  own 
guide  and  judge.  The  Council,  taking  the  side  of 
the  merchants  and  importers,  denounced  the  Govern- 
ment for  its  flouting  of  the  judiciary,  and  the  two 
Houses  were  at  outrance.  The  impasse  was  fraught 
with  grave  possibilities,  and  so  high  did  the  feeling 
of  the  people  run,  that  an  armed  revolution  might 
easily  have  been  precipitated  and  the  Council 
brought  by  force  to  realize  and  repent  its  pre- 
sumption. But  The  Age  appealed  to  the  patience 
of  the  citizens,  assuring  them  that  they  had  only  to 
keep  pegging  away  in  order  to  win  at  last,  and 
showing  them  that  they  would  be  putting  themselves 
in  the  wrong  if  they  allowed  passion  to  supplant 
judgment. 

The  struggle  now  became  a  war  of  wits.  In  order 
to  obtain  money  for  suppUes,  Mr.  McCulloch  adopted 
the  expedient  of  making  an  arrangement  with  the 
London  Chartered  Bank  of  Australia.  This  bank 
agreed  to  advance  £40,000  to  the  Government  for 
the  immediate  needs  of  the  State  and,  when  it  had 
done  so,  issued  a  writ  for  the  recovery  of  the  sum. 
The  Government  confessed  judgment  for  the  debt, 
and  the  Governor,  Sir  Charles  Darling,  signed  a 
warrant  (under  the  advice  of  his  Ministers)  for  the 


144  DAVID  SYME 

payment  of  the  amount  out  of  the  Consolidated 
Revenue.  This  process  was  repeated  every  few 
weeks  for  a  period  of  four  months. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  the  device  was  a  ques- 
tionable and  even  a  lawless  proceeding,  and  as  such 
it  appears  to  have  been  recognized  even  by  those 
who  lent  it  their  countenance.  But  it  lay  not  with 
the  Council,  which  had  just  trampled  on  the  rights 
of  the  people  and  still  declined  to  obey  the  popular 
mandate,  to  bring  a  charge  of  malfeasance  against 
the  Assembly  for  attempting,  however  deviously, 
to  carry  out  its  election  pledges.  The  Council, 
however,  not  only  did  this,  but  forwarded  a  petition 
to  the  British  Government  praying  for  the  main- 
tenance of  the  Constitution  ;  and  it  also  put  forward 
a  suggestion  that  armed  force  should  be  resorted  to 
by  the  Queen  to  hold  the  Assembly  in  check. 

It  was  evident  to  David  Syme  that  the  Ministry, 
in  the  best  interests  of  the  democracy,  should  dis- 
continue its  irresponsible  juggling  with  the  State 
finances  ;  and  he  urged  the  Government  to  give  up 
the  practice.  McCulloch  was  at  first  disinclined  to 
recede  from  his  position,  but  wiser  counsels  pre- 
vailed and  the  Government  played  the  game  with 
a  rigid  observance  of  constitutional  rules  and  for- 
mulae, so  that  the  enemy  might  not  be  provided 
with  anyunlooked  for  weapon  or  adventitious  suc- 
cour. In  furtherance  of  this  aim  The  Age  advised 
the  Government  to  undo  the  '*  tack "  forthwith 
and    send  up  the  Tariff  Bill  as  a  separate    mea- 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   ISSUE         145 

sure  to  the  Council,  asserting  its  conviction  that 
the  Council  would  still  refuse  to  pass  it  although 
members  had  protested  that  the  ''  tack ''  was  the 
principal  cause  of  their  objection  to  the  Bill. 
McCulloch  ventured  the  experiment  on  the  8th 
of  November,  and  David  Syme's  prediction  was 
instantly  fulfilled.  The  Council  exposed  the  hollow- 
ness  of  its  former  pretensions  by  rejecting  the  Bill 
almost  unanimously. 

McCulloch  immediately  applied  to  the  Governor 
for  a  dissolution,  and  his  request  was  granted.  A 
few  days  later  Parliament  was  dissolved  and  an 
appeal  made  to  the  country.  The  electors  were 
asked  to  decide  two  things  :  First,  did  they  wish  for 
protection  to  native  industry  ?  Secondly,  did  they 
desire  their  rights  to  be  maintained  against  the 
schemes  of  the  Council  ?  The  answer  of  the  people 
was  unmistakable  ;  they  returned  fifty-eight  Minis- 
terial Liberal  Protectionists  and  twenty  Conserva- 
tive Free  Traders.  McCulloch  at  once  re-introduced 
the  Tariff  Bill.  It  was  passed  quickly  through  all 
its  stages  in  the  Assembly  and,  on  the  2nd  of  March, 
1866,  it  was  once  more  sent  to  the  Council,  which  as 
promptly  rejected  it — by  twenty  votes  to  eight. 

The  Premier  tendered  his  resignation,  whereupon 
the  Assembly  passed  a  resolution  pledging  the  House 
to  withhold  its  confidence  from  any  Administration 
which  might  be  formed  unless  it  forthwith  adopted 
the  Bill  of  Supply  containing  the  Tariff  which  had 
already  been  thrice  submitted  to  the  Council.     A 


146  DAVID  SYME 

change  of  Government  was  in  the  circumstances  an 
impossibility,  and  although  the  Leader  of  the  Oppo- 
sition was  sent  for  by  the  Governor  the  negotiations 
came  to  nothing.  On  the  28th  of  March,  McCul- 
loch  met  the  House  again  and  consented  informally 
to  administer  the  offices  of  Government.  But  the 
situation  was  unparalleled  and  growing  desperate. 
There  was  no  legally  available  money  ;  no  properly 
appointed  Government ;  and  the  people  were  grow- 
ing out  of  hand.  The  Council  now  began  to  get 
alarmed.  It  hastily  assembled  and  sent  word  to 
McCuUoch  that  it  was  prepared  to  meet  the  Assembly 
in  conference  with  a  view  to  the  arrangement  of  the 
matters  in  dispute. 

The  Government  consented,  and  after  a  short 
prorogation  the  Tariff  Bill  was  once  more  passed 
through  all  stages  in  the  Assembly  and  for  a  fourth 
time  was  transmitted  to  the  Council.  The  two 
Houses  then  met  in  conference  on  the  13th  of  April 
and  in  a  few  hours  came  to  an  agreement.  The 
Government  abandoned  its  claim  to  make  the  Bill 
retrospective  and  amended  the  preamble  to  the 
measure.  The  Council  gave  way  on  all  other 
important  issues,  thus  confessing  the  injustice  of  its 
protracted  resistance  to  the  people's  will.  Protec- 
tion became  the  law  of  the  land.  But  the  Council 
though  defeated  was  still  a  power  for  evil,  and, 
looking  around  for  a  scapegoat,  chose  to  wreak 
its  vengeance  on  the  Governor. 

Sir  Charles  Darling,  throughout  the  struggle,  had 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL  ISSUE        147 

followed  the  advice  of  his  responsible  Ministers. 
He  had  not  taken  sides  at  any  time  ;  indeed,  he  had 
laboured  to  preserve  the  strictest  impartiality  in 
his  actions  and  decisions  ;  but,  conceiving  it  to  be 
his  duty  under  the  Constitution  not  to  thwart  the 
counsels  of  his  advisers,  he  had  not  interposed  his 
authority  to  counter  their  policy  ;  and  his  attitude 
had,  therefore,  contributed  to  the  victory  of  the 
Assembly.  The  Council,  as  a  consequence,  detested 
him  and,  the  crisis  over,  joined  forces  with  the 
Monopolists  to  bring  about  his  ruin.  Already, 
indeed,  it  had  sent  several  petitions  to  the  Crown 
protesting  against  his  demeanour  and  praying  for 
his  recall.  They  now  sent  others  making  various 
unfounded  accusations  against  his  probity. 

When  the  answers  to  these  petitions  reached  the 
Colony,  it  became  evident  that  the  Colonial  Secre- 
tary had,  on  an  ex  parte  statement,  judged  and 
condemned  the  Governor,  without  permitting  him 
an  opportunity  to  speak  in  his  defence.  The  Council 
and  its  supporters  could  not  contain  their  glee. 
They  had  been  beaten,  but  Downing  Street  had 
flung  them  a  victim.  The  Age  undertook  the  vindi- 
cation of  Sir  Charles  Darling  and  stemmed  the  tide 
of  reprobation  with  which  his  enemies  pursued  him. 
It  showed  that  the  Colonial  Secretary's  action  in 
recalling  Sir  Charles  was  an  insult  to  the  Colonists 
and  to  the  free  democratic  institutions  of  the  State. 
The  settlement  of  the  constitutional  struggle  between 
the  two  Houses  had  proved  the  wisdom  of  the  course 


148  DAVID  SYME 

the  Governor  had  pursued.  His  punishment,  there- 
fore, after  the  settlement  was  effected,  demonstrated 
that  Downing  Street  had  all  along  secretly  desired 
the  defeat  of  the  democratic  cause  and  was  dis- 
appointed at  its  triumph.  It  was  tantamount  to 
a  denial  of  the  self-governing  rights  of  the  Victorian 
people  and  an  intimation  that  Downing  Street  con- 
sidered that  the  Governor  should  have  lent  himself 
as  an  instrument  to  the  Upper  House  to  suppress 
popular  institutions.  The  Age  then  called  upon  the 
people  to  express  their  sympathy  with  a  man  whose 
courage  had  impelled  him  to  resist  cUque  tyranny, 
to  risk  the  displeasure  of  the  Colonial  Office,  and  to 
incur  martyrdom  in  their  interests. 

The  response  was  instantaneous.  A  mass  meet- 
ing of  the  citizens  assembled  in  Melbourne — the 
largest  and  most  important  ever  seen  in  the  Colony. 
Other  meetings  followed  in  every  town  and  city. 
Torchlight  processions  were  held  and  the  whole 
country  resounded  with  condenmation  of  the  Council 
and  appreciations  of  its  victim.  Monster  petitions 
were  signed  and  despatched  to  Downing  Street, 
indignantly  inveighing  against  the  injustice  of  the 
Governor's  recall  and  insisting  on  his  reinstate- 
ment. Public  addresses  by  the  score  were  conveyed 
to  the  Governor  by  deputations  of  the  citizens, 
intimating  their  confidence,  admiration  and  sym- 
pathy. 

But  The  Age  was  by  no  means  satisfied.     It  was 
impossible  to  secure  Sir  Charles  Darling's  reinstate- 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   ISSUE         149 

ment,  for  his  successor  had  been  appointed  and  he 
was  under  orders  immediately  to  proceed  to  London. 
David  Syme  declared  that  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
people  to  do  something  more  substantial  for  the 
man  who  had  been  broken  in  their  service  than  pro- 
claim their  indignation  at  his  disgrace.  At  his 
instance,  Government  appointed  a  Select  Committee 
of  the  House  to  prepare  an  address  and  to  formulate 
a  plan  of  compensating  the  Governor.  The  Com- 
mittee drew  up  an  address  thanking  Sir  Charles 
Darling  for  his  ''  steadfast  adherence  to  the  prin- 
ciples of  Constitutional  Government,"  which  had 
saved  the  country  from  anarchy  ;  and  recommending 
that  a  grant  of  £20,000  should  be  made  to  Lady 
Darling  for  her  separate  use. 

The  address  was  carried  in  the  Assembly  by  a 
vote  of  forty  to  nineteen,  but  the  consideration  of 
the  grant  was  postponed  until  the  Imperial  sanction 
should  be  obtained  to  Lady  Darling's  acceptance 
thereof.  The  reply  from  the  Colonial  Office  to 
this  request  arrived  on  the  19th  of  February,  1867. 
It  was  an  emphatic  declaration  that  so  long  as  Sir 
Charles  Darling  remained  in  the  Imperial  Service 
he  could  not  receive  any  payment ;  but  as  by  the 
same  mail  news  arrived  that  Sir  Charles  had  re- 
signed from  the  service.  Government  at  once  intro- 
duced the  £20,000  grant  to  Lady  Darling  in  the 
Estimates.  The  debate  began  on  the  ist  of  August 
and  the  grant  was  carried  by  a  majority  of  forty- 
two  votes  to  fifteen.     It  was  transmitted  to  the 


150  DAVID  SYME 

Council  which,  not  unnaturally  perhaps,  rejected 
the  Bill,  but  was  unwise  enough  to  state  that  it  did 
so  on  the  grounds  that  the  measure  "  tended  to 
corruption  in  the  pubUc  service/' 
^  The  McCulloch  Government  promptly  resigned, 
but,  on  the  loth  of  September,  it  again  took  ofiftce, 
because  the  Leader  of  the  Opposition's  efforts  to 
form  a  Ministry  were  futile.  After  a  short  pro- 
rogation Parliament  again  assembled  on  the  i8th 
of  September,  and  the  new  Governor,  Sir  J.  H. 
Manners-Sutton,  sent  a  message  to  both  Houses 
urging  them  to  concur  in  the  vote  to  Lady  Darling, 
because  Sir  Charles  had  thrown  up  his  appointment 
in  reliance  upon  receiving  it,  and  a  refusal  to  grant 
it  would  wear  the  complexion  of  repudiation.  But 
the  Council  declined  to  give  way  and  once  more 
rejected  the  Bill.  Acting  on  the  advice  of  David 
Syme,  who  had  never  ceased  to  advocate  Sir  Charles 
Darling's  claims  upon  the  country,  McCulloch  ap- 
plied for  a  dissolution.  His  request  was  granted, 
and  once  more  the  people  were  requested  to  decide 
which  chamber  should  rule  the  country — the  popular 
Aesembly,  or  the  oligarchy  in  the  Council  ? 

The  issue  was  never  for  a  moment  in  doubt.  The 
Ministerialists  swept  the  polls,  and  in  the  House 
that  met  on  the  6th  of  March  the  Opposition  num- 
bered only  eighteen.  But  on  the  very  day  the 
Assembly  met  the  Governor  received  a  despatch 
from  the  Colonial  Secretary  practically  directing 
him  to  use  his  authority  to  support  the  Council 


THE  CONSTITUTIONAL   ISSUE         151 

against  the  people  and  their  representatives.  The 
Governor  passed  on  these  instructions  to  his  Ministers 
and  received  in  exchange  their  resignations. 

There  followed  a  period  of  turmoil  and  confusion 
unexampled  even  in  the  history  of  this  troubled 
Colony.  The  Governor  appHed  in  turn  to  almost 
every  member  of  the  Opposition,  but  each  in  vain 
sought  to  form  a  Government.  A  solid  phalanx  of 
sixty  Liberals  vowed  to  uphold  the  people's  rights. 
Parliament  was  convened,  but  nothing  could  be 
done.  There  was  no  policy,  no  money,  no  Ministry. 
Two  months  passed  in  formal  meetings  and  ad- 
journments of  the  Assembly,  the  business  of  the 
country  remaining  at  an  absolute  standstill.  The 
Governor  then  appealed  to  the  Liberal  ex-Ministers 
to  withdraw  their  resignations  and  return  to  office. 
But  McCulloch  refused  unless  he  was  given  a  free 
hand  in  dealing  with  the  Council. 

The  Governor  had  just  received  a  second  despatch 
from  the  Colonial  Office  in  which  his  previous 
instructions  were  cancelled  and  he  was  directed  to 
inform  the  Council  that  it  should  **  no  longer  oppose 
itself  to  the  ascertained  wishes  of  the  community.'* 
But  the  Governor  was  a  Conservative  by  disposi- 
tion. Smarting  under  the  sting  of  McCulloch's 
refusal  to  comply  with  his  request,  he  temporarily 
suppressed  this  despatch  and  continued  his  hope- 
less search  for  another  Ministry.  He  was  spurred 
to  desperation  in  his  efforts  by  the  public  clamour. 
The  people  were  weary  of  having  their  wishes  flouted 

N 


152  DAVID  SYME 

by  the  Council,  headed  half-openly  by  the  Governor. 
They  began  to  assemble  in  pubUc  meetings,  to 
denounce  angrily  the  waste  of  time  and  to  urge 
recourse  to  revolutionary  methods.  In  a  sort  of 
panic  the  Governor  made  a  vehement  appeal  to 
the  Opposition  to  come  to  his  aid,  and  on  the  6th 
of  May  he  succeeded  in  inducing  Mr.  Sladen  to  form 
a  Ministry.  In  the  Ministerial  elections  that  ensued 
two  of  the  selected  Ministers  were  defeated  at  the 
polls.  The  Sladen  Government  was  a  mere  absurd- 
ity. It  could  not  even  form  a  quorum,  and  the 
Liberal  Party  had  only  to  absent  themselves  to 
reduce  its  proceedings  to  a  farce.  But  the  Liberals 
adopted  other  tactics.  When  the  House  met  on 
the  6th  of  June  they  met  the  Government  with  a 
vote  of  no  confidence  and  carried  it  with  a  huge 
majority. 

Over-persuaded  by  the  Governor,  Mr.  Sladen 
declined  to  resign  and  clung  tenaciously  to  office. 
He  was  thereupon  subjected  to  every  species  of 
indignity.  The  formal  business  of  the  House  was 
taken  out  of  his  hands  and  the  Governor  was  peti- 
tioned to  dismiss  him.  But  he  hung  on  like  a 
limpet,  and  at  length,  after  sixty-six  days,  during 
which  time  he  had  made  the  Victorian  Parliament 
the  laughing-stock  of  the  world,  The  Age  declared 
that  it  was  necessary  in  the  public  interest  to  remove 
him,  even  if  he  and  his  colleagues  should  have  ''  to 
be  scraped  from  the  Treasury  Benches.*'  The  Age 
pointed  out  how  this  might  be  done,  and  the  House, 


THE   CONSTITUTIONAL   ISSUE         153 

speedily  adopting  the  suggestion,  passed  a  resolution 
declining  to  grant  the  Ministry  any  supplies. 

This  was  the  end  of  the  Sladen  Administration. 
The  Governor  was  compelled  to  dismiss  the  Govern- 
ment, and  once  more  McCulloch  came  into  office, 
but  invested  now  with  the  power  given  him  by  the 
temporarily  suppressed  despatch  from  Downing 
Street  to  deal  with  the  Council  as  he  deemed  proper. 
He  was,  however,  spared  the  unpleasantness  of 
having  to  use  that  power  by  the  opportune  arrival 
of  a  despatch  that  the  Imperial  Government  had 
decided,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  and  remon- 
strances of  the  Victorian  people,  to  avail  itself 
again  of  Sir  Charles  Darling's  services  and  to  grant 
him  a  pension  of  ;f  1,000  per  annum  dating  from  the 
actual  day  of  his  recall  from  the  Colony.  It  was 
further  intimated  in  the  despatch  that  in  his  altered 
circumstances  neither  he  nor  Lady  Darling  could 
accept  the  generous  bounty  of  the  citizens. 

This  *'  climb  down  ''  of  the  Colonial  Office,  com- 
bined with  the  Imperial  recognition  of  the  Assembly's 
right  of  absolute  rule  without  foreign  or  domestic 
interference,  brought  the  contest  between  the  two 
Houses  to  an  end.  But  the  session  was  not  allowed 
to  close  before  a  Bill  was  passed  widening  the  fran- 
chise of  the  Council  and  reducing  the  property 
qualification  of  both  members  and  electors  by  one- 
half.  The  Council  bitterly  resented  the  reform 
but,  taught  by  experience,  no  longer  ventured  to 
oppose  the  popular  will,  and  the  measure  became  law. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
Protection   Accomplished 

The  Age  predominant  in  Victorian  politics  as  a  result  of  Con- 
stitutional struggle — David  Syme  reduces  the  price  of  his 
paper — Growth  of  its  influence — The  importers  give  up  the 
boycott — Syme  not  satisfied  with  the  Tariff — New  campaign 
for  complete  Protection — McCulloch  becomes  Conservative 
— Hurled  from  power — "  King  David  " — The  Duffy  Govern- 
ment— The  Francis  Government — The  Kerferd  Government 
— The  Berry  Government — McCulloch  returns  to  office — 
His  intrigues — The  Age  denounces  him  and  procures  his 
defeat — Mr.  Berry  becomes  Premier  and  reforms  the  Tariff 
— The  opposition  of  the  Council — Black  Wednesday — S3rme 
and  the  Governor — Syme  and  the  Cabinet — The  fight  renewed 
— General  elections — The  Council  reformed — Protection 
accomplished — The  Berry  Tariff  really  Syme's  Tariff — Its 
secret  history — Secret  history  of  formation  of  Service- 
Berry  Coalition — David  Syme's  patriotism  and  how  it  benefited 
the  State. 

The  four  years  of  constitutional  struggle  between 
the  two  Houses  of  Parliament,  extending  from 
1864  to  the  29th  of  September,  1868,  securely  estab- 
lished The  Age  as  the  predominant  factor  in  Vic- 
torian politics.  It  had,  in  the  first  instance,  preci- 
pitated the  conflict  and,  the  fight  having  begun,  it 
had  acted  consistently  until  the  end  as  the  guide, 
philosopher  and  advocate  of  the  people,  who  battled 
under  its  aegis  for  their  rights  and  their  Parliament- . 

164 


PROTECTION   ACCOMPLISHED         155 

ary  representatives.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
all  the  more  notable  expedients  employed  by  the 
McCulloch  Government  to  vindicate  the  popular 
Chamber's  rights  and  privileges  were  conceived  in 
David  Syme's  brain.  It  was  his  advocacy  which 
determined  their  adoption  :  his  support  which  sup- 
plied their  efficiency.  The  Age,  moreover,  through- 
out the  struggle,  exercised  a  moderating  influence  on 
the  passions  of  the  people,  and  more  than  once  its 
counsels  availed  to  avert  anarchy  and  violence. 
There  were  times  when  a  word  of  encouragement 
would  have  sufficed  to  produce  civil  war  and  a  bloody 
revolution.  That  word  was  never  spoken.  On  the 
contrary,  the  voice  of  David  Syme  was  raised  on 
every  crisis  advising,  requiring,  and  even  commanding 
patience  :  and  although  the  faces  of  the  poor  were 
being  ground  under  an  almost  intolerable  despotism, 
the  people  listened  to  their  mentor  and,  at  his  bid- 
ding, trusted  to  the  quieter  means  he  advocated  to 
rid  themselves  of  their  tyrants. 

The  peaceful  triumph  to  which  his  far-sighted 
wisdom  led  them  compelled  their  grateful  recognition 
and  exalted  The  Age  in  popular  esteem.  It  was 
thenceforth  recognized  as  the  mouthpiece  of  humani- 
tarian sentiment  and  Reform,  while  Syme  became 
the  leader  and  champion  of  the  democracy.  He 
preluded  his  next  step  in  the  Protectionist  campaign 
by  reducing  the  price  of  The  ^g^  to  a  penny.  This 
brought  his  journal  within  the  reach  of  the  poorest 
workman  in  the  community,  and  finally  put  the  seal 


156  DAVID  SYME 

upon  his  title  to  be  regarded  as  the  people's  friend. 
The  response  of  the  public  to  this  bold  and  liberal 
experiment  was  immediate.  In  one  week  the  circu- 
lation more  than  doubled,  and  from  that  moment  it 
continued  to  expand.  The  importers  and  merchants 
observed  this  with  a  concern  bordering  on  con- 
sternation. For  five  years  they  had  boycotted 
The  Age  with  remorseless  persistency.  They  had 
spent  large  sums  of  money,  spared  no  efforts,  and 
exhausted  every  means  their  ingenuity  could  devise 
to  ruin  the  journal.  They  had  even  enlisted  the  aid 
of  Governments  to  crush  or  to  silence  it.  Yet  in 
spite  of  all  their  exertions  the  journal  had  survived. 
It  had  never  swerved  from  its  policy  :  it  had  never 
ceased  to  expose  their  selfish  and  unpatriotic  aims, 
to  combat  their  intentions  and  to  hold  them  up  to 
contempt. 

But  The  Age  had  not  only  survived.  It  was  a 
growing  force,  increasing  almost  daily  in  strength 
and  influence.  All  this  appeared  in  the  Hght  of  a 
prodigy  to  the  Monopolists.  They  could  not  under- 
stand it.  It  was  beyond  their  comprehension  that 
the  genius  and  singleness  of  purpose  of  one  man 
could  have  withstood  and  defeated  the  resources 
their  wealth  and  influence  and  animosity  had  concen- 
trated on  his  destruction.  Yet  the  wonder  had 
been  wrought  before  their  eyes. 

The  Monopolists  took  council  then  of  their  own 
interests.  Being  traders,  money  tdked  to  them 
with  a  voice  not  to  be  denied  for  long.     They  put 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         157 

their  pride  in  their  pockets  and  once  more  sent  their 
emissaries  to  David  Syme.  They  confessed  that 
they  were  beaten.  Protection  was  now  the  law  of 
the  land.  Well,  they  were  willing  to  bow  to  the 
inevitable.  Let  him  be  content  with  the  existing 
tariff  and  not  ask  further  to  prohibit  foreign  imports 
by  raising  the  tariff  wall  and  they  would  give  him 
their  advertisements. 

David  Syme's  reply  was  characteristic.  ''  The 
present  Tariff/'  said  he,  ''is  a  thing  of  no  account. 
It  is  merely  a  beginning.  It  is  not  by  any  means  a 
Protective  Tariff.  It  does  not  place  Australian 
manufacturers  in  a  position  to  compete  on  even 
terms  with  the  foreigner.  I  will  never  rest  until 
Victoria  is  encompassed  with  a  tariff  wall  that  will 
enable  the  local  manufacturer  to  pay  the  local 
artisan  a  fair  living  wage  and  at  the  same  time 
enable  him  successfully  to  compete  in  the  local 
market  with  the  imported  productions  of  underpaid 
foreign  labour.  That  is  my  fixed  and  unalterable 
resolve.  Quarter  I  have  never  asked  in  the  past. 
Quarter  I  do  not  ask  now.  Quarter  I  will  not 
give  !  " 

It  was  an  answer  calculated  to  inspire  an  ineradic- 
able hatred  of  its  utterer.  The  Monopolists  have 
never  forgotten  it.  But  business  interests  forbade 
them  to  resent  it  as  they  would  have  wished,  and 
within  a  few  weeks  the  same  interests  compelled  all 
save  a  few  irreconcilables  to  give  their  advertise- 
ments without  conditions  to  The  Age  and  to  pay 


158  '    DAVID  SYME 

the  price  for  them  which  Syme  demanded.  Their 
money  was  forthwith  apphed  to  expedite  their  un- 
doing. Syme  employed  the  swelling  revenues  of  his 
journal  to  surround  himself  with  a  band  of  kindred 
spirits  whose  pens  under  his  direction  began  to  clear 
the  path  which  his  intellect  and  energy  had  opened, 
and  to  prepare  the  way  to  the  goal  of  his  ultimate 
ambition — a  self-contained,  self-supporting,  self- 
respecting  nation. 

The  immediate  difficulty  before  The  Age  and  the 
march  of  Protection  was,  paradoxically  enough. 
Protection  itself — that  is  to  say  the  McCulloch  Tariff 
and  the  measure  of  Protection  which  it  had  intro- 
duced. Judged  by  modern  instances  the  McCulloch 
was  merely  a  revenue  tariff,  and  indeed,  beyond 
producing  revenue,  it  had  very  little  virtue.  It  was 
nevertheless  a  tariff,  and  to  a  people  who  had  been 
born  and  bred  Free-Traders  and  whose  conversion  to 
Syme's  views  was  of  such  recent  occurrence  it  spelt 
Protection  in  large  capitals.  Syme,  however,  re- 
garded its  meagre  extent  and  modest  incidence  with 
the  greatest  contempt.  He  foresaw  that  it  could 
not  build  up  a  large  manufacturing  industry,  and 
viewed  it  as  a  hardly  perceptible  instalment  of  the 
comprehensive  fiscal  reform  he  desired  to  establish. 

Without  delay  he  began  a  fresh  campaign  against 
the  foreign  trading  classes  not  less  vigorous  and 
even  more  uncompromising  than  that  which  had  just 
terminated.  As  before  he  had  to  combat  two  forces 
— the  opposition  of  his  foes  and  the  apathy  of  his 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         159 

friends.  The  importers  fought  him  tooth  and  nail 
in  order  to  retain  their  trade  :  and  the  people,  while 
not  opposing  him,  offered  him  nevertheless  the 
passive  resistance  of  tired  minds  which  desired  a 
period  of  surcease  of  strife  and  demanded  the  most 
convincing  reasons  for  the  necessity  of  renewed 
activity. 

This  curious  weariness  of  spirit  found  expression 
in  the  Assembly  in  a  series  of  working  alliances 
between  Free  Traders  and  Protectionists.  The  Mc- 
CuUoch  Government  was  presently  defeated  by  such 
a  combination  and  gave  way  to  Mr.  J.  A.  McPherson, 
a  young  squatter  and  a  staunch  Tory,  who  succeeded 
in  forming  a  nondescript  Ministry  composed  almost 
equally  of  Protectionists  and  Free  Traders  who  had 
mutually  agreed  to  sink  the  fiscal  issue.  But  Syme, 
in  spite  of  them,  forced  that  issue  to  the  front,  and 
his  stirring  appeals  and  convincing  arguments  so 
wrought  upon  public  opinion  that  after  an  exist- 
ence of  little  more  than  half  a  year  the  McPherson 
Government  was  defeated  on  the  gth  of  April,  1870. 
McCuUoch  then  returned  to  power,  but  it  soon  became 
evident  that  his  Protectionist  sympathies  had  weak- 
ened and  that  he  was  returning  to  the  economic 
love  of  his  youth — Cobdenism.  He  urged  that  a 
number  of  manufacturing  industries  had  been  estab- 
lished in  consequence  of  the  tariff  of  1868,  and  that 
there  was  no  need  either  to  increase  or  to  extend  the 
customs  duties. 

The  Age  reasoned  with  him  for  a  time  but,  unable 


i6o  DAVID  SYME 

to  persuade  him  that  the  interests  of  the  country 
required  a  broader  outlook,  Syme  reluctantly  pro- 
ceeded to  oppose  the  man  whom  he  had  guided  and 
supported  and  carried  through  half  a  score  of  bril- 
liant campaigns  to  as  many  brilliant  victories.  The 
community  was  impressed  when  it  saw  The  Age  turn 
upon  and  relentlessly  condemn  its  old  friend  and 
collaborator.  But  the  incident  afforded  one  more 
proof  of  David  Syme's  strength  of  character  and 
single-hearted  consistency  of  purpose.  It  showed 
the  people  that  he  advocated  measures  not  men,  and 
that  his  guiding  star  was  principle  not  party.  Mc- 
Culloch  fought  desperately  to  retain  his  hold  upon 
the  helm  of  affairs,  but  one  by  one  his  oldest  and 
most  attached  supporters  drew  away,  and  at  length 
he  was  compelled  to  bow  to  the  wiU  of  an  adverse 
majority  and  to  vacate  the  Treasury  Bench.  His 
downfall  following  so  rapidly  on  the  defeat  of  the 
McPherson  Government  created  a  great  sensation. 
Before  such  practical  demonstrations  of  the  influence 
of  the  Liberal  journal  the  Tories  raged  in  vain. 
They  denounced  its  sway  as  a  public  .menace  and, 
in  the  hope  of  rousing  the  democracy  to  resistance, 
declared  it  was  David  Syme's  ambition  to  erect  a 
new  despotism  on  the  ruins  of  the  old  and  to  appoint 
himself  its  chief  ruler  and  autocrat.  They  next 
dubbed  him  '*  King  David,''  cunningly  seeking  to 
work  upon  the  fears  and  jealousy  of  the  masses. 
To  their  disgust,  however,  the  people  seized  upon  the 
sobriquet.     ''  King  David  ''  they  cried, ''  that  exactly 


PROTECTION   ACCOMPLISHED         i6i 

expresses  him,"  and  the  title  was  soon  in  universal 
use  as  a  tribute  of  their  attachment  to  the  unselfish 
man  who  had  devoted  his  life,  fortune  and  genius 
to  the  democratic  cause. 

Charles  Gavan  Duffy  now  came  forward  as  the 
Premier  of  the  Colony.  He  was  a  declared  Free 
Trader  and  had  never  pretended  to  hold  other  views, 
but  he  realized  the  futility  of  resisting  the  ever- 
growing demand  for  Protection  and  appointed 
Graham  Berry — the  platform  champion  of  Protec- 
tion and  David  Syme's  friend  and  proUge — to  be  his 
Treasurer.  Berry  succeeded  during  the  next  twelve 
months  in  procuring  a  small  revision  of  the  tariff 
and  the  extension  of  protective  duties  over  the  range 
of  soft  goods  and  hardware  :  but  he  could  effect  no 
more  than  this,  nor  wring  further  concessions  from 
his  chief.  Immediately  the  fact  became  manifest 
the  Duffy  Ministry  was  swept  from  power. 

Mr.  J.  G.  Francis,  a  vigorous  Protectionist,  suc- 
ceeded, but  he  conmiitted  the  initial  error,  like  so 
many  of  his  predecessors,  of  forming  a  Free  Trade 
and  Protectionist  Cabinet,  and  although  he,  too, 
brought  in  a  revised  Tariff  it  was  a  hybrid  measure. 
As  soon  as  it  appeared  that  no  greater  instalment  of 
Protection  could  be  looked  for  at  his  hands  he  was 
called  upon  to  retire.  He  resigned  at  the  end  of 
July,  1874,  and  was  followed  by  Mr.  Kerferd,  his 
Attorney-General,  who  now  assumed  the  Premier- 
ship. Mr.  Kerferd's  Government  was  a  complete 
failure.    The   new  Premier   signalized   himself   at 


i62  DAVID  SYME 

the  outset  by  obliging  the  most  obdurate  Free 
Trader  in  the  Cabinet,  Mr.  Langton,  to  resign  from 
the  Treasury,  but  he  replaced  him  with  a  still 
stauncher  Cobdenite,  Mr.  James  Service,  who  a  few 
months  later  submitted  a  Budget  in  which  he 
actually  proposed  to  remit  or  reduce  a  number  of  the 
duties  which  for  five  years  had  afforded  some  mea- 
sure of  protection,  however  inadequate,  to  several 
young  industries.  The  Age  forthwith  counselled 
the  rejection  of  the  Bill  and  the  expulsion  of  the 
Ministry.  The  struggle  was  short  and  sharp,  but 
the  first  test  vote  determined  it,  and  at  the  close  of 
July,  1875,  Mr.  Kerferd  was  forced  out  of  office. 

Sir  James  McCulloch  (he  had  just  been  knighted) 
had  actually  moved  the  resolution  which  produced 
Mr.  Kerferd's  defeat,  but,  acting  on  the  advice  of 
The  Age,  the  Governor  did  not  send  for  him.  It 
was  pointed  out  that  the  continuous  changes  of 
Government  which  had  taken  place  with  such 
injurious  effect  on  the  direction  of  public  affairs 
were  all  directly  attributable  to  the  futile  ambition 
of  successive  Premiers,  by  forming  coalitions  be- 
tween Free  Traders  and  Protectionists,  to  reconcile 
the  irreconcilable.  It  was  urged  that  due  considera- 
tion should  be  paid  to  the  patent  fact  that  the  whole 
Colony  was  Protectionist  and  that,  established 
precedent  to  the  contrary,  a  squatter  like  Sir  James 
McCulloch  with  growing  Conservative  tendencies, 
who  did  not  possess  the  confidence  of  the  people, 
should  not  be  entrus^d  with  the  task  of  forming 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         163 

a  Ministry  whatever  his  technical  claims,  but  that  an 
open  and  avowed  Protectionist  should  be  sent  for. 
The  Governor  accordingly  nominated  Graham 
Berry  and  thereby  aroused  the  displeasure  of  Sir 
James  McCulloch,  who,  conceiving  himself  affronted 
by  the  negation  of  his  pretensions  to  office,  proceeded 
to  cabal  for  Berry's  downfall.  Graham  Berry  formed 
a  Ministry,  but  he  only  held  office  for  two  months. 
He  was  met  at  the  outset  of  his  Administration 
with  a  no-confidence  motion,  and  Sir  James  Mc- 
Culloch, throwing  in  his  lot  with  the  Kerferd  Minis- 
try which  he  had  just  helped  Berry  to  overthrow,  the 
motion  was  carried  by  a  small  majority. 

Sir  James  McCulloch  therefore  formed  a  Ministry 
which  contained  four  members  of  the  Kerferd 
Cabinet.  The  means  by  which  he  had  gained  office 
after  successively  turning  two  Governments  out  of 
power  and  wasting  many  months  of  public  time 
earned  for  him  the  contempt  of  the  people  :  but 
when,  as  presently  occurred.  Sir  James  sought  to 
pass  the  very  legislation  which  he  had  denounced 
Mr.  Kerferd  for  venturing  to  introduce,  contempt 
changed  to  execration.  His  ParUamentary  majority 
enabled  him  to  cling  to  office  until  the  end  of  the 
term,  but  his  doom  was  foreshadowed  in  the  ener- 
getic campaign  waged  against  him  by  The  Age 
throughout  the  electorates.  During  the  interval 
McCulloch  introduced  the  closure  in  order  to  silence 
the  Liberal  Opposition,  and,  by  the  free  use  of  this 
weapon,  he  contrived  to  carry  on  the  Government. 


i64  DAVID  SYME 

As  the  life  of  the  Parliament  waned  the  whole 
country  clamoured  for  its  dissolution,  but  Sir  James 
finally  went  to  the  constituencies  proudly  asserting 
his  confidence  in  a  great  electoral  triumph.  Never 
was  man  more  completely  self-deceived.  The 
general  election  was  held  on  the  nth  of  May,  1877. 
It  resulted  in  Sir  James  McCuUoch's  overwhelming 
defeat.  Mr.  Berry  was  returned  at  the  head  of  a 
solid  body  of  sixty  members  pledged  to  a  policy  of  high 
Protection,  and  the  Conservative  leader,  who  had  gone 
to  the  country  with  a  considerable  majority,  was  left 
with  the  pitiful  following  of  twenty-six.  He  did  not 
wait  for  the  House  to  meet  but  forthwith  tendered 
his  resignation.  Berry  thereupon  formed  a  strong 
Protectionist  Cabinet  and  immediately  proceeded 
to  fulfil  the  mission  with  which  the  people  had 
entrusted  him.  The  Council,  however,  had  in  the 
meantime  determined  upon  another  effort  to  obstruct 
the  march  of  the  Democracy. 

Untaught  by  the  lessons  of  the  past,  this  pluto- 
cratic body  fancied  that  it  could  resist  the  declared 
policy  of  the  country  and  impose  its  wishes  on  the 
people.  It  condemned  unheard  Berry's  Tariff 
Reform  proposals  and,  during  the  passage  of  the 
Land  Tax  Act,  gave  such  unmistakable  evidence  of 
recalcitrancy  that  the  Liberal  Party  realized  that 
true  progress  necessitated  a  drastic  reform  of  the 
Constitution.  At  this  junction  Berry  had  a  long 
consultation  with  David  Syme,  who  advised  him  to 
preface  his  attempt  to  reform  the  Council  by  passing 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         165 

an  Act  for  the  payment  of  members.  Syme  had 
good  reasons  for  giving  this  counsel.  He  foresaw 
that  the  fight  with  the  Council  would  be  a  protracted 
one,  and  he  desired  that  the  Liberal  legislators  of  the 
Assembly,  most  of  whom  were  poor  men,  should  be 
placed  on  terms  of  comparative  equality  during  the 
struggle  with  their  adversaries  who  were  using 
their  wealth  to  resist  progress. 

Berry  accepted  the  advice  and  brought  in  a  Bill 
providing  permanently  for  the  payment  of  Members. 
It  passed  through  the  Assembly  and  was  submitted 
to  the  Council,  which  rejected  it  by  a  large  majority. 
Two  days  later  the  Assembly  returned  the  measure 
to  the  Council  *'  tacked  ''  to  the  Appropriation  Bill. 
On  the  13th  of  December,  1877,  ^^e  Council  formally 
"  laid  aside  '*  the  Appropriation  Bill  and  thus  brought 
the  business  of  the  country  to  a  halt.  Berry  now 
declared  that  the  Council  must  be  compelled  to 
obey  the  will  of  the  people,  and  he  adjourned  the 
House.  In  consequence  of  the  Council's  action 
there  were  no  funds  to  pay  the  servants  of  the  State. 
Berry  accordingly  brought  matters  to  a  crisis.  On 
the  8th  of  January,  1878  (a  day  afterwards  known 
as  Black  Wednesday),  he  dismissed  all  the  heads  of 
Departments,  the  Judges,  PoHce  Magistrates, 
Coroners,  Crown  Prosecutors,  and  the  holders  of 
other  public  offices. 

The  proceeding  was  bold  in  the  extreme,  even 
revolutionary  ;  but  it  was  felt  to  be  both  excusable 
and  necessary.     The  two  Chambers  were  irreconcil- 


i66  DAVID  SYME 

ably  opposed,  and  the  public  interest  demanded 
that  a  supreme  test  should  be  made  which  was  to  rule 
the  country — the  Council  which  represented  a  small 
faction,  or  the  Assembly  which  represented  the 
people.  The  economic  effects  of  Berry's  expedient 
were  disastrous  to  the  public  weal.  There  was  an 
immediate  shrinkage  in  property  values  and  com- 
merce was  paralysed.  But  the  people  enthusiastic- 
ally supported  the  Government.  Instead  of 
complaining  of  the  hardships  to  which  they  were 
subjected,  crowds  cheered  Berry  wherever  he 
appeared.  The  Council,  however,  refused  to  give  way, 
and  on  the  5th  of  February,  when  the  Assembly 
resumed  its  sittings,  the  crisis  was  still  undecided. 
Berry  became  impatient  and,  against  Syme's  advice, 
procured  a  resolution  to  be  carried  by  the  Assembly, 
— ''  That  all  votes  passed  in  Committee  of  Supply 
become  legally  available  for  expenditure  immediately 
the  resolutions  are  agreed  to  by  the  Assembly." 
He  then  proceeded  to  draw  money  from  the  Treasury 
in  defiance  of  the  Audit  Act. 

The  Governor,  Sir  George  Bowen,  was  thereby 
placed  in  a  very  difficult  position.  Berry  wished 
him  to  sign  the  Treasury  warrants.  It  was  his  duty 
to  follow  the  advice  of  his  responsible  Ministers,  and 
yet  he  doubted  the  legality  of  their  proposals.  After 
a  good  deal  of  hesitation  the  Governor  resolved  to 
seek  counsel  from  the  man  who  wielded  the  greatest 
influence  in  Victoria.     He  sent  for  David  Syme. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  British  Viceroy, 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         167 

before  or  since,  has  taken  so  strange  and  so  appar- 
ently unconstitutional  a  step  as  to  ask  a  private 
citizen  for  guidance  in  a  great  political  crisis.  But 
it  is  also  to  be  questioned  whether  a  private  citizen 
has  ever  exercised  as  absolute  power  in  any  British 
State  as  David  Syme.  The  circumstances  were 
unprecedented,  and  Sir  George  Bowen  must  be  judged 
in  the  light  of  them.  He  was  well  aware  that  The 
Age  really  ruled  the  country  and  that  the  Govern- 
ment was  merely  the  channel  through  which  its 
influence  was  expressed.  It  seemed  essential  to  him 
to  learn  Syme's  views,  and  hence  his  action. 

David  Syme  declined  to  meet  the  Governor  in 
person,  but  sent  Mr.  Windsor,  his  editor,  to  Govern- 
ment House  as  his  representative.  Sir  George 
Bowen  entertained  Mr.  Windsor  at  lunch  and  very 
frankly  requested  to  be  informed  of  Syme's  opinion. 
Mr.  Windsor  replied  as  frankly.  He  told  the  Gov- 
ernor that  David  Syme  did  not  approve  of  Berry's 
expedient  and  deemed  it  unnecessary,  because  he 
believed  the  Council  would  have  no  choice  but  yield 
to  the  pressure  of  public  opinion  if  the  Government 
would  only  exhibit  a  little  patience.  Urged  to  be 
still  more  candid,  Mr.  Windsor  counselled  the 
Governor  to  take  expert  legal  advice  before  signing 
the  warrants. 

Sir  George  Bowen  accepted  this  advice  and  applied 
to  the  Law  Officers  of  the  Crown.  Assured  by  them 
that  he  might  legally  sign  the  warrants,  he  did  so, 
and  Berry  thus  obtained  supplies  to  carry  on  the 

0 


i68  DAVID   SYME 

business  of  the  country.  But  David  Syme  was  not 
satisfied.  He  considered  the  proceeding  illegal  and 
notified  Berry  to  that  effect.  The  Premier  asked 
him  to  attend  a  Cabinet  meeting  and  arrange  a 
course  of  action  with  his  colleagues.  Syme  declined 
to  do  this,  just  as  he  had  declined  to  meet  the 
Governor  ;  but  he  sent  Mr.  Windsor  as  his  ambas- 
sador, and  Mr.  Windsor,  taking  a  seat  at  the  Cabinet 
table,  announced  to  the  Ministry  that  the  Govern- 
ment must  either  abandon  its  device  for  drawing 
money  from  the  Treasury  or  retire  from  office. 

David  Syme's  ultimatum  was  implicitly  obeyed. 
The  illegal  practice  was  immediately  discontinued, 
and  only  a  few  days  later  the  Council,  terrified  by  the 
ever-increasing  anger  of  the  people,  capitulated  as 
Syme  had  foreseen.  It  passed  the  Bill  for  the 
payment  of  Members  on  the  28th  of  March  and, 
on  the  3rd  of  April,  the  Appropriation  Bill.  Berry 
thereupon  re-appointed  the  officers  of  the  Crown 
whom  he  had  dismissed  on  Black  Wednesday. 
Shortly  afterwards  he  brought  in  a  Bill  for  the 
reform  of  the  Constitution  on  Liberal  lines.  This 
Bill  was  passed  in  the  Assembly  and  sent  to  the 
Council  in  October  of  the  same  year.  Incredible 
as  it  may  appear,  the  Council  rejected  it  by  a  large 
majority.  It  seemed  as  if  the  Council  would  never 
be  warned  by  experience.  In  its  conflicts  with  the 
popular  Chamber  it  had  always  been  forced  in  the 
long  run  to  bow  to  the  people's  will.  Yet  it  was  ever 
ready  to  resume  it3  efforts  to  block  progress. 


PROTECTION   ACCOMPLISHED         169 

Berry  sought  to  get  over  the  deadlock  by  pro- 
ceeding with  one  of  his  colleagues  to  England  to 
request  the  intervention  of  the  Imperial  Parliament. 
Unsuccessful  in  this,  he  asked  for  and  obtained  on 
his  return  from  the  Mother  Country  a  dissolution  of 
Parliament.  But  the  Council  remained  obdurate, 
and  another  appeal  to  the  country  a  few  months 
later  was  necessary  to  reduce  it  to  submission.  The 
great  measure  of  reform  which  he  had  striven  for  so 
long  at  last  became  law  and  in  1881  found  a  place 
in  the  Statute  Book.  It  increased  the  number  of 
electors  privileged  to  vote  for  the  Council  from 
30,000  to  100,000,  reduced  the  property  qualifica- 
tion of  members  to  £100  per  annum,  shortened  the 
tenure  from  ten  years  to  six,  and  increased  the  number 
of  members  from  thirty  to  forty-one.  Its  effect 
was  to  invest  the  Council  with  a  reasonably  repre- 
sentative character  and  to  compel  it  to  admit  and 
reflect  the  public  will.  It  was  the  greatest  triumph 
the  Liberal  Party  had  yet  achieved. 

The  long  struggle  had  given  the  country  a  sound 
Protectionist  Tariff  and  a  Land  Tax  Act,  and  it  had 
securely  established  that  "  Keystone  of  Demo- 
cracy,'* the  payment  of  members;  all  of  which 
measures  The  Age  had  initiated  and  by  vigorous 
advocacy  forced  into  effective  operation.  The  de- 
feated plutocrats  issued  a  solemn  warning  to  the 
people  that  the  Colony  was  about  to  plunge  into  an 
abyss  of  ruin.  They  implored  the  nation  to  pause 
before  committing  itself  irrevocably  to  so  fearful 


170  DAVID  SYME 

a  calamity.  They  denounced  The  ^g^  as  a  public 
enemy,  Protection  as  a  national  curse  ;  and  declared 
the  Colony  had  only  a  few  years  to  live  if  it  continued 
its  "  unspeakable  folly ''  of  a  high  Tariff  and  per- 
sisted in  its  "  blind  subjection  "  to  the  dominance 
of  ''  King  David/'  The  people  laughed  at  these 
melancholy  forebodings  and  proudly  followed  the 
counsels  of  the  man  who  had  led  them  out  of  political 
and  industrial  servitude  into  freedom  and  self- 
government.  It  will  be  seen  in  an  ensuing  chapter 
how  the  predictions  of  the  deposed  oligarchy  came 
to  be  fulfilled  and  to  what  species  of  ruin  Protection 
brought  Victoria  and  its  people  under  "  King 
David's  *'  leadership. 

It  is  worthy  of  mention  that  the  so-called  Berry 
Tariff  owed  very  little  of  its  Protectionist  virtue  to 
the  man  who  gave  it  its  name.  When  the  Constitu- 
tional Reform  Movement  had  advanced  to  such  a 
stage  as  to  ensure  the  acceptance  by  the  Council  of  a 
scientific  measure  of  Protection,  Berry,  the  Premier, 
and  Lalor,  the  Minister  of  Trade  and  Customs, 
drafted  a  Tariff  Amendment  Bill  between  them.  In 
principle  both  statesmen  were  sound  Protectionists, 
but  neither  had  much  practical  knowledge  of  the 
incidence  of  Custom  duties.  Being  aware  of  this 
David  Syme  attended  Parliament  on  the  evening 
that  Berry  had  promised  to  make  his  financial 
statement  and  took  a  seat  between  Mr.  Windsor  and 
Mr.  Robinson  in  the  Press  Gallery.  When  the 
statement    was     delivered    the    three     journaUsts 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         171 

adjourned.  Mr.  Syme  turned  at  once  to  his 
Editors. 

"  Well  Windsor,  what  do  you  think  of  it  ?  " 

"  Won't  do,"  replied  Mr.  Windsor. 

He  turned  to  the  other  ;  "  You,  Robinson  ?  " 

**  A  revenue  and  not  a  Protectionist  proposal/' 
said  Mr.  Robinson. 

**  Exactly  my  opinion,"  commented  David  Syme. 
"  It  will  have  to  be  taken  back.'* 

Next  morning  The  Age  contained  a  leading  article 
condemning  the  Ministry's  scheme  in  unmeasured 
terms.  This  brought  Berry  and  Lalor  to  the  office 
of  The  Age  at  10  o'clock.  Both  were  angry  ;  but 
Lalor  was  in  a  white  heat  of  rage.  Bursting  into 
the  Editor's  room  Lalor  cried  out  to  Mr.  Windsor  : — 

"  That  article  must  be  retracted.  I'm  certain  Mr. 
Syme  could  not  have  approved  of  it." 

David  Syme  entered  at  that  moment.  He  had 
heard  Lalor's  angry  exclamation.  '*  On  the  con- 
trary," he  said,  ''  I  cordially  approve  of  every  word 
of  it,  and  if  you  desire  to  retain  the  support  of  The 
Age  you  will  have  to  take  back  and  drastically 
amend  your  fiscal  proposals."  Berry  and  his  col- 
leagues attempted  to  argue  the  point,  but  Syme 
was  inexorable  and  finally  the  Ministers  withdrew, 
heatedly  declaring  that  they  would  not  recede  an 
inch  from  the  position  they  had  taken  up  and  defying 
Syme  to  beat  them  if  he  could.  Within  a  very  few 
days,  however,  prudential  counsels  prevailed.  The 
objectionable  revenue  tariff  Berry  had  fondly  im- 


172  DAVID  SYME 

agined  to  be  thoroughly  Protective  was  withdrawn 
and  one  was  substituted  which  had  been  carefully 
prepared  under  the  supervision  of  David  Syme. 
Needless  to  say,  it  was  a  Protective  Tariff  in  every 
sense  of  the  expression. 

Shortly  after  the  Reform  Bill  was  passed  Berry 
was  defeated  by  Sir  Bryan  OToghlen,  an  ex-member 
of  his  Cabinet  with  whom  he  had  quarrelled.  Sir 
Bryan  was  a  man  whom  David  Syme  had  introduced 
to  politics.  Some  years  earlier,  by  the  death  of 
Sir  Charles  McMahon,  a  vacancy  had  occurred  in  the 
West  Melbourne  electorate.  This  was  the  greatest 
Free  Trade  stronghold  then  remaining  in  Victoria, 
and  David  Syme  was  particularly  anxious  to  win  it 
over  to  the  Protectionist  cause.  As  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  voters  consisted  of  Irishmen  he  considered 
it  advisable  that  an  Irish  Protectionist  should  stand. 
He,  therefore,  sought  about  for  such  a  person  and 
found  Sir  Bryan  O'Loghlen. 

Sir  Bryan  was  immediately  sounded.  He  expressed 
his  readiness  to  follow  The  Age  policy,  and  next 
morning  The  Age  announced  his  candidature.  He 
won  the  seat  and  eventually  became  Attorney- 
(reneral  in  the  Berry  Government.  He  was  not 
satisfied,  however,  with  a  subordinate  position  and, 
after  Berry's  return  from  the  mission  to  England, 
withdrew  from  the  Administration  and  awaited  a 
chance  to  overthrow  his  old  leader.  David  Syme 
was  not  very  pleased  at  O'Loghlen's  success  in 
ousting  Berry,  but,  as  Sir  Bryan  was  a  Liberal  and 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         173 

a  Protectionist,  The  Age  did  not  oppose  the  new 
Government  until  it  became  evident  that  OToghlen 
had  no  capacity  for  affairs  of  State  and  that  he  was 
plunging  the  country  into  serious  financial  straits. 
From  that  moment  O'Loghlen's  downfall  was  de- 
creed. The  Age  demanded  his  dismissal,  and  at  the 
next  general  election  (1883)  the  Ministry  not  only 
lost  its  majority  but  O'Loghlen,  the  Premier,  lost 
his  seat. 

It  then  became  a  question  to  whom  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  country  should  be  entrusted.  Berry 
was  still  available,  but  while  Syme  liked  him  very 
much  personally  and  considered  him  a  good  man 
in  periods  of  stress  and  storm  to  attack  dangerous 
abuses,  he  did  not  regard  him  as  a  sufficiently  careful 
Administrator  in  the  piping  times  of  peace.  The 
fact  is,  Berry  was  in  many  respects  a  reckless  vision- 
ary. His  capacities  were  rather  destructive  than 
constructive  ;  and  David  Syme  feared  to  confide 
the  public  interests  to  his  keeping.  The  fight  for 
Protection  was  over.  The  Constitutional  struggle 
was  also  at  an  end.  Victoria  required  above  all 
things  a  wise  and  stable  Government,  one  that  could 
be  trusted  to  follow  up  the  great  democratic  victories 
with  calm  deliberation  and  rule  the  country  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  conserve  and  foster  the  prosperity 
made  possible  by  the  imposition  of  scientific  Pro- 
tection duties.  David  Syme  did  not  beheve  Berry 
could  form  or  lead  such  a  Government  unaided  or, 
rather,   unchecked.    There   was  too   much   sensa- 


174  DAVID  SYME 

tionalism  in  his  character.  He  was  a  poHtical  stormy 
petrel,  and  loved  fighting  too  well  to  tolerate  a  merely 
peaceful  role. 

It  need  hardly  be  said  that  the  situation  was  a 
subject  of  earnest  discussion  in  the  editorial  room  of 
The  Age.  One  day  Mr.  Windsor  observed  that  the 
proper  remedy  was  to  form  a  coalition  Government 
with  James  Service  as  Premier  and  Berry  as  second 
in  command.  He  made  the  suggestion  with  a  good 
deal  of  nervousness,  for  two  reasons.  One  was  that 
Service,  although  a  strong  and  capable  politician 
with  pronounced  statesmanUke  abilities,  was  a 
staunch  Free-Trader.  The  other  reason  was  that 
Syme's  private  relations  with  Service  were  of  such  a 
hostile  nature  as  to  njake  the  idea  of  supporting 
him  almost  inconceivable.  David  Syme,  however, 
hardly  hesitated.  He  hated  Service  and  had  good 
reason  to  hate  him  ;  but  the  interests  of  the  State 
were  always  paramount  with  him.  After  a  Uttle 
thought  he  announced  his  decision.  "  Let  Service 
give  us  an  assurance  that  he  will  not  interfere  with 
the  declared  economic  policy  of  the  country  and 
he  will  do,*'  was  what  he  said. 

Mr.  A.  B.  Robinson,  the  commercial  editor  of 
The  Age,  was  thereupon  deputed  to  wait  on  Service 
and  ascertain  his  views.  When  Service  heard  what 
Mr.  Robinson  had  to  say  he  refused  for  a  time  to 
believe  the  proposal  serious.  Convinced  at  length 
that  it  was  he  agreed  to  take  office  on  the  terms 
suggested  by  Syme,  but  emphatically  declared  that 


rwi    ^' 

0                'fH^^ 

*1^ 

^^Hw         ■^HBr-                                    jjj^M^ 

' 

Cartoon    Published  on    Mr.   Syme's   Death. 

(By  Parmission  of  Melbourne  "  Punch.") 


[Page  t74 


PROTECTION  ACCOMPLISHED         175 

he  would  in  no  circumstances  move  a  step  unless  he 
were  unequivocally  assured  of  the  support  of  The  Age. 
This  was  promised  him.  Syme  then  approached 
Berry  and  explained  the  course  that  he  should 
follow.  Berry  was  furious  at  the  idea  of  having 
to  take  second  place,  but  knowing  full  well  that  no 
Government  could  last  which  had  not  The  Age 
behind  it,  he  at  length  reluctantly  gave  his  consent, 
and  the  Service-Berry  coalition  thus  became  an 
accomplished  fact. 

Events  justified  Syme's  prescience  and  his  un- 
selfish subordination  of  personal  to  patriotic  consi- 
derations. With  Service's  strong  hand  at  the  helm 
the  coalition  Government  ruled  Victoria  ably  and 
well  for  several  years.  Service  faithfully  kept  his 
pledge  not  to  interfere  with  the  Protectionist  policy, 
and  the  consequence  was  an  immense  industrial 
expansion  which  caused  unparalleled  prosperity  all 
over  the  country. 


CHAPTER    IX 
The  Eftects  of  Protection   in    Victoria 

New  South  Wales  and  Victoria  compared — The  elements  of 
progress  the  test  of  the  arts  and  sciences — The  education 
test — The  population  test — The  industrial  test — The  test 
of  accumulated  wealth — The  test  of  diffusion  of  wealth — 
The  cost  of  living  test — The  test  and  comparisons  reviewed 
— David  Syme's  life  work  vindicated. 

How  has  Protection  affected  the  progress  of  Vic- 
toria ?  Progress  being  essentially  a  relative  thing, 
this  question  can  only  be  satisfactorily  answered 
by  comparing  the  advancement  of  Victoria  with 
that  of  some  neighbouring  State  governed  by  diff- 
erent fiscal  conditions  but  otherwise  of  an  approxi- 
mately similar  character.  Such  a  State  is  New 
South  Wales.  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales 
have  grown  up  side  by  side.  Their  differences  are 
chiefly  in  area  and  mineral  resources.  Victoria  has 
only  87,884  square  miles.  New  South  Wales  has 
309,175  square  miles.  Victoria's  gold  resources 
have  in  the  past,  roughly  speaking,  balanced  New 
South  Wales'  coal.  In  nine  marvellous  years  of 
gold  production,  between  1851  and  i860,  Victoria 
produced  £100,000,000   worth   of  gold.     But   that 

17« 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  177 

was  in  her  Free  Trade  period.  The  corresponding 
disadvantage  of  rapid  gold  decline  came  into  her 
Protectionist  era.  The  following  table  will  make 
this  clear,  it  being  understood  that  the  Colony 
adopted  a  Protectionist  Tariff  in  1870. 


£ 

Value  of  Victorian  gold  raised  in  1871     . 

.    5,421,908 

M      M       ,.              .,        „      ,.    1881     . 

•    3.435.400 

,»      „             ,f        1,      „    1891     . 

.    2,305,600 

„      „      „             .,        „      „    1901     . 

.    3.102,753 

That  means  a  decline  from  £y'g  per  head  in  1871 
to  £2  per  head  of  the  population  in  1891  ;  a  remark- 
able declension  it  will  be  admitted  in  a  great  natural 
national  industry.  On  the  other  hand,  while  New 
South  Wales  has  never  produced  more  than  £2,660,946 
of  gold  in  any  one  year  she  has  maintained  a  steady 
output  averaging  about  ;f  1,000,000  per  annum,  and 
her  ever-expanding  coal  extraction  and  copper 
production  have  more  than  made  up  the  difference. 
Her  production  of  coal  is  now,  roughly  speaking, 
worth  £2,500,000  a  year,  as  against  Victoria's  insig- 
nificant annual  coal  output  valued  at  £41,000. 

As  to  the  matter  of  Government,  except  for  a 
short  interval  of  four  years  of  semi-Protection,  New 
South  Wales  has  continuously  followed  the  doc- 
trines of  Cobden  ;  while  Victoria,  ever  since  1870, 
has  lived  under  a  Protectionist  Tariff.  A  fair  com- 
parison of  these  States  must  necessarily,  therefore, 
furnish  instructive  data  to  determine  whether  Pro- 
tection has  retarded  or  assisted  Victoria's  progress. 


178  DAVID  SYME 

In  order  to  forestall  objections  to  the  manner 
and  matter  of  the  conclusions  which  will  of  necessity 
result  from  the  comparisons  I  propose  to  institute, 
I  will  limit  the  comparisons  to  those  particulars 
which,  as  all  economists  agree,  are  the  "  main 
elements  of  progress.*'  And  in  order  to  obviate 
any  cavilling  at  my  figures  1  will  confine  myself  to 
reproducing  the  figures  of  Mr.  T.  A.  Coghlan — 
formerly  the  New  South  Wales  Government  Statist 
and  afterwards  Agent-General  of  New  South  Wales 
in  London,  author  of  The  Seven  Colonies  of  Austral- 
asia, Australia  and  New  Zealand,  and  other  valuable 
works — a  man  whose  accuracy  and  statistical  ability 
are  generally  recognized,  who  is  universally  accepted 
as  the  most  eminent  authority  on  Australian  affairs 
and  conditions,  and  who  is  a  Free  Trader.  In  so 
doing  I  am  obliged  by  force  of  circumstances  to 
restrict  my  inquiries  to  the  year  ending  1903,  as  Mr. 
Coghlan  ceased  about  that  time  to  pubhsh  the 
results  of  his  statistical  investigations.  But  as  the 
Commonwealth  Tariff  superseded  the  Victorian 
Tariff  and  extended  Protection  to  New  South 
Wales  from  1902  and  onwards,  thus  gradually 
extinguishing  in  effect  a  fiscal  standard  of  com- 
parison between  that  State  and  Victoria,  it  will  be 
seen  that  my  inquiries  should  in  any  Ccise  have 
properly  come  to  a  pause  by  the  date  in  question. 
Protectionist  critics  will  doubtless  object  that  I 
ought  not  to  have  carried  the  comparison  past  1902, 
when  the  Commonwealth  Protectionist  Tariff  gave 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  179 

an  immense  and  immediate  impetus  to  the  manu- 
facturing industries  of  New  South  Wales  ;  causing 
an  unparalleled  increase  in  production  and  employ- 
ment, as  a  glance  at  the  more  recent  official  statistics 
of  New  South  Wales  will  prove.  But  to  such  I 
would  reply  that  I  prefer  to  meet  Free  Trade  objec- 
tions, and  can  use  no  better  means  than  to  concede 
in  advance  all  moot  points  to  my  Free  Trade  critics. 
The  following  headings  constitute  the  main  ele- 
ments of  progress  : — 

1.  Application  of  the  arts  and  sciences. 

2.  Education,  moral,  primary  and  literary  ; 

3.  Population — volume  and  density  ; 

4.  Industry — scope  and  development ; 

5.  Accumulated  wealth ; 

6.  Diffusion  of  wealth ; 

7.  Cost  of  living. 

1  will  take  these  headings  one  by  one. 

I.  Application  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences. 

Under  this  division  railways  should  be  the  first 
item  of  discussion,  for,  as  Mr.  Benjamin  Hoare, 
author  of  Preferential  Trade,  remarks,  *'  facilities 
of  transportation  form  one  of  the  very  first  elements 
of  modern  civilization." 

The  railway  comparison  between  Victoria  and 
New  South  Wales  may  be  appreciated  from  a 
moment's  consideration  of  the  appended  table, 
compiled  from  Mr.  Coghlan's  figures  in  the  Seven 
Colonies. 


i8o                         DAVID  SYME 

- 

Railways. 

Victoria. 

New  South  Wales. 

Mileag  eopen  1871 

276  miles 

358  miles 

,.     1881.     .     . 

i>247      „ 

1,040      „ 

„     1891-2  .     . 

2,903      „ 

2,266       „ 

„     1895-6  .     . 

3>I22       „ 

2,616      „ 

M     1903-4  .     . 

3,383      „ 

3,220        „ 

Mileage  per  square  mile  of 

I   railway   mile 

I  railway  mile  to 

territory,  1903-4 

to    serve    26 

serve    96    sq. 

sq.  miles 

miles 

Mileage  to  population 

I  railway  mile  to 

I  railway  mile  to 

355  people 

420  people 

Here  we  see  that  in  the  matter  of  railway  facilities 
Victoria  has  163  more  line  miles  than  New  South 
Wales,  a  much  more  extensive  mileage  per  head  of 
population,  and  more  than  four  times  the  railway 
access  to  land  settlement. 

Next  in  the  order  of  importance  to  railways  come 
the  Post  and  Telegraph  Offices.  Here  are  the 
figures  : — 


Post  Offices. 

Victoria. 

N.S.  Wales. 

Number  of  Post  Offices,  1861     .     .     . 

„       1894     .     .     . 

„       1903     .     .     . 

Number  of  people  to  each  Post  Office    . 

Square  miles  of  territory  to  each  Post 

Office 

369 

1,719 

1,649 

721 

53 

340 
1,895 
1,693 

800 

182 

EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  i8i 


1 
Telegraph  Offices. 

Victoria. 

N.S.  Wales. 

Number  of  Telegraph  Offices,  1903  .     . 

Number  of  people  to  each  Telegraph 

Office 

880 

1.364 

99 

'9S3 

1.378 

314 

Square  miles  of  territory  to  each  Tele- 
graph Office 

These  comparisons  need  no  remark.  They  demon- 
strate past  gainsaying  that  Victoria,  when  her 
inferior  area  is  reckoned,  has  something  more  than 
kept  pace  with  New  South  Wales  in  providing  her 
people  with  postal  and  telegraphic  facilities. 


2. — Education. 

The  possession  and  diffusion  of  literature  palpably 
constitute  an  important  factor  in  determining  the 
mental  and  moral  progress  of  a  race.  We  may 
therefore  profitably  examine  the  provision  made 
in  these  directions  by  the  two  colonies  : — 


Literature. 

Victoria 

N.S.  Wales. 

Number  of  free  libraries,  1903    .      .     . 
Number  of  free  books 

342 
752.191 

340 
520,000 

Let  us  now  turn  to  a  comparison  of  the  literate 
and  illiterate  conditions  of  the  people  : 


l82 


DAVID  SYME 


Education. 


Number  of  primary  schools,  1894    . 

1903    •     • 

Scholars  in  attendance 

lUiteracy  of  population,  1871^    .     .     . 

1891I   .      .      . 
People  who  could  not  sign  the  marriage 

register,  1871^ 

People  who  could  not  sign  the  marriage 
register,  1894^ 


N.S  Wales. 

2,508 

2,846 

212,848 

207,240 

238,384 

I.341 
292 


^  The  last  figures  available. 

These  figures  show  that  there  is  less  ilHteracy 
in  Victoria,  a  greater  school  attendance  ;  and,  when 
the  area  served  is  considered,  a  very  much  larger 
school  accommodation  than  in  New  South  Wales. 


3.    Population — Volume  and  Density. 

The  following  table  will  show  the  relative  growth 
of  the  two  States  : — 


Population  in  Victoria. 

Population  in  N.S.  Wales. 

Year. 

Total. 

Per  sq.  mile. 

Total. 

Per  sq.  mile. 

1871 
1881 
1891 
1903 

73i>528 

862,346 
1,140,405 
1,206,098 

8.32 

9-8i 

12-98 

1376 

503>98i 

751,468 

1,132,234 

1,441,441 

1-62 
2.42 

3-65 
4-6i 

EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  183 

That  is  a  most  significant  table.  Since  1871, 
New  South  Wales  has  brought  to  her  shores  more 
than  60,000  assisted  immigrants  at  a  pubHc  expense 
exceeding  ;f 200,000.  Victoria,  in  the  same  period, 
has  only  assisted  some  5,547  immigrants,  at  a  tithe 
of  the  above  expenditure,  to  settle  within  her  boun- 
daries. Victoria,  moreover,  of  recent  years  has 
lost  a  large  proportion  of  her  best  blood  owing  to 
emigration  caused  by  the  gold  discoveries  in  West 
Austraha  and  the  natural  tendency  of  population 
to  overflow  from  places  densely  peopled  to  places 
of  less  density,  where  land  is  available  on  easy 
terms. 

Mr.  Coghlan's  figures  above  set  forth  prove, 
nevertheless,  that  in  spite  of  these  drawbacks  and 
the  fact  that  the  area  of  New  South  Wales  is  almost 
four  times  greater  than  that  of  Victoria,  the  Protec- 
tionist State  has  steadily  increased  her  population 
and  that  she  now  possesses  a  density  of  population 
more  than  three  times  as  great  as  her  Free  Trade 
rival,  New  South  Wales,  which  was,  it  must  not  be 
forgotten,  a  settled  community  nearly  half  a  century 
before  Victoria  as  a  Colony  was  born. 


4.     Industry — Scope  and  Development. 

First  let  us  take  the  Pastoral  and  Dairying  Indus- 
try. The  following  table  shows  how  each  State 
has  progressed  in  the  raising  of  sheep  : — 


i84 


DAVID  SYME 


State. 

Number  of  Sheep. 

1871. 

1891. 

1903. 

N.S.Wales    .      . 
Victoria.       .     . 

16,278,697 
10,002,381 

61,831,416 
12,928,148 

28,656,501 
8,774,731 

The  great  decrease  in  each  State  between  the 
years  1891  and  1903  was  due  to  an  ahnost  continuous 
succession  of  unfavourable  seasons  and  also,  as 
regards  Victoria,  it  was  owing,  as  Mr.  Coghlan 
explains  (p.  410  Australia  and  New  Zealand),  to  the 
important  strides  made  in  agriculture  by  the  Vic- 
torian people  during  that  period,  which  caused 
diminished  attention  to  sheep  farming.  Never- 
theless Victoria  is  by  far  the  most  closely  stocked 
State  in  the  Commonwealth,  with  2*3  acres  per  sheep 
as  against  New  South  Wales  with  3*8  acres  per 
sheep,  Tasmania  next  with  4*4  acres  per  sheep, 
Queensland  with  11*5  acres  per  sheep,  South  Aus- 
tralia with  45*4  acres  per  sheep  and  West  Australia 
with  74*8  acres  per  sheep. 

I  now  turn  to  cattle  : — 


state 

Number  of  Cattle. 

1861. 

1881. 

1903. 

N.S.Wales    .      . 
Victoria  .     .     . 

2,271,923 
628,092 

2,597,348 
1,286,677 

1,880,578 
1,552,265 



EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  185 

This  table  shows  that,  although  New  South  Wales 
has  almost  four  times  the  area  of  Victoria  and 
started  in  1861  with  a  preponderance  of  cattle 
exceeding  1,500,000,  her  production  of  cattle  has 
declined,  while  that  of  Victoria  has  steadily  forged 
ahead. 

Horses. 


State 

Number  of  Horses. 

1861. 

1881. 

1903. 

N.S.Wales    .     . 
Victoria  .     .     . 

233,220 
84,057 

398.577 
278,195 

458,014 
376,548 

This  table  shows  that,  although  New  South  Wales 
started  with  almost  three  times  as  many  horses  as 
Victoria  and  possesses  more  than  three  times  the 
extent  of  territory,  the  Protectionist  State  has  far 
outstripped  her  in  the  rate  of  production  of  horses. 


Dairy     Cows- 

-1903 

state. 

No.  of  Dairy  Cows. 

Quantity  of  Milk  Produced. 

N.S.Wales    .      . 
Victoria  . 

480,108 
516,000 

131,977,000  gallons 
142.431,000       „ 

This  table  speaks  for  itself. 


i86 


DAVID  SYME 

Swine. 


State. 

Number  of  Swine. 

1871. 

1891. 

1903. 

N.S.Wales    .     . 
Victoria  .      .     . 

213,193 
177,447 

258,189 
286,780 

221,592 
315,333 

This  table  speaks  for  itself.  I  now  append  a 
table  showing  the  value  of  the  milk  and  its  products, 
butter  and  cheese  ;  and  the  value  of  the  return 
from  swine,  together  with  the  total  value  of  dairy 
produce  for  the  two  States  in  1903  : — 


state. 

Value  of  Milk, 

Butter  and 

Cheese. 

Value  of  Return 
from  Swine. 

Total  Value  of 

Dairy  and  Swine 

Produce. 

N.S.  Wales      . 
Victoria     . 

£2,027,000 
£2,289,000 

£399,000 
£623,000 

£2,426,000 
£2,912,000 

The  great  advantage  held  by  Victoria  in  the 
dairying  industry,  here  revealed,  will  be  enhanced 
if  we  remember  the  difference  in  area  between  the 
two  States. 

I  turn  now  to  Agriculture.  The  following  table 
shows  the  number  of  persons  engaged  in  agricultural 
pursuits  during  the  years  1891  and  190 1 — the  last 
figures  available. 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  187 


State. 

1891. 

1901. 

N.S.Wales 

Victoria 

74,598 
79.090 

77,619 

95.920 

This  table  surely  puts  it  beyond  question  that 
Protection  has  not  retarded  the  agricultural  pro- 
gress of  Victoria.  The  following  table  will  make 
this  fact  still  more  apparent : — 


Agriculture. 

Victoria. 

N.S.  Wales. 

Total  value  of  farm  crops,  1902 

£8,625,000 

£6,687,000 

Area  cultivated,  1902   .      .      . 

3,246,568  acres 

2,249,092  acres 

„    1903   .     •     . 

3,389,069      „ 

2,542,919     „ 

Total  value  of  crops,  1903 

£10,156,000 

£8,859,000 

Acreage  cultivated  per  head  of 

population 

2-8  acres 

1-8  acres 

Value  per  head  of  population, 

1903 

£8  ys.  lod. 

£5  175.  6d, 

Proportion  of  land  under  crop 

to  total  area  of  territory . 

603  per  cent. 

I  23  percent 

Value    orchard    and    garden 

crops,  1901 

£1,470,200 

£474.500 

Value  per  acre 

£25 

£8  95.  8i. 

Production  of  primary  indus- 

tries per  sq.  mile  .... 

£248  145.  gd. 

£100  2S.  2d. 

Number  of  persons  engaged  in 

industry 

95.920 

77,619 

A  review  of  these  tables  establishes  beyond  the 
region  of  dispute  that,  except  in  the  case  of  sheep 
alone,  the  Protectionist  State  has  in  the  pastoral 


i88 


DAVID  SYME 


industry  surpassed  the  Free  Trade  State  in  progress, 
both  in  the  ratio  and  the  comparative  extent  of 
development ;  that  in  the  dairying  industry  Victoria 
has  left  New  South  Wales  far  in  the  rear ;  that  in 
agriculture  she  has  immeasurably  outstripped  the 
mother  Colony ;  and,  as  Mr.  Coghlan  remarks, 
that  she  occupies  the  first  position  among  the 
States  of  the  Commonwealth. 

I  turn  now  to  the  manufacturing  and  commercial 
industries  : — 


Manufacturing  and  Commercial 
Pursuits. 

Number  of  industrial  workers, 

1903 

Number  of  persons  engaged  in 
trade,  1903 

Number  of  persons  engaged  in 
commerce,  1903    .... 

Capital  employed  in  manu- 
facturing industries,  1903     . 

Registered  factories 

Breadwinners 

Proportion  per  cent,  of  bread- 
winners      

Dependents 

Proportion  per  cent,  of  depen- 
dents     

Hands  employed  in  factories    . 

Value  of  production 

Value  per  capita  of  production 

Total  value  of  industrial  pro- 
duction per  square  mile. 

Number  of  unemployed,  1903. 


Victoria. 


146,233 

64,871 

79,048 

£20,406,841 

4.151 

534>049 

44.64 
662,355 

55-36 

73.229 

£9,368,000 

£7  14  II 

£355    6    8 
16,422 


N.S.  Wales. 


146,688 

66,299 

77,664 

£19,396,504 

3.476 

564.799 

4176 
787,800 

58-24 

65.633 
£9,600,000 

£6  14  II 

£131    o    2 
24.403 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  189 

It  is  apparent,  then,  that  Protectionist  Victoria 
has  a  larger  proportion  of  her  population  employed 
in  industrial  pursuits  than  New  South  Wales ; 
that,  relatively  speaking,  a  much  greater  percentage 
of  her  people  are  breadwinners  and  a  lesser  per- 
centage are  dependents  ;  and  that  her  industrial 
production  is  almost  equal  in  volume  and  value, 
and  much  larger  in  proportion  to  population.  It 
may  further  be  observed  that  Victoria  has  a  pro- 
nounced superiority  in  regard  to  diversity  of  trade. 
Mr.  Coghlan  remarks  on  this  head,  in  his  Seven 
Colonies  (p.  268) :  '*  The  Colony  of  Victoria  is  of 
all  the  Colonies  the  possessor  of  the  most  varied 
classes  of  industries." 

5.    Accumulated  Wealth. 

This  test  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  all ; 
for,  to  a  very  large  extent,  it  epitomizes  and  re-tests 
the  results  of  those  preceding.  I  have  shown  that 
Victoria  has  more  people  to  the  square  mile  than 
New  South  Wales,  that  she  has  a  greater  agricultural 
and  a  more  extended  system  of  manufactures. 
I  have  also  shown  that  the  landed  area  of  New 
South  Wales  is  almost  four  times  greater  than  that 
of  Victoria  and  that  New  South  Wales  possesses 
overwhelmingly  greater  and  more  valuable  mining 
and  pastoral  resources.  Let  us  now  inquire  which 
State  possesses  the  more  opulent  inhabitants.  The 
following  table  will  make  this  clear  : — 


igo 


DAVID  SYME 


Wealth. 


Victoria. 


N.S.  Wales. 


Value  of  land  privately  owned 

1903 

Value  per  capita,  1903. 
Value    of    property    privately 

owned,  1903    .... 
Value  per  capita,  1903. 
Total  deposits  in  banks,  1903 
Amount  of  deposits  per  capita 

1903 

Friendly  society  funds,  1903 
Average  amount  of  funds  per 

member 

Public  debt,  1903    . 

„      per  capita,  1903 


£126,078,000 
£104 

£332,210,680 

£275 
£4i>77i,779 

£34    12    8 
£1,364,290 

£13  6  7 
£53,749-738 
£42    19    4 


£136,417,000 
£94 

£346,651,320 

£241 
£45,488,330 

£31    9    3 
£802,609 

£8    6    I 

£80,970,961 

£55    7    2 


To  remark  on  these  figures  would  be  superfluous  : 
they  explain  themselves. 

6.    Diffusion  of  Wealth. 

In  Australia  and  New  Zealand  1903-4  (p.  517) 
Mr.  Coghlan  remarks  : — "  Victoria  has  the  widest 
diffusion  of  wealth  of  the  Individual  States.''  The 
great  aims  of  Protection  in  fostering  varied  indus- 
tries are  to  provide  diversified  pursuits  for  a  diver- 
sity of  talents  ;  to  stimulate  the  widest  variety  of 
domestic  production ;  to  distribute  over  as  wide 
a  human  area  as  possible  the  general  stock  of  acquired 
wealth  ;  and  thereby  to  lead  to  the  highest  develop- 
ment of  men  in  community.  Mr.  Coghlan's  quoted 
sentence,  therefore,  affords  an  eloquent  testimony 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  191 

to  the  virtue  of  the  poHcy  which  David  Syme  devoted 
so  much  time  and  labour  to  induce  his  country  to 
adopt.     But  let  us  proceed  to  the  figures  : — 


Diffusion  of  Wealth. 

Victoria. 

N.  S.  Wales. 

Number  of  estates   for  eight 

years  ending  1903     . 

29.524 

20,092 

Value  of  estates 

£51,154.370 

£48.360,869 

Proportion  of  estates  per  100 

deaths  of  population 

24-55% 

16.690/, 

Proportion  of  estates  per  100 

adult  males 

64-1% 

46-1% 

Proportion  of  estates  per  100 

adult  females 

37-0% 

27-9% 

Number  of  adults  possessing 

property    sufficiently    large 

to  be  made  the  subject 

of  specific  bequest  and  sub- 

ject to  stamp  duties,  1903    . 

230,000 

193,000 

Percentage  which  total  incomes 

bear  to  value  of  production . 

173-5 

158-2 

Number    of      depositors      in 

Savings  Banks,  1903 

432,867 

331.956 

Average   amount   of   deposits 

per  capita 

;£8i5     5 

£812    5 

Depositors  per  100  of  popula- 

tion       

36 

23 

7.    Cost  of  Living. 

Unfortunately  there  are  no  trustworthy  statistics 
available  to  institute  an  exact  comparison  between 
the  cost  of  living  in  Victoria  and  New  South  Wales 
for  the  year  1903,  for  Mr.   Coghlan  neglected  to 


192 


DAVID  SYME 


bring  these  figures  to  date  in  his  latest  pubHcation. 
But  in  his  Seven  Colonies  he  remarks  : — **  The  con- 
ditions of  Ufe  and  the  standard  of  hving  are  much 
the  same  in  all  the  Colonies/'  and  he  then  gives  the 
following  table,  showing  all  Protectionist  Australia 
under  one  head;  and  Free  Trade  in  New  South 
Wales  under  the  other  : — 


Divisions  of  Expenditure. 


N.S.  Wales. 


The  Protec- 
tionist States 
of  Australia. 


Food  and  non-alcoholic  beverages. 
Fermented  and  spirituous  liquors  . 

Tobacco     

Clothing  and  drapery     .... 

Furniture 

Rent  at  value  of  buildings  used  as 

dwellings 

Locomotion 

Fuel  and  light 

Personal  attendance,  services  and 

lodging 

Medical  attendance,  medicine  and 

nursing 

Religion,  charities  and  education  . 
Art  and  amusement        .... 

Books,  newspapers,  etc 

Postage  and  telegrams  .... 
Direct  taxes  not  falling  on  trade  . 
Household  expenses  not  elsewhere 

included 

Miscellaneous  expenses  .... 


£    s,  d. 

13  15   2 

342 

O   16   ID 

5  10    3 

0  II     o 

4    8  10 

1  7    5 
I  10    I 

I  17    5 


3 

14 
17 
12 

4 
II 


I  II 
0  19 


Total     i  £39  14  II 


£     s.    d. 

12  15  II 

2  19    8 

o  15  7 
527 

0  10    3 

427 
156 
181 

1  14  10 


I  I  9 
o  13  6 
o  15  II 
o  II  6 
042 

0  10    6 

1  8  10 
o  18    3 


£36  19    5 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  193 

Than  this  there  could  not  be  a  more  triumphant 
vindication  of  the  poHcy  of  Protection.  Mr.  Coghlan, 
the  Cobdenist  Statist  of  the  Free  Trade  State, 
first  admits  that  the  standard  of  hving  is  the  same 
in  all  the  States  and  then  he  confesses  (to  the  con- 
fusion of  the  economic  doctrine  he  holds)  that  under 
Free  Trade  the  people  of  New  South  Wales  consume 
less  food,  less  drink  and  lodge  in  inferior  houses 
than  the  citizens  of  the  Protectionist  States ;  that 
it  cost  them  19s.  sd.  per  head  more  for  their  less 
food ;  4s.  6d,  per  head  more  for  their  less  drink  ; 
and  IS.  id.  more  for  their  charity  and  education. 
These  figures  prove  beyond  dispute  that  while  the 
standard  of  living  is  equal  throughout  Australia, 
the  cost  of  that  standard  was  less  by  £2  15s.  6d,  under 
Protection  than  under  Free  Trade,  and  that  the 
New  South  Wales  house-father  was  taxed  to  that 
amount  for  the  privilege  of  living  under  an  importing 
rSgime  rather  than  buy  the  products  of  his  own 
fellow-citizens. 

To  sum  up  : — 

1.  It  has  been  shown  that  all  the  institutions 

which  give  comfort  and  stability  to  so- 
ciety have  received  greater  Ufe  and  greater 
vigour  of  development  under  Protection  in 
Victoria  than  under  Free  Trade  in  New 
South  Wales. 

2.  It  has  been  shown  that  Protectionist  Victoria 

is  a  more  educated  and  more  enlightened 
State  than  her  Free  Trade  neighbour. 


194  DAVID  SYME 

3.  It  has  been  shown  that  Protection  has  given 

Victoria  an  incomparably  greater  density 
of  population  than  Free  Trade  has  given 
New  South  Wales. 

4.  It  has  been  shown  that,  in  all  the  industries, 

except  mining  and  pasture,  which  are  inde- 
pendent of  Protection,  Victoria  has  made 
enormous  progress  under  Protection  and 
far  outstripped  her  Free  Trade  neigh- 
bour. 

5.  It  has  been  shown  that  Victorian  citizens  have 

accumulated  more  wealth  under  Protec- 
tion than  New  South  Wales  citizens  under 
Free  Trade. 

6.  It  has  been  shown  that  Victoria  has  the  widest 

diffusion  of  wealth  of  all  the  States  of  the 
Commonwealth. 

7.  It  has  been  shown  that  the  cost  of  living  up 

to  the  date  of  Federation  was  less  in  Victoria 
than  in  New  South  Wales. 

Here,  then,  is  the  answer  to  the  question  pro- 
pounded at  the  beginning  of  the  chapter.  Experi- 
ence has  demonstrated  that  David  Syme  was  a  true 
prophet  and  has  amply  justified  his  life  work.  He 
gave  Protection  to  Victoria.  Some  say  he  forced 
the  gift  upon  his  fellow  citizens.  That  may  be, 
but  the  gift  was  worthy  of  acceptance,  and  the 
proof  is  in  the  fact  that  it  has  made  Victoria  the 
richest,  the  most  populous,  the  busiest,  and  conse- 


Corner      of     Collins     a 

(By    Permission    of    J      A.    Sears 


Zlizabeth     Streets. 

ollins  Street,    Melbourne.) 


[Page  194 


EFFECTS  OF  PROTECTION  IN  VICTORIA  195 

quently,  the  happiest  of  the  Australian  States. 
These  are  truths  which  are  too  self-evident  for  the 
most  ingenious  investigator,  however  partisan  his 
feelings,  to  deny. 


CHAPTER   X 
The   Struggle   against   Extravagance 

The  growth  of  extravagance — Land  speculations — Causes  of 
the  "  Boom  "—Methods  of  the  "  boomsters  "—Folly  of  the 
Banks — The  demoralization  of  Parliament — Log-rolling — 
Railway  spendthriftism — Colony  hurrying  to  its  ruin — 
David  S5rme  resolves  to  save  it — The  magnitude  of  the  task 
— He  attacks  the  Government  and  vigorously  assails  Railway 
Administration — Execrated  by  the  whole  country  but  con- 
tinues his  task — Forces  people  to  stop  and  think — The  Boom 
bursts — Government  hurled  from  office — Parliament  dis- 
misses the  Railway  Commissioners — Mr.  Speight  brings 
Libel  Action  against  David  Syme  claiming  3^25,000  damages 
— ^The  greatest  libel  action  of  modern  times — Offers  of  com- 
promise— David  Syme's  reply — ^Tributes  paid  to  his  public 
services  by  Mr.  Purves,  K.C.,  and  Mr.' Alfred  Deakin — 
Turner's  History  of  Victoria — The  benefits  to  Victoria  of 
the  struggle — The  cost  to  Mr.  Syme — The  aftermath  of  the 
Boom — ^Victoria's  wonderful  recovery. 

From  the  advent  of  Protection  until  about  the 
year  i887the  history  of  the  administration  of  Victoria 
was  associated  with  prudence,  economy  and  cir- 
cumspection. The  Colony  by  that  time  had  ad- 
vanced, under  the  stimulus  of  the  new  fiscal  system, 
in  progress  and  prosperity  beyond  the  other  Austra- 
lian States ;  so  greatly,  indeed,  that  Victorian 
citizens  began  to  lose  their  caution.  There  followed 
an  era  of  extravagance. 

196 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   197 

Everybody  wanted  to  grow  suddenly  rich.  The 
people  plunged  into  the  wildest  gambHng.  High 
and  low,  rich  and  poor,  indulged  in  a  spirit  of 
emulative  speculation  and  expenditure  never 
paralleled  in  any  community  of  Victoria's  size, 
importance  and  population.  The  whole  country 
seemed  to  have  been  smitten  with  a  sort  of  frenzy. 
Economy  was  denounced  as  parsimony,  and  no 
man  dared  to  raise  his  voice  in  warning  lest  he  should 
be  accused  of  wanting  faith  in  the  grand  future 
which  the  lavish  present  seemed  to  promise.  Par- 
liament and  the  constituencies  were  equally  de- 
moralized. Each  man  in  the  electorates  urged 
upon  his  representative  in  ParUament  the  duty 
of  obtaining  some  advantage  from  the  general 
community  in  favour  of  some  particular  person 
or  district.  In  a  few  years  the  Civil  Service  swelled 
so  enormously  that  by  1890  there  were  32,000 
public  servants  drawing  salaries  aggregating 
£3,500,000  ;  and  one  in  every  thirty-two  of  the  entire 
population  was  in  receipt  of  Government  pay. 

Parliament,  with  a  swelling  revenue,  acquired 
the  ambition  to  live  beyond  it.  It  borrowed 
enormous  sums  from  abroad  and  scattered  largesse 
broadcast.  It  voted  itself  high  fees.  It  spent 
hundreds  of  thousands  on  an  Exhibition ;  and 
in  other  ways  reflected  and  even  rivalled  the  pro- 
digal expenditure  of  the  community.  Large  for- 
tunes had  been  made  by  Victorian  citizens  in  the 
Broken  Hill  Silver  Mines  and  the  tin,  gold,  and 


198  DAVID   SYME 

copper  mines  of  Tasmania.  Still  bigger  fortunes 
had  been  suddenly  amassed  by  bold  operations 
in  the  Stock  Exchange,  in  city  properties  and 
real  estate.  The  fever  was  in  men's  blood.  It 
permeated  every  stratum  of  society.  New  com- 
panies were  floated  every  week.  The  transactions 
on  the  Stock  Exchange  often  exceeded  £2,000,000 
a  day.  Everybody  had  money  to  spend  and  spent 
it  without  heed  for  the  morrow.  There  was  no 
comer  in  the  wide  domain  of  finance  that  specu- 
lative companies  did  not  invade  ;  and  the  keen 
competition  of  their  methods  induced  the  estab- 
lished banks  and  building  societies  to  follow  suit. 

Those  companies  assumed  the  most  multifarious 
combinations,  from  the  genuine  land  mortgage 
bank  to  the  share  investment  trust ;  and  by  en- 
abling the  poorest  men  to  buy  their  shares  and 
participate  in  large  dividends  they  were  material 
factors  in  the  growth  of  speculation  and  expen- 
diture. There  was  a  perfect  carnival  of  spend- 
thriftism  and  luxurious  living.  Trade  thereby 
acquired  an  artificial  stimulus.  Houses,  cottages 
and  splendid  villas  embellished  with  all  the  decor- 
ations purchasable  by  money,  sprang  up  like 
mushrooms  everywhere.  Men  who  yesterday  were 
paupers,  to-day  built  themselves  mansions  and 
surrounded  themselves  with  retinues  of  servants. 
The  most  pessimistic  persons  dreamed  roseate 
dreams  and  would  not  believe  that  the  omnipresent 
marvellous  prosperity  they  saw  around  them  could 


STRUGGLE   AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE    199 

be  impermanent.  Years  passed,  yet  the  prosperity 
only  seemed  to  increase  ;  and  ever  the  gambhng 
mania  grew.  At  length  Parliament  threw  off  all 
the  shackles  of  common  sense  and,  spurred  on 
by  the  electorates,  began  to  construct  a  chain  of 
non-paying  railways  all  over  the  land,  and  to 
connect  almost  every  little  village  with  the  metro- 
polis. 

There  were  so  many  contributing  causes  to  the 
*'  Boom,"  as  this  wild  era  of  extravagance  came 
afterwards  to  be  called,  that  it  would  be  difficult 
precisely  to  locate  its  origin.  It  is  indisputable, 
however,  that  it  could  not  have  started  but  for 
the  financial  recklessness  of  the  Government.  This 
occasioned  an  inflow  of  population,  especially  from 
neighbouring  Colonies,  greater  than  private  enter- 
prise could  readily  absorb  in  permanently  repro- 
ductive industries ;  and,  in  consequence,  the 
Government  was  induced  to  heap  extravagance 
upon  extravagance  and  to  begin  a  great  number 
of  public  works  (many  of  which  proved  quite  un- 
productive and  useless)  in  order  to  open  up  the 
country  for  industrial  development.  There  were, 
besides,  immense  importations  of  private  capital 
into  the  Colony  for  investment.  During  the  five 
Boom  years,  1886  to  1890,  the  prodigious  sum 
of  £31,500,000  (Coghlan's  Seven  Colonies,  p.  416) 
of  private  capital  was  introduced  into  the  State  ; 
and  when  we  remember  that  the  pubHc  borrowings 
in  the  same  period  exceeded  £19,000,000  it  will 

0 


200  DAVID  SYME 

be    the   easier    to    comprehend    the   extraordinary 
supervening  inflation. 

Every  branch  of  industry  was  affected.  The 
local  capitalists  and  those  persons  entrusted  with 
the  disposition  of  foreign  capital  were  equally 
desirous  of  investing  the  money  in  their  coffers. 
But  while  there  was  money  in  plenty  investments 
were  at  first  limited  in  numbers,  and  hence  the 
price  of  land  went  up  with  a  run.  There  followed 
a  sympathetic  rise  in  rent  and  wages,  and  very 
soon  everybody  had  money  to  spend  and  appeared 
to  be  extremely  prosperous.  These  were  condi- 
tions eminently  favourable  for  the  operations  of 
financial  adventurers.  The  opportunity  evolved 
such  sharks,  first  in  scores,  later  in  hundreds. 
Jobbers,  company  -  promoters  and  exploiters  of 
all  sorts  and  classes  appeared  as  though  by  magic. 
They  mostly  hit  upon  land-dealing  as  a  means 
of  enriching  themselves.  It  was  the  simplest  and 
readiest  instrument  to  their  hands  ;  for  land  was 
universally  desired  and  was  steadily  increasing 
in  value  under  the  competition  of  legitimate  in- 
vestors. Moreover,  it  was  easy  for  them  to  per- 
suade men  who  would  have  scorned  to  gamble, 
under  that  name  (always  a  majority  in  any  com- 
munity), that  to  make  a  profit  on  a  land  trans- 
action of  purchase  and  sale  was  not  speculation 
but  business. 

Once  the  ball  started  rolling  the  whole  country 
was  speedily  engaged  in  buying  and  selling  land. 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   201 

The  process  varied  in  details  but,  generally  speaking, 
was  carried  out  on  fixed  principles,  of  which  the 
following  will  afford  an  illustration.  A  certain 
man,  whom  we  shall  call  A,  some  time  before  the 
Boom  had  bought  a  few  acres  of  land  in  the  en- 
virons of  Melbourne  for  £5,000.  Then  came  the 
Boom  and  one  day  he  awoke  to  find  his  estate 
worth  (on  paper),  at  market  rates,  £10,000.  Per- 
haps he  did  not  desire  to  sell,  but  he  was  not  allowed 
to  remain  without  tempting  offers,  and  presently 
he  was  prevailed  on  by  a  speculator  to  part  with 
his  holding  for  £12,000.  The  purchaser  B,  of 
course,  had  only  bought  it  to  sell  again.  B,  in 
his  turn,  was  soon  approached  by  C,  a  jobbing 
syndicate  of  four  or  five  persons.  They  bought 
the  land  from  B  for  £15,000  ;  of  which  sum  they 
paid  him  £5,000  in  cash  and  gave  him  bills  for 
the   balance. 

C  next  sold  the  land  to  a  Land  Company  D 
which  paid  C  £20,000 — £6,000  in  cash,  the  balance 
in  bills.  As  yet  nothing  had  been  done  to  improve 
the  land,  and  it  was  still  in  its  primeval  state.  D 
soon  discovered  that  it  had  bought  at  the  top 
price  and  that  it  must  do  something  in  order  to 
make  a  profit.  It  accordingly  turned  over  the 
land  on  credit  to  E,  another  company,  whose 
particular  business  it  was  to  subdivide  estates 
and  sell  to  small  investors.  There  followed  a 
land  sale. 

On  a  certain  day  a  number  of  buyers  were  col- 


20^  DAVID  SYME 

lected  by  the  auctioneers  on  the  land.  There 
was  a  tent  with  free  refreshments,  soHd  and  Uquid, 
for  the  entertainment  of  the  crowd  and  a  brass 
band  to  supply  music.  Within  an  hour  the  auction 
sale  was  over  and  the  whole  estate  had  been  parcelled 
out  among  small  speculators  at  prices  ranging 
from  £5  to  £30  a  foot.  But  not  even  here  did 
the  game  end.  The  small  speculators  could  only 
pay  down  a  part  of  the  purchase  price ;  and  to 
obtain  the  balance  (credit  was  cheap)  they  went 
to  the  investment  companies  and  building  societies, 
which  not  only  negotiated  with  the  Land  Sale 
Company  for  their  titles  but  ran  up  buildings  for 
them  (on  credit)  on  the  various  allotments,  and 
presently  transformed  what  had  been  a  wilderness 
into  an  apparently  thriving  suburb.  It  will 
have  been  remarked  that  all  these  various  ex- 
changes, save  the  first,  were  partly  or  wholly  on 
a  paper  or  credit  basis  ;  and  that  the  ultimate 
responsibiUty  of  liquidation  was  imposed  on  the 
shoulders  of  the  final  purchasers. 

There  were  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  almost 
exactly  similar  transactions,  and  they  all  rested 
on  the  same  foundation — the  ability  of  the  small 
men  who  had  bought  the  small  allotments  to  meet 
their  engagements.  This  ability  in  its  turn  de- 
pended on  the  indefinite  prolongation  of  the  Boom 
and  the  maintenance  of  the  high  wages  the  Boom 
had  caused.  The  whole  thing  was  a  house  of 
cards.     It  only  needed  a  check  in  the  importation 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE  203 

of  foreign  capital  or  a  cessation  of  the  inflow  of 
population  for  the  airy  edifice  to  tumble  down. 
This  disaster  was  expedited  by  the  big  jobbers. 
Not  satisfied  with  the  sort  of  dealing  illustrated 
above — which,  although  flagrantly  unsound  financ- 
ing, was  nevertheless  within  the  pale  of  the 
law — and  not  content  to  grow  reasonably  rich, 
they  aspired  to  become  millionaires  by  illicit 
operations. 

Many  of  them  were  men  of  high  social  position, 
members  of  the  Legislature  and  dignitaries  of 
State.  All  of  them  were  directors  of  some  Land 
Company,  Bank,  or  Building  Society.  These  in- 
stitutions were  interwoven  in  the  most  curious 
ways.  Many  had  the  same  directors.  The 
directors  began  to  lend  to  themselves  and  to  each 
other  large  sums  for  purposes  of  speculation  without 
adequate  security.  They  also  began  to  pay  dividends 
to  their  shareholders,  not  out  of  the  profits  (which 
were  mostly  on  paper)  but  out  of  the  capital 
invested.  The  old-established  Banks  (the  head 
offices  of  most  of  which  were  in  London  and  which 
mostly  dealt  in  foreign  capital)  do  not  seem  to 
have  been  aware  of  these  indefensible  proceed- 
ings, but  nothing  can  absolve  them  from  the  charge 
of  insanely  reckless  conduct.  Instead  of  combining 
to  arrest  the  public  fever  of  speculation  they  entered 
the  swim  with  the  land-jobbing  institutions  and, 
by  their  loose  actions  in  competing  for  business 
with    the    latter,    they    positively    encouraged    it. 


204  DAVID  SYME 

They  appeared  to  care  for  nothing  except  to  lend 
out  their  money.  They  financed  the  big  jobbers 
beyond  all  reason,  advanced  vast  sums,  up  to 
and  often  beyond  the  limit  of  value  of  the  land 
and  notes  of  hand  offered  in  pledge,  and  in  divers 
other  ways  assisted  to  inflate  values  and  at  the 
same  time  to  promote  in  the  body  politic  a  false 
sense  of  security.  But  for  them  the  Boom  would 
have  burst  long  before  it  did.  The  banks  fore- 
saw the  crash  but,  upheld  by  a  vain  Micawber- 
like  hope  of  something  turning  up,  they  stood 
shoulder  to  shoulder  to  postpone  the  day  of  reckon- 
ing, meanwhile  bolstering  up  with  credit  the  jobbers 
who  had  drawn  them  into  the  whirlpool. 

As  a  direct  result  of  their  folly  the  Boom  acquired 
fresh  life.  Land  in  and  around  Melbourne,  having 
attained  to  values  beyond  which  further  efforts 
at  appreciation  could  not  force  it,  the  jobbers 
went  farther  afield  and  began  dealing  in  country 
properties.  Their  favourite  plan  was  to  pick  out 
some  Ukely  locality  for  a  settlement,  buy  up  land 
for  a  song,  and  then  persuade  the  Government 
to  attach  the  district  by  a  railway  to  the  metro- 
polis, so  that  they  might  seize  the  increment  pro- 
duced by  the  building  of  the  line  and  sell  out  at 
a  profit. 

The  Government,  deeply  infected  with  the  finan- 
cial malaise  of  the  community,  was  only  too  easily 
persuaded,  and  railways  began  to  be  constructed 
here,    there    and    everywhere.     It    was    the    duty 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   205 

of  the  Railway  Commissioners,  whose  voice  in 
such  matters  was  wellnigh  supreme  (for  they 
were  statutorily  independent  of  Parliament  and 
patronage),  to  have  vetoed  the  great  majority 
of  these  projects.  But  they  neglected  their 
duty. 

The  Chief  Commissioner,  Mr.  Richard  Speight, 
was  a  man  of  experience  and  skill  and  of  unques- 
tionable personal  probity  in  railway  management, 
which  he  acquired  in  England  as  an  officer  of  the 
Midland  Railway  Company.  But  he  was  not  a 
statesman,  and  the  jobbers  succeeded  in  convinc- 
ing him  that  the  prosperity  was  stable  and  that 
his  proper  course  was  to  embark  on  a  career  of 
railway  construction.  Indeed  they  succeeded  so 
well,  that,  when  an  expenditure  on  new  railways 
amounting  to  £41,000,000  was  proposed  and  Mr. 
Speight  was  asked  by  the  Government  for  his 
advice,  he  declared  that  in  his  opinion  the  entire 
expenditure  was  advisable. 

Fortunately  there  was  at  least  one  man  who 
preserved  his  senses  in  this  seething  cauldron  of 
gambling,  and  that  was  David  Syme.  Parliament 
was  disorganized  ;  the  constituencies,  were  lunatic  ; 
the  country  was  racing  headlong  to  ruin.  Syme 
thought  the  matter  out  and  conceived  it  to  be 
his  duty  to  stand  between  the  frenzied  people  and 
the  precipice  towards  which  they  were  rushing. 

In  order  to  do  this  Syme  had  to  oppose  the 
citizens,    the   constituencies,  and   Parliament.     He 


2o6  DAVID  SYME 

had  to  reckon  not  only  with  a  fever-smitten  popu- 
lace. The  whole  Civil  Service  was  ranged  against 
him,  and  he  knew  that  he  would  also  have  to 
combat  the  embittered  forces  of  his  oft-defeated 
political  enemies.  But  David  Syme  was  in  the 
truest  sense  a  patriot,  and  was  not  to  be  deterred 
by  fear  or  disadvantage  from  doing  his  duty  as 
he  saw  it.  He  prepared  and  published  a  series 
of  articles  in  The  Age  that  were  destined  to  bring 
the  nation  to  a  pause  in  its  calamitous  career. 
The  father  of  the  Victorian  bar,  Mr.  J.  L.  Purves, 
K.C.,  at  a  later  date  thus  publicly  described  the 
series  : — *'  In  my  opinion  no  such  series  of  articles 
has  ever  been  published  in  any  daily  publication 
[in  Australia]  since  the  great  series  which  was  pub- 
lished in  regard  to  the  Reform  Bill.  They  are 
among  the  most  powerful  ever  written.  We  have 
never  had  such  another  series  published  in  Victoria. 
Never.  The  whole  of  the  articles  were  of  the 
highest  class  of  journalism.  They  pointed  out 
expenditure  that  was  utterly  unauthorized  from 
any  point  of  view.  The  most  sanguine  enthusiast 
among  the  general  public  could  never  have  ap- 
proved of  the  expenditure  referred  to  in  any  of 
those  articles  and  could  never  have  believed  that 
within  the  time  of  any  generation  in  which  we 
take  a  personal  interest  that  expenditure  would 
ever  be  of  any  value.  Mr.  Syme  pointed  that 
out.  He  also  pointed  out  that  the  result  to  the 
country    would    be    perfectly    ruinous.'*         These 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE  207 

articles  were  written   by  Mr.   G.   F.    H.   Schuler, 
afterwards  Editor  of  The  Age. 

The  first  few  of  the  series  provoked  a  storm  of 
pubhc  protest  directed  against  the  publisher.  He 
was  reviled  and  lampooned  in  Parliament,  on  the 
platform,  and  by  many  journals  in  the  Colony. 
David  Syme  made  no  reply  to  his  assailants,  but 
continued  to  pubhsh  the  articles.  He  showed  that 
the  Civil  Service  was  over-manned  and  overpaid, 
and  that  useless  public  works  were  being  carried 
out  with  lavish  and  appalling  recklessness.  He 
particularly  attacked  the  Railway  Department. 
He  charged  this  department  with  scandalous  mis- 
management and  the  wildest  squandering  of  public 
money.  He  impeached  the  policy  of  unneces- 
sary construction,  the  equipping  of  the  railways 
beyond  the  needs  of  the  districts  they  served, 
the  costliness  of  maintenance,  and  the  incapacity 
of  the  railway  administration. 

The  Ministry  of  the  day  had  just  introduced 
a  Bill  for  the  construction  of  1,677  miles  of  line 
at  a  cost  of  £14,712,663.  It  had  also  brought  in 
a  supplementary  list  of  other  lines,  at  the  instance 
of  private  members,  for  the  building  of  2,953  ad- 
ditional miles,  at  a  cost  of  £26,362,458.  The 
total  projected  expenditure  was,  therefore, 
£41,075,121.  The  whole  of  these  schemes  had 
received  the  approval  of  the  Chief  Railway  Com- 
missioner, Mr.  Richard  Speight,  and  his  colleagues. 
Syme    declared    that    the    introduction    of    these 


2o8  DAVID  SYME 

measures  proved  the  Government  unfit  to  hold 
office,  and  that  the  endorsement  of  the  schemes 
by  the  Commissioners  demonstrated  the  necessity 
of  their  dismissal  as  unfaithful  guardians  of  the 
public  interest. 

Long  before  the  series  was  concluded  the  storm 
of  vituperation  ceased.  The  community,  staggered 
by  The  Age's  stern  and  uncompromising  strictures, 
began  to  realize  the  abyss  of  ruin  towards  which 
it  had  been  furiously  hastening,  and  drew  up  startled 
and  trembling  on  the  brink.  Presently  conster- 
nation reigned  supreme.  The  bubble  was  pricked. 
The  Boom  was  about  to  burst.  Parliament  re- 
covered its  senses.  The  Government  responsible 
for  the  crisis  was  hurled  from  office  and,  com- 
pelled by  The  Age,  the  new  Government  began 
to  institute  reforms.  Early  in  1892  the  octopus 
Railway  Bills  were  laid  aside  and  the  Railway 
Commissioners  were  obliged  to  resign  from  the 
service.  A  Railway  Standing  Committee  was 
appointed  to  investigate  the  finances  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  department  and  it  immediately 
effected  an  annual  saving  of  ;f594,746,  by  cutting 
down  useless  and  wasteful  expenses  that  had  been 
authorized  by   the   Commissioners. 

But  while  all  this  was  doing  the  enemies  of 
David  Syme  had  not  been  idle.  Mr.  Speight, 
the  late  Chief  Commissioner,  mistakenly  assuming 
that  The  Age  had  attacked  him  personally  and 
not  the  system  of  which  he  had  been  the  adminis- 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   209 

trator,  determined  to  secure  redress  from  the  man 
who  had  occasioned  his  dismissal.  He  had  Parlia- 
ment, not  openly  but  secretly,  behind  him — the 
Parliament  which  in  reality  was  just  as  much 
responsible  as  he  for  the  railway  extravagances  ; 
and  as  well  as  his  friends  in  the  Legislature  he 
had  the  support  of  the  Free  Trade  interest,  and 
every  enemy  of  Liberalism,  Protection,  and  the 
democratic  sentiment  in  the  country.  These  men 
gathered  behind  Mr.  Speight  in  a  solid  phalanx 
and,  perceiving  an  opportunity  to  wreak  their 
vengeance  on  David  Syme  for  old  scores,  they 
opened  their  purses  and  provided  the  wherewithal 
to  ruin  Syme  and  destroy  The  Age. 

Mr.  Speight  issued  a  writ  against  David  Syme, 
claiming  £25,000  damages  for  Ubel,  and  then  en- 
sued the  greatest  libel  action  of  modern  times. 
This  may  seem  a  wide  assertion,  but  a  few  facts 
will  establish  the  fact  beyond  dispute  and  show 
the  nature  and  extent  of  the  battle.  The  articles 
which  had  caused  Mr.  Speight's  dismissal,  having 
assailed  the  largest  national  asset  and  enterprise 
possessed  and  directed  by  the  State,  brought  into 
court  for  discussion  details  of  a  technical  nature 
which  overspread  the  range  of  industrial  learning. 
The  instructions  for  brief  demanded  the  unweary- 
ing labour  of  scores  of  legal  and  other  experts 
for  many  months  before  they  could  be  presented 
in  abstract  form  ;  and  even  after  the  brief  was 
prepared   and   the   different   sources   of  investiga- 


210  DAVID  SYME 

tion  were  apparently  exhausted,  new  sources  con- 
stantly sprang  up  which  had  to  be  searchingly 
explored. 

It  was  a  colossal  undertaking  merely  to  marshal 
all  the  facts  and  place  them  in  an  intelligible  form 
for  judgment.  The  action  was  begun  on  the 
14th  of  March,  1892.  The  trial  began  on  the  ist 
of  June,  1893.  It  lasted  continuously  till  the 
loth  of  February,  1894.  It  may  be  said  with 
regard  to  other  long  trials,  such  as  the  Tichborne 
Case,  the  Pigott  trial,  and  the  trial  of  Queen  Caro- 
line, that  the  details  were  interesting  and  mastered 
with  comparative  ease.  But  in  Speight  v  Syme 
the  details  were  of  a  most  distractingly  technical 
nature,  and  so  voluminous  that  they  require^ 
enormous  assiduity  to  reduce  them  from  a  huge 
unformed  mass  to  something  comprehensible. 
There  were  no  fewer  than  1,003  exhibits,  and  the 
written  documents  produced  in  evidence  made  so 
huge  a  pile  that  they  entirely  obscured  from  view 
the  men  whose  business  it  was  to  number  them. 
There  were  108  witnesses  examined,  and  the  jury 
fees  alone  cost  Syme  ;f2,700. 

The  result  of  the  trial  was  unsatisfactory  (the 
jury  disagreed)  and  a  new  trial  was  applied  for. 
This  application  was  heard  on  the  2nd,  3rd,  4th 
and  5th  of  April,  1894,  and,  to  show  the  maze  of 
difficulties  with  which  Syme  had  to  contend,  it 
may  be  observed  that  while  the  application  was 
being  heard  in  one  court  a  second  trial  on  ten  un- 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE  211 

decided  issues  of  the  first  trial  began  in  another 
part  of  the  same  building ;  and,  furthermore, 
that  three  other  trials  were  simultaneously  pro- 
ceeding for  alleged  libels,  arising  out  of  the  historic 
series  of  articles,  brought  against  Syme  by  sub- 
ordinate railway  officials  who  had  shared  the  fate 
of  the  Commissioners. 

The  second  great  trial  lasted  105  days,  in  ad- 
dition to  the  94  days  of  the  first.  Ninety  new 
witnesses  were  examined  and  40  new  sets  of  papers, 
each  the  height  of  a  tall  man,  were  produced  in 
addition  to  the  1,003  exhibits  employed  in  the 
first  trial.  Syme^s  counsel  occupied  five  days  in 
his  opening  address  to  the  jury  and  another  five 
in  his  closing  statement.  Speight's  lawyers  spoke 
at  even  greater  length.  The  trial  concluded  on 
the  26th  of  September,  1894.  The  result  was  a 
triumphant  vindication  of  David  Syme.  He  was 
held  to  have  acted  within  his  rights  in  commenting 
upon  the  department,  and  all  his  charges  of  mis- 
management and  extravagance  were,  with  one 
single  exception,  sustained. 

But,  although  Mr.  Speight  got  no  damages 
and  The  Age  was  vindicated,  Syme  had  to  pay 
his  own  law  costs  to  the  tune  of  £50,000.  It  cost 
him  so  much  of  his  private  fortune  to  save  the 
State  from  ruin.  But  it  cost  him,  besides  money, 
three  long  years  of  worry  and  anxiety.  The  people 
knew  that  he  was  fighting  for  them,  and  they  often 
showed  him   marks  of  gratitude ;    but   did   they 


212  DAVID  SYME 

realize  the  magnitude  of  the  personal  interests 
he  had  at  stake,  interests  which,  with  almost 
unexampled  magnanimity,  he  hazarded  in  the 
service  of  his  countrymen  ? 

The  people  grew  tired  of  the  weary  trials,  sick 
of  reading  the  details  ;  and  yet  their  champion 
for  three  long  years  each  day  faced  the  fire  in 
a  spirit  of  unflagging  tenacity  and  self-sacrifice 
to  subordinate  his  interests  to  those  of  the  com- 
munity. Had  the  case  gone  against  him  David 
Syme  would  have  been  cast  in  ;f 25,000  damages 
and  at  least  £100,000  in  costs  ;  and  the  two  other 
Commissioners,  who  had  been  dismissed  with  Mr. 
Speight,  would  have  instantly  preferred  similar 
suits.  That  was  the  prospect  before  him  through- 
out those  wearing  years. 

Yet  all  those  sufferings,  perils,  and  anxieties  he 
might  easily  have  evaded.  Shortly  after  the 
actions  had  begun  the  Minister  of  Railways,  a 
personal  friend  of  Speight,  desired  to  reappoint 
him  in  a  subordinate  capacity  to  the  Railway 
Service,  and  sent  a  message  to  Syme  offering,  if 
he  would  merely  refrain  from  condemning  the 
proposed  appointment  in  The  Age,  to  compromise 
and  settle  the  actions  on  the  most  advantageous 
terms.  But  the  man  who  had  twice  already  risked 
his  fortune  and  future  in  opposing  bad  govern- 
ment for  the  sake  of  a  principle,  was  not  to  be 
bought.  David  Syme's  written  answer  to  the 
request   was  published  at   a  later   date.     It  is  a 


David    Syme,    1880. 


[Page  212 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   213 

message  that  deserves  to  be  engraven  in  the  annals 
of  his  country. 

*'  My  answer  is/*  said  David  Syme,  *'  I  cannot 
see  my  way  to  do  so  with  honour.  I  cannot  with- 
draw even  by  inference  what  I  beheve  to  be  true. 
I  cannot  stand  aside  and  allow  a  certain  course 
to  be  taken  which  I  beheve  would  be  prejudicial 
to  the  interests  of  the  country.  Having  nothing 
to  retract,  nothing  to  explain  away,  there  is  nothing 
for  me  to  do  but  let  things  take  their  course.  I 
also  feel  that  the  matter  does  not  concern  myself 
alone.  I  entertain  the  idea,  preposterous  as  it 
may  seem  to  some  people,  that  I  am  to  some  extent 
in  a  position  of  trust ;  that  I  have  to  see  to  it 
that  the  country  shall  not  lose  the  benefits  of  the 
reforms  already  accomphshed  in  the  Railway 
department." 

Those  words  in  the  circumstances  which  evoked 
them  should  procure  for  David  Syme  the  death- 
less gratitude  of  the  people  of  Victoria.  They 
more  than  justify  the  commentary  pronounced 
on  him  at  a  public  ceremony  by  Mr.  Purves  : — 
"  Gentlemen,  if  ever  a  patriot  struck  true  metal 
David  Syme  did  in  this.  He  is  a  Protectionist. 
I  am  a  Free  Trader.  He  is  a  loyal  Liberal,  I  am 
supposed  to  be  a  Conservative.  Yet  I  say  that 
when  the  history  of  this  Colony  comes  to  be  written 
one  of  the  finest  of  its  pages  will  be  the  one  which 
describes  how  the  community,  stricken  with  a 
summer  madness,   was  awakened  to  appreciation 


214  DAVID  SYME 

of  the  danger  into  which  it  was  drifting  by  the 
quiet,  upright,  self-sacrificing  man  who  succeeded 
in  stirring  the  pubhc  up  to  put  forth  the  effort 
required  to  reduce  Government  expenditure  with- 
in the  State  income.  And  the  position  he  took  up 
afterwards  !  Through  you,  gentlemen,  I  hope  that 
the  knowledge  of  that  position  may  be  spread 
throughout  Victoria,  so  that  those  hitherto  ignorant 
of  the  facts  may  feel  that  gratitude  towards  him 
which,  as  a  citizen,  I  feel.  Have  a  thought  of  the 
terrible  time  Mr.  Syme  has  been  through  these  four 
years  !  You  know  in  your  private  and  personal 
experience  what  a  dreadful  feeling  you  have 
when  you  go  to  your  homes  and  see  around  you 
your  wives  and  children  and  think  of  the  moneys 
you  have  lost  which  ought  to  have  been  theirs 
and  what  would  be  their  fate  if  you  were  suddenly 
withdrawn  from  the  centre  of  action.  Mr.  Syme 
has  felt  that  wretched  feeling  long  drawn  out. 
He  has  endured  it  for  the  sake  of  the  people,  you, 
me,  each  and  all  of  us.  The  time  he  has  gone 
through  has  been  one  of  awful  misery  to  him. 
I  can  say  no  more." 

Alfred  Deakin,  afterwards  Prime  Minister  of 
the  Commonwealth,  remarked  on  the  same  occa- 
sion : — ''  The  first  insight  I  gained  into  the  true 
condition  of  the  Railway  affairs  was  acquired  by 
reading  The  Age  articles.  The  Ministry  to  which 
I  belonged  also  first  awoke  to  the  threatening 
prospects   of   the   future   through   what   was   said 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE   215 

in  those  articles.  Prior  to  their  appearance  my 
position  was  that  of  thousands  of  others  in  the 
community,  none  of  us  aware  of  the  abyss  which 
the  whole  Colony  was  approaching.  Taken  as 
a  whole  those  articles,  after  being  subjected  to 
the  test  of  legal  proof,  proved  to  be  monumental 
in  evidence  of  the  good  sense  and  accuracy  of 
David  Syme's  journalism.  The  contest  which  Mr. 
Syme  had  been  fighting  has  been  represented  as 
unequal  because  on  the  one  side  was  a  private 
citizen  and  on  the  other  a  man  having  at  his  back 
the  resources  of  a  powerful  newspaper.  But  if 
there  was  any  unfairness,  Mr.  Syme  is  really  the 
man  to  be  pitied  ;  for  he  had  to  face  Mr.  Speight 
as  a  poor  man  and  a  private  citizen,  but  Mr.  Speight 
was  supported  by  a  faction  and  a  cause.  I  venture 
to  say  that  if  Mr.  Speight  alone  had  been  Mr. 
Syme*s  antagonist  and  Mr.  Speight^s  personal 
claims  alone  had  been  in  question,  the  litigation 
would  have  been  quickly  finished  at  a  cost  of  less 
than  a  tithe  of  the  money  that  has  been  expended. 
But  as  a  matter  of  fact  the  action  *  Speight  v. 
Syme '  was  seized  upon  by  every  enemy  of  The 
Age  and  its  policy  and  every  enemy  of  Liberalism 
in  this  country  as  an  opportunity  for  vengeance. 
They  thought  it  afforded  them  the  chance  of  ruin- 
ing Mr.  Syme,  or,  at  least,  in  a  course  of  years 
to  cause  him  to  spend  most  of  his  private  fortune, 
thus  crippling  the  principal  organ  of  Liberalism 
and  in  fact  the  Liberal  party  itself.     It  will  stand 

R 


2i6  DAVID  SYME 

in  history  that  Mr.  Syme  in  this  case  had  to  fight 
a  faction   concealed  behind  Mr.   Speight,   striving 
to   wreak  its  vengeance   on   him   for   causes  not 
necessary  to  particularize/' 

Such  was  the  public  testimony,  borne  by  two 
notable  publicists  some  months  after  the  termin- 
ation of  the  trials,  to  David  Syme's  great  services 
to  the  country  ;  in  the  one  case  by  a  political 
opponent  and  in  the  other  by  a  political  supporter 
of  The  Age's  pohcy.  They  both  spoke  of  the  place 
that  Syme  would  occupy  in  history.  What  will 
be  thought  when  I  inform  my  readers  that  in  less 
than  ten  years  after  those  words  were  spoken  an 
official  history  of  Victoria  was  compiled  and  pub- 
lished by  Mr.  H.  G.  Turner — a  work  that  is  usually 
accepted  as  the  standard  history  of  the  State — 
which  not  only  ignored  David  Syme's  existence 
and  suppressed  all  mention  of  the  great  railway 
trials,  but  actually  inferentially  ascribed  to  the 
Conservative  party  (which  subsidized  Mr.  Speight 
to  fight  David  Syme)  the  credit  of  Victoria's 
awakening  from  its  debauch  of  extravagance  and 
its  return  to  the  paths  of  economy  and  common 
sense  ? 

The  consequences  of  the  Speight  v,  Syme  actions 
may  be  briefly  summed  up.  The  country  was 
saved  an  expenditure  of  more  than  ^^41,000,000 
on  useless  railways,  not  one  of  which  has  been 
since  constructed,  or  is  likely  to  be  for  decades 
still  to  come ;    economies  were  instituted  in  rail- 


STRUGGLE  AGAINST  EXTRAVAGANCE  217 

way  administration  amounting  to  several  hundreds 
of  thousands  per  annum;  and  David  Syme  lost 
;f50,ooo.  Syme,  however,  was  enabled  to  sur- 
mount this  immense  expense  by  the  enormous 
accession  of  popular  esteem  his  paper  gained 
through  his  indomitable  championship  of  the 
pubhc  interest,  and  thenceforward  The  Age  pursued 
an   increasingly   prosperous   career. 

The  Boom  burst  while  the  trials  were  proceeding. 
Syme's  attack  on  the  railways  had  rendered  this 
inevitable,  for  it  had  compelled  the  people  to 
realize  what  they  were  doing  and  to  consider  the 
future.  The  Age,  moreover,  had  followed  up  the 
Railway  Campaign  with  a  vigorous  onslaught  on 
the  bogus  companies  and  their  devious  methods 
of  finance,  with  the  result  that  public  prosecutions 
were  in  some  cases  instituted  by  the  Government. 
Between  the  years  1889  and  1892  several  smaller 
Banks  and  Building  and  Investment  Societies 
failed,  but  in  1893  the  great  crash  came.  Early 
in  that  year  one  of  the  foremost  institutions  closed 
its  doors,  and  there  followed  a  stream  of  failures 
culminating  in  the  closing,  between  April  5  and 
May  17,  of  no  fewer  than  twelve  large  Banks 
which  had  been  made  insolvent  by  their  reckless 
credit  system  and  the  inability  of  their  customers 
to  redeem  their  mortgages.  The  rental  value  of 
Melbourne  and  suburbs  fell  in  a  few  weeks  from 
£6,815,313  to  ;f5,847,079.  But  the  most  detri- 
mental  effect   of   the   Boom   was   the   withdrawal 


2i8  DAVID  SYME 

of  large  bodies  of  men  from  productive  employ- 
ment and  the  derangement  of  the  labour  market 
that  ensued. 

The  crisis  was  the  severest  ever  experienced 
in  the  Colony,  but  the  people  met  it  with  heroic 
fortitude  and,  assisted  by  the  industrial  protection 
afforded  by  the  tariff,  they  soon  managed  to 
weather  the  storm.  In  1893,  the  black  year, 
the  State  expenditure  exceeded  the  revenue  by 
;fi,030,52i.  In  1894  the  deficit  fell  to  £593,432 
and  in  1895  to  £45,787.  In  1896  it  mounted  to 
£81,500 ;  but  in  1897  and  1898  the  revenue  ex- 
ceeded the  expenditure  by  £61,285  and  £205,796, 
and  since  then  has  steadily  and  continuously  ex- 
panded. Victoria  to-day  is  one  of  the  most 
substantially  prosperous  States  of  the  Empire. 
She  suffered  terribly  from  the  Boom,  but  the 
experience  was  not  without  its  value.  She  has 
magnificently  recovered  and  no  longer  feels  any 
of  its  ill  effects,  but  it  has  taught  her  a  lesson  she 
can  never  forget. 


CHAPTER    XI 
Democratic   Legislation 

David  Syme's  consistency — Education  system— Manhood  Suffrage 
— State  aid  to  Religion— Old  age  pensions — Water  conserva- 
tion— Anti-sweating  laws — Factories  Acts — Income-tax — 
Indeterminate  Sentences. 

Syme's  public  career  evidenced  noteworthy  con- 
sistency. Each  part  was  in  perfect  harmony  with 
every  other  part,  and  the  whole  was  in  admirable 
accord  with  the  principles  of  progress  and  justice 
which  inspired  all  his  efforts  to  promote  the  welfare 
of  the  State.  When  he  came  to  Victoria,  he  found 
the  machinery  of  Government  in  the  grasp  of  a 
small  body  of  plutocrats  and  monopolists.  The 
masses,  on  the  other  hand,  were  living  in  a  condition 
of  political  servitude,  toiling  and  moiling  for  the 
benefit  of  their  masters,  with  no  voice  in  the  con- 
duct of  affairs  and  too  unsettled  and  improvident 
to  give  much  thought  to  the  future.  Syme 
led  them  from  their  bondage  and  made  them  the 
dominant  factor  in  the  political  realm. 

Too  wise,  however,  to  entrust  the  destiny  of  the 
country  to  an  uneducated  people,  he  pursued  the 
work  of  their  emancipation  by  equipping  them  for 

the  responsibilities  and  duties  of  a  sovereign  nation. 

tit 


220  DAVID  SYME 

To  achieve  this  aim  he  used  the  firstfruits  of  his 
successful  campaigns  for  the  unlocking  of  the  land 
and  for  fiscal  protection  to  native  industries  to 
advocate  and  help  into  being  a  system  of  free,  com- 
pulsory, and  secular  education.  This  Radical  reform 
was  not  effected  without  a  prolonged  and  fierce 
struggle  with  the  Conservatives,  who  wished  to 
retain  learning  among  their  other  monopolies  and 
to  exclude  the  sons  of  the  people  from  the  sources 
of  mental  enlightenment.  But  in  spite  of  their 
opposition  Victoria  was  endowed  at  a  very  early 
date  in  her  history  with  a  system  of  primary  pubUc 
education  more  comprehensive  and  more  thorough- 
going than  even  yet  obtains  in  any  other  country 
in  the  world. 

David  Syme  followed  up  this  victory  with  a 
demand  for  universal  manhood  suffrage,  and  he  had 
no  sooner  wrested  this  concession  than  he  advocated 
the  payment  of  members  of  Parliament,  in  order 
that  the  poUtical  representatives  of  the  so-called 
lower  orders  might  be  able  to  meet  their  wealthy 
competitors  in  the  Legislature  on  comparatively 
even  terms.  When  this  challenge  was  flung  down 
the  anger  of  vested  interests  passed  all  bounds. 
They  raUied  their  forces,  fought  proposal  and 
proposer  with  excessive  bitterness,  and  spent  money 
like  water  in  purchasing  votes  to  secure  the  defeat 
of  the  measure  as  soon  as  it  was  introduced  to  Parlia- 
ment. Time  after  time  it  was  either  thrown  out 
of  the  Assembly  or  blocked  by  the  Council.    But 


Melbourne,   1908. 


[Paqe  220 


DEMOCRATIC  LEGISLATION  221 

Syme  always  returned  to  the  charge,  and  after  two 
general  elections  at  which  it  was  the  main  issue 
payment  of  members  became  the  law  of  the  land. 

He  similarly  secured  the  abolition  of  State  aid  to 
religion,  and  at  a  later  date  he  persuaded  Parliament 
and  the  people  to  grant  pensions  to  old  and  indigent 
citizens,  not  as  an  eleemosynary  dole  but  in  recog- 
nition of  the  right  of  all  persons  who  have  spent 
their  lives  in  honest  toil  to  have  their  last  years 
made  comfortable  at  the  public  expense,  if  through 
misfortune  or  even  through  improvidence  they 
have  failed  to  make  adequate  provision  for  their 
old  age. 

David  Syme  was  the  first  writer  in  Australia  to 
recognize  that  the  agricultural  future  of  the  country 
largely  depends  upon  a  forward  policy  of  water 
conservation  and  irrigation.  In  order  to  impress 
his  views  upon  the  public  consciousness  he  twice 
despatched  at  his  own  expense  Mr.  J.  L.  Dow  (a 
former  Minister  of  Agriculture  in  the  Victorian 
Government)  to  America,  to  inquire  into  the  agri- 
cultural methods  of  the  United  States  and  Mexico 
and  the  value  of  irrigation  in  arid  land.  He  also 
conamissioned  Mr.  Alfred  Deakin  (afterwards  Prime 
Minister  of  the  Commonwealth)  to  tour  India  and 
examine  and  report  upon  the  irrigation  works  of 
that  country  and  their  value  in  preserving  a  famine- 
ridden  people  from  starvation.  Under  the  impetus 
imparted  by  such  statesman-Uke  journaHsm  Victoria 
was  persuaded  to  adopt  the  pohcy  he  advocated, 


222  DAVID  SYME 

and  has  already  spent  some  £6,000,000  in  carrying 
it  out.  A  good  deal  of  the  money  has  been  more 
or  less  wastefully  expended  in  experiments,  but 
the  broad  results  are  not  unsatisfactory.  Several 
hundred  thousands  of  acres  of  desert  lands  have 
been  permanently  reclaimed  and  put  in  prosperous 
cultivation,  giving  homes  and  employment  to  hun- 
dreds of  settlers  :  and,  taught  by  the  mistakes 
of  the  past,  Victoria  is  about  to  perfect  numerous 
schemes  of  conservation  and  irrigation,  which, 
humanly  speaking,  are  certain  to  expand  enor- 
mously the  natural  limits  of  her  arable  areas  and 
greatly  to  augment  her  agricultural  population  and 
the  national  prosperity. 

When  the  Protectionist  regime  had  begun  to 
curtail  the  volume  of  importations  from  abroad 
and  to  supply  the  needs  of  the  citizens  with  the 
products  of  their  own  industries,  Syme  lost  no  whit 
of  his  old  care  for  the  interests  of  the  working 
classes.  His  policy  had  provided  them  with  employ- 
ment where  formerly  there  was  none  to  give  them. 
But  he  was  not  content  with  that  undeniable  claim 
upon  their  gratitude.  He  made  it  his  business  to 
provide  that  they  should  live  in  a  condition  of  com- 
fort conformable  with  a  humane  and  civihzed  stan- 
dard. He  therefore  fathered  the  enactment  of  a 
series  of  anti-sweating  and  Factory  Acts  regulating 
the  wages,  the  hours  of  work  and  the  terms  and 
conditions  of  labour — Acts  which  mark  a  stage  of 
progress  towards  the  social  ideals  of  true  Liberal 


Melbourne,    1908. 


[Pagf  222 


DEMOCRATIC  LEGISLATION  223 

sentiment  far  in  advance  of  that  of  other  manu- 
facturing communities.  Further,  with  the  aim  of 
obviating  those  industrial  conflicts  and  disputes 
between  employers  and  employes,  which,  whenever 
arising,  lead  to  the  dislocation  of  society  and  wide- 
spread human  misery,  he  helped  to  create  Wages 
Boards,  whose  success  in  operation  has  engaged 
the  attention  and  commanded  the  respect  of  the 
statesmen  of  other  countries. 

David  Syme  was  always  an  uncompromising 
opponent  of  extravagance  in  Administration.  His 
ideal  of  Government  was  a  State  which  is  neither  a 
lender  nor  a  borrower  ;  a  State  which  accommodates 
its  expenditure  to  its  income  ;  and  which,  while 
prepared  to  pledge  the  public  credit  for  the  con- 
struction of  reproductive  works  will  never  under- 
take unproductive  public  works  except  out  of  sur- 
plus revenue.  There  came  a  time  when  these  prin- 
ciples were  put  to  a  very  severe  test.  The  bursting 
of  the  Land  Boom  in  1893  caused  such  a  serious 
shrinkage  of  revenue  that  large  annual  deficits 
became  the  rule,  and  in  a  few  years  the  deficiencies 
had  accumulated  to  the  sum  of  ;f2,7ii,ooo.  When 
these  facts  were  disclosed  Syme  met  the  situation 
with  a  demand  for  new  taxation  that  would  restore 
the  national  finances  to  a  condition  of  solvency, 
and  never  rested  until  an  Income  Tax  was  imposed 
which  speedily  began  to  wipe  out  the  floating  debt. 
Few  of  Syme^s  achievements  better  illustrated  the 
disinterestedness  and  unselfishness  of  his  character. 


224  DAVID  SYME 

He  was  the  only  journalist  in  Victoria  who  advo- 
cated the  tax,  and  yet,  at  the  time  he  proposed  it, 
no  other  citizen  possessed  a  larger  income.  He 
was,  therefore,  the  chief  predestined  victim  of  the 
impost,  and,  from  the  moment  it  became  law,  paid 
a  larger  annual  amount  to  the  Income  Tax  Com- 
missioners than  any  other  man  in  the  State.  A 
dozen  times  since  then  the  moneyed  classes  have 
agitated  for  the  repeal  of  the  tax  ;  but  Syme  with- 
stood them,  and  his  benevolent  despotism  forbade 
the  deletion  of  the  measure  from  the  Statute  Book. 

These  instances  of  the  legislation  David  Syme 
originated  represent  the  inflexible  consistency  of 
his  policy  and  are  typical  of  many  other  laws 
which  he  played  a  leading  part  in  fashioning.  It 
may  be  said  indeed  with  perfect  truth  that  there 
is  not  a  single  Liberal  progressive  Act  in  the 
Statute  Book  which  he  did  not  either  solely  or 
partially  originate.  On  the  other  hand,  he  pre- 
vented the  enactment  of  several  reactionary 
measures  and  nipped  in  the  bud  many  crude  and 
hair-brained  projects  designed  to  rush  the  State 
into  ill-considered  Socialist  experiments. 

The  latest  of  his  Liberal  achievements  was  the 
Indeterminate  Sentences  Act  for  the  treatment  of 
criminals.  This  measure  provides  for  the  detention 
of  all  convicted  criminals  (not  in  gaols  but  in  reform- 
atories where  each  man  is  taught  a  useful  trade)^ 
until  they  shall  satisfy  their  guardians  that  they 
may  be  trusted  not  to  employ  their  Uberty  to  prey 


DEMOCRATIC  LEGISLATION  225 

upon  society.  David  Syme  began  his  advocacy 
of  this  wise  and  humane  reform  early  in  the  twentieth 
century,  and  continued  unweariedly  to  place  his 
views  before  the  people  until  at  length  his  opponents 
became  his  disciples  and  the  Indeterminate  Sen- 
tences Act  passed  into  law,  thus  adding  to  the 
long  series  of  legislative  triumphs  won  by  the 
indomitable  will-power  and  genius  for  statesman- 
ship of  the  stern  old  Scotsman. 


CHAPTER    XII 
Federation  and   Afterwards 

David  Syme's  part  in  promoting  Federation — The  elections  for 
the  last  Federal  convention — David  Syme  selects  ten  dele- 
gates and  Victoria  approves  his  choice — After  Federation 
The  Age  eschews  provincialism  and  preaches  nationalism 
— The  first  Australian  Tariff  not  Protective — Campaign  for 
high  Protection — David  Syme  and  Mr.  Reid — The  Tariff 
Commission — David  Syme  forces  on  the  fiscal  issue — Triumph 
of  his  policy  at  the  elections — Australia  a  Protectionist  country 
— Mr.  Syme  and  the  "  new  "  Protection — The  Anti-Trust 
Act — The  Age  and  the  Northern  Territory — National  Defence 
— The  Age  and  its  position    in  the  Commonwealth. 

David  Syme,  as  might  well  be  imagined,  played  a 
prominent  part  in  promoting  the  federation  of  the 
Australian  States.  He  gave  the  movement  strong 
support,  and  when,  after  many  setbacks  and  delays, 
in  February,  1895,  the  Australian  Premiers  met  in 
conference  at  Hobart  and  agreed  upon  the  draft 
of  a  Federal  Enabling  Bill,  he  made  an  extraordinary 
effort  to  prevent  the  shelving  of  the  measure  in 
Victoria  and  elsewhere.  Largely  owing  to  his 
strenuous  advocacy  the  Bill  was  passed  by  all  the 
Australian  Parliaments  except  Queensland.  It  pro- 
vided for  the  holding  of  another  Federal  convention 

226 


FEDERATION   AND  AFTERWARDS     227 

consisting  of  ten  delegates  from  each  colony,  who 
were  to  frame  the  Federal  Constitution.  The  dele- 
gates were  elected  by  each  colony  voting  as  a  single 
constituency. 

In  Victoria  some  twenty-four  candidates  offered 
themselves  for  election.  They  were  almost  without 
exception  able  men  and  well-known  jurists  and 
politicians.  Syme  selected  ten  Liberals  from  the 
number,  and  the  people  of  Victoria  ratified  his 
choice  to  a  man.  Moreover,  his  approval  of  the 
Draft  Constitution,  when  framed,  gave  a  decided 
impulse  to  its  subsequent  adoption  by  an  over- 
whelming majority  at  the  referendum. 

The  Commonwealth  was  no  sooner  established 
than  The  Age  laid  aside  the  trammels  of  old  provin- 
cial habits  of  thought  and  stood  forth  as  the  pro- 
tagonist of  National,  as  opposed  to  State  sentiments 
and  interests.  From  that  day  it  has  never  ceased 
to  preach  the  gospel  of  nationalism  and  to  deprecate 
the  intrusion  of  parochialism  and  local  jealousies 
into  the  sphere  of  national  politics.  Syme's  object 
was  to  abolish  aU  arbitrary  divisions  and  boundaries 
and  to  teach  the  Austrahan  people  that  they  are 
not  any  longer  New  South  Welshmen  or  Victorians, 
Queenslanders,  West  or  South  AustraUans,  or  Tas- 
manians,  but  AustraUans — an  undivided  people 
and  a  nation.  His  success  in  Victoria  was  remark- 
able to  the  last  degree,  and  he  also  influenced  the 
other  States,  for  every  national  ideal  he  advocated 
has  never  failed  long  of  adoption  with  oftentimes 


228  DAVID  SYME 

grateful  recognition  in  all  parts  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

Syme's  first  great  national  undertaking  was  to 
secure  a  tariff  that  would  give  adequate  protection 
to  Australian  industries.  The  first  Parliament  was 
composed  of  such  heterogeneous  fiscal  elements 
that  immediate  progress  in  that  direction  was 
impossible. 

The  first  Federal  Government,  led  by  Sir  Edmund 
Barton,  was  avowedly  Protectionist,  but  it  was 
obliged  by  the  financial  exigences  of  the  States 
to  subordinate  the  Protectionist-^^rsws-Free  Trade 
issue  to  the  necessity  of  raising  a  sufficient  Customs 
revenue  to  insure  the  solvency  of  the  States  in 
accordance  with  the  intention  of  the  Federal  Con- 
stitution ;  which,  in  giving  the  Commonwealth 
complete  control  of  the  Customs,  had  deprived  the 
States  of  their  principal  source  of  revenue.  The 
Prime  Minister,  therefore,  announced  himself  in 
favour  of  a  tariff  that  would  yield  revenue  without 
destroying  industries  ;  a  policy  in  other  words  of 
compromise,  or  '*  moderate  Protection.'' 

Syme  opposed  this  policy  strenuously,  for  he  fore- 
saw that  the  Tariff  outcome  of  such  a  proposal  would 
inevitably  cause  a  serious  industrial  depression  in 
Protectionist  Victoria  that  would  react  hurtfully 
upon  the  other  States  of  the  Union.  But  the  Govern- 
ment, with  the  support  of  the  great  body  of  still 
unconverted  Free  Trade  opinion  in  New  South  Wales, 
was  able  to  carry  out  its  will.     The  result  was  a 


FEDERATION   AND  AFTERWARDS    229 

hybrid  Tariff  that  lowered  the  old  Victorian  duties 
all  round  and  left  Australian  manufacturers  at  the 
mercy  of  foreign  competition. 

On  September  24,  1903,  Sir  Edmund  Barton 
resigned  office  to  take  up  a  position  on  the  High 
Court  Bench,  and  Mr.  Alfred  Deakin  became  Prime 
Minister  in  his  place.  Mr.  Deakin,  however,  did 
not  long  retain  the  reins  of  power.  Early  in  1904 
he  was  defeated  on  the  Arbitration  Bill,  and  a  Labour, 
Ministry  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  J.  C.  Watson 
assumed  control  of  the  Treasury.  Five  months 
later  Mr.  Watson  in  his  turn  suffered  defeat  on  the 
same  measure,  and  a  strong  coalition  Government 
was  formed  under  the  joint-leadership  of  Mr.  G.  H. 
Reid,  the  leader  of  the  Free  Trade  Party,  and  Mr. 
Alan  McLean,  a  Victorian  Protectionist ;  the  Con- 
servatives and  a  section  of  the  Liberals  having  come 
together  on  a  tacit  understanding  to  sink  the  fiscal 
issue  indefinitely  in  order  to  make  common  cause 
against  labour  domination  and  the  three  party 
system. 

In  these  circumstances  it  appeared  quite  hope- 
less to  expect  a  revision  of  the  Tariff  on  Protectionist 
lines.  The  acknowledged  leader  of  Cobdenism  in 
Australia  was  in  power.  The  Protectionist  party 
was  rent  in  twain  and  a  majority  of  its  members 
was  pledged  to  Mr.  Reid.  Added  to  this,  the 
coaHtion  Ministry  was  supported  in  its  resolve  to 
abjure  the  reopening  of  the  Tariff  question  by 
almost  every  daily  journal  in  the  Commonwealth. 


230  DAVID  SYME 

David  Syme,  however,  was  at  his  best  when 
fighting  a  seemingly  desperate  cause  and  leading  a 
forlorn  hope.  He  had  evidence  all  around  him  that 
the  low  tariff  was  disastrously  affecting  a  number 
of  old  and  formerly  prosperous  native  industries 
in  Victoria  and  elsewhere,  and,  in  spite  of  over- 
whelming odds,  undertook  their  championship  as 
soon  as  the  Reid-McLean  Administration  entered 
on  its  first  session.  Mr.  Reid  for  a  time  considered 
that  he  could  defy  The  Age,  but  he  reckoned  without 
his  host,  and  was  staggered  at  the  great  popular 
outcry  for  Tariff  revision  that  extended  to  the 
remotest  parts  of  the  Commonwealth,  and  at  discover- 
ing that  his  Protectionist  supporters  in  Parliament 
were  beginning  to  waver  in  their  allegiance  to  him. 

Anxious  to  remain  in  office,  Mr.  Reid  decided  to 
make  terms  with  The  Age.  He,  therefore,  made  a 
proposal  in  writing  to  Syme  (see  Chapter  XVI)  for  the 
appointment  of  a  Royal  Commission  of  five  citizens 
who  should  not  be  members  of  Parliament  but 
competent  business  men  and  whose  duty  it  should 
be  to  inquire  into  the  working  of  the  Tariff  and  its 
effect  on  Australian  industries.  Mr.  Reid  verbally 
pledged  himself  to  allow  Syme  to  nominate  a  Pro- 
tectionist chairman  and  other  members  to  the 
proposed  Commission,  and  to  veto  a  certain  number 
of  names  suggested  by  Mr.  Reid,  or  his  col- 
leagues. He  also  undertook  that  the  Commission 
should  not  be  appointed  until  after  Parliament 
rose,  so  as  to  give  plenty  of  time  for  a  full  discussion 


FEDERATION  AND  AFTERWARDS    231 

of  its  Constitution,  and  that  it  should  be  supplied 
with  every  facility,  when  appointed,  to  perform  its 
duties  expeditiously. 

David  Syme,  believing  the  offer  was  made  bon& 
fide,  accepted  it.  The  event  proved  that  he  had 
miscalculated  the  Free  Trade  leader's  intentions. 
Mr.  Reid,  notwithstanding  his  promise,  did  not 
wait  until  the  end  of  the  Session,  but  (during  one 
of  Syme*s  temporary  absences  from  Melbourne) 
appointed  a  Commission  while  Parliament  was  still 
sitting  and  without  submitting  the  names  of  its 
members  for  Syme's  approval.  The  Royal  Commis- 
sion thus  constituted  was  (despite  Mr.  Reid*s  written 
agreement  with  Syme)  an  unwieldy  body  of  nine 
persons,  all  save  one  politicians  and  members  of 
Parliament  and  some  Mr.  Reid's  most  attached 
political  adherents. 

The  Commission  forthwith  set  about  its  business. 
Syme  did  not  waste  time  in  reproaches,  but  gave  all 
his  attention  to  the  Commission.  He  concluded 
that  part  of  its  mission  was  to  protract  its  inves- 
tigations and  postpone  the  work  of  Tariff  revision 
as  long  as  possible,  so  that  Mr.  Reid  might  have  an 
excuse  for  remaining  in  power. 

Syme  waited  until  he  had  satisfied  himself  past 
question  that  the  Commission  would  extend  its 
labours  over  months  and  even  years  and  then,  as  was 
his  wont,  struck  hard  at  the  man  who,  in  his  opin- 
ion, had  broken  faith  with  him.  He  did  this  by 
pointing  out  to  Mr.  Reid's  Protectionist  supporters 


232  DAVID  SYME 

in  Parliament  that  the  Prime  Minister,  by  his  own 
act  in  appointing  the  Tariff  Commission,  had  thereby 
reopened  the  fiscal  issue  and  thus  had  violated 
the  conditions  and  terms  upon  which  they  had 
consented  to  lend  him  their  support. 

The  result  was  very  discomfiting  to  the  Free  Trade 
leader.  He  was  hoist  with  his  own  petard.  Mr. 
Deakin  immediately  severed  his  connexion  and  in 
his  celebrated  Ballarat  speech  gave  the  Reid  Govern- 
ment notice  to  quit.  Shortly  afterwards  Mr.  Reid 
was  defeated  on  a  test  vote  and  Mr.  Deakin  became 
Prime  Minister  of  a  strong  Protectionist  Govern- 
ment. At  the  ensuing  general  election  Mr.  Reid 
made  one  last  desperate  bid  for  a  Free  Trade  poUcy. 
He  stumped  the  whole  of  Australia  preaching 
Cobdenism  and,  in  Victoria  in  particular,  fought  a 
violent  campaign,  touring  the  entire  State.  He 
might  have  spared  himself  the  trouble.  The  elec- 
tions eventuated  in  a  brilliant  victory  for  a  policy  of 
adequate  Protection  to  native  industries,  and  the 
Prime  Minister  was  returned  to  power  with  a  Pro- 
tectionist following  of  fifty-two  in  a  House  of  seventy- 
five  members. 

The  Government,  as  soon  as  was  practicable, 
proceeded  to  the  business  of  Tariff  revision  and, 
although  its  work  was  not  quite  finished  at  the  date 
of  Syme's  death,  it  was  so  far  advanced  that  the 
grand  old  journalist  had  the  supreme  satisfaction, 
ere  crossing  the  *'  Great  Divide,''  of  knowing  that 
his  ambition  was  on  the  point  of  triumphant  con- 


FEDERATION  AND  AFTERWARDS    233 

summation,  and  that  the  task  he  had  begun,  more 
than  half  a  century  earUer,  of  converting  his  country- 
men to  his  economic  views,  had  terminated  in 
the  establishment  of  a  Protected  Commonwealth. 

Alfred  Deakin  seized  the  opportunity  of  the 
Tariff  having  been  cast  into  the  melting-pot  to 
advocate  the  application  of  a  new  principle  to  Tariff 
Protection  in  the  interests  of  the  working  classes. 
He  claimed  that  scientific  Protection  should  seek, 
not  only  to  benefit  manufacturers  by  giving  them 
control  of  the  home  market  and  the  workers  by 
giving  them  employment,  but  that  it  should  prevent 
the  exploitation  of  the  consumer  and  aim  at  equitably 
distributing  the  financial  advantages  conferred  by 
the  Tariff  between  the  employers  of  labour  and 
the  employed. 

Syme  recognized  the  wisdom  of  the  Prime  Minister's 
proposals  and  gave  them  prompt  and  enthusiastic 
support.  So  far  Protection,  while  enriching  the 
manufacturers,  had  only  provided  the  workers  with 
subsistence.  He  demanded  that  these  conditions 
should  be  altered  and  that  Mr.  Deakin's  New  Pro- 
tection should  be  tested  to  see  if  it  might  avail 
to  compel  all  industrial  employers,  protected  by  the 
Tariff,  to  share  a  portion  of  their  profits  with  their 
employes  in  the  shape  of  a  wage  that  would  enable 
the  latter,  not  only  to  live,  but  to  live  happily  and 
well.  We  are  now  face  to  face  with  the  firstfruits 
of  this  policy.  The  Deakin  Government  has  applied 
these  principles  to  Tariff  Protection  by  means  of 


234  DAVID  SYME 

certain  Excise  Acts.  These  statutes  provide  that 
Tariff-protected  manufacturers  shall  remunerate 
their  employes  according  to  a  certain  fixed  standard, 
or,  in  default,  suffer  the  penalty  of  paying  an  excise 
duty  on  their  products  severe  enough  to  de- 
prive them  of  the  Tariff  benefit.  It  is  too  early 
yet  to  pronounce  on  these  reforms.  The  New 
Protection  is  in  its  experimental  stage,  virtually 
on  its  trial  before  the  tribune  of  public  opinion. 

It  may  be  adjudged,  eventually,  a  failure,  but  I 
do  not  think  this  Ukely.  The  principles  which 
called  it  into  being  are  too  manifestly  fair  and  just 
for  an  enlightened  and  reasonable-minded  Demo- 
cracy to  tolerate  its  rejection  without  the  gravest 
cause.  It  is  more  probable  that  modifications 
which  experience  may  teach  will  be  appUed  to  the 
machinery  to  reduce  friction  and  to  render  its  opera- 
tion smooth.  It  is  true  that  the  AustraUan  manu- 
facturers are  evincing  a  disposition  to  strangle,  if 
they  can,  the  new  poUcy  at  its  birth.  But  that  is 
merely  a  case  of  history  repeating  itself.  Men  often 
change  their  habits  but  seldom  their  natures.  The 
manufacturers  now  occupy  in  Austraha  a  somewhat 
analogous  position  to  that  formerly  held  by  the 
importers  when  David  Syme  came  to  Victoria.  I 
should  say,  perhaps,  they  are  in  possession  of 
analogous  opportunities  to  indulge  their  selfish 
instincts  at  the  expense  of  the  wage-earners  depend- 
ent on  them  and,  in  a  wider  sense,  of  the  community. 
Since  they  are  merely  human  beings  and  not  angels. 


FEDERATION  AND  AFTERWARDS    235 

their  first  thought  is  for  their  own  enrichment ;  and 
considerations  of  self-interest  impel  them  to  resist 
the  institution  of  the  New  Protection  just  as  the 
importers,  half  a  century  ago,  resisted  the  old.  It 
was,  humanly  speaking,  inevitable  that  this  should 
happen.  But  public  opinion  is  the  master  of  affairs 
— not  they  :  and  just  as  an  awakened  and  intelligent 
public  opinion  compelled  the  importers  to  submit 
to  the  abolition  of  Free  Trade  and  the  imposition 
of  Tariff  Protection,  it  may  be  predicted  that  it  will 
similarly  force  the  manufacturers  to  submit  to  the 
New  Protection  as  soon  as  science  has  evolved  and 
elucidated  a  workable  system  for  its  operation. 

Prior  to  the  New  Protection  David  Syme  advo- 
cated the  enactment  of  legislation  to  protect  Aus- 
trahan  industries  from  the  unfair  competition  of 
foreign  rings  and  trusts,  which  might,  despite  the 
Tariff,  "  dump  '*  their  surplus  products  on  Australian 
shores  ;  and  at  the  same  time  to  prevent  the  form- 
ation within  the  Commonwealth  of  Trusts  and 
Combines  devised  to  restrain  trade  and  kill  local 
competition  with  a  view  to  exploiting  the  consumer. 
Urged  by  his  advice  and  supported  by  his  assist- 
ance, the  Deakin  Government  passed  an  Anti- 
Trust  Act  embodying  these  principles  and  providing 
machinery  for  their  enforcement. 

It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  these  two  measures, 
the  New  Protection  and  the  Anti-Trust  Act,  have 
placed  AustraHa  ahead  of  the  rest  of  the  world  and 
installed  her  in  the  proud  position  of  leader  of 


236  DAVID  SYME 

Liberal  thought  and  social  progress.  It  can  easily 
be  estimated  how  much  the  Commonwealth  is  in- 
debted for  this  to  David  Syme  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  The  Age  was  the  only  great  daily  journal 
in  Australia  to  speak  in  favour  of  these  proposals 
and  to  uphold  them  vigorously  through  their  initial 
stages,  although  now  a  few  are  to  be  found — bending 
to  the  irresistible  force  of  public  opinion — admitting 
and  lauding  their  virtues  and  lending  aid  to  cure 
their  defects  and  increase  the  facilities  for  their 
efficacious  administration. 

David  Syme  was  the  first  writer  in  the  Common- 
wealth to  realize  the  national  danger  of  allowing 
the  Northern  Territory  to  remain  undeveloped  and 
unpeopled.  Some  forty  and  odd  years  ago  the 
Colony  of  South  Australia  undertook  the  task  of 
settling  the  Northern  Territory  ;  but  the  work  proved 
beyond  her  capacity  to  accomplish.  This  great 
and  marvellously  fefrtile  province,  521,000  square 
miles  in  extent,  lies  only  a  few  days'  steaming  dis- 
tance from  the  teeming  hordes  of  Asia.  It  possesses 
a  seaboard  exceeding  1,000  miles  in  length,  and 
is  intersected  with  numerous  splendid,  land-locked 
harbours,  one  of  which,  Port  Darwin,  is  second 
only  in  size  and  depth  and  potential  utility  to 
the  famous  harbour  of  Port  Jackson,  one  of  the 
finest  in  the  world.  It  comprises  enormous  areas 
of  the  best  agricultural  land.  It  is  watered  by 
scores  of  navigable,  fresh- water,  permanently  flowing 
streams  and  rivers,  and  is  capable  of  supporting  a 


FEDERATION  AND  AFTERWARDS    237 

population  of  many  millions.  It  contains,  more- 
over, unlimited  mineral  and  other  natural  resources, 
and  yet  it  has  to-day  a  paltry  population  of  about 
1,100  whites. 

Syme  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  empty 
condition  of  the  Territory  extended  an  open  invi- 
tation, bound  at  length  to  become  irresistible,  to  all 
over-populated  and  land-hungry  Powers  to  invade 
and  seize  it  and  hold  it  as  their  own.  Perceiving 
that  South  Australia  was  too  small  and  too  poor  a 
State  to  remove  the  peril  by  her  own  exertions, 
very  soon  after  the  Commonwealth  was  established 
he  proceeded  to  teach  the  nation  that  its  duty  was 
to  take  over  the  Territory  from  South  Australia  and 
to  develop  it  at  the  national  charge.  His  voice 
was  at  first  a  mere  cry  in  the  wilderness ;  but  he 
kept  talking  to  the  nation  day  after  day,  month 
after  month,  year  after  year,  until  he  finally  achieved 
his  great  purpose.  I  think  I  am  justified  in  declar- 
ing that  there  are  not  to  be  found  to-day  within 
the  confines  of  Australia  a  hundred  persons 
who  do  not  beheve  that  the  national  existence 
vitally  depends  upon  performing  the  task  which 
David  Syme  persuaded  the  Commonwealth  to  under- 
take. All  parties  in  the  Federal  Parliament  are 
agreed  upon  its  necessity,  and  steps  have  already 
been  taken  to  expedite  the  transfer  and  to  begin 
the  work  of  pouring  settlers  into  the  northern  wilds. 
It  has  been  given  to  few  men  to  be  acclaimed  not 
in  words  but  in  acts    as  faithful  -instructors  and 


238  DAVID  SYME 

prophets  in  their  own  country  in  such  overflowing 
measure.  But  AustraUa  owes  Syme  other  obUga- 
tions,  not  the  smallest  of  which  concerns  the  question 
of  national  defence. 

Before  Federation  the  Australian  colonies  were 
dwelling  in  a  sort  of  fool's  paradise.  Lazily  reclining 
in  the  shadow  of  the  mother-country's  robe,  they 
relied  exclusively  on  the  Imperial  Navy  for  the 
maintenance  of  their  integrity  and  their  protection 
from  foreign  aggression.  For  this  they  paid  the 
United  Kingdom  a  small  annual  subsidy.  No 
sooner  was  Federation  a  fait  accompli  than  David 
Syme  counselled  his  countrymen  that  if  they  were 
not  to  remain  dependent  and  defenceless  they  would 
have  to  undertake,  both  in  their  own  and  the  Im- 
perial interest,  the  duty  of  their  own  defence.  In 
convincing  terms  he  showed  them  that  it  would  be 
impossible  to  avert  the  danger  of  invasion  from  a 
country  so  vast  and  so  sparsely  inhabited  as  Aus- 
tralia, except  the  whole  male  nation  were  trained 
in  the  use  of  arms.  He  demonstrated,  moreover, 
that  unless  the  nation  possessed  a  local  navy  of  its 
own,  it  would,  in  the  event  of  war,  become  the  help- 
less victim  of  any  hostile  cruiser  which  might  con- 
trive to  evade  the  British  fleets  ;  and  that  such  a 
raider,  without  needing  to  approach  within  striking 
distance  of  Australia's  shores,  might  destroy  and 
paralyse  her  shipping  and  seaborne  commerce  and 
thus,  in  a  few  days,  bring  the  nation  to  the  very 
doors  of  ruin. 


FEDERATION  AND   AFTERWARDS  239 

Syme  strenuously  advocated  a  system  of  uni- 
versal compulsory  military  service  and  the  acquisition 
by  the  Commonwealth  of  an  adequate  flotilla  for 
the  defence  of  the  coasts  and  commerce,  to  be  com- 
posed of  torpedo  boats  and  ocean-going  destroyers. 
For  more  than  two  years  the  rest  of  the  Australian 
daily  Press  either  ignored  or  scouted  his  ideas.  The 
Imperial  Defence  Committee,  furthermore,  laughed 
to  scorn  his  naval  policy,  when  embodied  in  the 
reports  of  Captain  Creswell,  the  Commonwealth 
Naval  Director,  who  shared  Syme's  views.  It  will 
be  seen,  therefore,  that  he  had  a  hard  row  to  hoe. 
But  he  had  on  his  side  reason  and  the  inexorable 
logic  of  facts.  Inflexibly  he  pursued  his  course 
and  slowly  but  surely  made  proselytes  and  won 
disciples.  To  be  brief,  Syme  gradually  succeeded 
in  making  his  conception  of  national  defence  a  burn- 
ing question  in  national  politics,  and  ultimately  the 
Federal  Parliament  made  a  large  Appropriation 
for  the  acquisition  of  the  first  instalment  of  a  local 
navy,  and  the  Government  also  announced  its  inten- 
tion of  making  mihtary  training  compulsory  and 
universal  throughout  the  Commonwealth. 

In  view  of  these  facts  The  Age  may  claim  to  be 
the  national  AustraUan  newspaper.  It  was  the 
first  daily  journal  in  the  Commonwealth  to  voice 
the  national  sentiment  and  consistently  subor- 
dinate State  to  national  interests  ;  and  it  has  given 
indisputable  proofs  of  its  power,  not  only  to  influence 
national  opinion  but  to  impose  its  pohcy  on  the 


240  DAVID  SYME 

national  conscience.  No  Federal  Government  can 
disregard  its  advice  or  defy  its  mandates.  Mea- 
sures that  it  inspires  and  supports  pass  into  law 
with  an  almost  automatic  ease.  Measures  that  it 
condemns  usually  find  their  way  to  the  ParHament- 
ary  waste-paper  basket. 

David  Syme  knew  this  well :  but  no  man  ever 
heard  him  say  it.  Calm,  silent,  shy,  secretive,  he 
sat  in  his  historic  den,  listening  to  the  muffled 
thunder  of  his  presses  the  while  he  considered  and 
conceived  fresh  plans  for  the  advancement  of  his 
country  and  the  social  improvement  of  his  race. 
Men  came  and  went — Cabinet  Ministers,  politicians, 
lawyers,  merchants,  workers  :  he  refused  audience 
to  none,  however  low,  however  high.  He  listened, 
with  a  moveless  visage,  to  what  they  had  to  say, 
impervious  to  blame  or  flattery,  but  weighing  care- 
fully their  pleas,  impartial  as  a  judge,  inscrutable 
as  a  sphinx.  '*  A  hard  man,'*  they  usually  remarked 
on  departing.  Hard !  He  never  wore  his  heart 
upon  his  sleeve.  That  is  true  enough.  But  it  is 
truer  that  he  freely  and  disinterestedly  devoted 
his  life  to  the  service  of  his  country.  Posterity  will 
do  him  justice. 


CHAPTER    XIII 
Newspaper   Government 

David  Syme's  statesmanlike  qualities — His  fights  with  the  people 
— His  place  in  popular  esteem — His  sacrifices  to  obtain 
political  power — His  power  founded  on  personal  consistency 
and  integrity — The  Age's  circulation — The  Age  rules  the 
State  by  a  process  of  suggestion — Its  unswerving  adherence 
to  the  Democratic  cause — King  David's  audience-chamber 
— Ministries  made  and  unmade — Political  secrets — James 
Munro  and  David  Syme — Newspaper  Government  essentially 
a  democratic  form  of  rule — Its  defects  and  virtues. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  boldness  is  the  grandest 
attribute  of  statesmanship.  It  is  the  iniirmity  of 
mere  politicians  to  cling  to  a  pettifogging  policy, 
but  it  is  the  prerogative  of  statesmen  to  be  ever 
verging  upon  what  appears  to  be  audacious  and 
impracticable.  Courage  was  ever  David  Syme's 
highest  virtue,  and  his  courage  was  always  remark- 
able for  its  essential  quality  of  grave  and  cogent 
endurance.  Based  upon  intellectual  conviction,  his 
confidence  in  himself  and  in  his  views  held  the  place 
occupied  in  smaller  minds  by  religious  superstition. 
His  boldness  led  him  to  lengths  and  into  situations 
which  frequently  astounded  and  bitterly  antagonized 
his  contemporaries ;    but  his  fortitude  was  never 

Ml 


242  DAVID  SYME 

shaken  either  by  opposition  or  adversity.  He  be- 
lieved in  every  measure  he  advocated,  and  unswerv- 
ingly pursued  his  aims  until  his  adversaries  retired 
before  a  combatant  whose  pertinacity  was  as 
invincible  as  his  opinions  were  weighty. 

With  many  opportunist  politicians  the  custom  is 
to  catch  a  wave  of  popular  emotion,  to  ride  on  its 
crest  and  direct  its  course,  ostensibly  in  the  public 
but  really  too  often  in  their  own  interests.  David 
Syme  despised  this  practice  with  all  his  heart.  His 
methods  were  essentially  different.  Conscious  of  his 
sagacity  and  strength,  he  made  it  his  business  to 
withstand  and  criticize  and  check  all  sentimental 
mob  effervescence,  well  knowing  that  solid  progress 
is  never  established  by  the  racing  tide  of  sudden 
popular  upheavals.  He  was  always  for  the  people 
and  for  progress,  but  frequently  had  to  fight  the 
people  for  what  he  beUeved  to  be  their  good.  His 
greatest  victories,  indeed,  were  not  over  rivals  or 
parties  but  over  the  community.  At  times  in  the 
early  part  of  his  career  he  metaphorically  seized 
the  people  by  the  throat  and  held  them  writhing  in 
his  grasp  until  they  yielded  to  his  dominant  inten- 
tion. The  people  did  not  always  relish  his  masterful 
ways.  But  when  experience  smoothed  their  ruffled 
feelings  and  unravelled  the  confusion  of  their  thoughts 
they  forgave  him  their  rough  handling  in  their  satis- 
faction at  the  issue,  which  was  always  to  their  mani- 
fest advantage.  They  became  proud  of  him  ;  not 
demonstratively  proud  perhaps,  but  most  sincerely. 


NEWSPAPER  GOVERNMENT  243 

and  not  the  less  deeply  because  their  peculiar  regard 
for  him  was  subtly  tinged  with  vanity.  Australians, 
and  Victorians  in  particular,  came  to  look  upon 
Syme  in  a  humorously  conceited  fashion.  He  repre- 
sented to  them  a  great  institution  rather  than  a 
personality  :  and  they  spoke  of  him  to  strangers  as 
people  usually  speak  of  some  splendid  national 
monument  which  their  talent  and  industry  have 
created.  But  one  does  not  love  a  monument,  how- 
ever proud  one  may  be  of  it :  and  enormously 
indebted  as  Australia  was  to  David  Syme,  the 
people  revered  him  more  than  they  loved  him. 

The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  Syme  always  sank 
his  individuality  in  his  paper.  To  the  vast  majority 
of  the  people  among  whom  he  spent  his  life  he  was 
personally  unknown.  No  man  dead  or  living  has 
exercised  a  more  potent  influence  on  the  course  of 
Australian  events,  or  has  played  a  more  intimate 
part  in  public  affairs.  Nevertheless  it  may  be 
doubted  whether  there  were  ever  more  than  a  few 
scores  of  private  persons  who  would  have  recognized 
him  in  the  street  if  they  had  chanced  to  meet  him. 

David  Syme  was  to  blame  for  this.  He  would 
have  it  so.  Seldom  lived  a  man  more  modest  or 
more  retiring  in  his  habits,  or  more  negligent  of 
social  intercourse.  Paradoxical  as  it  may  appear, 
this  man  who  devoted  his  whole  life  to  the  people 
perpetually  held  himself  aloof  from  the  people. 
Throughout  his  career  he  rigidly  abstained  from 
outwardly  participating  in  the  turmoil  of  public 


244  DAVID  SYME 

life.  He  resisted  all  attempts  to  inveigle  him  upon 
the  platform.  He  declined  a  knighthood  offered  him 
by  his  sovereign  ;  he  refused  every  political  distinc- 
tion and  municipal  honour  the  people  sought  to 
thrust  upon  him,  and  very  rarely  did  he  appear  at 
a  public  or  a  political  meeting. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  had  he  adopted  another 
line  of  conduct  he  could  have  made  himself  a  popular 
figure  in  Australia.  He  was  endowed  with  briUiant 
conversational  powers.  He  possessed  a  prodigious 
memory  and  was  deeply  versed  in  all  that  is  best  in 
the  world's  literature.  He  was  gifted  with  the  finest 
tact.  In  any  assemblage  of  distinguished  people 
his  commanding  physique  and  striking  physiognomy 
marked  him  out  for  a  special  attention  which  his 
discursive  talents  and  the  strength  of  his  personality 
abundantly  justified.  In  a  mixed  company  he 
towered  mentally  and  physically  above  his  fellows. 
I  have  the  best  of  reasons  for  asserting  that  Syme 
never  had  anything  of  the  recluse  or  misanthrope  in 
his  disposition.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  a  lover  of 
his  kind  and  a  philanthropist  in  the  truest  sense. 
What  then  was  his  motive  in  eschewing  the  position 
in  society  to  which  his  natural  equipment  entitled 
him  and  which  his  character  pre-disposed  him  to 
enjoy  ? 

The  query  may  be  answered  in  a  word — the  public 
interest.  At  the  outset  of  his  career  Syme  made  up 
his  mind  to  effect  by  means  of  The  Age  certain  social 
and  economic  reforms — I  might  almost  style  them 


NEWSPAPER  GOVERNMENT  245 

revolutions.  He  perceived  that  he  could  only  suc- 
ceed by  building  up  for  his  paper  a  political  power 
such  as  no  other  AustraUan  journal  had  ever  pos- 
sessed. He  saw  also  that  he  must  base  his  structure 
on  the  firm  foundation  of  the  people's  confidence. 
He  must  teach  the  people  to  believe  in  him,  to  trust 
him  to  the  utmost,  and  to  feel  sure  that  they  were  ' 
safe  in  trusting  him.  To  accomplish  this  a  great 
personal  sacrifice  was  necessary.  He  must  show 
himself  above  suspicion.  He  must  have  no  friends 
whose  affection  might  sway  his  judgment,  no  party 
whose  claims  and  interests  might  put  a  bridle  on 
his  speech.  He  must  have  for  his  counsellors  prin- 
ciples, not  parties  ;  and  for  his  associates  measures, 
not  men.  David  Syme  weighed  the  consequences 
and  made  his  choice.  It  condemned  him  to  a  life 
of  extraordinary  isolation.  It  obliged  him  to  dweU 
in  the  heart  of  a  crowded  city  as  friendless  and  as 
lonely  as  a  hermit  in  the  wilderness.  But  it  left 
him  free  to  act  and  to  speak  his  mind. 

One  man  in  a  thousand  might  possess  the  strength 
of  character  to  make  and  register  a  vow  of  self- 
obliteration,  but  I  take  leave  to  doubt  whether  there 
is  one  in  a  thousand  who  could  keep  it  long.  Syme 
kept  his  unbroken  for  half  a  century.  He  never 
looked  back.  In  his  last  hours  he  looked  forward 
still.  Politics  is  a  ceaselessly  progressive  science 
— and  when  he  died  he  was  still  the  people's  friend. 
He  had  done  much  for  the  Democracy,  but  he  held 
there  was  still  much  for  him  to  do  :    and  at  the 


246  DAVID   SYME 

age  of  eighty-one  he  was  just  as  fully  bent  on  improv- 
ing the  conditions  of  Australian  society  by  wise 
humanitarian  legislation  as  he  was  when,  a  young 
man  of  twenty-nine,  he  took  up  the  pen  which  in  his 
hand  proved  a  defter  weapon  than  the  sword. 

Strange,  and  to  some  extent  unforeseen,  results 
flowed  from  the  resolution  I  have  indicated.  It 
has  been  shown  how  David  Syme  won  the  three 
great  battles  of  his  Ufe  over  land  monopoly,  Cob- 
denism,  and  State  extravagance.  These  and  many 
other  smaller  victories  gradually  elevated  The  Age 
in  popular  esteem.  But  to  Syme*s  methods  is 
attributable  the  fact  that  with  esteem  came  confi- 
dence. Time  after  time  the  people  saw  The  Age 
use  political  leaders  and  parties  with  the  indifference 
of  a  carpenter  who  flings  his  hammer  carelessly 
aside  after  it  has  driven  in  the  nail.  Syme  only 
supported  men  as  long  as  they  were  whole-souled 
ministers  of  the  principles  he  advocated,  and  parties 
as  long  as  they  proved  faithful  to  the  democratic 
cause.  Did  they  palter  with  their  promises,  did 
they  deviate  one  hair's  breadth  from  their  duty,  The 
Age  never  rested  from  attacking  them  until  they 
were  either  defeated  or  had  repented  the  error  of 
their  ways.  At  first  the  people  could  not  under- 
stand this  new  system,  so  foreign  to  experience,  and 
lent  a  ready  ear  to  the  plaints  of  the  disgruntled 
politicians.  ''  The  Age''  protested  these  latter  in 
chorus,  *'  is  a  treacherous  friend  and  an  unscrupulous 
foe.     It  is  true  to  neither  friend  nor  enemy.     It  is 


The   "Age"   Office  to-day. 


iPage  246 


NEWSPAPER  GOVERNMENT  247 

here  to-day  and  there  to-morrow/'  But  the  paper 
was  true  to  the  people  and  its  own  professions  :  it 
recognized  no  other  fount  of  faith,  and  the  people 
soon  found  this  out.  In  consequence,  their  confidence 
in  its  consistency,  integrity,  and  honesty  of  purpose 
became  a  rooted  conviction  in  their  minds.  And 
this  conviction  grew  in  respect  when  the  people 
further  discovered  that  if  the  working  classes  ven- 
tured, as  at  times  they  did,  to  make  unreasonable 
demands  or  to  abuse  their  power,  David  Syme  was 
invariably  the  first  to  expose  and  criticize  their  folly 
and  chastise  their  greed. 

With  the  growth  of  pubUc  faith  in  The  Age  its 
circulation  expanded  until  it  attained  to  a  daily  sale 
of  110,000  copies,  or  one  for  every  ten  of  the  people 
of  Victoria. 

As  time  passed,  the  majority  of  the  population 
began  instead  of  merely  supporting  it  to  lean  upon 
it  and  to  follow  it.  They  had  never  failed  to  find 
its  counsels  wise  and  beneficial,  had  never  known  it 
to  be  guilty  of  inconsistency.  It  had  frequently 
been  the  promoter  and  ally  of  aU  sagaciously  pro- 
gressive movements.  It  had  invariably  championed 
the  cause  of  the  helpless  and  oppressed.  It  had 
always  been  the  enemy  of  misrule  and  immorality. 
It  had  never  tolerated  abuses  or  connived  at  the 
committal  of  a  wrong,  whatever  the  interests  at 
stake.  For  these  reasons  the  people^  trusted  it  and 
accepted  its  guidance. 

The  paper  began  quietly  and  unostentatiously  to 


248  DAVID  SYME 

rule  the  State  by  a  process  of  plausible  suggestion. 
Its  leading  articles  actually  made  public  opinion, 
yet  they  affected  merely  to  reflect  it.  The  people 
were  flattered  by  this  indulgent  deference  and  made 
David  Syme  in  all  good  faith  the  keeper  of  their 
poUtical  consciences.  It  is  to  his  honour  that  he 
never  betrayed  them  into  a  false  position,  never 
abused  his  power,  never  wavered  from  the  paths  of 
equity  and  right.  During  aU  the  years  that  followed 
he  sat  unseen  in  his  office,  the  virtual  dictator  of  the 
country,  the  '*  power  behind  the  throne.*' 

In  his  office  he  occupied  a  simple  swivel  chair, 
which  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes  a  throne,  and 
there  he  sat  until  the  end,  his  power  only  strengthened 
by  the  ffight  of  da}^,  his  grasp  on  the  helm  of  affairs 
only  the  more  firm,  experienced,  and  confident. 
In  his  sanctum,  what  curious  scenes  have  happened, 
what  confessions  of  weakness  have  been  heard,  what 
pleadings,  threats,  promises,  and  imprecations !  In 
that  room  have  been  born  and  bred  and  fashioned 
all  the  best  laws  in  Victoria's  Statute  Book. 

If  David  Syme  had  been  a  smaller  man  and  could 
have  been  tempted  by  the  vanity  of  smaller  men  to 
break  his  seal  of  silence,  what  a  history,  what  a 
human  document,  could  be  compiled  about  the 
secrets  of  that  room  !  It  seems  in  some  respects  a 
pity  that  those  secrets  have  been  carried  to  his  grave. 
But  we  can  forgive  the  circumstance  in  the  light  it 
sheds  upon  his  character. 

Some  secrets,  nevertheless,  have  been  disclosed 


NEWSPAPER  GOVERNMENT  249 

through  the  wounded  pride  or  vainglory  of  those  who 
met  with  fortune  or  disaster  at  ''  King  David's  " 
hands.  I  may  cite  for  instance  the  case  of  James 
Munro,  who  was  Premier  of  Victoria  in  1891.  To- 
wards the  close  of  the  year  Mr.  Munro,  whom  The 
Age  had  raised  to  power  to  procure  certain  crying 
reforms  he  had  been  strenuously  advocating,  dis- 
appointed David  Syme  by  the  sudden  lukewarnmess 
of  his  actions.  Elevation  to  office  had  modified  his 
views.  Syme  determined  that  he  must  give  place 
to  a  more  energetic  reformer  :  and,  following  his 
usual  custom,  he  notified  one  of  Mr.  Munro's  col- 
leagues to  whom  he  was  giving  audience  of  his  resolu- 
tion. Mr.  Munro  was  a  weak  man  and  an  opportunist 
but  personally  agreeable,  and  Syme  had  conceived 
for  him  something  of  affection.  '*  King  David  " 
was  sincerely  grieved,  therefore,  to  give  his  friend 
notice  to  quit :  and  it  was  one  of  the  most  unpleasant 
duties  of  his  career  to  be  obliged  by  conscience  to  do 
so.  Aware  that  Munro  would  call  upon  him  to 
prefer  a  personal  appeal  for  mercy,  Syme  sought  to 
spare  his  friend  a  vain  humiliation  and  himself  the 
pain  of  witnessing  the  other's  pain.  In  consequence 
he  set  out  for  one  of  his  country  estates  in  a  remote 
part  of  the  Colony  that  could  only  be  reached  by  a 
long  train  and  coaching  journey.  But  Mr.  Munro 
in  rage  and  despair  hurriedly  followed,  and  Syme 
had  hardly  reached  his  destination  when,  worn  out 
and  travel-stained,  the  Premier  of  Victoria  made  his 
appearance  and  made  an  impassioned  appeal  for 


250  DAVID  SYME 

leniency.  But  David  Syme  would  not  have  been 
David  Syme  if  he  had  ever  departed  from  a  fixed 
resolve.  It  cost  him  real  misery  to  dismiss  his  friend 
unsatisfied,  but  he  considered  himself  the  trustee  of 
the  people's  faith,  and  his  iron  will  sustained  him 
in  the  discharge  of  duty.  James  Munro  returned 
to  Melbourne  and  almost  immediately  resigned  the 
Premiership.  Two  months  later,  with  Syme's 
consent,  Munro's  successor  appointed  him  Agent- 
General  of  the  Colony,  and  he  repaired  to  London. 

Incidents  like  these,  and  there  are  many,  which 
leaked  out,  much  to  Syme's  annoyance,  made  a  pro- 
found impression  on  the  public  mind,  but  instead  of 
diminishing  they  increased  and  consolidated  con- 
fidence in  The  Age's  fearlessness  and  incorruptibility. 
Thus  was  the  era  of  Newspaper  Government  ushered 
into  being.  It  is  now  an  established  feature  and, 
in  truth,  a  predominant  factor  of  the  Democratic 
institution. 

Throughout  Victoria  and  over  a  great  portion  of 
the  Commonwealth  The  Age  is  now  the  ruling  power. 
It  influences  the  policies  both  of  the  Victorian  State 
and  the  Federal  Governments.  It  makes  and 
unmakes  Ministries.  No  Cabinet  is  strong  enough 
to  be  independent  of  its  support,  to  resist  its  counsels, 
or  to  defy  its  directions.  It  simultaneously  creates 
and  expresses  pubUc  opinion.  In  a  word,  it  governs 
the  country.  Of  course  it  could  not  do  this  for  a  day 
if  it  deviated  from  its  fine  and  historically  consistent 
course.    But  there  is  no  prospect  of  that  as  long  as 


NEWSPAPER  GOVERNMENT  251 

David  Syme's  influence  survives,  which  is  equivalent 
to  saying  that  its  poUcy  is  unalterably  fixed. 

Newspaper  Government  as  practised  by  The  Age 
is  essentially  government  of  the  people  by  the  people. 
It  approximates  more  nearly  than  any  other  form 
that  has  yet  been  invented  to  the  true  Democratic 
concept  of  enlightened  popular  self-government.  It 
nevertheless  possesses  the  defects  of  its  virtues.  One 
of  these, — perhaps  the  greatest, — cannot  be  passed 
without  remark.  It  breeds  public  apathy.  The 
people  have  come  by  long  habit  to  regard  The  Age 
as  their  guiding  star  and  mouthpiece.  Should  some 
abuse  or  pubUc  ill  crop  up  in  the  community  they 
look  to  The  Age  to  make  inquiries  and  secure 
redress.  There  was  a  time  when  they  would  have 
expressed  their  indignation  at  such  things  by  heartily 
assembUng  in  public  meetings  and  by  making  or 
listening  to  inflammatory  addresses.  But  now  they 
do  not  bother  to  do  anything  more  strenuous  than 
write  letters  to  the  Press.  If  circumstances  (as 
occasionally  happens)  demand  that  they  should 
bestir  themselves  more  energetically  to  wipe  out 
an  abuse  unusually  persistent,  they  discharge  their 
duty  by  marching  when  the  time  is  ripe  to  the  ballot 
box  and  voting  in  a  placid  phalanx  for  reform. 

I  cannot  help  thinking  this  is  a  not  altogether 
healthy  frame  of  mind  for  a  people  to  fall  into. 
It  argues  a  confidence,  judged  by  ordinary  human 
standards,  almost,  if  not  quite,  too  deep  for  public 
safety.     The  Age  doubtless  deserves  it.    But  there 


252  DAVID   SYME 

is  the  long  vista  of  the  future  to  consider.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  must  be  admitted  that  the  very  apathy 
I  complain  of,  which  Newspaper  Government  has  pro- 
duced, possesses  a  singular  virtue  in  its  defect.  It 
has  almost  completely  suppressed  the  demagogue. 

The  Victorian  people  were,  formerly,  the  easy  prey 
of  any  smooth-tongued  agitator  who  made  demands 
upon  their  leisure.  They  regard  the  demagogue, 
now,  with  contemptuous  indifference,  and  be  he 
ever  so  eloquent,  ever  so  specious,  decline  to  waste 
time  in  attending  to  him.  Asked  why  ?  they  answer, 
*'  If  there  was  anything  in  what  he  has  to  say.  The 
Age  would  have  said  it  long  ago.'*  This  is  no  doubt 
a  good  thing  within  limits.  Yet  it  indicates  another 
incipient  ill.  It  shows  that  the  people  are  not 
thinking  for  themselves  as  they  used  to  do. 

Again  I  hold  that  this  is  not  well  for  the  people. 
I  willingly  confess,  however,  that,  whatever  the  imper- 
fections of  the  new  system  of  Government,  it  is 
superior  to  the  system  it  has  replaced,  and  its  crea- 
tion constitutes  not  the  least  of  the  many  services 
which  the  big  heart  and  the  far-seeing  genius  of 
David  Syme  rendered  to  his  adopted  country. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

Characteristics 

David  Syme's  watchword — His  forward  looking — His  national 
ideal — His  ruthlessness — His  kindness  to  Mr.  Speight — 
The  mystery  that  surrounded  his  actions — His  religious 
beliefs — His  capacity  for  hate — His  friendships  :  instances  of 
generosity,  public  and  private — His  public  benefactions — 
Anecdotes — Mob  enthusiasm — How  Mr.  Deakin  entered 
politics — Syme's  sense  of  humour — His  passionate  temper 
— His  self-control — The  man  as  he  was — Charge  of  hardness 
of  heart  refuted — The  secret  of  his  false  reputation  for 
austerity  and  pride — Syme  and  his  staff — His  philosophy — 
Simplicity  the  key-note  to  his  character. 

David  Syme's  thoughts  were  ever  directed  towards 
the  future.  He  loved  the  country  of  his  birth  ; 
better  still  he  loved  the  country  of  his  adoption. 
His  love  for  his  countrymen  was  always  greater 
than  his  love  for  his  country.  But  he  loved  more 
than  all  else  the  country  and  the  society  and  the 
laws  of  his  children  and  of  the  children  of  his  coun- 
trymen. "  Forward  '*  was  the  watchword  of  his 
life.  The  magic  of  the  future  was  in  his  blood.  It 
inspired  his  indefatigable  endeavours.  It  brought 
and  fixed  before  his  eyes  a  vision.  It  controlled 
his  actions,  determined  his  policy,  and  governed 
his  ambition.     His  enemies  persistently  sought  to 

MS 


254  DAVID  SYME 

represent  him  as  a  man  always  preternaturally 
cold  and  dour,  with  a  heart  incapable  of  a  gener- 
ous impulse.  They  never  understood  him.  Pur- 
poseful and  resolute  he  was,  and  in  a  sense  which 
no  expressions  can  exaggerate,  but  his  heart  always 
beat  in  passionate  sympathy  for  the  sorrows  of 
humanity.  On  the  other  hand,  he  was  the  captain 
of  his  own  soul ;  a  law  unto  himself,  with  a  will 
and  strength  to  force  that  law  on  others  for  the 
achievement  of  his  philanthropic  aims. 

The  present  never  chained  him.  His  mind  was 
set  beyond.  He  poured  all  persons  and  all  circum- 
stances into  a  crucible  for  the  fashioning  of  the  future. 
He  never  acted  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  under 
the  guidance  of  emotion.  He  regarded  emotions 
as  temptations  which  sought  to  entangle  him  in 
petty  contests  to  delay  the  forward  march  of  his 
ideas.  He  suppressed  them  and  sacrificed  both 
himself  and  his  contemporaries  to  his  great  ideal — 
the  making  of  a  nation.  When  troubles  occurred, 
acute  enough  to  arrest  and  command  his  attention, 
he  would  neither  advance  nor  countenance  any 
remedy  which  he  was  not  convinced  would  operate 
harmoniously  with  the  principles  of  his  progressive 
policy.  When  obstacles  arose  he  surmounted  them 
or  beat  them  down.  He  believed  in  a  straight, 
undeviating  path.  He  never,  in  great  matters, 
made  a  compromise  ;  he  never  circumvented.  To 
opponents  who  proposed  arrangements  he  had  one 
unvarying  and  invariable  answer.     ''  Stand  aside  1  " 


CHARACTERISTICS  255 

Then  came  the  clash  of  arms,  and  always  he  swept 
his  adversaries  from  his  road.  He  pitied  the  van- 
quished and  often  succoured  them  as  he  passed  on. 
But  he  never  rested.  After  the  great  Speight  trials 
he  heard  that  Speight  was  ruined.  His  own  re- 
sources had  been  strained  to  the  limit  by  the  pro- 
tracted struggle.  But  he  had  been  fighting  a  system, 
not  a  man  ;  a  principle,  not  a  personality.  The 
news  that  the  man  who  had,  in  a  bad  cause,  so  long 
and  violently  and  often  venomously  opposed  him 
was  in  difficulties,  distressed  and  grieved  him.  He 
sent  for  Speight's  most  intimate  friend,  a  Member 
of  Parliament  named  Zox. 

'*  I  hear,  Mr.  Zox,"  said  David  Syme,  *'  that  Mr. 
Speight  is  being  pressed  by  his  creditors.*'  (It 
should  be  mentioned  that  Syme  was  himself  Speight's 
largest  creditor,  for  the  latter  owed  him  the  costs 
of  the  actions.) 

"It  is  true,  sir,"  Zox  reluctantly  admitted,  for 
his  affection  for  Speight  made  him  regard  Syme 
with  aversion.  He  added  with  some  bitterness, 
"  The  knowledge  will  doubtless  give  you  satisfac- 
tion." 

Syme's  still  grey  face  lost  nothing  of  its  habitual 
imperturbability.  '*  I  asked  for  facts,"  he  answered, 
"  not    opinions.     Are   his   friends  assisting  him  ?  " 

*'  We  are  trying  to  raise  funds  to  enable  him  to 
go  to  West  Australia,  where  employment  is  offered 
him,"  said  Zox. 

Syme  turned  to  his  desk  and  wrote  some  words 


256  DAVID  SYME 

upon  a  piece  of  paper.  A  moment  and  he  turned 
again,  the  paper  outstretched  in  his  hand.  '*  Kindly 
present  this  with  my  respectful  compliments  to  Mr. 
Speight.'' 

It  was  a  cheque  for  ;fioo. 

Next  morning  Speight  burst  into  Syme's  ofl&ce. 
The  two  adversaries,  the  victor  and  the  vanquished, 
gazed  at  one  another  for  a  little  in  silence  ;  then 
Speight  faltered — ''  Why,  why,  have  you  done  this 
thing  to  me  ?  '* 

Syme  arose  and  took  the  other's  hand.  "  It 
was  a  good  fight,"  was  all  he  said. 

Speight  left  the  room  in  tears. 

This  incident  rebuts  the  charge  that  Syme's 
heart  was  cold.  Its  publication  at  the  time  would 
have  made  him  the  idol  of  the  populace.  But  he 
had  always  contemned  popularity  and  shrank  from 
it  as  from  an  evil  thing.  It  offended  his  conceptions 
of  virility  and  he  feared  it  as  an  enemy  of  indepen- 
dence. He  had  won  all  his  triumphs  without 
incurring  it,  in  a  manner  indeed  to  stave  it  off,  for 
all  his  victories  were  gained  by  first  imposing  his 
opinions,  vi  et  armis,  on  the  majority  of  his 
countrymen,  whose  prejudices  he  ever  boldly  and 
imcompromisingly  either  disregarded  or  ignored. 

To  those  who  only  know  him  by  repute,  David 
Syme's  character  is  a  thing  past  comprehension, 
full  of  mystery,  surprises,  and  contradictions.  They 
judged  him  unkindly,  because  he  never  indulged 
in  petty  public  charities  :   non-Imperial,  because  he 


CHARACTERISTICS  257 

did  not  bow  down  and  worship  all  Imperial  institu- 
tions :  heartless,  because  he  never  spared  an  ad- 
versary in  the  fight  :  unappreciative,  because  he 
distributed  censure  more  freely  than  praise ;  and 
irreligious,  because  he  never  went  to  church.  Yet 
the  number  is  legion  of  unfortunates  he  privately 
assisted.  When  the  Boer  war  broke  out  no  other 
Australian  subscribed  more  generously  to  the  cost 
of  the  Australian  contingents.  He  gave  a  magni- 
ficent endowment  to  the  Melbourne  University. 
He  equipped  at  his  sole  cost  a  scientific  expedition 
to  the  centre  of  Australia.  He  despatched  at  his 
sole  expense  a  rifle  team  to  Bisley.  And  we  have 
seen  with  what  courtesy  and  liberality  he  could 
help  a  fallen  foe.  As  for  religion,  his  religion  was 
humanity.  His  abiding  confidence  in  the  Demo- 
cracy had  no  limitations.  To  the  people  his  whole 
life  paid  the  homage  of  devoted  and  untiring  service 
— not  by  words  but  by  deeds.  As  a  mere  lad,  in  a 
German  University,  he  emancipated  himself  from 
the  thraldom  of  the  theological  superstitions  which 
had  been  instilled  into  his  mind  from  the  cradle, 
and  which  the  parental  will  had  vainly  pre-ordained 
him  to  uphold.  He  replaced  them  with  a  philo- 
sophy original  and  all  his  own.  It  may  be  given 
in  two  sentences.  '*  If  there  is  a  God  and  if  we  are 
His  people  I  cannot  please  Him  better  than  by  em- 
ploying my  talents  towards  the  advancement  and 
upUfting  of  that  portion  of  the  race  with  which  my 
lot  is  cast.     If  there  be  no  God  and  no  hereafter,  I 


258  DAVID  SYME 

shall  not  sleep  the  less  soundly  in  my  grave  because 
I  shall  have  acted  so  that  other  generations,  while 
they  may  forget,  shall  not  remember  me  with 
obloquy/' 

His  attitude  towards  the  Divine  was  one  of  rever- 
ent and  respectful  unbelief — not  disbelief.  In  his 
extraordinary  book,  The  Soul,  he  makes  this  clear. 
This  work  is  an  incursion  into  the  realms  of  mystic 
speculation.  He  joins  issue  with  the  chilling  Monism 
of  Haeckel  and  makes  a  tangential  departure  into 
the  more  inviting  sphere  of  Dualism.  The  book 
is  instinct  with  agnosticism  but  exhilarant  with 
hope.  In  it  we  see  a  proud  scientific  spirit  scorn- 
fully rejecting  unproven  tenets  and  making  a  bold 
and  eager,  and  at  times,  an  exciting,  tantalizing, 
half-successful  effort  to  perceive  the  unperceivable 
and  to  pierce  the  darkness  that  pervades  and  shrouds 
the  mysteries  of  space  and  death.  The  Soul  is  curi- 
ously self-reveahng.  It  proves  David  Syme's  clay 
the  mansion  of  a  psychic  habitant  more  humble 
and  not  less  ardent  than  his  mind,  and  it  proves 
his  mind  possessed  of  unsuspected  deeps  and  of 
an  almost  tender  inclination  to  adore  his  God  if 
he  could  only  find  Him. 

Syme  could  hate  as  few  men  can.  In  his  ani- 
mosities he  was  implacable,  and  implacably  he 
pursued  his  vengeance.  Injuries  he  could  forgive 
and  did  forgive.  They  did  not  always  arouse  in 
him  detestation  of  the  assailant  nor  always  provoke 
him  to  strike  back.     It  was  the  personality  of  the 


CHARACTERISTICS  259 

offender  that  antagonized  him  :  and  he  measured 
his  hate,  not  by  the  hurts  he  received,  not  even 
by  the  power  of  his  enemy  to  baulk  or  to  delay  his 
policy,  but  by  the  intellectual  abhorrence  that  his 
enemy's  personality  inspired.  There  were  men  who 
caused  him  by  design  great  grief  and  damage  ; 
strong  men  and  weaklings,  too,  whom  he  allowed 
to  pass  on  scatheless.  There  were  others  who  did 
him  but  little  ill,  and  yet  whom  he  assailed  with 
pitiless  persistence  to  the  end. 

His  antipathies  are  difficult  to  understand,  but 
the  secret  of  them  all  lies  in  the  meanness  and  want 
of  magnanimity  of  those  whom  he  paid  the  compli- 
ment of  desiring  to  destroy.  Incapable  of  little- 
ness himself,  a  mean  speech,  a  paltry  action,  stirred 
him  to  his  depths.  But  all  his  enemies  he  fought  fairly. 
He  gave  them  no  quarter,  but  he  scorned  to  take  an 
unscrupulous  advantage.  He  once  declared  war 
against  a  popular  poUtician,  a  strong  man  and  in 
many  respects  a  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel.  An 
unexpiated,  unrepented  act  of  meanness  was  the 
cause  of  strife.  Presently  there  came  to  Syme  a 
person  whom  this  man  had  injured,  with  authentic 
proofs  of  a  shameful  private  transgression  the 
publication  of  which  would  have  brought  about 
instant  ruin.  Syme  bought  the  papers  and  posted 
them  to  his  enemy  the  day  following  a  rabid  attack 
upon  him  by  the  poUtician  under  cloak  of  Parlia- 
mentary Privilege  in  the  House.  This  act  of  gen- 
erosity  brought   the   politician   to    The  Age  office, 


26o  DAVID  SYME 

with  protestations  of  gratitude  and  offers  of  recon- 
ciliation. Syme  refused  to  receive  him,  and  never 
rested  until  he  had  driven  the  man  out  of  poHtical 
life. 

His  maxim  was — "  Mean  rulers  make  a  mean 
people,"  and  he  could  not  bring  himself  to  tolerate, 
for  long,  the  employment  of  mean  tools  in  the 
structure  he  was  planning. 

But  Syme  could  love  as  well  as  hate.  The  few 
friendships  he  allowed  himself  were  permanent  insti- 
tutions. No  friend  ever  called  on  him  for  help  in 
vain.  No  man  ever  did  him  a  favour  or  a  service 
but  received  cause  to  remember  it  with  increasing 
satisfaction. 

In  his  early  days  of  strife  and  struggle,  when 
The  Age  was  battling  to  unlock  the  land  and  fight- 
ing for  Protection,  Syme  often  found  it  hard  to 
keep  the  paper  going.  He  did  the  work  of  half- 
a-dozen  men  himself,  and  cut  down  expenses  to  the 
finest  point.  Nevertheless  there  were  times,  es- 
pecially during  the  advertising  boycotts,  when  he 
had  to  obtain  financial  assistance  or  go  under. 
More  than  once  he  was  forced  to  ask  his  workmen 
to  wait  for  their  weekly  wages.  They  never  refused 
him,  and  they  never  regretted  it ;  for  when  fortune 
changed  they  all  received  the  handsomest  rewards. 
More  than  once  he  was  compelled  to  ask  for  advances 
from  his  few  faithful  advertisers  in  order  to  procure 
paper  on  which  to  print  The  Age.  Not  one  of 
those   advertisers   but    afterwards   had  reason   to 


CHARACTERISTICS  261 

congratulate  himself  upon  his  faith.  One  day  a 
friend,  who  had  been  a  fellow-contractor  of  Syme's 
before  his  brother  Ebenezer's  death,  called  at  the 
office.  He  found  David  in  the  deepest  dejection. 
Things Vere  going  very  badly  with  the  poor  journal- 
ist, and  ruin  stared  him  in  the  face.  The  contractor 
was  intimate  enough  with  him  to  insist  upon  his 
confidence.  When  he  had  heard  all  he  promptly 
decided  to  prove  his  friendship  in  a  practical  way, 
and  pulled  out  his  cheque-book.  *'  It  will  take 
hundreds,*'  said  David  Syme.  ''  Well,''  replied  the 
contractor,    '*  you   can   have   hundreds." 

The  money  was  lent  and  very  soon  repaid.  Ten 
years  later  Syme  heard  that  this  good  friend  was 
menaced  with  bankruptcy.  He  hurried  to  his 
side  and  offered  help.  "  It  will  take  thousands," 
said  the  contractor.  "  Well,  you  can  have  thous- 
ands," was  Syme's  smiling  reply,  and  he  put  a  cheque, 
signed  in  blank,  in  the  other's  hand. 

Syme  was  the  founder  and  foster-father  of  the 
Rifle  Club  movement  in  Victoria.  He  believed 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  every  citizen  to  be  able  to 
defend  his  country,  and  always  advocated  that 
the  teaching  of  rifle-shooting  should  be  made  the 
basis  of  national  defence.  It  was  in  consequence 
of  a  series  of  stirringly  patriotic  articles  in  The 
Age  that  the  first  rifle  club  in  Victoria  was  estab- 
lished ;  and  the  movement,  once  started,  spread 
so  rapidly  under  Syme's  forceful  patronage  that  it 
soon  acquired  a  national  significance.     The  system 


262  DAVID  SYME 

he  initiated  extended  at  length  over  the  entire 
Commonwealth  even  as  far  as  Port  Darwin,  that 
lonely  outpost  which  stares  into  the  Tropic  Seas. 
But  it  was  not  only  with  his  pen  that  Syme  stimu- 
lated the  patriotic  exertions  of  his  countrymen. 

Soon  after  the  bursting  of  the  great  Land  Boom, 
when  the  Turner  Ministry  was  hard  at  work  piecing 
together  the  shattered  finances  of  the  Colony  and 
trying  to  restore  Victoria's  seriously-damaged  foreign 
credit,  a  suggestion  was  made  that  the  Government 
should  send  a  picked  team  of  Victorian  rifle  shots 
to  England  to  compete  at  Bisley  for  the  Kolapore 
Cup. 

Sir  George  Turner  caught  at  the  proposal  eagerly 
at  first ;  but  after  a  while  he  discovered  that,  as 
Treasurer  of  the  pubUc  funds,  he  could  not,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  state  of  the  finances  and  the  pros- 
pect of  a  Budget  deficit,  justify  it  with  his  conscience 
to  spare  the  sum  required  to  defray  the  expenses 
of  the  team.  The  Hon.  William  McCulloch  M.L.C., 
who  was  Minister  of  Defence  in  the  Administration, 
pleaded  with  Sir  George  long  and  strenuously,  but 
in  vain.  The  Premier  was  the  most  careful  Treasurer 
Victoria  has  ever  had,  and  refused  to  spend  a  shilling 
in  those  bad  years  that  could  by  any  means  be  saved. 

Mr.  McCulloch,  on  the  other  hand,  while  also  a 
careful  man,  took  a  broader  view  of  the  situation  and 
pointed  out  that,  as  the  proposal  had  been  virtually 
adopted  by  the  Government,  it  would  be  a  very  bad 
advertisement  for  the  Colony  if  it  were  to  be  known 


CHARACTERISTICS  263 

that  Victoria  was  in  such  financial  straits  as  to 
forbid  so  comparatively  petty  an  expenditure  on 
a  national  undertaking.  Sir  George,  however,  was 
adamant,  and  the  two  colleagues  were  about  to  part 
in  mutual  dissatisfaction  when  he  suddenly  exclaimed, 
*'  Ah  !  if  we  only  had  a  few  generous  and  truly 
patriotic  spirits  among  our  wealthy  private  citizens 
who  would  subscribe  the  money,  then,  McCulloch,  this 
trouble  of  ours  would  be  at  an  end.'* 

Mr.  McCulloch  made  no  reply,  but  the  hint  had 
inspired  him.  He  left  the  Treasurer  and  went 
straight  down  to  The  Age  office.  He  entered  Syme's 
sanctum  a  few  moments  later,  diffident  but 
desperate  ;   for  he  was  at  the  end  of  his  resources. 

"  Hello,  Mr.  Syme,"  said  he.  "  I  hope  I  find 
you  in  a  good  temper,  for  Fve  come  to  beg  a  favour 
from  you.'' 

''  Well,''  responded  Syme,  ''  what  is  it  ?  " 

"  Turner's  prospective  deficit  has  so  dismayed 
him  that  he  won't  allow  me  a  penny  to  send  the 
rifle  team  to  Bisley.     I  have  come  to  you  for  help." 

"  Hum  !  "  said  David  Syme.  *'  How  much  do  you 
want  ?  " 

''  Two  thousand  pounds." 

"  Very  good.  I  shall  send  you  a  cheque.  Good 
afternoon,  McCulloch.  Sorry  to  drive  you  away, 
but  I  am  very  busy." 

Mr.  McCulloch  related  this  incident  to  me  exactly 
as  I  have  set  it  down.  He  added — ''  I  entered  Syme's 
den  in  fear  and  trembling,  anticipating  a  lot  of 


264  DAVID  SYME 

trouble  to  persuade  him  even  to  open  a  subscrip- 
tion list.  But  it  was  no  harder  than  that  to  ^et  the 
whole  amount  I  wanted/* 

It  is  pleasant  to  record  that  the  rifle  team  Syme's 
prompt  generosity  despatched  to  England  had  the 
distinction  of  winning  the  Kolapore  Cup  in  competi- 
tion with  the  best  shots  of  the  Empire. 

Among  Syme's  other  wise  and  well-chosen  public 
benefactions  three  are  particularly  noteworthy. 
At  the  time  of  the  British  annexation  of  Papua  he 
was  the  first  to  realize  that  Papua  was  ultimately 
destined  to  become  an  Australian  dependency. 
Anticipating  the  future,  he  undertook  at  his  own 
expense  the  exploration  of  that  great  and  wonderful 
island  :  and  to  that  end  be  fitted  up  two  separate 
exploring  expeditions  which  collected  an  immense 
amount  of  information  that  has  since  proved  of 
inestimable  service  to  the  Commonwealth  Govern- 
ment. 

On  another  occasion  Syme  despatched  an  expedi- 
tion to  Central  Australia  under  Professor  Spencer, 
which  resulted  in  the  incomparable  enlargement 
of  the  public  knowledge  of  the  ''  Dead  heart ''  of 
the  Continent,  its  strange  inhabitants  and  its 
peculiar  geological,  zoological  and  botanical  char- 
acteristics. 

Again  in  1904  in  order  to  mark  the  Jubilee  of  The 
Age  he  endowed  Melbourne  University  with  a  very 
large  sum  of  money  to  provide  in  perpetuity  an 
annual  prize  of  £100  for  original  Australian  research 


4 


CHARACTERISTICS  265 

work  in  biology  and  kindred  sciences.  This  prize 
is  competed  for  each  year,  and  it  has  already  influenced 
the  study  of  subjects  associated  with  the  material 
and  industrial  development  of  the  Common- 
wealth. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  instances  of  Syme's 
bigness  of  heart  was  afforded  by  the  course  he 
adopted  when  he  decided  to  set  up  the  linotype  in 
The  Age  machine  rooms.  His  decision  necessarily 
displaced  more  [than  a  hundred  compositors,  but 
Syme  delayed  the  installation  until  he  had  provided 
for  all  these  men  in  the  most  thoroughgoing  and 
systematic  manner.  It  took  him  two  years  to 
complete  the  arrangements.  Those  of  the  com- 
positors who  had  been  twenty-five  years  in  his 
service  he  pensioned  for  the  rest  of  their  lives.  Of 
the  remainder,  for  some  he  found  other  employment ; 
he  set  up'several  in  independent  businesses,  and  many 
others  he  helped  to  settle  on  the  land.  He  looked 
after  each  man  with  the  most  earnest  personal 
care.  He  had  an  agricultural  expert  travelling  about 
for  three  months  to  find  suitable  farms  for  those 
who  wished  to  go  on  the  land,  and  was  not  satisfied 
until  each  and  every  one  of  his  displaced  employes 
was  well  on  the  way  to  make  a  comfortable  living  ; 
nor  did  he  hesitate  to  spend  and  lend  large  sums  of 
money  to  insure  their  permanent  future  welfare. 
There  are  unhappily  but  few  industrial  employers 
with  the  patriarchal  instincts  of  the  founder  of 
The  Age.    The  world  would  be  better  were  he  not 


266  DAVID  SYME 

the  exception  but  the  rule.  We  may  hope,  however, 
that  his  magnificent  example  will  bear  fruit. 

Syme  was,  for  all  his  bold  originaHty  of  mind  and 
despite  the  revolutionary  nature  of  some  of  his 
successfully-accomplished  policies,  one  of  the  most 
law-abiding  citizens  the  Commonwealth  has  pos- 
sessed. Power  never  tempted  him  to  over-ride 
authority,  and  he  entertained,  at  one  and  the  same 
time,  a  deep-rooted  respect  for  settled  methods  of 
procedure  and  a  profound  abhorrence  of  violence. 
A  happy  illustration  of  this  side  of  his  character 
is  provided  in  Chapter  II,  in  which  he  relates  the 
story  of  his  Mount  Egerton  experience.  On  that 
occasion  he  was  violently  and  illegally  deprived 
by  a  rascal  of  a  most  valuable  mine.  He  was  then 
a  young  and  physically  powerful  man.  He  was 
well-armed  and  had  with  him  a  partner  and  several 
servants  who  would  very  gladly  have  used  force  to 
expel  the  invader  from  his  property.  Syme,  how- 
ever, could  not  be  persuaded  to  take  the  law  into 
his  own  hands ;  and  rather  than  commit  a  breach 
of  the  peace  he  suffered  himself  to  be  despoiled.  No 
doubt  the  extreme  submissiveness  of  disposition 
to  estabhshed  authority  thereby  indicated  was 
the  product  of  his  upbringing.  From  his  earUest 
babyhood  he  was  trained  by  rigid  and  unbending 
parental  disciphne  to  observe  the  law  in  spirit  and 
in  letter  ;  and  this  iron  breeding  bore  permanent 
effects. 

Nevertheless,  at  least  once  in  his  long  life,  Syme 


David   Syme,   1907. 


Page  265 


CHARACTERISTICS  267 

broke  bounds,  and  the  experiment  gave  him  the 
greatest  possible  delight.  He  was  traveUing  at 
the  moment  to  Hong  Kong  on  one  of  the  Japanese 
mail-steamers.  The  Captain,  an  Enghshman,  did 
not  know  Syme,  and  it  seems  had  conceived  some- 
what of  an  aversion  to  his  distinguished  passenger. 
At  any  rate,  Syme,  who  sat  next  to  him  at  table, 
found  it  impossible  to  engage  the  Captain  in  conver- 
sation or  to  extract  from  him  the  least  attention  or 
civiUty.  About  the  middle  of  the  voyage  Syme 
went  one  afternoon  on  deck,  which  was  for  the  mo- 
ment deserted,  and,  after  a  short  stroll  seated  him- 
self upon  an  unoccupied  deck  chair.  Five  minutes 
later  a  quartermaster  touched  him  on  the  arm. 

''If  you  please,  sir,**  said  the  man,  ''you  are 
sitting  on  the  Captain's  chair.'' 

Syme  looked  up.  "  Oh  !  And  does  the  Captain 
want  it  ?  "  he  inquired. 

*'  He  don't  want  it  just  now,"  replied  the  quarter- 
master, "  but  his  orders  are,  it's  not  to  be  used." 

"  I  am  not  hurting  it,"  Mr.  Syme  observed,  slowly 
and  reflectively — he  was  watching  the  Captain,  who 
stood  on  the  bridge,  watching  him. 

The  quartermaster  persisted.  "  The  Captain  says, 
sir,  that  no  one  is  to  sit  on  his  chair." 

Syme  turned  and  looked  the  man  in  the  eye. 

"  Do  you  mean  to  tell  me,  quartermaster,"  he 
demanded,  "  that  the  Captain  sent  you  to  me  with 
that  message  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  man. 


268  DAVID  SYME 

Slowly  and  deliberately  Syme  arose.  Then  he 
stooped  down,  picked  up  the  chair,  and,  striding  to 
the  ship's  side,  pitched  it  overboard.  Then  he 
turned  to  the  astounded  sailor,  and,  in  a  voice  loud 
enough  to  be  heard  by  the  Captain,  said  "  Give 
my  compliments  to  your  Commander  and  tell  him 
that  nothing  could  induce  me  to  use  his  chair  again.'' 
It  was  one  of  the  biographer's  most  delightful  experi- 
ences to  hear  Syme  relate  this  story ;  to  see  his 
keen  grey  eyes  sparkle  wickedly  and  humorously ; 
to  mark  his  stern  old  face  Ught  up  with  laughter  and 
to  hear  his  grim  chuckle  as,  in  answer  to  the  query, 
"  And  what  did  the  Captain  do  ?  "  he  repHed,  '*  Oh  ! 
the  Captain  was  quite  civil  to  me  after  that." 

Syme  always  took  a  lively  interest  in  women's 
movements.  He  greatly  sympathized  with  their 
efforts  to  secure  improved  facihties  for  technical 
education  especially  suitable  for  their  sex,  and 
subscribed  Uberally  to  all  associations  having  that 
or  similar  objects.  His  purse,  moreover,  was  always 
open  to  charitable  appeals,  and  no  application  was 
ever  made  to  him  in  vain  for  the  reUef  and  support 
of  helpless  or  impoverished  females. 

S5mie  loved  power  as  few  men  have  ever  loved  it, 
but  cared  nothing  for  the  customary  concomitants 
of  power  which  deUght  vain  dispositions.  During 
times  of  political  crisis  when  The  Age  was  batthng 
for  the  people,  inamense  crowds  frequently  assembled 
before  the  office  and  clamoured  for  him  to  appear 
and    receive    their    enthusiastic    homage.     Syme's 


CHARACTERISTICS  269 

practice  on  such  occasions  was  to  request  a  subordin- 
ate to  stand  before  one  of  the  office  windows  and 
bow  an  acknowledgment  to  the  mob's  greetings. 
As  he  was  personally  imknown  by  sight  to  the  vast 
majority  of  Victorians,  the  device  was  never  sus- 
pected and  the  people  would  yell  themselves  hoarse, 
innocently  supposing  that  the  smiUng  reporter 
they  were  cheering  was  Syme  himself.  The 
truth  was,  Syme  held  all  such  tributes  in  contempt. 
He  believed  that  power  to  be  permanent  must  be 
more  or  less  unrecognized,  and  he  wanted  his  author- 
ity to  be  permanent.  For  that  reason  he  persist- 
ently effaced  himself.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  he  selected  every  Victorian  Premier  and 
almost  every  Cabinet  Minister.  But  that  was  not 
all.  Before  each  general  election  was  held,  the 
Ministry  of  the  day  invariably  submitted  for  his 
examination  the  list  of  Liberal  candidates,  and  only 
gave  the  party  support  to  the  men  he  approved. 
Nobody  knew  of  this  except  the  persons  interested 
and  The  Age  staff.  Syme  ruled  the  country  as 
absolutely  as  a  Tsar,  but  so  quietly  and  secretly 
was  his  domination  exercised  that  the  people  hardly 
reaUzed  their  yoke. 

It  was  Syme  who  introduced  Alfred  Deakin  to 
political  hfe.  Deakin  had  been  for  some  time  on 
The  Age  staff  as  a  leader  writer.  Syme  was  not 
altogether  satisfied  with  his  journalistic  capacities, 
but  was  quick  to  appreciate  Deakin's  deep  politi- 
cal insight  and   statesmanhke  ability.     The   Berry 


270  DAVID  SYME 

Government  was  then  in  office.  One  day,  Mr. 
Patterson,  one  of  Berry's  Ministers,  went  to  see 
Syme.  An  election  was  imminent.  Most  of  the 
Liberal  candidates  had  already  been  selected,  but 
there  was  a  vacancy  for  the  Bacchus  Marsh  con- 
stituency. Mr.  Patterson  submitted  a  couple  of 
names,  but  Sjone  shook  his  head. 

"  No,"  said  he,  ''  There's  a  young  fellow  in  my 
office  I  want  to  stand  for  Bacchus  Marsh."  Mr. 
Patterson  and,  later,  Berry  endeavoured  to  dissuade 
Syme  from  this  proposal,  because  the  Opposition 
candidate  was  an  ex-Minister  and  they  wished 
an  experienced  man  to  oppose  him.  But  to  no 
purpose.  Syme  insisted,  and  Alfred  Deakin  stood 
for  Bacchus  Marsh  as  the  Government  nominee. 
A  few  days  afterwards  Mr.  Patterson  burst  into 
Syme's  office.  Deakin,  the  previous  evening,  had 
made  his  first  speech  to  the  electors  and  Mr.  Patter- 
son had  been  present.  "  Hooray !  "  cried  Mr. 
Patterson.  ''  You  were  right,  Syme,  Deakin  is 
just  the  man  for  us.  He  talks — by  George,  he  can 
talk  !  "  Deakin  was  elected.  He  subsequently  re- 
signed his  seat  in  the  most  chivalrous  way,  on  a 
point  of  principle,  but  he  soon  found  another  with 
Syme's  help,  and  has  continued  in  politics  until  the 
present  day  with  distinguished  success. 

Another  instance  of  Syme's  habitual  unobtrus- 
iveness  was  furnished  by  a  little  adventure  with 
his  own  watchman.  This  man  had  been  for  eighteen 
months  in   daily  and  nightly  attendance  at   The 


CHARACTERISTICS  271 

Age  office,  when  on  a  certain  public  holiday  (the 
office  being  closed)  he  observed  a  tall  lank  figure 
enter  by  a  side  door  and  approach  the  stairs  leading 
to  the  Editor's  room.  The  watchman  hurried  for- 
ward. *'  You  cannot  go  up  there,  sir,"  he  ex- 
claimed. *'  I  have  orders  to  admit  nobody.  The 
Editor  is  not  in.'* 

The  visitor  turned  and  regarded  him.  "  Nobody?  " 
he  inquired. 

"  Nobody/'  said  the  watchman  firmly. 

Syme,  for  it  was  he,  smiled,  turned,  and  left  the 
building.  Rather  than  reveal  his  identity  to  his 
own  servant  he  preferred  to  postpone  what  he  had 
wished  to  do  until  the  following  day.  Strange  as 
it  may  appear,  there  have  been  scores  of  reporters 
employed  on  The  Age  staff  for  months  and  even 
years,  who  have  never  consciously  set  eyes  on 
Syme. 

In  his  private  Hfe  Syme  was  always  distinguished 
alike  for  the  simple  austerity  of  his  moral  code  and 
the  patriarchal  placidity  of  his  family  relations. 
A  devoted  husband,  a  firm  but  affectionate  father, 
his  wife  worshipped  him  and  his  children  not  only 
revered  but  adored  him.  His  residence  at  Kew 
was  surrounded  by  the  houses  of  his  married  sons 
and  daughters.  He  dwelt  in  their  midst  Hke  an  old 
Highland  chief  with  his  clan  about  him.  He  was 
the  central  figure  in  all  the  family  gatherings,  the 
great  parent-tree  round  which  the  saplings  clus- 
tered.    Syme  found  in  his  home  a  quiet  but  perpetual 


272  DAVID  SYME 

delight,  and  in  the  dutiful  affection  of  his  offspring 
and  their  spontaneous  loving  pride  in  him,  the 
reward  of  his  long  labours  which  he  Uked  best. 

Syme  was  gifted  with  the  crisp  dry  sense  of 
humour  peculiar  to  his  race.  There  are  those  who 
thought  him  humourless,  because  he  never  employed 
humour  as  a  journalistic  weapon.  It  is  quite  true 
that  he  always  kept  the  colunms  of  The  Age  locked 
up  from  wit.  But  it  was  because  in  his  serious 
pursuits  the  temper  of  the  man  was  always  stately, 
tense,  and  serious.  He  invariably  treated  the  public 
with  unbending  ceremony,  lest  they  should  think 
him  relaxing  in  his  [purpose.  Serious  objects  in 
his  opinion  should  be  sought  out  with  appropriate 
gravity.  Members  of  his  staff  frequently  bewailed 
his  hatred  of  levity.  Marcus  Clarke,  who  served 
him  for  some  years,  bitterly  complained  that  Syme's 
blue  pencil  had  never  spared  his  jests.  He  had  no 
other  complaint  against  his  master. 

"  It  is  wonderful,"  said  Marcus  Clarke,  "  how 
unerringly  he  detects  them :  however  subtle  I 
make  them,  however  I  hide  them  up,  it  avails  no- 
thing. He  is  utterly  humourless  himself,  but  he 
Hghts  on  the  humour  of  others  by  some  diabolical 
instinct,  and  the  blue  pencil  gets  to  work." 

The  routine  on  such  occasions  (it  should  be 
explained  that  Syme  read,  in  proof,  aU  the  "  copy  " 
that  went  into  his  paper)  was  for  the  luckless  jester 
to  be  sent  for.  He  would  find  Syme  in  his  office,  the 
offending  ''  copy  "  in  one  hand,  his  blue  pencil  in 


CHARACTERISTICS  273 

the  other.  "  What  is  this  ? "  Syme  would  ask, 
pointing  to  the  jeu  d* esprit. 

"That,  sir, — that's  a — a — a  httle  joke!"  stam- 
mered the  scribe. 

"  Do  not  let  it  occur  again  !  "  Syme  would  say 
with  his  grimmest  air,  and  the  interview  was  over. 
But  the  door  once  closed  behind  the  humorist, 
Syme's  frown  would  vanish ;  he  would  lean  back 
in  his  chair ;  a  smile  would  turn  the  comers  of  his 
hps  and  his  eyes  would  light  up.  He  knew  well 
that  the  writer  had  departed  believing  him  desti- 
tute of  the  "  saving  grace  "  and  hard  as  flint.  But 
he  enjoyed  the  misconception,  and  would  chuckle 
over  it  in  his  dry  Scots  way.  The  truth  is,  no  man 
better  loved  a  sparkling  jest  or  responded  to  wit 
more  readily ;  but  politics  and  statecraft  were 
holy  things  to  him  ;  his  paper  was  a  political  paper 
and  its  power  was  founded  on  the  consistent  seri- 
ousness of  its  methods  :  hence  he  would  have  no 
trifling  in  its  columns.  It  was  a  matter  of  policy. 
His  policy  was  sacred  in  his  eyes,  and  he  never  would 
have  it  spoken  of  lightly,  or  jested  with,  however- 
briUiantly. 

Syme's  temper  was  naturally  hasty,  passionate 
and  irritable  :  but  it  was  under  strict  command. 
He  mastered  himself  as  a  first  and  essential  step  to 
obtaining  the  mastery  of  others.  Only  his  closest 
intimates  knew  how  utterly  misjudged  he  was  by 
those  who  thought  him  cold.  Cold  !  Is  it  possible 
that    the    man,    whose   zeal    for    the    uplifting   of 


274  DAVID  SYME 

humanity  forced  him  into  a  long  series  of  life-or- 
death  struggles  with  the  enemies  of  the  Democracy, 
could  be  cold  ?  True,  he  seemed  so.  It  was 
because  of  his  self-control.  He  had  trained  himself 
to  drive  his  passions,  not  to  let  them  drive  him ; 
and  to  conceal  beneath  a  semblance  of  composure  a 
fire  of  enthusiasm,  an  intensity  of  will  and  a  ferocity 
of  perseverance  as  great  as  ever  animated  the  heart 
of  man.  His  composure  enabled  him  to  bear  down 
everything  before  it.  It  was  his  armour,  his  mask. 
It  terrified  his  adversaries  and  turned  them  into 
stone,  as  did  of  old  the  head  of  the  Medusa  in  the 
hands  of  Perseus.  But  after  all  it  was  only  a  mask, 
and  the  man  behind  it  was  only  different  from  other 
men  in  the  superior  fortitude  which  he  dis- 
played in  order  that  he  might  do  by  deliberation 
what  all  right-thinking  men  would  hke  to  do  under 
the  spur  of  generous  emotion. 

Turn  to  his  portrait  and  look  at  the  man.  It  is 
a  faithful  Hkeness  of  him  at  the  great  age  of  eighty- 
one  ;  it  is  a  faithful  likeness  of  him  for  any  day 
during  the  last  five  and  twenty  years  of  his  hfe. 
In  all  those  years  he  had  scarcely  aged.  Time 
would  almost  seem  to  have  forgotten  him.  He 
worked  almost  as  hard  a  few  weeks  prior  to  his 
death  as  in  i860.  He  directed  his  paper :  he 
read  every  article  ere  it  appeared ;  he  personally 
supervised  and  controlled  all  his  manifold  business 
interests  and  affairs.  He  gave  daily  audience  to 
Ministers.    He  read  and  pondered  the  best  current 


CHARACTERISTICS  275 

literature ;  he  kept  himself  abreast  of  the  science 
of  the  day  ;  and  he  found  time  to  do  a  good  deal  of 
original  writing.  He  was  a  man  surely  well  worth 
studying.  Consider  him  closely,  with  words  to  help 
the  picture.  He  was  over  six  feet  high  ;  spare,  lank, 
and  marvellously  vigorous  in  body  and  mind.  He 
was  slightly  bowed,  but  from  habit  rather  than  years  ; 
the  desk  accounts  for  it.  He  was  grey — iron  grey ; 
his  hair  and  beard  of  crisp  strong  growth.  His  com- 
plexion was  sanguine.  His  forehead  was  broad  and 
high,  a  fine  square  dome  of  thought.  His  eyes  were 
set  in  the  skull  at  the  correct  intellectual  width  apart ; 
not  very  deeply,  under  straight  dark  level  brows. 

The  eyes  were  the  pecuhar  bluish  grey  of  polished 
steel.  At  first  sight  they  seemed  hard  as  a  sword 
blade  and  as  keen, — a  second  glance  discerned  them 
alert,  purposeful  and  penetrating,  but  full  of  expect- 
ancy and  native  kindliness.  They  seemed  to  say 
"  Are  you  friend  or  enemy  ?  If  the  latter,  I  am 
ready  to  withstand  you ;  if  the  former,  I  shall  be 
bhthe  to  give  you  welcome." 

The  nose  was  well-proportioned,  broad  at  the 
base,  narrow  at  the  apex,  and  neither  long  nor  short. 
It  had  a  faint  eagle  curve.  It  was  the  nose  of  a 
fighter,  but  not  of  a  pugnacious  man  ;  the  nose  of  a 
conqueror,  one  should  say. 

The  mouth  was  compressed  of  habit  in  the  straight 
Une  of  inflexible  decision,  but  in  moments  of  unwari- 
ness  one  perceived  it  formed  of  shapely  curves  :  the 
lips  being  neither  thin  nor   thick,   a  compromise 


276  DAVID  SYME 

between  asceticism  and  sensuousness.  The  chin, 
which  the  close-cropped  beard  partially  concealed, 
was  square,  prognathous  and  predominant.  It  re- 
vealed its  owner's  granite  will.  The  head  was  large 
and  square,  set  firmly  on  the  shoulders  with  a  lithe 
and  eager  neck.  The  man  walked  with  slow, 
dehberate  strides  straight  to  the  point  he  made  for, 
thinking  of  nothing  the  while  save  to  reach  his 
immediate  destination.  So  he  strode  in  body  and 
mind  through  life.  So  he  gained  all  his  objects 
and  ambitions,  slowly  but  surely,  one  by  one. 

It  is  the  fashion  to  consider  men  who  have  suc- 
ceeded splendidly  hard  and  selfish.  But  critics 
should  discriminate  between  those  who  strive  and 
succeed  for  themselves  and  those  who  strive  for 
others,  and  whose  personal  triumph  is  only  an  incid- 
ent of  the  triumph  of  their  cause.  David  Syme 
desired  power  and  fought  for  power  in  order  to 
strengthen  the  State.  His  mind  was  chiefly  con- 
centrated on  a  disinterested  ideal  and,  only  conse- 
quentially, on  his  own  career.  If  the  Democratic 
cause  won  he  would  win  with  it ;  that  was  evident 
enough,  since  he  was  identified  with  the  cause  ;  but 
the  mainspring  of  his  actions  was  unselfish  and  imper- 
sonal. Had  he  only  desired  his  own  advantage  he 
could  have  accumulated  great  riches  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury earUer  than  he  did  ;  not  by  serving  but  simply 
by  not  opposing  the  land  monopohsts  and  importers. 
They  offered  him,  many  times,  a  sure  and  easy 
fortime  on  those  terms.     He  chose  rather  to  hazard 


CHARACTERISTICS  277 

ruin  not  merely  in  defying  them  but  in  seeking  to 
destroy  them  in  the  interests  of  the  masses  they 
exploited.  Those  interests  were  sacred  to  him,  and 
he  fought  for  them  as  men  fight  who  are  led  by  a 
vision.  His  vision  preserved  his  humanity ;  for 
his  profound  love  of  humanity  inspired  it,  and  that 
was  a  fountain  which  never^can  dry.  As  a  politician 
and  a  statesman  Syme's  highest  claim  to  singularity 
rests  upon  that  very  fact. 

Most  men,  possessed  in  their  early  years  of  Liberal 
and  advanced  ideas,  when  old  age  approaches  grow 
insensibly  Conservative.  The  Radical  of  to-day 
is  the  Conservative  of  to-morrow.  The  reason  is 
obvious.  The  race  progresses  slowly  but  con- 
stantly ;  the  individual  rapidly  but  only  to  a 
certain  point.  The  progress  of  the  race  during  the 
course  of  an  individual  existence  frequently  estab- 
lishes in  practice  the  liberal-minded  unit's  whole 
stock  in  trade  of  Hberal  ideals.  The  overtaken 
unit  is  then  satisfied,  and  he  wishes  the  world 
to  endure  upon  that  basis.  But  the  world  goes 
inexorably  on  and  leaves  him  stranded,  often 
enough  angrily  and  vainly  attempting  to  bring  the 
progress  of  the  race  to  a  standstill  with  himself. 
To  Syme's  everlasting  honour  be  it  said  that  at 
eighty-one  he  was  still  almost  as  far  in  advance  of 
the  progress  of  society  as  he  was  at  twenty-nine. 
He  had  mentally  outstripped  the  progress  of  the 
race,  and  his  seer-like  gaze  was  still  piercing  the  mists 
of  futurity  and  seeing  visions,  which  his  eminent 


278  DAVID  SYME 

practical  abilities  were  interpreting  to  his  country- 
men and  patiently  persuading  and  assisting  them  to 
realize. 

I  will  now  unfold  a  secret  concerning  David 
Syme  which  few  have  guessed  outside  his  family 
circle.  This  grim,  mysterious  figure  of  popular 
estimation,  this  '*  cold,  hard  man/'  who,  for  half  a 
century  and  more  was  the  most  important  factor 
in  his  State,  this  maker  and  unmaker  of  Ministries, 
this  Father  of  Protection,  this  destroyer  of  mono- 
pohes,  champion  of  the  Democracy,  and  virtual  ruler 
of  more  than  a  miUion  people,  was  one  of  the 
shyest,  most  modest,  and  most  diffident  persons  in 
Victoria.  He  suffered  tremors  of  apprehension 
when  he  was  confronted  with  a  stranger  or  a  notabil- 
ity. He  longed  to  appear  cordial,  fluent,  at  his 
ease.  He  would  have  Uked  favourably  to  impress 
his  visitor,  to  make  a  friend  of  him.  But  his  curi- 
ous disease  of  shyness  restrained  the  impulse  : 
his  diffidence  of  speech  filled  him  with  nervousness  and 
almost  sealed  his  Hps.  In  consequence  he  retreated 
behind  his  armour  of  reserve,  and  spoke  in  stem, 
dry  monosyllables.  The  visitor  frequently  retired 
to  add  his  testimony  to  the  public  accumula- 
tions of  untruth.  "  David  Syme,*'  he  would  say, 
''  is  self-centred,  unsympathetic,  cold,  hard,  proud 
and  arrogant.  *'  And  yet  another  visit  would,  in  all 
probability,  have  discovered  a  sympathetic  com- 
panion, a  briUiant  talker  and,  may  be,  a  kind  and 
loyal  friend;    for  it  was  only  on  a  first  meeting 


CHARACTERISTICS  279 

that  Syme's  strange  infirmity  froze  his  emotions  and 
put  his  intellectual  faculties  in  chains. 

Many  of  those  who  served  under  Syme  have  pro- 
claimed him  censorious  and  dictatorial  and  ever  prone 
to  fault-finding  and  reluctant  to  give  praise.  There 
is  more  than  a  spice  of  truth  in  the  charge,  but  the 
temperament  of  the  man  has  to  be  taken  in  accoimt. 
For  more  than  half  a  century  he  had  himself  served 
the  State  to  the  utmost  extent  of  his  abihty.  He 
had  never  in  all  that  time  asked  for  praise.  He  had 
frequently  been  misunderstood,  frequently  maligned, 
censured,  and  vituperated  by  the  people  in  whose 
cause  he  so  strenuously  strove.  But  rarely  were  his 
services  adequately  recognized.  I  cannot  recall 
a  single  occasion  on  which  he  was  rewarded  with 
appropriate  eulogy  for  any  of  his  great  achievements. 
This  did  not  trouble  him.  He  served  the  people 
for  his  vision's  sake.  He  gave  them  his  best  because 
he  considered  it  his  duty.  Like  a  true  stoical  phil- 
osopher, he  was  always  perfectly  indifferent  to 
either  praise  or  blame.  It  was  enough  for  him  that 
he  was  conscious  of  doing  and  having  tried  to  do  his 
duty  ;  and  he  ever  regarded  the  consciousness  of 
virtue  as  the  only  truly  acceptable  reward  of  virtue. 

It  is  not  surprising,  therefore,  that  he  appUed  the 
same  rule  to  those  who  served  him.  It  was  in  his 
opinion  their  duty  to  serve  him  loyally  and  to  the 
best  of  their  abiUty.  When  they  did  so  he  was 
silent.  They  had  done  their  duty.  Were  they  to 
be  flattered  because  they  had  not  cheated  him  ? 


28o  DAVID  SYME 

If  they  appeared  to  fail  in  their  duty  to  him,  he  felt 
that  he  was  being  injured,  and  his  custom  was  to 
bring  the  offenders  sharply  to  book.  Sometimes, 
nevertheless,  he  relaxed  the  rule. 

An  amusing  story,  and  a  true  one,  is  related  of  a 
member  of  his  staff  who  was  one  day  required  to 
visit  the  official  sanctuary.  He  entered  in  fear  and 
trembhng,  anticipating  a  stern  rebuke  for  an  unwit- 
ting offence.     Syme  met  him  with  extraordinary  gra- 

ciousness":  ''Mr. your  work  is  good,  it  pleases 

me.  Inform  the  accountant  that  your  salary  in  future 
will  be  raised  fifty  per  cent.'*  The  journaHst  retired 
in  a  state  bordering  on  mental  paralysis,  and  repaired 
to  a  public-house,  where  he  imbibed  not  wisely  but 
too  well.  He  was  incapacitated  from  duty  for  a 
week  in  consequence  of  his  libations.  When  he 
returned  to  work  he  was  curtly  informed  that  a 
second  *'  illness  "  of  the  same  description  would  be 
punished  with  instant  dismissal ;  but  it  was  his  first 
and  last  indulgence,  and  he  served  Syme  faithfully 
and  well  for  many  years. 

The  writer  can  give  another  instance  of  the  rule 
relaxed,  vouched  for  by  personal  experience.  Syme 
entered  the  Editor's  room  one  afternoon  to  discuss 
the  morrow's  leading  articles.  He  wore  a  gloomy 
frown.  '*  Who  wrote  such  and  such  a  leader, 
yesterday  ?  "  he  demanded,  glowering  at  the  editor. 
The  editor  reluctantly  indicated  the  supposed  offen- 
der, who  was  present.  Syme  turned  upon  the  writer 
with  a  face  transformed.     His  cheeks  were  flushed, 


CHARACTERISTICS  281 

his  eyes  were  glowing  with  enthusiasm.  ''  Sir,"  he 
said,  "  it  stirred  my  blood  to  read.  It  made 
me  feel  young  again  !  "  It  should  be  mentioned 
that  the  article  in  question  zealously  supported  a 
national  ideal.  It  was  an  unforgettable  incident, 
and  has  a  value  in  its  demonstration  of  Syme's  pas- 
sionate attachment  to  the  national  aims  he  advocated. 
Syme's  philosophy  was  of  the  most  practical 
order.  Like  Bacon,  the  habits  of  his  mind  were  such 
that  he  was  not  disposed  to  rate  highly  any  policy 
or  accomplishment,  however  intellectually  admirable, 
which  was  of  no  practical  use  to  mankind.  His  disposi- 
tion was  singularly  sober  and  sedate.  He  laboured 
all  his  life  to  give  his  countrymen  a  direction  towards 
a  statesmanlike  ultilitarianism  which  they  should 
permanently  retain.  Did  ever  a  contemporary 
propound  a  new  policy  or  a  new  reform,  Syme  at 
once  inquired,  not  as  to  what  it  promised,  but 
as  to  what  it  could  perform.  He  had  no  use  for 
glorious  but  impracticable  ideals.  All  his  ideas 
were  essentially  practical :  manifestly  capable  of 
being  realized  and  of  being  advantageously  enforced. 
As  his  aims  were,  one  by  one,  attained,  he  passed 
on  to  others.  He  never  seemed  to  believe  that 
anything  extraordinary  had  been  done.  His  phil- 
osophy forbade  a  pause.  Its  fundamental  law 
was  progress.  It  made  the  goal  of  to-day  the 
starting  point  of  to-morrow,  and  it  left  the  achieve- 
ments of  yesterday,  with  contemptuous  indifference, 
to  history.    He  was  poignantly  interested  in  the 


282  DAVID   SYME 

history  of  the  future.  In  the  history  of  the  past 
he  had  but  little  concern.  He  was  a  patriot 
of  the  tensest  and  most  original  character.  He 
loved  his  country  with  every  fibre  of  his  being,  but 
it  was  not  Australia  of  to-day  that  he  adored,  it 
was  the  Australia  of  his  vision,  the  country  he 
desired  and  ardently  believed  Australia  destined  to 
become. 

David  Syme's  character  may  be  summed  up  in  a 
few  words.  He  was  supposed  to  be  complex  and 
mysterious,  in  reaUty  he  was  as  simple  as  a  child — 
simple  in  his  loves  and  hates,  simple  in  his  foreseeing 
aims,  and  simple  in  his  methods.  He  was  incapable 
of  tergiversation  or  inconstancy.  He  was  invincibly 
consistent.  He  fixed  his  course  and  proceeded,  with 
the  simple  directness  of  a  consciously  unconquer- 
able strength,  straight  to  the  goal.  He  never  pal- 
tered with  his  principles.  He  never  compromised 
with  his  convictions.  His  face  was  set  before.  He 
never  looked  back.  He  injured  many  people  and 
sometimes  without  just  cause,  but  he  never  did  so  by 
devious  means,  but  always  openly  and  in  fair  fight. 
In  a  word,  he  was  simple,  and  the  great  force  he 
employed,  which  has  done  so  much  for  AustraUa, 
derived  ahke  its  origin  and  its  all-compelUng  power 
from  his  simplicity. 


I 


CHAPTER  XV 
David    Syme  as    a   Writer 

Syme's  Books — Outlines  of  an  Industrial  Science — Its  scope  and 
aim — Representative  Government  in  England — Its  effect 
on  Australian  politics — On  the  modification  of  Organisms — 
Darwin's  theory  of  natural  selection  disputed — The  Soul  : 
Syme's  greatest  literary  work — His  power  of  destructive 
criticism — His  theories  of  design  in  nature — His  theories 
of  the  hereafter — His  lesser  contributions  to  literature — His 
place  in  English  letters. 

David  Syme's  first  book,  Outlines  of  an  Industrial 
Science,  was  published  in  1877.  It  embodied  the 
results  of  many  years  of  close  thought  and  earnest 
study  of  economic  principles  in  daily  practice,  and 
contained  an  exposition  of  the  science  of  Protection 
combined  with  an  attack  upon  the  fallacies  of 
Cobdenism. 

With  ruthless  temerity  and  logic  it  dissected  the 
most  popular  dogmas  of  the  old  school  of  English 
poHtical  economists,  laid  bare  their  defective  sys- 
tem of  investigation  and  untenable  conclusions,  and 
after  exposing  their  mistakes,  boldly  proclaimed  the 
gospel  that  *'  in  all  investigations  of  which  man  is 
the  subject  the  only  proper  method  of  reasoning  is 
by  induction." 

Syme  thence  proceeded  to  prove   that   political 


284  DAVID   SYME 

economy  was  a  purely  mental  science,  and  debated 
the  evils  of  unrestricted  competition  and  substan- 
tiated the  moral  and  legal  title  of  the  State  to  regu- 
late industrial  conditions  and  equitably  to  adjust  the 
internecine  claims  of  Capital  and  Labour.  The  book 
is  written  with  amazing  conciseness  and  lucidity,  and 
evinces  Syme  a  master  of  terse  and  transparent 
English.  His  style  is  simplicity  itself.  He  obtains 
all  his  effects  by  hard  facts  and  harder  arguments, 
which  he  marshals  like  a  skilful  general  and  hurls 
against  the  foe.  But  once  having  gained  his  point 
and  forced  his  conclusions  on  the  conviction  of  the 
reader  he  is  satisfied.  He  abstains  from  harsh  com- 
ments and  coldly  passes  on  to  other  questions. 
Outlines  of  an  Industrial  Science  aroused  decided 
interest  in  scientific  circles.  Syme  was  recognized 
as  a  powerful  writer,  and  even  his  most  bigoted 
adversaries  admitted  he  was  a  new  force  to  be  reck- 
oned with.  In  America  and  in  Germany,  where  the 
Outlines  was  shortly  afterwards  re-printed,  he  was 
welcomed  as  a  champion  of  the  principles  of  Pro- 
tection, and  the  work  became,  and  is  still  employed 
as,  a  text-book  for  students  of  political  economy  in 
many  universities  and  schools. 

With  Representative  Government  in  England,  which 
was  pubUshed  five  years  after  Outlines  of  an  Indus- 
trial Science,  Syme  greatly  enhanced  his  literary 
reputation.  This  book  contains  a  learned  discussion 
of  the  virtues  and  defects  of  Cabinet  or  Party  ad- 
ministration.    It  does  not  concern  itself  with  the 


DAVID  SYME  AS  A  WRITER         285 

reasons  for  or  against  representative  institutions, 
but  starting  from  the  assumption  that  the  more 
representative  a  Government  is,  the  better  it  is, 
it  proceeds  to  trace  the  historic  steps  whereby 
Cabinet  dictatorship  gradually  usurped  the  governing 
functions  of  ParHament  and  thus  superseded  in 
practice  the  theoretical  ideals  of  the  British  constitu- 
tion. It  dispassionately  investigates  the  conse- 
quences of  this  supersession,  and  debates,  on  the  one 
hand,  the  position  of  the  electors  in  their  relation- 
ship to  their  representatives  and,  on  the  other,  the 
relationship  of  members  to  the  Ministry.  Syme's 
argument — (for  the  construction  of  which  the  whole 
constitutional  history  of  England  has  been  laid 
under  tribute) — forcibly  elucidates  the  unwieldiness 
and  legislative  incapacity  of  the  existing  Parlia- 
mentary machine. 

The  master  vice  of  the  system  he  conceives  to  be 
the  idea  of  party  which  dominates  every  depart- 
ment of  political  life.  He  shows  very  conclusively 
that  this  idea  is  a  thoroughly  modern  one :  that  the 
early  Parhaments,  when  their  constituents  paid  their 
members  for  their  services  and  elected  them  every 
year,  were  far  more  representative  in  the  true  sense 
of  the  word  :  and  that  it  was  the  passing  of  the 
Septennial  Act,  together  with  the  abohtion  of  the 
residential  qualification  for  members,  that  practi- 
cally made  members  independent  of  their  constitu- 
ents and  left  them  free  to  carry  out  their  personal 
piques  and  ambitions  under  the  leadership  of  any 


2S6  DAVID  SYME 

politician  who  had  the  abiUty  to  organize  them  into 
a  party. 

He  is  careful  to  say  that  he  does  not  object  to 
party  organization  as  an  instrument  for  disseminat- 
ing political  instruction,  or  as  an  engine  for  moving 
that  large  inert  mass  of  people  who  care  nothing 
about  politics  as  long  as  the  active  minority  who  do 
will  look  after  their  affairs  for  them.  The  party 
spirit  which  he  holds  in  just  abhorrence  is  the  spirit 
that  will  sacrifice  principles  to  party,  the  spirit 
which  adopts  measures  or  drops  them  without  any 
reference  whatever  to  their  merits — that  fickle  and 
inconsistent  spirit  which  makes  the  Conservative  Of 
to-day  the  bitterest  opponent  of  what  he  advocated 
yesterday,  and  generally  induces  the  representatives 
of  the  people  ''  to  range  themselves  on  opposite 
sides  of  the  House  the  moment  they  come  together, 
and  to  spend  their  time  in  vilifying  one  another's 
motives,  opinions  and  actions,  to  defeat  one 
another's  plans,  and  to  delay  and  mutilate,  when 
they  cannot  reject,  one  another's  measures.*' 

Under  such  a  system  practical  legislation  is  im- 
peded, years  and  years  elapse  before  any  great 
measure  of  reform  can  be  carried,  and  the  best  forces 
of  the  nation  are  wasted  in  devising  means  to  clear 
the  block  which  has  arrested  the  movement  of  the 
machine.  Syme  has  not  paused  to  refer  to  the 
apology  that  is  usually  made  for  this  state  of  things, 
namely,  that  too  much  haste  is  not  in  accord  with 
the  genius  of  the  British  constitution  :  but    he  at 


DAVID   SYME  AS  A  WRITER         287 

once  grasps  the  evil  which  these  thinkers  are  too 
supine  to  grapple  with,  and  suggests  what  a  close 
study  of  past  events,  a  keen  and  intelligent  observa- 
tion of  current  ones,  and  a  well-practised  generaliz- 
ing faculty,  indicate  to  him  to  be  the  proper  remedies. 

The  remedies  as  summarized  by  himself  are,  first, 
that  the  majority  of  the  electors  of  any  constitu- 
ency should  have  authority  to  dismiss  their  repre- 
sentatives without  waiting  for  a  general  election, 
and,  secondly,  that  Parliament  should  have  the  right 
to  nominate  the  Ministry,  which  is  itself  merely  a 
committee  of  the  two  Houses. 

The  work  made  little  impression  on  the  people 
to  whom  it  was  principally  addressed  beyond  calling 
forth  a  generous  appreciation  of  its  writer's  political 
insight  and  literary  ability  :  but  in  Australia  it 
founded  a  new  school  of  constitutional  thought 
which  is  growing  every  year  in  numbers  and  au- 
thority, and  which  aims  at  the  establishment  of  the 
reform  that  Syme's  far-sightedness  designated  and 
predicted  as  ultimately  inevitable. 

Syme's  two  later  works.  On  the  Modification  of 
Organisms  "  and  The  Soul :  a  study  and  an  argu- 
ment,'* although  published  separately,  are  intimately 
related  and  should  be  read  together.  The  former 
contains  a  vigorous  attack  upon  Darwin's  theory  of 
natural  selection.  The  latter,  published  in  1903, 
and  incomparably  the  more  important  work,  con- 
tinues and  develops  this  campaign,  and  after  run- 
ning a  Uvely  tilt  ^against  Herbert  Spencer,  Haeckel, 


288  DAVID  SYME 

and  all  the  Materialists,  on  the  one  hand,  and,  on 
the  other,  against  the  Spiritualists  and  the  apostles 
of  the  old  orthodox  teleology,  makes  a  bold  depart- 
ure into  the  realms  of  mystic  speculation. 

The  Soul  is  one  of  the  most  original  and  most 
deeply  interesting  contributions  made  to  the  htera- 
ture  of  psychology  during  the  last  half  century  or 
more.  Syme  reveals  himself  in  this  work  an  erudite 
and  thoughtful  physiologist  and  a  learned  student 
of  natural  history.  His  power  of  destructive  criti- 
cism is  extraordinary.  His  mind,  indeed,  is  revo- 
lutionary and  even  at  times  iconoclastic.  He  has  no 
reverence  for  the  greatest  names.  When  he  per- 
ceives an  error  he  seizes  on  it  like  a  bloodhound  on 
its  prey,  and  the  more  idolatrously  regarded  in 
popular  esteem  the  author  of  the  fallacy,  the  more 
gleefully  does  Syme  expose  it  and  tear  it  into  shreds. 
In  construction  he  is  not  quite  so  happy.  Neverthe- 
less he  fashions  in  the  unseen  a  world  of  sorts,  and, 
if  it  seems  to  the  reader  an  unfinished  structure, 
allowance  must  be  made  for  a  scientific  disposition 
which  denies  the  unproved  and  will  only  project 
into  the  unknown  an  extension  of  the  known. 

Syme  believes  that  mind  is  not  only  located  in 
the  cerebral  hemispheres.  He  declares  that  it  is 
not  confined  to  the  brain,  but  is  present  in  all  the 
nerve-centres  and  indeed  in  every  cell.  The  ''  un- 
conscious mind ''  he  believes  to  be  the  product  of 
these  lower  centres,  one  of  whose  most  important 
functions  is  to  prepare  mental  problems  for  the  brain. 


DAVID  SYME  AS  A  WRITER         289 

But,  his  most  original  and  exciting  contribution  to 
his  topic  is  his  theory  of  design.  After  scornfully 
examining  the  endeavour  of  the  orthodox  scientists 
to  get  rid  of  design  in  Nature,  he  demonstrates  that 
while  in  Nature  all  grades  of  design  are  revealed, 
some  are  constantly  descending  to  clumsiness  and 
inefficiency,  thus  indicating  a  basic  flaw  in  the 
arguments  of  those  who  postulate  the  infallible 
wisdom  of  one  designer. 

His  conclusion  is  that  design,  that  is,  the  capacity 
of  purposed  action,  is  an  integral  and  indivisible 
part  of  the  mental  furniture  of  every  living  organism, 
down  to  the  rudimentary  cell.  Each  cell,  he  affirms, 
not  only  lives,  but  while  it  lives  it  designs.  But  he 
admits,  as  well,  a  central  control,  and  he  describes 
our  system  as  a  constitutional  monarchy  where  the 
head  deals  with  political  and  the  parts  with  local 
or  municipal  questions.  His  main  idea  is  a  media- 
tion of  design  extending  and  ascending  from  the 
inferior  depositions  to  the  supreme  direction.  His 
final  argument  is  for  a  persistency  of  mind,  life  after 
death,  based  partly  upon  the  indestructibility  alike 
of  energy  and  matter  and  partly  upon  the  community 
of  instinct  and  human  belief. 

The  work  is  one  to  have  made  the  reputation  of  an 
utterly  unknown  writer.  It  aided  Syme's  fame  as  a 
liiUrateur,  a  physiologist,  and  a  philosopher.  The 
Soul  was  greeted  throughout  the  English-speaking 
world  with  every  mark  of  attention  and  respect. 
Newspapers  and  Reviews  devoted  lengthy  articles 


290  DAVID    SYME 

to  praising,  combating  or  debating  its  views.  Clergy- 
men of  all  sorts  of  creeds,  both  in  Australia  and 
abroad,  including  bishops  and  archbishops  and 
other  high  Church  dignitaries,  lectured  and  preached 
upon  it  from  platform  and  from  pulpit :  and  every- 
where it  appeared  it  immediately  provoked  contro- 
versy. It  is,  in  my  opinion,  a  book  that  will  live, 
for  it  is  profoundly  suggestive  and  provocative  of 
inquiry  on  the  lines  it  so  lucidly  propounds. 

Besides  the  four  books  I  have  noticed,  Syme  did 
much  other  serious  writing.  In  the  *  sixties  and 
'seventies  he  contributed  many  thoughtful  articles 
to  the  Westminster  Review,  the  Edinburgh  Review, 
and  other  British  and  Colonial  monthly  and  quar- 
terly magazines  on  scientific,  moral,  social,  philo- 
sophical and  economic  questions.  It  is  worthy  of 
mention  that  one  such  article  which  appeared  in  the 
Fortnightly  Review  on  the  subject  of  Tariff  Protection 
was  reprinted  in  pamphlet  form  by  one  of  the  leading 
American  Protectionist  Leagues  and  distributed  in 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  copies  throughout  the 
United  States,  where  it  was  claimed  for  it  that  it 
notably  influenced  American  thought  and  greatly 
contributed  to  the  raising  of  the  American  Customs 
duties.  Syme's  indefatigable  pen  was  continually 
busy  in  the  columns  of  The  Age,  from  the  day  he 
took  over  the  control  of  that  journal  until  only  a 
few  weeks  before  his  death.  It  can  truthfully  be 
remarked  of  him  that  in  letters  as  well  as  in  politics 
he  left  an  imprint  on  his  times. 


CHAPTER  XVI 
Correspondence 

Blarriage  with  a  Deceased  Wife's  Sister — Spiritualism,  Theosophy, 
etc. — Robert  Louis  Stevenson — David  Syme's  Daily  Life — 
The  power  of  The  Age — Essay  on  the  working  of  Party 
Government — Syme's  ideas  of  the  Press  and  its  functions. 

Syme  had  no  love  for  letter-writing.  His  business 
correspondence  was  transacted  almost  exclusively 
by  telegraph.  He  engaged  on  one  occasion  in  a 
somewhat  voluminous  literary  controversy  with 
Frederic  Harrison  upon  Comtism,  but  unfortunately 
the  documents  were  destroyed.  However,  a  few 
interesting  letters  relating  to  political,  personal  and 
religious  subjects  from  his  pen  have  been  preserved 
by  their  recipients,  and  have  been  placed  at  my 
disposal  for  publication.  The  names  of  the  ad- 
dresses and  the  dates  of  the  letters  have  for  private 
reasons  been  withheld. 

[No.  I] 

The  Age  Office, 

Melbourne. 
Dear  Sir, 

It  will  interest  you  to  learn  that  the  question  of 

legalizing  marriage  with  a  deceased  wife's  sister — 


292  DAVID  SYME 

now  happily  settled  in  England — was  first  started 
in  Victoria,  and  by  a  curious  set  of  circumstances 
in  The  Age  Office.  It  happened  one  day  that  Mr. 
A.  L.  Windsor  (my  editor)  and  I  were  talking  over 
subjects  for  leading  matter.  On  that  particular 
afternoon  there  was  a  dearth  of  topics.  I  had 
shortly  before  heard  of  some  cases  in  Melbourne  of 
hardship  under  the  existing  Marriage  Law,  and  it 
suddenly  occurred  to  me  we  might  take  the  matter 
up.  I  therefore  suggested  to  Windsor  that  he 
should  write  an  article  advocating  a  Deceased  Wife's 
Sister's  Act,  which  duly  appeared.  The  following 
week  the  member  for  Beechworth  in  the  Victorian 
Assembly,  Mr.  G.  P.  Smith  (a  former  editor  of  The 
Age)  brought  a  bill  into  the  House  to  legalize  these 
marriages.  It  was  passed  through  the  Assembly 
and  the  Council  without  dissension,  and  sent  up  to 
the  Governor.  It  was  then  forwarded  to  the  Im- 
perial Parliament,  and,  strange  to  say,  passed 
through  both  Houses  and  became  law  without  the 
least  to-do.  With  you  in  England  there  has  been 
a  controversy  extending  over  many  years  on  the 
question,  and  the  whole  thing  arose  here  in  that 
simple  way.  I  enclose  for  you  to  read  the  article 
written  by  Windsor  that  originated  the  agitation. 

Yours  truly, 

DAVID  SYME. 


CORRESPONDENCE  293 

[No.  2] 

This  letter  discloses  Syme's  views  on  Spiritualism, 
Theosophy,  etc. 

The  Age  Office, 

Melbourne. 

My  Dear  , 

Perhaps  I  can  best  answer  your  question,  what 
is  my  opinion  of  Spiritualism  ?  by  relating  some 
personal  experiences.  Some  years  ago  I  was  invited 
by  a  leading  Melbourne  spiritualist  to  attend  a 
sSance  at  his  house,  where  I  was  assured  I  should 
witness  some  extraordinary  manifestations.  I  had 
previously  been  shown  photographs  of  articles 
which  had  come  '*  straight  through  the  air  from  a 
Mahatma'in  India  I  **  These  were  supposed  to  have 
been  transmitted  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  doctrine 
of  theosophy.  These  articles  were  alleged  to  be 
pieces  of  temples,  portions  of  ancient  Greek  MSS., 
bricks  with  cuneiform  inscriptions,  etc.  I  went  to 
the  seance.  A  dozen  or  more  people  were  present, 
all  believers  in  the  system.  There  was  also  a  man 
who  acted  as  medium.  He  was  dressed  in  Hindu- 
stani costume,  and  he  spoke  a  sort  of  mixture  of 
Hindustani  and  English.  This  medium  presently 
produced  and  introduced  to  us  the  Rev.  Dr.  Robin- 
son from  the  spirit  world.  The  rev.  spirit  had  been 
a  professor  of  theology  at  one  of  the  United  States 
universities,  and  when  in  this  life  had  written  a 
book  on  his  travels  in  Palestine,  which  I  had  read 


294  DAVID  SYME 

years  ago.  Well,  this  Dr.  Robinson  appeared,  or 
seemed  to  appear,  on  the  stage ;  and  he  delivered 
us  a  lecture,  replete  with  the  usual  platitudes,  of 
about  twenty  minutes'  duration,  pointing  out  the 
beauties  of  theosophy. 

There  followed  a  demonstration  of  the  extra- 
ordinary powers  of  the  Yogas  or  Mahatmas,  who  can 
send  through  the  air  anything  they  please  from  the 
remotest  part  of  the  earth  (?).  Of  course,  all  the 
lights  having  been  previously  extinguished,  some 
faith  was  required  to  believe  that  the  articles  which 
presently  dropped  on  the  table  actually  passed 
through  the  walls  of  the  room  without  injuring  the 
said  walls.  But  this  faith  the  spectators  seemed 
cheerfully  prepared  to  accord. 

The  articles  fell  with  a  loud  noise.  The  first 
was  a  stone  about  5  or  6  lb.  in  weight.  It  might 
have  come  from  Timbuctoo  or  from  under  the  table. 
It  was  too  dark  to  make  sure.  Next  arrived  some 
cuneiform  bricks.  Then  a  live  fish  4  lb.  weight. 
Then  came  several  live  birds,  said  to  have  flashed 
through  straight  from  India  that  evening.  One  of 
these  birds  was  caught  and  put  into  my  hands.  It 
was  a  living  bird.  No  doubt  about  that.  But  I 
could  not  tell  if  it  was  an  Indian  bird.  It  might 
have  been  an  Australian  bird.  That  was  the  whole 
performance. 

When  it  was  over  those  present  were  anxious  to 
know  whether  I  was  satisfied  with  the  proof  given, 
and  I  said  I  was  not.     I  said  :   **  There  is  one  thing 


CORRESPONDENCE  295 

which  if  you  will  do — and  it  should  be  easily  done— 
I  will  accept  as  absolute  proof,  and  I  will  believe. 
You  can  send  birds,  fish,  letters  and  bricks  through 
the  air,  therefore  you  can  do  anything.  All  I  want 
you  to  do  is  to  produce  for  me  this  moment  a  copy 
oithe Calcutta,  Englishman  oithis  morning's  date,  or 
the  Bombay  Gazette.  Give  m'e  that  proof,  and  Til 
ask  for  no  more."  "  Oh,"  they  returned,  "  we 
cannot  control  the  Mahatma  at  the  other  end.  We 
must  be  satisfied  with  what  he  chooses  to  send  us.** 
But  I  was  not  satisfied. 

On  another  occasion  I  had  two  seances  with  the 
man  Foster  mentioned  in  W.  B.  Carpenter's  work — 
Mental  Physiology,  pp.  308-10 — who  claimed  to  be 
just  a  spiritualist.  He  had  made  a  great  sensation 
in  America.  I  do  not  know  whether  he  had  in 
London  before  he  came  to  Australia  or  not.  He 
sent,  when  he  arrived  here,  a  note  of  invitation  to 
the  members  of  the  Press,  saying  he  would  be  happy 
to  give  a  private  seance  at  his  rooms  on  a  certain 
date.  I  accepted  the  invitation,  and  attended 
with  my  brother  George  and,  amongst  others,  Mr. 
Hugh  George,  the  manager  of  The  Argus,  was  also 
present. 

Foster  commenced  with  the  paper  pellets  spoken 
of  in  Carpenter's  book,  and  he  successfully  read 
every  name.  He  then  put  these  aside  and  called 
upon  any  person  in  the  audience  who  pleased  to 
think  of  some  deceased  person.  There  was  a  good 
deal  of  hesitation,  but  at  last  Hugh  George  said  he 


296  DAVID  SYME 

had  thought  of  somebody.  Immediately  he  had 
spoken  Foster  rose  from  his  seat  and  commenced 
what  looked  like  an  harangue,  making  certain 
gesticulations.  Before  five  minutes  had  passed  all 
those  present  had  identified  the  man  Foster  was 
representing  and  imitating,  by  his  style,  his  language 
and  his  gestures,  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Menzies,  who  had 
been  pastor  of  a  Presbyterian  Church  in  Collins 
Street  and  who  had  died  two  years  earher.  When 
Foster  sat  down  we  asked  Hugh  George  who  was 
the  person  he  had  thought  of.  '*  Oh,*'  replied  George, 
*'  the  Rev.  Mr.  Menzies." 

My  opinion  is  that  Foster  had  been  reading 
George's  mind — a  case  of  telepathy — thought-read- 
ing.    How  he  did  it  of  course  I  cannot  say. 

On  the  next  morning  I  chanced  to  meet  Foster 
in  Collins  Street,  and  he  thanked  me  for  the  way 
The  Age  had  noticed  his  stance  and  said  that  if  I 
wanted  to  test  him  further  he  would  be  happy  to 
give  me  a  private  siance  at  any  time  I  liked.  Well, 
a  day  was  appointed,  and  I  made  up  my  mind  as 
to  the  sort  of  test  I  should  require  with  a  view  to 
proving  it  was  thought-reading,  for  I  concluded  it 
was  nothing  else.  The  English  mail  had  arrived 
the  previous  day  with,  books,  and  I  asked  my  brother 
George  to  go  around  and  select  a  certain  newly- 
arrived  and  newly-published  book,  put  it  up  in  a 
thick  brown  paper  parcel,  tie  and  seal  it,  and  hand 
it  to  me.  Well,  certain  things  had  been  told  me 
about  this  book,  and  certain  other  things  had  not 


CORRESPONDENCE  297 

been  told  me  concerning  it.  The  siance  took  place 
next  day  in  a  room  selected  by  me.  There  was  a 
large  round  table  and  one  window  in  the  room. 
Foster  was  seated  opposite  the  window  full  in  the 
light,  and  I  sat  three  or  four  yards  from  him.  I 
handed  him  the  parcel,  and  asked  him  what  was  in 
it.  He  promptly  replied,  *'  A  book.''  I  asked 
him  (I  knew)  the  subject  matter  of  the  book.  He 
repUed,  correctly,  **  Politics.'*  So  far  he  appeared 
to  have  been  thought-reading  ;  but  I  next  asked 
him  the  title  of  the  book,  and  this  I  did  not  know. 
He  gave  me  a  title.  I  then  required  the  author's 
name.  He  turned  the  parcel  upside  down  a  dozen 
times,  then  threw  it  down  and  said,  ''  I  cannot  tell." 

At  that  I  opened  the  parcel,  and  to  my  surprise 
found  that  Foster  had  not  only  given  the  title  of 
the  book,  but  that  the  book  was  an  anonymous 
publication.  I  was  rather  astonished  at  the  result 
of  this  test.  I  had  the  book  in  my  hand  unopened, 
the  leaves  uncut.  I  asked  Foster  more  from  curios- 
ity than  aught  else  whether  he  could  read  what 
was  in  the  book.  He  said,  ''  Yes  ;  turn  up  page 
220."  I  did  so,  and  he  read  aloud  what  was  printed 
there,  line  after  line,  paragraph  after  paragraph. 
He  was  not  reading  my  thoughts,  for  I  was  following 
him  in  the  most  mechanical  way.  He  read  two- 
thirds  of  the  page,  word  for  word,  correctly,  until  I 
stopped  him.  This  was  not  thought-reading,  I 
fancy,  but  a  case  of  clairvoyance. 

I  have  attended  many  other  seances  at  different 


298  DAVID  SYME 

times,  and  I  have  read  almost  every  book  of  note 
written  about  spiritualism,  including  Mr.  Myers* 
two  large  volumes  ;  but  I  have  never  read  or  en- 
countered anything  that  distinctly  proves  there 
is  a  connexion  between  the  spirit  world  (if  there 
be  such  a  world)  and  the  world  we  live  in.  My 
attitude  towards  this  question  therefore  is — I  do 
not  know. 

Yours  truly, 

DAVID  SYME. 


[No.  3] 

This  letter  contains  interesting  remarks  on  Samoa 
and  Robert  Louis  Stevenson. 

Dear , 

My  visit  to  Tutuila  and  the  other  Samoan  Islands 
has  enchanted  me.  I  found  the  natives  most  hos- 
pitable and  kind,  and  would  have  liked  to  have 
left  the  ship  and  joined  them.  I  was  charmed 
with  the  people  of  the  Islands.  It  is,  however, 
with  indignation  I  think  that,  after  all  the  missionary 
labour  the  English  have  expended  on  these  Islands 
and  all  the  trade  they  had  once,  England  does  not 
own  one  of  them  at  the  present  time.  Tutuila, 
which  possesses  the  only,  and  a  splendid,  harbour 
of  the  islands  belongs  to  America,  and  all  the  other 
islands  belong  to  Germany.  As  regards  Apia,  there 
was  no  sign  of  a  capital  when  I  called.    There  were 


CORRESPONDENCE  299 

only  two  or  three  native  houses  scattered  about, 
and  a  meeting  house  owned  by  a  negro  who  very 
Hkely  had  run  away  from  some  ship.  It  was  about 
there  that  Robert  Louis  Stevenson  settled.  He 
took  up  600  acres  and  was  going  to  make  a  plan- 
tation. I  think,  and  have  always  thought,  R.  L. 
Stevenson  an  altogether  over-rated  man. 

When  he  came  out  to  the  Islands  he  had  hired 
a  yacht  from  San  Francisco  to  cruise  about.  He 
had  it  very  nicely  fitted  up,  and  he  had  his  wife 
and  family  on  board.  He  gives  us  no  account  of 
these  beautiful  islands,  and  is  most  reticent  about 
the  state  of  Samoa.  If  he  had  given  us  an  account  of 
his  voyaging,  the  people  he  saw  there,  and  their  habits 
and  customs,  he  might  have  made  a  very  interesting 
book,  more  so  than  any  he  had  written. 

Yours  truly, 

D.  S. 


[No.  4] 

Giving  a  picture  of  Syme*s  daily  life  in  the  early 
days. 

V 

The  Age, 

Melbourne . 

Dear , 

.  .  .    Let  me  give  you  a  statement  of  my  daily  life 
for  about  the  first  ten  years  of  The  Age,    In  the 


300  DAVID  'SYME 

first  place  there  was  hardly  a  decent  writer  on  the 
Press  in  Melbourne  at  that  time  (1860-1870),  scarcely 
a  writer  of  note  at  all  to  be  had  for  love  or  money. 
I  had  two  writers.  One  was  Gerald  Supple,  and 
the  other  J.  W.  O'Hea.  They  were  both  Irishmen, 
one  a  CathoHc,  the  other  a  Protestant.  Supple  was 
nearly  blind  and  had  the  greatest  difficulty  in  writ- 
ing— having  to  hold  his  eyes  close  to  the  paper — 
and  he  was  incapable  of  reading  ;  therefore  he  knew 
nothing  of  what  was  going  on,  and  I  always  had 
to  find  subjects  for  him.  The  other  man,  0*Hea, 
had  no  such  drawback  ;  but  as  he  had  once  acquired 
a  reputation  by  writing  a  series  of  special  articles 
for  the  London  Times,  that  seemed  to  him  all  suffi- 
cient. He  considered  it  quite  unnecessary  to  post 
himself  up  in  the  events  of  the  day,  or  to  read  with 
a  view  to  writing  an  article.  The  consequence  was, 
I  had  to  find  subjects  for  him  also.  This  went 
on  from  year's  end  to  year's  end. 

I  had  taken  a  house  at  this  time  at  Booroondara 
(now  Canterbury  Road),  five  miles  out  in  the  country, 
with  a  view  of  getting  more  exercise  and  riding 
into  town  every  day.  There  were  no  railways  or 
cars  those  days.  I  used  to  breakfast  at  8,  read 
the  papers  through,  then  ride  into  town,  arriving 
at  the  office  about  10.30  or  11.  My  first  work  was 
to  attend  to  business  downstairs,  financial,  mechani- 
cal and  publishing,  and  all  the  other  affairs  of  a 
newspaper.  This  occupied  me  until  luncheon. 
After  luncheon  I  went  upstairs  and  read  the]|corre- 


CORRESPONDENCE  301 

spondence,  and  arranged  the  duties  with  the  head 
of  the  reporting  staff.  My  staff  was  a  small  one 
then — only  three  reporters.  At  3  p.m.  I  met  the 
contributors,  found  subjects  for  them,  and  instructed 
them  as  to  the  form  of  the  articles.  After  that  I 
worked  hard,  reading  through  all  the  English  news- 
paper files,  and  new  books,  periodicals  and  maga- 
zines, in  order  to  find  matter  for  the  next  day. 
This  took  till  teatime.  After  tea  I  read  the  proofs 
that  poured  in  on  me  all  night,  the  leading  articles 
generally  arriving  at  11  or  11.30.  Sometimes  they 
required  very  little  alteration,  but  many  and  many 
a  time  the  writer  had  missed  the  whole  drift  of  the 
argument  I  wished  unfolded,  and  I  had  then  to  sit 
down  and  either  recast  or  write  anew  the  entire 
article.  It  was  the  most  trying  part  of  the  whole 
day's  work  to  write  under  those  conditions,  and 
hampered,  too,  by  the  feeling  of  annoyance  at  the 
fact  that  what  I  had  clearly  laid  down  as  the  policy 
of  the  article  had  been  missed  or  ignored — and  all 
the  while  the  printer's  boy  outside  clamouring  for 
copy,  and  letters  from  other  contributors  coming 
in  which  I  could  not  attend  to.  As  a  rule  this  went 
on  until  2  a.m.,  when  the  paper  had  to  go  to  press. 
My  horse  was  then  brought  round  to  the  door,  and 
I  mounted  and  rode  home.  It  was  rarely  indeed 
that  I  got  to  sleep  before  3  a.m.  Such  was  my 
daily  grind  for  more  than  a  decade.  .  .  . 

Yours  truly, 

D.  S. 


302  DAVID  SYME 

[No.  5] 

The  Age  Office, 

Melbourne. 
Dear , 

When  The  Age  started  to  advocate  Protection  to 
native  industry  there  was  not,  as  far  as  I  knew, 
a  man  in  the  whole  country  but  was  a  Free  Trader. 
I  never  knew  of  any  until  The  Age  had  been  ham- 
mering at  this  for  months,  so  in  taking  up  this  ques- 
tion I  was  running  counter  to  the  whole  opinion  of 
the  country.  The  advertisers  were  importers,  t  he 
few  tradesmen  were  also  Free  Traders,  and  adver- 
tised to  a  certain  extent.  Consumers,  of  course, 
had  it  driven  into  their  heads  that  Free  Trade  meant 
cheap  goods,  so  it  looked  like  a  forlorn  hope  to  begin 
a  campaign  under  such  conditions.  However,  I 
commenced  it  and  stuck  to  it. 

Re  Berry.  When  we  had  lifted  Berry  on  to  his 
pedestal  he  did  some  very  improper  things.  But 
we  did  not  support  him  in  those  things  ;  we  con- 
demned him,  on  the  contrary,  just  as  strongly  as 
we  would  condemn  an  opponent.  The  public  was 
astonished  at  this,  and  Berry  was  annoyed.  But 
it  was  my  policy  never  to  condone  anything  improper, 
and  we  exposed  Berry  on  three  or  four  occasions. 
Similarly  at  the  time  of  the  great  maritime  strike 
we  condemned  those  responsible  in  the  strongest 
possible  manner,  and  we  also  exposed  that  nefarious 
business  of  the  Eight  Hours  Committee  which  raised 
a  large  sum  each  year  by  an  Art  Union  for  charitable 


I 


CORRESPONDENCE  303 

purposes  and  deducted  nine-tenths  of  the  proceeds. 
Friend  or  foe,  it  did  not  matter — all  were  criticized 
alike. 

Of  course  The  Age  was  continually  consulted  as 
to  the  formation  of  Ministries.  Necessarily,  of 
course,  because  it  made  and  unmade  them.  I  was 
always  consulted,  and  I  knew  the  ins  and  outs  of 
everything.  Had  I  kept  a  diary  I  could  have  given 
a  most  interesting  account  of  how  almost  every 
Ministry  was  ever  made.  It  would  have  been  a 
complete  secret  politicad  history  of  Victoria.  I  was 
quite  aware  of  the  interest  that  would  attach  to 
such  a  document,  but  I  abstained  from  keeping  a 
diary,  because  I  regarded  all  these  matters  as  con- 
fidential, although  there  was  never  any  such  stipu- 
lation made. 

It  is  quite  true  that  The  Age's  influence  has  ex- 
tended beyond  Victoria.  To  give  an  instance : 
some  fifteen  or  sixteen  years  ago  the  Queensland 
Government  proposed  giving  to  a  syndicate  the 
right  of  building  a  railway  through  to  the  Gulf  of 
Carpentaria  on  the  land  grant  system,  the  Gulf 
country  being  almost  unknown  and  little  appre- 
ciated. The  Age  published  a  leading  article,  con- 
demning the  proposal.  The  article  was  reprinted 
in  the  Queensland  papers,  and  the  scheme  was 
immediately  dropped.  Furthermore,  it  has  to  be 
remembered  that  not  only  is  Victoria  a  Protectionist 
country,  but  South  Australia,  Queensland,  Western 
Australia,   and  now  New  South  Wales.     That  all 


304  DAVID  SYME 

this  has  been  due  in  a  very  large  sense  to  The  Age 
is  a  fact  that  cannot  be  gainsaid. 

Yours  truly, 

DAVID  SYME. 


An  Unfinished  Essay  on  the  Working  of  Party 
Government    written    by    Syme    shortly 

BEFORE  HIS  DeATH. 

Has  the  Parliamentary  machine  been  working 
satisfactorily  during  the  last  fifty  years  ?  Or  to  put 
it  in  another  way — Are  our  Parliaments  better  or 
worse  than  they  were  ?  It  is  a  question  that  is  often 
asked,  and  the  almost  invariable  answer  given  by 
the  man  in  the  street  is  that  they  are  worse.  This 
is  almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  as  the  Parhamentary 
figures  of  the  past  always  loom  large.  But  after 
making  allowance  for  this  kind  of  illusion  I  am  of 
opinion  that  there  is  no  sign  of  improvement  in  our 
recent  Parliaments  compared  with  our  earlier  ones. 
On  the  contrary,  there  is  a  marked  deterioration. 
There  is  a  rollicking  and  boisterous  tone  about  our 
recent  Parliaments  which  is  not  indicative  of  a 
determination  to  do  serious  work. 

Unfortunately,  along  with  Parhamentary  Govern- 
ment we  have  grafted  on  to  it  what  is  called  Re- 
sponsible Government,  a  pernicious  method  which 
is  alien  to  a  truly  Parliamentary  or  representative 
system   of   Government.      Parliamentary    Govern- 


I 


Ijj 


I 


CORRESPONDENCE  305 

ment  is  government  by  Parliament.  Responsible 
Government  is  government  by  Party.  We  had  a 
beautiful  illustration  of  how  Party  government 
works  in  our  Federal  Parliament  during  a  recent 
session.  This  Parliament  met  for  the  transaction  of 
business  (what  a  burlesque !  ),  and  it  spent  the  whole 
time  in  party  and  personal  recrimination.  During  a 
very  short  period  we  had  three  Cabinets  and  three 
want-of-confidence  motions,  and  in  the  last  division 
the  Government  had  a  majority  of  two  (2)  !  And 
this  was  accepted  as  a  working  majority.  The  only 
piece  of  business  done  during  six  and  a  half  months 
was  the  selection  of  a  site  for  the  Federal  City,  and 
even  that  was  only  partially  settled.  The  last 
want-of-confidence  motion  engaged  the  attention 
of  the  House  for  four  weeks,  and  was  unique  in  its 
way,  and  is  not  likely  soon  to  be  forgotten,  as  the 
fate  of  Ministers  depended  on  the  vote  of  one  man. 
It  was  understood  that  if  the  Government  had  only  a 
majority  of  one  it  would  have  to  go  out,  but  if  two 
it  might  remain  in  office  !  During  the  long  debate 
heads  were  counted,  and  it  was  ascertained  that 
there  was  a  majority  of  one  for  the  Government, 
and  one  doubtful.  As  may  be  imagined,  every  effort 
was  made  by  the  members  on  both  sides  of  the  House 
to  influence  the  doubtful  member  (Mr.  Cameron 
from  Tasmania)  or  at  least  to  ascertain  how  he 
would  vote ;  but  he  was  as  silent  as  the  Sphinx  ; 
he  openly  gloried  in  the  fact  that  he  held  the  fate  of 
the  Government  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand ;  not 


3o6  DAVID  SYME 

a  word  or  a  hint  would  he  utter  as  to  how  he  would 
cast  his  vote  till  almost  the  last  day,  when  he  inti- 
mated that  he  would  vote  with  the  Government ; 
not,  as  he  said,  because  he  loved  the  Government 
but  because  he  did  not  love  the  Opposition^  I  am 
sure  that  nine  out  of  every  ten  persons  in  the  com- 
munity were  scandalized  by  the  whole  proceedings. 
And  yet  we  are  told  that  this  is  the  proper  method 
of  carrying  on  the  Government  of  the  country ; 
that,  in  fact,  it  is  the  only  system  whereby  the  rule 
by  majority  can  be  carried  out. 

Let  us  see  how  it  works.  When  I  said  that  the 
only  piece  of  business  done  during  the  whole  session 
was  the  settlement  for  the  site  of  the  Federal  City, 
in  this  I  was  wrong.  There  was  a  vote  taken  for 
the  expenditure  of  ;f 20,000  for  a  detailed  survey  of 
1,000  miles  of  a  railway  through  a  waterless  desert 
in  West  Australia,  notwithstanding  that  a  fl3dng 
survey  hacj  been  previously  taken  which  showed 
that  the  line  would  cost  £5,000,000  and  would  not  pay 
working  expenses.  Here  we  see  how  Party  Govern- 
ment and  government  by  party  works.  I  am  with- 
in the  mark  in  saying  that  nine-tenths  of  the  electors 
in  the  Commonwealth  and  an  overwhelming  majority 
in  the  House  were  entirely  opposed  to  the  construc- 
tion of  this  railway  and  to  the  expenditure  of  this 
£20,000.  But  the  West  Australia  members  were 
in  favour  of  it  to  a  man,  and  they  gave  it  plainly  to 
be  understood  that  they  would  vote  solidly  against 
any  party  in  the  House   who  opposed  it.     Hence 


CORRESPONDENCE  307 

Ministers  in  esse  and  in  posse  were  in  a  dilemma. 
Parties  were  so  nearly  alike  as  regarded  numbers 
that  none  of  them  could  afford  to  have  the  West 
Australia    vote    go    against    them.     Sir    Edmund 
Barton  was  the  first  to  be  sounded,  and  he  gave  a 
half-hearted  sort  of  a  promise ;  Mr.   Deakin   was 
next  approached  and  he  went  a  Uttle  farther  ;  then 
Mr.  Reid,  in  Opposition,  when  in  Fremantle,  dis- 
tinctly avowed  himself  in  favour,  not  only  of  the 
further  expenditure  on  the  survey,  but  even  of  the 
construction  of  the  line.     Under  these  circumstances 
what  could  poor  Mr.  Watson  do  but  say  ditto  to  Mr. 
Reid  ?  So  the  money  was  voted,  and  the  five  West 
Australia  members  carried  the  vote  in  a  House  of 
seventy-five.     And  this  is  Government  by  majority. 
If  Party  Government  can  play  such  pranks  in 
Legislation,  it  operates  even  worse  in  Administra- 
tion.    Party  spirit  was  never  so  rampant  as  it  has 
been  the  last  few  years,  to  the  manifest  deterioration 
in  Administration  in  our  own  States.     Sound  Ad- 
ministration has  at  all  times  been  the  distinguishing 
feature  of  all  well-organized  States.     Unfortunately 
it  has  not  been  so  with  us  for  a  number  of  years. 
In   our   earlier    Parliaments   members   were   more 
serious   in    their    demeanoiu* ;    they    were   neither 
rollicking  nor  boisterous  in  their  manner.       They 
looked  and  acted  as  if  they  met  for  business  and  not 
for  play.     They  sat  four  days  in  the  week  instead  of 
three  or  rather  two  and  a  half  as  at  present ;  a 
country  member  did  not  hurry  off  home  on  Thursday 


3o8  DAVID   SYME 

afternoon,  and  town  members  did  not  count  out  the 
House  every  night  in  order  to  catch  the  last  suburban 
train.  Sittings  till  the  short  hours  of  the  morning 
were  then  common  enough.  Then  again,  there 
were,  in  our  earlier  ParUaments,  men  who  had 
made  a  study  of  certain  public  questions  and  who 
were  accordingly  Ustened  to  with  respect.  It  was 
not  customary  in  those  days  for  members  to  repeat 
one  another's  speeches,  to  run  an  argument  to  death. 
There  was  less  play  and  more  work  than  at  present. 
Members  did  not  then  learn  to  become  expert  bil- 
Uard-players  by  constant  practice  on  the  Parlia- 
mentary bilhard-tables.  If  not  in  the  Chamber 
members  were  sure  to  be  in  the  library,  unless 
absent  from  the  House.  We  do  not  find  many  such 
members  nowadays.  Where  are  our  experts  in 
railway  matters,  in  finance,  in  education,  and  in 
pubUc  works  ?  We  spend  much  money  in  the  con- 
struction of  railways,  but  who  ever  heard  of  a  member 
using  his  free  pass  to  inspect  a  proposed  line  ?  This 
duty  has  been  handed  over  to  a  paid  railway  com- 
mittee, as  have  also  all  public  works  of  every  kind, 
and  what  is  not  covered  by  this  Board  is  in  due 
course  handed  over  to  a  Royal  Commission.  The 
result  of  all  this  is  that  members  are  put  into  office 
for  which  they  have  no  qualification.  Hence  our 
bad  Administration.  Take  our  Lands  Department, 
for  example.  It  would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  a 
worse  state  of  things  than  exists  in  that  Department 
at  the  present  day.     The  Department  is  supposed 


CORRESPONDENCE  309 

to  exist  for  facilitating  the  sale  and  selection  of  land, 
and  while  the  country  is  crying  out  for  land  it  takes 
from  eighteen  months  to  two  years  to  issue  a  permit 
for  a  selector  to  take  possession.  It  is  quite  as  bad  as 
this,  and  Ministers  know  it.  Every  country  member 
knows  it  only  too  well.  They  are  constantly  com- 
plaining that  they  have  to  dance  attendance  at  the 
Lands  Office  daily  to  push  through  applications  for 
their  constituents.  One  country  ex-member  told 
me  that  while  he  was  in  Parliament  he  was  engaged 
almost  a  whole  day  in  the  Lands  Office  and  a  great 
part  of  the  night  in  writing  letters  to  his  constitu- 
ents, telling  them  what  he  had  done  there.  He 
found  that  other  country  members  had  been  in  the 
habit  of  doing  this  kind  of  work,  and  he  had  either 
to  do  it  also  or  resign  his  seat,  and  he  preferred  to 
resign. 

Several  of  the  other  Departments  are  quite  as  bad. 
The  only  departments  that  are  well  managed  are 
those  of  the  Law,  and  they  are  in  charge  of  experts. 
All  this  comes  of  appointing  to  office  men  who  have 
had  no  training  for  the  work  of  Administration,  who 
are  not  men  of  affairs,  and  who  are  often  incapable 
of  carrying  through  the  most  simple  transaction ; 
and  all  this  is  the  necessary  result  of  Party  Govern- 
ment. The  Cabinet  should  be,  and  is  supposed  to 
be,  the  Executive  of  Parliament.  But  under  Party 
Government  it  is  nothing  of  the  sort.  The  Cabinet 
is  not  elected  by  Parliament.  All  that  Parhament 
does  is  to  nominate  the  Premier,  and  the  Premier, 


310  DAVID  SYME 

not  Parliament,  appoints  his  own  colleagues ;  and 
according  to  present  methods  the  Premier  cannot 
select  these  colleagues  from  both  sides  of  the  House, 
but  from  one  side  only,  and  his  Ministry  is  inferior 
in  consequence  of  this  restriction.  He  cannot  select 
the  best  men  to  begin  with,  and  even  in  selecting 
from  his  own  side  of  the  House  he  is  necessarily 
influenced  by  other  considerations  than  fitness. 
Can  we  conceive  of  a  financial  institution  being 
managed  on  such  lines  ?  In  electing  a  Directorate 
the  shareholders  would  see  to  the  election  of  the 
whole  of  the  directors,  not  to  one  only,  and  they 
would  take  good  care  that  the  selection  would  not 
be  limited  to  a  section  of  the  shareholders  only.  We 
can  hardly  imagine  a  system  of  management  less 
adapted  to  secure  good  Administration  than  that 
which  now  exists.  How  much  better  it  would  be  if 
each  Minister  was  elected  directly  by  Parliament ! 
Then  we  might  expect  that  some  consideration 
would  be  given  to  individual  fitness.  But  the  sys- 
tem is  breaking  down,  in  fact  has  already  broken 
down  from  its  own  inherent  weakness.  The  first 
instance  of  this  was  in  the  Railway  Department. 
The  management  of  this  Department  was  taken  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Minister  of  Railways  and  was 
handed  over  to  three  Commissioners.  The  Edu- 
cation Department  came  next,  and  was  put  in  charge 
of  an  expert  under  the  title  of  Director  of  Education. 
Then  followed  the  Department  of  Agriculture  with 
another  expert  and  director.     Now  we  have  also 


CORRESPONDENCE  311 

a  Diiector  of  Mining,  presiding  over  the  Mines 
Department.  Ministers  are  still  in  their  old  places 
drawing  their  old  salaries,  but  there  is  nothing  left 
for  them  to  do  except  formally  to  append  their 
signatures  to  certain  documents  which  are  laid  be- 
fore them  by  the  permanent  heads.  It  is  true  they 
still  receive  deputations,  but  to  any  request  the 
almost  invariable  answer  is  given,  '*  I  will  place  the 
matter  before  the  Cabinet."  They  are  in  fact  mere 
automata,  or  at  best  only  the  media  of  communi- 
cation between  the  permanent  heads  and  the  Cabinet, 
to  which  every  question  of  policy  is  now  referred. 

To  those  on  the  wrong  side  of  the  Speaker's  Chair 
everything  is  wrong  that  is  done  by  those  on  the 
right.  ''  It  is  the  function  of  the  Opposition  to 
oppose.''  What  Disraeli  said  in  sarcasm  is  now 
quoted  with  approval  and  acted  upon  in  grim  ear- 
nestness. It  is  the  plea  put  forward  whenever  the 
Government  of  the  day  is  attacked,  be  it  right  or  be 
it  wrong.  This  vile  doctrine  is  put  into  practice  in 
England  as  well  as  here.  The  campaign  of  abuse 
was  carried  out  there  during  the  Cape  war  to  an 
extent  never  reached  before.  Everything  that 
Ministers  proposed  was  condemned  in  advance, 
everything  they  did  was  a  blunder  or  a  crime.  Their 
conduct  of  the  war  was  described  by  the  leader  of 
the  Opposition  as  '*  cold-blooded  "  and  ''  brutal '' ; 
when  the  Government  established  camps  for  the 
women  and  children  of  the  rebels,  who  were  in  arms 
against  the  Empire,  and  fed  and  clothed  them,  this 


312  DAVID  SYME 

was  described  by  the  leader  of  the  Opposition  as 
'*  methods  of  barbarism/'  and  the  Government  was 
held  up  to  execration  in  Parliament  night  after 
night.  Poor  Kruger  believed  that  the  voice  of  the 
Opposition  was  the  voice  of  the  people  of  England, 
that  a  change  of  Ministers  was  imminent ;  and  he 
therefore  held  out  for  months  after  he  was  practic- 
ally defeated,  at  a  cost  to  Great  Britain  of  thousands 
of  lives  and  millions  of  money.  Later,  Party  spirit 
ran  even  higher  ;  wilful  misrepresentation,  deliber- 
ate perversion  of  the  truth  and  unjustified  personal 
invective  characterized  the  attitude  of  the  Opposi- 
tion. Not  that  the  Opposition  had  any  policy  of 
its  own  which  it  was  eager  to  have  carried  out.  The 
so-called  Liberal  Party  in  England  has  not  had  a 
vestige  of  a  policy  for  years  ;  its  only  policy  was  to 
regain  office.  There  will  always  be  parties  both 
inside  and  outside  of  Parliament  till  the  millenium 
arrives  but  we  need  not  encourage  Party  warfare  by 
rewarding  the  successful  Party  with  office. 

Syme  on  the  Functions  of  the  Press. 

In  England  the  Press  has  been  called  The  Fourth 
Estate  of  the  Realm — not  a  particularly  happy 
designation,  for  it  cannot  be  regarded  as  an  Estate 
at  all  in  the  same  sense  that  the  Lords  Spiritual, 
Lords  Temporal  and  Commons  are  Estates.  It  has 
no  representative  character,  nor  has  it  any  tradi- 
tional or  constitutional  claim  to  such  a  position. 


CORRESPONDENCE  313 

In  one  respect,  however,  it  is  like  the  British  Con- 
stitution, inasmuch  as  it  is  a  growth  ;  it  has  been 
gradually  evolved.  At  first  the  Press  was  a  news- 
paper and  nothing  more,  simply  a  purveyor  of  news, 
a  recorder  of  current  events,  as  the  titles.  Intelli- 
gencer y  Courier,  Herald,  indicate  ;  later  we  have  such 
titles  as  The  Sentinel,  Spectator,  Examiner,  and  so 
forth,  showing  that  the  Press  had  assumed  another 
function,  namely, — of  interpreter  or  commentator 
or  propagandist.  The  Press  has  also  been  described 
as  the  organ  of  public  opinion.  But  a  newspaper 
is  something  more  than  an  organ  of  public  opinion ; 
it  may  represent  public  opinion,  but  it  also  helps 
to  form  public  opinion.  A  newspaper,  if  it  is  of  any 
account  at  all,  has  its  own  opinions.  It  does  not 
ask  the  man  in  the  street  what  he  thinks,  but  it  tells 
him  what  he  ought  to  think.  It  presents  him  with 
the  facts,  shows  him  what  these  facts  imply  and  how 
they  affect  him  as  a  member  of  the  community.  It 
has  even  the  temerity  to  tell  Parliament  what  it 
ought  to  do  under  certain  circumstances ;  what 
grievances  it  ought  to  remedy  and  even  how  to 
remedy  them.  Members  don't  like  to  have  their 
attention  drawn  to  such  matters  by  a  newspaper. 
They  call  it  dictation.  But  if  Members  attended  to 
their  duties  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  the  Press 
to  interfere.  But  whether  they  like  such  criticism 
or  not  they  have  to  submit  to  it,  so  long  as  it  is  made 
in  the  public  interest.  Public  criticism  of  public 
men  is  now  a  recognized  function  of  the  Press.     As 


314  DAVID  SYME 

long  as  this  criticism  is  exercised  in  the  pubUc  interest 
the  Press  is  unassailable,  and  members  must  listen 
with  the  best  grace  they  can.  And  the  Press  claims 
to  be  free  only  on  this  condition,  and  in  this  respect 
it  claims  no  more  than  the  humblest  individual 
possesses.  The  Press  has  no  licence  to  slander  with 
impunity.  An  ill-conditioned  member  may  slander 
a  private  individual  within  the  walls  of  ParUament 
and  refuse  him  any  redress,  but  a  newspaper  has  no 
such  privilege,  and  if  it  makes  a  charge  which  it  fails 
to  sustain  it  must  pay  the  penalty. 


I 


m 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Death  and   Appreciations 

The  news  of  Syme's  death  in  his  eighty-first  year, 
which  occurred  on  February  14,  1908  at  his  home  at 
Blythewood,  Kew,  near  Melbourne  (to  which  he  had 
for  some  time  been  confined  through  heart  and 
digestive  troubles)  was  received  throughout  the 
Commonwealth  with  an  almost  universal  expression 
of  pubhc  grief.  In  the  week  that  followed  every 
journal  of  note  in  the  Commonwealth  paid  him  the 
tribute  of  a  leading  article,  praising  his  works  and 
lamenting  his  departure ;  and  in  Victoria  many 
leading  politicians  and  statesmen  and  innumerable 
municipalities,  shire  councils.  Progress  Associations, 
Rifle  Clubs,  Societies  and  other  public  bodies,  made 
public  confession  of  his  incomparable  services  to  the 
State. 

The  appreciations  published  in  the  Australian 
newspapers  would  fill  a  large  volume.  I  have  space 
only  sufficient  at  my  disposal  to  quote  a  few  repre- 
sentative opinions. 

The  Argus — the  Free  Trade,  Conservative  rival 
in  Melbourne  and  ancient  enemy  of  The  Age  said  : — 


3i6  DAVID  SYME 

The  position  to  which  Protection  has  attained  in  Victoria 
is  largely  due  to  the  ceaseless,  vigorous,  and — if  we  may  say 
so  without  any  wish  to  be  offensive — remorseless  advocacy  of 
Mr.  Syme.  This  is  not  the  place  to  discuss  controversially 
the  procedure  he  followed,  or  the  intolerance  shown  by  him 
to  men  who  conscientiously  withstood  him  over  problems  which 
have  perplexed  thinkers  and  legislators  for  several  generations. 
The  principles  which  should  govern  the  discussion  of  subjects 
of  the  greatest  importance  are  not,  for  the  moment,  in  question. 
What  it  concerns  us  to  admit  is  the  earnestness,  the  vigilance, 
and  the  fighting  qualities  of  a  combatant  who  himself  was  not 
disposed  to  concede  merit  to  an  opponent  or  to  show  quarter 
in  political  warfare.  Advocacy  maintained  without  wavering, 
in  season  and  out  of  season,  necessarily  found  favour  with  all 
classes  of  persons  interested  intellectually,  emotionally,  or  for 
prosaic  reasons,  in  the  development  of  manufacturing  by  means 
of  high  Customs  duties. 

The  Herald — Melbourne's  afternoon  paper — said  of 
him  : — 

With  profound  regret  we  record  this  evening  the  passing 
away  of  a  great  man.  Mr.  David  Syme,  the  proprietor  of  The 
Age  newspaper,  died  this  morning  at  his  residence  at  Kew,  and 
Australia  is  the  poorer  because  it  has  lost  one  of  the  most  vigorous 
and  capacious  intellects  ever  employed  in  the  public  weal. 
For  Mr.  David  Syme  has  primarily  been  a  great  pubhc  servant. 
Unofficial,  of  course,  but  none  the  less — some  would  say,  all 
the  more — valuable  and  practical.  Some  years  ago,  in  a  speech 
at  a  Press  gathering  in  London,  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour,  the  ex-Prime 
Minister,  eulogized  what  he  called  the  splendid  sense  of  respon- 
sibility of  the  "  irresponsible "  Englishmen  who  conducted 
the  great  journalistic  organs  in  which  public  opinion  is  formed 
and  expressed.  The  word  "  irresponsible  "  is  hardly  accurate, 
but  it  sufficiently  expresses  the  idea  which  it  was  intended  to  con- 
vey. Mr.  Syme's  sense  of  his  own  great  responsibility  was 
ever  a  dominant  factor  in  his  character.  It  has  not  always 
been  our  fortune  to  agree  with  the  opinions  expressed,  or  to 
approve  of  the  policy  promulgated,  by  the  great  man  who  has 
just  gone  to  his  rest ;  but  we  testify  gladly,  heartily,  and  sin- 
cerely alike  to  the  sterling  integrity  of  purpose  which  has  marked 


DEATH  AND  APPRECIATIONS         317 

his  conspicuously  fruitful  and  powerful  career,  and  to  the  tower- 
ing ability  which  he  brought  to  the  discharge  of  every  task  on 
which  he  laid  his  masterly  hand.  In  Great  Britain  and  in 
America  there  are  what  may  be  called  captains  in  journalism 
who  have  left  their  mark  on  the  pohtical  and  social  life  of  the 
community  they  have  served,  but  we  find  it  difficult,  even 
among  the  best  of  them,  to  discover  a  parallel  for  Mr.  David 
Syme.  "  You  do  not  know  what  a  great  man  you  have  got," 
said  a  very  distinguished  Imperial  Statesman  to  an  Australian 
visitor,  when  referring  during  the  Imperial  Conference  of  last 
year  to  Mr.  Deakin.  It  may  well  be  doubted  whether  Australia 
is  conscious,  or  ever  will  be  adequately  conscious,  of  what  a 
great  man  we  had  in  David  Syme.  This  is  not  the  place  to 
go  into  details,  to  give  illustrations,  or  to  seem  even  to  adduce 
proofs.  It  is  sufficient  here  to  admit  freely  the  value  and  the 
merits — professional  and  personal — of  one  who  in  the  obscurity 
of  the  impersonal  journalism  of  Australia  has  won,  in  a  com- 
petitive field  where  nothing  goes  by  favour,  the  peculiar  power 
which  the  public  acceptance  of  a  great  public  journal  gives  to 
its  conductors  ;  has  wielded  that  power  in  the  interests  of  the 
people ;    and  has  just  accomplished  a  magnificent  fife's  work. 


The  Adelaide  Advertiser ,  one  of  the  most  prominent 
South  Australian  daihes,  said  : — 

It  would  be  no  exaggeration  to  assert  that  Mr.  Syme  was 
the  most  influential  man  in  Victoria.  By  reason  of  his  own 
vigorous  personality  and  the  immense  power  wielded  by  the 
widely-circulated  paper  whose  prosperity  he  had  created,  and 
whose  destinies  he  controlled  for  so  many  years,  he  had  long 
been  the  arbiter  of  pohtical  fate  in  the  neighbour  State.  Not 
only  was  his  strength  made  manifest  in  respect  to  the  local 
Legislature  which,  in  its  popular  branch  at  any  rate,  has  long 
reflected  the  opinions  of  The  Age,  but  he  did  much  to  fix  the 
complexion  of  the  Victorian  representation  in  the  Federal  Legis- 
lature. Mr.  Syme  never  made  any  attempt  to  enter  public 
fife  himself,  and  although  he  had  many  important  interests 
besides  his  paper — for  he  was  a  landowner  on  a  large  scale — it 
was  by  his  joumafistic  enterprise  and  abifity  that  he  was  best 


3i8  DAVID  SYME 

known,  as  it  was  from  his  newspaper  that  he  gained  his  pros- 
perity. Mr.  Syme  was  the  father  of  the  Protectionist  movement 
in  Victoria,  a  cause  which  he  espoused  when  it  was  as  small  as 
"  a  grain  of  mustard  seed."  But  he  fought  so  vigorously  in 
the  campaign  for  the  preservation  and  development  of  local 
industries  that  to-day  there  is  practically  no  other  fiscal  belief 
extant  in  the  neighbour  State,  while  his  enthusiastic  and 
enlightened  advocacy  has  naturally  helped  in  the  victory  that 
has  been  won  in  the  wider  sphere  of  Federal  poHtics.  He  had 
been  the  guiding  genius  of  the  great  daily  he  owned  for  nearly 
half  a  century,  and  it  was  he  who  carved  out  the  path  of  pro- 
gressive Liberahsm  along  which  it  has  consistently  moved. 
He  "  knew  the  seasons,  when  to  take  occasion  by  the  hand, 
and  make  the  bounds  of  freedom  wider  yet."  There  was  no 
popular  cry  for  the  pohcy  he  initiated.  By  dint  of  earnest  and 
energetic  work  against  adverse  circumstances  and  influences 
he  made  the  popular  cry,  and  with  it  the  fortunes  of  his  paper, 
which,  when  he  and  his  brother,  the  late  Mr.  Ebenezer  Syme, 
purchased  it  in  1854,  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  indeed.  He  had 
strong  views,  high  personal  character,  the  pertinacity  of  his 
Scotch  forefathers,  and  indomitable  coiu-age.  These  quaUties 
were  all  needed  in  the  battle  he  had  undertaken,  and  they  were 
all  reflected  in  the  editorial  columns  through  which  he  addressed 
the  people.  It  was  a  good  thing  for  Victoria,  as  it  was  for  The 
Age,  that  Mr.  Syme  was  spared  for  so  many  years  to  enforce 
his  will  and  to  live  out  his  ideals.  By  many  persons  thought 
to  be  abrupt  and  unsympathetic,  it  was  still  everywhere  admitted 
that  he  was  a  scrupulously  Just  man.  "  A  terror  to  evildoers," 
he  was  yet  always  ready  to  recognize  merit  in  an  individual  or 
a  party.  The  many  men  and  causes  whose  triumph  he  has 
secured  in  pohtical  life  wUl  all  promptly  admit  that  there  was 
no  personal  interest  in  his  action.  He  was  a  man  whose  maxim 
was,  "  Because  right  is  right,  to  follow  right  were  wisdom  in 
the  scorn  of  consequence."  Mr.  Syme  was  granted  length  of 
days  and  mental  vigour  beyond  the  lot  of  most,  but  he  made 
excellent  use  of  both  his  physical  and  intellectual  capacities, 
and  no  more  wasted  time  or  thought  than  he  wasted  his  resources 
in  other  directions.  What  he  possessed  he  felt  was  bestowed 
upon  him  to  turn  to  good  account,  and  there  have  been  few  men  in 
Austraha  who  put  to  better  or  more  permanent  service  the  gifts 
of  nature  and  of  fortune  than  did  David  Syme. 


DEATH   AND  APPRECIATIONS         319 

The  Adelaide  Register ^  the  leading  South  Australjcn 
journal,  said  : —  / 

The  death  of  Mr.  David  Syme,  proprietor  of  the  Melbourne 
Age,  has  removed  from  Australian  public  life  one  of  its  most 
interesting  and  powerful  personalities.  Although  he  was  an 
author  of  some  note,  and  otherwise  contributed  to  literary 
culture  and  scientific  research  and  exploration,  yet  he  will  be 
remembered  chiefly  in  connexion  with  the  political  and  social 
growth  of  Victoria,  and  the  marvellous  influence  which  he 
exerted  through  journalism  directly  and  indirectly  upon  the 
history  of  his  State.  The  late  proprietor  of  the  Melbourne 
Age  did  not  limit  his  newspaper  ideal  to  merely  material  success, 
though  with  proverbial  Scotch  shrewdness  he  did  not  fail  to 
improve  almost  unexampled  commercial  opportunities ;  but 
he  sought  to  magnify  the  press  as  a  great  instrument  of  social, 
political,  and  intellectual  progress.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say 
that  he  succeeded  in  concentrating  in  his  personality  a  force 
of  journalism  never  surpassed.  His  leadership  of  men  became 
so  distinctly  recognized  that  he  was  commonly  known  as  the 
King  of  Victoria. 

A  spontaneous  tribute  to  "  kingship  '*  can  never  be  wholly 
an  accident  of  circumstances.  Occasionally  the  forces  of  the 
times  seem  to  gather  and  find  brief  expression  in  a  man  of  the 
hour,  but  David  Syme  was  more  than  a  passing  voice.  Minis- 
tries came  and  went,  politicians  filed  through  the  forum  like 
a  phantom  procession,  generations  changed,  conditions  altered  ; 
but  the  maker  and  destroyer  of  Cabinets  remained  ;  the  dictator 
of  policies  was  always  in  office ;  his  smile  was  as  the  breath  of 
life  to  the  ordinary  Parliamentarian ;  his  pen  could  write  the 
death  warrant  of  high  officials.  His  magic  was  the  inevitable 
word  that  controlled  his  public.  Mr.  Syme's  first  published 
work  which  related  to  industrial  science  supplied  a  key  to  his 
method.  He  insisted  there  that  political  economy  was  a  science, 
not  of  wealth,  but  of  mind  ;  and  this  doctrine,  though  when 
promulgated  quite  imorthodox  and  startling,  is  now  widely 
accepted.  Evidently  Mr.  Syme  owed  his  unique  position  in 
Victorian  public  life  largely  to  a  profound  study  of  psychology 
— a  practical  knowledge  of  men  and  multitudes  ;  and,  if  in  the 
recent  years  of  federation  the  voice  of  the  charmer  seemed  to 


P 


320  DAVID   SYME 

lose  some  of  its  potency,  the  record  of  its  achievement  remained 
to  excite  admiration. 

It  would  be  surprising  if  in  fifty  years  some  advanced  ideas 
did  not  cease  to  be  so  regarded,  and  if  the  democrat  of  the 
mid-nineteenth  century  were  not  suspected  of  conservatism  in 
the  twentieth  century.  However  that  may  apply  to  the  case  of 
Mr.  Syme,  and  whatever  may  be  the  changed  attitude  of  the 
times,  the  deceased  gentleman  illustrated  the  co-ordinating 
power  of  an  able  conductor  of  a  great  daily  newspaper  to  mould 
the  affairs  of  State — a  power  which  is  a  necessary  feature  of 
modern  civilization  and  imposes  corresponding  and  generally 
acknowledged  responsibiUties.  It  is  a  suggestive  fact  that  the 
late  proprietor  of  The  Age  further  displayed  the  intimacy  existing 
between  the  teaching,  preaching,  and  journalistic  professions, 
which — necessarily  differing  in  methods  and  agencies — are 
essentially  one  in  their  educational  aim.  He  was  a  son  of  the 
school,  and  was  claimed  for  the  pulpit,  and  he  devoted  himself 
to  the  press ;  and  whatever  criticism  might  be  offered  con- 
cerning the  pontics  and  methods  of  his  journal  it  is  undeniable 
that  it  ranked  high,  both  for  its  enterprise  and  its  Uterary  quaUty. 
Apart  from  his  sentiment  Mr.  Syme  wiU  figiu^e  in  the  history 
of  federation  if  only  for  the  circumstance  that  he  "  discovered  " 
Mr.  Deakin,  introduced  a  future  Prime  Minister  of  the  Common- 
wealth to  pubUc  Hfe,  and  smoothed  his  path  at  all  times.  Vic- 
toria mourns  the  loss  of  a  Warwick,  a  typical  Scotsman,  and 
a  characteristic  Victorian — a  man  of  penetration,  power,  and 
patriotism,  and  AustraUa  has  lost  a  newspaper  conductor  of 
extraordinary  intuition,  resource,  and  influence. 

The  Hobart  Mercury,  the  leading  daily  journal  of 
Tasmania,  said  : — 

The  death  of  Mr.  David  Syme  removes  one  of  the  great  figures 
of  AustraUan  hfe,  and  a  man  who,  in  his  time,  probably  exerted 
a  larger  influence  over  pubUc  affairs  than  any  other  individual. 
The  Age,  which  so  long  led  Victorian  pohtical  opinion,  was 
more  than  the  mouthpiece  of  the  proprietor,  it  was  David 
Syme  himself.  He  had  the  courage  of  his  opinions,  and  took 
pains  to  disseminate  them  in  such  a  fashion  as  would  have  most 
effect  on  the  public  mind.  Incidentally,  he  made  a  fortune 
for  himself,  and  yet  that,  to  him,  was  almost  an  incident  compared 


DEATH   AND   APPRECIATIONS         321 

with  the  acquisition  of  power.  Undoubtedly,  he  strove  to 
make  money,  and  succeeded  ;  but  he  strove  with  even  more 
vigour  and  whole-souled  earnestness  to  gain  power,  and  here 
his  success  was  remarkable.  We  cannot  say  that,  in  our  opinion, 
the  influence  which  Mr.  Syme  exerted  on  the  history  of  Victoria 
was  always  a  good  one.  But  we  recognize  the  extraordinary 
ability,  strength  of  will,  and  power  of  concentration  which 
brought  his  newspaper,  and  through  it  the  proprietor,  into  the 
position  where,  at  times,  he  was  able  to  dictate  the  policy  of 
Ministers  and  of  Parliament.  Known,  as  he  was,  more  by 
name  than  by  acquaintance,  he  was  nothing  of  a  figure  in  the 
public  eye,  and,  indeed,  he  was  not  one  of  those  who  delight  in 
open  applause.  He  had  the  joumahstic  instinct,  combined 
with  rare  business  ability,  and  it  was  by  no  accident,  or  extra- 
ordinary luck,  that  he  climbed  to  his  commanding  position. 
His  death  will  leave  a  gap  in  the  journalistic  world. 

The  Sydney  Daily  Telegraphy  the  most  widely 
circulated  daily  newspaper  pubhshed  in  New  South 
Wales,  said  : — 

It  is  perhaps  not  too  fanciful  to  say  that  the  late  Mr.  David 
Syme,  the  proprietor  of  the  Melbourne  Age,  was  not  only  a  forceful 
and  arresting  personality,  but  was  in  a  very  real  sense  an  embodi- 
ment of  the  Spirit  of  the  Time — that  actual  definable  trend 
or  influence  which  German  philosophy  calls  the  "  Zeitgeist." 
Bom  in  that  time  of  intellectual  upheaval  which  followed  hard 
upon  the  French  Revolution,  Mr.  Syme  was  in  infancy  a  sharer 
in  those  influences  which  produced  a  Shelley,  singing  his  Ode 
to  Liberty,  and  a  Cobbett,  thundering  out  the  demand  of  the 
English  commonalty  for  Reform.  The  French  Revolution 
released  numbed  intellects  as  well  as  prisoners  rotting  in  dungeons. 
Strange  electric  influences  were  in  the  air  in  those  days.  When 
the  late  Mr.  Syme  was  growing  to  manhood  his  mind,  plastic 
in  adolescence,  took  the  impress  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Time — and 
then  hardened  into  granite.  After  the  first  great  instalment 
of  Reform  came  Chartism,  and  during  the  decade  preceding 
Mr.  Syme's  departure  from  Great  Britain  the  Chartists  were 
hammering  hard  at  the  door  of  Tory  privilege.  His  work  in 
Australia  shows  that  he  heard  the  hammering.     If  he  was  not 


322  DAVID  SYME 

actually  a  Chartist  himself  he,  at  any  rate,  adopted  the  six 
planks  of  the  Chartists*  platform,  and  fought  for  them  in  Vic- 
toria with  a  vigour  and  ruthlessness  that  were  irresistible. 
The  measure  of  poHtical  freedom  demanded  by  the  Chartists 
has  practically  been  accepted  now  in  every  British  community. 
But  those  who  were  in  the  forefront  of  the  movement  should 
not  be  forgotten.  And  in  his  sympathies,  at  any  rate,  the  stem 
old  man  who  has  just  died  was  one  of  them.  He  saw  the  "  year 
of  revolutions " — 1848 — in  Europe.  Then  with  clamorous 
shouts  for  political  Uberty  sounding  in  his  ears  from  almost 
every  country  in  Europe  this  ex-Divinity  student,  who  had 
abandoned  the  narrow  Calvinism  of  his  forefathers  as  incom- 
patible with  intellectual  hberty,  made  his  way  to  the  Great 
Republic  and  plied  a  pick  on  the  Califomian  goldfields.  Coming 
on  to  Austraha  he  found  his  opportunity,  and  for  more  than 
half  a  century  he  continued  to  pour  forth  by  the  pens  of  picked 
deputies  those  ideas  of  a  militant  and  aggressive  Democracy 
in  which  he  placed  all  his  trust.  Most  of  those  ideas  by  the 
splendid  assistance  of  a  succession  of  great  popular  leaders 
are  now  embedded  in  the  statutes  of  Victoria.  That  those 
leaders  caught  inspiration  in  many  instances,  as  well  as  journal- 
istic support,  from  Mr.  David  Syine  is  well  known  to  such  as 
are  familiar  with  the  course  of  Victorian  pohtics. 

In  a  man  of  great  force  of  character  like  the  late  Mr.  Syme 
narrowness  of  view  in  some  things  is  to  be  expected.  Such 
a  man  is  apt  to  concentrate  his  gaze  upon  a  particular  part 
— and  a  relatively  smaU  part — of  the  whole  moving  picture 
of  contemporary  life.  Width  of  sympathy  is  necessarily  co- 
existent with  lack  of  concentration.  Mr.  Syme  was  not  a  man 
of  wide  sympathies.  As  far  as  could  be  gathered  from  his  line 
of  thought  as  reflected  in  his  paper,  he  focussed  all  the  power 
of  his  intellect  on  three  main  objects,  namely,  on  introducing 
and  maintaining  the  fiscal  policy  of  protection,  on  securing 
government  by  the  people  and  for  the  people,  and  on  building 
up  The  Age  newspaper.  He  did  not  die  without  achieving 
each  of  those  objects  in  a  very  marked  degree,  and  he  has  con- 
sequently, though  almost  a  recluse  by  temperament,  succeeded 
in  stamping  his  name  and  influence  indelibly  on  the  history  of 
that  portion  of  Australia  where  he  established  himself.  Judging 
him  again  solely  by  his  paper,  it  is  impossible  to  say  that  he 
was  a  great  Australian  in  the  widest  and  fullest  sense  of  the 


DEATH   AND   APPRECIATIONS        323 

term.  He  was  not.  But  that  was  in  a  large  measure  due  to 
the  period  in  which  he  Hved.  Where  is  the  great  AustraHan, 
in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  term,  before  Sir  Henry  Parkes  ?  To 
a  convinced  protectionist  like  the  late  Mr.  Syme,  geographical 
boundaries  between  neighbouring  colonies  were  merely  sites 
for  Custom-houses.  And  it  must  have  been  almost  impossible 
for  a  man  who  was  a  septuagenarian  before  the  intercolonial 
Custom-houses  were  abolished  to  rid  himself  of  the  ancient 
and  rooted  conviction  that  beyond  those  Custom-houses  lay 
the  country  of  the  enemy.  But  in  the  qualities  of  brain  and 
character,  Mr.  David  Syme  was  certainly  a  great  Victorian, 
and,  perhaps,  his  sturdy  democratic  spirit  exercised  more  influ- 
ence than  even  he  himself  could  guess  over  the  trend  of  poUtical 
thought  in  other  States  of  the  Commonwealth. 

The  Melbourne  Punch  said  : — 

Dour  is  a  Scotch  term  that  might  have  been  invented  to 
describe  David  Syme ;  he  was  dour  in  all  his  dealings  so  far 
as  he  was  known  to  people  outside  his  circle  of  immediate  friends. 
He  permitted  himself  to  smile  rarely,  and  was  a  big,  iron-framed, 
rust-coloured  man,  with  the  strong  bones  showing  through 
his  clothes,  and  solidly  lined  in  his  powerful  head.  There  was 
something  of  Carlyle's  character  in  him,  and  David  resembled 
the  dour  philosopher,  too.  Certainly  Syme  was  the  toughest 
proposition  Australian  journalism  has  produced ;  an  ideal 
editor,  of  a  kind  fitting  the  description  of  the  Sydney  celebrity 
who  said  that  a  successful  editor  must  have  no  friends  and  live 
down  a  mine.  David  Syme  never  obtruded  himself  in  his  paper, 
and  we  find  evidence  of  the  survival  of  this  spirit  to  the  last 
moment  in  the  fact  that  The  Age  told  its  readers  nothing  of 
his  illness,  and  was  the  last  to  tell  of  his  death.  No  man  of 
Mr.  Syme's  large  significance  has  passed  out  of  Australian  life 
with  so  little  ostentation.  No  individual  had  exercised  nearly 
as  much  influence  on  the  affairs  of  his  time  in  Victoria, 
and  yet  knowledge  of  his  illness  was  not  made  public 
until  he  was  at  the  last  gasp.  This  is  in  some  measure 
a  reproach  to  our  journalism  as  well  as  a  tribute  to  Mr.  Syme's 
unostentatious  character.  In  similar  circumstances  in  America 
the  papers  and  magazines  would  have  made  miles  of  *'  copy  " 
out  of  the  big  man's  death  bed. 


324  DAVID   SYME 

It  is  true  that  David  Syme's  influence  waned  a  great  deal 
with  the  introduction  of  Federation,  but  he  was  akeady  a  very 
old  man  and  had  fought  his  fight.  To  know  how  staunchly 
that  fight  was  fought  you  must  appeal  to  the  old  enemies  of 
Protection,  the  men  who  fought  heart  and  soul  against  The  Age, 
but  who  now  admit  that  they  were  beaten  by  the  force  of  an 
iron  personality  behind  'a  movement  that  had  much  to  commend 
it,  if  not  nearly  as  much  as  The  Age  claimed  for  it.  Sir  James 
McCulloch  was  the  first  to  pass  a  Protectionist  measure 
in  the  Victorian  Parhament,  but  it  was  The  Age  that  made 
Protection  a  popular  poUcy,  and  it  was  David  Syme  made  The 
Age.  He  had  a  big  fight,  there  were  long  years  of  adversity, 
but  that  only  goes  to  demonstrate  the  tenacity  and  ability  of 
the  man  behind  the  machine.  There  were  times  in  the 
'sixties  and  'seventies  when  the  owner  of  The  Age  had  a  very 
hard  row  to  hoe,  but  David  Syme  hoed  that  row,  and  built  up 
what  is  probably  the  finest  journalistic  property  in  the  Southern 
Hemisphere,  besides  winning  many  terrific  poHtical  battles. 
David  SyvciQ  used  the  men  and  materials  to  his  hand,  and 
always  used  them  well.  When  the  men  were  not  above 
reproach  that  was  not  his  business ;  the  electors  had 
made  them  officers  in  the  cause.  David  Syme  was  their 
general ;  he  turned  them  to  the  best  possible  account,  with  the 
result  that  for  years  the  title  "  King  David,"  thrown  at  him 
with  some  little  derision,  was  fairly  descriptive  of  his  position 
in  Victorian  politics.  Besides  running  a  tremendous  business 
like  The  Age,  the  late  great  journalist  found  time  to  write  several 
large  works  of  scientific  value,  and  to  manage  an  important 
squatting  and  breeding  business.  He  passed  away  one  of  our 
wealthiest  men,  and  in  making  that  wealth  it  may  fairly  be 
said  of  him  now  that  he  kept  to  the  straight  course  which  he 
earnestly  beheved  was  best  for  the  country.  David  Syme  was 
a  good  man  of  the  batthng  kind,  the  kind  that  is  rarely  called 
good,  since  it  hits  too  hard  and  keeps  too  keen  an  edge  on  its 
enemies. 

The  Brisbane  Daily  Mail,  one  of  the  leading  papers 
of  Queensland,  said  : — 

Under  Mr.  Syme's  management  The  Age  has  been  the  pioneer 
of  Liberalism  in  Australia,  for,  curiously  enough,  that  paper 


DEATH  AND  APPRECIATIONS        325 

has  been  more  the  organizer  than  the  organ  of  Liberalism,  and 
has  therefore  led  rather  than  followed  public  opinion  in  the 
direction.  It  advocated  the  financial  supremacy  of  the  Lower 
House  of  ParUament,  the  opening  of  the  public  lands  for  agri- 
cultural settlement,  the  encouragement  of  native  industries  by 
means'  of  discriminating  import  duties,  free,  secular,  and  com- 
pulsory education,  and  the  hundred  other  measures  which  have 
now  become  embodied  in  the  statutes,  not  only  of  Victoria 
but  of  Australia.  Whether  owing  to  the  promptitude  with 
which  it  pronounces  on  the  questions  of  the  day,  the  judgment 
which  it  displays  in  its  views,  or  the  vigour  of  its  advocacy,  or 
all  combined,  one  thing  is  certain  ;  that  there  is  no  newspaper 
in  Australia  at  the  present  moment  that  possesses  such  influence, 
as  The  Age.  Although  Melbourne  has  only  about  a  twelfth 
part  of  the  population  of  London,  the  circulation  of  The  Age 
is  equal  to  that  of  leading  London  dailies. 

The  West  Australian,  the  principal  newspaper  of 
Western  Australia,  said  : — 

By  the  death  of  Mr.  David  Syme  the  most  powerful  personality 
it  has  ever  known  has  been  removed  from  the  field  of  Australian 
pohtical  journalism.  With  a  mighty  engine  which  he  had 
first  to  create  Mr.  Syme  dominated  for  many  years  the  pohtical 
thought  of  Victoria,  and  ultimately  impressed  the  main  principles 
of  his  creed  on  the  newly-opened  book  of  federal  opinion.  The 
founder  of  protectionism  in  AustraHa,  he  communicated  his 
ideas  first  to  the  people  of  his  own  colony,  and  hved  to  see 
their  triumph  in  successive  ParUaments  representing  the  whole 
Commonwealth.  This  fact  alone  is  sufficient  to  estabUsh  the 
greatness  of  the  man — and  "  greatness  "  is  the  word  which 
those  who  knew  him  would  select  to  describe  his  distinguishing 
characteristic.  But  there  is  scarcely  a  progressive  movement 
in  Australian  affairs — and  particularly  Victorian  affairs — with 
which  Mr.  Syme  and  his  newspaper  have  not  been  prominently 
associated.  Payment  of  members,  the  extension  of  the  franchise, 
free  education — in  the  discussion  which  led  to  the  establishment 
of  all  of  these  The  Age  newspaper  struck  in  with  almost  a  control- 
hng  voice.  And  David  Syme  was,  until  recently  at  least.  The 
Age  newspaper.  He  wielded  a  consummate  power,  often 
beneficent,    but   at   times  singularly   merciless   towards   those 


326  DAVID  SYME 

who  stood  in  his  way.  Indeed,  at  one  time  his  puissant  influence 
threatened  to  subjugate  the  intellectualism  of  Victoria.  So 
impressive  did  he  make  his  newspaper  that  the  weaker  minds 
quailed  before  it,  and  a  large  part  of  the  community  lay  for  a 
time  in  a  condition  of  intellectual  enslavement.  The  Age, 
with  hundreds  of  thousands,  was  the  final  word,  the  Scripture 
of  pohtics.  What  The  Age  thought  the  greater  part  of  the 
community  thought,  and  probably  still  thinks.  Almost  wherever 
Victorians  are  met,  especially  the  youthful  ones,  the  seal  of  Age 
opinion  is  set  upon  their  utterances,  and  their  intellectual  and 
poUtical  attitude  is  often  an  unconscious  development  of  the 
mental  drill  which  they  received  at  the  command  of  David  Syme. 
From  the  outset  his  journal  was  in  touch  and  sympathy  with 
popular  aspirations.  It  supported  the  diggers  at  the  time  of 
the  Eureka  riots,  and  struck  the  first  deep  note  in  AustraUan 
joxuTiaUsm  for  the  principle  of  a  white  Australia.  The  concrete 
issue  at  that  time  was  the  question  of  the  admission  or  exclusion 
of  Chinese,  and,  as  will  be  remembered.  Professor  Pearson, 
who  was  one  of  Syme's  leader- writing  Heutenants,  laid  the 
economic  and  moral  foundations  of  the  existing  racial  sentiment 
by  his  work  deahng  with  the  yellow  invasion.  Throughout 
the  stormy  times  of  the  'seventies.  The  Age  was  the  foremost 
advocate  of  the  popular  side  in  the  great  struggles  with  the 
Colonial  Office  and  in  the  protracted  battles  between  the  Legisla- 
tive Assembly  and  the  second  Chamber.  Its  principles  in  those 
days  might  have  been  summed  up  in  the  phrase — ^protection 
combined  with  democracy.  And  it  was  not  without  cost  to 
himself  that  David  Syme  entered  into  this  warfare  of  the  masses 
against  the  classes.  A  man  of  culture  and  refinement  he  was 
ostracised  by  the  class  to  which  he  naturally  belonged,  and 
towards  which  his  social  sympathies  directed  him.  That  ostra- 
cism was  complete.  A  waU  was  built  to  exclude  him.  He 
contracted  the  singular  habit  of  standing  alone.  And  here 
it  was  that  the  character  of  the  man  came  out  in  bold  rehef. 
*'  Original  and  unaccommodating,"  it  might  have  been  said  of 
him  as  Grattan  said  of  Chatham  in  a  wider  field,  "  the  features 
of  his  character  had  the  hardihood  of  antiquity."  He  never 
drew  away  from  the  main  positions  he  had  taken  up  at  the  outset, 
and  such  were  the  power  of  his  mind,  and  the  strength  of  con- 
viction he  could  assume  even  if  he  had  it  not,  that  he  compelled 
Victoria  to  his  will.     In  nearly  all  of  the  many  fierce  encounters 


DEATH   AND  APPRECIATIONS         327 

in  which  he  continually  and  persistently  engaged,  ultimate 
triumph  was  his  vindication.  He  made  and  unmade  Ministries, 
and  the  men  he  trained  at  the  leader-writer's  desk  became  his 
servants  as  Ministers  of  the  Crown.  Students  of  Victorian 
poHtical  history  will  readily  call  to  mind  the  great  McCulloch 
struggle  and  the  annihilation  of  the  Conservative  Party  at  the 
hand  of  The  Age  and  its  supporters.  It  was  here  that  the  paper 
first  rose  to  a  position  of  dominating  influence.  Mr.  Syme 
was  often  ahead  of  his  time.  The  task  he  essayed  in  making 
protectionist  doctrine  popular  was  no  hght  one  in  a  community 
reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  free  trade.  He  advocated  the  referen- 
dum at  a  time  when  men  laughed  at  the  idea  as  the  notion  of 
a  poUtical  faddist,  yet  he  hved  to  see  the  principle  incorporated 
in  the  constitution  of  the  Australian  Commonwealth.  Single- 
handed  he  attacked  the  administration  of  the  railways  at  the 
peril  of  his  fortune  and  power,  and  invited  a  lawsuit,  which  by 
the  slightest  stooping  to  conquer  he  could  have  avoided,  that 
cost  his  newspaper  £50,000  in  expenses.  Yet  victory  as  ever  was 
his,  and  it  is  said  that  he  saved  the  State  thereby  from  an  expen- 
diture of  forty-one  millions  on  useless  railways  which  Mr.  Speight 
had  proposed  and  to  which  a  sympathetic  Cabinet  had  given 
its  adhesion,  besides  forcing  economies  in  the  administration 
equivalent  to  several  hundreds  of  thousands  a  year.  He  attacked 
the  landed  class,  and  fought  stubbornly  the  battle  for  closer 
settlement.  But  success  never  contented  him.  He  was  ever 
seeking  new  worlds  to  conquer.  Upon  protection  he  built  up 
the  theory  of  "  new  protection "  which  the  Commonwealth 
has  adopted,  and  his  newspaper,  still  in  the  van  with  new  ideas, 
is  now  advocating  the  doubtful  experiment  of  elective  Ministries. 
With  David  Syme  it  was  an  axiom  embedded  in  hfe  and  conduct 
that  the  old  order  changeth  yielding  place  to  new. 

This  is  one  side  of  his  character,  and  perhaps  the  most  promi- 
nent. Withal  he  was  a  strange  mixture.  He  combined  an 
imyielding  tenacity  to  a  principle  once  asserted  with  a  singular 
opportunism  in  details  and  minor  phases,  and  with  a  disregard 
of  the  feelings  of  his  opponent  carried  to  such  an  extreme  that 
it  often  precluded  the  rudiments  of  fair  play.  Practical,  pro- 
gressive, essentially  a  man  of  action,  and  that  kind  of  man  of 
action  the  commimity  admires  and  follows,  an  almost  invincibly 
strong  man  of  action,  he  was  a  dreamer  too.  Not  moments 
of  reflection  merely  were  his,  but  years  of  hard,  deep,  and  sound 

AA 


328 


DAVID  SYME 


thinking.  The  works  which  he  gave  to  the  world  on  industrial 
science,  on  Darwinism,  and  on  metaphysics  show  a  mind  richly 
stored  and  a  penetrating  and  subtle  insight.  Little  known  in 
Australia,  some  of  these  works  have  had  a  far-reaching  influence 
in  America,  and  have  not  left  even  the  economic  thought  of 
England  unaffected.  David  Syme,  by  every  rule  of  measure- 
ment, was  essentially  a  great,  if  in  some  respects  a  narrow 
man.  Had  his  field  been  wider  his  influence  would,  it  is  safe 
to  say,  have  reached  further.  For  he  was  of  that  mould  which 
compels  circumstances  to  personal  ambition  and  to  far-seeing 
design. 

The  chief  significance  of  these  tributes  Ues  in  the 
fact  that,  with  one  or  two  exceptions,  they  were  paid 
to  the  Austrahan  Founder  of  Protection  by  powerful 
Free  Trade  papers,  the  organs  of  the  Conservative 
party  which  had  met  so  many  defeats  at  David 
Syme's  hands. 

It  will  be  seen  that,  while  some  made  the  ad- 
mission with  reluctance,  none  ventured  to  deny  that 
he  was,  as  indeed  he  was,  a  great  man. 


(By  permission  of  Sydney  Bulletin. 


INDEX 


Adelaide  Advertiser,  The,  appro-      Age,  The — continued. 


elation  of  David  Syme,  quoted, 
318-19 

Adelaide  Register,  The,  apprecia- 
tion of  David  Syme,  quoted, 
319-20 

Africa,  the,  sailing  ship,  52  n\ 

Age,  The — 

See  also  Syme,  David. 
Speight  V  Syme,  see  that  title. 
David  Syme's  identification 
with,  v-vii,  xxv-xxxi ;  the 
office  in  Elizabeth  Street,  viii ; 
the  office  in  Collins  Street,  ix  ; 
political  influence,  xvii,  xviii ; 
Ebenezer  Syme  on  the  edi- 
torial staff,  40  ;  the  brothers 
Cooke,  45-46;  David  Syme 
joins  his  brother,  45  ;  pur- 
chased by  the  brothers  Syme, 
48-49  ;  David  Syme  assumes 
control,  52-54  ;  the  first  boy- 
cotts, 56-59;  the  only  Pro- 
tectionist paper  in  Melbourne, 
58-59 ;  first  editors  and 
contributors,  60-65  ;  policy, 
64-65  ;  the  people's  champion 
on  the  land  question  yy- 
83 ;  its  first  great  victory, 
87  ;  attack  on  O'Shanassy 
and  Duffy,  87-88  ;  boycott  by 


the  merchants,  88-89  ;  squat- 
ters pretend  ownership,  89-90 ; 
attack  on  the  Nicholson  Land 
Bill,  96 ;  attack  on  Duffy's 
Land  Act,  101-3  ;  article  on 
the  land  question  quoted,  107- 
9 ;  attacks  on  the  estab- 
lished order,  article  [quoted 
117-22;  boycotted  by  the 
monopolists,  128,  130-32  ; 
forced  to  exist  on  its  circula- 
tion, 132-33  ;  price  reduced 
from  sixpence  to  threepence, 
132  ;  importers  conspire  with 
the  O'Shanassy  Government  to 
ruin  the  paper,  134-35  ;  price 
again  reduced  to  twopence, 
135  ;  object  of  the  Libel 
Bill,  133  ;  circulation  in- 
creases and  influence  grows, 
135  ;  triumph  of  the  paper 
seen  in  the  general  election  of 
1864,  138  ;  vindication  of  Sir 
Charles  Darling,  146 ;  pre- 
dominance of,  in  Victorian 
politics  secured,  154-55  ;  price 
reduced  to  a  penny,  155  ; 
growth  of  its  influence,  155- 
56  ;  boycott  by  the  importers 
abandoned,  136-58  ;  attack  on 


329 


330 


INDEX 


Age,  The — continued. 

the  Kerf erd  Government,  162  ; 
denunciation  of  McCulloch, 
1 59-60 i  163-64  ;  influence  on 
the  formation  of  the  Berry- 
Tariff,  170-72  ;  decides  on  the 
fall  of  O'Loghlen,  172-73  ; 
formation  of  the  Service-Berry 
coalition,  173-75  ;  articles  on 
the  Victoria  "  boom  "  206-8  ; 
provinciaUsm  eschewed,  and 
Nationalism  preached,  after 
Federation,  227  ;  its  position 
in  the  Commonwealth,  236, 
239  ;  attitude  on  the  Northern 
Territory  question,  236-38 ; 
its  unswerving  adherence  to 
the  democratic  cause,  246-48  ; 
circulation,  247 ;  its  poUcy 
of  suggestion,  247-48  ;  King 
David's  audience  chamber, 
248-49  ;  poUtical  secrets,  249  ; 
its  Jubilee  in  1904,  264-65  ; 
introduction  of  hnotype  in  the 
machine  rooms,  265-66 ;  its 
great  power,  302-4 

Agriculture  in  New  South  Wales 
and    Victoria   compared,    187 

American  river,  the,  20 

Anderson's  Creek,  42 

Anti-sweating  laws,  222 

Anti-Trust  Act,  the,  235 

Apia,  island  of,  298 

Arbitration  Bill,  the,  229 

Argus,  The,  47,  61 — 

Report  of  the  Kilmore  speech 
of  John  O'Shanassy,  60-61  ; 
appreciation  of  David  Syme 
quoted,  315-16 


Audit  Act,  the,  defied  by  Mr. 
Berry,  166 

AustraUa — 

Federation  promoted  by 
David  Syme,  227-8  ;  elections 
for  the  last  Federal  Conven- 
tion, 227  ;  the  first  Federal 
Government,  228  ;  first  Aus- 
traUan  tariff  not  Protective, 
228  ;  Mr.  Deakin  Prime  Minis- 
ter, 229  ;  the  Reid-McLean  ad- 
ministration, 230-32  ;  appoint- 
ment of  the  Tariff  commission, 
230-32  ;  fniits  of  the  Deakin 
Government,  233—34 »  Pro- 
tection established,  232-35  ; 
question  of  National  defence, 

238-39 
AustraUa,    Central,   exploration 

of,  264 
AustraUa,  South — 

Number    of    sheep    in,    184  ; 

work  of  settUng  the  Northern 

Territory,  236-38 
AustraUa,     West,     number     of 

sheep  in,  184 

Bacchus  Marsh,  270 

Bakery  Hill,  episode  at,  47 

Balfour,  A.  J.,  11,  316 

Balfour,  Mr.,  of  Whittinghame,  1 1 

BaUarat,  David  Syme  mines  at, 
34-36 

BaUarat  riot,  the,  40-44,  47-48 

Barkly,  Sir  Hy.,  90 

Barton,  Sir  Edmund — 
First  Federal  Government  led 
by,  228-29  '»   poUcy  regarding 
the  West  Australia  railway,  307 

Bathgate,  2,  11,   12 


INDEX 


331 


Beechworth,  32-33 

Bendigo,  30-31 

Bent,  Thomas,  iii-ia 

Berry,  Graham — 
Conversion  to  Protection,  137  ; 
Protectionist  leader  in  the 
Assembly,  141  ;  Treasurer  in 
the  Duffy  Government,  163  ; 
becomes  Premier  and  reforms 
the  Tariff,  164;  dismisses 
the  heads  of  all  departments, 
165-66  ;  his  bill  for  reform  of 
the  Constitution,  168 ;  de- 
feat of,  172  ;  secret  history  of 
the  Berry  Tariff,  170-72  ;  the 
Service- Berry  coalition,  173- 
75  ;  criticism  of  The  Age,  302-3 

Bisley,  Victoria  wins  the  Kola- 
pore  Cup,  262-64 

Black   Wednesday   in   Victoria, 
165-66 

Blair,  David,  46,  48 

Blowitz,  M.  de.,  xix 

Blythewood,  Kew,  home  of  David 
Syme,  271-72,  315 

Boer  War,  311  ;  Australian  con- 
tingents, 257 

Booroondara,  300 

Bowen,  Sir  George,  166-68 

Bright,  T.  L.,  46,  48 

Broken  Hill  Silver  Mines,  197-98 

Bushrangers,  an  adventure  with, 
32-33 

California — 

David  Syme's  voyage  to,  17- 
19  ;  mining  camps  of,  20-25 

Calvinism,  David  Syme's  views, 
12-14 


Cameron,  Mr.,  305 

Canadian  Gully,  Ballarat,  34-35 

Cape  Horn,  storms  of,  18 

Capo  Town,  54 

Carpenter,  W.  B.,  Mental  Physio- 

iogy.  295 
Castlemaine,  30,  44  ;    Professor 

Pearson  elected  for,  63 
Cattle,   number  in  New  South 

Wales    and    Victoria,  184 
Chapman,  Mr.,  86 
Charlotte  Plains,  71 
Chartism,  321-22 
Clarke,  Marcus,  xvi,  272-73 
Closer  Settlement    Board,    iii 
Closure,  the,  introduced  by  Sir 

James  McCulloch,  163 
Clunes,  42 
Cobdenism — 

New  South  Wales,  In,  178-79  ; 

principles  of,  assailed  and  re- 
futed, 117-27 
Coghlan,  T.  A.— 

Statistical    investigations    of, 

1 78  et  seq  ;  Seven  Colonies  cited, 

179  et  seq  ;  Australia  and  New 
Zealand  cited,  188,  191-93 

Cook,  Captain,  26 
Cooke,  John  and  Henry,  45-46 
Creswell,  Captain,  Naval  Direc- 
tor of  the  Commonwealth,  239 

Daily  Mail,  the  Brisbane,  appre- 
ciation of  David  Syme  quoted^ 
324-25 

Daily  News,  Rev.  Dr.  Lang's 
letter  quoted,  68 

Daily  Telegraph,  the  Sydney, 
appreciation  of  David  Syme 
quoted,  321-23 


332 


INDEX 


Dairy  cows,  number  in  New 
South  Wales  and  Victoria,  185 

Darling   Grant    affair,    the,    62 

Darling,  Sir  Charles,  143-44 — 
Recall    by    England,   146-50  ; 
grant  voted  by  Parliament  to 
Lady   Darling,    1 49-50  ;      his 
return  and  pension,  153 

Darwin,  history  of  natural  selec- 
tion disputed  by  David  Syme, 
287 

Daylesford,  34 

Deakin,  Alfred — 

Tribute  to  David  Syme,  214- 
16  ;  his  mission  to  India,  221  ; 
Prime  Minister,  229,  232 ; 
his  Ballarat  speech,  232  ;  intro- 
duced into  political  life  by 
David  Syme,  269-70,  320 ; 
policy  regarding  the  West 
Australia  railway,  307 

Disraeli  quoted,  311 

Disruption,  the,  in  the  Estab- 
lished Church,  9 

Dow,  J.  L.,  221 

Draft   Constitution,   the,    227 

Duffy,  Charles  Gavan — 

Leader  of  the  Opposition,  83- 
84 ;  Minister  of  Lands,  86 , 
attacked  by  The  Age,  88 ; 
succeeds  again  as  Minister 
of  Lands,  1861,  loi  ;  Land 
Act  of,  its  defects,  10 1-3  ; 
forms  a  Government,  161 

Ebden,  Mr.,  91 
Edinburgh  Review,  290 
Education  in  New  South  Wales 
and  Victoria  compared,  181-82 


England — 

Recall  of  Sir  Charles  DarUng, 
146-50  ;  attitude  on  the  Vic- 
torian Tariff  Bill,  150-51  ; 
pension  to  Sir  Charles  Darling, 

153 
Eureka  Stockade,  the,  47 
Europe,  the,  sailing  ship,    25-28 
Excise  Acts,  234 

Factories  Acts,  222 
Federal  Enabling  Bill,   226-27 
Federation,  see  under  Australia 
Fellowes,  Judge,  62 
Fergusson,  Sir  James,  11 
Flemington,  30 

Forrest    Creek,  see    Castlemaine 
Fortnightly     Review,     the,     290 
Foster,  Spiritualist,  295-98 
Francis,  J.  G.,     161 
Free  Kirks,  establishment  of,  9 
Free  libraries,   number  in  New 
South     Wales    and    Victoria, 
181 
Free  Trade- 
See  also  Cobdenism 
"  Big  Loaf  and  Little  Loaf,'' 
II  ;  its  hold  on  Victoria,  116 
alliance   of  the   Free  Traders 
with    the    Protectionists,    161 

Geelong,  44 

George,  Hugh,  295-96 

Gilbert,  Commissioner,  75 

Gold- 
Theory  regarding  its  position 
in    the    earth's    strata,     21  ; 
amount  extracted  before  1858, 
116;     failure   of   the   supply. 


INDEX 


333 


Gold — continued. 

134 ;      Victorian,     value     of, 

1871-1901,  177 
Gold-diggers,    attitude    of    the 

Government  towards  the,  41-42 
Grafenberg,  16 
Grant,  James  McPherson,  Land 

Act  of  1864,  103-5 
Great  Mount  Egerton  Mine,  40 


Haeckel,  287 

Haines,  Mr. — 

Chief  secretary,  40  ;  defeat 
of  his  Ministry  on  the  Immi- 
gration Bill,84-85  ;  Land  Bill 
of,    85  ;     resignation,    86 

Heales,  Richard — 

Elected  to  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  83 ;  attempt  to 
form  a  Government  91  ; 
Land  Act  of,  97-99 ;  Min- 
ister of  Lands,  103 

HegeUsm,  16 

Heidelberg,  16 

Herald,     the,     appreciation     of 
David  Syme  quoted,  316-17 

Higinbotham,  George,  65 

Hoare,  Benjamin — 

Leader-writer  for  The  Age, 
xxvii ;  Preferential  Trade 
quoted,  179 

Hobart,  226 

Honolulu,  25-26 

Horses,  number  in  New  South 
Wales  and  Victoria,  185 

Hotham,  Sir  Charles,  47-48 

Howitt,  William,  Two  Years  in 
Victoria  quoted,  68-77 


Immigration  Bill  of  Mr.  Haines* 
84-85 

Imperial     Defence     Committee, 
the,  239 

Importers  of  Victoria — 

Early  trade  done  by,  1 16-17  ; 
attempts  to  bribe  David  Syme 
^30-31  '>  conspiracy  with  the 
O'Shanassy  Government  to 
ruin  The  Age,  134-35  ;  their 
rage  at  the  conference  on  the 
Tariff  Bill,  146 ;  boy- 
cott of  The  Age  abandoned, 
156-58 

Income  tax  in  Victoria,  223-24 

Indeterminate  Sentences  Act,  224 

Johnson,  John  WilUam,  52  n.» 
Jumping  mines,  38 

Keilor  Plains,  50 

Kentucky,  23 

Kerford,     Mr.,     failure    of    his 

Government,  161-62 
Kilmore,  60-61 
Kingslake,    his    picture   of    The 

Times,  xix 
Kolapore  Cup,  won  by  Victoria, 

262-64 
Korong,  31 
Kruger,  President,  312 

Laissez  faire,  David  Syme  on  the 
poUcy  of,  59-60 

Lalor,  Minister  of  Trade  and  Cus- 
toms, 170-71 

Land  Act — 

Duffy's,  see  under  Duffy. 


334 


INDEX 


Land  Act — continued. 

Grant's,  of  1865,  103-5  I 
Act  of  1869,  its  effects,  105  ; 
Act  of  1898,  iio-ii 

Land  BiU— 

Nicholson's,  see  Nicholson 
Haines',  85 

Land  Boom,  see  under  Victoria 

Land  question  in  Victoria — See 
also  Victoria,  Boom  in  Land. 
AustraUan  writers  quoted  on 
the  situation,  67-77  I  origin  of 
the  Squatters'  land  monopoly, 
71-80 ;  Orders  in  Council, 
70,  78-79 ;  country  locked 
up  and  people  denied  access 
to  the  land,  79-80 ;  occu- 
pation Ucences,  97-98  ;  sus- 
pension of  the  question  by  the 
constitutional  contest,  102- 
103  ;  gradual  aggregation  of 
large  estates,  106 ;  David 
Syme's  policy  of  yeoman 
settlement,  109-13;  David 
Syme's  latest  proposals,  112- 
13  ;  future  prospects,  11 2-1 3  ; 
compulsory  purchase  and  a 
land-tax,  112 

Land  speculations  in  Victoria, 
see  Victoria,  Boom  in  Land. 

Land  Tax  Act,  the,   164 

Lang,  Dr.,  letter  of  to  the  Daily 
News  quoted,  68 

Langton,  Mr.,  162 

Leader y  the,  ix,  61 

Legislative  Council  of  Victoria, 
Constitution  of,  need  for  its 
reform,  140-41  ;  rejection  of 
Mr.     Berry's    Tariff   Reform, 


Legislative  Council  of  Victoria 
— continued. 

164 ;  passes  the  Bill  for  pay- 
ment of  members,  168  ;  re- 
formation, 168 

Letters — 

Marriage  with  deceased  wife's 
sister, 26 1 -92  ;  Syme's  views  on 
spiritualism,  theosophy,  etc. 
293-98  ;  Samoa  and  Robert 
Louis  Stevenson  298-9;  Syme's 
daily  life  in  the  early  days, 
299-301 ;  Free  Trade,  302-4 

Libel,  see  Speight  v.  Syme. 

Libel  Bill,  the,  object  of  the 
measure,  135 

Licence  Tax,  the,  action  of  Mr. 
La  Trobe,  42-44,  47-48 

Living,  cost  of,  in  AustraUa,  191- 
92 

London  Chartered  Bank  of  Aus- 
tralia, Mr.  McCulloch's  expe- 
dient, 143-44 

Marriage  with  deceased  wife's 
sister,  Syme's  opinion  on, 
291-92 

McCuUoch,  Hon.  WilUam,  asks 
a  favour  from  David  Syme, 
262-64 

McCuUoch,  Sir  James  62 — 
Tariff  Bill  of,  see  under  Pro- 
tection. 
His  conversion  to  Protection, 
65,  139-41  ;  elected  to  the 
Legislative  Assembly,  83  ; 
forms  a  ministry,  1863,  103  ; 
his  expedient  regarding  the 
collection  of  customs,  142-45 


INDEX 


335 


McCuUoch.Sir  James — continued. 
dissolution  and  return  to  office 
with  great  Protectionist  ma- 
jority, 1866,  145  ;  resignation 
and  return  to  office,  conference 
on  the  Tariff  Bill  145-46 ; 
resignation  and  resumption  of 
office,  September  10,  1867, 
1 50  ;  "  policy  toward  the 
Council,  153  ;  refuses  to  form 
a  ministry  unless  given  a  free 
^  hand,  151  ;  becomes  Conser- 
vative and  resigns,  1 59-60  ;  re- 
turn to  office — his  intrigues 
163-64 

Macedon,  ix 

McLean,  Alan,  forms  a  coaUtion 
Government  with  G.  H.  Reid, 
229 

McMahon,     Sir     Charles,  172 

McPherson,  J.  A.,  Government 

of,  159 

Mandurang,  49 

Manners-Sutton,  Sir  S.  H.,  150 

Melbourne — 

David  Syme's  voyage  to,  25- 
28 ;  picture  of,  in  1853,  29 ; 
the  Melbourne  Exhibition,  46  ; 
Presbyterian  Ladies'  College 
in,  63  ;  tradesmen  of,  75  ; 
mass  meeting  to  denounce 
Sir  Charles  Darling's  recall, 
148  ;  the  "  boom  "  in  land, 
see  under  Victoria. 

Melbourne  Punch,  the,  apprecia- 
tion  of    David   Syme   quoted, 

323-24 
Melbourne  University,  257,  264 
Menzie,  Rev.  W.,  296 


Mercury,  the  Hobart,  apprecia- 
tion of  David  Syme  quoted,  320- 
21 

Midland  Railway  Company,  203 

Mill.  John  Stuart,   126 

Mining,   laws    regulating,  38-40 

Missouri,  men  of,  23 

Mitchell,  Jean,   i 

Morrison,  Dr.  Ernest,  xix 

Morrison,  Rev.  James,  14,  15 

Mount  Egerton,  38 

Munro,  James,  incident  of  his 
resignation,  249 

Myers  Flat,  31 

Navigator  Islands,  26 

New  Hebrides,  27 

New  Melbourne   Hospital,   the, 

XXX 

New  Protection  Act,  233-35 

New  South  Wales — 

*'  Rushes  "  from  Victoria  to, 
134 ;  comparison  with  Vic- 
toria, 176-95  ;  Protectionist 
Tariff  introduced  178  ;  mineral 
output,  176-77  ;  railways,  179- 
80  ;  Post  and  Telegraph  offices. 
180-81  ;  education,  181-82  ; 
population, 1 82-83 ;  agriculture 
in,  statistics,  1 87  ;  manufac- 
turing and  commercial  indus- 
tries, 188-89;  accumulated 
wealth  of,  1 89-90  ;  diffusion  of 
wealth  in,  190-91  ;  cost  of 
living,  191-92 

New  York  Tribune,  17 

New   2^aland,    "  rushes "   from 
Victoria  to,  134 


336 


INDEX 


Newcastle,  Duke  of,  his  despatch 
in  answer  to  the  Squatters' 
petition,  98-99 

Newspaper  Government,  its 
defects  and  virtues,  241-52 

Nicholson  Land  Bill,  the — 
Rejected    by    the    Squatters, 
90-91  ;     the   measure  passed, 
96 ;   pernicious  effects  of  the 
measure,  96-97 

Nicholson,  William — 

Attacks  the  O'Shanassy-Duffy 
Government,  90  ;  assumes  of- 
fice,  90  ;  defeat  of  his  ministry, 
97  ;  again  assumes  office,  96 

Northern  Territory,  the,  question 
of  settlement,  236-37 

Occupation  licences,  97-98 

O'Hea,  J.  W.,  300 

Old  age  pensions,  221 

O'Loghlen,  Sir  Bryan,  Govern- 
ment of,  172-73 

Opposition,  the,  its  function,  312 

O'Shanassy,  John,  Premier — 
His  Kilmore  speech,  60-61 ; 
leads  the  Opposition,  83-85  ; 
forms  a  Government  with  Mr. 
Chapman,  86 ;  attacked  by 
The  Age,  87-88  ;  attempts  to 
form  a  ministry,  91  ;  suc- 
ceeds Mr.  Heales,  loi-ii  ; 
conspiracy  with  the  Im- 
porters to  ruin  The  Age,  134- 
35  ;    his  Libel  Bill,  135 

Papua,  annexation  of,  264 
Paris  Exhibition  of  1855,  46 
Parkes,  Sir  Henry,  323 


Parnell  Commission,  xx 

Party  Government,  David 
Syme's  essay  on,  304-12 

Patterson,  James,  63,  270 

Patronage  System,  the,   lo-ii 

Payment  of  Members  Bill,  164- 
65,  220 

Pearson,  Professor  C.  H. — 
Leader-writer  for  The  Age, 
xiv,  xvi,  xxvii,  326  ;  sketch  by 
David  Syrae,  63-64  ;  History  of 
England  in  the  Fourteenth 
Century,  64 

Pike  county,  Missouri,  23-24 

Port  Darwin,  236,  262 

Port  Jackson,  28,  236 

Post  and  Telegraph  offices  of 
New  South  Wales  and  Victoria 
compared,  180-81 

Preisnitz,  16 

Presbyterian  Ladies'  College, 
Melbourne,  63 

Princess  Royal,  sailing  ship,  18 

Protection  — 

Incident  in  the  early  life  of 
David  Syme,  11  ;  advo- 
cated by  The  Age,  57-60 ; 
the  Beginnings  of,  114-28  ; 
the  question  studied  by  the 
people,  126-27  >  first  effects  of 
David  Syme's  advocacy,  132- 
33  ;  cause  of,  dependent  on 
David  Syme,  129-30  ;  efforts  to 
stem  the  tide  of  public  opinion, 
136  ;  First  Protectionist 
TarifE  introduced  in  Victoria, 
its  fate,  141-42 ;  Tariff 
Bill,  second  rejection  of  by 
Council,  144-45  ;    third  rejec- 


INDEX 


337 


Protection — con  tinued. 
lion  145 ;  fourth  rejection; 
145  ;  fifth  rejection,  150 
found  impossible  in  Vic- 
toria until  re- formation  of  the 
Legislative  Council,  150-51  ; 
accomplishment  of,  154-75  ; 
David  Syme  not  satisfied  with 
the  Tariff,  154-75;  Tariff 
reformed  by  Mr.  Berry,  164; 
secret  history  of  the  Berry 
Tariff,  170-72 ;  effects  in 
Victoria,  176-95  ;  first  Aus- 
tralian Tariff  not  Protective 
228  ;  campaign  for  high  Pro- 
tection, 228  ;  fiscal  issue  forced 
on  by  David  Syme,  232-33  ; 
the  "  New  "  Protection,  233- 
35 

Protectionist     States     of     Aus- 
tralia, cost  of  living  in,  91-92 

Purves,  J.  L.,  K.C.,  xxi ;  tributes 
to  David  Syme,  206,  213-14 

Queensland — 

Number  of  sheep  in,  184; 
stands  out  against  the  Federal 
Enabling  Bill,  226 


Railway  administration  of  Vic- 
toria, assailed  by  David  Syme, 
208 

Railways,  comparison  between 
those  of  Victoria  and  New 
South  Wales,  79-80 

Reform  Bill,  the,    172 

Reform  Government,  the,  de- 
feat of,  99 


Reid,  G.  H.— 
Coalition  Government  with 
Mr.  Alan  McLean,  229  ;  his 
proposal  to  David  Syme,  230- 
32  ;  his  defeat,  232  ;  attitude 
on  the  railway  question,  307 

Religion,  question  of  State  aid, 
221 

Rifle  Club  movement  in  Vic- 
toria, patronage  of  David 
Syme,  262-61 

Robinson,  A.  B.,  170,  174-75 

Sacramento,  19 

Sacramento  river,  the,  20 

St.  Andrews*  University,  2 

Samoan  Islands,  26,  298 

San  Francisco,  David  Syme's 
voyage  to,  17-19 

Schuler,  G.  F.  H.,  xxvii,  207 

Seddon,  Richard,  tribute  to  The 
Age,  65 

Septennial  Act,  the,  285 

Service,  James — 

Elected  to  the  Legislative  As- 
sembly, 83  ;  Minister  of  Lands, 
90-91  ;  his  budget,  162  ;  the 
Service-Berry  Coalition,  173-75 

Sheep,  number  in  New  South 
Wales  and  Victoria,  184 

Sladen  ministry,  the,  152 

Smith,  Adam,   126 

Smith,  G.  P.— 

David  Syme  on,  quoted}^  62- 
63  ;  his  connexion  with  The 
Age,  60-62,  292 

Smith,  James,  dramatic  critic 
for  The  Age,  46 

South  Yarra,  ix 


338 


INDEX 


Speight,  Richard — 

Action   against   David  Sjrme, 
see  Speight  v  Syme. 
Chief    commissioner    of    rail- 
ways,   205,    207-8  ;    kindness 
of  David  S5rme  to,  255-56 

Speight  V  Syme — 

Claim  of  ;^25,ooo  damages,  208- 
17  ;  offers  of  compromise, 
212-13;  David  Syme's  reply, 
213 ;  consequences  of  the 
struggle,  216-17 ;  Mr.  Dea- 
Idn's  comments,  214-16 

Spencer,  Herbert,  287 

Spencer,  Professor,  264 

Spiritualism,     Syme's     opinion, 
293-98 

Squatters,  the — 

Origin  of  land  monopoly  by, 
71-80 ;  pretensions  regard- 
ing the  ownership  of  The  Age, 
89-90 ;  rejection  of  the 
Nicholson  Land  Bill  by,  90- 
91  ;  petition  sent  to  Eng- 
land concerning  absolute 
possession,  97  ;  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle's  reply,  98-99  ;  cor- 
ruption in  election    of    1861, 

lOO-lOI 

Stevenson,  R.  L.,  298-99 

Suffrage — 
Corruption  and  falsification  of 
the  rolls  in    1861,    loo-ioi  ; 
manhood  suffrage  in  Victoria, 

85 
Supple,  Gerald,  300 
Swine,    number   in   New   South 

Wales  and  Victoria,  186 
Sydney,  28 


Syme,  David — 
See  also  "  Age,  The  ", 
Account  of — 

His  private  life,  xxv-xxxi,299- 
301  ;  birth  and' parentage,  i  ; 
education,  2-4 ;  childhood, 
2-1 1 ;  anecdotes,  1 1  ;  religious 
training,  12-16 ;  becomes 
a  journalist,  16-17 ;  voyage 
to  California,  17-19 ;  mining 
experiences,  20-25  ;  voy- 
age to  Melbourne,  25-28  ; 
leaves  Melbourne  for  Castle- 
maine,  30 ;  works  hard  as 
a  miner,  32-44 ;  joins  his 
brother  on  The  Age,  ^$  ;  pur- 
chases The  Age,  48-49 ;  as  a 
contractor,  49-52  ;  assumes 
control  of  The  Age,  52-54 ;  mar- 
riage, 52 ;  illness  and  trip 
to  England,  54-56 ;  death 
and  appreciations,  315-28. 
Characteristics      and      person^ 

ality — 
PersonaUty,  viii-xxiii ;  his  con- 
sistency, 219 ;  his  states- 
manUke  qualities,  241  ;  his 
forward  looking,  253 ;  his 
national  ideal,  254  ;  his  ruth- 
lessness,  255  ;  his  kindness  to 
Mr.  Speight,  255-56 ;  mystery 
smrounding  his  actions,  256- 
57  ;  charge  of  hardness  of 
heart  refuted,  256  ;  his  religious 
beliefs,  257-58 ;  capacity 
for  hate,  258-59;  friendships, 
260-61  ;  instances  of  gener- 
osity, 259-60  ;  public  benefac- 
tions, 261-65  ;     relations  with 


1 


INDEX 


339 


Syme,  David — continued. 
his  staff,  265-66 ;  anec- 
dotes, 266-73  ;  mob  en- 
thusiasm, 268-69  ;  his  sense  of 
humour,  272-73  ;  his  passion- 
ate temper,  273  ;  self  control, 
273-74  ;  the  man  as  he  was, 
274-76  ;  the  secret  of  his  false 
reputation  for  austerity  and 
pride,  278-80  ;  his  philosophy, 
281  ;  simplicity  the  keynote 
of  his  character,  282 
Correspondence,  291-304 
Political  Life — 
His  identification  with  The  Age, 
v-vii,  xxv-xxxi ;  his  appeal 
to  the  merchants,  92-96 ; 
his  article  in  The  Age  on  the 
land  question  quoted  107-9; 
his  pohcy  of  yeoman  settle- 
ment, 109-13  ;  "  King  David," 
160-61,  324 ;  relations  with 
Sir  George  Bowen,  166-68  ;  his 
influence  on  the  Berry  Tariff, 
170-72  ;  formation  of  the  Ser- 
vice-Berry coalition,  173-75  ; 
his  patriotism  and  how  it  bene- 
fited the  state,  175  ;  his  Hfe 
work  vindicated,  193-95  ;  his 
determination  to  save  Vic- 
toria, 205-8  ;  his  attack  on  the 
Government  and  the  Railway 
administration,  208  ;  his  letter 
to  the  Minister  of  Railways 
quoted,  213  ;  cost  of  the 
struggle,  216-17 ;  legislation 
originated  by,  219-25  ;  his  part 
in  promoting  Federation,  226- 
27 ;   selects  the  ten  delegates 


Syme,  David — continued, 
from  Victoria,  227  ;  Mr.  Reid's 
proposal  230-32  ;  forces  on  the 
fiscal  issue,  232-33  :  attitude 
toward  the  "  New  "  Protection, 
233-35  ">  on  national  defence, 
238-39 ;  he  fights  with  the 
people,  242;  his  place  in  popular 
esteem,  242-43  ;  his  sacrifices  to 
obtain  poUtical  power,  243-45  ; 
his  power  founded  on  personal 
consistency  and  integrity, 
245-46 ;  incident  concerning 
James  Munro,  249  ;  Speight  v, 
Syme,  see  that  title. 
Writings. 

"The  Soul,"  258,  287-90; 
"  OutUne  of  an  Industrial 
Science" 283-84;  "Representa- 
tive Government  in  England," 
284-86;  "On  the  Modifica- 
tion of  Organisms,"  287 ; 
his  theories  of  the  hereafter, 
288-89  ;  his  theories  of  design 
in  nature,  289 ;  his  place  in 
EngUsh  letters,  289-90 ;  his 
lesser  contributions  to  litera- 
ture, 290  ;  an  unfinished  essay 
written  before  his  death,  304- 
312  ;  on  the  function  of  the 
Press,  312-14 

Syme,  Ebenezer — 

Connexion  with  the  West- 
minster Review,  2,  11  ;  on 
the  staff  of  The  Age,  40,  45  ; 
purchases  The  Age,  48-49 ; 
elected  to  the  Legislative 
Assembly,  49,  83  ;  death  of, 
52,  56.  92 


340 


INDEX 


Syme,  George,  ix,  xvii,  295,  296, 

work  on  The  Age,  54 
Syme,  George,  Senior,  4-6,   11 
Syme,  James,  11,  12 
Syme,    Mrs.    David    (Annabella 

Johnson),  52 

Tariff,  see  under  Protection, 
Tariff  Commission,  the,  230-32 
Tariff   Reform   Committee,   for- 
mation of,  129 
Tariff,  the  Commonwealth,   178 
Tasmania — 

Copper     mines     of,     197-98 ; 
number  of  sheep  in,  184 
Texas,  23 

Times,  The,  xix,  300 
Trobe,  Mr.  La,  42-44 
Tuolumne  river,  the,  21-22 
Turner,  Henry  Giles,  History  of 

Victoria,  117,  216 
Turner,  Sir  George — 

Land  Act  of  1 898,  i  lo-i  i  ;  inci- 
dent of  the  rifle  team,  262-64 
Tutuila,  island  of,  26,  298 

Vava,  island  of,  27 

Victoria — 

Boom  in  Land. 
Growth  of  extravagance  in 
Victoria,  196-99  ;  causes  of  the 
Boom,  199-200  ;  methods  of 
the  "  Boomsters,"  200-4  ;  folly 
of  the  banks,  203-4  >  demoral- 
ization of  Parliament,  204-5  ; 
railway  spendthriftism,  204, 
207-8  ;  the  Boom  bursts,  208  ; 
Government  driven  from  office, 


Victoria — continued. 

208 ;  benefits  to  the  colony  from 

David  Syme's  struggle,  213; 

aftermath   of  the  Boom,  and 

recovery   of  the  colony,  217- 

18 

Land   question   in,    See   Land 

question  in  Victoria. 
Political  History  and  Parlia- 
ment— 
Ballarat  riot,  40-44,  47-48 ; 
political  condition  in  1856, 
67  ;  first  Parliament,  82-86  ; 
Haines  ministry,  84 ;  man- 
hood suffrage,  85  ;  O'Shan- 
assy-Chapman  ministry,  86 ; 
second  Parliament,      90 ; 

Nicholson  Government,  90-91 ; 
invasion  of  Parliament  by  the 
mob,  91-92  ;  Heales  Govern- 
ment, 97-99  ;  electoral  cam- 
paign of  1 861,  99-101  ;  O' 
Shanassy-Duffy  administra- 
tion, 10 1  ;  the  "  rushes  "  from 
the  Colony,  133-34  J  report 
of  the  Board  of  PubUc  Experts 
quoted,  137-38  ;  first  Protec- 
tionist Tariff  introduced — its 
fate,  141-42;  dissolution 
granted  on  second  rejection 
of  Tariff  Bill,  145  ;  general 
election,  145  ;  Tariff  Bill  again 
rejected,  145  ;  Council  con- 
sents to  a  conference  and  Tariff 
Bill  is  agreed  to,  146 ;  recall 
of  Sir  Charles  DarUng,  146- 
50  ;  grant  to  Lady  Darling, 
149-50 ;  the  Council  refuses  to 
pass  the  measure  in  favour  of 


INDEX 


341 


Victoria — continued. 

Lady  Darling,  149-50 ;  dis- 
solution on  fifth  rejection  of 
the  Tariff  Bill,  Council  sup- 
ported by  Downing  Street, 
150-51  ;  strong      Protec- 

tionist   Government    formed, 
150-51  ;  no  Government — des- 
patch   from    Downing    Street 
withheld,     151  ;     the    Sladen 
ministry,     152  ;      reformation 
of  the  Constitution,  153,  168  ; 
new     campaign      for      com- 
plete Protection  begun,   158; 
Duffy  Government,  161;  Fran- 
cis   Government,     161  ;    Kcr- 
ferd     Government,     1874-75, 
161-62 ;    Berry  Government, 
164  ;   general  election  of  1877, 
164  ;    Tariff  reformed  by  Mr. 
Berry,      164;      Black     Wed- 
nesday, 165-66  ;     relations  of 
the  Cabinet  with  David  Syme, 
166-68  ;  effects  of  Protection, 
176-95  ;    payment    of    mem- 
bers, 220  ;  democratic  legisla- 
tion in,  219-25  ;      anti-sweat- 
ing laws,  222  ;    Factories  Acts 
222 ;     ten   delegates   selected 
by  David  Syme,  227 
Statistics,  etc.  relating  to — 
Numbers  lost  by  emigration, 
no,  115  ;  population,  116,  133  ; 
134,  182-83  ;  industrial  condi- 
tion in  1859,  1 1 6-1 17;  David 
Syme's  patriotism,  and  how  it 
benefited  the  State,  175  ;  com- 
parison with  New  South  Wales, 


Victoria — continued. 
176-95  ;  railways,  1 79-80;  Post 
and  Telegraph  offices,  180-81  ; 
education  in,  181-82,  219;  in- 
dustry, statistics,  188-89; 
number  of  sheep  in,  184  ; 
number  of  cattle,  184  ;  num- 
ber of  horses,  185  ;  number 
of  dairy  cows,  185  ;  number 
of  swine,  185  ;  agriculture, 
statistics,  187  ;  manufacturing 
and  commercial  industries, 
1 88-89 ;  accumulated  wealth  in, 
189-90 ;  diffusion  of  wealth 
in,  190-91 

Vienna,  16 

Wangaratta,  32 

Water  conservation  in  Victoria, 
222 

Watson,  J.  C,  229,  307 

West  Australian,  the,  apprecia- 
tion of  David  Syme  quoted, 
325-28 

Westminster  Review,  Ebenezer 
Syme's  connexion  with,  2-3,  1 1 

Whipstick,  the,  31 

Wilson,  Edward,  62 

Windsor,  A.  L. — 
Editor  of  The  Age,  ix,  xvi, 
xxvii,  62-63,  170-71,  292  ;  in- 
terview with  Sir  George 
Bowen,  167-68;  suggests  the 
Service-Berry  coaUtion,  174 

Yeoman  settlement,  David 
Syme's  poUcy  of,  109-13 

Zox,  Mr.,  255 


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